AV 15th February 2014

15th February to 21st February 2014VOL 42. ISSUE 41 80pLet noble thoughts come to us from every side

First & Foremost Asian Weekly in EuropeSEE INSIDE ....

Leicester's River Soarto be treated as UK'sholy river Ganga

Asian AchieversAwards flaunts a

new look

US comesto Modi

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Rupanjana Dutta

The Indian diasporaglobally have reactedangrily to the proposedchanges to theirO v e r s e a sCitizen of India(OCI) andPerson of IndianOrigin (PIO)cards, issued bythe Indian gov-ernment, whichreplaces the needto apply for atourist visa whilevisiting India. Thiscomes after the IndianGovernment proposed anew bill to issue a newOverseas Indian card,that will replace theexisting OCI and PIOcards.

The bill, that hasalready been passed bythe Rajya Sabha (UpperHouse of IndianParliament), is likely to

come up

before theLok Sabha (LowerHouse) for passage inthe current Parliamentsession, ending on 21stFebruary 2014.

Indian diasporadenounce proposal to

scrap OCI and PIO cards

Continued on page 2

The Supreme Courtappointed probe commit-tee indicted GurunathMeiyappan, son-in-law ofBoard of Control forCricket in India (BCCI)president N Srinivasan forhis involvement in bettingand passing informationabout the team in the sixthedition of Indian PremierLeague (IPL) matches.Meiyappan is associatedwith Chennai Super Kings(CSK) lead by Indianskipper Mahendra SinghDhoni.

The conclusion of thethree member committeeheaded by Justice MukulMudgal came as a majorsetback to Srinivasan,who is also ICC chairman-designate. The committeealso concluded that con-

trary to the assertions ofthe Srinivasan camp thatMeiyappan had no officialstatus in CSK, he was "infact acting as a team offi-cial if not the de-factoowner of CSK".

The panel also recom-mended for a further

probe into allegations ofbetting and spot-fixingagainst Raj Kundra, part-owner of RajasthanRoyals. It also sought aprobe into the possibleinvolvement of interna-tional stars, including six

Telangana tobecome a

reality

Continued on page 26Continued on page 26

BCCI chief’s son-in-lawindicted for betting Ahead of the Lok Sabha

elections, the UPA gov-ernment gave nod to themuch talked aboutTelangana Bill andpaved the way for itstabling in parliamentafter a presidentialassent. The cabinetapproved the bill after ameeting held at theprime minister's officialresidence.

In a meeting of theGroup of Minister, thedecision to convene acabinet on Telanganawas taken a day beforethe bill got approval.There was no proposalto give union territorystatus to Hyderabad,which would be thejoint capital of the twostates after bifurcationof Andhra Pradesh, said

Gurunath Meiyappan

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 20142 UK

1) Please tell me about yourcurrent position?I am currently Co-Founder andChairperson of the IndianHindu Welfare Organisation(IHWO), a charity that willbuild the first Hindu temple inNorthampton, a £12m project.Alongside this I fulfil variousother roles with NorthamptonInter Faith Forum, the BMESub-Regional Partnership andI also serve as a lay member onthe Lord Chancellor’s AdvisoryCommittee.

2) What are your proudest

achievements?Significant moments would bewhen I was honoured byPrince Charles at BuckinghamPalace; the moment we per-formed a Bhoomi Pujan tobless the land on which ourKutumb centre will be built;and when my two daughtersgraduated from University. Ingeneral I feel that a hugeachievement has been inbecoming a persistent anddetermined person in every-thing I do.

3) What inspires you?

Lots of people inspire me. Inmy early life in India, Late PMIndira Gandhi was my inspira-tion; coming to the UK as ayoung woman, Princess Dianainspired me - she is myfavourite in fact, due to howwell she connected with peoplewith no barriers. Gandhi ji,Nelson Mandela, MartinLuther King are also great peo-ple who have inspired me.

Keith you inspired me lastweek when you said “if everyHindu donated £10, the moneywill be there to build this proj-ect” that was so profound!!

A new challenge inspiresme. Hard working, punctualand honest people with strongethics and principles inspireme. My faith and my familyinspire me.

4) What has been the biggest

obstacle in your career?There have been many.One was perhaps facingand challenging the per-ceptions of many as aminority Hindu womanin my community, whichwas not comfortable withan Indian woman takinga leadership position. ButI would dare to say thatwe ourselves are usuallyour biggest obstacle.Once I gained the self-belief, I viewed ‘obsta-

cles’ differently; often as a chal-lenge and therefore as anopportunity.

5) Who has been the biggestinfluence on your career todate?My father, he gave me strongfoundations as a woman. Hewas a very loving, generousand humble and a very suc-cessful business man. Thosevery qualities are what guideme and ground me in my workand life today.

6) What is the best aspectabout your current role?The opportunity to educatethrough my various trainingprogrammes. We live in a soci-ety in which it is very easy topoint out the differences. Mywork is about finding the sim-ilarities and establishing that

common ground; human rela-tionships. There is nothingmore fulfilling.

7) And the worst?It can often be a struggle towork in such divided commu-nities. I wouldn’t define it asthe ‘worst’ though. It is a chal-lenge and challenges are ofcourse there to be overcome.

8) What are your long termgoals?To serve the community andbuild the Kutumb Centre andHindu temple which has beenmy dream for many years andto observe wider integrationand understanding betweendifferent faith groups.

9) If you were Prime Minister,what one aspect would youchange?I don’t need to be the PrimeMinister to make a change!

As Gandhi ji said “Be thechange that you wish to see inthe world”.

10) If you were marooned ona desert island, which histori-cal figure would you like tospend your time with andwhy?Martin Luther King. He saidhe has a dream. I would loveto share mine with him andgain his perspective on it.

Neelam Aggarwal-Singh MBE DL

Neelam Aggarwal-Singh MBE DL is Chairperson of the IndianHindu Welfare Organisation, which aims to complete a£12million project to build a Hindu Temple in Northampton.She has previously been a Non-Executive Director with vari-ous NHS Trusts. Neelam also held positions as a Vice-Chairof the local Primary Care Trust, a Lay Member of the LordChancellor Advisory Committee, Trustee of InterfaithNetwork and Co-Chair of the BME Sub-Regional Partnership.She has worked tirelessly for over 25 years to provide out-standing leadership and services to the community and hasbeen featured in several prestigious books and articles as avalued member of the community. She also was awardedthe very first “Inspirational Woman of the Year in 2013” incelebration of International Women’s Day.

Keith Vaz MP Keith Vaz MPwith

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Asian Voice would like to wishBaroness Shreela Flather aHappy 80th Birthday on 13thFebruary 2014.

A teacher of English once,she became a life peer for theConservative Party on 11 June1990 as Baroness Flather, ofWindsor and Maidenhead, inthe Royal County of Berkshire.

She was the first Asianwoman to receive a Peerage. Asa member of the House ofLords, she gained particularattention for wearing a sari andfor being among the first ethnicminorities in the House.

She has served on numerouspublic bodies including being adistinguished supporter of theBritish Humanist Associationand an honorary associate ofthe National Secular Society.She is one of the Vice Chairs ofthe All-Party ParliamentaryHumanist Group and Patron ofthe British branch of Child InNeed India (CINI UK) and ofPopulation Matters.

Baroness Flather has alsobeen widely featured in theAsian Who's Who as Asian ofthe Year 1996.

She was responsible for theconstruction of the magnificentmemorial on Constitution Hillat Hyde Park Corner to the for-gotten volunteers from theIndian subcontinent, Africa andthe Caribbean, in WWI andWWII.

The Baroness is the greatgranddaughter of Sir GangaRam, a noted engineer, philan-thropist and agriculturist, dur-ing the late 19th Century andearly 20th Century in Punjab,British India.

She currently resides inMaidenhead with her husband.

Happy 80th BirthdayBaroness Flather

Indian diaspora denounce proposal to scrap OCI and PIO cardsContinued from page 1

India has also proposed newtourist visa rules (see page 26for full story).

A foreign national canacquire an OCI card if she/hewas eligible to become a citizenof India on 26.01.1950, or was acitizen of India on or at anytime after 26.01.1950, orbelonged to a territory thatbecame part of India after15.08.1947. His/her childrenand grandchildren are also eligi-ble for registration, providedthe resident country allows dualcitizenship (except Pakistanand Bangladesh). Every yearabout 250,000 people sign upfor the OCI card scheme andpay a fee up to £175/person.

To acquire a PIO card, oneneeds to pay £217/adult and£112/minor; and can enterIndia with multiple entry facili-ty, but for 15 years only, whilethe OCI card is a multiple entry,multi-purpose lifelong visa forvisiting India.

Kunal Shah, a resident ofNorth London told Asian Voice,"My whole family has had theOCI card for a few good yearsnow. Will we have to surrenderour current OCIs to the IndianHigh Commission, when and if

the new rules come in?"Pratap Singh, from

Birmingham told Asian Voice,"I hope the new card offers thesame facilities as the OCI card.We have paid for certain privi-leges under it. If our rights aregoing to change under the newsystem, even if it is free andmandatory, it remains a thor-oughly unfair proposition."

Munish Gupta, co-ordinatorof the Global Organisation ofPeople of Indian Origin(GOPIO) International, told anIndian daily: "The idea of merg-ing the PIO card and the OCIcard will create more confusionrather than solving any prob-lems. Members of the Indiandiaspora, many of whom areOCI and PIO card-holders can-not understand the rationalebehind the Indian government'smove to suddenly change thenomenclature of the cards andintroduce a new one.

"The organisation has offi-cially taken the stand that whileIndians overseas had deeplyappreciated the gesture of thegovernment of India to createthe much-needed emotionalengagement with the diasporathrough the OCI/PIO cards, bydoing away with them they will

now feel a deep sense of humil-iation." However our sourcesfrom the Ministry has toldAsian Voice, that there is nosuch concrete proposal at themoment to do away with theOCI and PIO cards. The cur-rent proposition is in view tosimplify the entire process,merging both cards into one.But this proposal has beenunder consideration for sometime and deliberations and dis-cussions are still ongoing, with-in the Government of India.

Report: Foreign Officesabuse their privileges NDTV has reported that India'stourism office in London lost acase against a former employeewho says that he was unfairlydismissed. The office wasinstructed to compensate theemployee with £91,000, whichwas allegedly never paid to him.

In June 2013, Mr Mercheryreportedly said he approached acounty court to recover hisdues. When bailiffs were sent tothe tourism office, theyobtained a stay saying that theproperty was owned by theGovernment of India.

Continued on page 30

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 2014 3

Rural India springs to lifeDuring a recent feature on India, BBC Television’sStephen Sackur asked a young middle class coupleat a Mumbai shopping mall a question or two aboutthe Indian growth story; according to them, it wasonly helping the rich get richer, while the poor gotpoorer. Mr Sackur followed this up with a visit to aslum and posed the same question to a couple offamilies living there. Their view was equally bleak.Their lives hadn’t improved one little bit. There isno reason to doubt their words. There are otherslike them across this vast land of 1.2 billion souls.To change the lives of a vast numbers of people withthe wave of a magic wand is fiction, not fact. MrSackur repeated this as gospel, applicable to theentire Indian experience. But this is far from thewhole truth, as the story of the new Dalit million-aires, related on this page a couple of weeks ago,amply illustrates. This issue’s Media Watch pagecarries a report on India’s Auto Expo show, with itspresence of the world’s leading automobile manu-facturers, foreign and domestic. And you knowwhat? Many of their number are pitching theirhopes, now and for the future, on India’s expandingrural market. These companies do a lot of expertmarket research before venturing into unknown ter-ritory. Not for them an easy interview or two (BBCstyle) and a glib conclusion ready for packaged onthe airwaves.

Maruti Suzuki was the first foreign company toenter India, and its impact on the country’s auto-mobile sector has been extraordinary. Its firstmodel, Maruti 800, was sold way back on 14December 1983, its last on 19 January 2014. Marutisales during this period reached 2.7 million. Theparent Japanese company never achieved the suc-cess at home or abroad that it did (and does) inIndia. The drab Ambassador was all one saw onIndian roads, until the Maruti 800 arrived on thescene. It was a defining moment the Indian car mar-ket and it signalled the dominance of the small carin India as never seen before. The upwardly mobileIndian middle class took to the Maruti 800 as a sta-tus symbol. Ambitions soared, as Maruti Suzuki

and its numerous competitors began manufacturingmore spacious models for a buoyant market drivenby a growing middle class whose incomes began tomatch the size of their pockets. There was a beliefthat the Maruti 800 would concentrate on the ruralmarket, but all good things have an allotted shelf-life, and Maruti 800 was no exception. Spare partswill be produced for another decade before the cur-tain is finally brought down. Even in rural India thedesire for advanced models of Maruti have startedtaking hold. If urban India can aim for more expen-sive models, rural India, with time, is sure to dolikewise. Incomes there are rising, as prosperousfarmers make their presence felt in villages, townsand cities. In the first nine months of 2013-14(April December) Maruti’s sales in rural India roseby 18 per cent. Its mobile services, carried in vansacross the countryside and urban conurbations, isan innovative selling point for the brand. Honda,South Korea’s Hyundai and India’s own Mahindra& Mahindra’s utility vehicles are also making sig-nificant headway. Urban demand for passenger carsmay be in the doldrums, but rural demand is bring-ing in the profits.

Rakesh Srivastava, Vice-President Sales andMarketing, Hyundai Motor India, says: “There is nodoubt that the Indian economy will bounce backand the entire road to recovery will start from ruralsales, and perhaps it may have begun.” He expectsimproved figures across the urban-rural spectrumfrom May. Increasing sales in rural market of cars,utility vehicles and two-wheelers (scooters andmotorbikes) point also to robust demand in appar-els and consumer durables. Clearly, the rural mar-ket during the economic slowdown is the driver ofIndia’s growth. With an approaching equilibriumbetween urban and rural markets, the Indian mar-ketplace is set to move to an appreciably higherlevel of development in the coming years, barringthe intervention of unforeseen circumstances. It ismore rewarding to take a holistic view of the Indianeconomy rather than rely on partial sight and fash-ionable clichés.

UK role Kolkata regenerationGreg Barker, British Minister for BusinessEngagement with India and Minister, Energy andClimate Change, visited this eastern metropolis atthe head of a 16-member delegation to strengthenbusiness ties with West Bengal and explore oppor-tunities in infrastructure, architectural restora-tion, the environment and education. Under the34-year-old blight of Communist-led Left Frontrule urban decay brought Kolkata into disrepute athome and abroad. The work of regeneration wastaken up with commendable vigour by theTrinamool government, which replaced the LeftFront in May 2011. Chief Minister MamataBanerjee has led from the front in revamping high-er education and instituting urban renewal as oneof her priorities.. British experts were invited tohelp develop a critical stretch of the State capitalbordering the Hoogly river. The venture has beena grand success. A new road network has beenlaid out and cafes and restaurants established onthe riverfront for citizens and tourists. Themakeover of the 200-year-old Indian Museum(financed by the Centre), now comparable withthe best in the world, was inaugurated recently byPrime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Realtyboom is changing the face of Kolkata. Speaking to

reporters on the sidelines of a seminar, Mr Barkersaid Britain was eyeing long-term investment pos-sibilities in Bengal and the eastern region as awhole. “We are looking to double our trade withIndia by 2015, and Kolkata is a strategic priorityfor British business,” he explained. India’s LookEast policy had added a new vibrancy to the busi-ness environment here, he said. “British expertsadvised on the riverfront development….and nowat the invitation of the State government, theexperts will be involved in the renovation ofWriters’ Building,” long the seat of the Raj and anarchitectural landmark, which fell into disrepairthrough years of deliberate Left-Front neglect.

At a seminar organized by the UK Trade andInvestment department, the British Deputy HighCommission and the Confederation of IndianIndustry, Mr Barker said India’s $1 trillion plan tobuild new infrastructure offered British infrastruc-ture companies exciting new prospects. The cre-ation of a Minister for Business Engagement withIndia was the only one of its kind in the Britishgovernment. David Cameron’s visit to these partsin November laid the groundwork of a revivedrelationship with Britain. There can only be win-ners in this ambitious venture.

Another horror story in Delhi Delhi provided another tale to its litany of horrors.This time it was the assault on a 21-year-old under-graduate student from the Northeast, Nido Tania,by a gang of thugs who had taunted him for hishair style and his features: to them he was Chinese,as if this were a crime. During an altercation, theyoung man was severely beaten; he was taken tohospital the next morning but succumbed to hisinjuries a few hours later. There was justifiable out-rage in Delhi’s Northeast student community andwidespread condemnation, beginning withNarendra Modi, who was addressing a publicmeeting in Meerut, Prime Minister ManmohanSingh and MPs of every political stripe. This, alas,is not enough. Young people from the Northeasthave been targeted in Bangalore, from where therewas a mass exodus, and a police picket in Mumbainot so long ago made offensive remarks to a group

of Northeastern visitors. In this instance theyinvited the policeman and the officer in charge totheir house, served them tea and cakes, andexplained to them that they were as Indian as anyother citizen, Mongoloid features, Christian faithand all. The policemen apologized for their behav-iour and, in turn, invited their hosts to the station.All ended well, but that is not the point. Whyshould such incidents occur at all? There is rela-tively little awareness in much of India, particular-ly in the Gangetic heartland, of the Northeast as anintegral part of India, there being virtually no ref-erence to the region or its people in school text-books or curricula. Such ignorance breeds alien-ation and hostility. It is time the racist disease istackled vigorously. Unless the Indian political classdesire a fraught future for themselves and theircountry.

COMMENT

Last week I was delight-ed to host and celebratethe 21st birthday of theNational HinduStudents Forum (UK) inParliament – the largestHindu student’s bodyoutside of India – withRt Hon Ed Miliband MPand NHSF founderManoj Ladwa as theGuest Speakers. Whilston the night I was proudto speak to so manyyoung, bright andengaged Hindu students,it was excellent to alsosee people of other faithspresent to celebrate andrecognise the achieve-ments of NHSF, and tobe proud to be support-ers of their work.

In my speech on thenight I talked about thevital work NHSF do toencourage more youngpeople to get involved inpolitics and public life,and how they haveshown a real ability todevelop civic leadershipin the next generation,combining an explo-ration of Hindu valueswith a deep sense ofpublic duty and respon-sibility. Their work onincreasing bone marrowdonations from minoritycommunities – the sub-ject of my 10 minute rulebill last year – is just onecase in point, highlight-ing public contributionthat goes beyond theneeds of the organisa-tion. In addition to seethe ongoing commit-ment of NHSF alumni isinspiring – young peoplewho have used theirskills to set up the HinduLawyers Associationand other networkswhich now are making adifference across ourbusiness and charitablesectors.

It is an encouragingfeature of modernBritain that diversity inpublic life is increasinglyvalued, and the AsianDiaspora is seen as a keyasset. The representa-tion and participation ofethnic minorities issomething we shouldcelebrate, and also cam-paign to increase. Atpresent ethnic minoritiesmake up just 4.2% of theHouse of Commons,with 27 non-white MPs.If the UK ethnic minori-ty population were rep-resented proportionally

in Parliament, thiswould be quadrupled.

But it is not justParliament where diver-sity and representationmatters. On local coun-cils where key decisionsare made about localservices, ethnic minori-ties make up around 4%of councillors in the UK.Ethnic minorities alsomake up just 5% of thepolice force, 6.6% ofteachers, and 4.8% ofthe judiciary.

The pathways intopublic life can be chal-lenging, and that’s whywe need to make it easi-er for ethnic minoritiesto participate in publiclife. The NHSF is a pow-erful example of thishappening – breakingbarriers for others to fol-low – and in this goal,pushing back the bound-aries, building thosevital connections withParliament and buildingthe confidence we needall our young people todevelop.

The Labour Partyhas always worked hardto break barriers of race,ethnicity and religion,through public engage-ment, encouragement,and policy. Most recent-ly Labour hasannounced that the nextLabour Governmentwould introduce a newlegal requirement forpolice forces, includingthe Metropolitan Police,to have active recruit-ment policies to increasediversity. Momentum inrecruiting more BAMEpolice officers has beenlost, and too manyforces are still not repre-sentative of the commu-nities they serve.Previously Labour alsohad in place targets fordiversity on publicboards – targets whichwere removed in 2010after which we haveseen ethnic minorityrepresentation fall.

At its heart, Labouris an internationalistparty, with diversity akey element of the OneNation Politics. That iswhy we are proud of ourhistory and our record,and passionate thatGovernment too playsits part to help ensureall our communities arewell represented in pub-lic life.

Seema Malhotra MP

Celebrating 21stbirthday of NHSF (UK)

Remember that there is nothing stable inhuman affairs; therefore avoid undueelation in prosperity or undue depressionin adversity

- Socrates (469-399 BC)

For Feltham and Heston

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 20144 MIDLANDS VOICE

ART & CULTURE

UK Professor bagsprestigious award in India

Professor Kamlesh Khunti for theLeicester Diabetes Centre, University ofLeicester was honored with a prestigiousaward for his contribution to “Excellencein Medical Research” at a ceremony inDelhi on 8th February. He was awardedthe Sardar Patel 8th International Awardfor 2013 by the Sardar Vallabhbhai PatelFoundation of India.The Foundation is based on Humanity

and Human rights to work for the improv-isation of the weaker section and went ina big way for creating health awareness allover India and abroad. The main foresightof the Foundation is to concentrate uponthe health awareness and education pro-gramme and implementation. Professor Khunti said “I am absolute-

ly honored to receive this award which isin recognition of the work than ProfessorMelanie Davies and I with our LeicesterDiabetes Team have been undertaking insouth Asians over the past 14 years.”

Bangladeshi man murderswife over land dispute

A British-Bangladeshiman has beenjailed for aminimum of15 years afterm u r d e r i n ghis estrangedwife in ar e p o r t e d l y"deranged" attack over a land dispute,involving his mother-in-law. The couplemarried in 2004 and had two children.

Mohammed Liaqat Ali (37), who hadmoved to the UK in 1998, strangled hiswife Lilima Akter Munny (27) in June2013 after months of rows over a propertyin Bangladesh, which he had demanded tobe given to him.Birmingham Crown Court heard that

the couple's children had not been pickedup from school by their mother on June 13,when police were alerted by a relative.West Midlands police gained entry into

the family's home the next morning anddiscovered Mrs Munny's body at the foot ofthe stairs. A post-mortem examinationlater found that she died from pressure tothe neck.

Football fan arrested forcausing racially aggravated

harassment A 25-year-old manhas been chargedwith causingracially aggravatedharassment afterhe was found tear-ing pages from theQuran during afootball match.

Mark Stephenson was arrested follow-ing the incident during the BirminghamCity vs Middlesborough game on 7December. Stephenson from Shrewsbury,will appear at Birmingham Magistrates'Court on February 28.West Midlands Police reportedly said

that Mr Stephenson had been charged with"causing racial or religiously aggravatedharassment, alarm or distress".

The officials in Leicesterhave designated River Soaras the holy river Ganga orGanges of the UK. By tradi-tion Hindus, Jains andSikhs immerse ashes inGanges, that runs acrossIndia into the Bay ofBengal. The officials havedeclared that members ofIndian origin can scatterashes of the deceased inRiver Soar- a quiet, leafyspot on the river, that hasbeen especially designatedfor the same. The spot, nearthe National Space Centre,has been identified by theLeicester City Council andthe Environment Agencyfollowing after calls forsuch a facility locally fromthe city’s Hindu, Jain andSikh communities, as it isoften difficult for them togo all the way India, to scat-ter the ashes. This spot isalso away from any anglingclubs, boating clubs or

other organisationswhich also use the river.Leicester Assistant CityMayor for culture, her-itage, leisure and sport,Cllr Piara Singh Clair,reportedly said, “Localfaith group leaders havebeen asking us for sometime for a suitable siteon the River Soar inLeicester for scatteringashes, and followingwork with theEnvironment Agencywe’ve identified thislocation”.He further added, “It

meets many of therequirements in terms ofbeing a discrete, quietspot suitable for such aceremony, but is alsoeasily accessible andsafe for people to use”.A spokesperson of

the Environment Agencyreportedly said: “Asheshave little impact on water

quality, but other itemsshould not be placed inwater with them. Wreaths

can contain metal or plasticwhich can cause litter orharm wildlife.”

Leicester's River Soar to betreated as UK's holy river Ganga

River Ganges in Varanasi

River Soar in Leicester

Professor Kamlesh Khunti receiving hisaward from Honorable Chief Guest ShriBalmiki Prasad Singh, Former Governor ofSikkim and Shri Ram Avtaar Sastry at

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, New Delhi, India

Lilima Akter Munny andMohammed Liaqat Ali

In a unique Industry and artists initia-tive to promote indigenous arts fromIndia, The Confederation of IndianIndustry’s UK office, State Bank ofIndia, UK and Air India UK andEurope, joined hands to support thelaunch of 'Arts & Culture of India'. Anorganisation set up with the objectiveof promoting Indian heritage arts andculture in the UK, bringing the best oftraditional and modern art forms fromdiverse areas.'Arts and Culture of India' aims to

provide a platform to traditional Indianart for a global audience and raiseawareness about the heritage and theartisans who, till today, practises theindigenous art form which is passeddown from one generation to another.The initiative was formally

launched by Mrs Sangeeta Bahadur,Minister Culture, High Commission ofIndia in UK and Director NehruCentre, London at the opening cere-mony of the two day exhibition ofexquisite paintings and art on fabric byIndian artists and fashion designer.Honourable Shri. Ranjan Mathai,

the Indian High Commissioner to UKtook keen interest in learning aboutKalighat patachitra on display by ruralartists of Bengal and the textiles showby Neishaa Gharat brought together byArts and Culture of India. The Chief Guests for the evening

included Mr Rajesh Agrawal,Chairman & CEO Rational FX, Ms.Sangeeta Bahadur (Sinha), Minister(Culture) High Commission of Indiaand Director, The Nehru Centre, Mr.Kailash Singh, Regional Manager AirIndia UK/Ireland/Europe, Mr.Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, RegionalHead State Bank of India (UK Region)and Mr. CB Patel, Publisher/Editor,Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar The launch showcased a rare col-

lection of Kalighat Patachitra, watercolours on paper by BhaskarChitrakar, a traditional practitioner ofKalighat Paintings in Calcutta.Kalighat painting or KalighatPatachitra originated in the 19th cen-tury Bengal, in the vicinity of KaliTemple in Kalighat, Calcutta, India,and from being items of souvenir takenby the visitors to the Kali temple, thepaintings over a period of time devel-oped as a distinct school of Indian

painting.Ms Mamata Banerjee, the Chief

Minister of West Bengal, wrote a per-sonal note to applaud the initiative tohelp a dying form of art revive its roots.The idea took shape among friends

who were inspired with the opportuni-ty of preserving the heritage of Indianindigenous art, which is largelyunknown to the international audi-ence. The designer Neishaa Gharat, ofHouse of Gharats is already on the wayto create the first range of accessoriesinspired by Kalighat Paintings.On display were exquisite oils on

canvas works of Shri. Udayraj A.Gadnis, a Guru, a Mystic and aPainter. His mystical & fascinatingpaintings are inspired by world spiritu-

alism rooted in ancient Indian wis-dom." The exhibition also brought to

London art lovers, beautifully handcrafted textile creations by Indianborn, London based designer and

Entrepreneur, Neishaa Gharat. DiviaPatel, Curator, Asian Department -Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)shared an interesting talk about art inIndian textiles and the collection at theV&A.This 'Arts and Culture of India' will

continue to bring to UK art lovers,exquisite art from India in a long terminitiative to promote Indian indige-nous art and artisans, taking it to aglobal audience and finding them aglobal appreciation and market."

'Arts and Culture of India' launched in London

Mr Rajesh Agarwal, Ms Neishaa Gharat, Mr Mahapatra, Dr Lahiri, Shri Udayraj Gadnis,Mr K Singh, Ms Sangeeta Bahadur, Ms Divia Patel and Mr C B Patel

HE Ranjan Mathai, the Indian High Commissioner being shown around by Ms Neishaa Gharat


Looking for authentic Indian rice recipes made easy?Looking for authentic Indian rice recipes made easy?Looking for authentic Indian rice recipes made easy?Looking for authentic Indian rice recipes made easy?Looking for authentic Indian rice recipes made easy?


In my capacity of alongstanding HarrowCouncillor and theAssembly Member forBrent and Harrow I’vetaken huge pride inHarrow’s diverse cul-ture and community.Also as a local residentand working activelywith local communitiesand organisations I’vepromoted communitycohesion and the proudrecord Harrow has as adiverse and peacefulBorough. This has beenachieved through anumber of local initia-tives one of which beingHarrow’s flagship com-munity event ‘Under 1Sky’. Unfortunately dueto short-sightedness ofTories in Harrow, thisfestival is under threat.I strongly urge the resi-dents of Harrow tooppose the plans toscrap this event by sign-ing our petition. Pleasesee below for details. In the early period it

was the HarrowHeritage Trust whocommenced this impor-tant initiative – fol-lowed by HarrowCouncil. I remember itwell, working on the

concept and details ofUnder One Sky withCllr Bill Stephenson inaround 2005 when hewas portfolio holder forEducation and I wasLeader of HarrowCouncil. The project inessence was designedto bring togetherHarrow’s communitiesand celebrate our richcultures through thisannual festival. Sincethose early days a lot ofwork has gone to shapeand strengthen theannual celebrations.Under 1 Sky festivalhas grown fromstrength to strengthwith 60,000+ peopleattending. In the mainthe festival brings thefollowing benefits toHarrow:1. Brings Communitiestogether to celebrateculture and diversity inHarrow.2. Young and Old peo-ple alike attend theevent along with par-ents and families.3. The festival is high-light of the calendaryear for schools, volun-tary organisation andcommunities that con-tribute and perform at

the festival. 4. It is a flagship com-munity event that putsHarrow on the map.I agree with David

Perry Leader of LabourGroup on HarrowCouncil that“Conservatives do notunderstand theCommunity in whichthey claim to serve. TheUnder 1 Sky festivalhas a great familyatmosphere year afteryear and there is a realbuzz around the placeas our communities cel-ebrate diversity togeth-er. Scrapping ofHarrows flagship com-munity festival willnegatively impact onthe community whenthe Council should bestrengthening commu-nity relations now morethan ever”. I urge thereaders to sign our peti-tion to re-instate Under1 Sky festival by sign-ing our petition.

Please visit my website www.navin-

shah.com or email meon [email protected] or emailCllr David Perry [email protected]

Save Harrow’s Community Festival ‘UNDER 1 SKY’

Navin Shah, GLA Member for Brent and Harrow

“Our London”

A woman has undergonea miracle operation aftershe turned up at hospitalwith a football-sizedtumour on her neck whichweighed two kilograms.

Joyce Haigh, 79, hadthe largest ever tumourreported in the UK, afterliving with it for a remark-able 20 years.

Mr MuhamadQuraishi, an ear, nose andthroat surgeon wasresponsible for removing

the tumour during a five-hour operation atDoncaster RoyalInfirmary.Mrs Haigh said: 'I

know I should have donesomething sooner aboutthe tumour, but I wasn't inany pain and, I amashamed to say, I wasafraid to go to the doctors

about it.“I saw Mr Quraishi

before Christmas, and hewas wonderful.

“The staff atDoncaster RoyalInfirmary were marvel-lous and I can't thankthem enough.”Mr Quraishi said: “In

the whole of my 20-yearmedical career, I can hon-estly say that I have neverseen or treated such amassive tumour. I havenow found out thatJoyce's lump is the largestto have been removedfrom somebody's head orneck at Doncaster andBassetlaw Hospitals andthe largest ever reportedin UK.”

Pakistani doctor successfullyremoves woman's 2kg tumour

Former manager at LordR o t h s c h i l d ’ sinvestment trust, ViniAujla, has successfullysecured £50,000 of fund-ing from the BBC’sDragons’ Den programmeto help with hercurry sauce business.Vini Aujla, who for-

merly worked at RITCapital, and her husband,Bal, who are of Punjabiorigin, successfully sold a30pc stake in their busi-ness in exchange for fund-ing and mentoring. Theyare the first British Asiancouple to win an invest-ment on the programme.Since the episode was

filmed the couplehave secured a deal with JSainsbury to supply300 stores with theirsauces. The couple hopeto follow in the footstepsof other successful foodcompanies to feature onthe show.The Aujlas founded

their business two yearsago and applied toDragons’ Den for morecapital to help them togrow. Previous winners were

Levi Roots’ Reggae ReggaeSauce, whosecured £50,000 from MrJones on the programmein February 2007, and isnow a millionaire, withhis hot sauce available atoutlets such as

Morrisons, Subway andDomino’s Pizza.M e a n w h i l e ,

Mancunian twins Helenand Lisa Tse, whoreceived £50,000 fromDragons Hilary

Devey and DuncanBannatyne to fund theirSweet Mandarin saucesfirm in September 2012,have since gone on to beawarded MBEs for servic-es to food and drink.

Convicted criminal AshrafIslam, pictured, 31, whoplotted to killPrince Harry, has beenjailed for three years. Islam, 31, justified his

actions by reportedly say-ing he had a “moral rightto judge” the royal becausehe disagreed with the workof the British ArmedForces, of whichPrince Harry is a member.The judge at Isleworth

Crown Court in

London described Islam’splot as “vague and unlike-ly to succeed”, but said he

still presented a risk tothe public. Islam, who isfrom west London, wasgiven a three-year jailterm. He pleaded guilty tomaking a threat tokill Prince Harry, atUxbridge MagistratesCourt in May 2013. Defence counsel

Roxanne Morrell has saidthat Islam had earlierhanded himself in to policeand volunteered the infor-mation about the plot.

Mr Muhamad Quraishi

Criminal Ashraf Islam jailed for 3years for plotting Prince's murder

Former finance manages secures £50,000from Dragon's Den for curry business

The Muslim free Al-Madinah school, whichshot to headlines inNovember last year afterOfsted found it to be fail-ing on all fronts, has nowbeen ordered to stopteaching older childrenafter the Government saidthat its quality was toopoor to improve.Al-Madinah secondary

school in Derby will beshut this summer and its137 pupils forced to findplaces elsewhere. A pri-mary school with 170pupils that is part of Al-Madinah will remainopen. The school was

taken over by GreenwoodDale Foundation Trust inNottingham in Novemberafter its poor Ofstedreport. Despite the impo-sition of new leadershipand governance, theDepartment for Educationsaid that it would close thesecondary school. LordNash, the School’sMinister said that he wasconcerned about the

“poor quality of secondaryteaching and the lack ofbreadth in the curricu-lum”. Barry Day, the chief

executive of theGreenwood Dale group,who is now Chairman ofthe Al-Madinah Trust,wrote to parents, saying:“We accept the depart-ment’s assessment that aconcerted focus on the pri-mary school will help turnthe school around.”The Department for

Education said: “Webelieve the new boardneeds to focus efforts onthe primary school.”

Free Al-Madinah Muslim schoolordered to close down

Speaker John Bercow speaks out againstincrease in female MPs leaving Parliament John Bercow has spokenout against the increasing“woman problem” withinthe political parties. Hiscomments came after EdMiliband last week usedTheresa May’s absencefrom Prime Minister’sQuestions to criticiseDavid Cameron's "all-male front bench" claim-ing that the Governmenthad "failed women". TheLabour Party and theConservatives haveaccused each other offailing to recruit andmaintain enough womenwith four Conservative

female MPs and sevenfemale Labour MPsalready announcing theirintention to resign at thenext election. The LiberalDemocrats have alsobeen criticised for onlyhaving just seven out of57 women MPs, five ofwhom are in the party's12 most vulnerable seats.

John Bercow

William Hague's 'noted'public speaking skills areundeniable, particularlyas he constructed hisstatement on the CabinetSecretary’s investigationinto Britain’s role in theattack on the GoldenTemple in 1984 withextreme precision. The investigation was

announced and it becameimmediately apparent thatthe Cabinet Secretary hadread extensively. Yet he managed to

rather carefully leave onefile out, which had notbeen subjected to a foren-sic search. The file, whichwas on Britain's advice toIndia on the Golden

Temple, is seemed to havebeen destroyed by theMinistry of Defence.Hague reportedly saidthat it was shredded aspart of a “routine process”at the “25-year reviewpoint”. The vital file, itseems, could have beenthe missing piece to thepuzzle.

'Vague Hague' leaves out one crucial file in Bluestar Investigation

UKwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 2014 7

Harrow children get chattering to raise money for charity Children from LittleDarling Childcare inHarrow are joining togeth-er on Monday 17 Februaryto participate in I CAN’sChatterbox Challenge –the annual sponsoredsing-along from I CAN,the children’s communica-tion charity at 55 SeftonAvenue, Harrow, HA3 5JP.Children aged 1-5

years at different abilitylevels are learning songsand rhymes on the theme‘Sounds like Fun withHumf’. They will then per-form this in an inclusivesponsored ChatterboxChallenge event in front offamilies and carers. Darshna Morzaria

from Little DarlingChildcare said, “We arereally excited about ourchildren takingpart in I CAN’sC h a t t e r b o xC h a l l e n g e .‘Sounds like Funwith Humf’themed songsand rhymes meanthat we can helpour childrendevelop key skillsneeded for theircommunicationd e v e l o pmen t ,whilst havingfantastic fun. Onthe day, childrenwill sing a num-ber of nurseryrhymes they have

been practicing, make footand hand prints and talkabout other parts of thebody and finally talk aboutdifferent emotions to helpthem with their communi-cation. Our parents arefully supportive of thisevent and we hope to raiseover £600 for I Can’s char-

ity”. Kate Freeman,Chatterbox ChallengeLead Advisor said, “TheChatterbox Challenge iswritten with the EarlyYears Foundation Stage(EYFS) in mind to ensure

young children taking partdevelop their speaking, lis-tening and understandingwhilst having great fun.We hope as many groupsas possible will take partand help raise money for I

CAN’s work withchildren who havecommunicat iondifficulties.” Thanks to

sponsorship of theChallenge fromOpenreach, a BTGroup Business,alongside TTS,the suppliers ofhigh quality edu-c a t i o n a lresources, allmoney raised bygroups taking partin the Challengegoes directly to ICAN’s work withsome of the 1.2

million UK children whostruggle with theirspeech, language andcommunication. Humf,from the popular chil-dren’s TV show, is alsosupporting the Challengeagain this year. Chatterbox Challenge

week is 10-16th Februarybut groups can take partin the Challenge at anytime of the year. To regis-ter for your free fundrais-ing activity pack, or tofind out about Humf andTTS prizes, go towww.chat terboxcha l -lenge.org.uk. For moredetails about childcare inHarrow, please contact

Sanjay Morzaria on07932 623852. Little Darling

Childcare is a childmind-ing setting based inHarrow Weald. It is wellestablished locally with areputation of providinginspirational home-to-home childcare. It isunique in offering flexible,affordable childcare andexcellent facilities to keepchildren safe and active.I CAN is the children’s

communication charity.They ensure that no childis left out or left behindbecause of a difficultyspeaking or understand-ing.

Darshna Morzaria

Children practicing their song

Children learning about expressing emotions

Contact email: [email protected]: 07932 623 852

Website: www.little-darling.co.uk

An undercover probe haswitnessed widespreadcheating and fraud withinthe UK's student visa sys-tem which has allowedabout 200,000 foreignersinto Britain annually. Thishas prompted the govern-ment to suspend the cru-cial English test, run byEnglish Testing Service(ETS), one of the world'sbiggest English languagetesting companies. A BBCinvestigation revealed thata network of agents werefound helping overseasstudents pass English lan-guage exams, obtain falsedocuments and doctortheir academic records. The Panorama pro-

gramme filmed a secureexam centre where "fakesitters" answered ques-tions or invigilators readout the answers for thecandidates. The "fake sit-ters" thereafter submittedtheir answers to a secureterminal, while the realcandidates were called to

be photographed as"proof" of taking the test.In one case, an undercov-er reporter also paid £500to an immigration consul-tancy in West London, fora 'guaranteed pass' in anofficial test. Labour's shadow

Home Secretary YvetteCooper said the investiga-tion showed that theimmigration system wasfailing.A Home Office state-

ment reportedly said: "Wehave taken action and sus-pended the two collegesidentified in the pro-gramme." "Applications made by

students in the UK usingthe English TestingService or associated withthe colleges or immigra-tion advisors mentionedin the programme havebeen put on hold pendingthe outcome of thoseinvestigations. All furtherEnglish language testsdone through ETS in the

UK have been suspend-ed." UK Home Secretary

Theresa May said, "Fortoo long many colleges,particularly private or fur-ther education colleges,have been selling visasand not education. It istime for them to face upto their responsibilities aspurveyors of educationand not abuse..." In a statement, ETS

has reportedly said that it"maintains one of themost thorough test securi-ty protocols in the worldand works closely with in-country representatives tomonitor all aspects of testdelivery". "When testing on a

global basis, no testprovider can claim 100%prevention or detection offraudulent activity, butETS does everything itcan to detect and preventrare instances of dishon-est test administrators ortest takers.”

The first female genitalmutilation (FGM) pros-ecution will be takingplace in the next fewweeks after Britainlaunched a united effortto end its horrific recordof the crime. The case,which involves a womanwho was mutilatedtwice, will be the firstprosecution since thepractice was crimi-nalised 28 years ago. Yet, senior police

officer Jason Ashwood,head of Scotland Yard’sFGM team, has warnedthat the prospect ofmore prosecutions wasbeing stopped by the factthat doctors, teachersand social workers arefailing to report thecrime.More than 65,000

girls aged under 13 inBritain are at risk of

FGM, according to thelatest research. Yetreports to the police areextremely low. Therewere only 24 to WestMidlands Police in 2012and 69 to theMetropolitan Police lastyear.Efforts are hampered

by difficulties obtainingevidence, getting younggirls to testify and confu-sions over the legal defi-nition of FGM.The Crown

Prosecution Service hasestablished a network of

specialist prosecutorsthroughout England andWales to work withpolice. It is currentlyexamining ten cases inLondon. The new net-work, with a prosecutorappointed in each regionto lead on FGM, opensup the likelihood ofprosecutions throughoutthe country.The College of

Policing also plans totrain all frontline policeofficers in spotting out-ward signs of FGM andother “honour-basedcrimes”. The move, partof a national revamp ofthe police approach tochild sexual exploita-tion, comes as theInspectorate ofConstabulary preparesto conduct a nationalinspection of so-called“honour crimes”.

First female genital mutilationprosecution after 28 years

BBC Panorama uncoversstudent visa scam in Britain

Speaking during theSecond Reading of theImmigration Bill in theHouse of Lords, LordNavnit Dholakia spoke ofthe urgent need for achange of emphasis onimmigration and forgreater recognition of thevaluable contribution eli-gible migrants make tothis country and its econo-my. Whilst Lord Dholakiadid not: “dispute that allmajor political parties sub-

scribe to fair and justimmigration policies andprocedures,” he stated:“the greater the emphasison excluding the ineligi-ble, the tougher are therules introduced by suc-cessive Governments”.This resulted, LordDholakia believed, in acomplicated and lengthyprocess that causedunnecessary expense tothose that are eligible.

A detailed story on

Lord Dholakia's com-ments will be published innext week's Asian Voice.

Lord Dholakia urges a change of emphasis on immigrationMiliband praises Thatcher's governing approach Labour leader Ed Miliband has out-

lined his vision of improving the statesector, by praising former Tory PMMargaret Thatcher. He has pledged togovern Britain with the dedicationshown by Margaret Thatcher as he out-lined plans to give ordinary people morecontrol of public services. The Labourleader said that Thatcher’s “sense ofpurpose” was essential to effective gov-ernment. In his speech, Mr Miliband,

who is due to visit India next week,explained his views on the reform ofpublic services, promising changes thatwould give NHS patients and parents ofschool children more power in the run-ning of hospitals and schools. MrMiliband closed by saying that he wasdetermined to tackle “inequalities ofpower” in public services: “Everyone -not just those at the top - should havethe chance to shape their own lives.”


Every day is different in the UK– especially weather wise,sometimes with three or morevariations. But everyWednesday is rather differentwhen the PMQ (Prime Minister’sQuestions) are taking place inthe House of Commons.

Its entertainment value is no less thanthe informative one. It is said that therestaurants and clubs frequentlyfavoured by MPs, media persons, lob-byists have plentiful guests duringParliamentary recess. Consequently,they have a lean period during thePMQ sessions.Perhaps for NRIs and those inter-

ested in day-to-day news from India,satellite TV Channels provide a moreeasy and accessible avenue. There arescores of such broadcasts, beamed atUK from India. Bollywood, Cricket,financial scandals, sensational expo-sures by some adventurous media areadded with incremental value present-ly by the forthcoming general electionin India. In less than 100 days, suchan easily available entertainment islikely to end. Let’s look at what is hap-pening right now.On Monday (10th February) some-

thing rather surprising to many, hap-pened in Gandhinagar during theinauguration ceremony of the BJP’sGujarat headquarters. I was pleasant-ly surprised when such a senior politi-cian like LK Advani kept on heapingpraise on Narendra Modi. Mr. Advanisaid Narendra Modi has brought a sea-change, all over India, for the BJP. Heis not only hopeful but almost confi-dent that BJP will do much much bet-ter this time than ever before.Mr. Advani also lavishly praised

Mr. Modi’s organising skill, oratory,deep knowledge of the history of Indiacoupled with his long experience ofrunning a Gujarat State so successful-ly. Mr. Advani discarded all his previ-ous reservations regarding Mr. Modi.This will not only be highly pleas-

ing to Mr. Modi and his supporters aswell as millions of voters all over Indiawho are traditional supporters of BJP,besides those who have been flockingto the Namo Chai stalls up and downthe country. No doubt it will be upset-ting the Congress party’s strategistswho are becoming very edgy about theunited approach of the BJP stalwartsin different parts of India.This election would be a watershed

for the future of India. For last threedecades or so India was ruled by coali-tions of parties with the mix bag ofstaunch regional parties as well assome with extreme leftwing ideology.Such a hotchpotch prevents the PrimeMinister in pursuing to promote themost appropriate strategy for thedevelopment of the country as well asfair distribution of the nationalresources. Dependence on certainnotorious individuals in the regionalparties compelled the Prime Ministerto ignore inefficiency as well as toler-ate corruption in all parts of India.A brilliant economist, an honest

and reasonably efficient administrator,and the one who opened the doors ofliberalization in 1991, was preventedto take the process further. The realpower remained with Sonia Gandhi,the UPA chairperson. All vehicles withbackseat drivers are susceptible to beaccident prone. Though the end of tentorturous years for Dr. ManmohanSingh, perhaps, could be a relief whenhe relinquishes his position of thePrime Minister of India. Dr. Singh isnot frequently heard campaigning forhis party. The main responsibility(burden) is on the shoulders of Rahul

Gandhi, scion of the Gandhi-Nehrudynasty and who has been groomed asPrime Minister for last one decade.Rahul Gandhi is working very

hard, perhaps too hard. He is nomatch to Narendra or Arun Jaitley orSushma Swaraj and the other stal-warts of BJP. Rahul was in Bardoli(South Gujarat) on Saturday. Bardolibecame internationally famous in1928 when the farmers refused to paythe revenue to the government due tonear famine situation and won thatcampaign hands down. Barrister Vallabhbhai Patel led

that campaign so successfully thateven in a House of Commons’ debatethe Secretary of State for India wasreportedly using the word ‘Bardolized’but that is history which made SardarPatel as universally accepted leader ofIndian masses. Rahul Gandhi and theCongress bigwigs are upset and angrythat near Sardar Sarovar Dam on theRiver Narmada the tallest statue isbeing erected (The Statue of Unity) ofSardar Patel. This project is a pet proj-ect of Chief Minister Narendra Modiof Gujarat and it is very much wel-come and popular initiative forIndians everywhere.Rahul Gandhi blasted Narendra

Modi on Saturday. Sardar Patel was aCongressman who had allegedly calledRSS, a divisive and poisonous outfit.According to Rahul, it was RSSbehind the murder of MahatmaGandhi. Those who have read historyor the proceedings of the trial of theassassin of Mahatma Gandhi(Nathuram Godse) know this is far-fetched and untrue. Naturally, if PMQin House of Commons becomes aslanging match between DavidCameron and Ed Miliband than it isnot surprising that Narendra Modigave a fitting reply on the same day inhis three huge election rallies inImphal (Manipur), Guwahati (Assam)and later in the evening in Chennai(Tamilnadu).Bardoli is almost at the edge of

tribal belt surrounding three sides ofGujarat State. Up until the recentelections this area was a safe preserveof the Congress party. In the 2004 and2009 elections BJP was able to scoresome success. But after the state elec-tions of Gujarat in 2012 the only hopeof a substantial Congress win appearsto be in this tribal belt. Fortunately forthe Congress, renowned andrespectable person, Mr. MadhusudanMistry, has worked tirelessly for yearsin serving tribals, dalits and otherdepressed people in some parts of thetribal belt. Of late Mr. Mistry had been

elected as the congress member for theUpper House (Rajya Sabha) of India.He is also a close adviser of RahulGandhi.Last week, at a meeting of the

Congress party in Delhi, RahulGandhi made an announcement thatthe Congress workers should dig outscandals of BJP and Narendra Modion war footings. This also appears tobe a futile exercise. For last ten yearsUPA was the power that ruled India.They have CBI, IB and the whole gov-ernment machinery and they havebeen watching Narendra Modi almostday and night. The allegations abouthis wife and his woman friend and oncorruption, nothing worthwhile hasbeen found out. Even in the gover-nance of Gujarat there is nothing sofar which is able to pin downNarendra Modi for his illegal or unac-ceptable behaviors. Even SIT andother high powered investigationshave given him clean chit.Last week the CBI in the report

about Ishrat Jahan encounter refusedto put any blame on Amit Shah, aclose confident of Narendra Modi andthe a man in-charge of Uttar Pradesh,India’s largest state with a populationof nearly 200 million, which is largerthan several members nations ofUnited Nations. Narendra Modi’s campaign is focus

on omissions and commissions of theCongress led UPA government. I sub-mit that it is his duty and the approachis right. The voters of India want toknow, what was done which was unac-ceptable and what was not done whichwas expected from Central govern-ment over last 10 years.(The cash-for-vote scam, 2G spectrum scam andCommonwealth Games scam to namea few.)There is unending series of finan-

cial corruption of Himalayan sizeincluding some serious allegationagainst Robert Vadara, son in law ofSonia Gandhi who is alleged to haveamassed disproportionate amountworth billions of rupees. It is noteworthy that, no such alle-

gations have been levelled againstModi or his relations. When the peo-ple in power all-around you areinvolved in corrupt practices, it is noteasy to refrain from such malprac-tices. Rahul, Sonia, Digvijay Singh and

many such individuals have only onetheme to attack Narendra Modi, thecommunal tragedy of March 2002,about which even the SIT report hasnot implicated Narendra Modi. Very

sadly, all the times they ignore whathappened near the Godhra RailwayStation on 28 February, 2002. They donot utter a word on what happened inDelhi aftermath Indira Gandhi’sassassination on 31 October 1984when several thousand Sikhs werebutchered by the Congress goons.Narendra Modi will naturally focus

on the financial scandals and vastamount of money from the nationalexchequer being squandered in thepre-election bribery.In the last 10 days such irresponsi-

ble bribing has continued. The extrasubsidies for gas bottles would costRs. 50 billion ($800 million) accordingto FICCI. Adding to the Rs. 1400 bnalready been spent in the currentfinancial year on subsidizing oil andoil products. Subsidies are big burdenand bane against development. Justtwo days ago the UPA government inNew Delhi launched the country’s lat-est pay commission which is expectedto raise substantially.Such pre-election largesse happens

to be the habit of the Congress party.Prior to the election of 2008 the loanwaivers to the farmers cost Indianexchequer some $ 15 billion, as report-ed by FT (6th February, Thursday).No party has yet announced anythingon that scale up until now, but whoknows. Desperate situations necessi-tate desperate actions. The Congresswould have no compunction in prom-ising unrealistic ‘gifts’.The finance minister Mr.

Chidambaram is a very capable andHarvard educated politician. Hepromised the investors in the speechin the Indian Parliament that he willlimit the budget deficit to 4.8 per centof gross domestic products. But to doso he has had to push some spendingplans to the following financial yearand extract a special interim dividendfrom the state-owned Coal Indiaworth $2.6 billion to the treasury.Indian electorate is not unaware of

such irresponsible mis-managementboth on the national and internationalaspects of India. This year, there are97 million new voters. Narendra Modiis receiving rousing reception in allparts of India. BJP would do muchbetter than what it was able to achievefive years ago and is likely to achieveworking majority in IndianParliament. India needs it and it is thedemand of the moment. One wouldwish 1.25 billion Indians would getgood and effective government.

- CB

As I See It

Indian Electorate deserve efficient Government

Rahul Gandhi LK Advani Mahatma Gandhi Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Mr. Chidambaram

Dr. Manmohan Singh Arun Jaitley Ed Miliband David Cameron Narendra Modi


Chiraag Patel is theOwner and Head Coachof Health and Fitness atBody ConsciousConditioning. He is also aTrack and Field Coachwith UK Athletics.

As a child, he strug-gled with a few healthproblems; he was skinny,had asthma, and sufferedfrom back pains aggravat-ed by playing sport. Whendoctors couldn’t locateany major health con-cerns and recommendedthat he avoid strenuousexercise, Chiraag wasdetermined to find a solu-tion independently.

He read everything hecould from books on per-sonal training and sportsconditioning to scientificstudies about biomechan-ics and corrective exer-cise. Chiraag then readeverything he couldabout rehabilitation ther-apies, diet and nutrition.Over time, he curedhis back pain and healedhis asthma using selflearning. Today, fit andhealthy, Chiraag educatespeople to do the same.

Chiraag pursued aca-demic studies in ExerciseScience, Nutrition andSports Therapies. Hisdecision to become aHealth and Fitness Coachwas a natural progression.

I benefit from Chiraagas he is my Circuits classinstructor at Eden gym inEaling and I enjoy hishard but gentle teaching.

Chiraag was born inLondon in 1982, to amother from Gujarat,India, and a UgandanIndian father from

Kampala. “Growing up in

London, I spent a lot oftime around Nagin Fuwaas my dad has a strongrelationship with him. Astime went on, NaginFuwa’s health starteddeteriorating and at thesame time he would studyand create naturalayurvedic Indian reme-dies, which helped himfight back. Living in awestern culture mostwould run to the doctorfor some pharmaceuticaldrug to be sold to them!

I wondered whatcaused this quick reduc-tion of health in NaginFuwa, and saw how hisway of fighting back wasto use India's ayurvedicpowers to stay strong. I'msure these elements influ-enced me.”

For Chiraag every-thing was sports related.During his childhood,Asian families focused onthe grades achieved in theclass room and very littleoutside.

“So growing up I did itthe traditional way, study-ing, yet my mind andheart told me this is notfor me so when my schooloffered opportunities tostudy coaching courses inathletics and football, Itook them. A few eventsin life encouraged me tochoose sport. Eventhough no one in the fam-ily said anything negativeabout it, I could see it was

not the most agreeabledecision for my family.

For Chiraag, thetoughest part was makingit all work becauseresources were limited orundeveloped. He said,

“One day it all startedwhen I was introduced toa gym. I’m an outdoortype of person so puttingme inside a box did notseem right. Yet I pro-gressed with it regardlessand was introduced topeople who were notsports participants yetwanted to be active,healthy and fit.”

This is when I had anepiphany about NaginFuwa, my passion forsport combining withlearning about the ill-nesses Asians/ Indiansare prone to such as highcholesterol, heart dis-ease, lack of vitamin D,and diabetes. Thesethings can be influencedby where in the world youlive, and how you chooseto live, not just by yourDNA.” Chiraag explained.

Chiraag tells students,athletes, private and cor-porate clients about exer-cise and food - that beingoverweight or fat is only aside effect of their sur-roundings and exercisecan make an impact ontheir results whether forpersonal health or forsports. “Because you caneat all the healthy foodsthe world has to offer andthink you are what you

eat, yet the truth is youare what you absorb andwhat you absorb is downto how well your bodyfunctions,” he revealed.

He volunteers his timeto coach athletes at Ealingand Middlesex athleticsclub.

At the 2012 Olympicsin London. Chiraag guid-ed young athletes from hisclub to assist with the suc-cessful delivery of thegames. “I enjoyed guid-ing the young with theirresponsibilities of lookingafter athletes, showingthem how to conductthemselves while remind-ing them that one day thiscan be them. I told themto absorb the atmosphereand when you stand onthat track in the Olympicstadium imagine it's youthese people are here tosee win. These experi-ences can change the wayyouth believe in what ispossible and in turn allowtheir parents to beinspired by their children.

Exercise, says Chiraag,is the ultimate way toreconnect with your bodyand youth. His mantra isthe Kiss and TellPrinciple- K.I.S.S (Keep itsimple and smile) andS.A.I.D (specific adapta-tion to imposed demands)

Connect with Chiraagvia www.body-conscious.comorwww.facebook.com//bodycc

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 201410 YOUR VOICE

Do you really want ourculture and heritage to exist?If you really want our culture and her-itage to exist in the future, I believe ourolder generation need to take a big step.If our elders refuse to allow our youngergeneration to take charge then it's asgood as our culture and heritage nolonger existing in the UK.

These days it is easy for everyone topoint the finger at the younger genera-tion. However, have the older generationever thought what the younger genera-tion is actually thinking?

There are many british youngsterswho are excelling in Bhajans andSangeet, however unfortunately whenBhajan programs take place here in theUK, there seems to be some elders whorefuse to give encouragement and anopportunity to our younger generation,

How do you then expect this aspect ofour culture to exist in the future? I saythis to our older generation, please allowour younger generation to step up, seeingthis another 10 youngsters may come for-ward, seeing these 10 another 20 maycome forward. Then only will I trulybelieve that the flame of our culture andheritage will continue to burn bright onBritish soil through our future youngergenerations. Elders awake arise and nur-ture our future generations!

Vila Fatania Via Post

The shower that rulesDinesh Sheth’s questions why we “letforeigners rule over India” and “owninghouse and car?” are valid.

Caste system: India was ruled by for-eigners, because local public left fightingthe invaders to the rulers. Commonerscarried on their vocation under new ruler.Brahmins dictated raj-dharma to newrulers.

Feudal system made general public,blindly obey new of rulers and advisers.

Our unsympatheticpoliticians

Few years back our neighbour moved toDevon where they used to spend summerholidays. They wanted to relive theirpleasant memories, welcome their grand-children in their beautiful seaside homebought from sale proceeds of theirLondon home and sinking personal sav-ings.

Englishmen’s homes are their castles,appreciating in value due to land short-age, rising population. But during lastfive years they are going through hell,their property flooding on regular basis.They are trapped in health-hazard home,unable to sell or insure. Their plight isalmost too heart-rending to contemplate.

They feel Government has abandonedthem, pleading poverty in harsh econom-ic climate, yet willing to waste billions onoverseas aid while their own kith and kinare on the verge of despair. Could this belike asking Satan for directions to pearlygates?

Our PM, DPM living in their “IvoryTowers” enjoying holidays in Swiss Alpsare out of touch with reality. Milibandwho professes to be people’s championhas kept his silence and distance. I wouldurge Ed to visit these unfortunate people,giving them hope, pledging his support tomake this country flood-proof, dredgingrivers, raising sea and river defences,turning low lying areas into reservoirs totake excess water during flooding.

It may cost £10 billion, one year’s aidbudget but this would be wise invest-ment, politically, economically, improvingenvironment, helping wild-life, wateringcrops during dry season.

Government held 21 emergencyCobra meetings since flooding and cameup with miserly £100 million aid, too lit-tle, too late. Do we live in a fool’s para-dise?

Bhupendra M GandhiBy email

Reclaiming Sardar Patel'sLegacy

I visit India every winter and each visitproduces amazing sights which lift myspirits, inspire and humble me. On thisoccasion it was Sadar Patel's ancestralhome in the village of Karamsad, Gujarat.A simple dwelling in the center of a mod-est village, for Indians it equal to a visit toBuckingham Palace, the home of one ofthe nations greatest founder. I was greet-ed by a woman, it's sole caretaker wholives next door, her upkeep services are atno charge, so entry was free and I was theonly visitor.

Stepping into the house I felt I waswalking on sacred ground, even thoughthe floor was of cow dung. Photos ofSardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi andPundit Nehru, various freedom fightersfrom the pre-independence movementadorn the walls in this simple tiny onestory dwelling. But pictures of SoniaGandhi (an Italian) and her son RahulGandhi seemed incongruous, for me thecurrent leaders have lost the true spirit ofthe freedom fighters while accumulatingbillions of dollars. Memory of the fourth

Stay with a Polish familyWould any of your student readers likethe opportunity to spend three weeks thissummer staying with a Polish family sothat the family can benefit from learningand practising English, while the studentgets the opportunity to learn about thepeople, region and country? British stu-dent visitors to Poland would receive freeboard and lodging there, and there aremany cheap flights to the country.

The "British in a family" project isbeing organised by a former PolishMember of the European Parliament andis a wonderful opportunity to see howothers live. Please write to me [email protected] if you are a uni-versity student interested in being placedwith a Polish family this summer.

Syed KamallConservative MEP for London

The Berlin Wall betweenState and Private SchoolsThe Secretary of State for Education,

Michael Gove, has outlined his aim tobreak down the "Berlin Wall" betweenstate and private schools. He says thatstate schools in England should be morelike private schools. This is welcomenews as the proposals are designed tomake pupils of state schools to take themore difficult private school commonentrance exams, and the schools will stayopen for longer. These proposals come inaddition to his previous announcementsto make state school exams tougher in adrive to restore confidence in the systemand improve standards. He had then saidthat state school education was like try-ing to run up a down escalator.

The tougher end of year examina-tions was how it used to be in our schooldays in Dar-es-Salaam, in East Africa. Wehad to pass examinations in all subjectsin a given year before we could proceedto the next higher year. In these days ofinformation technology, if we relied oncourse work alone, there are chances ofplagiarism with pupils copying stuff fromthe internet and passing it as their own.The end product of current exam systemreminds me of my days at work in theDepartment of Education when I used tohandle correspondence for EducationMinisters, and the spelling and grammarin letters which we used to receive fromschool teachers and even university lec-turers left a lot to be desired.

Dinesh ShethNewbury Park, Ilford

Minority Status of JainsJains had no alternative but to ask for aminority status as it has many privilegesalready available to Sikhs, Muslims,Parsis etc.

Article 30 of the constitution givesminority faiths rights to manage theirown educational institutions withoutinterference. They also do not have togrant quotas or reservations to othergroups. They also become eligible forfunds for welfare project.

This is the divisive policies of theCongress Party. However the bondbetween Hindus and Jains has to remainunshakable. Jains are safe under theumbrella of the majority Hindus. We arechildren of the same Bharat Mata. Ourculture is the same. Defending Hinduismis defending Jainism. One day soon allprivileges to minorities which helps individing the country will be taken away.It was Jain Bhamasha who financed thearmy of Maharana Ranapratap.

Nitin MehtaCroydon

Never trust PakistanYour lead article in your issue of 8th Feb2014 is a warning to Indian planners.Manmohan Singh, our prime ministerwas molly cuddling with Nawaj Sharifever since he came to power.Manmohanji was very eager to visitPakistan, but on the advise of his minis-ters he dropped the idea, but I am sure hewill pay a private visit if he decides toretire from politics. Since he is keen toserve Rahul Gandhi he will stick to hisguns in politics but ther is a bif IFwhether Rahul will be in power again.

Leaving apart all this Pakistan wantsonce more to control affairs inAfghanistan by hook or crook, not as awell wisher of that country but to syphonoff their assets to Pakistan. The interest-ing point Pakistan has been raising withUSA is to help them in retaining theirinfluence in Afghanistan because thatcountry lies in thier ‘sphere of influence’and they need that country for ‘strategicdepth’.

Pakistan is herself in turmoil ofexhorbitant magntude. They are goingthrough a civil war of their own kiillingShias and all minorities. Also, themigrants from India whom they call‘muhajirs’ ie refugees even after 67 yearsare being massacred in Karachi in twen-ties everyday.

We must learn from our history howmistaken we have been in the three warswe have fought with Pakistan since 1947.While the BJP government offered friend-ship they offered war in Kutch andKashmir.

PC AggarwalBy email

fighter, Mahamana (great mind)Malaviyaji has also been erased, insteadthe decedents of Indira Gandhi are layingpersonal claim to a heritage they have lit-tle link with, Gandhiji modeled his life onthe Bhagavad Gita of which Mahamanawas a scholar and renowned Sanskritist,he was also the Mahatma's "rock". I amhoping the next Modi government willreclaim their true legacy on behalf ofIndia.

Jayesh A PatelWimbledon SW20

Public was not allowed to amass wealth;sustained by moneys from mercantilers(shreshthis), regulated by rulers.

Wrong interpretation of noble values,eg non-violence, tolerance, respect toalien religion and forgiveness made themuseless against swords of ruthless/ vio-lent Islamic invaders. India has not learntany lesson from this blunder and is stillpracticing soft diplomacy.

Invaders enlisted indigenous publicby offering share of loot. Miniscule armysnowballed into massive horde thatswept India. British rulers mixed bribesand army assistance against mortgagingthe territory, which became British prop-erty in absence of legitimate heir.

Today’s government is following antinational policy, aided by foreign grants.Feudal system keeps all Indians in pover-ty trap. Welfare, reservations and subsi-dies with strings attached is another ruseto stay in power.

Car and house: Our gurus and sadhushave brainwashed our psyche that mate-rial wealth is momentary, temporary andshallow; unkempt beard and beggarly tat-tered dress are sign of spiritual lifestyle.So no need car and house.

Westerners learnt lesson from souldestroying poverty and created economythat motivates citizens to earn for basicamenities as first/ topmost priority. NR-Indians enjoy material rewards as hosts.

Ramesh JhallaBy email

EDUCATION/COUNCIL VOICEwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 2014 11

UK boarding schools arenow determined to attractstudents from India, to fillin the gap in the HigherEducation industry, espe-cially in British universi-ties, that have a declinednumber of internationalstudents, post the UK visafiasco. The Anglo Schools

International Services

(ASIS) have put togethera Federation of leadingboarding schools in theUK to offer seats toIndian students withscholarships worth£700,000.According to reports,

many ASIS federationschool want to see all oftheir students get intotheir first choice

University.Usually it costs about

£200 to register for anentrance exam to a schoolof one's choice, but ASIShave ensured that with apayment of £250, one canregister to all the schoolsin the Federation at onceand take a commonentrance exam in India,rather than in the UK.

Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’sShadow Justice Secretary,over the last week hascalled on members ofBAME communities, andother under-representedgroups, to make sure theysign up to vote.BAME communities,

young voters and peopleliving in the private rentedsector are all dispropor-tionately under-represent-ed on the electoral registerand in the week that thefirst ever National VoterRegistration Day was held,Sadiq Khan, pictured,worked to encourage morepeople to register to vote.With the council elec-

tions around the corner,one must understand thatbeing on the electoral reg-ister is about more thanjust voting. Membershipof juries is drawn random-ly from those registeredwhich makes the fairnessof our justice systemabout having the register

as representative of ourcommunities as possible,and those wanting to getcredit or a mortgage willfind it much more difficultif they aren’t registered.It also ensures citizens

are properly counted forthe drawing of politicalboundaries – by ward andconstituency.Less than 5% of elect-

ed Members of Parliamentare from the BAME com-munity - compared with

approximately 10% of thegeneral UK population.Sadiq Khan MP,

Shadow Justice Secretarysaid: “It is incrediblyimportant that those whoare currently under-repre-sented on the electoralregister make sure theysign up, so they can takepart in our democratic sys-tem – ahead of local andEuropean elections thisMay and before theGeneral Election nextyear.“We have come a long

way in improving the rep-resentation of minoritygroups and women in pol-itics in recent years, butwe still have a long way togo. Making sure moreunder-represented groupssign up to vote is one ofthe ways we can continueto address this issue – sowe can begin to see apolitical system which rep-resents the diversity ofthis country.

Labour calls for more representation forBAME communities on electoral register

British schools to allure Indian students

One of Britain's mostacclaimed Asian actress-es, Meera Syal, has calledfor more Shakespeareperformances to be set inforeign countries and tofeature black and Asianactors to help to “create ashared sense of heritage”among immigrant chil-dren.Meera Syal, who is

best known for the televi-sion comedy TheKumars at No 42 andplayed Beatrice inthe Royal ShakespeareCompany’s (RSC’s) 2012production of Much AdoAbout Nothing, set inIndia, also promotesteaching Shakespeare'sworks to children asyoung as five in a bidto “expunge the fearabout Shakespeare at avery young age”.As the only Asian girl

at her school in the WestMidlands, Syal said:“Teachers made it clearthat Shakespeare wasnot for the likes of me,despite the fact that Iwent on to study Englishand drama at university.

“I did not see it aspart of my cultural her-itage at all. Rather I sawit as part of the canonof English literature. Itwas only when I got touniversity and saw otherproductions whichmade Shakespeare rele-vant that my attitudechanged. If it isnot taught the right waywhen you are young,Shakespeare can seemlike an elitist and intellec-tual exercise.”Syal has also suggest-

ed approaches such as amodern version ofThe Tempest for refugeepupils and contemporarygang warfare in Londonbeing used torepresent inter-familyconflict in Romeo andJuliet.“You can make

Shakespeare relevant to achild’s life,” she said. “Ifyou point out to a childthat the plot of Macbethis not unlike the plot ofone of theirfavourite computergames like Call of Duty,without the moral les-

son at the end, you willhook them.”Syal also said it was

ironic that Shakespearewas praised as the great-est British writerwhen “what he did wasplunder stories andmyths from aroundEurope and subtly adaptthem to different politicalsituations in Britain”.She is urging more

actors to go into schoolsto excite pupilsabout Shakespeare.“Someone like DavidTennant [who hasbeen playing the lead rolein Richard II] is so iconicfor children because hewas Dr Who,” she said.

Modernising Shakespeare can makemigrant children British, says Meera Syal

Meera Syal

Tanveer Mann

After months of rehearsalsand preparation, ImperialCollege Indian Society'sare proud to present its22nd 'East meets West'multicultural show!Students have beenrehearsing for months toensure the longest runningstudent show in the UK isa night to remember. TheEast Meets West CharityShow, which is run byImperial College IndianSociety (ICIS), aims tosupport incredibly worthycharities by means of host-ing a show highlighting afusion of Eastern andWestern cultures throughvarious art forms includ-ing dance, drama andmusic, on Sunday 23,February at the NovelloTheatre.

EMW has strived toconsistently propagateIndian culture to studentsin the UK by means ofmeticulously rehearseddance, musical and dra-matic acts. The eveningshowcases the talents ofImperial students, includ-ing everything fromBollywood to Bhangra,Bharatnatyam to Gaana.Intertwined with Westernart forms including Ballet,Hip Hop, Martial Arts, amodern catwalk andBellydancing, this eveningpromises an incrediblediversity. This year, for the first

time in the show’s history,the production will featurea headline act – BritishAsian music sensation,Arjun, truly showing howthe show has expandedfrom its humble begin-nings in 1992. Previously,the show has been held atthe prestigiousShaftesbury Theatre,London Palladium,Theatre Royal, IndigO2 aswell as the PhoenixTheatre.The heart of the show

is charity and all theefforts surrounding theproduction are centred onimproving the lives of oth-ers around the world. Lastyear, the show raised over£18,000 for charity andthis year it hopes to raiseeven more. EMW 2014will be raising money forthe three following chari-ties: I-india, a charitywhich provides homes,schools and vocationalcentres for children livingon the streets of Jaipur,Anthony Nolan, a charitythat helps facilitate stemcell and bone marrowtransplants for peoplewith blood disorders, andis particularly keen onaddressing the shortage ofdonors of East-Asian ori-gin and Save the Children,a global charity that fightsfor the rights of childrenworldwide.The President of the

Indian Society at ImperialCollege, Sahil Dawar,said: 'The spectacle thatawaits the audience onFebruary 23rd is no shortof magnificent. A tire-

less cohort of performershave come together to cre-ate an incredibly inspira-tional production show-casing talent from acrossthe globe. Over the past22 years, East Meets Westhas grown from strengthto strength whilstthe ethos of the show hasremained constant. Unlikeother performances, theethos of East Meets Westis inclusiveness and thenurturing of hidden talent- turning everyday stu-dents into breathtakingWest End performers. Thisyear's East Meets West hastaken the show to newheights with a plethora ofperformances rangingfrom Bollywood toBhangra, Bellydancing toBharatnatyam. You canexpect to see a dazzlingarray of talent and cultureon Mamma Mia's veryown West End stage.'

Multicultural Show 'East Meets West'promises to dazzle audiences

When: Sunday 23rdFebruary 2014 Where: Novello TheatreTime: 6:00 pmBook Tickets here:www.emwtheshow.com

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 201412 MEDIA WATCH

Gates, Nadella

Mr Gates issued the followingstatement: “During this time oftransition, there is no better per-son to lead Microsoft than SatyaNadella. Satya is a proven leaderwith hardcore engineering skills,business vision and the ability tobring people together.” Mr

Nadella made a statement of hisown: “Microsoft is one of thoserare companies to have truly rev-olutionized the world throughtechnology, and I couldn’t bemore honoured to have beenchosen to lead the company.”These are challenging times forMicrosoft and its new CEO -only the third in Microsoft’s 39year history. Mr Nadella’s prede-cessor, Steve Ballmer, was asales specialist, but with theMicrosoft Board believing that,in view of the competition thecompany faced from Apple Incand Google Inc, a CEO withproven engineering skills waswhat the company needed goingforward. Mr Nadella’s record ascompany chief in cloud comput-ing appears to have clinched hisappointment. His father andfather-in-law were senior civilservants who served in the gov-ernment of the Indian primeminister P.V.Narasimha Rao. Hiswife is also an engineering grad-uate from the Manipal Instituteof Technology (Times of India,Mint, Hindu, Business StandardFebruary 5)

Indian tributes

The Business Standard com-mented: “India cheered in uni-son. And rightly so! The move isseen not just as an outstandingachievement for the 46-year-old,but also a moment of glory forthe entire country.” NarayanaMurthy, co-founder andExecutive Chairman ofBangalore-based Infosys, said:“I am very happy a person ofIndian origin has has been fillingthe shoes of Bill Gates, the

finest entrepreneur and philan-thropist the world has seen. Ihave no doubt that Satya will doa great job.” N. Chandrasekaran,CEO and Managing Director,Tata Consultancy Services,emphasized the broader picture:“The world is on a cusp of amassive digital transformation.It is a wonderful time for Satya

to take over at the helm of aleading technology companysuch as Microsoft. It is a proudmoment and I wish Satya allsuccess.” It took less than 30minutes of his appointment forSatya Nadella to become themajor topic of discussion on theTwitter website, summing up theTimes of India’s first front-pageheadline: “India makes a powerpoint.” It was pithy and appo-site.

Modi woos Bengal

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)icon Narendra Modi addressed alarge rally in Kolkata under thetightest security seen in the city

in recent times. His famouscommon touch was clearly inevidence, with a sprinkling ofBangla getting things going.There were the obligatory refer-ences to Vivekenanda andAurobindo and Rabindranath

Tagore, and coming down to thepresent, another to “Pranabda”(an affectionate local colloquial-ism - ‘da,’ short for elder brother– in reference to PresidentPranab Mukherjee as well). MrModi felt Mr Mukherjee shouldhave been India’s prime ministerfollowing the assassination ofIndira Gandhi. He was clearlyplaying to the gallery. Making anoverture to “Mamataji,” WestBengal’s Chief Minister, hehoped for an understanding withher Trinamool Congress, afterthe general election, if the BJPneeded the numbers to lead acoalition government. Mr Modipromised that, with a BJP gov-ernment at the centre, WestBengal would get all the devel-opment funds it sought. MrModi poured scorn on the so-called Third Front, whose pres-ent disruptive antics inParliament justified his oppro-brium. “This Lok Sabha to endup as the worst performingever.” (Times of India front-pageheadline February 3)

Contrast with Gujarat

Narendra Modi contrasted thealleged 35 per cent shortage ofpower in West Bengal with theabundance of electricity in hisown Gujarat. Mr Modi’sresearch team let him down withsloppy homework. Whatever itsother travails, West Bengal has asurplus of power, which itexports to other states. For therest, Mr Modi appealed to thepeople of West Bengal to give theBJP a chance by electing its can-didates to parliament. The Modirally was large, even by Kolkatastandards, but he knows onlytoo well that West Bengal hasnever been a happy huntingground for the BJP.

Lacking appeal

Why so? Principally because ofthe BJP’s perceived culturalxenophobia, which goes againstthe grain of the liberal, inclusivehigh culture of Bengal. Its inter-action with the West has beendeep and abiding; the role ofEnglish has long been recog-nized. Vivekenanda’s education-al priorities for the young werea sound grounding in mathemat-ics and English. It was the

Communist Party’s follyto relegate English in theeducation system thatwas one major reasonfor its fall from grace.On this the BJP and theCommunist-led LeftFront appear to speakfrom the same page (Thelocal Telegraph newspa-per devoted its entirefront page to the Modirally; see also Hindu,Mint February 6)

Mitsuibishi inBengal

The arrival of Japanesebusiness giantMitsuibishi to West

Bengal could be the industrialgame-changer for which the peo-ple in the State have long beenwaiting. Mamata Banerjee’s gov-ernment has cleared a10-yeartax break for the MitsuibishiChemical Corporation to set up

a facility at Haldia port, thelargest Foreign DirectInvestment (FDI) so far in WestBengal and one of the biggest inIndia’s chemical industry.Recently appointed StateFinance Minister Amit Mitra,who is a trained economist andhas considerable experience ofthe business world from hisyears as Secretary of theFederation of Indian Chambersof Commerce and Industry(FICCI) has registered his firstmajor success in attractinglarge-scale investment to WestBengal (Times of India February1)

Auto Expo

Those who calculated thatIndia’s economic downturnwould deter global automobilecompanies from turning up atthe Indian Motor show in theDelhi suburb of Greater Noida

must do their sums again.Global majors Renault, Ford,Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Suzuki,BMW, Mercedes, GeneralMotors et al were present inforce. They were joined by thebig Indian players Tata,Mahindra & Mahindra, MarutiSuzuki, Ashok Leyland, andtwo-wheeler manufacturers suchas Bajaj and Hero. Cinema stars,cricketers and othercelebrities were also muchin evidence promotingtheir brands. Economicdownturn and kindredspeed bumps were takenin their stride. The indus-try executives, foreign anddomestic, made it abun-dantly clear that were inIndia for the long haul,that their faith in theIndian market remainedundiminished. It waswhere they all wanted tobe. They told reportershow impressed they withthe quality of the show,which they comparedwith the best in Paris andGeneva. Unlike the lasttime in 2012, when it washeld in the cramped sur-roundings of centralDelhi. The decision tomove Auto Expo toGreater Noida workedbrilliantly (Times of India,Mint February 6)

JLR to invest inIndia, China, Brazil

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)is to invest $3.6 billion inIndia, China and Brazilover the next 15 months,

said Ralf Speth CEO, JLR aspart of its global expansionplans. While its principal homewill continue to be the UK, JLRwill focus more on its “secondhome, India,” where it hopes toestablish a production facilityfor its XJ saloon car, which itwill add to its Jaguar XF and theLand Rover Freelander. TataMotors will use the synergies ofthe Tata conglomerate in thisventure. The huge profitsearned from the global sales ofJaguar Land Rover across conti-nents helped Tata Motors offsetits recent losses in India. (Timesof India February 6)

GM crops necessary:PM

Underpinning the necessity toensure food security, PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh has

argued that genetically modifiedcrops was the best way forwardfor India. Speaking at theIndian Science Congress inJammu, Dr Singh said:: “Use ofbiotechnology has great poten-tial to improve yields. Whilesafety must also be ensured, weshould not succumb to unscien-tific prejudices against Btcrops.” (Hindu February 4)

Sachin Tendulkar receiving Bharat Ratnafrom President Mukherjee

CNR Rao receiving Bharat Ratna fromPresident Mukherjee

Bill Gates (left), Satya Nadella (centre)

Narendra Modi in Kolkata

Auto Expo cars Maruti launches 'Celerio'

It was front-page news in every newspaper in the land:Hyderabad-born, Satya Nadella,46, educated at the ManipalInstitute of Technology, Mangalore, and the University ofWisconsin had been appointed CEO of Global IT giant MicrosoftCorporation, where he has worked for the past 22 years. Hesucceeds Steve Ballmer, who resigned last July., but remainson the Microsoft Board. Mr Nadella’s two reported rivals forthe job – both from outside the Microsoft fold - are also Indian.Microsoft founder and Chairman Bill Gates has stepped downand is replaced by 64 year-old John W.Thompson. Mr Gates,who remains a member of the Microsoft Board, will now holdthe new post of Technology Advisor in product developmentbut will continue with his philanthropic work through the GatesFundation.


‘What do we pay our taxes for?’ ‘TheGovernment should do something?’ Thisand many other comments like them showour total addiction to the Governmentbeing the answer to most problems in ourlives. Yet at the same time we hateGovernment intrusion into our lives andwe hate paying the cost of bigGovernment.

Whether it is flood defences or Cyber-snooping or police corruption – whether inIndia or Britain – the size, role andresponsibility of Government has neverbeen more assumed to be big and includeeverything.

We ask the Government to be at oncecheap, and superhuman, full of people weknow are singularly inadequate at manag-ing their bodies, budgets or behaviour.

At Oxford I was taught in Economicsthat the type of person that seeks to beyour elected representative is exactly thekind of person you don’t want being yourelected representative. (We weren’t alltold to go out and rule at Oxford, some ofus were told simply to be useful and ofvalue to society).

It is about time we the people realisedGovernment by the people, for the people,of the people, means like most of the peo-ple it’s pretty shabby. Incompetence, lazi-ness will all be rife. This not yet anotherattack on the soft soft target of MPs. Butrather a realisation that if you pick life’sinadequate, incompetents to run a zoo,you shouldn’t be surprised when you’releft with a circus full of individuals mimick-ing animals at Prime Minister’s QuestionTime.

Writing for the Financial Times I usedto get the same caseload as an MP. Iwould write to banks on behalf of the poorold lady who had been maltreated. And ofcourse she would be delighted that thebank listened to such power and got

results for her.But power in spotlight grandstands.

My helping the little old ladies was notdone in the public glare. I never wroteabout it in the press. So I didn’t need torun to the nearest TV station to proclaimmy heroics. They were for the individual.The media spotlight instead of helping hasharmed the motives of those entering thepolitics. We now help for PR, for brandingand that corrupts and does not get thingsdone.

The ideal Parliamentarian is one whouses his office to do casework, withoutmedia courtship. One who doesn’t feel theneed to make pointless endless speechesbecause it’s ‘their topic’ but puts theirwellies on and grabs a shovel, or raisesmoney by virtue of their office for a non-Governmental body.

That’s what politics used to mean – ‘ofthe people’. We are all politicians in thetruest sense and the responsibilities ofsociety’s failings do not lie with those wevoted for – that’s too easy to shift theblame.

‘You get the Government you deserve’goes the old saying. The hope is andalways will be, ‘we the people’ and ourcommunity organisations.

As a former judge for the AsianAchievers Awards of this paper, I can tellyou, tear-filled eyes read the nominationsfor the award for public service. Unsungheroes. Proper politicians them. No mediaglare to corrupt their motives.

And as for why we pay tax? Well if youpay peanuts you can only expect monkies.I don’t want the politicians having a biggerbudget through my taxes – I want themhaving a smaller one and I’d rather volun-teer to help non-governmental bodies andsimplify my expenses. They’re the lastbunch of people I would outsource evenmore things to.

On The Proper Role of Government

A Labour MP has apolo-gised after she comparedthe situation in Gaza withthe treatment of Jews dur-ing the Holocaust.

During a WestminsterHall debate that tookplace on Wednesday 5thFebruary, on the humani-tarian situation facingPalestinians, YasminQureshi, pictured, drewparallels with theHolocaust.

The MP for BoltonSouth East suggested itwas "quite strange" thatthe Israeli governmentwas "complacent andhappy" to allowPalestinians to be treatedlike "Jews who sufferedgenocide".

Her remarks were con-demned by the HolocaustEducational Trust (HET),Labour Friends of Israeland Labour supporters.

HET chief executiveKaren Pollock referred tothe remarks as "offensive"and an "inappropriatecomparison".

Ms Qureshi issued astatement apologisingover the weekend. Shesaid: “The debate wasabout the plight of thePalestinian people and inno way did I mean toequate events in Gazawith the Holocaust.

"I apologise for anyoffence caused. I am alsopersonally hurt if peoplethought I meant this.

"As someone who hasvisited the crematoria andgas chambers ofAuschwitz I know theHolocaust was the mostbrutal act of genocide ofthe 20th century and no-one should seek to under-estimate its impact.”

Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi apologisesfor comparing Gaza and Holocaust

The government plans tocrackdown on the 1millionworkers off sick for amonth, by introducinghealth assessments to tryand get patients back towork quickly, after theDepartment for Work andpensions revealed that upto 960,000 workers – onein every 25 employees - inBritain were on sick leavefor more than a montheach year between October2010 and September 2013.

Workers will be referredfor health assessments ifthey are sick for more thanfour weeks under a newgovernment scheme, head-ed by Iain Duncan Smith,

pictured, the work andpensions secretary. GPswill be able to refer anyworker who has been offsick or is expected to beabsent in plans drawn upby the Department forWork and Pensions. Theservice will assess how sick

they are and draw up a planto return them to health –and work - as soon as pos-sible. Those working in thepublic sector are among thegroups most likely to takeextended sick leave whilethose in London are theleast likely, according tothe official analysis of thescale of long-term sicknessin the British economy.Workers in the northeastare also among the groupsmost likely to take longperiods of sick leave.Employees working forsmall companies are lesslikely to take long periodsoff than those with bigemployers.

Up to 1m workers remain sick for atleast a month each year

Three Downing Streetpolice officers who werebeing investigated forswapping porn on theirmobile will not facepornography charges.Metropolitan police havesaid that though theimages are of an extremesexual nature, they donot involve children andthe file has now beenpassed to the CPS.

The officers from thediplomatic protectiongroup (SO6), a unitalready in the spotlightrecently as a result of the

Plebgate affair thatled to the resigna-tion of cabinet min-ister AndrewMitchell, werearrested on 19December, ScotlandYard confirmed.

A fourth officerwho was not arrest-ed was interviewed on 8January in connectionwith the investigationand placed on restrictedduties.

Searches were carriedout at the home address-es of the arrested offi-

cers, who were ques-tioned at a centralLondon police station.One of them has beensuspended from dutywhile two others havebeen placed on restrictedduties.

No. 10 Police officers not to facepornography charges

Asian Business Publications special issuesare not only full of informations but theyare also preserved by a large number ofreaders as a resource for future use.We have been approached by several readersto put together a very informative and useful specialissues on:

a. British Lohanas b. Leicester Special We have been preparing on these projects for sometime. These special issues will provide attractive readsfor individuals in London, Leicester and other places.Research based writers and marketing and advertisingpersonnels are much needed for the above projects. Ifyou think you are able to embark on an additionalcareer, full time/part time, you are invited to write to

L. George, Chief Operating Officer [email protected].

Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar have an excellentrecord in publishing theme based special issues besides thetwo newsweeklies. In 2013 we published British Punjabis,Finance, Banking and Insurance, Diwali Special, AsianAchievers Awards, Asian House and Home from our UKoffices and from India offices we published several specialissues such as Rajkot, Anand (Charotar), Vadodara,Medical Tourism, to name a few.

Mark Harper, the formeri m m i g r a t i o nminister, claimed morethan £2,000 in parliamen-tary expenses to pay anillegal immigrant to cleanhis home. It has been reported by theTelegraph that Mr Harper’s cleaner wasIsabella Acevedo, who was paid £22 aweek to clean and iron at his Westminsterflat. She is widely known to be a cleaneramongst Mps, which begs the question ofhow many other politicians could bedrawn into the affair. Mr Harper quit asimmigration minister on Saturday after itwas confirmed that Ms Acevedo was

not legally permitted to remain in theUK. He insisted that he had not brokenany law, but was resigning because he felthe had to maintain higher standards thanother people in immigration matters.

Tory colleagues have praised hisquick resignation, however somelawyers believe that the MP could yetface legal action. Parliamentary recordsseen by the Daily Telegraph have con-firmed that Mr Harper paid the cleanerusing Commons expenses after takingher on in April 2007. The cleaner wasworking at Mr Harper’s flat in theWestminster Square developmentnear Waterloo station.

Immigration minister Mark Harper quits

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 201414 COMMUNITYNational Hindu Students Forum (UK)

National Hindu Students’Forum (NHSF) (UK) cel-ebrated its official 21years of achievements onMonday 3, February 2014in the Palace ofWestminster at a recep-tion hosted by MP SeemaMalhotra, Labour and Co-operative Member ofParliament (MP) forFeltham and Heston.The organisation con-

sists of 5,000 membersand aims to encourageand celebrate HinduDharma through practice,preserving, promoting andprotecting Hindu Dharmathrough a variety of sport-ing, spiritual and socialevents for their members.NHSF (UK) also engageswith the British Asiancommunity and the widersociety as a whole toensure that the views ofHindu students’ andHindu people as a collec-tive in the UK are repre-sented and discussed inmatters affecting them.A host of Labour Mps,

in high spirits, attendedthe reception includingLeader of the Oppositionand MP for DoncasterNorth, Ed Miliband whocommented, “I wanted tocongratulate the NationalHindu Students' Forumfor reaching 21 years andcome here to recognisethe work you do not justfor the Hindu communitybut for the wider commu-nity. The Hindu commu-nity is part of the mosaicthat makes our countrystronger."Seema Malhotra

added, “Congratulationsto the National HinduStudents Forum (UK) ontheir 21st birthday andthis special celebration inParliament. NHSF (UK)has shown a real ability to

develop civic leadership inthe next generation, com-bining an exploration ofHindu values with a deepsense of civic duty and

responsibility. I am surethe NHSF will continue togo from strength tostrength.”

Sadiq Khan, MP forTooting, also commendedthe British HinduStudents’ for the hardwork and continued con-tribution to the United

Kingdom. Other distinguished

MPs in attendance includ-ed Keith Vaz, BarryGardiner, Gareth

Thomas, JonathanA s h w o r t h ,Michael Gapes,Stephen Timmsand StephanPound who allshared kind wordsabout NHSF (UK)at the reception.

Vishal Pateland AvnishThakrar, NationalVice Presidents ofNHSF (UK) show-cased the achieve-ments of NHSF(UK) over the past21 years with anenlightening pres-entation and bothtouched on what

the future holds for theever-growing organisa-tion.

Pranav Bhanot,National President ofNHSF (UK) stated,“Hindu students in theUK contribute greatly toBritish life. This opportu-nity, in association with

The Labour Party hasallowed us to strengthenthe links we have estab-lished with The LabourParty and highlight ourachievements to the widercommunity. We feel as anorganisation politicalengagement is paramountto ensuring the BritishHindu voice is heard andrecognised.”To conclude the

evening, Suraj Bhanot,National Public RelationsOfficer thanked the sup-porters of the organisa-tion including sponsorsand well-wishers, whohave strongly impactedthe success of the organi-sation. It was the opportu-nity to invest in our futuregenerations ensuring theyhave a platform to devel-op, engage and contributeto British Society. Eachpresentation highlightedthe continued supportNHSF (UK) needs fromits supporters, andencouraged attendees tobe part of the change toensure the organisationcontinues to flourish forgenerations to come.

National Hindu Student’s ForumCelebrates 21st Birthday in Parliament

Rt Hon Ed Miliband, Leader of HerMajesty’s Opposition (centre) with

MP Seema Malhotra (left) and PranavBhanot, current National President

NHSF UK (right)

Virendra Sharma MP (far right) meets delegates who attended NHSF (UK) 21st AnniversaryCelebrations

Chef Sabbir Karim, pic-tured, is delighted to cel-ebrate the 25th anniver-sary of the charitySreepur Village – UK, acharity which aids desti-tute women and childrenin Bangladesh, with adelectable 4 coursemenu at £34.95 atNamaste Kitchen inCamden.The fundraising

event is organised byAward Winning ChefPatron Sabbir Karim,who is also a Cabin Crewfor BA. His BA col-leagues have also beenheavily involved withthis charity as a cabincrew. Sabbir will be donat-

ing all proceeds of thisFundraising event salesstraight to the SreepurVillage Charity based inDhaka, Bangladesh.British Airways has

also very kindly spon-sored 2 Return Tickets toEurope as First prizeRaffle Ticket @ £10.00to raise money for the

event.Sreepur Village was

built as the result of acampaign started by BAstewardess Pat Kerr. Patis still centrally involvedin the management ofthe Village, and is cur-rently based at Sreepur.On 6th February 2014Sreepur celebrating 25years since the SreepurVillage was formallydeclared open by LordKing and PresidentErshad.For more informa-

tion, visit:http://www.sreepurvillage.org

Charity Sreepur Village celebrates25th anniversary in London

Lydia Nazareth, General Manager UK & IRE, Bram Steller,Executive Vice President, International Sales, RajanSawhney, Sales Director, The Holiday Team, Jaymin

Borkhatria, Sales Director, Southall Traveland Suzie Kennedy, Replica of Marilyn Monroe

Hundreds of youths joined I4Unity'ssuccessful Modi Tea Club, UK, onSunday morning, that was organisedmainly organised by Convener Mr.Nachiket Joshi with the support of ShriVijay Jolly (Convener of OFBJP, India)and Shri Amit Thaker (Co convener ofOFBJP, India). The enthusiastic partici-pants discussed and deliberated on therole of India's Prime MinisterialCandidate Hon. Narendra Modi. Theenergetic youths also distributed tea to

all passers-by near Kingsway banquetingand Hounslow West Station.In an apparent reference to Hon.

Narendra Modi, who once sold tea in hischildhood, Cllr Darshan Grewal reiter-ated that for India's economy to reviveand bring buoyancy back into the mar-ket, Narendra Modi is the only optionIndia has. Investors, while having a sipof the hot 'Modi tea', affirmed that notonly Modi will bring investments backinto the lagging sectors, but also bring

entrepreneurialspirit and createcrucially neededjobs.A 'Chai Pe

Charcha' seminarwas also organ-ised in which ex-BJP Youth WingPresident and cur-rent National co-convener ofOFBJP Hon. AmitThaker interactedwith the augustaudience. Mr

Nachiket Joshi, senior youth leader,OFBJP (UK and India) also advocatedthe need for youths to actively partici-pate in nation building, to revive India'simage.

Mr. Dhiraj Shah, Dr. MadhukarAmbekar, Leader of Hounslow council

Cllr Jagdish Sharma, Cllr GopalDhillon, Cllr Ashok Kapoor, ShriLalubhai Parekh, Cllr Manji Kara, MrAtwal, Mrs Alka Shah, AdvertisingManager, ABPL and many more digni-ties attended this event and enjoyed ahot cup of tea.

Modi Tea Club, UK distribute free tea in Hounslow West

Southall Travel has been awarded The Best OverallAgent Award for 2012-13 at Jet Airways AgentsAward night at Capthorne Tara Hotel in Kensington,London. Southall travels, the company that has made both

the list of Sunday Times Fast Track 100 and SundayTimes Top Track 250, is the largest Asian travel com-pany in the UK.


If you have any particular topics you would like covered on my page, please let me know.

www.punjabeeblonde.com [email protected]

Amidst Valentine's Day fervour comes thishot social discovery app calledSinglesAroundMe (SAM), with the latestPosition-shift technology.SinglesAroundMe represents the newwave of social discovery apps and is prov-ing to be a challenge to the traditionalonline dating sites like Match.com andeHarmony, because of its new, hyper-realapproach. SinglesAroundMe can help members

discover, flirt, meet, and date one anotherlocally, wherever they are in the world.With user-controlled location and privacyoptions, SAM offers a fresh and immediateway for people to meet.The Android version of

SinglesAroundMe was launched inDecember 2012. In just one year it has hasrisen into the top tier of all dating apps onthe Android mobile platform in GooglePlay and #1 GPS dating app and is sure tobe a very popular app for singles thisValentine’s Day.Last week SinglesAroundMe

announced its ground breaking patentpending Position-Shift technology.Position-Shift provides users with the abil-ity to selectively determine the level ofpositional accuracy that they provide tothe external world through social mediaapplications.SinglesAroundMe uses Position-Shift

within its Android and iPhone applica-

tions to offer users a privacy choice thatdisplaces the users true location by a fewmiles. This degree of privacy still allowsusers to flirt within the general vicinity butprovides them with the comfort and secu-rity they desire.Company CEO Christopher Klotz said,

“SinglesAroundMe continues to innovateand lead the new world of social discoverydating apps. SAM is now mainstream andthis is a testament to our model - proofthat users are enjoying our real, intuitiveand safe app on both the Android andiPhone.”

Tanveer Mann

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Saree Ke Fall Sa15. Junai Kaden - Tanha16. Roach Killa - Baby Girl17. Sultana Nooran & Jyoti Nooran -Patakha Guddi18. Mika Singh & Kalpana Patowary- Gandi Baat19. KK, Bappi Lahiri & VishalDadlani - nTune Maari Entriyaan20. Nafees - Sazaa (feat. MumzyStranger)To see more,visit:www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/chart/downloads

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Only a few stepsaway from the hustleand bustle of LeicesterSquare lies a hiddentreasure. Situated at 32Orange Street, just offthe famous square, isSalt 'N' Pepper, thenewest venture fromthe Salt 'N' Pepperchain, which opened inSeptember 2013. Aswell as being unique inits outlook, taste andappearance, the restau-rant welcomes all tocome and try its offer-ing of an authentic tasteof Pakistan. As you enter, you

are blown away by thefar-from-typical décorof Salt 'N' Pepper.Extremely spacious andairy, the restaurant'sapple-green ambienceensures your diningexperience is trulyrelaxing and enjoyable.Upon being seated, afresh set of traditional,crunchy pappadsappear in the shape of acone along with some

fresh mint, imli andmango chutneys. A list of dishes is

then placed in front ofyou, with a heavystarters range, to a tan-talising array of choicesfor your main, not leastforgetting the sumptu-ous desert choices onoffer. From non-veg toveg options, a favouriteis the fried crumbedpaneer which arrivespromptly, coated inbreadcrumbs with adelicious added kick ofseasoning.

Salt 'N' Pepper defi-nitely gives you bothquality and quantity -the portions remainextremely generousthroughout each of yourmeals, along with therice and naan, whichare steaming hot andfresh. The curry's arenot bathed in your typi-cal out-of-the-jar sauceseither – instead, the

ingredients ooze in yourmouth, allowing you totaste the fresh ginger,tomatoes, and chillis.That being said, thechillis are enough togive your food the kickit requires but will farfrom burst your spicecapacity. The prices are

extremely affordablewith starters rangingfrom £4.20 to £6.90whilst mains includeburgers, BBQ grills,Balti and Karahi dishes,and much more typical-ly ranging from £8.40 to£12.50. A fully-equipped bar also takesover a corner of thespacious restaurantwith freshly squeezedjuices being one of itsfavourite drinks to offer. Overall, the restau-

rant is truly an all-overgreat experience, that isperfect for both fami-lies, intimate couples,or a bunch of friends.Both the excellent foodand hospitality com-bined together make theSalt 'N' Pepper anextremely impressiverestaurant and one tobe explored!

Salt 'N' Pepper

RatingsTaste : HHHHH

Ambience : HHHHH

Decor : HHHHH

Service : HHHHH

Value 4 Money : HHHHH

Tanveer Mann

WORD OF THE WEEKAvolition - means Lack of

Initiative or Goals

DID YOU KNOW...?M&M's chocolate stands forthe initials for its inventors

Mars and Murrie

Competition! Salt ‘N' Pepper is offering one lucky reader the chance to win a complimen-tary meal for 2 along with 2 glasses of house wine. All you have to do isanswer the below question and send your answers to:[email protected] by 28th February 2014. The winner will bepicked on a first-come, first-served basis from the correct answers received.

Question: What type of cuisine does Salt 'N' Pepper offer?Answer: a) Indian b) Pakistani c) Bangladeshi

32 Orange St, London WC2H, Tel: 020 7930 2939

“I would like to wish my hus-band Dakshesh a Happy ValentinesDay. Thank you for everythingand for the love we share for eachother. We love all our family andwish them Happy Valentines Day.Best wishes and lots of love fromJyoti Rajdev”

“To my sweet, Darling Varsha, Mymorning is full of your thoughts, myevening ends with your thoughts,it's a matter of one glance form you,but my whole life depends on it.Love yours only Rajesh”

“Especially for my Valentine MrsJaybharti, I wish I could find a wayto tell you how much you mean tome, but it would take forever to listall the things you do and the reasonswhy you are so special. A thousandwords would never be enough to tell

you how much I truly love youbecause nothing can compare to thehappiness you have brought into mydays..with love on Valentine's Day,Mr Jaybharti”

“Be my valentine again, dear Niru.In 1965, we both had our first child-hood true love. I was 23 and youwere 18. In 1967, your fatheraccused me of trapping you for hismoney and shipped you to India. Ileft for UK. In 1969, we met in UKbut it was too late. You settled inUSA. I remained in UK. We kept intouch by telephone occasionally. In1974, we met in India. In 1989, wemet in London. Since then I havelost touch. 2014: Let us meet againand relive our childhood days. LoveNagindas Khajuria”

AV Correspondent

All India CongressCommittee vice presidentRahul Gandhi launchedblistering attack on therival Bharatiya JanataParty and said it repre-sented the RSS ideologywhich had killedMahatma Gandhi.

The scion of Nehru-Gandhi family whileaddressing a huge rally atBardoli in South Gujaratalso criticized BJP’s primeministerial candidateNarendra Modi for takingcredit for development inGujarat, despite the factthat the people toiled forthe progress made by theState.

He blamed that it wasthe RSS ideology thatkilled Mahatma Gandhi.After the assassination ofGandhiji, Sardar Patelhad moved a resolution toban the RSS, he saidadding that Sardar Patelgave his entire life for theCongress party and foughtfor the rights of the poor.However, BJP leaders(especially Modi) neverread about it, neverthought about it but nowwant to build his statue!”

“The BJP leaders heretalk about Sardar Pateland say they will make hisstatue. But these peopledon't know history. Theyhaven’t read any books onthe ideologies of Gandhijiand Sardar Patelji. Theyknow nothing. SardarPatel said that RSS is a

poisonous ideology whichwill destroy the soul ofIndia. The BJP leadersspend their entire life withRSS. They neither knowabout Patel nor they readabout him, but want tobuild his statue,” he said.

The Congress vice-president slammed Modi’sclaims on Gujarat’s devel-opment and said, “BJPmakes big claims on theeducation sector but13,000 govt schools wereshut down in Gujarat.This is never mentionedby its leaders anywhere”.“In Gujarat, just one per-son has the entire power.No one else has anypower or rights... Wewant to give people theirrights. But here the gov-ernment runs for selectedpeople. We fight for thepeople, the farmers,Adivasis and the poor.This is the differencebetween us and BJP.Gujarat progressed due tothe sweat of its people,not because of one man'sefforts. People of Gujaratworked hard and he takesthe credit for it”.

Gandhi launched asccathing attack on BJP’sstance on corruption andsaid, “Who stoppedappointment ofLokayukta in Gujarat?The BJP govt spent Rs 40crore to block Lokayuktaappointment. Modi govtdid not let lokyukta passinGujarat for nine years.Entire world knows it; allwomen know it. Gujarat

cabinet has threeconvicted personsas ministers. Stillthey talk toomuch on corrup-tion”.

“I want tomake it clearthat Gujaratdoes not havethe govern-ment of poorpeople. It doesnot work forthe upliftment ofthe poor andAdivasis and theirvoices are not heard.Only handful of peoplerun the governmentand works for the elite”asserted Rahul Gandhi.

“While we talkabout eradicatingpoverty, BJP talks abouteradicating the poorpeople. We talk aboutproviding the poor withjobs, food, health andeducation. IndiraGandhi said ‘gareebi

hataao’ but BJP wants‘gareeb hataao”. This isthe difference” the

Congress leader said.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 201416 ELECTION SPECIAL

Launching blisteringattack on the smaller par-ties trying to forge a ‘ThirdFront’, BJP’s PrimeMinisterial candidateNarendra Modi assertedthat ‘Third Front’ wouldonly make India ‘thirdrated’. He held some ofthe parties associatedwith the endeavors toform Third Front,responsible for thelack of developmentin the eastern part ofthe country.

While addressinga mammoth publicrally at Kolkata heurged the people toreject ‘Third Front’forever and insistedthose who are talkingabout the formation of

third alliance to visitKolkata’s Brigade ParadeGround to see ‘which waythe wind is blowing’. Hewas speaking on the back-drop of a meeting of 14non-Congress and non-BJPparties to create ‘thirdforce’.

The two major partieshaving strong based inBengal – the Left and

Trinamool Congress haveshown keen interest in theformation of a federal frontto give one more option tothe people of India.However, Modi took devel-opment plank to attack’saying that the westernIndia is developing at rapidspeed, and one of themajor reasons is absence ofthird front there.

“On the western side,none of the Third Frontparties have ruled. Noassociate of the ThirdFront has ever been able to

step into that region. It isdifferent here in the east-ern states and result is lackof development,” he saidadding that those who arepushing the country to thethird grade are ruling in theeastern region and, there-fore, there is lack of devel-opment.

Taking a dig at previousgovernments in Bengal,Modi said if the peoplevoted for BJP, he wouldundo what has been doneto Bengal in the last 60years.

BJP represents RSS ideology: Rahul Gandhi

Pawar says he met ModiBJP welcomed NCP chiefSharad Pawar’s admission ofhaving met the party’s PM nom-inee Narendra Modi in January.BJP also clarified that RajnathSingh had already denied therewas any political meetingbetween the two, but did notdeny that the two had met.Stating that he kept meeting CMs in his capacity asagriculture minister, Pawar had sought to know whatwas wrong in doing so. “As the Union agriculture min-ister, I have the responsibility of increasing the coun-try’s food production and for that purpose, I have tovisit various states. I visited West Bengal and met CMMamata Banerjee. Similarly, I meet Naveen Patnaik inOdisha, Shivraj Singh Chouhan in MP and NarendraModi when I go to Gujarat,” Pawar said adding, “Whatis wrong in meeting the chief ministers? Have I metanyone from Pakistan or China? What is wrong in it?”

Anna on Mamata’s side? In an interesting developmentanti-corruption crusader AnnaHazare might endorse WestBengal Chief Minister andTrinamool Congress chiefMamata Banerjee as prime min-isterial candidate of possiblethird-front. Hazare possible sup-port to Mamata is because ofTrinamool Congress agreeing to back his economic agen-da that the Maharashtra-based leader had written aboutin a letter to the Bengal CM. Hazare had highlighted a17-point agenda that includes village centric social andeconomic initiatives and proposals like more vocationaleducation and tough laws against corruption.

AAP appeals middle-aged peopleArvind Kejriwal’s political out-fit Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)appears to attract educated mid-dle-aged men if snap trends areanything to go by. Interestinglythe average AAP ticket aspirantis a male graduate between 40and 50 years of age. Top AAPleaders like Arvind Kejriwal,Yogendra Yadav, Sanjay Singh and Kumar Vishwas arealso in the forties with strong educational back-grounds. According to initial trends, 21.3% of theapplicants seeking an AAP ticket are graduates fol-lowed by 18.4% who are post-graduates, 15.5% have alaw degree, 7.5% hold a management degree while7.5% have passed Class 12. An overwhelming numberof aspirants (87.9%) are men.

Ramdev termed Rahul ‘immature’ Yoga Guru Baba Ramdevdescribed All India CongressCommittee (AICC) vice presi-dent Rahul Gandhi as immatureand innocent boy. Ramdev said:"Rahul is an innocent boy who ismisled by the Congress. Such aninnocent person is of no use tothe country. He is unintelligentas well and such an individual is not fir for the PrimeMinister of India." He also predicted the Congress’sfuture in the upcoming general elections and said theparty would reduce with just 50 seats.

BJP suspends two dissident MLAsTaking stern action against dissi-dent activities within the party,the Bihar BJP suspended twoparty MLAs - Awanish KumarSingh and Rana GangeshwarSingh - for their alleged anti-party activities. "We have sus-pended our two MLAs AwanishKumar Singh and RanaGangeshwar Singh with immedi-ate effect for their anti-partyactivities," state BJP president Mangal Pandey. Takingnote of the two BJP MLAs' sustained anti-party activi-ties over a long period, the party leadership was left withno other option, but to suspend them from the party,Pandey said. They had also dared the BJP leadership totake disciplinary action against them.

Mangal Pandey

Third Front will makeIndia third rated: Modi

Congress made injusticeto Pranab Mukherjee

Patnaik govt looting publicmoney: Rahul Gandhi

Launching the Congressparty’s campaign inOdisha in view of LokSabha elections, RahulGandhi while addressinga rally in Salipur saidblamed Naveen Patnaikgovernment in Odishafor looting public moneyand indulging in rampantcorruption. Saying“Odisha is rich, but peo-ple are poor”, Rahul said.

“Rs 600 billion has beenlooted by people inpower in connivancewith mining mafia.People of the stateshould have been bene-fited from this money,but the real beneficiarieswere the mining mafia,”he said, adding, “Nearly20 lakh people in Odishahave been hit by the chitfund scam.

Modi struck a chord with Bengali audience andblamed the Gandhi family for denying PranabMukerjee as the Prime Minister, despite he was thesenior most leader in 1984 after Indira Gandhi’sassassination. The Congress made injustice to ‘PranabDa’ once again in 2004 after Sonia Gandhi declined tobe the prime minister, instead of Mukherjee, they(Gandhis) selected Dr. Manmohan Singh. He saidthat people should let Trinamool Congress do a goodjob in the state, elect BJP in the Centre, with ‘Pranab-da to supervise us'. Interestingly, while he was severein his criticism of the Left parties, the Third Front andthe Congress, he softened his stance when it came toWest Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

SPECIALwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 2014 17

Asian Voice and Gujarat Samacharhave now launched a fresh andvivacious look for the prestigiousAsian Achievers Awards, with anew logo and a more interactivewebsite, which went live on 6February 2014. This was attendedby top executives from leadingfirms and businesses all across theUK at a gala evening reception inthe Doubletree Hilton, Holborn.The evening was sponsored by MrNaynesh Desai, DDO Solicitors.

The Asian Achievers Awards, isnot just a recognition of talents. Itis a record of the contributions ofour community - their passion andhard work. It is reflective of thetime passed, the Big Society as wesee today and the ambition ofBritain's tomorrow. A witness tothe changing identity of ourBritain, it is famously known as theface of diversity, rewarding accom-plishments of the Asian communi-ty's finest. The Asian AchieversAwards, which has proven to be abenchmark to measure the successstories in our community, is backthis year with a promise to be big-ger, better and brighter.

Whether its sport, media, art,culture or community service, theAsian Achievers Awards have mir-rored the success of the Asians, inorder to highlight the valuable con-

tributions they have made toBritain's social fabric. It is nowregarded as one of the most presti-gious and highly respected cere-monies on Britain's social calendar.Getting bigger and better eachyear, the Awards continue toattract a number of dignitaries.Today we have a guest list of morethan 1000 people, featuring thewho's who of the community.

Instead of a few individualsdeciding who the award winner is,a truly independent panel of judgesare given total freedom to select ashortlist and then the winner ineach category. Not only the sub-scribers and the read-ers of Asian Voiceand GujaratSamachar, but alsothe wider communityis invited to nominatecandidates in variouscategories of theaward, as it is publi-cised through radio,television, internetand various events.Every year, a recordnumber of nomina-tions are received andthe calibre of the can-didates are alwaysvery impressive.

Nominations for

AAA 2014 arenow open to pub-lic.

The Awardshave also showncontinued sup-port for theunderprivileged.The proceedingsof the evening, collected throughan auction, are donated to thesponsored charity of the year. Wehave raised about half a millionpounds over 13 years and this yearour chosen charity is the Cherie

Blair Foundation for Women.CB Patel, Chairman of the

Asian Achievers Awards on thelaunch evening said, "The AsianAchievers Awards had the mostmodest beginning. It was started toensure that successful people fromall walks of life, are given their duerecognition. Over the last 13 yearsABPL team has successfullyachieved its professional and nobleobjectives. Thanks to the nomineesand nominators, sponsors, adver-tisers and, last but not the least,the hardworking judging panel,that selects and shortlists the win-ners.

Asian Achievers Awards arerecognised as the 'People's Awards'.It's all inclusive, without any pre-conditions, except the brilliance ofan individual's contribution to thesociety."

Dr Prodipta Sen, ExecutiveDirector, Alpha G Corp on behalfof the Headline Sponsor of the

Asian Achievers Awards 2013 said,"We would like to express ourpleasure and pride at being closelyassociated with the AsianAchievers Awards.

One can’t help but see the nat-ural synergy in the collaboration of

our

organisation that believes in beingthe finest, with this most distin-guished initiative that recognisesand felicitates the successes of thefinest achievers of the Asian com-munity across a multitude of busi-nesses, professions and nationali-ties.

This evening is an importantone as the Asian Achievers Awardsstride forward with yet greater pur-pose and expanded scope. In thisregard, we will be witness to the re-launch of the Asian AchieversAwards website and logo. I feelsure that the fresh look and feelwill go well beyond appearance;enveloping and signifying rein-forced ambition for the scope andreach of the Asian AchieversAwards and what they will standfor in the years to come."

Photo courtesy: Raj D Bakrania, Prmediapix

Asian Achievers Awardsflaunts a new look

Mr Naynesh Desai,Partner, DDO Solicitors

Dr Prodipta Sen,Executive Director,Alpha G Corp

CB Patel, Chairman,Asian Achievers Awards

Paresh Davdra, DealingDirector, Rational FX

Ms Laura Stebbingfrom Cherie Blair

Foundation for Women

Mr Paul MonkManaging Director,Working Options

Ms Priya Patel, compere for theevening

Invited guests

The City Sikhs Networkheld an inspiringInterfaith evening onMonday 10th February atthe world-famous, historicSt Paul's Cathedral, forthe first time ever. Theevening consisted of shortinspirational talks and apanel discussion given byleading women from 4 dif-ferent faith traditions:Amrit Kaur Lohia –

prominent Sikh activist,Rev. Jody Stowell – faithleader within the Churchof England, Rabbi DebbieYoung-Somers – faithleader within ReformJudaism and SughraAhmed – President of theIslamic Society of Britain.This groundbreakingevent was open to peopleof all faiths. Full story innext week's issue.

City Sikhs host an Inspiring InterfaithEvening at St Paul’s Cathedral

The High Commission ofIndia organised a reviewdiscussion of the book 'Re-Imagine: India–UKCultural Relations in the21st Century' at IndiaHouse on Monday, 10February 2014.

The discussion waschaired by Ms ShrabaniBasu, a veteran journalistand a remarkable author,and the panelists includedMr Prashant Pise,Minister (Press &Information) and Head ofChancery, Indian HighCommission, Dr ViranderPaul, Deputy HighCommissioner of India,Professor NirmalyaKumar, Director of AdityaBirla India Centre,London Business Schooland Head of Strategy, TataGroup, Dr Mukulikabanerjee, Head of SouthAsian Studies departmentat the LSE, ProfessorSubir Sarkar, head of

Particle Theory group atthe University of Oxford,Dr William Crawley, for-mer head of BBC EasternService abd author, DrDavid Page, author, andformer journalist at theBBC Eastern Service, MrSanjay Suri, LondonCorrespondent for CNN-IBN, and Vidya Ram,London Correspondentfor Businessline.

'Re-Imagine: India–UKCultural Relations in the21st Century', is a book onfuture-forging pieces byleading thinkers in Indiaand the UK, exploring theevolving relationshipbetween the two coun-tries, tracing not only theshared history but also itscontemporary ramifica-tions, and is edited byShrabani Basu.

Full story on the paneldiscussion will be pub-lished in forthcomingissues of Asian Voice.

UK Telugu Associationheld a scintillatingSankranthi celebrations,for the fourth year in arow, in the Parliament,on the occasion of theHarvest Festival demon-strating the strength ofTelugus in the UK. Theevent was hosted by Rt.Hon Dan Byles,

Member of Parliament.Rt. Hon. VirendraSharma, MP, graced theoccasion. Around 80persons witnessed enter-taining cultural itemsand exchanged greet-ings.

Full story in forth-coming issues of AsianVoice.

UKTA celebrates Sankranthi inthe Parliament

Enlightening discussion onIndo-British relations held

at India House

Panelists at the discussions

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 201418

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to£30M

I was able to say with some pride onmy BBC interview that the CEO ofone of the world’s largest companiesis Indian. So is Chairwoman of Pepsiby the way – and heads of countlessother companies.

So with all this talent of Indianorigin, why is the Rupee at an alltime low, given it is the currency ofthe Indian. Surely all the talent isnot outside the country, flourishingonly where her politicians do notreign?

Never before has any countryoutside the US had as many of itscorporate leaders in the Forbes RichList top 10 as India has today. Noteven Japan in its heyday or Chinamatches the feat. To make the casefor opportunities in India wouldseem self-evident then. After all, if anation’s own people, who know thecountry the best, can make fortunesto compete with the world’s largesteconomy, then surely outsideinvestors too can do very well there.Yet, misperception still obstructsmany investment decisions concern-ing India. Let’s eradicate them.

Meeting a California SiliconValley billionaire who has re-emi-grated back to India is perhaps oneof the more striking proofs of India’spotential. These, the most success-ful of Indians, who moved to the USin the 1960s from an opportunity-shorn India, return today with theirmillionaire colleagues, to capture thetypes of opportunities few, if anyplaces on earth can match. After, all,no other major capitalist economywill even come close to matchingIndia’s growth for decades.

Imagine a business person witha time machine. They would proba-bly choose to go back to the begin-ning of last century to the US tomake their fortune – the time ofRockefeller and Getty.

Consider during that century, theDow advanced from 66 to 11,497.This gain, though it appears huge,shrinks to 5.3% when compoundedannually. And that nevertheless wasthe American century – the centurywhen the US became a super power.Consider that that growth rate trans-formed a backward nation from thehorse and carriage to one whichfreely sent man to the moon. YetIndia today exceeds and is projectedto exceed for our working life times

that return-rate of 5%. The baton ofRockefeller and Getty is truly carriedby Ambani and Tata.

If your investment options werebinary: US, the world’s largest econ-omy, or India, think now about thiscentury. For investors to merelymatch that 5.3% market-value gain,the Dow – recently below 10,000 –would need to close at about2,000,000 on December 31, 2099.We are nearly a decade

into this century, and we haveracked up none of the 1,990,000Dow points the

market needed to travel in thishundred years to equal the 5.3% ofthe last.

Whereas, India, with the realeconomy targeting 8% for the fore-seeable future is far more likely toprovide the types of returns tomatch the transformation the UnitedStates had since 1900. Where wouldyou invest?

Surpassing then the US in thelast century; in terms of returns, interms of the spirit of the peoples.

The obstacles are not trulyIndian, but those of other nationsknowing how to leverage the oppor-tunities. Take SMEs in the UK.Thanks to the energetic UK Tradeand Investment providing accessand know-how on exporting fromthe UK into India, or the vitality ofthe UK India Business Council pro-viding a soft-landing in India, SMEaccess to India has become easier. IfSMEs from Britain do not come outto India to become more productiveand tap growth, then competitorsfrom around the world will swarmupon the weakest British companiesand through corporate Darwinismextinct them. The obstacles are notin India, but in the exporting orinvestor country, knowing how toleverage the opportunities.

To describe India in statisticswould be to describe the Taj Mahalby its dimensions; you can do it, butit denies any beauty. But if you wantstatistics, consider theses:

Little wonder then this nationhad the greatest GDP of any countryon the eve of the formation of theBritish East India Company. There isnothing to suggest her people willnot return to resume their destiny.

So it is, I remain a buyer ofIndia.

Why Invest In India?Britain eyeing huge, long-term

investments in BengalBritain is eyeing "substantial,long-term investments" inWest Bengal, and is seekingto tap into the state's needsfor infrastructure, renew-ables and upgrading theskills of the workforce, saidGreg Barker, Britain's minis-ter for business engagementwith India.

Barker's visit comes bare-ly three months after BritishPrime Minister DavidCameron made a stopover inthe city and met West Bengalchief minister MamataBanerjee. Barker was part ofthe delegation led byCameron in November lastyear.

"We are looking at huge,substantial investments here(in Bengal)... They will belong-term investments,"Barker said during a 'UK andWest Bengal in Partnership'seminar organised jointly bythe Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII) and theUnited Kingdom Trade andInvestment (UKTI).

"We are looking to double

trade with India by 2015 andKolkata is a strategic priorityfor Britain's businesses," saidBarker, who also officiates asthe British Minister of Statefor Energy and ClimateChange.

Leading a 16-memberBritish business delegation,the minister spoke aboutstrengthening economic tieswith the state and follow upon the agreement signed onhis last visit between his gov-ernment and the KolkataMunicipal Corporation towork towards a low carbon

and climate-resilient Kolkataas part of the Corporation'sVision 2020 strategy for thecity.

"Tackling climate changeis an economic as well asenvironmental imperative.This is a key theme rising upto the challenge for bothBritain and Bengal govern-ments," he said.

Other areas of focusinclude public-private part-nerships in infrastructuredevelopment, regenerationand restoration projects andskilled workforce.

"British experts advisedon the riverfront develop-ment a few years ago andnow at the invitation of thestate government, theexperts will be involved inthe renovation of the historicWriters' Building," he said.

Pointing out that Britainis the third largest investor inIndia and India is presentlythe fifth largest investor inhis country, Barker called forinward investments from theIndian businesses.

Unbridled inflation is a wor-rying prospect in India. Theconsumer prices have beenhovering around 10 per cent.It not only affects the com-mon man but destabilise themacroeconomic stability,which India badly needs inthis year of tapering anduncertain political transi-tion. Indians have at lastfound someone – newReserve Bank of India gover-nor Raghuram Rajan – whois taking steps to control theinflation.

In India, the politiciansand industrialists have longleaned on Rajan to controlprice rise. Since takingcharge in September, he hasraised interest rates threetimes even though invest-ment levels are miserableand growth is limping alongat below 5 per cent. He hastaken bold measures toimprove India’s currentaccount position, helping tostave off an attack on therupee after tapering talk atthe Fed first arose last sum-mer. This year, even thoughit is still considered one ofthe “fragile five”, India hasweathered the latest bout ofemerging market jitters bet-ter than most. He has alsothrown his weight behind

proposed changes that couldfortify the central bank’sindependence and stand theeconomy in much betterlong-term prospects.

Besides raising rates,Rajan has made several ges-tures that bode well for along-term campaign. He saidthat consumer price index(CPI) rather than the whole-sale price index was a bettermeasure of inflation. Therate of wholesale price risesis down to 6.2 per cent, butconsumer price inflation isrunning at 9.9 per cent.

The governor has not yetset his inflation target. Buthe is edging in that direction.He has spoken to bring downthe headline inflation level of

6 per cent in two years.Intellectually, he has rejectedthe idea that there is a trade-off between inflation andgrowth. As he said in arecent interview: “The bestway I as a central bank canhelp the economy grow is bykeeping inflation low. Onlyonce price rises are tamedwill the conditions be inplace for savers to save,lenders to lend and business-es to invest. The notion thatyou can buy a bit of growthby easing off in the fightagainst inflation flies in theface of India’s recent stagfla-tionary experience.”

Rajan is cautiously back-ing changes that could insti-tutionalise better policy. Acommittee wants the bank toformally drop its “multipleindicator” approach andconcentrate instead on theCPI. It wants a target of 4per cent with a leeway of 2per cent either side. In an erawhen other central banks aretaking into account addition-al factors – such as unem-ployment – this could beseen as running counter tointernational trends. But, asRajan points out, inflation ishardly the main concern ofwestern central banks rightnow.

Greg Barker

Raghuram Rajan

Rajan aims to control inflation

FINANCIAL VOICEwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 2014 19

Suresh VagjianiSow & Reap

A Property InvestmentCompany

One of the questions we have to always ask is whichclient do we put into which deal? There are severa l fac-tors to consider. Fi rst of course is budget, those withsmaller budgets are advised to go into syndicates , whichbuy large value properties, this way a small amount of£50k can give very high returns. Some clients are averseto syndicating their investment and wish to go alone, thisis f ine as long as you have the budget to do so. For a£500k purchase you wil l need £150k to al low for 25%deposit and associated costs.

Often these questions are not considered with any clar i-ty by investors, and part of our role is to help define theinvestment depending on their ci rcumstances which areunique to every individual .

We are gearing up for a busy year in the property market, prices inmany locations will increase beyond their glass ceiling heights of2007. The signs on the ground are confirming this trend. Last weekwe closed a development deal with a group of investors for £4.4m, wepurchased this off someone who had bought it for less, there’s evena chance we will be reselling this on prior to completion.

When property is being resold on several times between exchangeand completion it’s a sure sign the market is heating up. Severe lackof quality stock forces this to happen. I am sure this will continueand intensify through the coming year, along with the practice ofguzumping which will start to emerge where buyers of property aredumped half way through the purchasing process by other buyerswith higher offers.

Another deal, that was supposed to happen on Friday, then againtoday, which will hopefully happen tomorrow is a flat in Mayfair forwhich we had double the investment money for. One investor wasumming and aahhing and in the mean while we got someone else inthe deal as we only had a short time to close, then he woke up andalso sent his money in. This particular deal has a long completionafter exchange and therefore there is a strong chance it will be resoldprior to completion. Given the cheap price and a four month com-pletion, who knows perhaps it too will be sold twice before comple-tion.

Another deal we will be exchanging on this week will be a devel-opment deal in Sloane St. This is being purchased at £2.25m, it’s offmarket. It comes with a short lease of 39 years which actually is notas short as it sounds given the location. Believe it or not it’s sellableas it is with even this amount left in the lease. However we will beinheriting the right to extend the lease when we purchase this prop-erty. According to a surveyor’s opinion the lease extension will cost£500k. Allowing for a refurbishment cost of £300k we will wind upwith a property which has cost roughly £3.05m and has a resell valueof £4.5m. The property is in a quaint courtyard, aloof from the busyHigh St, and is in a portered block in a rich and fashionable area ofSloane St. It is in a very prestigious location and has the classicalentrance you would expect to see typically in a London flat withplenty of brass and wood in the reception. The entrance is importantand this is the one which is not in your control. So it is very impor-tant it has a wow factor before you even get to the apartment, thiswill be the potential buyer’s first impression.

Here none of the shops have price tags and there is a guard post-ed outside them. You will find the wives of footballers and rich busi-ness men shopping at these exclusive venues. What seems expensiveto most is relative; here £3,000 to £4,000 per sq ft is the standardbread and butter prices.

It is moments from the famous One Hyde Park, a developmentdone by Candy and Candy, which I haven’t seen internally, but goodsources who have seen it have stated they wonder where the moneypaid at £10,000 per sq ft, paid several years ago, has gone. There arealso vicious rumors, which state many of the flats had been sold in-house to establish the initial comparable to maintain the illusion of

Different Strokes For Different Folks

Mostly deals are not packaged up for you and handed over on a p late, they needto be worked. Here we have a few issues to contend with, a shortish lease and aplanning permission which needs to come through in order for work to s tart onthis property. None of these seem prohibi tive.

the price. Who knows for sure? Apart from the buyers and the sell-ers.

There is another deal to be done as well this week, it’s a propertyin St John’s Wood where prices go for £1,500+ per sq ft. This is aflat which consists of circa 500 sq ft is going for only £500k. This oneis cheap and can be easily resold on for £650k on the open marketwith some slight works on it.

The other criterion is time, many investors want to keep recyclingtheir investments whilst others prefer to keep it in one and hold, andpass it through generation after generation. Some prefer a combina-tion of both.

Another major consideration is tax, many say they want incomeproducing properties yet not realising they are high income earnersand therefore half of the excess income will go to the HMRC.Another factor is cash flow, is it necessary for you to have moneycoming in every month? Or would you prefer your money to workharder with a payout instead every 6 - 12 months. Some clients evenhave strict criteria of where the door faces or even the number of theproperty. One of our current clients has a strict criteria regardingwhich direction the door should face, and he’s not even Indian!

At the moment we have a rather unique circumstance which Ihave not come across before. It’s someone who has a pension fund inthe form of an SSAS which is a Small Self Administered Scheme.This type of pension allows tax free contribution into it and allowsthe holder to control the investments they make subject to some cri-teria. An SSAS does not allow one to purchase residential propertyoutright but allows one to develop property and pay for legal costs,money is not invested but loaned to the scheme.

Ultimately the aim is to increase the investment amount withinthe scheme aggressively and then go overseas, where after five yearsthe whole thing becomes tax free, all within the rules of the HMRC.

It’s actually been a learning experience getting to grips with thisand has opened my eyes to a new realm of investing.

This is an interesting scenario and one I am confident we canadhere too and one our lawyers will be able to understand and exe-cute.

Knightsbridge, London, SW1XPurchase Price: £2.25m

l A first floor apartment in this highly sought after location

l Excellent ceiling heightsl Comparable properties are priced at £3,300 per sq ft

and above while this comes at around £1,600 per sq ftl End value after works and lease extention expected

to be around £4.5m

Call us now if you would like to have a piece of the pie!

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0207 993 0103

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

Sowandreapuk SowandReapProperties

Specialists inCentral London

Property Sourcing

[email protected] www.sowandreap.co.uk

l Remember the mantra of propertyinvestment! You must forget your whimsand follow the mantra, in property it isLocation, Location, Location!

l Buying a property is a package deal;don't look at it from only one angle, if youconcentrate only on yield you may findthe capital appreciation is not so good.

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Some analysts in US wasexpecting a high profileman to be appointed aschief executive ofMicrosoft. Satya Nadella'sappointment took them bysurprise. Some privatelyadmitted that they werealso taken aback byNadella's origins. "What, anIndian Indian?" one sea-soned commentator asked."Where was he raised andeducated?" Nadella, 46,was born in Hyderabad andstudied at ManipalUniversity in Karnataka,before moving to America

to pursue his post-graduatestudies in Wisconsin andChicago. These days, hisIndian accent may berounded with an Americanlilt, but he remains verymuch someone born andbred on the subcontinent.He is Indian in anyone'sbook. America is a multi-cultural society - but it isstill unusual to see a for-eigner take the helm of aUS firm. It seems they liketheir chief executives white,all-American, middle classand educated at Harvard orYale.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 201420 FINANCIAL VOICE

Bangalore-based Bioconand US-based Mylan,which jointly developedtheir own version of aRoche breast cancer treat-ment in India, have beenordered by the Delhi highcourt to stop sale of theirdrug. This follows after theSwiss group claimed thatthe drug makers could nothave carried out adequateclinical trials.Biocon was expected

to start selling a biosimilarversion of Roche’s drugHerceptin in India thismonth. However, the highcourt ordered them to stopsale of the drug until theyhad persuaded the courtthat their product hadundergone sufficient test-

ing.The lawsuit launched

by Roche against the com-panies and DrugsController General ofIndia is the latest in aseries of legal battles byglobal pharmaceutical

innovators facing stiffcompetition from Indiangeneric rivals.The case highlights

innovating companies’determination to use allavailable tools to defendtheir position in India’s

potentially lucrative drugsmarket. Biocon accusedRoche of filing the lawsuitto “protect their marketmonopoly and preventIndian patients fromaccessing a more afford-able trastuzumab.”Biocon said its biosim-

ilars to the Roche drugswere “world-class prod-ucts that adhere to strin-gent quality standards,”and it expressed confi-dence that the restrictions“will not stand” once ithas a chance to be heardby the court.Indian patient groups

have expressed outrage atthe court order, calling it“unwarranted and inexpli-cable”.

Following the death ofKarl Slym, Cyrus Mistry,the chairman of the Tatagroup, will take charge ofthe struggling TataMotors. Mistry will head acommittee of executives asan interim replacement forformer chief executiveSlym. Mistry, who has noexperience in running acarmaker, will be in directcharge of new productsand engineering processes.He faces a tough task ofturning around the for-tunes of the car and truckmaker, once one of India’slargest but now strugglingin a competitive market.“The Board of Tata

Motors has constituted acorporate steering com-mittee to oversee strategyexecution and key aspectsof operations chaired byme,” Mistry said in a state-ment. “We will ensure thatthe company vigorouslypursues and delivers onthe strategy which hadalready been defined andwhich Karl Slym was exe-cuting.”The company expects

to appoint a permanentmanaging director “in duecourse”.Tata Motors, which

first started building carsin 1991 before India’sboom in car sales, hasfound itself struggling tocompete with global rivalssuch as Suzuki, Hyundaiand Ford, because it lacksnew models and cutting-edge features..

Anil Sharma, an ana-lyst, said Mistry’s job waslikely to be to maintaincontinuity and see throughSlym’s plans.

Cyrus Mistry

[email protected] Fernandes

Whilst the resignation ofthe Minister responsiblefor Immigration, MarkHarper,was motivated bypolitical considerations,it is quite likely thatlegally he had not doneanything wrong.Although the circum-stances are not entirelyclear it appears that hehad a cleaner. Cleanersthat are called in to workonce, twice or threetimes a week and are notregarded as employeesbut are considered to beself-employed. Therequirements of checkingthe immigration status ofa person apply only to anemployee and not to theself-employed. TheMinister’s position con-trasts that of BaronessScotland who, someyears ago, was finedbecause in her case shehad employed the mem-ber of staff. The point that Mr

Harper made is that hedid in fact check the sta-tus of this person on 2occasions but subse-quently lost the paper-work. He also maintainsthat it later emerged thatthe cleaner’s documentswerefound not to be gen-uine. The duty on anemployer is merely toundertake reasonablechecks to ensure that thedocument is genuine. Ifit later emerges that thedocument was not, theemployer has a statutorydefence.As the case of the

Minister goes, he hadadvocated the use ofvans that went aroundthe country preaching toillegal immigrants to getout of the country so itwas inevitable that hehad to hand his head ona plate. However if thishad happened to others,there would have beendifficulties. Firstly, anyperson found on their

premises would,in gener-al, automatically be con-sidered to be an employ-ee. Where a person isunable to provide paper-work that proved thatchecks had been con-ducted, a civil penaltywould have been levied.The proposal is for thislevy to be doubled from amaximum of £10,000 to£20,000 although mostfines are in the region of£5,000.This case demon-

strates the practical diffi-culties that exist in ask-ing the public to shoul-der responsibility forwork that is best done byImmigration Officials.There are various typesof status, some of whichpermit work which aredifficult to understandeven by those experi-enced in this field. Thenew Immigration Billattempts to extendchecks to landlords, GPsand hospital staff. The difficulties in

accurately identifyingthose who are allowed towork, those in respect ofwhom checks are manda-tory, distinguishing gen-uine from forged docu-ments are all issues thatare complicated. What islikely to happen is thatpeople of a differentcolour or accent will notbe employed even whentheir situation is entirelylegal. The regulationshave a tongue-in-cheekstatement which warnsthat employers mustcheck the status of allstaff to avoid accusationsof discrimination. Theevidence is that the eth-nic minorities are beingrejected for jobs and thefeeling is that this has arelationship with theimmigration regulations.The Minister may

have gone but the pro-posed law and its myriaddifficulties remain intact.

The Minister, theCleaner and the Law

S Narsing Rao, the chair-man of Coal India, one ofthe country’s biggest com-panies, said that Indiacould double its economicgrowth if it resolves coalshortage that is destroyingits ability to meet surgingenergy needs.Rao said that the

n a t i o n ’ sdemand forcoal could bemet easily fromIndia’s ownr e s o u r c e s ,which areamong thelargest in the world at 267billion tonnes. However, hesaid that exploiting themremained a “dauntingtask”, because a string ofnew mining projects werestuck in the planning stagewithout proper govern-ment approval for environ-mental and other necessarypermits. Others are unvi-able without significantnew rail links and theacquisition of roughly48,000 hectares of land,which he said wouldrequire the resettlement of

about 100,000 people ineastern India.We desperately require

land he said and added thatcoal is closely intertwinedwith India’s economicgrowth. He said that theslowdown had been tiedclosely to bottlenecks inIndia’s domestic coal pro-

duction. Thisyear, Coal Indiaaims to pro-duce 482 mil-lion tonnes ofthe fuel, up 6.6per cent from452 million

tonnes of coal in the finan-cial year 2012-13.However, this falls far

short of demand, forcingIndia to import up to 120million tonnes of coalmostly from Australia,Indonesia and SouthAfrica. “Macro-economi-cally, it’s adding a hugeburden to the currentaccount deficit,” Rao said.“If we could meet India’sthermal coal demand local-ly, we could reduce India’scurrent account deficit byat least $10 billion.”

India’s CabinetCommittee on EconomicAffairs last week approvedthe proposal of Britishtelecom major Vodafone toincrease its stake in theIndian entity to 100% forRs 101.41 billion from64.38% at present.In the process,

Vodafone Plc will buy outthe minority shareholderswho together own 35.62%equity in the company.The company had receivedapproval from the ForeignInvestment PromotionBoard (FIPB) inDecember last year.“We welcome the deci-

sion by the CabinetCommittee on EconomicAffairs,” said BenPadovan, Group head ofMedia (External Affairs),Vodafone Group ServicesLimited, in an e-mail.

The Ajay Piramal-ledPiramal Enterprises,which owned a 10.97%direct equity holding inVodafone India, will get Rs89 billion, a premium ofabout 51% for its stake,more than double of whatit had expected (reported-ly 17-20%). The remainingRs 12.41 billion will go toAnaljit Singh who indi-rectly holds the remainingstake in Vodafone India.Piramal had invested a

total of Rs 59 billion tobuy 10.97% in VodafoneIndia in two tranches.While Piramal Enterpriseshad invested an averageRs 537.83 a share for itsstake, the selling price isRs 811.30 per share.Piramal had first

bought about 5.47% stakefor Rs 28.93 billion in2011. In February 2012,

the company again bought5.5% more for Rs 30.07billion. In the process,Vodafone India’s valuationrose 48% since February2012, when PiramalEnterprises took 5.5% inVodafone India for Rs30.07 billion.Vodafone India is now

valued at Rs 811.30 bil-lion, 42% higher than theRs 570 billion Vodafonehad paid Hutch in 2007 tobuy a 67% stake in thecompany.Earlier, Analjit Singh

had said, in a statement,that what the British telcohas offered to him for hisindirect stake in VodafoneIndia is consistent withthe agreements signedbetween him andVodafone, which werefiled with the FIPB in2007 and 2009.

Vodafone gets final nod for $1.6-bn deal to fully own India unit

Nadella’s appointmentdissapoints some

An Indian-origin hedgefund portfolio managerhas been found guilty bya federal jury in US oncharges that he partici-pated in one of the "mostlucrative" insider tradingschemes totalling USD276 million involvinginformation about clini-cal trials for anAlzheimer's drug.Mathew Martoma, 39,was convicted on onecount of conspiracy tocommit securities fraudand two counts of securi-ties fraud. Following theconviction, ManhattanUS attorney PreetBharara said thatMartoma cultivated andpurchased the confidenceof doctors with secretknowledge of the drug

Indian-originhedge fundmanager convicted

Two firms told to stop sale ofcancer drug in India

Cyrus Mistry takescharge of Tata Motors

Coal shortage affectingIndia’s growth

FINANCIAL VOICEwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 2014 21

Foreign Exchange

Bank of England unsurprisinglyheld interest rates at a recordlow of 0.5% and kept its quanti-tative easing program at£375bn. The European CentralBank held interest rates at0.25%, which was largelyexpected. Also Mario Draghihad no change in his stance withregards to future monetary poli-cy, stating that he expects infla-tion and the interest rate to staylow for an extended period –which was no change from pre-vious rhetoric.

Off the back of all this, theeuro strengthened. Why? Due tothe low levels of inflation, mar-kets were anticipating either aninterest rate cut or for Draghi tochange his stance on monetarypolicy possibly suggesting a ratecut could be on the cards.However, as Draghi did notmention any of this, the europicked up strength. However hedid add that effective fromMarch, the ECB will release neweconomic forecasts over a twoyear horizon – giving more guid-ance to the markets.

The pound fell for a secondweek against the dollar asreports showed that both the

manufacturing and services sec-tors slowed in growth lastmonth strengthening the casefor the Bank of England to keepinterest rates at a record low.Sterling posted its biggest week-ly loss versus the euro in almosta year after the central bankkept the benchmark interestrate at 0.5% on 6th February.

United Kingdom construc-tion output rose to a six and ahalf year high in January. Thedata from Markit revealed thatconstruction firms hired morepeople in January, the eighthmonth running, and all subsec-

tors of construction – housebuilding, commercial propertyconstruction and civil engineer-ing – all saw rising activity.

The United States had badnews after Markit reported thatthe US manufacturing PMIcame in at a three-month low of53.7 last month, down fromDecember's 55.0. That suggeststhe pace of expansion slowedduring the rough winter weath-er, with some firms blamed dis-ruptions from the extremeweather conditions at the startof January. Export orders alsofell, but more encouragingly

firms kept hiring.Global equities made strong

gains at the end of a volatileweek that was largely dominat-ed by uncertainty over the out-look for the US economy.Friday’s (07/02/2014) stockmarket gains came even as a dis-appointing US employmentreport added to concerns thatmomentum in the world’sbiggest economy was slowing –which could affect the FederalReserve’s plans to scale downits stimulus measures.

Non-farm payrolls only roseby 113,000 last month, muchless than what was expected.This was mainly due to the factthat the number of people whoare actively seeking employmentin the US has dropped off.Payroll growth appears to haveslowed but, given the strength ofeconomic growth in the secondhalf of last year, a possiblerebound is expected in themonthly gains over the next fewmonths. However a bit of goodnews came from the fact that theunemployment rate slippedfrom 6.7% to 6.6%. Butnonetheless, the US dollarweakened across the board.

BoE holds the interest at 0.5%

Paresh Davdra is the Dealing Director of RationalFX, Currency Specialists.

GBP - INR = 102.24

USD - INR = 62.11

EUR - INR = 84.79

GBP - USD = 1.65

GBP - EUR = 1.21

EUR - USD = 1.37

GBP - AED = 6.05

GBP - CAD = 1.81

GBP - NZD = 1.97

GBP - AUD = 1.82

GBP - ZAR = 18.06

GBP - HUF = 373.78

www.rationalfx.comInformation provided by RationalFX.None of the information on this pageconstitutes, nor should be construedas financial advice. The exchangerates used are the commercial foreignexchange rates provided byRationalFX. For a live quote or to findout more about how RationalFX canhelp you, call us on 0207 220 8181.

WeeklyCurrenciesAs of Tuesday

11th February 2014 @ 6pm


London: The RiverThames has burst its banksafter reaching its highestlevel in years, floodingriverside towns upstreamof London. Residents andBritish troops piled upsandbags to protect prop-erties from the latest boutof flooding, but the riveroverwhelmed their defens-es in several places, leavingareas including the centerof the village of Datchetunderwater.The Environment

Agency has issued 14severe flood warnings -meaning there's a dangerto life - along the Thameseast of Windsor, about 20miles (32 km) fromLondon.Its chief executive, Paul

Leinster, said "extremeweather will continue tothreaten communities thisweek" with more Thamesflooding expected.There were no flood

alerts for the part of theriver that flows throughLondon. That stretch isprotected by the ThamesBarrier, a series of giantmetal gates downstream ofcentral London that can beclosed against tidal surges.By holding back the tide,the barrier also createsmore space in the river forexcess water fromupstream to flow down tothe sea.England has had its

wettest January since1766. Its southwest coasthas been battered repeat-edly by storms and a largearea of the low-lyingSomerset Levels in thesouthwest has been underwater for more than amonth.The disaster has

sparked a political storm,with the Prime MinisterDavid Cameron'sConservative-led govern-ment facing criticism frommany residents for alleged-ly failing to dredge riversand take other flood-pre-vention measures.Both Cameron and

Deputy Prime MinisterNick Clegg visited flood-hit areas as the govern-ment struggled to takecharge of the flooding cri-sis. Cameron denied thegovernment had been slowto respond. "We have beendealing with it from thevery moment it started," hesaid. "Where money wasneeded, we provided moremoney. Where military wasneeded, I made sure themilitary was deployed."Some areas are already

under water, includingparts of the Great WindsorPark, near QueenElizabeth II's castle atWindsor, which itself isbuilt on higher ground.Forecasters at the Met

Office said the run of win-ter storms, which havebrought heavy rain andstrong winds and seen highwaves batter the Englishcoastline, has been "excep-tional in its duration".Many people in

Somerset, one of the hard-est-hit counties in thesouthwest, blame the dev-

astating floods on the fail-ure of the EnvironmentAgency.Communities minister

Eric Pickles joined theattack on Sunday, suggest-ing the government "per-haps relied too much onthe Environment Agency'sadvice" on flood preven-tion. "I am really sorry thatwe took the advice... wethought we were dealingwith experts," Pickles, amember of Prime MinisterDavid Cameron'sConservative party, said.Chris Smith, the head

of the EnvironmentAgency, hit back andaccused ministers for hold-ing back vital funds."When I hear someone crit-icising the expertise andprofessionalism of my staffin the EnvironmentAgency who know moreabout flood risk manage-ment - 100 times moreabout flood risk manage-ment - than any politicianever does, I am not goingto sit idly by," he said.Smith, a former minis-

ter in Labour government,said the Treasury had limit-ed the amount the agencycould spend on flood man-agement in Somerset. Theprime minister last weekannounced £130 million inextra funding for emer-gency repairs and mainte-nance.Cameron paid his first

visit to Somerset, wherethe Royal Marines havebeen deployed to help withsand-bagging, on Fridayand on Monday he visitedstorm-affected areas in thesouthwest counties ofDevon and Cornwall.

Evacuations beginalong Thames Thousands of people

have begun to evacuatetheir homes in the ThamesValley as water levels con-tinue to rise in the floodedriver. Soldiers have beenhelping local residents to

build walls of sandbags.People living in Chertsey,Egham, Staines,Shepperton Green,Laleham, Horton,Wraysbury, Old Windsorand Datchet have beencontacted by the agency’sfloodline and warned toleave.“We need help here. We

need the police, we needthe army,” said CouncillorColin Rayner, from theRoyal Borough of Windsorand Maidenhead, speakingfrom Wraysbury inBerkshire. As the new cri-sis was developing alongthe Thames Valley, an acri-monious row broke outbetween Owen Paterson,the EnvironmentSecretary, and Eric Pickles,the CommunitiesSecretary, over whereblame should lie for failureto protect the SomersetLevels. Paterson, who isrecovering from surgeryand has handed to Picklesthe responsibility for man-aging the floods response,has complained to

Downing Street aboutPickles’s attack on theEnvironment Agency.The Communities

Secretary savaged the EA,blaming it for ministers’decision last year to turndown requests fromSomerset farmers forurgent dredging work onthe Levels.“We made a mistake,

there’s no doubt aboutthat. We perhaps relied toomuch on the EnvironmentAgency’s advice. I am real-ly sorry that we took theadvice … we thought wewere dealing with experts,”Pickles said on Sunday.Forecasters have given

little hope of any imminentimprovement and warnedof further severe weatheruntil the end of the week.The Met Office has issuedyellow “be-aware” warn-ings for heavy rain in

London and the SouthEast, the South West,Wales and the Midlands.The floods were

expected to disrupt travelbetween London and partsof the Home Counties aftera weekend in which theSouth West was severedfrom the railway.A statement from

National Rail said: “TheRiver Thames has floodedat Datchet and other loca-tions between Staines andWindsor & Eton Riverside.Because of this, trains areunable to run and areplacement bus service isnot available.”Flooding has also dis-

rupted services betweenOxford and Radley. Travelfrom the South West con-tinues to be disrupted byfloods, landslips and theloss of an 80-metre stretchof the Great WesternRailway in Devon.Firemen rescued 20

people from a caravan parknear Northmoor,Oxfordshire, which hasbeen flooded twice by theThames in the past fiveweeks. In Croydon, SouthLondon, a pedestrianunderpass was turned intoa reservoir to hold hun-dreds of thousands of litresof floodwater.Reserve soldiers of 7th

Battalion The Rifles werecalled on to dam a breachin the Kennet Canal, whichthreatened to flood an elec-trical sub-station nearBurghfield, south ofReading. Sixteen hundredtroops are on standby inthe South.Rescuers in Kent saved

a man who had been sweptaway, and two people whowere stranded in a car inwater more than a metredeep. Rail passengers weredisrupted by a landslip atMeopham.Two severe flood warn-

ings remain for theSomerset Levels. Almost1,000 homes are at riskoutside Bridgwater, andofficials have built an earthembankment between thevillages of Moorland andHuntworth to try to holdback the waters.In Wales, roads were

closed by floods and fallentrees, and 64,000 homeswere left without power.Emergency services weresearching for a kayaker indifficulties on the RiverUsk.

WORLD

Sally Bercow triggers acontroversyLondon: The publication of the photograph ofSally Bercow, wife of speaker John Bercow, inan intimate pose with a mystery man in a nightclubhas triggered a controversy. But Sally claimed thather marriage is not in danger and blamed otherssaying that it was depressing how others rush tojudge. She said that people were jealous becauseMr Bercow is liberal and cool.

Health officials warn againstshisha smokingLondon: Health officials warn that shisha smokingis more dangerous than cigarette smoking. Thesmokers believe that water in the pipes will filterout the dangerous chemicals. But that is not at alltrue. The officials say that the water acts as acoolant, which means the lungs are able to take amuch larger quantity of carbon monoxide. Thepresence of carbon monoxide can see the veins andarteries deprive the body of good-quality oxygenover a sustained period, which can weaken thebody's capability to circulate blood.

Concern over UK’s tax systemLondon: The Institute for Fiscal Studies, a leadingeconomic think tank, has warned the governmentagainst forcing a small number of higher incomeearners to foot the tax bill. They said that it wouldbe detrimental to the government’s long term goals.

Parents blamed for women’splightLondon: Consumer affairs minister Jenny Willottblamed the parents for forcing the women to takeup less paid jobs. She said that when the childrenwere young instead of giving uniform toys for bothboys and girls to play, they were given “pink forgirls and blue for boys. Girls were often guided intolow paying occupations like nursing because of thetypes of toys they were given to play with. This ledto an over-representation of women among nursesand of men among engineers and physicists.

Thailand-based councillor notresigningLondon: West Oxfordshire District Council said thatthe councillor Steve Hayward who has moved toThailand is not resigning but taking a cut inallowance. Hayward moved to Thailand last Juneand continues to act as district councillor forDucklington. Hayward said that he was capable offulfilling his role through email, telephone andSkype.

Police officer jailed for pocketingfines London: Hertfordshire traffic police officer IrfanHussain has been jailed for imposing fines andpocketing the money. Three motorists who gaveevidence against Hussain said they handed over £30 each after being told by the officer that by giv-ing money to him they could avoid getting penaltypoints.

Young couples forced to staywith their parentsLondon: Rising property prices and squeeze onearnings are forcing more and more young couplesto stay with their parents or in-laws, official figuresshow. An analysis of returns from the 2011 censusshows that 289,000 families are living in anotherfamily’s home in England and Wales – most of themunder the age of 35.

A cure for snoring London: Snoring by your partner can affect yoursleep. Now a new device is under trial. It is an acti-vated nagging pillow. The pillow detects snoringand nudges a sleeper into a new position so theydo not wake up their partner next to them. It is fit-ted with an integrated microphone that picks up thesonic vibrations of snoring. It then inflates an inter-nal air bladder which increases the pillow’s depth bythree inches – sufficient to make a sleeper movetheir head or body. The device is available onlinefrom the New York-based retailer HammacherSchlemmer for £92.

3,000 hit by benefit cap foundemploymentLondon: More than 3,000 people who were deniedgovernment’s welfare schemes have now foundwork, according to figures. The government hasintroduced a £ 26,000 cap for the families to availthe welfare schemes in 2013. The figures show that40% of those coming off the cap have foundemployment.

River Thames breaches its banks near LondonIN FOCUS

WORLDwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 2014 23

London: The Scots havevoted for independence ina referendum. But it willhave far-reaching conse-quences for PrimeMinister David Cameron.He is still smarting fromthe humiliation of achiev-ing third place in theEuropean parliament elec-tions in May. Now he willfor ever be seen as the manwho presided over thebreak-up of Britain - theworst possible epitaph forthe leader of the“Conservative andUnionist party”.

The yes majority in thereferendum has also pro-voked a series of questionsto which there are no cer-tain answers. WillScotland keep the poundand, if so, on what terms?When will it be able to jointhe European Union? WillSalmond accept the UK’sright to keep its Faslane

nuclear base on the Clydeor will he challengeLondon’s insistence thatthis is “UK sovereign terri-tory” beyond his control?

Closer to the heartsand wallets of the Scots,will their country benefitfrom new jobs and moreinvestment or will it loseout as international com-panies shift both of thosebenefits south of the bor-der?

Scot leader Salmonddeserves his victory cele-bration, but the task ofconverting referendumvictory into the reality ofindependence could provetricky.

As for Cameron, thevote could offer him goodtidings. Without Scotland,Conservative prospects atWestminster will be a lotbrighter. In 2010 Cameronwas forced into a coalitionbecause his party fell 19seats short of the numberit needed to govern alone.

Had there been noMPs from Scotland hewould have led a contin-gent of 306 MPs out of atotal of 591. He wouldhave enjoyed an overallmajority of 21.

Ed Miliband, theLabour leader, can find nosuch consolation inScotland’s decision toleave the UK. For if

Labour returns to powerin next year’s general elec-tion its victory might beshort-lived.

The day Scotlandbecomes independent,Labour will lose morethan 40 of its MPs.Overnight the Toriesmight well become thelargest party atWestminster.

At best Miliband willhave to call a fresh gener-al election; at worst hewill return immediately toopposition.

That is not all. TheScottish vote for inde-pendence has alsoexposed a profound weak-ness in Miliband’s party. Ithas seen a large number ofLabour’s working-classsupporters flock toSalmond’s banner, just asthey did in the final daysof the 2011 election to theScottish parliament.

Scotland referendum may be abig blow for Cameron

Islamabad: FormerPakistan prime ministerBenazir Bhutto’s childrenwere in self-imposed exilefor many years because ofthreats and court casesfrom their homeland. Nowthey have spoken abouttheir experience duringthat time. Bilawal BhuttoZardari, 25, has beenanointed as the formerprime minister’s politicalheir and has moved centrestage in recent weeksorganising a major culturalfestival.

In an interview, he andhis two sisters describehow they grew up longingto return to their home-land. Bakhtawar, 24, whohas worked for a numberof charities assisting floodand earthquake victims,said their mother juggledrunning the PakistanPeople’s Party with bring-ing up three young chil-dren.

“We always wanted toreturn back to Pakistan,my mother frequentlyspoke about returninghome and we often remi-nisced about our memo-

ries of Bilawal House,”said the EdinburghUniversity graduate, refer-ring to the family home inKarachi.

“Tragically, we cameback for our mother’sfuneral. It was not the sortof homecoming we hadplanned…”

Mrs Bhutto was killedin a suicide attack as sheleft a campaign rally in2007, weeks after she flewback into the country forthe first time in almostnine years. Her husband,Asif Ali Zardari, spenteight years in prison afterbeing arrested in the late1990s, years whichweighed heavily on his

young children as theygrew up in Dubai.

Aseefa, 21, said: “Itwas a very traumatic timefor all three of us. I wasonly three years old whenmy father was imprisonedand it wasn’t until I waseleven when he was finallyreleased. My childhoodwas quite bereft.”

Diplomats wonderwhether she might havemore campaigning fire inher belly than her brother– roundly criticised forstaying away during lastyear’s general election -and whether she mightultimately emerge as thekeeper of the Bhutto polit-ical flame.

In recent months, how-ever, Bilawal has devel-oped a higher profile,improving his Urdu andcarving out an outspokenleftist position on tacklingextremism and reformingthe economy.

He became the thirdgeneration to run the fam-ily party when his motherdied, just as she had inher-ited the post when herfather was hanged after amilitary coup.

“I never planned to bedoing this,” he said. “Likemy mother, this crown ofthorns was entrusted tome at a very young age. Isee it as both an honourand an opportunity.

London: Sir James Dyson,one UK’s most successfulentrepreneurs, is trying tocreate affordable houserobots that will revolu-tionise domestic chores.He believes that robotswill soon be able to copewith almost every menialhousehold task, fromcleaning to putting out thebins and spotting intrud-ers. He wants to create “anew generation of robotsthat understand the worldaround them”.

He will announce £5mfor a new robotics labora-tory at Imperial CollegeLondon to develop avision system that willenable robots to see and

interact with their envi-ronment like humans. Itwill supplement theresearch on robots beingcarried out at his Wiltshire

headquarters, whichemploys 2,000 engineersand scientists.

“Almost anythingwhere you need a human

to do it, you couldreplace that with arobot in the brave newworld,” said Dyson.

“The key is beingable to behave as ahuman does. Vision iskey to it.”

He believes hiscompany’s expertise inproducing small, pow-erful motors and hiswork on electronic nav-igation systems meanshe could develop amass-selling house-work robot. He is com-

peting against theJapanese to be the first tobuild an advanced genera-tion of householdandroids.

James Dyson plans all-purpose robots

James Dyson with robots

Bakhtawar Bhutto Aseefa BhuttoBilawal Bhutto

David Cameron

950,000 year old humanfootprints found in BritainLondon: In a major archaeological discovery,experts have found around 50 footprints, made bymembers by an early species of prehistoric humansalmost a million years ago, near the village ofHappisburgh, in Norfolk, 17 miles north-east ofNorwich. It is one of the most important archaeolog-ical discoveries ever made in Britain and is of greatinternational significance, as the footprints are thefirst of such great age ever found outside Africa.

Adulterated foodLondon: Scientists during a test found that food isbeing adulterated with “meat emulsion”, bannedadditives and bromides used in flame retardants.While testing hundreds of samples they found thatmore than a third was not what they claimed to beor were incorrectly labelled, including vodka thatcontained an ingredient of antifreeze. Companies areselling mozzarella that is less than half real cheeseand frozen prawns that are 50 per cent water.

Extreme views of ConservativemembersLondon: Tim Yeo, a Conservative MP who was notselected to contest the next election from SouthSuffolk by the local activists, said that the party wasdominated by members with “extreme” views onissues like Europe and same-sex marriage. He saidthe party’s dwindling membership was leading it totake positions that are increasingly at odds withwider public opinion. He was the second sittingConservative MP in a week to be sacked as a candi-date by local activists.

Smoking ban in cars carryingchildrenLondon: MPs in the House of Commons are expect-ed to vote in favour of banning smoking in cars car-rying children. But cabinet ministers believe that theban is unworkable and impossible to enforce.Although the Commons is expected to vote in favourof a legal ban on smoking in private vehicles DavidCameron was preparing to miss the vote. The healthexperts are pressing the lawmakers to impose theban.

European migrants to workharder London: A senior Brussels official has claimed thatEuropean migrants are more likely to work harderthan their British counterparts. In an interview,Viviane Reding – a Commission vice-president whowas visiting London, claimed that 77 per cent of EUmigrants are economically active, compared to 72per cent of British nationals. She also dismissedattempts by the Government to limit access to bene-fits for migrants to reduce incentives for immigrantsto come to the UK.

Karzai holds secret talks withTalibanIslamabad: Afghan president Hamid Karzai is saidto have held secret talks with Taliban militants in aneffort to convince them to shed violence and bringpeace in the troubled country. The militants wantthe US forces to leave the country and that may bethe reason why Karzai has not signed the securitytreaty with the US for the continuation of a smallforce after Nato forces withdraw from the country atthe end of 2014. Karzai hopes that his stand wouldfacilitate the militant to come to the negotiatingtable. “Contacts have been made and we are also intouch with them,” according to his spokesman AimalFaizi. This year marks a crucial milestone forAfghanistan more than a decade after the Talibanwere ousted from Kabul. Karzai will have to stepdown from the presidency following election which isexpected in April. The Nato forces are also due toleave the country in the end of 2014. Karzai knowthat peace with Taliban is crucial for the survival ofan elected government.

Nepal elects Sushil Koirala asnew Prime MinisterKathmandu: Nepal's parliament picked a socialdemocrat as its new prime minister on Monday aftera last-minute power sharing deal ended a deadlockthat had lasted more than two months after an elec-tion. Sushil Koirala, the head of the centrist NepaliCongress party, was elected with support from thecommunist UML party, which holds the secondlargest number of seats in parliament and whichwanted the assembly to hold new presidential elec-tions. Koirala needed to be elected by a majority inparliament and his Nepali Congress party controls194 seats in the 601-seat assembly.

IN FOCUS

Bitter experiences of Banazir’s siblings

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 201424 INDIA

The Congress and BJP inKarnataka have almostfinalised their first list of can-didates for the Lok Sabhaelections. The state Congresshas asked the high commandto field all 9 sitting MPs fromthe state while the BJP hasalready submitted a list of 21candidates cleared by thestate leadership.Chief Minister

Siddaramaiah, KPCC presi-dent Dr G Parameshwar, topleaders of the state BJPincluding B S Yeddyurappahad descended over thenational capital to discussLok Sabha poll preparedness.Union ministers M

Veerappa Moily, MMallikarjuna Kharge, KHMuniyappa and former CM NDharam Singh are among theMPs likely to contest again.

The KPCC has also recom-mended the name of Infosysco-founder Nandan Nilekanifrom Bangalore South.The Congress is yet to

finalise the names for remain-ing 18 seats. Union ministerKH Muniyappa will be seek-ing a 7th straight term fromKolar.The BJP which has 18

MPs from Karnataka hascleared the names of 21 can-didates. Former chief minis-

ter BS Yeddyurappa,who has justreturned to the party,will be contestingfrom Shimoga. Hisson BY Raghavendra,the current MP hasagreed to vacate theseat for his father.BJP national generalsecretary Ananth

Kumar will be seeking a 6thconsecutive term fromBangalore South. He will betaking on Nandan Nilekani ofthe Congress.Yeddyurappa's close con-

fidante and former ministerShobha Karandlaje is likelyto contest from Mysore-Kodagu. Former deputy chiefminister R Ashoka will mostlikely to contest fromBangalore North. The BJPhas denied ticket to sitting

MP DB Chandra Gowdafrom Bangalore North.Former CM DV

Sadananda Gowda who waseyeing Bangalore North isnow being forced to contestfrom Udupi-Chikmagalur,which he won in 2009.The third party in the fray,

the JDS has also finalised itsfirst list of candidates. Partypatriarch and former PrimeMinister H D Deve Gowdawill be contesting fromHassan for the 6th time. Hisdaughter in law AnithaKumaraswamy, who lost the2013 Lok Sabha by-poll fromBangalore Rural, is onceagain taking on sitting MP DK Suresh of the Congress.The JDS is likely to field

retired Commissioner ofBangalore City CorporationSiddaiah from Kolar.

The six official nominees ofthe Congress, the TeluguDesam Party (TDP) and theTelangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS) were declared electedto the Rajya Sabha fromAndhra Pradesh.Returning officer S Raja

Sadaram announced thatKVP Ramachandra Rao, TSubbarami Reddy and MAKhan (all Congress)Garikapati Mohan Rao andThota Sitarama Lakshmi(both TDP) and TRS nomi-nee K Keshava Rao wereelected.

Keshava Rao was electedafter considering the secondpreferential votes whereas allthe other five members wonthe polls based on the firstpreferential votes.Of the effective strength

of 279 members, as many as248 MLAs cast their voteswhile YSRC (17), BJP (4)and CPM (1) members stayedaway.The six Congress rebels,

who had recently crossedover to the YSRC, also did

not turn up. Khan secured 48votes while Subbarami Reddyand KVP Ramachandra Raosecured 46 each. The twoTDP candidates secured 38votes each. TRS nomineeKesava Rao got 26 votes.The contest was necessi-

tated by the presence ofCongress MLA AdalaPrabhakar Reddy as the sev-enth candidate. However, heretired from the contest inthe last minute.Congress MLA

Daggubati VenkateshwaraRao became the first MLA toavail the "None Of TheAbove" option which hasbeen introduced for the firsttime in the Rajya Sabha elec-tions by the ElectionCommission.Rao claimed that he had

chosen the option after con-sulting the chief minister. Hesaid he chose the option toexpress his displeasure overhis party's adamancy in bifur-cating the state without con-sulting the people ofSeemandhra.

A war memorial near Mohaliin Punjab town is out tobecome a battleground of adifferent kind. An event to behosted at the Baba BandaSingh Bahadur War Memorialcomplex in Chappar Chiri vil-lage is a father's challenge tohis son and political heirapparent.Punjab Chief Minister

Parkash Singh Badal is spar-ing no efforts to ensure thatthe first Progressive PunjabAgriculture Summit (PPAS),which he claims is going to bethe country's biggest agricul-ture event, is bigger and betterthan the Progressive PunjabInvestors' Summit organisedby his son and Deputy ChiefMinister in December.The PPAS summit is to be

held during Feb 16-19.While Sukhbir was able to

line up some of the biggestnames from industry for theDecember summit and evengot assurances of investmentof around Rs 650 billion, hisfather wants to put up a biggershow of a different kind.

At the last summit itselfthe chief minister haddeclared that his agri-summitwould be bigger thanSukhbir's. The senior Badal isexpecting over 50,000 farmersfrom Punjab to converge atthe agri-summit. Another5,000 farmers will come fromother states. There will alsobe chief ministers from vari-ous states, experts, agri-scien-tists and economists from 10countries - Canada, Pakistan,Britain, Denmark, theNetherlands, Australia, theUS, Israel, Italy and NewZealand. A leading consultan-cy and the PHD Chamber ofCommerce and Industry havebeen roped in.

Following the footsteps ofAam Aadmi Party leaderArvind Kejriwal, Haryanachief minister BhupinderSingh Hooda equated khappanchayats with NGOs, say-ing village courts are a part ofthe state's culture.Addressing the press after

a cabinet meeting inChandigarh, Hooda said:'Khap panchayats are likeNGO as we have residentwelfare associations.'The Congress leader was

responding to PChidambaram's statementcalling khaps as backwardorganisations.Last week, Arvind

Kejriwal said he would notban the illegal village courtsbecause they had a 'cultural'purpose despite their harshtreatment of women."No, it is not a question of

banning these khaps,"Kejriwal said, referring tokhap panchayats, the namegiven to village councils inrural north India. "Khap pan-chayats are a group of people

who come together. There isno bar on people to assemblein this country … (But)whenever they take a wrongdecision, whenever they takean illegal decision, they oughtto be punished."Khap panchayats' diktats

have ranged from banningwomen from wearing westernclothes and using mobilephones to ordering the killingof young couples. Somecouncils have demanded thatthe minimum age of marriagebe lowered to 16 from 18 forgirls and 21 for boys as a wayof coping with an increase inthe number of rapes.

Jayalalithaa sets up panelfor talks with alliesAIADMK general secretary and Tamil Naduchief minister J Jayalalithaa constituteda four-member panel to hold talks withallies on seat sharing for the coming LokSabha polls. Party treasurer and financeminister O Paneerselvam, electricity minis-ter Natham R Viswanathan, local adminis-tration minister K P Munusamy and hous-ing minister R Vaithilingam will be themembers of the committee, Jayalalithaasaid in a statement. AIADMK has alreadyannounced an alliance with CPI and CPMfor the polls.

Chennai likely to get 200more Amma canteensChennai is likely to get 200 more Ammacanteens by April-end. While officials haveidentified locations and begun work on 65canteens, efforts are on to identify 135more locations by this month-end.Councillors believe that many schools withlow student strength will fall prey to thisspace hunt. The Chennai Corporation,which opened its first 200 canteens byApril 11 last year, plans to double thenumber before the first anniversary.However, space constraint seems to be anissue.

DMK seeks meeting onfishermen's arrestsDMK parliamentarians have urged PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh to convene ameeting of ministers, elected leaders andrepresentatives of fishermen of India andSri Lanka to find a permanent solution tothe arrest of Indian fishermen by SriLanka navy. According to the DMK, thearrests of Indian fishermen continue evenafter the recent talks between the fisher-men representatives of both the coun-tries.

South

Sikhs take out Walk forJustice in DelhiCarrying torches in their hands, hundredsof Sikh men, women and children led bythe president of Delhi Sikh GurdwaraManagement Committee Manjit Singh GKtook out 'Walk for Justice' from GurdwaraBangla Sahib up to the residence of PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh in Delhi symbol-izing enlightening and awakening ofCongress party to stop atrocities on Sikhsand give them the Justice. "Congressparty's dealing with the Sikhs has beenatrocious and full of cruelty, as OperationBluestar in 1984 in Golden Temple wasplanned by the Congress government withthe help of UK government," alleged ManjitSingh.

Haryana Cong searches fornew candidatesHaryana's ruling Congress may have to findnew candidates for nearly half of the 10Lok Sabha seats from the state for thegeneral elections expected in April-May.Having won nine out of the 10 Lok Sabhaseats in the 2009 general elections, thestakes for the Congress are high. Thoughno one gives the Congress any chance ofrepeating that performance, Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hooda seems supremelyconfident that the party could even win allthe 10 seats this time round.

Pak prisoner dies atFaridkot medical collegeA Pakistani prisoner Mohamad Amin diedat Guru Gobind Singh Medical Collegewhere he was admitted for treatment onJanuary 30. According to officials, thePakistan national was earlier treated atPGI, Chandigarh, and again at a mentalhospital in Amritsar. Mohammad Amin, 55,was booked under Indian Passport Act onJanuary 14, 2013, at Fazilka when he hadcrossed over to India under mysterious cir-cumstances.

Punjab

Madras high court's Maduraibench stayed proceedings ina lower court against DMK'sTiruchendur MLA, AnithaRadhakrishnan, who wasbooked for causing publicdisturbance by holding arally with 300 party men nearSri Murugan temple inThiruchendur on April 11,2011. The rally was held aspart of his election cam-paign. The Kovil police regis-tered a case against the MLAon the basis of a complaintfiled by village administrativeofficer Venkateswaran, whosaid the rally had causedpublic disturbance. The casehas been pending before theThiruchendur judicial magis-trate court.The MLA filed a petition

at the high court stating thatthe police had filed achargesheet against him atthe judicial magistrate courtwithout conducting anyinvestigation.The MLA claimed that he

had held the rally with thepermission of the election

officer. However, the policebooked a case against him ashe is a DMK member, heclaimed. Hence he sought aninterim stay on all proceed-ings in the judicial magis-trate court. He prayed to thecourt to dispense with hispersonal appearance in thelower court.Justice G Chockalingam

on Friday granted an interimstay on the proceedings inthe lower court andadjourned the matter by aweek.

Haryana Chief MinisterHooda says khaps are NGOs

Yeddyurappa with Rajnath Singh in Delhi

Anitha Radhakrishnan

Parkash Singh Badal

Bhupinder Singh Hooda

All 6 candidates electedto RS from Andhra

Proceedings against DMKMLA stayed

LS poll: Yeddyurappa, Nilekani named in the list

Badal promises bettershow than son Sukhbir

INDIA www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 2014 25

Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal camedown heavily on RelianceIndustries limited andblamed the company ofcreating artificial shortageof gas in the country andconspiring to raise itsprice.Kejriwal said he has

ordered the anti-corrup-tion branch to file a crimi-nal case against MukeshAmbani and former oilminister Murli Deora andpresent oil ministerVeerappa Moily in connec-tion with a complaintreceived by the Delhi gov-ernment against the pric-ing of gas produced fromthe D6 block in the eastcoast. FIR will also belodged against VK Sibbal,former DG hydrocarbons.The anti-corruption

branch had received acomplaint from four emi-nent people againstReliance, said Kejriwaladding that in the com-plaint it was stated thatsome central ministersconspired to ensure wind-fall gains for Reliance inthe gas deal. Reliance hadinitially agreed to supplygas to utility NTPC Ltd atabout $2.3 per millionBritish thermal units(mBtu) for about 17 years,he said adding that butprice of gas from the D6block was fixed at $4.2 per

mBtu when Deora was oilminister. There was amove to raise the price ofgas from the existing $4per unit to $8 per unitfrom April 1 If the ratesare increased, it will leadto chaos as prices of every-thing will go up, he said.He said he would be

writing to the PrimeMinister to put on holdthe order to increase theprice of gas till the probeby anti-corruption branchwas over. In his letter, hewill also request the PM toensure that all concernedministries cooperate inthe probe. Reacting toKejriwal's charges,Verrappa Moily said, "Ishould sympathize withhim,he should know howgovt functions,there iscertain system to fixprices."

Kejriwal up-in-arm against Ambani,Moily and Deora over gas pricesIt seems US is fol-

lowing Europeannations andAustralia and tak-ing soft stance onGujarat ChiefM i n i s t e rNarendra Modi.Sources in theGujarat’s Statecapital said thatthe US ambassa-dor to India,Nancy Powell hassought anappointment tomeet the BJP’sPrime Ministerialcandidate and shemight meet Modi onThursday in Gandhinagar. The meeting would

have great significance inbackdrop of the UnitedStates’ decision of ban-ning the entry of Modi inU.S.A. In fact, the UnitedStates had revoked a visafor Modi in the year 2005under a domestic law thatbars entry by any foreignofficials seen as responsi-ble for violations of reli-gious freedom in contextto post Godhra riots invarious parts of Gujaratin the year 2002. Sources said that the

move from the UnitedStates had come lookingto increasing possibility ofBJP to come in power andModi as Prime Minister.However, an official wasquoted as saying that thisis part of ‘concentratedoutreach’ to senior politi-

cal and business leaderswhich began in Novemberto highlight the US-Indiarelationship. In the recent past

among the high profileenvoys from importantEuropean countries wereU.K. High CommissionerJames Bevan and GermanAmbassador MichaelSteiner. If sources has tobe believed, apart fromModi’s bright prospects inthe upcoming generalelections U.S. is also eye-ing at a muti-billion sitefor nuclear power reac-tors which is consideredas big ticket investment toboost U.S. economy. Withcourt of law has alsogiven clean chit toNarendra Modi, the U.S.strategists have adequatereason to lift a decade onban on India’s most high-profile politician.

US comes to Modi

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Nancy Powell

Orders for probe againstDikshit in CWG scam

The Aam Aadmi Party government has ordered anFIR to be filed against former Delhi Chief MinisterSheila Dixit for her alleged role in theCommonwealth Games street-lighting scam in 2010,in which a private company was favoured leading tocrores of losses to the exchequer. According tosources Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal directedthe anti-corruption bureau to investigate Dikshit'srole in the purchase of imported street-lights at inflat-ed prices. A CBI chargesheet says that the changelead to losses of Rs 1, 42, 83,000 to the government.

Delhi govt wants SIT to probeinto 1984 riots

The Kejariwal government in Delhi is planning torecommend to Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung to set up aspecial investigation team (SIT) to probe the 1984anti-Sikh riots. "We have decided to recommend tothe Lt.Governor to form a SIT on the killing of Sikhsin 1984 riots. This is a blot on the history of India,"Education Minister Manish Sisodia told reporters.

Mukesh Ambani Murli Deora Veerappa Moily

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 201426 INDIA

In order to boosttourism activities, the gov-ernment of India hasextended the country’svisa-on-arrival scheme to180 nations. Under thescheme, however, eightcountries will be barredthat include Pakistan,Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran,Iraq, Nigeria, Sri Lankaand Somalia.Right now, visa-on-

arrival facility is availablefor only a few low-riskcountries including Japan,New Zealand andVietnam; a mere 17,594tourists used this facility in2013. The tourism min-istry had pushed for visaon arrival for 40 countriesin October, but was notapplied practically posingto resistance faced fromthe home ministry.Confirming the devel-

opment planning ministerRajeev Shukla said thatthe historic decision toextend the visa-on-arrivalfacility to tourists from 180

nations was taken and itwill take 5-6 months forthe respective departmentsto put the required infra-structure in place. The electronic visa-on-

arrival would be availableat 26 major airports inIndia and would be validfor 30 days from the dateof the tourist's arrival inIndia. India currentlyoffers visa-on-arrival totourists from only 11 coun-tries.Sources said that due

to the decision tourist trav-el plan to India is soon tobecome hassle-free andeasier. Citizens of most ofthe countries, includingthe UK and US have to lineup at local embassies andwait for several weeksbefore getting their IndianVisa. That’s the current sit-uation. A new procedurethat is different from thetypical visa-on-arrival sys-tem requires tourists toapply online before theirdeparture. They will then

get an email authorisationwithin two or three days,said an official associatedwith the decision makingprocess. The newImmigration, Visas,Foreigners’ Registrationand Tracking (IVFRT) sys-tem will have a huge data-base of every tourist inIndia under a unique casefile and their pattern ofstay will be recorded. India , which is rich in

its range of beaches , cul-tural themes and historicalmonuments failed toattract as many touristsvisiting other countries

like Thailand- in 2012,only 6.58 million touristsvisited India, whichaccounts to just a quarterof traffic to Thailand in thesame year. Thailand hasemerged as a veritableAsian tourism giant on theback of efforts to createconducive tourism ecosys-tem. Since the 1960s, theThai government hasinvested heavily on infra-structure, resulting inimprovements in road con-struction, power supply,banking, communicationsand other governmentservices that aid tourism.

Extension to Visa-on-Arrival schemes for 180 nations to boost tourism in India

Continued from page 1capped Indian players,whose names figured inconversations betweenbookies taped by thepolice. "The allegations ofbetting and passing oninformation againstMeiyappan stand proved.However, allegation of(match) fixing requirefurther investigation,"said the panel, also com-prising additional solici-tor general L N Rao andNilay Dutta, in its reportto the Supreme Court.The report also raised

dark clouds on CSK's par-ticipation in IPL tourna-ment this year by accus-ing it of breaching therules by failing to rein inMeiyappan. Meiyappan'sillegal acts stood accentu-ated given his role/posi-tion in CSK, it said. Thefranchise owner of CSK(India Cement) is respon-sible for failing to ensureMeiyappan (a team offi-

cial) had complied withthe BCCI Anti-Corruption Code, IPLOperational Rules, saidthe report."It is for the Supreme

Court to decide whataction, if any, is to betaken pursuant to thisreport," it suggested. Theinquiry panel also flaggedfor the SC's serious atten-tion to questions of con-flict of interest raisedagainst Srinivasan, bothinside and outside theBCCI. The report, pre-sented to the court bycounsel GautamBharadwaj and VidushpatSinghania, saidMeiyappan indulged inbetting through VindooDara Singh, who in turnwas in direct touch withbookies and punters likeVikram Aggarwal. Betswere placed byMeiyappan not only infavour of CSK but alsoagainst it, said the report.

BCCI chief’s son-in-lawindicted for betting

Despite 43 per cent ofKerala’s populationbelongs to minority com-munity, there wasunprecedented turnout inModi’s rallies in Kochia n dThiruvananthapuram. Atthe first public meeting inKochi, Modi inauguratedthe convention of a fac-tion of Kerala PulayaMaha Sabha, a socio-cul-tural organization of oneof the state’s leadingScheduled Caste commu-nities. During his speech, he

declared that a change ofregime was certain at theCentre in the next 100days. The presence of

Shri Narayana DharmaParipalana (SNDP) chiefand Ezhava leaderVellappilli Natesan on thedais at Kochi was a minorcoup and a sign of theBJP’s new strategy ofcobbling a backwardcaste-dalit coalition in astate where, despite des-perate several attempts, ithas never won a LokSabha or assembly seat. In fact, Modi’s

speeches in both thecities repeatedly invokedthe pantheon of backwardcaste stalwarts fromAmbedkar and Phule toSree Narayana Guru,Ayyankali and PanditKaruppan.

Unprecedented turnoutin NaMo’s rally in Kerala

Continued from page 1a highly placed source.The current bill envis-

ages Hyderabad as jointcapital for Telangana andresidual Andhra Pradeshfor the first 10 years afterthe state's bifurcation.The Telangana issue hascontinued to disruptIndian Parliament sinceit began on Feb 5 thismonth with business inboth houses paralyseddue to protests by mem-bers belonging toSeemandhara andTelangana. The bill hasbeen rejected by theAndhra Pradesh assem-bly. Meanwhile, theCongress and BJP areengaged in intense nego-tiations to hammer outan understanding overthe creation of Telangana.BJP has assured the gov-ernment that it would notwaver from its commit-ment to the creation ofTelangana but is insistingon a specific pledge offinancial support forSeemandhra region asthe condition for sup-porting the AndhraPradesh ReorganizationBill, expected to be intro-duced in Parliament. TheUnion home ministry hassent a recommendationto President PranabMukherjee for introduc-tion of the Telangana billin Parliament.According to sources,

BJP had demanded acommitment for extend-ing financial assistanceworth Rs 170 billion toSeemandhra regionthrough the ConsolidatedFund of India to meet therevenue gap it will besaddled with, based onprojections for the previ-ous and current fiscalyears, because of the

transfer of resource-richHyderabad to Telanganaas the capital of the pro-posed state.The party also wants

the government to askthe Finance Commissionto find ways of helpingSeemandhra region withadequate funds on a long-term basis as a compen-sation for Hyderabadwhich generated Rs 240billion in revenue. The Congress and BJP

have said that whilesticking points remained,they were in agreementon provisions of the billsuch as declaringRayalaseema region asbackward and providingspecial incentives includ-ing tax holidays andexemption from centralexercise for industry, cre-ation of reservoirs inSeemandhra as part ofthe Polavaram project onGodavari, swift comple-tion of six irrigation proj-ects - four inRayalaseema and two inTelangana - linked toKrishna river and a provi-sion in the bill that edu-cation and employmentopportunities inHyderabad will remainopen to people from bothregions until Seemandhragets its own capital.Meanwhile, the

Congress has expelled sixLok Sabha MPs fromAndhra Pradesh whoopposed creation ofTelangana and had givena notice of no-confidencemotion against the gov-ernment. The MPsexpelled by Congresspresident Sonia Gandhiare Sabbam Hari, GVHarsha Kumar, V ArunKumar, L Rajagopal, RSambasiva Rao and A SaiPratap.

Telangana to become areality

Give Aurangzeb Road new name Dr Rami Ranger MBE, Chairman of the BritishSikh Association has urged that he would like tohelp in renaming Aurangzeb Road in Delhi, thecapital of India to Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Road.“Aurangzeb was a tyrant who converted millions ofHindus in their own country by force. Guru TegBahadur Ji paid the ultimate sacrifice with his lifeto uphold our religious freedom in India. I shudderto think what our future would have been if it was-n’t for the stand of Guru Teg Bahadur and thevision of his son Guru Gobind Singh ji,” he said in aletter adding that this will help convey the rightmessage to the public, especially to those who arenot aware of the above mentioned historicalaspect.

8 died in Raipur cave temple Eight including three young girls died as the wall ofa cave leading to a popular Hindu temple in centralIndia collapsed. The accident at Bildwar Cave inChhattisgarh may have been triggered by blasts innearby coal mines, said the sources.” Frequentblasts are carried out in the nearby coal mines andthat could be the reason for the cave-in. A seniorpolice officer said/ that eight bodies had beenrecovered, three were girls aged between 10 and13, and five men. "Three others are injured. Theyare in a serious condition", said the official.

MLA withdraws support:Kejariwal govt in trouble The AAP government in Delhi left teetering after anindependent MLA Rambir Shokeen withdrew hissupport to Arvind Kejriwal’s ruling party. Accordingto Shokeen he decided to withdraw support as thegovernment has "failed" to fulfill the promisesmade before the polls. He was elected fromMundka constituency in New Delhi. "We had givensupport to the AAP based on the issue of removingunnecessary restrictions on villages, extension of'Lal dora' boundaries, making the teachers workingon contract permanent and also on the waterissue, but they have failed on all these fronts.Shokeen blamed Kejriwal and his ministers of notvisiting the villages of Delhi at least once after theformation of the government. Earlier, CongressMLA Asif Mohammad Khan had also reportedlywithdrawn his support to the AAP government.

'Third Force' to be given finalshape Leaders including Bihar chief minister NitishKumar had a breakfast meeting to give finalshape to form ‘Third Force’ – a non-Congress, non-BJP alliance in view of upcoming general elections.The informal meeting took place at the residenceof JD(S) chief and former Prime Minister HD DeveGowda in which it was decided that leaders of 11non-Congress non-BJP parties, who recently cametogether in Parliament, will hold a formal meetingafter the extended winter session is over to giveconcrete shape to the "third force". The meetingwas attended by CPI-M general secretary PrakashKarat, CPI veteran AB Bardhan and Forward Blocgeneral secretary Debabrata Biswas.Apex court issues defamationnotice to Kejriwal In a defamation case filed by Amit Sibal, son ofUnion telecom minister Kapil Sibal, the SupremeCourt has stayed a Delhi high court order givingrelief to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal andadvocate Prashant Bhushan. The SC issued adefamation notice to the Delhi chief minister andthree other AAP leaders. The Delhi HC had refusedto quash defamation proceedings against AAP lead-ers but had told trial court to consider the dis-charge plea of Kejriwal and Bhushan.

Penguin to destroy copies of'The Hindus' Copies of American scholar Wendy Doniger'sbook 'The Hindus: An Alternative History' will bewithdrawn and pulped in India, due to a legal dis-pute. Publisher of the book Penguin has taken thedecision. A copy of a settlement agreementbetween Penguin and an organisation calledShiksha Bachao Andolan that found the bookinsulting to Hindus, leaked on the document-shar-ing website scribd.com. This was following a three-year-old civil lawsuit in the Saket District Court inNew Delhi. Soon after the news broke, torrent linksto pirated e-copies of the book began to be sharedonline. Many on Twitter shared links to torrentwebsites where the book could be downloaded, oroffered to share the PDFs or Epub version of thebook themselves.

IN FOCUS

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 2014 27INDIAMeghmani Group - the

conglomerate created byclassmates

Founders of over $ 200 million Meghmani Group Jayanti Pateland Ashish Soparker were classmates at Lakhdhirji Engineering

College. After completion of their engineering, the roommates inthe college hostel teamed up to form a chemical business withhardly Rs 16,000. The humble beginning today flourished into

Meghmani Group – a conglomerate having interest in chemicals,dye-chem, agro-chemicals and real-estate.

Mayuri Dave

In the year 1975, twofriends Ashish Soparkarand Jayanti Patel com-pleted their chemicalengineering. With adream to start their ownbusiness, the duo initial-ly worked for other com-panies before they starttheir own chemical busi-ness – Ashish Chemicalsin 1977 with a smallinvestment of Rs. 16,000.

Patel, son of a farmerof a small village Trentnear Viramgam town andSoparker, son of abureaucrat were the rightcombination to faceissues related to entre-preneurship right fromcapital inflow, skilledmanpower, exploringmarkets so on and soforth. The duo workedhard for almost nineyears and decided toform another unit – apartnership firm GujaratIndustries in 1986.Patel’s brotherNatavarlal, Ramesh andAnand also joined thebusiness in the same yearand started manufactur-ing pigment blue.

“The product devel-oped by us in the seg-ment became a hit cou-pled with productivityand profitability. In theyear 1995-96 GujaratIndustries transformedinto a joint stock compa-ny under the name –Meghmani OrganicsLimited (MOL). Sincethen they have diversi-fied its business intereststo include a range of pes-ticides and other pig-ment products as well asspecialty chemicals,”said Jayanti Patel, chair-man & managing direc-tor of Meghmani Group.

Talking about growthof Meghmani Group,Managing DirectorAshish Soparkar saysthat during the journeyof over two decades,MOL has carved out adistinct position as aconglomerate havinginterest in segments ofChemicals with a focuson excellence in qualityof products backed by in-house research & devel-opment.

MOL which startedas an SME is now havingpresence in more than 60countries across theglobe such as NorthAmerica, Europe, LatinAmerica and Asia Pacificcountries.

More than 80% ofMeghmani’s pigment

products and over 60%of pesticides productsare being exported theworld over. The grouphas five multifunctionalproduction facilities atAhmedabad, Dahej,Ankleshwar and Panoliin Gujarat. With exportof 70 per cent of its totalproduction, the group ishaving five overseascompanies includingMeghmani OrganinicsUSA Inc at Charlotte inUSA, Meghmani EuropeBVBA at Antwerp inBelgium, MeghmaniOverseas FZE at Sharjahin UAE, India MeghmaniOrganics Limited, a rep-resentative office inChina at Sanghai and PTMeghmani OrganicsLimited at Jakarta inIndonesia.

According tofounders of the group,they have recently diver-sified into real-estate

business too. The groupis also constructing astate-of-the-art buildingto house its headquartersin Ahmedabad.

Meghmani has manyawards to its credit thatinclude export awardfrom the President ofIndia, Investors’ choiceaward for the most trans-parent company to namea few.

Meghmani also suc-cessfully completed itssecondary listing in Indiaat the Bombay StockExchange and theNational StockExchange. TheMeghmani Dyes &Intermediates Limited(MDIL)-the pioneeringdyestuff business divi-sion has stock points atvarious locations likeIstanbul (Turkey),Antwerp (Belgium),Barcelona (Spain) andColonia (Uruguay).

Jayanti Patel and Ashish Soparker

Public

Notice

UK to launch ‘business isgreat’ campaign in Indore

Kumar Iyer, British DeputyHigh CommissionerWestern Region andDirector General, India,UK Trade & Investment(UKTI) will led a success-ful British “Business is“great” campaign in Indorefrom January 15-17, aimedat inviting Indore to part-ner with British businessesfor mutual benefit.

As part of the activities,UKTI hosted a series ofwell-attended events inwhich more than 30 UKcompanies participated.These included an exhibi-tion, symposiums on publichealth, fuel economy andgreen technology for theauto sector, an infrastruc-ture and energy round tableand a lecture at IIT Indoreby Professor PeterLindstedt of ImperialCollege London. In addi-tion the UK was the

Country Partner at theIndore ManagementAssociation (IMA) GoldenJubilee Conclave, whichbrings together all themajor CEOs in CentralIndia. During the conclave,the IMA conferred aLifetime AchievementAward to Bollywood actorAmitabh Bachchan, whowas also presented with amemento by Iyer on behalfof UK in its capacity asCountry Partner.Highlighting complemen-tarities between Indoreand the UK, Iyer said:“Indore is one of India’sfastest growing Tier-IIcities, with strengths inkey sectors such as auto-motive and pharmaceuti-cals. It has the potential togrow into a major industri-al hub, given its location incentral India and the pres-ence of high-quality edu-

cational institutions. TheUK can complementIndore businesses in chart-ing new growth, and theGreat campaign is aimedat forging connections,developing opportunitiesand initiating businessexchanges.”

The Great campaign inIndore was part of arecently launched all-Indiaactivity which invites busi-nesses in high-growthregions such as Indore,Chandigarh, Chennai andBangalore to collaboratewith the UK. Its purpose isto highlight the GreatBritish offer: a strongmanufacturing heritagewith some of the biggestglobal brands across sec-tors, a stable, business-friendly environment, aculture of innovation andthe best educational insti-tutions.

New Relesse


“Gunday” (English: Outlaws orGoons) is an upcoming crime thrillerwritten and directed by Ali AbbasZafar and produced by Aditya Chopra.The film will feature Ranveer Singhand Arjun Kapoor in the lead roleswhile Priyanka Chopra and IrrfanKhan appear in supporting roles. Thefilm is based on Kolkata during 70sand is about Bikram and Bala, who

live their lives on the wrong side of thelaw, becoming gun carriers and coalbandits. The film will also be releasedin Bengal with a full Bengali sound-track also composed by Sohail Sen. Insome of the Bengali songs, the singerswill differ from the originals. This willbe also the first Indian film to have itstrailer premier at the DubaiInternational Film Festival.

‘Gunday’

It is almost certain that Shriya Saran isall set to act in director Bala's upcomingfilm as the lead lady. The film is said to bebased on Karagattam, a popular folk danceform in Tamil Nadu. Though Shriya haslost her charm in Tamil industry, Balaprefers an actress who has good dancingskills. The latest development is that Balahas asked Shriya to learn Karagattam.Though Shriya is a trained dancer, she hasnever acted in rural subjects and Balaapparently feels that it would not be possi-ble for her to perform the art without get-ting trained by a professional.

Shriya learningKaragattam

After her runaway perform-ance in “KO,” Karthika Nairwill be seen doing an actionpacked performance inaward winning director,J a n a t h a n a n ' sPoorampooku alongsideArya, Vijay Sethupathyand Shaam. The tallactress currently shut-

tling between Manali and

Jodhpur for extensive shooting hasquipped that this movie is demand-ing both physically and mentally,and the director has made use ofher talents quite well. Her actionsequences are inspired by the videogame "Lara croft" and the actresshas given her best. Apart fromaction, she will also be seen doingthe tiring tap dance sequence aswell.

Ko l l y w o o da c t r e s s / s i n g e r

Andrea opened up onvarious things aboutherself in 'Koffee withDD', a popular TVshow. The prettyactress, who speaksher mind out, whenasked who is theactor she thinks isvery hot and wouldbe happy to do a lip-lock scene on screen,

she thought for while andchose Bollywood actorRanbir Kapoor. She fur-ther added "I don't thinkhe is hot, but there is somecuteness with him." Sherevealed that she wouldlike to marry an Indian set-tled in London and settledown with him there.Andrea recently also hadlip-lock scene with FahadFazil in Malayalam film,“Annayum Rasoolum.”

Kama l h a s s a n ' syounger daugh-

ter Akshara Hassanis making her actingdebut with actorDhanush in theBollywood film to bedirected by Balki whogave soulful films like“Cheeni kum” and “Paa.”The shoot of this yet to be titled flickhas started recently and it is said thatsome romantic scenes includingDhanush and Akshara have been shotin the past two days. Akshara whose

ambition was to become adirector was working as assis-tant director in a fewBollywood films and hasrejected many offers to act.Akshara's elder sister SruthiHassan is going great guns asa heroine in Tamil, Telugu andHindi. Now Akshara is all setto follow her sister with her

acting debut in a film that includes somefamous names of Indianfilm industry likeIlayaraja andP.C.Sreeram.

I’m not a stealer:Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra co-hosted the Filmfare 2014

award ceremony recentlywith Ranbir Kapoor. Sheanswered a barrage ofquestions aboutwinning the trophy andwhat it feels like. "It isamazing. I remembermy first Filmfare awardever. It was such abeautiful moment. Andthen I got one for‘Fashion,’ which wasalso very special. Myfather was there in theaudience. It wasbeautiful," she said.Priyanka said she wasn'tsad about not takinghome one in 2014."There were so manytrophies backstageand I could take one,"she said laughingly."But, I'm not astealer... I havemany of my own,"she said.

Anushka, Viratspotted together in

New Zealand‘Jab Tak HaiJ a a n ’a c t r e s sA n u s h k aSharma, whohas alwaysma i n t a i n e d‘just friends’status withI n d i a ncricketer ViratKohli wasseen walkinghand in handwith him inA u c k l a n d ,New Zealand.The twolovebirds were spotted by fans taking a strolltogether on the deserted streets of Auckland.India is currently playing New Zealand.

According to reports, Anushka speciallyflew in to Auckland to spend some qualitytime with her rumoured beau Virat Kohli, whois there for the Test matches along with TeamIndia.

Karthika is the Lara Croftof Kollywood

Akshara romances withDhansuh

Andrea wishes tolip-lock with Ranbir


Latest

After their sizzling chemistry in SanjayLeela Bhansali’s ‘Goliyon Ki Rasleela

Ram-Leela’, Bollywood’s hot couple DeepikaPadukone and Ranveer Singh will be seenplaying lovers once again. Ranveer will beseen in a cameo role in Deepika’s upcomingfilm ‘Finding Fanny Fernandes’, which alsostars Ranveer’s ‘Gunday co-star ArjunKapoor. Ranveer Singh recently revealed thathe will be playing Deepika’s husband in thefilm which will be a small special appearance.Directed by Homi Adajania, majority of thefilm has been shot in Goa. The film also starsDimple Kapadia, Pankaj Kapoor andNaseeruddin Shah.

Salman Khan’s love for charity iswell known. The actor not only

initiates philanthropic eventsregularly but also supports others’efforts. Recently, the “Dabangg”actor shot for an episode of anupcoming charity-based realityshow, Mission Sapne. The formatof the show requires celebrities totake on the small jobs for a day.Salman took the role of a barber inthe show. The money earned bythe known name is then multipliedand donated back to a person inneed.

Ranveer to playDeepika’s husband

Salman Khanturns barber

Sonam dons bikini for

‘Bewakoofiyaan’

Ranbir learningstammering

Abhay Deol prefers acting to producing films

Tell us about your character inOne by Two?

I play a regular, urban guy with a9 to 5 job in a software company. Hisname is Amit Sharma and he’s 30years old. He leads quite a mundaneand ordinary life. He lives with hisparents and mostly just gets on withthe daily grind. He has recently beendumped by his high school sweet-heart. He eventually has a nervousbreakdown.

What's the most exciting thingyou had to do for the movie?

I had to walk around the set withnothing but my boxers on for a scene.Well, that and producing the film!

Why have you been flaunting ablack eye for promoting the movie?

It was a visual and symbolicprotest saying that my film's market-ing has taken a hit because of the lackof industry support for its sound-track. I wanted to bring attention toan issue that has been around theindustry for quite some time now.This issue has been affecting musi-cians and producers negatively fortoo long, nobody was really talkingabout it. If musicians have theirinstruments to express themselves, Ifigured an actor has his make up!

What do you prefer: Acting orProducing?

I’d say both are rewarding andchallenging in their own individualways but I guess I prefer acting. Ibegan my career as an actor so actingis my primary passion. I only beganproducing because I wanted to giveindependent filmmakers the opportu-

nity to make non-formulaicBollywood films. While I enjoy pro-viding new directors with a platformfor their films, I think acting is wheremy real interest lies.

Were you heavily influenced byyour star-studded family to becomean actor or was this a personal deci-sion?

I can never answer that one. I'vealways loved acting, from themoment I saw what it was. In school,theatre was the only thing I was con-fident in doing. I grew up in a familyof actors so that could have been aninfluence. I can’t say for sure if it’s a

case of nature or nurture but I’mhappy in the career I’ve chosenregardless.

What has been your mostdemanding role in all the movies youhave acted in? And your favourite sofar?

It would have to be the role of T AKrishnan in the film "Shanghai". Ihad to play a south Indian. InBollywood, there are no professionalsto help you master an accent. I had toimprovise a lot, with the help of aTamil writer. It was quite difficultthough because most Tamils almostalways speak to you in English rather

than in Hindi. So the Hindi/Tamilaccent was hard to achieve withoutbordering it on stereotype. I’d saythat this role was also my favouritebecause it was so challenging.

Which particular character doyou think you could have done bet-ter?

I have a rule to never think aboutthat! Almost never. Because I’m ofthe school of thought that you can’tgo back and change something, sodon’t dwell on it. Of course, I canevaluate past roles as a way of seeinghow I can improve for future roles.

In Hollywood, you see many filmswith extremely complexplots and demandingroles, whereas more andmore Bollywood filmsthat are being producedare light-hearted orcomedies, why do youthink that is?

It started off becausefor most of India’s histo-ry, it has been a poorcountry. Because of thehardships people faced,films became a way forpeople to escape fromreality. Although timeshave now changed andwe have a lot of wealth,it’s difficult to undodecades of conditioning.Hindi films began with a

specific purpose which fit a specificgenre, therefore it’s hard to shake thisconventionality and equally difficultfor filmmakers and the audience toaccept change.

Who would you love to work withthat you haven't already?

I’d love to work with the CoenBrothers. I really respect their work.

What was it like working with thegorgeous Preeti Desai?

It was fun; I loved every minute ofit. It’s always a challenge to workwith your partner but we had a lot offun on set and kept it very profes-sional.

Ranbir Kapoor does not want to leave anythingto fate but wanted to learn it in the hard way.

Recently he enrolled himself in a New York schoolto learn stammering. The actor needed to stammerfor a role in one of his upcoming movies. And heactually felt it would be beneficial to him if helearnt stammering, so that he could do it moreconvincingly. Frankly, such dedication amongstBollywood actors is a rare quality. Before hejoined Sanjay Leela Bhansali as an assistant in2005, Ranbir had completed his course in film-making at the School of Visual Arts, and he hadalso learnt acting from the Lee Strasberg Theatreand Film Institute in New York.

Dia Mirza and SahilSangha's next feature

“Bobby Jasoos,” starringVidya Balan hascompleted mainshooting in 51 daysacross a host oflocations inHyderabad. The unitended the shooting ona melodic high as theywrapped with thefilming of a song whichhas all the ingredientsof a chartbuster!!!Producer Dia Mirzasays,""We are thrilledwith the work doneso far. Vidya and theentire cast andcrew have madeBobby Jasoos theirown and that hasled to anexperience thatwe will all cherishforever."

Vidya Balancompletes film

shoot in 51 days!

The first official trailer of Sonam Kapoorand Ayushmann Khurana starrer

‘Bewakoofiyaan’ is finally out and‘Raanjhanaa’ girl is super hot in hersteaming hot pink bikini. The highlight ofthe trailer certainly becomes Sonam andAyushmann’s swimming pool scenewhere Sonam flaunts her well tonedbody in a pink two piece bikini. Yash Rajproductions ‘Bewakoofiyaan’ is about awell settled executive played byAyushmann and his girlfriend SonamKapoor. The two are in a happy state

until the boy meets the girl’s father –which is being played by none other thanRishi Kapoor. From the trailer,‘Bewakoofiyan’ looks like any other rom-com but with Rishi Kapoor playing thebride’s dad you can expect much dramaand zing in the movie.

Abhay Deol, the producer and the main actor in “One By Two,” talked about the filmand a wide range of subjects to Tanveer Mann in an interview

Abhay Deol

You should enjoy avery popular phase in

your life where everyone wants to invite you to par-ties. This is a good time for romantic liaisons.Jupiter, the planet of excesses is associated withsplashing out on luxury items which we do not want- take care or you will have things that you have nouse for.

Do not kid yourselfthat emotional problems

can always be solved by material means. This onlycovers the cracks and does nobody any good in theend. Be prepared to confront the issues. If love hasleft you feeling rather dejected or cynical, it looks asthough soon events will pull you out of this mood ofdespondency.

It’s all about commu-nications, as they take

centre stage this week. You’ll have to openly speakup about your wants and needs without fear.Regarding love there will be a struggle betweendevotion and freedom. You need to feel completelyconsumed by the passion of your lover, and yet youneed personal space to explore your own thing.

It is certainly goingto be a fortunate time

for those already married or in an established rela-tionship. The keynote is emotional enrichmentthrough close interaction with a loved one. Facets ofyour life that have been a source of restriciton anddissatisfaction will begin to loosen their hold.

If you are your ownboss, then you can look for-

ward to a fairly good week. Leos who face a strictschedule may find the next seven days a little frus-trating, because this is a week where you will need acertain amount of personal space. You may beabsorbing new ideas about how to create financialindependence. Others may not understand, so youmay have to keep your ideas to yourself.

The outlook remainsoptimistic as develop-

ments point the way forward and bring you a senseof real achievement. However, this is not likely to bean easy-going week as demands on time and energyare going to be heavy. Relationships look great asVenus and Mars help to enhance your personal mag-netism.

Brilliant ideas comeeasily as you trust your

higher self and allow thoughts to flow freely. You areable to embrace new opportunities and make positivechanges in your life. Your efforts bring a greaterstability to your work than ever before. This is animportant development, considering all the changesoccurring around you.

Now is the time tocultivate an easier relationship with life, get out

and about, explore fresh possibilities and make newfriends. Any effort to enrich your life by makingchanges is almost certain to work in your favour andyou will be surprised how circumstances help youonce you make the initial move.

Your urge towardsgreater freedom and independence is very strong-

ly accentuated. In intimate affairs, the prospectappears entirely favourable. In work matters you canexpect a progressive phase. Efforts to bring aboutdesirable changes in your working life are more like-ly to be positive.

Relationships arelikely to widen your

horizons, but exercise caution, because some oppor-tunities won't prove quite as amazing as they firstseem. Saturn in Scorpio, your solar house of work,will help you organize your priorities. Life nowencourages you to move beyond your establishedboundaries of safety.

You are endowed witha level of determination that others sometimes find

formidable. Once you set your mind on a goal youstay the course no matter what obstacles youencounter. Saturn's placement in your Solar 10thhouse often denotes a phase of restriction, some-times frustration, in one's life.

Whether you’re singleor attached you’ll have to go through a lot, as deep

psychological transformations are taking place in alltypes of relationships. No matter what your chosenpath is, you’ll be recognised and rewarded for it.Don’t be afraid to experiment, trust your hunches, gowith your gut feeling.


ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

GEMINI May 22 - June 22

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

��

��

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Esha, pictured, 10,has Cerebral Palsywhich affects herwalking and her bal-ance – she is unableto stand unaided andrelies on a frame towalk even short dis-tances. There is anoperation SelectiveDorsal Rhizotomynew to the UK avail-able that must be car-ried out before theage of 11. Esha hasbeen recommendedand approved for thisoperation, to takeplace at GreatOrmond StreetHospital, but theNHS have said thatthey will not pay forthe operation.£36,000 is needed

for this operation totake place. £22,000has already beenraised but time isticking to raise thereminder before endof March by whichthe operation mustbe booked in.A Dinner &

Dance (One Night toShine) has been organised(all sponsored) for Eshabeing held on Saturday22nd February 2014 atDagenham & RedbridgeFootball Club. All ticketsales and proceeds raisedfrom the event goingtowards the project.For those not able to

attend and/or would liketo help, there are a few

ways that donations canbe made:Web: http://www.justgiv-ing.com/eshasdreamBy Text: Text ESHA47 &the amount, i.e. £2, to70070BACS: Name: EshasFund, Sort code: 08-60-01, Account number:20317838Cheque: Cheques madepayable to: “Eshas Fund”

Esha’s Dream to Walk

Continued from page 2 According to the

NDTV report, the Foreignand CommonwealthOffice, which has the finalsay in this matter, ruled onOctober 3, 2013 that thetourism office premises

"have not been accordedinviolability under theDiplomatic and ConsularPremises Act 1987." Caseslike the above unfortu-nately highlight the privi-leges enjoyed by foreignoffices abroad.

Report: Foreign Offices abuse their privileges

Esha

The time has come again for the annual Asian VoiceYouth Conference, hosted by Asian Voice andGujarat Samachar in Central London.When: 28 March 2014, 6:30-8:30pm (Venue: PWC, Embankment)29 March 2014, 12-4pm (Venue: TBC)This year the conference will be somewhat different,taking place on both Friday 28 and Saturday 29March 2014 and will be open to 15-30 year olds orstudents. After a huge turn up last year, we areexpecting more than 200 youngsters to participatethis year.

Asian Voice YouthConference is back for 2014!

Coming Eventsl Saturday 15th February 2014 - Shree Gopallaloorganizes two auspicious Utsavs from 4pm – 8pmat Kingsbury High School, Bacon Lane, Kingsbury,NW9 9AT. Contact: 0774 832 4092.l Sunday 16th February 2014 - Bhajans at 3.00pmby Shree Budhdevbhai finishing with Arti at5.30pm followed by Maha Prasad sponsored byKishanbhai Bhugun - prepared by Sukumar Mentaat Adhya Shakti Mataji Temple, 55 High Street,Cowley, Middlesex UB8 2DZ. Contact: 07882 253 540l Monday 17th February 2014 – Kung Manorathfrom 4pm – 7pm at Vrajdham Haveli, 58Loughborough Road, Leicester LE4 5LD. Contact: 0774 832 4092.l Thursday 27th February 2014 - Maha Shivratricelebrations, Rudrabhishek puja every 15 minutesfor all attending devotees finishing with MahaRudrabhishek at 5.00pm at Adhya Shakti MatajiTemple, 55 High Street, Cowley, Middlesex UB82DZ. Contact: 07882 253 540l Monday 3 March 2014 - Exhibition: Gauge TheGaze by Vikash Kalra at 06.15 pm at the NehruCentre, 8, South Audley Street, London W1K 1HF.Contact: 020-7491 3567l Monday 3 March 2014 - Musical concert byIllumina at 06:30 pm at The Nehru Centre, 8,South Audley Street, London W1K 1HF. Contact: 020-7491 3567l Wednesday 5 March 2014 - Panel Discussion:Women and urbanisation by Pan Asian Women’sAssociation at 06:30 pm at the Nehru Centre, 8,South Audley Street, London W1K 1HF. Contact: 020-7491 3567


England give chance to Moeen Ali, Stephen Parry in World T20

The International CricketCouncil board approvedwide-ranging structural andgovernance reforms despitecomplaints that they placetoo much power in thehands of the "Big Three" ofIndia, England andAustralia.The proposals were

passed after gaining the sup-port of eight of the ICC's 10full members, with SriLanka and Pakistan - whohave both been vocallyopposed - abstaining, aspokesman said.The package resolution,

passed at a meeting inSingapore, includes settingup a five-man executivecouncil with seats reservedfor India, England andAustralia, the sport's leadingfinancial powers.And N Srinivasan, BCCI

chief, which contributes thelion's share of cricket's glob-al revenues, will chair theICC board from the middleof this year. "I think it was avery good meeting, therewas general agreement andall very satisfactory," saidEngland and Wales CricketBoard chairman GilesClarke.South Africa had previ-

ously opposed the reformswas one of the eight to votein favour of reforms. Thereforms passed include set-ting up a Test Cricket Fundavailable to all full membersexcept India, England andAustralia, and a move tomake it easier for othercountries to gain Test status.The proposed World Test

Championship, which wasdue to debut in 2017, hasbeen axed with the

C h a m p i o n sTrophy - ane i gh t - coun t r ytournament inthe one-day for-mat - continuingin 2017 and2021.And a new

financial modelwill recognisemembers' contri-butions in termsof finance, histo-ry and on-fieldperformances, amoved aimed atproviding "long-term certainty ofparticipation" asthey negotiateTV and sponsor-ship deals.

Lord Woolfcriticises moveLord Harry Woolf,

author of a report into theICC's governance, criticizedthe move and said that theBig Three were "entirelymotivated by money.” Hesaid that the developmentwould be “a really alarmingposition for the future ofcricket”.Woolf, the former Lord

Chief Justice of England andWales, said, “this is a very

unusual situation as far asI’m concerned and that’swhy I think it right to give aperspective, and I’m doing iton my own behalf personal-ly.”Woolf commented on the

draft proposal being rushedthrough by the Big Three: “Idon’t see how if we had thisto consider we could see itas anything but a retrogradestep. It is giving extraordi-nary powers to a small tri-umvirate of three people,and everybody else has gotno power to say anything ordo anything.”“I would certainly think

it would be very difficult toget any person who wascompletely objective, look-ing at cricket, to understandhow these proposals couldtake forward the programmefor international cricket,”added Woolf, who submittedhis report on the ICC lastyear.“To say a sport that has

got aspirations to be aworld-class sport interna-tionally should not have anindependent body at the topseems to me to be very sur-prising. It seems to beentirely motivated bymoney.”

England selectors havegiven chance to uncappedplayers Moeen Ali andStephen Parry to play fortheir World T20 squadand Harry Gurney for theone-day squad for theCaribbean.Moeen and Parry have

been consistently excel-lent for Worcestershireand Lancashire respec-tively, Moeen across allformats with bat and ball

and Parry with his savvyleft-arm spin in one-daycricket. “England havewon the ICC WorldTwenty20 before – in2010 in the Caribbean –and this group has anexciting mix of youth andTwenty20 experience andI am sure with goodpreparation, desire anddetermination they willbe able to produce anexciting brand of cricket,”

said chief selector JamesWhitaker.Crucially, along with

James Tredwell, bothMoeen and Parry bowlspin, the playing and pur-veying of which arealmost certain to decidethe World T20, scheduledto be held in the bare,gripping pitchesBangladesh.Gurney was included

for giving England bats-

men practice against left-arm seam this winter, isfor the Caribbean legonly. England’s paceattack for Bangladesh willbe Stuart Broad, the cap-tain, Tim Bresnan, ChrisJordan, Jade Dernbachand Ben Stokes with RaviBopara and Luke Wrightto fill in any gaps thatteam composition maythrow up.Eoin Morgan will be

the team’s vice-captainand for all those who feelPietersen’s dominanceand chutzpah will besorely missed, on the fieldat least, Morgan has longoutdistanced Pietersen onthe flair front in the short-er formats, playing shotsthe other still practises inthe nets.England squad to tour

the Caribbean: S Broad, EMorgan, M Ali, R Bopara,

T Bresnan, J Buttler, JDernbach, H Gurney, AHales C Jordan, M Lumb,S Parry, J Root, B Stokes,J Tredwell and L Wright.England squad for

World T20 inBangladesh: Broad,Morgan, Moeen, Bopara,Bresnan, Buttler,Dernbach, Hales, Jordan,Lumb, Parry, Root,Stokes, Tredwell andWright.

BCCI chief Srinivsan to be the next ICC boss

Pacer Ishant Sharma wasaxed from both the limited-overs teams, while strugglingbatsman Suresh Raina wasdropped from the ODI squadfor the Asia Cup but wasretained in the T20 side forthe upcoming WorldChampionships inBangladesh.

Cheteshwar Pujara,regarded as a Test specialist,has also been included in thesquad for the Asia Cup alsoto be held in Bangladeshfrom February 25 to March8.All-rounder Yuvraj Singh

continued to be ignored forthe ODI team but got theselectors' nod for theTwenty20 WorldChampionships to be heldfrom March 16 to April 6.

Rookie pacer IshwarPandey, all-rounder StuartBinny and fast bowler VarunAaron retained their place inthe ODI squad announcedby BCCI Secretary SanjayPatel after a meeting of theselection committee.Opener Gautam

Gambhir and veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh,who were picked in the Restof India for Irani Trophy,were not named in the ODI

squad.The biggest casualty was,

however, Ishant, who hasbeen drawing flak for hispoor performance in the lim-ited overs format, as he wasdropped from both the teamsto be captained by MahendraSingh Dhoni.The axe on Raina was

also largely expected as theleft-hander has been inwretched form for quite awhile now. In fact he wasdropped midway throughthe ODI series against NewZealand last month whichIndia lost 0-4. Raina hasscored only one half-century(against Zimbabwe) in the

last 24 ODIs he has played.Raina's poor form has

prompted the selectors toturn to Pujara, who hasbeen a prolific scorer inTests. Pujara's techniqueand his ability to scorebriskly will provide somemuch-needed stability to theIndian top order whichfailed miserably in therecent ODI series againstNew Zealand.The selectors also

reposed faith on off-spinnerRavichandran Ashwin whohas not been very successfulin overseas conditions.Ashwin found a place inboth the ODI and T20

squad.The pace department

looks a trifle inexperiencedwith Bhuvneshwar Kumar,Mohammed Shami, VarunAaron and Ishwar Pandeyforming the line-up. The 24-year-old Bhuvneshwar, whohas played six Tests and 31ODIs, will be the spearheadin Ishant's absence.Leg-spinner Amit Mishra

has found a place in both theODI and T20 squads but hasnot featured in any of theformats for a while despitebeing a part of the side.

Squads: ICC World T20:Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C),Shikhar Dhawan, RohitSharma, Virat Kohli, SureshRaina, Yuvraj Singh, AjinkyaRahane, Ravindra Jadeja, RAshwin, BhuvneshwarKumar, Mohammed Shami,Roger Binny, Amit Mishra,Mohit Sharma, Varun Aaron

Asia Cup: MahendraSingh Dhoni (C), ShikharDhawan, Rohit Sharma,Virat Kohli, ChetshwarPujara, Ambati Rayudu,Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, RAshwin, BhuvneshwarKumar, Mohammed Shami,Varun Aaron, Roger Binny,Amit Mishra, IshwarPandey.

India's Olympic exile endsas IOC revokes ban on IOAMore than a year afterbeing shunted out of theOlympic movement due totainted officials, Indiawere welcomed back bythe International OlympicCommittee (IOC) withindays of conducting a freshelection in the IOA. TheIOC lifted the 14-monthold ban on India after the Indian OlympicAssociation (IOA) barred charge-framed officialsfrom its fresh election held reently in which WorldSquash Federation chief and younger brother ofBCCI boss N Srinivasan, N Ramachandran, waselected as the president. "The IOC has informedus through telephone that the ban on India hasbeen lifted," newly-elected IOA secretary generalRajeev Mehta said. The decision comes after theIOC's three observers for the elections left Indianshores "satisfied with the IOA elections promisingto submit a "favourable report to the IOC presi-dent". Jerome Poivey, IOC's head of institutionalrelations, event went on to state that the amend-ed IOA constitution was one of the best in theworld and it should be implemented fully. AllIndia Tennis Association (AITA) chief Anil Khannawas elected treasurer in the polls which markedthe exit of corruption-tainted Abhay SinghChautala and Lalit Bhanot from the IOA.

Pakistan PM sacks cricket board

The Pakistan governmentdismissed the country'scricket board on Mondayand appointed an ad-hoccommittee to run thesport. Following an orderfrom Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif, an 11-member committee willrun cricket in the country,replacing the Zaka Ashraf-led Pakistan CricketBoard (PCB), of which Sharif is the chief patron."Zaka Ashraf has been dismissed on severalcharges by the Prime minister, who is a greatlover of the sport," Shakil Sheikh, a member ofthe committee, said. "The charges include that he(Ashraf) left Pakistan isolated in world cricketwith his mishandling of the big three issue andthere were also financial mismanagement andappointments in his tenure."

Bangladesh to play Testseries in India in 2016

Bangladesh CricketBoard (BCB) has signedthe members’ participa-tion agreements (MPA)with Board of Control forCricket in India (BCCI) asa result Indian team willvisit Bangladesh andBangladesh team willvisit India to play tests.“We have signed agree-ments with India and that they will visit us in2014,” BCB president Nazmul Hassan said.“The next year, 2015, India will come toBangladesh to play Tests. In August andSeptember of 2016, Bangladesh will tour India toplay Tests. In June 2020, India will come to playTests and ODIs.” Apart from an ODI seriesagainst India in June 2014 and a Test and ODIseries in June 2015 at home, Bangladesh will playtheir maiden series in India in 2016. They havealso agreed on another Test and ODI seriesagainst India in 2020 at home.

SPORT WORLD

Yuvraj makes it to India’s World T20, Ishant axed

SPORTwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th February 201432

British Prime Minister DavidCameron has taken up thecase of sacking of KevinPietersen from the team withthe selectors, but at the sametime James Whitaker, chair-man of the England and WalesCricket Board, refuses to givereasons for the action.Whitaker, the new chair-

man of selectors, cited legalreasons for not discussingwhy Pietersen was dumped bythe England management.The six-figure severance dealbetween Pietersen and theECB has not been signed yet,which is why neither partywill talk publicly about thecontroversy. The ECB hasbeen advised that speakingnow could be used againstthem by Pietersen if talks overhis severance package col-lapse and he sues the cricketboard. It could open up thepossibility of a court case inwhich coaches and seniormanagement would be ques-tioned on the process of get-ting rid of the player. The ECBbelieves it is better to be criti-

cised for being evasive ratherthan opening the door to anunseemly legal scrap.A confidentiality clause

will ensure Pietersen’s silencefor a period of around sixmonths, but once that periodis over, Pietersen will be freeto reveal his side of the story.The ECB allowed onlyWhitaker to be interviewedand he dodged specific ques-tions about Pietersen by say-ing he “was not at liberty” tosay why he had been axed.

Whitaker described droppingPietersen as a “tricky deci-sion.” “All I am very opti-mistic about doing, with theEngland cricket team goingforward, is to reinvigorate andreignite the passion that peo-ple have for playing forEngland and to win back thecountry, because I feel someof that enthusiasm from crick-et followers has diminishedfollowing the winter.”Cameron described

Pietersen’s batting average

and argued for keeping him inthe team, when asked for hisopinion during an interview.Newly-appointed ECB man-aging director Paul Downton,who only recently oversaw thedeparture of England coachAndy Flower, hinted the needto restore team harmony,rather than playing ability,had been the key reasonbehind the "tough decision" toaxe Pietersen."Everyone was aware that

there was a need to begin thelong-term planning after theAustralia tour," saidDownton. "Therefore we havedecided the time is right tolook to the future and start torebuild not only the team butalso team ethic and philoso-phy."England cricket owes a

debt of gratitude to Kevinwho has proved to be one ofthe most talented and excitingplayers to ever represent thecountry and his 13,797 runsare a testimony to hisimmense skill," the formerEngland wicket-keeper added.

Neil Wagner captured fourwickets at crucial times asNew Zealand held off acounter-attacking India towin the first Test at EdenPark in Auckland by 40 runsafter tea on the fourth day onSunday.India looked favourites to

win the match for much ofthe day before Wagner dis-missed Virat Kholi (67) andShikhar Dhawan (115) afterlunch. He then removedZaheer Khan (17) and M SDhoni (39) in the eveningsession when the touristswere in sight of the 407 runsneeded for victory.Dhoni, the architect of a

bludgeoning counter-attackafter his side had beenreduced to 270 for six aftertea, was the ninth wicket tofall, effectively ending the

chase with his side still 44runs short of their target.India were eventually dis-missed for 366.The final session typified

the ebb and flow of the fourthday, with both sides at timesholding the upper hand onlyfor their fortunes to changeover by over.India had earlier looked

favourites to win the match

after lunchwith Kohli andDhawan wellestablished andready to guidetheir teamhome in thefinal session.Wagner dis-

missed thed a n g e r o u sKohli to breaka 126-run

stand with Dhawan, then hadthe opening batsman caughtbehind to give the hosts hopethey could still win the matchat Eden Park.Trent Boult then dis-

missed Ajinkya Rahanebefore tea with the first deliv-ery of the second new ballwhen he trapped the batsmanlbw for 18, though televisionreplays showed Rahane had

got an inside edge before theball hit his pads. Southee hadRohit Sharma caught behindby Watling for 19 on the firstball after tea.Ravindra Jadeja and

Dhoni raced to a 54-run part-nership in 34 balls andlooked to have seized the ini-tiative back before Jadejaproduced one shot too manyoff Boult and the ball flew toIsh Sodhi at mid-on. ZaheerKhan continued in that veinbut when he fell Dhoni wasleft to try to see his side to anunlikely victory.When he was controver-

sially bowled by Wagner, TVreplays suggested the bowlercould have been called for ano-ball, India’s pursuit effec-tively ended before it was fin-ished when Ishant Sharmaperished.

Srinath, Ravi to officiatein World T20

Match referee Javagal Srinath and umpireS. Ravi are among match officials picked forthe World Twenty20 to be held inBangladesh from March 16-April 6. Thematch referees' responsibilities throughoutthe tournament will be shared betweenDavid Boon, Ranjan Madugalle and JavagalSrinath of the Elite Panel of ICC MatchReferees. The on-field responsibilities willbe shared by all 11 of the Elite Panel of ICCUmpires, namely: Aleem Dar, KumarDharmasena, Steve Davis, Marais Erasmus,Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, RichardKettleborough, Nigel Llong, BruceOxenford, Paul Reiffel and Rod Tucker, aswell as Billy Bowden and S Ravi of theInternational Panel. The ICC has also con-firmed the schedule of warm-up matches. Atotal of 16 warm-up matches will be playedin the men's event, including eight ahead ofthe first round and another eight in the leadup to the Super 10 stage, while 10 women'swarm-up matches will be held at theBangladesh Krira Shikha Protishtan(BKSP) 3 and 4 in Dhaka before theWomen's World Twenty20 off in Sylhet onMarch 23.

Sangakkara creates new record

Veteran Sri Lankan batsman KumarSangakkara has created a new record bybecoming the fastest batsman to reach11,000 runs in terms of innings playedafter reaching 300 with a flurry of bound-aries in the second Test againstBangladesh last week. The tourists, whowon the first Test by an innings and 248runs in Dhaka last week, took theirovernight score of 314-5 to 587 post-lunchon the second day at the Zahur AhmedChowdhury stadium. The left-arm bats-man, who was caught out at 319, earliermade his ninth double-century, adding tohis 34 three-figure knocks. Australian leg-end Don Bradman leads the list with 12scores of 200 or more.

Eoin Morgan withdrawsfrom IPL auctions

English cricketer Eoin Morgan has justannounced via Twitter that he has with-drawn from the IPL auctions. Morgan hadplayed for the Kolkata Knight Riders fran-chise before this year’s re-shuffling, inwhich he was not retained by the Kolkatateam. He was set to be a major hit in theauctions for his overall batting prowess aswell as his ability to finish off games. WithKevin Pietersen sacked from the EnglishCricket, Morgan might be the one to replacehim in the Test side for the series against SriLanka. Although no official statement as towhy he has pulled out of the mega event hasbeen made, his possible inclusion in theTest side is one of the reasons.

English cricket fansare set to get onemore chance to seeSachin Tendulkarand Shane Warne inaction at Lord'safter the pair wereconfirmed as cap-tains for a matchmarking theground's 200tha n n i v e r s a r y .Recently retiredIndia batting starTendulkar will leadMarylebone CricketClub (MCC), theowners of the north-west London venue, and for-mer Australia leg-spinnerWarne the Rest of the Worldin a 50-overs per side matchat the 'home of cricket' on

July 5. The MCC XI will alsoinclude Tendulkar's formerIndia team-mate RahulDravid, returning to thescene where he scored 95 on

his Test debut,against England in1996 - a matchwhere fellow Indiadebutant SouravGanguly made ahundred.Tendulkar, who

scored a hundred inthe Diana Princessof Wales MemorialMatch at Lord's in1998, said he waslooking forward tothe July fixture."It is an honour

to be asked to cap-tain MCC in such a

prestigious fixture, and I amdelighted to accept,"Tendulkar explained in aMCC statement."Lord's is such a special

place to play cricket and Iam very much looking for-ward to helping celebrate itsbicentenary by taking part inthis match."I was delighted to be

presented with an MCCHonorary Life Membershipin 2010, and it will be a priv-ilege to play at the 'home ofcricket' once again."Warne, who took 19

wickets in four Tests atLord's, added: "I'm sure thematch will be a lot of fun andit will be a pleasure to bepart of the bicentenary cele-brations of the most famouscricket ground in the world."Meanwhile MCC presi-

dent Mike Gatting promised"more big names in the com-ing weeks".

Indians spirited show not enough

Sachin, Warne to lead teams in Lord's bicentenary

Cameron takes up Pietersen’scase with selectors

Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne

AV 15th February 2014

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Transcript of AV 15th February 2014