Asian Lite News Archive

Category: UK News

  • Britain pledges troops

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      Britain has pledged to contribute 1,000 military personnel to a proposed NATO force that could be deployed anywhere in two-five days, BBC reported Friday. Speaking on the second day of the NATO summit in the Welsh city of Newport, British Prime Minister David Cameron said the “multinational spearhead force” would be part of a…

  • NATO agrees on collective defence

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    NATO leaders Friday agreed on a readiness action plan to strengthen the bloc’s collective defence and deal with any challenge, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. The NATO allies face a security environment which is more unpredictable than ever, including Russia’s “aggression” against Ukraine, violent extremism in the Middle East and instability in North…

  • UK concern over Pak situation

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    Britain asks citizens to review travel plans to Pakistan The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has advised its citizens to review their planned trips to Pakistan in view of the volatile security situation in the country. “There is a high threat of terrorism, kidnapping and sectarian violence throughout Pakistan,” Dawn online quoted an FCO…

  • Currency Corner by Vatsal

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    Vatsal Srivastava in his weekly column Currency Corner says ECB has gone all out to fight Europe’s economic woes  It’s official – the zero-interest rate policy (ZIRP) era is here to stay. After the US Federal Reserve, Bank of England and the Bank of Japan, ECB president Mario Draghi made it clear that it too would undertake…

  • Woman Found Beheaded in London

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    A 25-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after an 82-year-old woman was beheaded in broad daylight in a suburban back garden. Palmira Silva, a widow believed to be of Italian descent, was found at an address in Edmonton, north London just after 1pm after police received reports of a man with a…

  • E-Cigarettes Could Save lives: Report

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    E-Cigarettes could potentially save 54,000 premature deaths  every year in the UK if all smokers switched to e-cigarettes, experts say. Researchers in London have dismissed recent health warnings over e-cigarettes as “misleading,” saying they have the potential to save tens of thousands of smokers every year. For every million British smokers who give up tobacco products…

  • Cameron talks of new Russia sanctions

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    Russia might face more economic sanctions unless it ceases its attempts to destabilise Ukraine, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday. In an interview with the BBC, Cameron said the measures taken against Russia, which is accused of supporting separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine with weapons and uniformed Russian troops, were beginning to show results.…

  • London to host Eco Film Fest

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    The first ever Environmental Film Festival to be hosted in London For the first time in Britain, an environmental film festival is being organised on 12th and 13th September screening films connected to the Environment and impact of Climate Change on communities, biodiversity and culture. The Films include The Last Dance, Turtles in a Soup, The Silenced Witness,…

  • Cameron & Obama show unity

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     President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron have emphasised the importance of unity to deal with violence by the Islamic State (IS) following the murder of two American journalists by the Sunni militant group. In a joint opinion piece published Thursday in The Times of London newspaper to mark the beginning of the…

  • Raja embarks on new campaign

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    Rajah  spices creates media history in the UK as the popular brand releases its new TV commercial campaign across leading channels simultaneously. Raja has become first  brand in the UK to roadblock transmissions in this manner Rajah, the illustrious spice brand, is launching their new campaign tomorrow (Friday – Sept.5) in promotion of their revamped branding and sleek new…

  • Manchester Police seize counterfeit clothing

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    Manchester Police have seized over £1 million worth of counterfeit clothing in the Strangeways area of the city. Officers from GMP’s North Manchester Neighbourhood Policing team, with help from the Fire Service, raided four shops on Lockett Street yesterday, Wednesday 3 September 2014. Counterfeit items seized included, a range of handbags branded ‘Louis Vitton’, ‘Chenelle’,…

  • Calais migrants storm ferry

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    Hundreds of illegal migrants in the French port of Calais tried to force their way onto a ferry bound for England, officials and witnesses say. Passenger John Bailey told the BBC that the migrants tried to get access to the vessel by running up the main ramp. But he said they were prevented from gaining…

  • BBC draws flak over Sir Cliff coverage

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    The BBC put South Yorkshire Police in “a very difficult position” over a planned search of Sir Cliff Richard’s home in connection with a historical sexual offence allegation, chief constable David Crompton told MPs today reports PressGazette. His colleagues in the media office were convinced that the broadcaster would run a story about the investigation…

  • Britons oppose bombing ISIS

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    Barely one in three people in Britain support launching military action against Sunni militant organisation Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria at a time when the British prime minister has not ruled out supporting the US for it. According to a survey for The Independent, only one in three people supporting Britain launching air…

  • Saudi apologises to Briton

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    The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) has formally apologized to the British man and his Saudi wife for the troubles caused to them by some of its staffers last Friday. Four Haia staffers have been transferred outside Riyadh for their involvement in the attack, a statement issued by the commission…

  • ‘Lotus pond jar’ of surprises at London

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    Once in a while something truly rare, special and unique appears in the art market and the buzz being created at Bonhams by the sale of a small, fairly modest looking jar painted with a lotus motif from the Ming period, is tangible.  The jar comes from a European private collection and has not been…

  • Britain to “protect” hostage

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    Britain will look at “every possible option” to protect a British hostage being held by Islamic State, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said. His comments come after a Cobra meeting to discuss the UK’s response to a threat by militants to kill the hostage in a video purporting to show the beheading of a second…

  • Living wage a distant possiblity

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    Across the UK, around two in five part-time jobs pay less than the living wage. But TUC analysis of official figures from the House of Commons Library shows that earning less than the living wage is the norm for women in many parts of the country. The majority of women working part-time earn less than…

  • Cambridge woos Indian academics

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    Cambridge, the global University, is wooing Indian academics reports Anasudhin Azeez Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, will lead a senior University delegation to India for a series of meetings and events to interact with Indian academics and decision-makers. Consistently ranked as one of the world’s leading universities, Cambridge has strong historic and…

  • Cameron to discuss UK hostage threat

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    David Cameron will chair a meeting to discuss the UK’s response to a threat by militants to kill a British hostage in a video purporting to show the beheading of a second US journalist. The Cobra committee will consider the threat from extremist group Islamic State, which said the Briton would die unless attacks on…

  • ‘Empire Debate’ at UK supreme court

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    Former Indian Foreign Office Minister Shashi Tharoor and best-selling author and historian William Dalrymple will join in a unique debate marking the 400th anniversary of the beginning of formal relations between India and Great Britain. The event titled as Project 400 – The Empire Debate will take place on Thursday 18 September 2014 at Supreme…

  • Ask difficult questions: Zizek on Rotherham

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    Marxist philospher and cultural critic Slavoj Zizek in an article in Guardian has as said that anyone who wants to fight for emancipation should not be afraid to examine religion and culture.  “The outline of what happened in Rotherham is now more or less clear: at least 1,400 children were subjected to brutal sexual exploitation between 1997…

  • UK construction industry grows

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    The construction sector expanded at its fastest pace for seven months in August, despite supply shortages holding back growth, a survey suggests. The Markit/CIPS construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)surged to 64 in August from 62.4 in July, surprising economists who had forecast a fall. It is the 16th month in a row that the index…

  • Nominations open for PRECIOUS Awards

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    According to the IPA 2012 Multicultural Britain report, the BME community accounts for around 12%  of the overall population and has a spending power of £300 billion and rising. It raises many  questions as to why women from this section of the community are still under-represented in  boardrooms across the country. With celebrating the achievements…

  • WHY WERE THEY ASLEEP IN ROTHERHAM?

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    What were they doing in Rotherham? Sleeping? Ignoring the agony whirling around them? How can you explain away 1400 cases of child molestation in a small town with 100 babies born from such sexual predators and enough whistle blowers whose whistles were not heard. Children were hurt and tortured over 10 years, they were raped…

  • Contemporary British dance tests India

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    Leading British dance companies will wow audiences in India in the second edition of Impulse contemporary dance fest beginning Sep 5. Built around 15 performances by leading British dance companies like the Hofesh Shechter Company, Scottish Dance Theatre and Avant Garde Dance, Impulse 2 will run through September, October and November across the country, a…

  • Anti-terror plans hit legal hurdle

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    David Cameron’s plan to fight the terrorist threat posed by Islamic State got off to a stuttering start when he was forced to shelve key proposals amid legal uncertainty, Liberal Democrat objections, and even doubts within the security services, the Guardian reported. The prime minister unveiled a package of anti-terror measures in the Commons on…

  • China raps UK over Hong Kong

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    Chinese authorities have demanded Britain drop an inquiry into the progress of democratic reforms in Hong Kong, accusing it of “highly inappropriate” interference in its affairs, the BBC has reported. The broadcaster said it had seen a letter from China’s foreign affairs committee to its British counterpart condemning the probe into the state of democracy…

  • Man denies attacking Galloway

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    A 39-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to assaulting MP George Galloway in a London street, according to a BBC report. Neil Masterson, of Campden Hill, Notting Hill, denies assaulting the Respect MP for Bradford West while Mr Galloway was posing for pictures in nearby Golborne Road on Friday. The MP is believed to have…

  • UK raps Israeli land grab

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    UK deplores Israeli decision to expropriate land near Bethlehem and urges Israel to reverse the decision. Commenting on Israel’s decision on 31 August to expropriate almost 990 acres of privately owned Palestinian land near Bethlehem, the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: “The UK deplores the Israeli government’s expropriation of 988 acres of land around the settlement…

  • Moral police beat up Briton

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    Saudi Arabia’s Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the religious police, has launched an investigation into a physical assault by some of its members on a British national who was with his Saudi wife in the capital Riyadh. The investigation was ordered by the Commission president Shaikh Abdul Lateef Bin Abdul…

  • Indo-UK health meet in Nov

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    Manchester Coordinating Centre Health Education and Workforce Transformation (Manchester Health & Education Global Exchange) in conjunction with the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) and Health Education North West, are organising ‘Northwest Alliance for Indo:uk Collaboration for Health Conference’, on November 28, in Manchester. This one day conference aims: (a) to take the…

  • Immigrants, welfare out, EU wants UK in

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    David Cameron’s hopes of reforming Britain’s relationship with Brussels received a boost as the new president of the European Council came out in support of a clampdown on benefit tourism. Donald Tusk said he ‘could not imagine’ the EU without Britain – and it would be a ‘dark scenario’ if we left. He described the EU’s…

  • Boris rebuffs third runway plea

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    Boris Johnson has rebuffed calls to back a third runway at Heathrow, saying it would be a “disaster”. The London mayor said the expansion plans were “desperately short-sighted” and “barbarically contemptuous of the rights of the population”, whose health he said would be put at risk, accordian to a Guardian report. The comments come ahead of an announcement…

  • Libya cleric slips from UK

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    Libya’s most senior religious authority, the grand mufti Sheikh Sadik al-Ghariani, is believed to have fled Britain after it emerged that he was helping to direct the Islamist takeover of Tripoli from the UK. Ghariani left the UK for Qatar as Home Office officials began examining broadcasts he had made to Islamist groups using an…

  • Fatwa against frequent-flier jihadis

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    Muslim leaders have issued a fatwa condemning British jihadis, it was revealed today. The fatwa quoting Quranic verses, which has been issued by some of the country’s top imams, is the strongest condemnation yet by the Muslim community of Britons joining Islamic extremists. The fatwa has been endorsed by senior Islamic scholars including Sheikh Qamaruzzaman Azmi of the…

  • Japan-India: conservative nationalist combine?

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    “I am eagerly awaiting your arrival in Kyoto this weekend,” Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, tweeted last week to Narendra Modi, his Indian counterpart, after declaring, “India has a special place in my heart.” Previously, Mr Modi tweeted he was “particularly excited to meet” Mr Abe, stressing his “warm relationship” with the Japanese premier. Mr Modi…

  • UK to stop jihadists coming home

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    The government is considering temporary bans on British-born jihadists in Iraq and Syria from returning to the UK, according to a BBC report. The BBC understands UK nationals suspected of being involved in terrorist acts would be allowed to keep their British citizenship. But they would be prevented from re-entering the UK for a period…

  • Britain assisted Maoist torture

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    Thomas Bell, a journalist who writes on Nepal for The Economist and other publications, has in his new book, “Kathmandu”, accused British secret service MI6 of aiding Nepal authorities in the torture of Maoist rebels during the South Asian country’s civil war, a media report said Sunday. Bell said that Britain funded a four-year intelligence…

  • Coca-Cola fumes in Modi constituency

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    The Uttar Pradesh government Saturday clarified that it had “very little role” in beverage major Coca Cola’s decision to stall its expansion plans in Varanasi – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency.Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd – the bottling arm of Coca-Cola – recently wrote to UP chief secretary Alok Ranjan saying that “inordinate delays…

  • Exceptional Asian girl who stood up

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    Ruzwana Bashir is co-founder and CEO of Peek.com, the one-stop shop to discover and book activities. She previously worked at Gilt Groupe, Blackstone and Goldman Sachs. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School where she was a Fulbright scholar, and a BA from Oxford where she was president of the Oxford Union. In a extraordinary…

  • Galloway hurt in London attack

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    Anti-war campaigner and Bradford West MP George Galloway has been taken to hospital with a suspected broken jaw after he was attacked on a London street, BBC reported. The Respect MP was posing for pictures with people in Golborne Road, Notting Hill, when a man allegedly set upon him. Police were quickly at the scene and…

  • Govt raises terror warning to “severe”

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    The government has raised the terror threat to the UK to “severe”, the second-highest level, for the first time in three years because of the growing activity of Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq. A severe threat level means an attack “is highly likely although there is no intelligence to suggest that one is imminent”, the government…

  • Modi factor fuels confidence: India Inc

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    Arvind Padmanabhan says 100 days, although a short span of time given the five-year tenure that an elected government in India is normally entitled to, has seen some brisk action in areas such as hiking foreign equity caps in defence and insurance, which are clear signals of a return of the liberalisation era that was started…

  • Better food on hospital menu

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    Hospitals in England will be expected to provide higher standard of food under new measures. The new standards, enforced through legally-binding NHS contracts, will focus on quality, choice and promoting a healthy diet for patients and staff, the BBC reported. Hospitals will also be ranked on the meals they prepare. The Campaign for Better Hospital…

  • Wah Taj, says reviewer

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    I’m mad for the BBC’s new fly-on-the-wall documentary series Hotel India(Wednesdays, 8pm), which is beautifully made and pulls off the great feat of leaving the viewer feeling deeply relaxed one moment and ragingly furious the next. In this sense, it reminds me of a trip I once made to India, during which I made like a…

  • Tory MP switches to UKIP

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    Maverick Tory Douglas Carswell has defected to UKIP and quit as MP for Clacton, saying he will contest the subsequent by-election for Nigel Farage’s party, BBC reported. If he wins the support of voters he will be the first elected UK Independence Party MP in the Commons. The Eurosceptic backbencher said he wanted to “shake…

  • Mary Kom seeks help for elephants

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    Glaring into the camera with fierce determination, covered with scars and struggling to break her chains, Olympic medallist and five-time undisputed World Amateur Boxing champion Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom is featured in a striking new ad from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, just in time for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival and…

  • Elitist Britain?

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    The UK is “deeply elitist” according to an analysis of the backgrounds of more than 4,000 business, political, media and public sector leaders, BBC reported. Small elites, educated at independent schools and Oxbridge, still dominate top roles, suggests the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission study. It says key institutions do not represent the public they…

  • UK Muslims & Jews seek peace

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    ‘We must not import conflict. We must export peace instead’ Jewish and Muslim leaders in the UK have urged followers of their faiths to “export peace” to the Middle East, BBC reported. In an unprecedented joint statement, the Jewish Board of Deputies and Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) condemned Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, BBC reported. In…