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

As you can from my post on 15th March, I have been thinking about electricity and the tariff I’m on a lot. So I wrote this letter to Green Homes Concierge in order to check that what I was doing was ‘right’. Here’s what I asked: -

Hi ya

I am writing to ask you about using electricity.

I have economy 7 at the flat I live in.

Thus to charge mobiles, do a load of washing etc. I plug a timer into the relevant socket and set it to be on during economy 7 hours.

In my mind, this means that the timer is on during non eco 7 hours for the timer to operate but the item plugged into the charger does not work until it is set to i.e. during eco 7 hours.

Am I right in thinking that the cost of the timer being on is minimal compared to doing a load of washing or charging a phone, for example?

Thanks

Heena

Hi Heena,

Thanks for your query.

Exactly – you are correct to assume that the timer only uses a minimal amount of electricity, and is therefore a cost-effective way of charging your equipment and doing the washing. Such activities use a comparatively high amount of energy, whereas the timer will use a much smaller amount during the daytime tariff.

An inventive way to make the most of the economy 7 tariff without having to be awake in the middle of the night!

Hope this makes sense and answers your question.

Thanks and regards,

Natalie

Recently, my desktop had a virus so I purchased an external hard drive to back up all my files so that Suraj could then delete everything and reinstall Windows etc.

Suraj asked me if it was worth going ahead with this or whether I should buy a laptop. We talked it through and could not find a reason to buy a laptop. I don’t and won’t take it anywhere. Thus it’s only for home. The desktop I have is great so why change it? Also, the laptops that I’ve come across, through work and those that my friends own, have been awful! They needed to be charged constantly because the battery had diminished so much. The keyboard was fiddly. The mouse was very sensitive and you’d end up doing something without realising etc. Thus it was not an option for me!

Anyway a short while after I was discussing a similar topic with a friend. She said that a desktop is less green and more costly for me to run because the electricity tariff I have runs on economy 7. With a laptop which is on charge, you are only charging one thing. With a desktop; the tower, monitor, speakers etc. are all being charged. Thus which is really better?

So I asked Green Homes Concierge and their reply is below: -

Heena,

I have been looking into your query about Desktop vs. Laptop and have come up with the following.  There is no definitive answer, as it all depends on how you use your computer and what works best for you.  I include, however, some key points to consider:

- What will you be using the computer for? Obviously if you will need to travel then it’s best to get a laptop which can then also be used in the home. If you can work on either, then in terms of energy efficiency a laptop is better.

- Charging a laptop can be done overnight on your economy 7 tariff with the timer, whereas a desktop has to be constantly connected to the mains whilst you’re using it.

- Laptops that run on Centrino or Atom processors, are especially highly efficient in terms of energy usage. The newer, smaller “netbook” style laptops are specifically designed to be extremely energy efficient as they are made for portability and use ‘on the move’.

- The problem with a laptop, though, is that you can’t really build upon it. A desktop can last for years, and you can continually build upon it, adding a new graphics card, hard drive etc. when necessary. In this way you can continue to keep it up to date, whereas a laptop is wholly more disposable and you are more likely to invest in a new one because they are not generally made for being upgraded.

- Old laptops, however, can be recycled responsibly – you can donate them to a charity shop, or even to a scheme that sends them to schools in developing countries such as Computer Aid.

- Which? Also provide an online, unbiased overview on how to recycle your old computer.

I hope this answers your question.  Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any further questions on this or any other aspect of energy efficiency.

Regards,

Natalie

The text below shows what I wrote to Ocado after receiving my first delivery. They were sooooo cool!  

Hi ya,

I just wanted to tell you about my first experience with Ocado. 

Points for you to note: - 

The sms reminding me about the delivery & when i could make changes to my account was excellent

The sms on the day of delivery was fab 

The delivery man was lovely, polite, forthcoming with information and showed that he had read the message that i posted with my order asking if the items could be put on my kitchen table etc.  

The colour coding of the bags was an excellent way to organise the food, as well as, helping the customer when he/she unpacks the delivery

Excellent service 

The only thing i’d say is that i found ordering quite difficult. I’m not sure if it’s because i’m used to the Asda website or if it’s because their website is organised better, but i found it easier to order with the structure they have. 

 

Anyway thanks 

I WILL use Ocado again! 

Heena Modi

I wrote to Cadbury’s asking if they could tell me which of their products are vegan. I also queried whether Bournville was still vegan becuase I thought one of the main things about dark chocolate was that it did not contain milk. Anyway here’s what they wrote!

Thank you for e-mail concerning the suitability of our products for a vegan diet.

All of our products contain milk in their ingredients, with the exception of Fry’s Chocolate Cream, Peppermint Cream and Orange Cream. However, these products are manufactured on the same production line as products which contain milk in their recipe and therefore there is a possibility of cross contamination. For those consumers with a milk allergy we are taking the precaution of including on future labelling of our Fry’s range, a warning indicating this risk.

Bournville, the original plain chocolate, is changing its site of manufacture to the Cadbury factory in France where vegetable fat is not currently used. The new recipe Bournville will therefore contain butterfat, which will make it unsuitable for a vegan/dairy free diet.

We do appreciate how disappointing this must be for you but please be assured we will be monitoring the situation closely.

Thank you for contacting us.

Regards
Charlie

Consumer.Relations1@csplc.com

 

I sent the email shown below to Green and Black’s after being told by a colleague that they are no longer vegan. I told her I had heard that recently but was told that it was a statement written on the package to cover their backs. She said it was no longer a statement, but that it is listed in the ingredients. I checked the bars I purchased recently, when I got home and found that it lists organic milk powder in the ingredients! That’s not the same as listing it as ‘it may contain traces of…’

So I sent them this email: -

I am writing to you because I am vegan. Up until recently I purchased some of your products with confidence! However, it has been brought to my attention that your products now contain milk when they didn’t before!

Can you please clarify whether this is to ‘cover your backs in case a trace of milk is in your products or if it because you have inserted it as a new ingredient?

Also can you send me a list of any vegan products that I can purchase from now on?

Thanks Heena

Their reply: -

Dear Heena,

Thank you for your recent email to Green & Black’s. I was sorry to read of your concern having noted the changes to the dairy allergen labelling of our dark chocolate products. I will do my best to explain these changes in a clear and comprehensive manner.

As you are aware, Green & Black’s announced changes to the dairy allergy statements on the wrappers of our dark chocolate bars in May. There has been no change to the recipe of these bars; the change is simply in the way in which the risks of dairy cross contamination are being communicated on bar wrappers. I will outline the background behind this decision below:

There are no milk ingredients in the recipe of our Dark chocolate bars and this continues to be the case. However, the bars are produced on the same production line as Milk chocolate bars within our range. The bars have previously, therefore, carried the following statement to reflect this: ‘Manufactured in a factory that handles dairy ingredients.’

A recent audit revealed that traces of milk residues can still be found on manufacturing equipment despite intensive cleaning. Therefore, in order to ensure that consumers are at minimum risk, our allergen statements will be changed and we will clearly state on pack that milk residues may be present in dark chocolate bars across the range. This will be indicated by the inclusion of ‘Organic Whole Milk Powder’ within the ingredients list itself and a ‘Contains Milk Ingredient’ statement on pack. The Vegan labelling was also consequently removed from pack. The new packaging has already been printed and is filtering through to supermarkets over the next few months, as you have noted. To re-iterate, this labelling change will affect all dark chocolate products within our range.

Therefore, there is actually no change to the risk to allergy-sufferers as the recipes and ingredients that go into the making of the bars have not changed. What we are now clearly stating on pack is that we cannot guarantee the absence of milk. It is almost certainly going to be present – albeit at a low level. This packaging change ensures that consumers, especially milk allergy sufferers, are aware of the possibility and this represents a positive step in consumer communication.

We are eager to inform consumers of this change to prevent any possible concern that may arise. Therefore, this information is displayed clearly on our website at www.greenandblacks.com and we have been working with organisations such as Allergy UK, the Anaphylaxis Campaign and the Vegan Society to ensure that this may be clearly communicated to allergy sufferers and vegans alike.

We recognise that separate dedicated lines for our dark and milk chocolate bars would be the only way to eliminate the risks of dairy cross contamination in the dark chocolate. At present, the restrictions for organic segregation and the design of plant we need for our type of chocolate restricts the availability of equipment. We are very certain however that we must work towards alternative equipment and we are planning to provide a dedicated production line by the end of 2009. Our hope is that we can make product available early in 2010.

I hope that this information, along with the attached FAQ’s and image of the new labelling, is of some help to you to further clarify our position. However, if you have any further queries or comments at all, please do not hesitate to contact me again- indeed, we would welcome any feedback you may have. I have also duly noted your contact details and please be assured that I will contact you again should there be any changes to our dairy allergen labelling in future.

Kind Regards

Cindy Woods
Customer Care Administrator
Green & Black’s

Milk Allergy FAQs

I’ve been going to Mount Vernon hospital recently. The first time I went there I was quite overwhelmed with the size of it. However, this was followed by a feeling of hope and joy! Why? The staff that could’ve just kept going and minded their own business, could tell I was lost. They actually stopped, asked me if I was OK and then helped me get to where I needed to be!

Something to be worked on – as you enter the hospital there are ramps which are not marked clearly and I have to make sure I take £2.60 each time because the machine doesn’t offer change and there’s no ‘change machine’.

So rather than rejoice about the staff and curse about the parking & ramps, I googled ‘email Mount Vernon hospital’ and a NHS website came up. It was so easy to leave a message. Hopefully someone with a budget with read it and act on it! I’ve done my bit anyway

My comment