Blog Style - Asian Sunday & Style

Recall To Prison – Anthony Cameron

News

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February 2, 2015

Police in Bradford are appealing for information as to the whereabouts of Anthony Cameron, who is wanted on recall to prison.

Cameron, aged 32, was released on licence in September last year having been sentenced for burglary.

He is originally from the Holme Wood area of Bradford and has links to the Low Moor and Allerton areas of the city, as well as Oakenshaw and Birkenshaw.

Detective Inspector Paula Bickerdike, of Bradford District CID, said:

“Cameron was previously sentenced for burglary and has breached the conditions of his prison licence.

“If he is not prepared to adhere to these strict guidelines then he must be brought to justice and recalled to prison.

“We have undertaken numerous enquiries to locate this man and officers are fully briefed as to his description.

“Members of the public, however; can assist in our efforts to return him to jail and I would call on anyone who has seen him or has information, to contact us immediately by calling 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

Future plans for Bradford

News

Aalia Khan

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February 2, 2015

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A five point plan to achieve a decade of regeneration and economic growth in Bradford city centre will go before a meeting of the Council’s Executive on Tuesday February 10.

The Bradford City Plan sets out the outcomes the Council will pursue with its partners to create a vibrant, distinctive and attractive place where people are proud to live, set up business, study or visit.

The Plan has been drafted after consultation with stakeholders including Bradford University, Bradford College, West Yorkshire METRO, Bradford Property Forum, Bradford Chamber of Commerce, Bradford Breakthrough and Bradford Matters.

The five points are for Bradford city centre to become

* a place of dynamic business and entrepreneurship
* a centre of excellence for learning
* an exemplar of 21st century urban living
* a major transport hub
* a distinctive and attractive destination and experience

The City Plan will concentration on five key locations – Top of Town; Forster Square; Thornton Road; City Park Business/Culture Cluster and City Park Retail/Leisure Connection.

City Plan comprises a detailed technical report which sets out the issues and challenges facing the city centre and a rationale and action plan to address those challenges.

It also includes a prospectus which identifies the priority actions that the Council and its partners will be focussing on delivering and is aimed at potential investors, developers and partners.

City Plan is ambitious in its scope and includes a wide range of interventions and projects that will require significant co-ordination over the next ten years. The Plan not only includes physical projects but also actions around education, skills, improving links with the manufacturing and business sectors and effective management of the city centre.

It highlights the need to find new uses for vacant buildings, including bringing back into use older buildings as well as the revitalisation of the high street and the construction of new homes.

Bradford Council leader Coun David Green said: “We need a City Plan as whilst the Council will continue to have an important leadership and regulatory role in many of the projects, it is likely that an increasing number will be delivered through partners and the private sector as public sector funding reduces. It is a ten year plan and it will be adapted as progress is made.”

Colin Philpott, Chief Executive of Bradford Breakthrough, said: “The City Plan is a bold plan for the medium to long term further regeneration of the centre of Bradford as a place for people to do business, to learn, to visit and to live. It offers an ambitious but realistic vision for taking the city centre forward and includes some exciting ideas. The challenge now is for all of us to work with the Council to make it happen.”

Dr Mohammed Iqbal, Founder and Vice Chair of Bradford Matters, said:”The development of the City Centre has been one of the top priorities for Bradford Matters and so we welcome the City Plan as a professional and visionary document that will lead to tangible and visible results. It is crucial that Bradford Council has on-going engagement with all the Key Stakeholders throughout the lifetime of the plan and progress is monitored regularly. In this regard Bradford Matters and Bradford Breakthrough have agreed to work in partnership to provide full support in the implementation of the City Plan and we look forward to some great developments over the next few years”

It is recommended that the Council’s executive approve the City Plan and that it be taken forward for endorsement by the Producer City Place Board and Producer City Board.

POLICE WARN PEOPLE TO BE AWARE OF BANKING SCAM

News

Aalia Khan

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February 2, 2015

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POLICE WARN PEOPLE TO BE AWARE OF BANKING SCAM

Police are warning people in Bradford to protect their personal banking details after two people were victims of a bank card scam.

The victims were contacted on their landlines or mobile phones by fraudsters pretending to be from the police.

On 23 January, a 33-year-old man from Bradford received a call from a man claiming to be a police officer. He asked the victim for his account details and Personal Identification Number (PIN) and was later contacted by his bank to say that £1,200 had been withdrawn from his account.

On 25 January, a 41-year-old man from Bradford was contacted by a man claiming to be a police officer. The man told him his account had been defrauded and asked for his bank details. A man later attended the man’s home address to collect the card and £300 was subsequently taken from the victim’s bank account.

Four victims in Huddersfield have also reported similar incidents, which are currently being investigated by Kirklees CID.

PC Toni Hinnells, from Bradford CID, said “The police would never ask someone for their banking details or call someone to speak about suspected fraudulent activity on their bank account.

“If you receive one of these calls and you’re still not sure whether it’s genuine, put the phone down and contact your bank separately. They should be able to confirm if they are aware of any suspected fraud with your account.

“I would advise people not to disclose their personal details online and to make sure that any personal banking documentation is shredded before being thrown away.

“I would also advise them to report any of these calls, or similar, to Action Fraud on 0300 1232040.

“If you’re still not sure, you can contact the police for advice on 01274 376562 between 8am and 3pm Monday to Friday, or call 101 at any time and we will get back to you.”

Bradford Parents to discuss School Place Concerns with David Ward MP

News

Aalia Khan

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January 30, 2015

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Bradford Parents to discuss School Place Concerns with David Ward MP

Bradford MP, David Ward, will be asking parents and guardians across primary and secondary schools in his Bradford East constituency about concerns they may have on schools places and the quality of education across Bradford.

From Monday 2nd February, David Ward and his Team will be talking to parents at school gates across his Bradford East constituency to get a better idea of concerns that they may have regarding pressures on school places in the City and the quality of education in our primary and secondary schools.

Recent reports from Bradford Council have suggested that there will be more than 500 children across Bradford that will not have a secondary school place when they start in year seven in 2019. This is despite the Government providing £69m from 2011-2015 to Bradford for more school places, compared to only £27m provided by the previous Labour Government.

The projected shortfall in 2019 appears to not include extra school places that will need to be provided caused by the extra housing that will be built on Greenfield sites.

The results from David’s current investigation into school places and education in Bradford will be presented to the Schools Minister, Rt Hon David Laws MP, at a meeting in March, where David will be urging the Government to provide further funding and support to Bradford’s schools.

Commenting David Ward MP said “The whole purpose of my current campaign is to talk to parents to get their views of what we need to do to better support Bradford’s Schools and feed this back to colleagues in the Government.

“Whilst Bradford has received a welcome slice of money from the Coalition Government to increase school places and to help underprivileged students through the pupil premium, this is simply not enough and Bradford Schools need and deserve more funding and further support going forward.

“When compared nationally, we all know that Bradford languishes near the bottom of the national schools league tables and much more needs to be done by the Council to raise educational attainment but it is the Government’s responsibility to ensure that funding is made available to provide places for all our children.

“I will be pressing the Minister on this point but also raising the issue of support for those schools that experience high levels of in-year admissions”

Amitabh Bachchan on Desi Rascals

Showbiz

Aalia Khan

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January 30, 2015

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Legendary Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan will be making a surprise appearance on new reality show Desi Rascals tonight.

The actor who was in London to promote his upcoming film Shamitabh releasing 6th Feb, bumped into Arshina Trivedi a participant of the show, whilst filming was taking place in a restaurant. Trviedi who was star struck plucked up the courage to ask Bollywood’s finest for a selfie.

The surprise cameo will certainly bring excitement amongst fans.

Amitabh tweeted ” Tonight I make a special guest appearance on @Desi Rascals, 8pm on @SkyLivingHD #DesiRascals” …quite a unique concept .. !!

The programme will be on Sky Living tonight at 8pm.

The British Bangladeshi Power & Inspiration 2015

News

Aalia Khan

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January 30, 2015

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The British Bangladeshi Power & Inspiration 2015 celebrated the success of 100 British Bangladeshi’s on the 27th January at an exclusive launch event in Canary Wharf, London. The list highlights talent across 20 categories and showcases the contributions and achievements of 100 British Bangladeshis to every walk of British life.

The 2015 list and the BBPI Person of the Year were announced by the Chief Guest, the Rt. Hon. William Hague MP, the former British Foreign Secretary. Other guests at the exclusive event included the Rt. Hon. Dame Tessa Jowell, Ann Main MP, Alan Johnson MP and senior representatives of other political parties and invitees from the 2015 list.

The first ever BBPI ‘Person of the Year’ was awarded to Her Honour Judge Khatun Sapnara for her outstanding achievement as the first person of British Bangladeshi origin in a senior judicial position.

The Chief Guest, the Rt. Hon. William Hague MP, said of the launch “I am delighted to be here recognising and celebrating the contribution of the British Bangladeshi community to every walk of British life including business, technology and public life. British Bangladeshis are very much part of the tapestry that makes up the British success story”.

Rt. Hon. Dame Tessa Jowell said of BBPI “I am incredibly proud to be a friend and staunch supporter of BBPI and all that it has achieved. All credit to Abdal and Ayesha for taking on this important project which highlights role models and inspirations in the British Bangladeshi community at a time when we need to do more to celebrate and recognise that our diversity in London and the UK is what makes us strong as a nation.”

Ayesha Qureshi and Abdal Ullah, Founders of The British Bangladeshi Power & Inspiration said of the launch “We are delighted that BBPI has gone from strength to strength. We are especially proud that this year the new title of BBPI Person of the Year was awarded to Judge Khatun Sapnara. She is not only an inspiration to young British Bangladeshis, but it was because we wanted to celebrate people like Judge Sapnara that we started BBPI. Congratulations to her and all 100 BBPI names on the 2015 list.”

Iqbal Wahhab OBE, Chair of the BBPI Judging Panel, said of the launch “BBPI is an incredible project of which I am very proud to be a part of. I am particularly delighted to see a female winner of the new Person of the Year, but also that so many incredible British Bangladeshi women are recognised and celebrated on this year’s list. We need to see more women from our communities build careers, succeed and act as role models for more to follow suit.”

Syed Nahas Pasha, of the 2015 BBPI Judging Panel, said of the event “BBPI has become the highlight event of the British Bangladeshi community and does us proud in providing incredible role models for the next generation of leaders and influencers from our community. The judging gets harder every year with so much boundless talent in the community. We are delighted to be finding so much undiscovered talent.”

Sunrise Radio announced as exclusive media partner for desi temptation

News

Aalia Khan

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January 30, 2015

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Sunrise Radio announced as exclusive media partner for desi temptation

SUNRISE RADIO (YORKSHIRE) announces exclusive media partnership with Lockdown for Desi Temptation 10 taking place at Rio Grande (Bradford) on Friday 13th February 2015

The 10th Desi Temptation show will feature the very best in local, national and international artists including Sulaiman, Sabi Brar, Sonnash, Ash, Oman, Man-e, Waqar x, Bilal, Fusion, Gorilla Chilla, Sama Blake, Sardara Gill (Apna Sangeet), Gubi Sandhu, Balwinder Safri and Surj Sahota.

Sunrise Radio (Yorkshire) will be airing exclusive interviews with the stars of the show, offering listeners a chance to win tickets as well as broadcasting live segments from the event.

Raj Parmar, Events & Marketing Director, Sunrise Radio said “The Desi Temptations show is a highly anticipated annual showcase of the very best performers. The event has always been a sold out show and we are looking forward to once again working with the Lockdown team. Sunrise Radio recently celebrated 25 years of broadcasting to the Asian community and we have a number of key events we are involved in during 2015/2016.”

Comic Relief’s new project – Operation Health for Comic Relief

Aalia Khan

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January 29, 2015

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Comic Relief’s new project – Operation Health for Comic Relief

Comic Relief today announces a brand new, and life-changing, project that’s never been done before for Red Nose Day. ‘Operation Health for Comic Relief’ is an ambitious mission which will see a run down, dilapidated clinic in Eastern Uganda renovated by a local team into a fully functioning healthcare facility during the Red Nose Day campaign, completed by 6th March.

Iyolwa clinic serves almost 20,000 people in the local community, with around 1,450 patients visiting per month. It has been functioning for years with no power or running water, a ceiling on the verge of collapse, rodent and insect infestations and medical equipment that is outdated and inadequate. Women have given birth by the light of mobile phones and sometimes patients have feared for their lives because of the caving ceiling.

This Red Nose Day campaign, Comic Relief will be working with people in the local community to transform this clinic from somewhere people are scared to visit into a facility with running water, solar power, a stable structure and equipment that means people can be treated safely.

But it doesn’t end there. This clinic is a symbol of the wider healthcare issues facing thousands of communities across Africa – a continent where 500 women per day die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, where malaria kills one child under the age of five every minute and diarrhoea is responsible for 12% of deaths in children under five. This project aims to shine a spotlight on some of these issues, and in the process raise money to improve healthcare for communities across Africa, from training medical staff to providing life-saving vaccines and mosquito nets.

Lenny Henry visited the clinic in November last year and was shocked by what he saw. He said: “This clinic can only be described as awful. It was so dark in there I could barely see where I was going and yet babies are delivered in there every week. Hornets swoop down from the crumbling roof and sting the patients as they are being treated. The staff are incredible, determined and passionate, but they need help to be able to give their community the help it really needs.”

Lenny will visit again, along with other celebrities throughout the project, to witness the transformation as the work gets under way. Some may even pitch in to help the local effort, which will see 89 skilled local workers use 74,800 bricks, 32,500kg of cement and 580sqm of corregated iron to unveil a brand new clinic to serve Iyolwa community for generations to come.

The public can follow the progress of ‘Operation Health for Comic Relief’ on BBC Radio 1, Radio 1Xtra, The One Show and a one hour documentary to be broadcast on BBC One in early March. Donations can be made at www.rednoseday.com/operationhealth

Clayton residents to have their say

News

Aalia Khan

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January 29, 2015

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Clayton residents have the chance to tell Bradford Council their ideas about how services can be delivered differently in the future.

Bradford Council has organised a series of events to talk to local people about a New Deal for their District.

By next year the Council will have cut its spending by over £170 million since 2011. Between now and 2020 the money for Council services is forecast to reduce by another £130 million. That is nearly a third from £420 million today to around £290 million. The Police and the health authority are also facing massive cuts.

A meeting will take place at Clayton Village Hall on Tuesday February 10 from 7-9pm. Unfortunately bad weather led to the cancellation of this last night. (Wednesday, 28 January)

Further New Deal sessions will be held at the Clarke Foley Centre in Ilkley on Thursday, 5 February, 7pm – 9pm.

Further daytime events are being held at Shipley Library on Wednesday, 4 February; Carlisle Business Centre, Manningham, on Thursday 12 February and Central Hall, Keighley, on Thursday, 19 February.

Coun David Green, Leader of Bradford Council, said: “We want to talk with local people to strike a new deal about what they can expect from local services, their rights and responsibilities and how they and other people could help by doing things differently.

“Business as usual is not an option as the national spending cuts we face are significant so the way things are done will have to change.For example, communities may need to get involved in running some services.”

If you wish to attend the events it is best to register in advance to ensure a place by logging on to www.bradford.gov.uk/newdeal <http://www.bradford.gov.uk/newdeal> or you can turn up on the day.

Odeon repair work underway

News

Aalia Khan

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January 29, 2015

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Repair works are beginning next week on the former Odeon building’s domes.

Work has already started on removing vegetation from the building as well as some localised roof repairs above the original stage area as part of necessary health and safety measures being undertaken by Bradford Council.

They have also been replacing the beck culvert that runs across the back of the site which was in poor condition. New culvert sections have been installed over the last two weeks with the final sections being installed next week.

The contractors will now begin installing new copper coverings on the roofs of the domes to prevent water from getting inside.

Water has already damaged the steel ring beams at the bottom of the domes so they are also being replaced.

Bradford Council endorsed plans last December by Bradford Live who want to transform the building into a live music venue.

The local authority is keen to see this iconic building brought back into use, particularly as it is in a key location close to the Alhambra.

However, Bradford Live’s project can only be delivered by securing a mixture of private and public sector funding over the coming months.

Bradford Council Leader, Coun David Green, said: “This building is critical to the regeneration of the city and although we can’t contribute financially, we will be as supportive as possible in securing its future.

“In the meantime we’re pleased that works are taking place to try and ensure it is made watertight. This is being paid for by the Homes Communities Agency as part of their sale agreement with us.”