Thursday, May 28, 2009
British Prime Minister forced to surrender on Gurkha rights
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown suffered the latest in a series of setbacks on May 21 when he caved in to public pressure and said more retired Nepalese Gurkha soldiers would be allowed to settle in Britain.
Brown was forced to surrender after being outflanked in a lobby campaiging led by actress Joanna Lumley, whose father served with the Gurkhas.
Interior minister Jacqui Smith told parliament former Gurkhas who retired before 1997 with more than four years' service would now be eligible to apply to live in Britain. She said that meant up to 15,000 veterans might now apply.
Brown had suffered a parliamentary defeat last month on the issue, his first since taking over from Tony Blair in 2007.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com/
Brown was forced to surrender after being outflanked in a lobby campaiging led by actress Joanna Lumley, whose father served with the Gurkhas.
Interior minister Jacqui Smith told parliament former Gurkhas who retired before 1997 with more than four years' service would now be eligible to apply to live in Britain. She said that meant up to 15,000 veterans might now apply.
Brown had suffered a parliamentary defeat last month on the issue, his first since taking over from Tony Blair in 2007.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com/
Labels: Britain, british prime minister, nepalese gurkha soldiers, parliament former gurkhas, public pressure
Friday, October 10, 2008
Ex-Gurkha soldiers win right to retire in Britain
Former Gurkha soldiers who fought alongside British troops won a long-running battle on September 30 for the right to retire in Britain.
Waving their regiment's flag outside London's High Court, members of the unit which has fought for Britain since 1815 welcomed the decision to overturn a ruling that meant those who retired before 1997 had no automatic right to live in Britain.
All other foreign soldiers in the British Army can settle in the country after four years' service anywhere in the world. About 2,000 Gurkhas are affected by the current rules.
High Court judge Justice Nicholas Blake ruled that instructions given by the Home Office to immigration officials were unlawful and must be changed.
Dozens of Gurkhas and their supporters cheered outside court, waving the regiment's green flag, which bears two kukris, a traditional Nepalese curved knife.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Waving their regiment's flag outside London's High Court, members of the unit which has fought for Britain since 1815 welcomed the decision to overturn a ruling that meant those who retired before 1997 had no automatic right to live in Britain.
All other foreign soldiers in the British Army can settle in the country after four years' service anywhere in the world. About 2,000 Gurkhas are affected by the current rules.
High Court judge Justice Nicholas Blake ruled that instructions given by the Home Office to immigration officials were unlawful and must be changed.
Dozens of Gurkhas and their supporters cheered outside court, waving the regiment's green flag, which bears two kukris, a traditional Nepalese curved knife.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: battle, Britain, British Army, British troops, curved knife, foreign soldiers, Former Gurkha soldiers, London's High Court, traditional Nepalese, won
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Learning from history, will South Asia move on to EEC-style community?
Sixty-one years after the bloody delivery midwifed by Britain which brought the twins of India and Pakistan howling and blinking into the world, how would have their founders viewed the outcome of all that prenatal suffering?
His round-spectacled eyes surveying the India of 2008, at its gated and air-conditioned communities in Faridabad, and the call centers in Bangalore, and the film studios of Mumbai, would Mahatma Gandhi -- had he been around today -- thought this was the India of his ideals?
Or, with Pakistan's thousands of Saudi financed madrassas churning out Talibans and with violence in Karachi claiming on an average six lives a day, would Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah been happy with the result of all his labors?
Although conventional history refers to it as an orderly and peaceful transfer of power, the independence of India came hand in hand with an unprecedented slaughter of brother by brother.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
His round-spectacled eyes surveying the India of 2008, at its gated and air-conditioned communities in Faridabad, and the call centers in Bangalore, and the film studios of Mumbai, would Mahatma Gandhi -- had he been around today -- thought this was the India of his ideals?
Or, with Pakistan's thousands of Saudi financed madrassas churning out Talibans and with violence in Karachi claiming on an average six lives a day, would Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah been happy with the result of all his labors?
Although conventional history refers to it as an orderly and peaceful transfer of power, the independence of India came hand in hand with an unprecedented slaughter of brother by brother.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: Britain, EEC, Faridabad, history, Independence Day, india, Lal Qilla, Mahatma Gandhi, pakistan, Talibans, Twins, World War II
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Shami Chakrabarti is among United Kingdom's top 10 powerful lawyers
Britain's foremost human rights advocate Shami Chakrabarti is among the top 10 most powerful lawyers in The Times' annual list of the Top 100 Club.This is another feather in the cap for Chakrabarti, who is already considered among the top 50 most powerful people in Britain. Knighted by the Queen for her contribution to law and human rights in 2007, she beat Tony Blair and David Cameron in a 2006 vote for Britain's most inspiring figure.
In 2005, she was on the BBC's shortlist of the 10 people who may run Britain.
A law graduate from the London School of Economics, she currently heads one of the world's best known human rights organizations, Liberty. She has recently been appointed as chancellor of Oxford Brookes University.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: advocate Shami Chakrabarti, Britain, Human rights, law degree, london, Oxford Brookes University, powerful lawyer
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Shilpa Shetty receives Britain's 2008 Global Diversity award
Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and racing driver Lewis Hamilton and have been awarded Britain's Global Diversity award for 2008 for their contribution to the diversity agenda.Shetty became famous in Britain last year after she was subjected to alleged bullying and racism in the television reality show ‘Celebrity Big Brother'. Her treatment - by some other participants in the popular show - became the subject of a heated row in India.
However, she was universally praised by British commentators for showing restraint.
Hamilton was also subjected to racial abuse. On February 4 this year, he was racially abused by spectators during pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) warned the Spanish authorities about such behavior and announced it would launch a 'Race Against Racism' campaign.
The awards were presented on July 1 night at an event attended by British Foreign Minister David Miliband MP and Culture Minister Andy Burnham among others.
The event was hosted by the Next Steps Foundation, an organization established 10 years ago by MPs Bernie Grant and Keith Vaz to encourage diversity in both the public and private sectors.
The evening also highlighted the European Year of Inter cultural Dialogue that invites European nations to celebrate diversity in Europe.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: Bollywood actress, Britain, Britain's Global Diversity award, campaign, Celebrity Big Brother, Euroean Year, Europe, FIA, Lewis Hamilton, Race, Racism, reality show, Shilpa Shetty, Spain
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
