Various British Asians, in the media and elsewhere, will be honoured by the Queen according to the New Years Honour list, released last week. [full list below]

Most notably, Dr Anita Kumari Bhalla (pictured), currently editor of Public Space at the BBC, is being honoured with an OBE for services to broadcasting.

Ms Bhalla has had a long career at the BBC, including as head of Political and Community Affairs for the English Regions and and as community affairs correspondent for BBC News. She was also a presenter at Channel 4’s Eastern Eye and a member of the Independent Commission on Social Justice.
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Journalist and film-maker Jobeda Ali has made a film about our journey to try and find out more about the Hijab. The film was made for Current TV.

*Note, this is not an AIM magazine interview

British journalist Sathnam Sanghera may not be very welcome in Dubai, going by his recent column in the The Times newspaper. But then, he obviously doesn’t want to go either. In a column for the newspaper he explained his reasons for: ‘Why I’d rather die than visit Dubai’.

That editorial sparked off a furious response in the Dubai press, with one resident alerting AIM Magaine to a column in The National newspaper, taking Sanghera to task.

AIM magazine previously profiled Sathnam Sanghera and then interviewed him earlier this year during the publication of his book, If You Don’t Know Me By Now.

So what sparked it all off? Sathnam wrote about Dubai: “Essentially it is Las Vegas without the sex and gambling, which is Las Vegas without a point.”
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British ethnic channels suffered a severe setback to their reputations this year as several were reprimanded or fined big sums by industry regulator Ofcom for breaching it rules.

In September this year, Ofcom said three channels had breached its broadcasting code: Leicester based MATV, east London station Channel S and its sister channel Channel S ATN.

MATV breached guidelines by showing advertising during programming time. Ofcom noted that a scrolling caption appeared across the bottom of the screen throughout afternoon programmes. The caption promoted a premium rate telephone number that viewers could call for live tarot readings.
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Motivational speaker and writer Arvind Devalia has published a new book called Personal Social Responsibility.

He says he is on a mission to help business people and their companies find “just the right answers before it is too late”.

“As we increasingly question the way we live our lives, business people need to ask themselves powerful questions to convert our good intentions into positive actions. It is all about not just doing things right, but doing the right thing.
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An event in January will bring black and minority ethnic talent together with independent radio production companies, to help them progress with their careers.

The free event will provide the opportunity of one-to-one meetings with key representatives from independent radio production companies who make programmes for the broadcasters, particularly the BBC, and often produce programmes developed with individual writers and freelance producers.
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A Radio 4 programme will look at the history of Asian migration for the first time, exploring the issue of ‘double displacement’, as was the case with many Gujaratis who first moved to Africa and then the UK.
The programme makers say that:

Whilst researching the pre-immigrant history of Southall, Making History discovered that many younger Asian listeners didn’t really understand a key part of their family migration history. These are youngsters from East African Asian families whose parents and grandparents were either kicked out of Uganda by Idi Amin in 1972 or left places such as Tanzania because of land or financial reforms. The question is, however, when did these people move to East Africa and why?

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B4U Music has signed up pop singer Jay Sean for its annual Christmas charts. The Annual UK Top 20 of 2008 will broadcast on the channel on 25th December starting 9pm.

“Jay Sean was an obvious choice to present the annual countdown to the 20 biggest non Bollywood hits of the year gathering from his phenomenal success in the UK Asian Music scene,” said Kevin Rego, Head of Sales and Marketing at B4U.

by Shazanna Safdar-Karim

From the get go this film will grab you. Powerful opening scenes demand the audience’s attention within seconds. Boyle’s name may be familiar to you from works such as Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later and Sunshine. His latest creation, based upon the novel, Q&A by Vikas Swarup, will not disappoint.

Exposing the gritty underworld of India, the film explores the alleged fraud of Jamal, a young slumdog well on his way to winning 20 million rupees on Who Wants to be a Millionaire in India. En route to powering through the Indian game show, Jamal also captures the nation’s heart.
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iCrest, the digital agency behind the successful e-tickets website, Chillitickets, has launched another website to complement its speed dating events.

AsianD8Online is a spin-off from their AsianD8Events (formerly AsianSpeedD8) nights held across the country.
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Budding filmmaker Laila Khan is searching for child actors in her first venture. The Luton based director says she is writing, producing and directing a “very sensitive film” about a transgender man and is looking to cast youngsters in key roles.

“The film is about a transgender individual, a man who explains how he was feeling through a series of flashbacks. My intention is to encourage people to change their perspective. One should try to understand what makes people what they are before we judge them,” she says.

She is looking for a child actor between six to eight-years-old; seven to 11 years old to play the role of the school bully; two girls, six to eight-years-old; and a group of boys for a gang scene. Also required for parts is a mature male actor between 24-37 years and children between the ages of 7-12 as extras.
Further info: laila_187@hotmail.com or globalpictures_enquiries@hotmail.com

Birmingham City University’s Media Content Lab this week re-launched Media Talent Bank, a supportive new website to help businesses in the creative industries source talent and freelancers to find work.

The website allows businesses and creatives to upload a profile, CV and portfolio onto an online directory which can easily be browsed by potential employers or collaborators.
See: www.mediatalentbank.com

The former head of the BBC Asian Programmes Unit has returned to the BBC after a few years outside the corporation.

Tommy Nagra was previously executive producer of the APU, based in Birmingham, before he left to join the independent production company Maverick Television three years ago.
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Former BBC journalist Waseem Mahmood has been nominated for a ‘Person of the Year’ award for his anti-terrorism work in Pakistan.

He is in a cast of strong individuals from around the world who have been nominated for embodying the values of OneWorld: “human rights for all; a fair distribution of the world’s natural and economic resources; simple and sustainable ways of life; the right of every individual to inform and be informed; participation and transparency in decision making; and social, cultural, and linguistic diversity.
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Entrepreneur Nitin Dahad, founder of the technology consultancy TechSpark, has been appointed to the board of East of England Development Agency, the organisation announced this week.

Mr Dahad has been involved in the high-tech sector for 24 years, and his consultancy works with technology start-ups and high-growth companies. He will represent the business sector, said Pat McFadden, Minister of State for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs.

American media is in a tizzy over British actress Parminder Nagra confirming that she is pregnant. The long-running star of hospital drama ER confirmed with US Weekly magazine that she is expecting with her long-term boy friend James Stenson.
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Sunday Times media correspondent Dipesh Gadher has been appointed deputy news editor at the weekly paper, it was reported this week.

The 33 year-old journalist, who started his journalist career at Asian paper Eastern Eye, has been with the paper for 10 years.
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The Asian Woman magazine awards took place last week at the Whitehall Palace Banqueting House in central London.

Actress Manjinder Virk with writer Neil Biswas

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Former model and journalist Anjana Gosai has published a new beauty book aimed at South Asian women.

Currently beauty editor at Asian magazine, Ms Gosai’s book - ‘The Ultimate Guide To Beauty’ - is billed as “a one-of-a-kind dressing table guide containing everything a girl needs to look and feel her best”.
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A Bollywood film starring Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan is in contention for a Bafta award.

The period epic Jodhaa Akbar is competing in the Best Foreign Film Category.

It is directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, whose previous film Lagaan was nominated for an Oscar in 2001 as Best Foreign Language Film.
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by Amardeep Sohi
Freelance Arts Journalist

Two Pakistani girls living in a women’s refuge in a Northern town, shackled by the past and fighting for their freedom is the setting for the latest production by Tamasha, the theatre company who first introduced us to the much celebrated East is East.

Sweet Cider follows Nosheen and Tazeem’s journey as they struggle to make sense of their fractured and troubled lives, anchored only by their friendship.

Directed by Kristine Landon-Smith at the acclaimed Arcola theatre, the play lives up to Tamasha’s reputation for exhibiting fresh new talent with an up and coming playwright and cast.
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Digital station BBC Asian Network announced yesterday that its drivetime presenter Adil Ray was taking over the reins of the Breakfast show (weekdays 6-9am) from the New Year.

Current occupier Jas Rao will swap roles with him and present the Drivetime show in a new weekday timeslot of 3pm - 6pm.

Nasreen Akhtar, a 34 year writer was recently longlisted for an award for her self-published book, Catch a Fish from the Sea (Using the Internet). It is a memoir about trying to find a partner on the web and traces the remarkable journey of a hopeful soul seeking something that every human being craves: to love and be loved.

How did the idea for the book come about?

My post graduate study was called ‘Eenie, meenie, minie, mo…Catch a Fish from the Sea (Using the Internet)’. Then one day purely by chance, I looked at it from a non-academic angle and saw that is was amusing at the same time and thought that if it was a book, it would be quite entertaining.

During the years that followed, many people told me that I should write a book but I did not take this idea seriously. Then someone very important came into my life and told me that he wanted me to do something with my writing as he believed that I could create something fantastic.

By that time, even though I had set up my publishing company, I abandoned the idea due to severe writer’s block. But when he shared his thoughts with me, how could I not honour his request? And so Catch a Fish from the Sea (Using the Internet) as the world knows it now, came to be in its full glory.
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The radio industry teamed up with media and education unions, students and lecturers at 50 universities and colleges round the country in a campaign to interest more ethnic minority students in radio.

The ‘Represent!’ campaign, launched during university Freshers Week, was in response to under-representation of ethnic minorities in student radio - a key entry point into the industry.
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