Prasun Sonwalkar was Editor (UK & Europe), Hindustan Times. During more than three decades, he held senior positions on the Desk, besides reporting from India’s north-east and other states, including a decade covering politics from New Delhi. He has been reporting from UK and Europe since 1999.
Articles by Prasun Sonwalkar
New class of black hole discovered
A new class of black hole, more than 500 times the mass of the sun, has been discovered by an international team of astronomers.
Updated on Jul 02, 2009 05:39 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
India among top UK investors; Mumbai, Bangalore global hubs
Despite recession, India emerged as the second largest investor in the UK in 2008, after the United States, according to a new study that sees Mumbai and Bangalore as the next top centres of global investment.
Updated on Jun 05, 2009 10:48 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
Pay Rs 1.5 lakh for this dish of gold
Amidst recession and dwindling restaurant revenues, a prominent Indian restaurant in London has launched what is billed as the ‘world’s most expensive curry’ priced at 2,000 pounds (Rs 1.5 lakh) a portion.
Updated on Jun 03, 2009 12:38 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
Three Indians accused of running UK visa 'fraud factory'
Three illegal immigrants from India have been accused of running a 'fraud factory' by submitting hundreds of bogus visa applications to the Home Office and allowing foreign nationals to enter Britain
Updated on May 07, 2009 01:57 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
NRIs to challenge new UK immigration law
A group representing Indian and non-European Union highly skilled migrants has threatened legal action against retrospective provisions in a new immigration bill currently working its way through the British parliament.
Updated on May 02, 2009 07:42 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
Tamil student ends fast after Miliband's assurance
A Tamil student, who was on a three-week hunger strike in Parliament Square, has called off his protest after Foreign Secretary David Miliband wrote to him explaining the "strenuous efforts" being made by the UK to secure a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.
Updated on May 01, 2009 11:02 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
Indian restaurant wins 'healthiest' award in UK
Lasan, a prominent Indian restaurant based in Birmingham, has been adjudged as one of the healthiest restaurants in the UK by the Men's Health magazine.
Updated on Apr 28, 2009 07:19 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
HSMP case: UK compensation for Indian migrant professionals
In a major legal victory, nearly 10,000 Indian and other non-European Union professionals will be able to claim compensation for hardship caused by the 2006 changes to immigration rules that were struck down by the High Court in London.
Updated on Apr 07, 2009 12:40 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar and H S Rao, London
G-20: Dinner diplomacy without Indian spice
The Indian delicacy chicken tikka masala, hailed as ' Britain's national dish' by former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook will not find any place on the dinner table tonight at 10-Downing Street for G-20 leaders and spouses. Organisers of the high-powered dinner have settled for the quintessentially British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to cook a menu that includes Welsh lamb, Jersey Royal new potatoes and asparagus.
Updated on Apr 02, 2009 02:21 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
Thousands join peaceful march in London
Tens of thousands of protestors on Saturday marched across London to demand action on climate change, jobs and poverty as world leaders began to arrive here for the G-20 summit next week.
Updated on Mar 28, 2009 09:03 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
UK councillor apologises to NRI colleague for 'coconut' jibe
A British councillor in the port city of Bristol has tendered an apology after calling his NRI colleague a "coconut" during a heated debate in the city council. The term with racist connotation was used by Liberal Democrat councillor Shirley Brown to criticise her Conservative colleague Jay Jethwa, who arrived in Britain in the mid-1980s, and is now a councillor from Stockwood.
Updated on Mar 03, 2009 08:19 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
BBC Hindi service journalists to go on strike tomorrow
Journalists from the Hindi, Urdu and Nepali sections of the BBC World Service will go on a one-day strike tomorrow to protest against plans that will allegedly lead to 34 job losses and offshoring editorial content to the Indian sub-continent.
Updated on Feb 25, 2009 07:18 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
Indian professionals find going tough in recession-hit UK
Indian professionals in Britain are uneasy over growing resentment among recession-hit British workers who have been protesting against offering employment to foreigners.
Updated on Feb 11, 2009 10:23 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
Oxford to honour 1971 Indo-Pak war refugee activist
A poverty campaigner, Fazle Hasan Abed, who founded the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) in 1972, will be given an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Oxford.
Updated on Feb 06, 2009 08:57 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
70-year-old NRI hailed for bravery in UK
A 70-year-old shop employee of Indian origin has been awarded 300 pounds as a bravery award, for fearlessly fending off a robber who brandished a knife and took a customer hostage in his shop.
Updated on Jan 31, 2009 05:36 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
UK police confirm Indian teenager's death
The Thames Valley police has announced that the body recovered from the Fobney Lock lake in Reading on Monday was that of the missing Indian teenager Jonathan Marques.
Updated on Jan 29, 2009 12:35 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
NRI jailed for 21 years for killing sons in Scotland
An Indian-origin man who murdered his two children before trying to set their bodies afire last year, has been sentenced to at least 21 years in jail.
Updated on Jan 22, 2009 10:45 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
Indian IT experts in UK shocked over Satyam collapse
The large number of Indian software professionals working in Britain are in a state of shock over the developments in Satyam, with many former employees continuing to repose faith in its chairman, Ramalinga Raju.
Updated on Jan 09, 2009 10:57 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
2 Indians in UK jailed for raping prostitute
Two Indian immigrants have been convicted and jailed for raping a prostitute in Swindon in February, and face deportation to India after serving half their sentence.
Updated on Aug 02, 2011 03:30 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
UK panel wants Indian chefs, not IT workers
The 3.5 billion-pound Indian restaurant industry breathed a sigh of relief as a key UK Govt panel said skilled chefs can be recruited from outside the European Union.
Updated on Sep 09, 2008 10:00 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
'Indians' English better than the British'
Many undergrads in UK varsities have such low competence with spelling, punctuation and grammar that despairing lecturers often spend time teaching the basics of English to the English.
Updated on Aug 07, 2008 05:57 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
Balle, balle! now on streets of Birmingham
Stepping beyond the fields of Punjab, the traditional Bhangra beats have now become the most common sound booming out of the music boxes on the streets of Birmingham.
Updated on Aug 03, 2008 10:56 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
NRI attracts funding from India, US
A Glasgow-based language software company KeyPoint Technologies, founded by Indian-origin Sanjay Patel, has raised 4 million pounds from India and the US for its next round of expansion.
Updated on Jul 31, 2008 01:45 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
UK allows Indian professionals to return
Britain has decided to allow return of thousands of Indian professionals, who left the UK after being adversely affected by the Nov 2006 changes to immigration rules.
Updated on Jul 11, 2008 05:23 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
Rushdie wins 'Best of the Booker' award
The India-born author has won the 'Best of the Booker' award for Midnight Children. The announcement was made at the London Literature Festival in London.
Updated on Jul 11, 2008 02:37 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
Memorial desecration upsets British Sikhs
The large Sikh community in the west Midlands town of Coventry is outraged after a memorial in honour of Sikh soldiers was desecrated by miscreants who tied a pig's head to the structure.
Updated on Jun 27, 2008 11:00 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
Indian-origin campaigner threatens to sue UK minister
Shami Chakrabarti has demanded a public apology from Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, who she accuses of "tawdry" character assassination and innuendo.
Updated on Jun 20, 2008 09:19 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
JLR launches major recruitment drive
Tata owned Jaguar-Land Rover has announced a major drive to recruit 600 engineers and technical staff to work on its 700-million-pounds projects to develop a new generation of cleaner and more eco-friendly vehicles.
Updated on Jun 19, 2008 08:56 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
UK villagers victims of credit card fraud in India
This is the latest in a series of such complaints in which consumers across Britain have found that money has been withdrawn from the accounts from various locations in India.
Updated on Jun 18, 2008 10:29 AM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London
Indian hotelier banned in Scotland
A Jaipur-born hotelier living in Edinburgh, has been banned from managing any restaurant in the country after he was found to be operating in "unhygienic conditions".
Updated on Jun 01, 2008 12:16 PM IST
PTI | Prasun Sonwalkar, London