A large number of our community members have either already obtained their certificates of being ‘Overseas Citizen of India’ or are considering the possibility of doing so seriously.

The concern is what is the status of their British Nationality especially when visiting India.

Would the British Government provide any consular assistance should that become necessary or deny that assistance stating that the person concerned is considered a Indian National and not entitled to any Consular assistance?

There has been a lot of discussion about it which has caused anxiety to those who already have OCI status. However, it has also stopped many from applying for it!

Mr Gopal Bhudia of Freeman Solicitors has obtained a clear statement from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. He has allowed the Institute of Jainology to publicise the response for the general benefit of the community at large. Mr Bhudia has kindly agreed to the reply he received being circulated freely.

A copy of the letter is shown below.

For further information or clarification should it be required please contact the Foreign & Commonwealth Office directly at the address shown.

Please click here to read a document called Handbook for Overseas Indians. I hope it also helps

Whether you want to stop getting marketing in the post so there’s less paper you have to deal with/recycle, or because you want to save time spent sorting through unnecessary mail or you want to avoid ‘selling’ calls because you like personal phone calls; I have a solution for you!

It’s fast. It’s simple. It works!

Visit MPS!

For mail the options are: -

• I wish to register my address details to be removed from mailing lists
• I wish to register a previous occupier at my current address
• I wish to register my previous address
• I wish to register my previous addressI wish to register details of someone who has died

For phone calls the options are: -

• Residential
• Sole trader
• Partnership
• Limited company: (Including organisations such as Hospitals, Schools, Government Departments and other Corporate subscribers) PLC

There’s even one for fax marketing.

If you use the service please let me know how it pans out.

You are probably aware that National Census will take place on 27th March 2011.

The forms will be delivered by hand or by post to each house in the UK. The householder will have the option to complete it on line or fill up the form physically and send it back by post.

The last census

When the last census took place in 2001 – only 7,000 persons registered as Jains! The name Jain is not listed in the list of religions thus it needs to be entered as an option.

Why is the name of your faith important?

Because the number registering as Jains was below 10,000, the Jain community did not get an official recognition as a minority religion in the UK. This has many implications in terms of grants, other forms of support, education and more.

If you are Jain please enter your religion as Jainism and don’t be shy about it. : )

Do you know about this march?

I think it’s so exciting! Empowering. For me, it also shows that there’s hope. That people are willing to be honest, open and transparent about what they want and don’t want. All too often there seems to be an increasing pattern, a culture of not being transparent. This is a refreshing change!

So why are we marching?

• Eliminating the deficit in just four years is a savage timetable that does not give economic growth the opportunity to raise the nation’s tax take. Indeed the deep cuts promised will depress the economy making deeper cuts necessary to meet this timetable.
• Raising four pounds through cuts for every pound raised through tax – and doing most of this through a rise in VAT that hits the poor and those on middle income the most – is deeply unfair. The recession was made in the finance sector, yet banks and those now enjoying gigantic bonuses once again, are not being asked to make a fair contribution.

Yet none of these policies were put to the British people at the election, indeed we were told that there was no need for cuts in front-line services.

People round the country are already campaigning against these deep, rapid cuts. Students have shown their opposition to cuts, the ends of EMAs and increases in fees. Parents and teachers have opposed cuts in school building. School sport, libraries and public woodlands all now have strong defenders. Few towns now don’t have their own campaign group.

The TUC’s March for the Alternative has two key aims.

1. First we want to give a national voice to all those affected by the cuts. This will be a huge event that in its breadth and support shows just how much opposition there is to the government’s programme. It will bring together public service workers and those who depend on good public services. Those involved in national campaigns, and those defending what is special in their own community.
2. Second we want to show that people reject the argument that there is no alternative. Of course the recession did damage to our economy. But these deep rapid cuts are not the best way to solve our problems, and may well make them worse.

That is why it is the March for the Alternative – an alternative in which rich individuals and big companies have to pay all their tax, that the banks pay a Robin Hood tax and on in which we strain every sinew to create jobs and boost the sustainable economic growth that will generate the prosperity which is the only long term way to close the deficit and reduce the nation’s debt.

Read here about why others are marching in their own words!

So I was on my way to Kings Cross to get a train to Grantham. All I had to do was: -

Go from Pinner to Baker Street & then

Baker Street to Kings Cross

The train terminated at Wembley Park. We got told there was signal failure, a line was suspended, a fire somewhere else etc. It all affected the journey I needed to make!

After that another Metropolitan Line train terminated at Wembley Park too.  I waited 14 minutes to get the Jubilee Line to Baker Street. The only choice was to get the Hammersmith and City or Circle Line to Kings Cross. After what felt like a long wait, I made it to Kings Cross. I’d missed my train so I went to the Information Desk.

The man who was at the desk asked me questions about my ticket and said he wasn’t sure what to tell me because I had a Super Saver Ticket which meant I could only use it on one specific train. He suggested I go back to the tube station and ask for a ‘delays on the underground compensation form’

I assumed it’ be a form I fill out and send off later so I was anxious when I  had to wait in line to simply get a form. I may miss another train! Anyway it was my turn and I got told I needed to go to the Supervisor’s Office. I asked someone else and he showed me where it was. A supervisor came out and he asked for my surname which I thought was strange.

Anyway, he came out with a sheet with my name on it and an explanation of why I was delayed. He said I’d just have to give it to the staff at the platform and they should let me board the next train.

It worked and it was great!

Heena

Here’s what i got re batteries from Tesco, Sainsburys and Waitrose

I wrote to a few supermarkets asking them what their stance is on the recycling of batteries. I raised it because a new Directive states that accessible recycling points must be set up for distributors to take spent batteries & recycle them! This is great! If I had to go to the local amenity site, I wouldn’t have bothered. If I can recycle them more easily, I will.

This Directive will make it easier, right? Here are the replies I got.

From Tesco (customer.service@tesco.co.uk): -

Dear Heena

I appreciate you contacting us with regards to recycling batteries in store.

I’ve looked into this for you and would like to let you know that the government has just this month enacted the law relating to Battery Recycling. This requires all battery retailers to collect portable batteries from Feb. 2010. Now the law has been clarified, the industry is establishing the framework to achieve this efficiently. Tesco will be partnering with a Compliance Scheme over the next couple of months in order to be ready to comply with the new regulations. We may choose to launch collections later this year, ahead of our mandatory obligations, if the economics of providing the service allows.

The delay from the date we originally indicated is entirely down to the government not being able to confirm the legal framework for battery recycling in the UK within the original timescales. We have a limited number of battery recycling points still in Scotland, around Swansea, and the S’oton area, following a trial we participated in with WRAP.

I trust this information helps and thank you for taking the time to contact us. If I can help further, please just let me know.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us at customer.service@tesco.co.uk.

Kind Regards

Kavitha Shadaksharaiah

Customer Service Manager

Tesco Customer Service

From Waitrose (Customer_Service@waitrose.co.uk): -

Thank you for your e-mail.

We are currently trialling batteries recycling at our Waitrose Cambridge shop, which is an initiative part supported by the local authority. We apologise for any misinformation you have been given and the confusion this has caused.

In case you are not aware, the Batteries Directive is a new piece of legislation which will aim to make businesses that produce and sell batteries responsible for collecting and recycling spent batteries. However, the Batteries Directive is not expected to be transposed into UK law until September 2008. In the meantime, the Government is launching a consultation on implementing the legislation and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is carrying out work to determine the most cost effective way of collecting batteries to meet the targets under the forthcoming Directive. As a retailer of batteries, it is therefore likely that we will offer some form of batteries recycling in the future, either directly through our own operations or indirectly through an approved government scheme.

In the interim, the following websites provide more information on batteries recycling.

http://www.wrap.org.uk/local_authorities/batteries/index.html

http://www.recyclenow.com/what_more_can_i_do/can_it_be_recycled/batteries.html

We hope that this information will be of assistance.

Regards,

Katy Kelsey

Waitrose Customer Service.

From Sainsbury’s (customerservice@sainsburys.co.uk): -

Dear Heena

Thank you for your email about battery collection and recycling.

From November 2006, Freepost envelopes were available in Sainsbury’s stores nationwide to allow customers to send off mobile phones and inkjet printer cartridges and batteries, all of which were to be re-used or recycled.

Sainsbury’s Freepost recycling scheme for batteries was suspended on 19th Feb 2008 at the request of the Post Office.

A problem arose where large amounts of industrial batteries were being sent for recycling under the scheme, these are classed as hazardous waste and it is illegal for the Post Office to handle them.

Negotiations are under way to try to find a resolution which would allow us to resume the scheme. In the meantime battery recycling points are currently provided by local authorities. Please contact your local authority for more information.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us as our customers comments help us to improve our products and services.

We look forward to seeing you in store soon.

Kind regards

Denise McIntosh

Sainsbury’s Customer Services

Sainsbury’s suggested that I contact my local authority so I did. Here’s the reply I got: -

From: PublicRealm [mailto:publicrealm@harrow.gov.uk]

Good Morning Miss Modi,

We acknowledge receipt of your email dated 2nd October 2009, regarding disposal of batteries, these items can be recycled at our Civic Amenity Site, Forward Drive, Wealdstone,  Harrow, HA3 8NT.

Regards

Susan

Kind Regards

Access Harrow,

Harrow Clicks at www.harrow.gov.uk

Tel: 020 8424 1770

I then contacted Andrew Baker (andrew.baker@harrow.gov.uk) to ask if there was a way around what Sainsbury’s had said. Here’s his reply: -

If you are asking whether Harrow will help out Sainsburys and the post office, the answer is no. It is a problem for them to resolve with the relevant regulators.

We will continue to provide the facility at the civic amenity site for household batteries.

Regards

Andrew

What do you think of all this?

Is it OK?

Is it good enough?

Were supermarkets given enough time to prepare for this Directive? If so, is this lip service, are they stalling, do they simply not care?

I have just seen this post. It’s all about the strange experiments that take place and it makes me question what it’s really for? Now, I’m going to tell you my honest view and I’m aware I will sound hypocritical. I don’t agree with animals testing but I don’t like the idea of being a guinea pig myself. If there are humans who will be tested voluntarily; that’s cool. If not, what happens when a new drug comes out? Who will it be tested on OR will be bypass that and just try it out? OK, now I get that this is a very ‘sitting on the fence’ statement but I’m hoping that there has to be an another answer…

What do you think?

Anyway here’s the article that made me think about all this…

Please join In Defense of Animals during World Week for Animals in Laboratories (WWAIL) to speak out against the abhorrent use of animals in testing and research.

This year, there is more hope than ever, as technology moves us beyond antiquated animal experiments and government reports, agencies and scientists have begun to acknowledge the need to move away from animal research.

Recent published studies also document that an old boys network in the federal research funding system concentrates grant awards in the hands of a select number of older researchers (“aging cash cows” like Stephen Lisberger at the University of California San Francisco), perpetuating old-style, outdated research methods at the expense of modern and innovative studies.

With a new administration and a serious financial crisis at hand, it is more important than ever that we use this week to call attention to the outdated and unnecessary biomedical experiments that continue to claim the lives of millions of animals each year.

The new presidential administration has vowed to scrutinize the federal budget “line by line” to locate and eliminate wasteful spending. Now is the time to bring the massive waste of federal funds on cruel and unnecessary animal research to the new Administration’s attention. IDA has begun this effort with a letter to Senate leaders

Among them are studies that looked at:

1. Nipple preference in nursing infant monkeys.
2. Effect of high-fat diets on mice sleep. (Made mice fat and sleepy.)
3. Effect of stress and isolation on voles. (Prairie voles had less anxiety than meadow voles.)
4. Effect of mouse social separation on wound healing. (Affected monogamous mice, not polygamous mice.)
5. Effect of exercise on rat health. (Rats who exercised were healthier.)

Your participation is urgently needed to join forces with IDA to push forward and bring about an end to cruel and wasteful animal research. Please, make a commitment today to take one action for animals in laboratories during the week of WWAIL. Here are just a few ways to participate during WWAIL:

Organize an event in your area, such as a demonstration or educational table. Click here to read about the many different ways that you can get involved in 2009. Email us at wwail@idausa.org to let us know if you will be planning an event, or if you just need more information.

Send a letter to the editor or your local newspaper. Click here for sample letters and guidelines.

Write to President Obama and urge him to stand by his promise to end wasteful government programs. Contact the Office of Public Liaison (“the front door to the White House through which everyone can participate and inform the work of the President”).

This year more than ever, we are closer to exposing and ending cruel, unnecessary and outdated animal research.

So what will you do?