Independent News & Media, owners of the broadsheet paper The Independent, today announced that it was reducing its media investments in India.

The company was one of the first major media groups in the UK to consider investing in Indian newspapers a few years ago. It was quickly followed by Associated Newspapers and Reuters.
Continue reading…

Singer and actress Karen David released her debut single Magic Carpet Ride this week with an accompanying video.
Continue reading…

Did you know that there was a time when Jewish women were among the leading ladies of Bollywood? No, neither did we.

But there was an era when Baghdadi Jewish families who had emigrated to India starred in Bollywood.
Continue reading…

Frustrated by constantly being mistaken for people of other cultures, J. Singh-Sohal decided to take things into his own hands. He decided to make a documentary.

The subject: the Sikh turban, an integral part of his own identity and yet a constant subject of bafflement for others.

The former ITV journalist is making an hour long documentary that will get its initial broadcast next week. It will explore how British attitudes since the terrorist attacks of 7/7 have impacted people who tie turbans.
Continue reading…

by Amardeep Sohi
Freelance Arts Journalist

Inspired by the true story of a worker who was fired for masturbating whilst on duty, writer Mina Maisuria’s comic take on life at a petrol station played to audiences in East London recently.

Girish, or ‘Gary’ as he prefers to be known, is the politically incorrect cockney manager who is at times outright racist.

He supervises Krishnan, the overworked immigrant who succumbs to his sexual needs on duty and Feroza, the gobby northern girl who stands up to her indignant boss.
Continue reading…

The street magazine Big Issue, famously sold by homeless people to help them earn an income, is to launch in Lahore, Pakistan.

Its founder John Bird said: “Nowhere in the world needs The Big Issue like Pakistan right now.”

The Big Issue is already sold in nine countries including England, Scotland, Australia, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, Japan, Namibia, Kenya and Malawi. It was was founded in 1991 by John Bird and Gordon Roddick, husband of the late Anita Roddick, the late founder of The Body Shop.

It has grown to become one of the UK’s leading social businesses.

AIM Magazine has teamed up with Media Moguls to offer readers two tickets to see a special charity match on 6th July at Lords cricket grounds.

To win answer the question below.
Continue reading…

A group of young men who decided in the early 1980’s to try and make an impact. And that too for one night only.
You can follow the lives of: The Sultans of Soul here, exclusively on AIM.

by Ravi Mangat
Writer

[Earlier chapters: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9]

Ramesh was once again standing outside Jas’s flat. Once again he was nervous. This time it wasn’t so much how Jas was going to react at seeing him on her doorstep that was worrying him, but more what her ex-boyfriend, Sanjay was going to do if he found him there. He didn’t have to wait long for the answer. Sanjay appeared, carrying a bunch of red roses that had been carefully wrapped and had a bright yellow bow around the packing.

Sanjay glared at Ramesh. It was the glare of a man who was both confused and angry at the same time. “What are you doing here?” he bellowed. “Didn’t you get my message?”
Continue reading…

A BBc team scooped the Radio Documentary prize this week at the prestigious One World Awards. Crossing Continents: Dharavi, by Mukul Devichand, John Murphy and Maria Balinska for Radio 4 was a special report about the audacious plan to demolish Asia’s largest slum, Dharavi in Mumbai.

Devichand first visited Dharavi in 2007, and returned a number of times before sleeping over in the slum with his producer John Murphy in March 2008. It was recorded well before Slumdog Millionarre brought the poverty of Mumbai’s slums to the big screen.

The reporter told AIM Magazine: “Like anyone who peered out of the car window at heartbreaking slums on childhood visits to South Asia, one part of me is hugely glad that India is now able to think about clearing the slums.”

“But that means it’s time for an urgent debate about what cities like Mumbai will look like in the future — and whether they’ll push the poor out into distant cramped tower blocks, storing up problems for the future. John and I were grateful to make a contribution to that discussion, and it’s wonderful to be recognised for it.”

Is media freedom being strangled across Commonwealth countries? That is the subject is a debate next week at Portcullis House in Westminster.

The event, organised by the Commonwealth Journalists Association (UK), why journalists are not better protected and media laws being ignored in many countries around the world.
Continue reading…

Amit Rajp is a first-time author. He has a background in academic research and teaching in Birmingham. This is an excerpt from his book: ‘My Name Is Baljit But You Can Call Me Gary: The Alternative Guide To Indian Culture’

What is the fixation that mums, aunties, nans (nannijis), and grans (bibijis) have with plastic containers? It’s like Asian women have an addiction to plastic Tupperware!

The person that sets up the first ‘Tupperware Addiction Clinic’ for Asian women is going to make a lot of money – probably some Asian guy who will acquire a forged certificate from India.
Continue reading…

Internet entrepreneur Lopa Patel, who founded the website Redhotcurry.com, is being awarded an MBE by the Queen, according to the Birthday Honours List 2009. The MBE will be for her services to the creative industries.

She said: “For me it marks that start of a new chapter in giving back to business and the community. Expectations among my family and friends are high – I know that they are looking to see what I can do next in raising the profile of the Asian community in Britain, getting more women-owned businesses off the ground and in helping young Asians feel proud to be British.”

Over the next few weeks & months you can read about a group of young men who decided in the early 1980’s to try and make an impact, and for one night only. You can follow the lives of: The Sultans of Soul.

by Ravi Mangat
Writer

[Earlier chapters: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8]

6a.m. The alarm clock had failed to wake Raj, so Malkit was now calling out to him. Raj opened his eyes and smiled. The night before had been a great revelation and somewhere deep inside of him he felt as if he might finally have some purpose in his life. As he showered and changed, he sang a few of the soul songs that the guys and Bernie had been playing until 2a.m. When he came downstairs he saw Malkit with a big smile on his face. It seemed as if they both had something they were happy about.

“So, how did it go?” asked Malkit expectantly.

“Great, really great”.

“Really?” Malkit was surprised. He had expected a completely different reaction, especially as he had asked Bernie to ruin the equipment. “And the equipment, did it work okay?”
Continue reading…

The prestigious One World Media Awards – regarded as the ‘Oscars’ of factual broadcasting and journalism – will celebrate its 21st anniversary at this year’s ceremony on Monday 22nd June 2009.

Among nominees for the prestigious Broadcast Journalist of the Year award are Nadene Ghouri, which AIM previously profiled here, and the BBC’s Mukul Devichand.

The 12 award categories recognise excellence in coverage of the developing world.
Continue reading…

So the BNP has won a couple of seats and the radio phone-ins are in melt down. I have listened to at least two phone-ins on the BBC, and it was interesting to hear the reactions.

Some seemed surprised at the win and some were angry. Most of the callers were slightly embarrassed and some were offering reasons. And there were those who have voted BNP and were eager to tell us why.
Continue reading…

As part of the GG2 Leadership & Diversity Awards Dinner 2009, the Asian Media and Marketing Group (AMG) are launching a hunt to find the country’s best young journalist from an ethnic minority background. The only criteria other than ability and talent is that they must be under the age of 30.

So if you know of a young talented journalist who deserves to be recognized, please nominate and help inspire the next generation of young journalists. The winner will receive a bursary cheque of £500 from the Daily Mail and will have the chance, if appropriate, of a week’s work experience on the newspaper. Closing date is Friday July 24th 2009.
Email: Minaxi Mistry / More info: GG2 Awards

by Imran Ahmad
Author

I have always felt that Britain has remained remarkably tolerant despite the shock of the July 7th terrorist attacks in London, and the continuing provocation from some elements. But I wasn’t sure the same was the case for the United States.

For example there was a dreadful incident on this year’s New Year’s Day when nine Muslims – including three young children, and all US citizens – were removed from a domestic flight because two of them were overheard discussing where was the safest place to sit on an airplane.

A few weeks later, I was reclining on my sofa, watching President Obama’s inauguration speech in January – in which he mentioned a new era of ‘mutual respect’ between America and the Muslim world. I thought: ‘I can do that!’
Continue reading…

Eastenders is planning to spice up the plotline revolving its only Asian / Muslim family with a gay twist.

The BBC soap’s producers said today that the storyline would be a, “traditional love affair, albeit with a modern multicultural twist”.
Continue reading…

The annual Muslim Writers Award takes place this week in London. Nominations for its presitigious journalism prize include writers Ziauddin Sardar, Faisal al Yafai and Kia Abdullah.

Organisers have announced a partnership with publishers group Penguin Group.
Continue reading…

Over the next few weeks & months you can read about a group of young men who decided in the early 1980’s to try and make an impact, and for one night only. You can follow the lives of: The Sultans of Soul.

by Ravi Mangat
Writer

[Earlier chapters: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7]

When Detective Harris saw the Ford Cortina turn around and head back towards the garage, he decided he wasn’t going to follow any longer. After all, there was a particularly good documentary about the life of a cockroach that he wanted to watch and he had already missed it once.

Ramesh was apologising as the guys pulled up outside the garage. He was sure he must have dropped his keys and as his roommate Jagpal was probably out at the disco, then there was nothing to do but go back and re-trace his steps. As the guys stepped out of the car, Jas instantly told them to keep quiet. “Listen”, he said placing a finger to his lips. For a few seconds there was nothing, but then they all heard it at once. There was the sound of music coming from the garage. “I switched everything off. I’m sure of it”.

They walked slowly down the alley running by the side of the garage. They could see that the door had been forced open. “Maybe we should call the police”, whispered Ramesh.
Continue reading…

The Guardian Newspaper has ended the fortnightly column of its sole regular Muslim columnist. Noorjehan Barmania (pictured) started writing for the paper in August 2007 for a special series called ‘This Muslim Life‘, for its G2 supplement.

It was positioned as a light hearted take on a woman “searching for her place in British society”.
Continue reading…

Susheel Kumar is part of an award-winning comedy series that could become the next Goodness Gracious Me. He is also acting in a new theatre production with a decidedly twisted storyline. He talks to AIM magazine about his journey through the industry.

You were recently in the BBC Radio show Fags, Mags and Bags – tell us a bit more

It’s a comedy that was written for Radio 4 and is set in a town just outside Glasgow in a cornershop. It focuses around Ramesh played by Sanjeev Kholi his sidekick Dave and his two sons Alok and Sanjay (Sanjay being the stroppy teenager and Alok, as Ramesh describes him ‘the self appointed Richard Branstons’). It’s not your typical Asian comedy, the humor really transfers well across the board. The show scooped the prize for Best Radio Comedy at the 2008 Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Awards which was a great achievement.

It features some familiar faces and voices in Scottish comedy as well as a guest spot from Nina Wadia. We’ve got a 3rd series on the way later in the year, so expect more mayhem!
Continue reading…

A BBC scheme to develop a diverse talent pool of journalists ends next week.

The BBC Journalism Talent Pool is designed to speed the recruitment of journalists by finding and assessing talented people from a range of backgrounds in advance of vacancies.
Continue reading…

The critically acclaimed band Asian Dub Foundation have announced their first UK tour in year – with a particular focus on attacking the BNP. (dates & video below)
Continue reading…

The BBC has been criticised for ignoring British Sikhs by an organisation monitoring its output.

The Network of Sikh Organisations says the corporation needed to take “urgent steps” to rectify the problem and ensure it covered all religious communities in Britain fairly.

The group cited two recent instances when Sikhs were excluded from BBC programmes.
Continue reading…