Labour MP Keith Vaz has emerged as Britain's most influential Asian on a list of 101 powerful people from the region. Others on the list include Lakshmi Mittal, the Hinduja Brothers and Lord Swraj Paul.

London's GG2 Power 101 list, published by Garavi Gujarat Publications in London says Vaz, 56, the Labour MP from Leicester East and chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, who has been a parliamentarian for over 25 years and made it into the House of Commons in 1987, placed at no.1 on the list.

Others on the list include author Salman Rushdie, Dr Kartar Lalvani, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Anshu Jain, Anish Kapoor, Sadiq Khan, Lord Navnit Dholakia, Suma Chakrabarthi, and Rabinder Singh,

The GG2 Leadership Awards 2012 were presented at Westminster Bridge by Christopher Grayling, MP, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, Cabinet Office, who was the Chief Guest.

[ Back to Top ]

Pakistani farmers of the impoverished Faridkot village, the former home of Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, 25, who was executed in India for his part in the 2008 Mumbai massacre, lashed out at India. Faridkot lies in the farming belt of Punjab province southeast of Islamabad.

Few of Faridkot's resident are literate and one farmer said "They do not like anyone being given punishment." He said India is Pakistan's enemy and wants to weaken their country.
Many others denied Kasab was one of them and became hostile when asked to talk about the gunman.

The Islamabad government was tight-lipped but the foreign ministry issued a statement condemning terrorism and offering to work closely with all countries of the region to eliminate the scourge.

[ Back to Top ]

To mark the 50th anniversary of his arrival in the US, Texas lawmaker Lamar Smith presented eminent Indian-American Raj Nagarajan with the national flag that was flown over the US Capitol on September 9, 2012, the very date he arrived in the US.

Nagarajan from Chennai, with just $8 in his pocket, undertook a 22-day boat ride to the US to do a PhD in Physics at Carnegie Mellon. He then worked in IBM for almost 30 years on various aspects of semi-conductor technology and product engineering. During his tenure he reached IBM's 'Third Invention Plateau' with over 20 patents, 30 publications and a People Manager's Award. He also chaired the Corporate Semi-conductor Committee for two years, and was instrumental in starting a high voltage battery project in Chennai to manufacture start up batteries for MIG planes.

Nagaranjan's lifetime of community service and efforts to build bridges between India and America was recognised in 2010 and again in 2011, with the President's Call to Service Award that was presented by President Barack Obama.

[ Back to Top ]

A High Court judge has found Xolile Mngeni, 25, a suspected small-time drug dealer, guilty of killing newly-wed Anni Dewani while she was on honeymoon in Capetown two years ago.

Annie had been married for just two weeks when she was shot in what prosecutors say was a faked hijacking. Mngeni and two accessories plotted to carry out the premeditated murder for 15,000 Rand.

Dewani's UK NRI husband Shrien Dewani is accused of orchestrating the hit, but has protested his innocence and is fighting extradition to South Africa. He is being treated for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder at a mental hospital in Bristol, England, ahead of a court decision on his extradition.

In his judgement the Judge did not rule on Shrien's culpability, saying no direct evidence had been presented about his involvement at the proceedings, but focused on Mngeni's role in Dewani's death in the back seat of a car after her husband had been let go.

Mngeni's accessories, already jailed over the killing said Shrien Dewani was their paymaster.

Mngeni has been convicted for robbery with aggravating circumstances and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. His sentencing is to begin shortly.

[ Back to Top ]

A meeting of Kerala MPs in Thiruvananthapuram decided to raise in Parliament their disappointment in the 'neglect' by Air India particularly its failure to properly serve NRI travellers.

The MPs also showed concern over the failure of public sector banks in providing education loans saying they were ignoring the guidelines of the Centre and the RBI in this regard.

A number of other issues are to be put forward to Parliament that include the Kochi metro rail project, and Indian Oil Corporation's reluctance to provide compensation to those killed and injured in the LPG leak near Kannur a few months ago.

[ Back to Top ]