Had Ryanair abandoned it completely, traffic in and out of Charleroi would have fallen by more than 90 per cent.The exclusive arrangement between Ryanair and Charleroi had angered rival airlines, such as SN Brussels and Virgin Express, which use Brussels’ main airport Zaventem.A spokesman for Virgin said the airline was still considering whether to take the Walloon government to court for damages during the period that it was giving subsidies to Ryanair, now judged to have been illegal. It had suspended its London to Charleroi route amid concerns that higher landing and ground charges would be introduced.The existing airport and handling charges will continue for the foreseeable future until there are 2 million passengers a year using the airport. Ryanair pledged its commitment to Belgium’s Charleroi airport yesterday after agreeing a new deal to keep its landing fees at the airport unchanged. Harlequin Properties and Harlequin Developments concentrate on luxury conversions and new building properties across Scotland.The event, at the London Hilton on Park Lane, also honoured the Noon Products chairman Sir Gulam Noon and the fashion designer to the stars, Kal Kaur Rai.Jojar Dhinsa was applauded as Newcomer of the Year for the success of Athlone, the private equity company, which has earned him an estimated £48m at the age of 28.Other winners include Ramesh Sachdev, of the Harrow-based nursing home operator Life Style Care, and Zahida Parveen of the Qibla Cola Company, who was awarded the Department of Trade and Industry Innovation award.. Our community must continue to work and continue to benefit the wider British population – we have nothing to fear but ourselves,” he said.Mr Gill’s leisure group, which employs more than 450 people, has incorporated his property and development business. Today, the group runs 17 restaurants, including Scotland’s first Curry Karaoke Club.Mr Gill told The Independent he was pleasantly surprised by the award.

“You go into work and someone gives you a trophy for it! It is important to celebrate our community’s success – it gives youngsters something to aspire to.”Mr Gill also expressed optimism about Asian businesses in the UK, and dismissed any fear of a backlash because of the offshoring phenomenon that appears to have enveloped British industry.”Jobs may be going to Asia, but it’s important to remember that Asians here are also creating jobs. Scotland’s “Curry King”, Charan Gill of the Glasgow-based Harlequin Leisure Group, was named Asian Entrepreneur of the Year last night in an awards ceremony organised by theEastern Eye newspaper.
Mr Gill, who was born in Punjab, arrived in Scotland in 1963, aged nine. He founded the pubs-to-restaurants and frozen foods group in 1987, after working as a turner and fitter at Yarrow’s shipyard on the Clyde.In 2002, Mr Gill and his business partner launched Ashoka Shak to produce Indian cuisine for retail parks and cinemas. It has subpoenaed a number of executives, including the former chairman Steve Case and the current chairman and chief executive Richard Parsons.In 2002, soon after the SEC began investigating, the company restated $190m in advertising revenue and warned other adjustments may be needed if new information emerged.The company is also facing a number of lawsuits, which could soar if it was forced to make hefty revisions to its accounts.. Time Warner had no comment on the press reports yesterday, other than to say it was complying with the requirements of SEC investigators.The SEC is understood to be looking into a number of allegations that Time Warner misled investors by overstating advertising revenue at the online unit. The company has maintained that Bertelsmann promised to provide the $400m in advertising revenue as part of the buyout deal, and therefore booked it as such in its accounts.Bertelsmann, however, did not book a $400m advertising expense in its accounts, but in effect treated the $400m as a discount on the price of AOL assets.

The German group said the discount was offered to Time Warner in exchange for a promise that the US company would pay for the stake in cash rather than in stock.The SEC said last year that “at least some portion of the revenue” should have been treated as a reduction in the price paid to Bertelsmann, although Time Warner has told the regulator that its accounting was correct. After two years of investigation into questionable accounting practices at Time Warner, the US Securities and Exchange Commission was reported yesterday to be preparing a formal accusation against the company. Both sides have canvassed in previous “no-go” areas and the worst fears today centre on isolated flare-ups.Just to make sure, the government has sent an extra 20,000 soldiers and policemen, backed up with helicopters, to keep the peace. The teams have swept through rural areas, questioning villagers and seizing more than 100 weapons. Dr Buthelezi, who alleges the ANC rigged some votes in 1999, said he feared more dirty play.

“If there is evidence of cheating I will not accept the election results,” he said.But analysts say rigging is unlikely because Dr Buthelezi already controls the rural polling stations most vulnerable to interference.The ANC’s other major battleground will be in the Western Cape province, where it is vying with the white-dominated Democratic Alliance.Victory in either area will amplify questions about South Africa’s major political unknown – how long it will take the opposition to seriously challenge the ANC monopoly.. “They are in with a good chance,” said Ashwin Desai of the University of Natal.The politicking is a far cry from 1994, when many candidates were preoccupied with simply staying alive. Many say the ANC is dominated by Xhosas such as Mr Mbeki and Nelson Mandela, and predict another IFP win at polling today “The ANC will never rule this province. Here, we are behind just one party – and that stretches back to King Shaka,” said Nkosinathi Eric in reference to their famed 19th-century leader.Elsewhere in the restive province, however, the result is less certain. The ANC has launched a campaign to dent the IFP dominance, deploying the party top brass for door-to-door canvassing The strategy appears to be paying off Pollsters give the ANC a marginal advantage. For the past decade, he has served in the ANC government – currently as Home Affairs minister – but the relationship has recently soured. Dr Buthelezi has described the ANC as “authoritarian” and underscored its failings in power – the HIV/Aids scourge, unemployment and crime.”They practice the politics of ideology and broken promises,” he told the cheering crowd.Yet in reality it is tribe, not policy, that matters for these Zulus.