FARM LIFE

While walking down a busy street in London I discovered a beautiful farmland. The farm consists of 60 acres of permanent pasture grazed by traditional breeds of cattle and sheep. There are also two ferrets and two pet donkeys. There is a range of activities to get involved in, including animal handling, tractor driving, hedgerow planting etc. The farm is managed by a school’s resident forester, Tom Perkins and some apprentices. The farm provides relevant activities for anyone who is interested in a veterinary or land management career or who just likes working with animals. It also provides a wonderful rural retreat right in the middle of London to those who love the countryside.The farm owner, Tom Perkins organises seasonal activities for school children which include clearing scrub, planting trees, erecting nestboxes and conducting surveys of different habitats. Sheep and cows are the mainstay of life on the farm. It reflects the modern view of working with nature, growing and breeding the finest quality cattle, sheep and many other animals without being a detriment to the environment.The farm has always been at the centre of the local community and a huge magnet for local children. The work atmosphere in the farm buzzes with enthusiasm. Tom loves the fact that he works with his family and that his children are growing up in such a happy, thriving atmosphere.

Queen’s land to Curry’s land

British people have taken up to the Indian food in a big way and the big cities of England including London have streets spread around the city, full of Indian restaurants. No wonder, Chicken tikka masala is the favourite British food.

This Holiday season, like others over the years has attracted a lot of British people to Indian restaurants. According to an estimate, curry houses, balti restaurants, Indian take-aways account for 2.5 billion pounds of trade today. This was not the same until few centuries ago, when a british family would not like to stay next to an Indian family because Indian food smelled nauseous. The Indian food started getting popular in the UK in 1970’s when laid off Bengali dockers started opening Indian food restaurants. Today the curry houses and Indian take-aways are being upstaged by big breweries like Whitbreads which are opening chains of 'curry pubs'. The founder of Café Rouge has taken over Bass tied houses and formed the East India Pub company. Regent Inns have opened the Pukka Bar and Curry Hall.

Most of the Indian restaurants are full of British people and other Europeans, for whom the concept of curry is alien. The common Indian enjoys their food at their home and go out to dine Italian, Chinese and Mediterranean food. Even in super markets like Marks and Spencer’s and Sainbury’s, they have and Indian section full of Pilau, Chicken tikka masala and Chicken jalferazi. Other Indian dishes may include,pickle sandwich, bhaji, samosa and pakora. Italian dishes are the most popular followed by Chinese, which still is more popular than Indian food. Middle-east food has become very popular with range of falafel and hummus.

London is today also called one of the food capitals and rightly so, as there are every kind of world food available, in this city. Food is the gift of the immigrants to the country, which are from every corners of this world. Food is what is left with the immigrants when they change their clothes and language.

Freedom of Press

The Indian constitution, while not mentioning the word 'Press', provides for the right to freedom of speech and expression. In article 19(1a). However, this right is subject to restriction under sub clause 2, whereby this freedom can be restricted for reasons of soverignity and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relation with foreign state, public order, preserving decency, morality in relation to contempt, court, defamation or incitement to an offence.
Law such as the official secret act and prevention of terrorist activity act(POTA) have been used to limit press freedom. Under POTA, person could be detained for up to 6 months for being in contact with a terrorist or a terrorist group. POTA was repealed in 2006, but official Secret Act 1923 continues. For the first half of the century of independence, media control by the state was major constraint on Press freedom. Indira Gandhi famously stated in 1975 that "All India Radio is a government organ, it will remain a government organ..."
With the liberalisation starting in 1990s, private control of media has burgeoned, leading to independence and greater security of government organisation like Tehelka and NDTV have been particularly influential.