The Independent newspaper reports today that Kumars at No.42 may finally be coming to an end. Or moving to another channel, it’s not clear exactly.

Meera Syal told the newspaper: “We won’t do another series in its present form for the BBC because we have now done seven, amazingly. We have had interest from other quarters about doing something different – but keeping the family together. So we’re exploring that.”

So maybe an off-shoot of the current format. After seven series though, isn’t it time to lay it to rest? The Kumars first went out on BBC Two in 2001. The format was also sold to Australia, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands and the USA.

Saving a Stranger is a powerful, heart-wrenching documentary that highlights the suffering of the thousands of people waiting for bone marrow transplants in the UK.

This Community Channel exclusive, which broadcasts Thursday, October 19th at 9pm (repeated Sunday, October 22nd at 10pm), aims to inspire people from asian, black and ethnic minority groups to join the bone marrow register in order to find a match that can help save lives.

The film introduces us to the plight of 12-year-old Yvette Gate from Bristol, whose only chance of survival is a bone marrow transplant. Yvette suffers from aplastic anaemia. Her bone marrow has stopped functioning, which means she cannot produce her own blood, and has to rely on transfusions to say alive. Yvette originates from the Gambia and is more likely to find a match from someone of the same ethnic origin. But there is a desperate shortage of all bone marrow donors and a particular shortage of donors from black and ethnic minority groups.

Yvette’s parents, Mary and David Gate, are becoming increasingly desperate to find a bone marrow match for Yvette. They are pinning all their hopes on a bone marrow registration clinic that has taken months of organisation. The film also concentrates on the inspiring Asma Meer, who lost her three-year old son Ibrahim because they couldn’t find a match for a bone marrow transplant.

Media contact: Rakhee Gokani 07830 275 275 / Rakhee@fnik.com

The newspapers Asian Voice held its annual Asian Achievers Award last week at the Tower Hotel in London. Parent company ABPL group also publishes the weekly Gujarat Samachar newspaper.

Writer and commentator Alpesh Patel is pictured making a speech. Chairman of Sunrise Radio Avtar Lit was awarded for his achievements in media, arts and culture.

A Divine Destruction is an attempt by journalist Aamir Ghauri and photographer Sohail Anjum to record moments around the earthquake that rocked much of Kashmir on 8th October 2005 and killed nearly 80,000 people. It is also an attempt to highlight the plight of the people of Kashmir and northern Pakistan who were told by their rulers that their destruction was an act of God.

Ghauri and Anjum tell the unfinished story of the Kashmir earthquake, from the time the news broke to the snows of winter. They show the reality of life for survivors as they searched for their families, for the thousands of children undergoing surgery, for those who mourned loved ones and tried to get back to some sort of normality.

It is published by Xenos UK Ltd, price £25. amir Ghauri is the European Head of News & Current Affairs for Pakistan’s Geo TV. Sohail Anjum is a London-based freelance photographer.
Media contact Fussi Merza on 020 3253 0059 / fussi.merza@xenosuk.com

In a sleepy corner of East Sussex, a battle is underway for the soul of yoga. 82-year-old Hindu swami, Indrananda Ji, believes that yoga – a practice rooted in the Hindu scriptures – has been separated from its ancient spiritual roots and hijacked by pop stars and health clubs.

To make a stand he opens up his world to five supermarket workers from Bolton. But with chanting at dawn, a strict diet, some strenuous postures, and a search to find the self, the life of a yogi was never meant to be easy. Swami Ji is determined, but how many of them will last the course?

All have their own reasons for signing up to the retreat, and all agree to follow Swami Ji’s way of life. But all react differently to the yogic way of life.

Checkout Yoga is on tomorrow Wednesday 18th October, 2006 at 11:20pm, BBC One.