AV 03rd April 2021

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE South Asian frontline doctors answer most popular questions about Covid-19 vaccine SEE PAGE - 11

Biden favours immigration reform to speed up Green Cards for Indian Americans

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SEE PAGE - 22

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

3 - 9 APRIL 2021 - VOL 49 ISSUE 47

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Ditch ‘BAME’, but what’s next?

Dr Nighat Arif

EXCLUSIVE

INEQUALITIES AFFECTING FERTILITY AMONG ASIANS

David Lammy MP

Britain is again in the grip of a race debate, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s racial disparities commission is reportedly deciding to recommend scrapping of the usage of the acronym BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) by public bodies and companies.

It is a key proposal in a report to be published this week by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities. The Daily Telegraph quoted an unnamed source saying the term has become "unhelpful and redundant", and too broad to describe the experiences of individual groups.

The report is to be submitted to Mr Johnson, with a government response coming “in due course”. Though this step has been broadly welcomed, campaigners are wondering what is next?

Continued on page 6

Delhi, Dhaka ink 5 agreements, Hasina pushes for Teesta pact

PM Modi and Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka

Rupanjana Dutta & Shefali Saxena

Uma and Sudhir* have recently decided to remain childless after three failed rounds of IVF over 5 years. Though the doctors could not really explain what led to their infertility and what caused the failed rounds of IVF or embryo transfers, the couple is clearly left with no money, after spending over 30,000 Continued on page 6 pounds for private treatments.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina followed up the bonhomie and goodwill exuded on Bangladesh’s National Day with a bilateral meeting on Saturday that saw the two countries signing five agreements in areas ranging from sports and disaster management to trade remedial measures.

Hasina again emphasised the need to sign the interim Teesta water-sharing agreement which West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee continues to oppose vehemently. The two sides also discussed issues related to the Rohingya with India saying it was happy to facilitate “safe, speedy and sustainable” return of the forcibly displaced people from Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Continued on page 23

2 UK

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

AsianVoiceNews

www.asian-voice.com

3 - 9 April 2021

with Keith Vaz

Man charged with murder of Smita Mistry

Manoj Kerai Manoj Kerai who is of Indian heritage and was born in London, where he has lived his entire life. He started his career as an elected officer at Goldsmiths College Students' Union where he designed and developed many services to meet the needs of students.

Manoj now works for Macmillan Cancer Support where he is rolling out a new pilot service to help meet the emotional needs of people living with cancer. He loves to use his writing skills and ability to entertain people to make people laugh but also to inspire them and raise awareness about various human and animal rights issues. He is a Samaritans volunteer and a major Harry Potter geek. Manoj loves to exercise but unfortunately, he does not love to eat healthily. He is a practising Hindu and Krishna’s devotee, and he spends at least an hour everyday chanting.

Which place, or city or country do What is the best aspect about your you most feel at home in? current role?

Definitely London. People say that I love the people I work with at I am an eccentric character, so I feel Macmillan, they’re some of the most the diversity of London means that I fit inspiring people I have met. They right in. I think London’s diversity also know how to get the most out of my means I get to meet people from all skills and how to actively develop me. I walks of life and people can be their also love the fact that the work I do true selves, which makes it so homely. everyday changes lives.

What are your proudest And the worst? achievements?

This is tough, but I would say that Writing my debut novel, The Macmillan still has a long way to go in Burning Bride, which went onto be a terms of diversity and inclusion.

Kindle No.1 Best Seller is definitely up Thankfully, Macmillan acknowledge there. Other things I am proud of is this and are working hard to change, winning first place in London for and I am currently working with the Millennium Volunteer of the Year and CEO to reverse mentor her to help running 5 marathons for charity to implement these changes. date.

What are your long-term goals?

What inspires you?

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I am inspired by the Bhagavad Gita and Krishna’s words around seeing him in all living entities. This inspires me to strive to create a better world for others. Having a vision for what a better and more compassionate world could look like, keeps me going to try and achieve it.

What has been biggest obstacle in your career?

I think the biggest obstacles I have experienced has been due to the perceptions people have of me. These perceptions have resulted in homophobia and racism, which made things harder.

Things are slowly getting better now, and I am involved in the BAME Network at Macmillan to drive changes.

Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?

The biggest influencer of my writing is George R.R. Martin. I loved his format of telling one story from multiple perspectives and this is how I wrote The Burning Bride. My charity sector work was inspired by Bindz Patel and other Goldsmiths colleagues who opened the way I think about the world.

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In terms of my charity sector career, I want to be a director one day.

Maybe not CEO, as I feel there might be a bit less pressure at director level.

In terms of writing, I want to sell ideas I have for TV series’ which would go onto win BAFTAs. If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change?

If I was the Prime Minister, I would work closer with stakeholders in various areas to guide the decisions my government make. The national policies would not be led by people voted in with hidden agendas, education policies would be shaped by actual teachers. Healthcare policies by actual NHS workers, etc.

If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why?

Ved Vyas, the compiler of texts like Mahabharata, Vedas, Srimad Bhagvatam. It would be amazing to learn more about his scientific discoveries and concepts of ahimsa and equality. It would also allow me to better identify ways in which people misrepresent things to suit their own corrupt agendas.

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A 36-year-old man has been charged with murder following the death of a woman at a property in Leicester. Frank Farrell has been charged with the murder of 32-year-old Smita Mistry. Following a call to police on the evening of Tuesday 23 March, officers attended a property in Gedge Way, Leicester, where the body of Smita was found.

Farrell has been remanded into custody and appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, 27th March.

Detective Inspector Nicole Main, who is leading the inquiry, said, “We continue to appeal to people who have recently had contact with

Smita Mistry. Image Courtesy: Leicestershire Police

Smita to make contact with us. As part of this inquiry we have now been able to release an image of Smita.

"Throughout this investi-

gation, specialist officers have been providing full support to Smita’s family as we continue to establish the full circumstances of this case. Anyone who has been in the area of Gedge Way between Friday, March 19 and the evening of Tuesday, March 23 is also urged to think back to anything you have seen or heard which could assist our inquiries and to make contact with us, if you have not already done so.

"If you have any CCTV or dashcam footage from the area during this time, and have not yet made contact with us, then please get in touch.”

Leicester Council publishes first report around labour abuse and exploitation City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby and deputy city mayor Cllr Adam Clarke are urging the Government to create a single enforcement body that would cover all aspects of labour abuse, exploitation and poor working practices.

Their announcement arrives as the city council publishes the first annual report of the Leicester Labour Market Partnership. The partnership was set up by the city mayor in October 2019, bringing together key agencies that deal with matters such as health and safety in textiles factories, modern-day slavery and payment of the minimum wage.

Commenting on the report, Sir Peter Soulsby said, “I’m very proud of the success of the Leicester Labour Market Partnership. In the absence of a single, national enforcement body, it has galvanised the work of many different agencies by bringing them together for a joined-up response to the problems we face. The city council does not have the resources or the powers to deal with these issues itself, but we have set up this partnership because we are so determined

Sir Peter Soulsby

to be fully involved in tackling these problems on a local level while we await national action.”

The report notes that there were more than 1,600 checks to ensure businesses were covid19 secure have been carried out across key retail and food business sectors, including to 52 premises regulated by the Heath and Safety Executive, such as garment factories. It also reports about the progress and participation in the #EndGarmentSectorSlavery campaign launched by Crimestoppers, including a virtual event at the Leicester Business Festival 2020. As well

as continuing the work outlined in the report, the city council is currently working on bringing new organisations into the partnership, including the Slave Free Alliance, which is locating staff members to Leicester.

The city council is also putting £300,000 into the Leicester Fashion Technology Academy, a state of the art training centre which will offer apprenticeships and accredited training for people working in the local textiles industry, helping to drive up standards.

Manufacturers are also being supported to establish an industry-led representative trade body, giving the sector a voice and helping to promote good business and good jobs.

This appears amid recent reports that Online fashion retailer Boohoo has cut ties with hundreds of suppliers as it seeks to improve conditions for factory workers. The ecommerce giant earlier announced it had “ceased doing business with a number of manufacturers who were unable to demonstrate the high standard of transparency required”.

MP loses his entire family to Covid

The Labour MP for Gorton has recently spoken about the personal ramifications of Covid-19.

Speaking at the House of Commons, Afzal Khan said, "In my family we have lost an entire generation. I couldn't hold my mum's hand as she lay dying'.

Afzal Khan told fellow MPs he had lost both parents and his mother-in-law to the virus as he called on the Prime Minister to hold a public inquiry so “grieving families like mine” could find out “if anything could have been done to prevent this tragedy”.

He further said, "A year into this crisis and more than 126,000 lives have been lost. Behind this staggering figure are millions grieving their loved ones. In my family we have lost an entire generation. I couldn't hold my mum's hand as she lay dying and I recently lost both my father and my mother-in-law within days of one another. Grieving families like mine want and deserve to know what happened and if anything could have been done to prevent this tragedy.

"So will the Prime Minister today commit to

Afzal Khan

launching a full public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic as soon as current restrictions are lifted?"

The Prime Minister said he was “committed” to holding an inquiry but didn't provide a timescale.

He noted, "I know that the whole house shares my sympathies and my sorrow for his loss and we sympathise with his entire family. I know that his experience is one which has been shared by far too many families up and down the country.

"That is why we are of course committed, as soon as it's right to do so, as soon as it wouldn't be an irresponsible diversion of the key officials involved, we are of course committed to an inquiry, to learn the lessons, to make sure that something like this could never happen again."

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COMMENTS

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3 - 9 April 2021

Kill the bill In light of the Black Lives Matter and more recently Kill the Bill protests, British police have been heavily criticised for their disproportionate use of powers, such as stop and search and use of force, on people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

The image of the police detaining a half-naked female protestor against the new proposed Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill is disgraceful and not in any form representative of a modern democracy. Prime Minister’s critics would go on to say those pictures displaying police’s brute force have a discomforting parallelism to the mercenary actions of the Tatmadaw in Myanmar.

The woke left and the ultra-radicalised youth must assume responsibility as well and realise that stripping naked before the police does not aid to the cause. It only adds fodders for sensational spreads across right-wing media tabloids. While their ways can be questioned, what they are fundamentally protesting against is not unreasonable.

In 2020, according to the government data, of the 25,021 stops where ethnicity was recorded, people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds accounted for 1,026 stops.

There were 6 stop and searches for every 1,000 White people, compared with 54 for every 1,000 Black people. And it is not just those from deprived and under-privileged backgrounds. Labour MP for Brent Central and former shadow equalities minister Dawn Butler in recent past has tweeted about her own experience of being pulled over by the police in Hackney while she was on her way with her friend for a casual lunch. And it is not just the adults, children aged 13 to 17 made up almost 12% – or 2,940 – of total stops, despite counting for only 6.4% of the population.

Ministers and government officials have constantly pinned the problem of racial profiling with an unrepresentative police force. Over two decades ago, an inquiry into the death of teenager Stephen Lawrence called for an overhaul of police procedures and

attitudes towards race. The inquiry urged the Home Office and police forces to develop initiatives to increase the number of ethnic minority officers and to set targets on their "recruitment, progression and retention". In 1998, only 2% of officers in England and Wales were from minority backgrounds.

According to police workforce data made available by the government, between 2007 and 2020, the percentage of police officers from every ethnic minority group went up – the biggest increase was for Asian police officers (from 1.5 to 3.1%). But the figures are striking if the percentage of police officers in proportion of the ethnic communities they represent are to be factored.

3.1% police officers from ethnic minority backgrounds represented the 6.8% Asians according to Census 2011. Whereas 92.7% officers represented the 86% white community.

Now, under newly proposed plans, the Police Authority Board will challenge the force to recruit at least 40% BAME officers for the remainder of the Home Office uplift programme. It also wants to ensure that in the recruitment of the next City of London Police Commissioner it will apply the Equality Act 2010 when shortlisting candidates and will urge the force to consider doing the same for all senior appointments.

But does higher and proportional representation address structural and institutional problems around racial profiling, illtreatment of officers from minority backgrounds, gender discrimination and pay parity? Nearly two years ago, Parm Sandhu had begun legal action against Met Police while claiming she was denied promotion and work opportunities on the basis of her race and gender. Last year she “settled” her claims with the Metropolitan Police Service. “The terms of the settlement are confidential. I have no further comment to make," she told the Daily Mirror. But questions around safety of the minorities remain unanswered.

Vaccine diplomacy: It’s about survival first A very misleading headline in a UK national media about Covid19 vaccine export - “India bans vaccine export to put itself first” has become a cause of concern among the Indian diaspora.

Not too long ago, UK and EU were fighting about the efficacy of AstraZeneca jab. The European Commission has proposed tougher controls over the Covid-19 vaccine exports after it accused AstraZeneca of failing to honour its contract to supply to Europe. While the infections go up in Europe as the third wave hits hard, UK and EU released a joint statement saying that co-operation was important, and they were working on specific steps to expand vaccine supply.

In the meantime, according to the Barron’s, Novavax, the US pharmaceutical giant, has started trials of its Covid-19 vaccine in India with partner Serum Institute of India (SII).

The pair has jointly developed Covovax, which has been tested against the South African and UK variants, and has an overall efficacy of 89%, according to a tweet by Adar Poonawalla, chief executive of SII, the world’s largest vaccine maker.

A rival vaccine produced by biotech Moderna will finally start arriving in the UK in April.

However, WHO has warned of a widening gap between number of Covid-19 vaccines in wealthy countries and those distributed to poorer nations. A survey led by the University of Oxford found that most people in high-income countries support donating some of their country’s Covid-19 vaccine supplies to low-income nations who would otherwise struggle to gain access. Researchers conducted an anonymous online survey which had over 8,000 respondents across seven high-income countries (Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, UK and the USA). The findings have been published in Nature Medicine.

UN Health Agency Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reportedly said, “The inequitable distribution of vaccines is not just a moral outrage, it's also economically and epidemiological-

ly self-defeating.” FT reported that experts said that the Indian government wanted to assess demand for inoculations in the next stage of the rollout from 1 April, before clearing export shipments.

India has so far exported 63.3 million AstraZeneca vaccines to countries around the world including Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It has exported 17.8 million to low-income countries, led by the WHO and the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. About 10.1 million doses were bought by the Indian government and sent free of charge to other countries as part of its “vaccine diplomacy”- a policy that has been also adopted by Russia and China. The total here is far more than the 54 million doses it has given to its own people and India has a population of 1.4bn.

Last week, 1.2 million doses were sent as a gift to Bangladesh, as the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited, during the country’s 50th anniversary of independence. The Economist pointed out that in theory, India’s vaccine diplomacy has been turbocharged at a recent virtual summit of the “Quad” grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States. The four countries agreed to fund the production of 1bn Indian-made vaccines for distribution to countries in need by the end of 2022. Yet, India and not China, faces an incredible pressure and moral question about vaccinating its own vast population as opposed to helping other countries. It is a bit hypocritical for Britain, that just took its “country back” to put its “needs first”, criticise India, for making a socially and politically sound decision. With Boris Johnson heading to India soon to technically foster a better trade relationship, it is rather heavy-handed to criticise a developing nation for looking after its own citizens- finally!

As Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chief executive of Biocon, one of India’s largest biotech companies said, “It’s about survival. India has been charitable in exporting 60 million doses thus far. It’s now time to vaccinate Indians.”

Modi's 'neighbourhood first' policy wins friends Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence and 101st birth anniversary of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a significant step in cementing relations between the two neighbours.

India has played a major role in helping the country gain independence from Pakistan. During his visit PM Modi reiterated India's continued support to the country. PM Modi has constantly reached out to India’s neighbours to join in India’s journey towards economic empowerment. The core themes behind his push towards India having cordial relations with its neighbours are the issues of regional peace, security and development. PM Modi’s message to India’s neighbours is clear: India is committed to promoting regional peace and economic integration of the region. PM Modi also visited two Hindu temples in the countryside.

Another guiding theme behind the Modi government’s push towards the “neighbourhood first” policy is that India wants to come across to its neighbours as a country that is growing both economically and strategically and is ready to share the fruits of its growth with its neighbours because it knows that a prosperous neighbourhood means a prosperous region. PM Modi’s first foreign visit after the Covid -19 pandemic to Bangladesh is, therefore, a reiteration of his government’s focus on the neighbourhood. As Bangladesh celebrates two momentous events, PM Modi’s visit to Dhaka assumes great significance.

The relationship between the two countries in the light of the boundary accord and the spirit of cooperation and collaboration

clearly highlights that India’s attitude towards Bangladesh does not stop at respect and friendship for its eastern neighbour, but also touches on other crucial aspects such as better connectivity, energy, cross-border trade, health and education. Bangladesh was among the first countries to receive Indian Covid-19 vaccines.

Connectivity is the core principle of PM Modi’s outreach to Bangladesh. It will energise people-to-people contact. India and Bangladesh are also working on shared waterways for promoting trade and transport. PM Modi’s efforts are focused on encouraging and facilitating travel between the neighbours which will not only boost business and commerce. Bengali culture, language and identity is the unique bond between the two countries.

Bangladesh has gained a lot in the economic field due to preferential treatment it received from WTO. There are a number of irritants to be tackled between the two neighbours. Though terrorism has been contained to a large extent, Hindus in the country face a lot of problems. At the time of independence, 30 per cent of the total population in the country was of Hindus. Now, it has been reduced to 8 per cent. Ethnic cleansing is a major problem faced by the Hindus. Hindu temples are being destroyed systematically. Hindus cannot practice their faith freely. They are being targeted by extremist elements in the society. PM Modi's visit indicates that the two neighbours have evolved and are keen to discuss and remove obstacles as they appear. The extremist elements in Bangladesh opposed the visit of PM Modi to the country and at least 11 people were killed during violence.

The time is always right to do what is right.

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

Alpesh Patel

An Update on the Politics of Hindu Hate from Oxford Faculty As mentioned in this column, I wrote to the Vice Chancellor of Oxford University, enclosing my article from this newspaper which laid out the charges against the Oxford University Faculty member and employee who revelled in attacking Hindus for being Hindus.

Dear Vice Chancellor, You may recall I hosted the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies Gala Anniversary Dinner at Oxford Town Hall a couple of years ago and you were our guest of honour. I am also a former Visiting Fellow at Corpus and a graduate of St Anne’s College with which I remain in close contact.

I am writing to complain about a senior member of the University. My newspaper column attached explains the point.

I do hope the University will take action. As detailed in my column, I am also writing to the police, Home Office and the British and Indian High Commissions regarding the visa of the individual concerned.

I am cc’ing the Proctors, and request they consider action against this member. Please do let me know if there is a formal process.

I received a reply that the Head of History is the relevant person. So I wrote to him and he replied: Dear Mr Patel, Thank you for your recent email to the ViceChancellor.

We are aware of the issue relating to these online comments. We have strong policies in place to protect our students and staff against all forms of harassment, including online harassment, and we always investigate thoroughly complaints that our harassment or equality policies have been breached.

The University is thoroughly committed to creating an environment where people of all backgrounds, including our Hindu students and staff, can feel welcome, valued and respected.

Yours faithfully, John Watts To which I replied…

Dear John, if I may, (and please do call me Alpesh), I believe we would have met when I was a Visiting Fellow at Corpus in 2001/2 – you would have been tutor for admissions? I dined at regularly at High Table and hosted Vikram Seth at a fund-raiser with Sir Tim. Tim and I were on the UK-India Roundtable, ironically in light of these events being raised in the Indian Parliament yesterday, to advise the Prime Ministers of both countries on building closer tie between UK and India.

Thank you for the reply. I do look forward to hearing the outcome of the investigation and whether University policies have been breached. Do you have a timeline please?

As you can imagine as an alumnus I would be very concerned if the outcome were there was no breach in light of the messages posted by the staff member. If you need expert witnesses to do let me know as I work with the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and can ask them to assist.

As you may know the matter has now been raised in the Indian Parliament and the Indian Foreign Minister said he will be raising it with the UK Government – I suspect when the PM visits India next month and I am due to be on that trip in my Government capacity.

If the University feels the policies have not been breached by the staff member, and that is consistent with a welcoming environment, then I would be happy to discuss how those policies may need further changes to ensure they are consistent with outcomes the University is trying to achieve. Continued on page 15

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Six-year-old finds nearly 500 million years old fossil A six-year-old boy has found a fossil dating back nearly five hundred million years in his garden after receiving a fossil-hunting kit for Christmas.

Siddak Singh Jhamat is believed to be very "excited" to have found the fossil in his Walsall garden after digging for worms. His father was able to identify the horn coral through a fossil group he is a member of on Facebook. And Vish Singh estimates that the fossil is between 251 and 488 million years old. He believes that

Siddak Singh Jhamat. Picture Courtesy: YouTube

the fossil's markings mean it is most likely a Rugosa coral, estimated to be between 251 to 488 million years old.

In a statement to the BBC, Siddak said, "I was just digging for worms and things like pottery and bricks and I just came across

this rock which looked a bit like a horn, and thought it could be a tooth or a claw or a horn, but it was actually a piece of coral which is called horn coral. I was really excited about what it really was."

Mr Singh further added, "We were surprised he found something so oddshaped in the soil... he found a horn coral, and some smaller pieces next to it, then the next day he went digging again and

found a congealed block of sand. In that there were loads of little molluscs and sea shells, and something called a crinoid, which is like a tentacle of a squid, so it's quite a prehistoric thing.

“The period that they existed from was between 500 and 251 million years ago, the Paleozoic Era. England at the time was part of Pangea, a landmass of continents. England was all underwater as well... that's quite significant expanse of time."

Grandmother allowed to live in the UK after 14-years of battle with the Home Office A 91-year-old grandmother born in British India in 1929 has finally been allowed to come and live permanently in the UK after a 14-year-old battle with the Home Office.

In a statement to the iNews, Vasanta Rao shared, “After my husband died I was all alone. My children and their families are all in the UK, so I felt extremely lonely in India. It was like a life sentence and I very much wanted to be here. I was born in British India, read English literature, speak English very well, there should have been no problem with me.”

The application for indefinite leave to remain was first rejected in 2006 leading her daughters – both senior physicians in the

NHS – to grow increasingly worried about their parents’ health.

According to the publication every other application for a six-month visiting visa took much longer than previously to be approved. A 10-year multi-entry visa was later rejected with no explanation and no refund given.

A two-year multi-entry visa was granted instead.

An indefinite leave to remain visa application was rejected again in 2019 while Mrs Rao was visiting the UK. The family then decided to fight the Home Office in court. At the first-tier tribunal hearing in Birmingham last year, the Home Office case officer told the judge that Mrs Rao was “technologically ‘savvy’, had friends in Bangalore and

Priti Patel

she had had domestic help in the past”. The case officer then argued that that Mrs Rao “had used deception to enter the UK as her daughter had confirmed that it was her intention not to return”.

Dr Pratibha Bahal, a consultant paediatrician at Kettering General Hospital further told i, said, “I thought that was utterly reprehensible, completely not on. I’ve worked my socks off in the NHS for 35 years yet this was the way we were treated. The truth

is that we acted on legal advice given, in both the timing and category of the application. Also, we were concerned that if she applied for indefinite leave to remain from India and was refused, mum may have not have even been granted a visitor’s visa, as has been the experience of a number of families in similar circumstances.”

There have been consistent campaigns by leading professional medical bodies including British Medical Association and the British Indian Nurses Association (BINA) which are pressing the government for an urgent review into the immigration rules surrounding Adult Dependent Relatives.

Watchdog to analyse the women with terror links stripped of their British citizenship An independent watchdog has decided to intervene and analyse the number of women who have been stripped off their citizenship following their association with Islamic State. The development appears after the Home Office refused to share the data with a human rights group concerned about the conditions of British women and children

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In a recent article in The Guardian, Alison Huyghe, advocacy officer with Rights and Security International, has accused the Home Office of engaging in a “dogged refusal” to disclose data, meaning that the policy of removing British citizenship was “beyond all

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oversight”.

She said, “We need to know about any risk of discrimination or other patterns of gender-related harm when the government takes Shamima Begum people’s British citizenship away.” sion after a court ruled that Ministers including forthey could not have claimed mer Home Secretary Sajid Bangladeshi citizenship.

Javid have taken away UK Estimates suggested that citizenship from Britons there remain about 15 after the fall of ISIS at the women with 35 children end of the 2010s, arguing being held by the Syrian that they pose a national Kurds, with no assistance security threat and should from the UK. But their exact not be allowed to return. number and how many have British law allows the home been deprived of their citisecretary to take away somezenship have not been made body’s nationality if doing so public. is deemed “conducive to the In the meantime, Syrian public good”. But it is illegal President Bashar Al Assad’s to render somebody statewife, Asma Assad continues less if they are not eligible to enjoy her British citizenfor citizenship of another ship despite allegations of country. terror offences. British A legal challenge from police have opened a prelimBegum failed in the supreme inary investigation into court last month. But two claims she has incited, aided other women, known only and encouraged war crimes as C3 and C4, who had also

by Syrian government travelled to Syria, overforces. If convicted, she turned a deprivation decicould lose her citizenship.

in brief in brief MIGRANTS LIABLE TO BE REMOVED UNDER PROPOSED “NEW PLAN FOR IMMIGRATION” Migrants who arrive in the UK by small boats or other illegal routes will be indefinitely liable for removal even if they are granted asylum as part of the new proposals that the Home Secretary is expected to launch.

In what is expected to be the “biggest overhaul of the UK’s asylum system in decades”, Priti Patel will announce that how people enter the UK will have a bearing on the progress of their asylum claim and their status if that claim is successful. She is expected to put in every effort to remove those who enter the UK via routes deemed illegal, having travelled through a safe country in which they “could and should have claimed asylum”, under the “New Plan for Immigration”.

If it is not possible to remove them, migrants making successful claims having entered illegally will receive a new temporary protection status rather than an automatic right to settle and will be regularly reassessed for removal from the UK. People entering illegally will have limited family reunion rights and limited access to benefits

ISSA BROTHERS TO BUILD LANDMARK MOSQUE IN BLACKBURN Plans by the billionaire Issa brothers to build a "landmark" mosque in Blackburn have been approved.

The £5m scheme by Zuber and Mohsin Issa, who have recently carried through a series of acquisitions including that of Asda, had faced objections over the height of its minarets and potential noise. But, Blackburn with Darwen Council have now approved the plans after the Issa Foundation agreed to address 21 issues.

Councillor Phil Riley said it would be an "impressive facility" which could "only enhance the spirit of the town".

The council's planning committee gave permission for the project to go ahead on the site of former site of Westholme School.

Virendra Sharma hosts public meeting since Jallianwala Bagh massacre On April 13th, 102 years since the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Virendra Sharma MP will host a public meeting with MPs, Peers, campaigners and academics on the event that still reverberates today.

People are invited to join the discussion on the day, to listen to expert speakers and politicians discuss how the Jallianwala Bagh massacre still impacts our world today. Virendra Sharma MP will be hosting the meeting, and attendees will be joined by Dr Shalini Sharma from the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre 1919

Virendra Sharma MP

Centenary Committee, Gawain Little from the NEU, Vanessa Holburn author of The Amritsar Massacre: The British Empire's Worst Atrocity, and Dr. Binita Kane cofounder of South Asia Heritage Month.

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INEQUALITIES AFFECTING FERTILITY AMONG ASIANS Continued from page 1 Speaking to Asian Voice, the couple said, “When we see couples with children and family, we feel inadequate. Our friendsand families often do notinclude us in their plans, because we do not have children. But there is no answer to the loss we are facing. It is hard for people with a family to realise the grief we are going through.”

Last week a new report published by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)shows that people from ethnic minority backgrounds undergoing fertility treatment are less likely to have a baby, with Black patients having the lowest chances of successful treatment.

Asian patients, who represent a larger proportion of IVF users at 14% whilst comprising 7% of the UK population, are struggling to access donor eggs if needed. The report shows that 89% of egg donors are White, followed by 4% Asian, 3% Mixed and 3% Black, resulting in the use of White eggs in 52% of IVF cycles with even an Asian patient.

While overall birth rates from fertility treatment have increased and are highest in patients under 35, Black patients aged 30-34 have an average birth rate of 23%, compared to 30% for Mixed and White patients, new data from the FEA shows.

The findings also confirm the prevalence of certain conditions amongst ethnic communities – including tubal damage and fibroids amongst Black women and polycystic ovaries and ovulation issues amongst Asian women – and the need for more targeted education and early treatment programmes to address these and reduce their negative impact.

Alpesh Doshi, Consultant Embryologist and Founder at IVF London said that fertility treatments are seeing a rise, though Covid-19 has added an extra layer of stress on those who are either actively trying to conceive or wanting to meet a partner and think about starting a family. He told Asian Voice, “Many Asian women have chosen to freeze their eggs due to the uncertainty of meeting a partner during the lockdown whilst others have taken the bold step of trying to have a child as ‘single women’ using donor sperm.

Whilst the country embarks on one of its largest vaccination drives, fertility clinics continue to see an exponential rise in fertility treatments and also Fertility Wellness checks.”

Concerns– health and economic While cultural pressure is one of the key concerns among couples, affordability is another huge problem, as the pandemic dries up financial resources or supports.

Seetal Savla, a current DEVIF (donor egg IVF) patient, fertility advocate and freelance writer told Asian Voice, “South Asian culture sees parenthood as the ultimate symbol of success and therefore

places constant pressure on newlywed couples to conceive. But instead of suffering in silence, couples could use this opportunity to

minority women and couples. For those who cannot access NHS funding they are more likely to have to spend time saving to fund

IVF privately, and this delay risks a respectfully educate their elders further decline in fertility and a about fertility issues, the different reduced rate of success. options available to start a family “There is also a need to optiand explain what their chosen mise lifestyle factors that are a route entails in order to foster more understanding and empathy towards them and others in similar situations. If we do not attempt to improve our elders’ knowledge, attitude and behaviour if we are in a position to do so, how can we ever expect anything to Dr Geeta Nargund Nicky Hudson change?

“Navigating inferresult of socio-economic inequalitility is extremely difficult because ty; for example, ethnic minority your body’s limitations can make patients often report higher obesiyou feel like a failure, which can ty rates that are well known to lead to shame, embarrassment, directly impact fertility outcomes. guilt, anger and grief. If women Cultural issues can also play a part cannot or do not want to discuss as stigma’s associated with infertilthese emotions with anyone, they ity put some women and couples will become isolated, and their off seeking help and treatment mental health will suffer. If talking early enough.” to others is impossible, they can Professor Nicky Hudson, seek solace and support from reading about or hearing others’ stories Professor of Medical Sociology, on fertility podcasts, apps, social Centre for Reproduction Research, media (particularly via De Montfort University told Asian #TTCCommunity (Trying To Voice, “Research I have conducted Conceive) on Instagram) and blogs. at De Montfort University highMore South Asians are sharing lights how members of South their experiences online and their Asian communities may have parexperiences will be relatable and ticular challenges to face if they are informative.” having problems conceiving…

Dr Geeta Nargund, a senior Experiences of infertility are challenging regardless of a person’s consultant gynaecologist at the ethnicity, but the latest data show NHS and Medical Director of CREthat important discrepancies exist ATE Fertility believe the high cost in access to treatment and care of access to treatment must also be that urgently need to be addressed by making IVF more affordable. She added, “HFEA addressed.”

Dr Christine Ekechi, Co-Chair report highlights the stark inequalities faced by ethnic minority comof the Royal College of munities.

Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ “In tackling the HFEA’s findRace Equality Taskforce, said, ings a key tool will be driving edu“This HFEA report is vital in cation and awareness, encouraging understanding the barriers faced ethnic women and couples to seek by women from ethnic minority earlier diagnosis as a means of backgrounds when trying to start a increasing potential success of family. What is now required is a treatment. The high cost of access combined effort to provide soluto treatment must also be tions to include better awareness, addressed by making IVF more safeguarding of reproductive affordable for all and ending the health and improving the availabilcurrent postcode lottery for NHS ity of targeted options for fertility funding for those who need it.” treatments. We owe it to Black, “With those in ethnic minority Asian and minority ethnic women communities having a greater to give them an equal opportunity reliance on NHS funded treatto starting a family, and to provide ment, the continued postcode lotthe solutions that will help them tery for NHS funding in IVF disachieve this dream." proportionately impacts ethnic (*Name changed to protect identity)

Ditch ‘BAME’, but what’s next?

Continued from page 1 Abolish BAME, a campaign geared towards ending the use of this acronym reportedly said, “‘BAME’ is a problematic term that allows organisations to lump minority ethnic communities into one tidy group. Cultural heritage shouldn’t be treated like a box-ticking exercise, so we welcome the recommendation to 10 Downing Street by the racial disparities commission.”

However, Dr Halima Begum, the chief executive of the Runnymede Trust charity, has held senior leadership positions across policy, programmes and research with a range of organisations including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the British Council and LEGO Foundation.

She reportedly told the Guardian she was deeply concerned that the commission, which was originally meant to report its findings in December, would end up doing little to tackle structural inequalities.

This also comes right after UK schools have recorded more than 60,000 racist incidents in the past five years. Experts have reportedly accused the government of failing to meet “basic safeguarding” measures by hiding the true scale of the problem.

Britain’s hostility towards race A Muslim female GP who suffered racial abuse at the hands of social media trolls due to her race, faith and gender recently spoke out about discrimination she has faced over time.

Dr Nighat Arif, tweeted a clip of her speaking on BBC Breakfast where she said, “As a doctor who has worked across the pandemic, gives me support and confidence to call out discrimination…

“We all have some unconscious biases but check in with yourself now and then what you do not understand about that person. It is about education and learning and asking questions. If anyone wants to ask me about Islam or why I wear a hijab, I am more than happy to have that conversation.”

David Lammy MP on LBC radio addressing a listener who dialled in said, “Don’t ever tell me I’m not English.”

The listener who asked David, how he could be Afro-Caribbean as well as English at the same time, also called immigration as “polluting” the world. Mr Lammy who referred to Britain’s history of colonisation explained how whites settled in the Caribbean are treated as part of the country, and “are more Caribbean than I am”, touched upon his Scottish DNAprobably referring to the atrocities of the slave trade. He added that there is nothing called absolute ‘Englishness’ in a country which has had “Huguenots and Danes” passing by.

Mr Lammy said, “Britain 400 years ago went out colonising the world. My parents are part of that generation who came from the Caribbean. When I took a DNA test, I had Scottish ancestry. I have grown up in this country and was born here, I am very comfortable saying I am Black British…People meet each other, fall in love, they have kids, cross borders, sometimes

Dr Halima Begum

through wars, sometimes for economic reasons, and they become what they become. Just like in America you could be African American, or you could be Irish American, how is that in England you could claim ‘Englishness’ only if you are white?”

Challenge the police to recruit more ethnic minority Ever since the Black Lives Matter movement, there has been an increase in awareness against racial disparity, more as Covid-19 reveals inequalities across communities. The question remains what are authorities actually doing to iron out the differences?

“If advice on the use of the term BAME is the extent of the commission’s findings, or the most pressing of its recommendations, then Britain’s ethnic minority communities are being insulted by this report and its authors,” Ms Begum added.

Though Britons think their society is less racist than America, the Economist in a poll has pointed out that last year found that 31% of white Britons reckon Britain “a racist country” and 46% of ethnic minorities do. There is a similar difference in attitudes towards the behaviour of the police. Stephen Lawrence’s brother has recently talked about his own ‘racial profiling’, though one of Britain's most senior police chiefs has warned that the race crisis is damaging the fight against crime.

With the Kill Bill protests across Bristol, the community has come forward asking more recruitment of ethnic minority in police force to combat racism. The City of London Police Authority Board (PAB) has agreed proposals to work with the City of London Police to ensure that the force is representative of the community that it serves.

Under the plans, the PAB will challenge the force to recruit at least 40% ethnic minority officers for the remainder of the Home Office uplift programme and to use other recruitment processes to address gender imbalances and ensure representation of all protected characteristics.

The Board wants to ensure that in the recruitment of the next City of London Police Commissioner it will apply the Equality Act 2010 when shortlisting candidates, in order to encourage applicants with protected characteristics who are underrepresented to apply. The PAB will urge the force to consider doing the same for all senior appointments with immediate effect.

It agreed to monitor the force’s Equality and Inclusion Strategy, to ensure that commitment to diversity and inclusion is reflected in its workforce and its community engagement.

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Petition for reinstating Batley Grammar School Professor A Batley Grammar School teacher who triggered protests after showing a cartoon of Prophet Mohammed is believed to be afraid that he and his family will be murdered, his father has reported.

The religious studies professor remains in hiding after receiving death threats and has told his family “it’s all over” and he will never be able to return to his job or his home, The Telegraph reported. The professor was described as a “terrorist” in a letter from one community leader. The West Yorkshire school sent pupils home last week and issued an apology after the parents of Muslim children gathered at the gates to protest.

The teacher’s father in a statement to The Telegraph said, “My son keeps breaking down crying and says that it's all over for him. He is worried that he and his family are all going to be killed. He knows that he's not going to be able to return to work or live in Batley. It's just going to be too dangerous

for him and his family.”

In the meantime, a petition from a student of Batley Grammar School noted, “The professor was trying to educate students about racism and blasphemy. He warned the students before showing the images and he had the intent to educate them. He does not deserve such large repercussions. He is not racist and did not support the Islamiphobic cartoons in any manner. This has got out of hand and due to this, students have missed out on lessons because of "peaceful" protestors.

It further notes, “The issue is already nationwide. The professor has already apologised and has been suspended. Against all odds, students wish to make a statement and reinstate him back as a teacher in Batley Grammar School due to his pure intentions. Join with us and make a statement before this is a repeat of what happened to the teacher in France when he showed the same pictures.”

T

he second Holi of the pandemic just came and went. outcome of the vaccination drive before getting vaccinated The festivities remained subdued as we are not really themselves. Addressing the many rumours being spread over the hump as far as the pandemic situation is about vaccines that are at the base of vaccine hesitancy, concerned. Last year at this time, we were still coming to India’s Union Minister of Health Dr Harsh Vardhan asked grips with the extent of this pandemic. We had not yet seen people to stay away from rumours about vaccines against the global impact that this pandemic would have. Over the coronavirus (Covid-19). This disease has already affected last one year, we have seen this disease ebb and fall, spreadmore than 12 million people in India and killed more than ing from one part of the globe to the other. It seems to lurk 162,000. Dr Harsh Vardhan stated categorically that both below the surface even when it seems to be dying. In a globvaccines being used in India are safe and effective. alised world, the virus is never really that far away.

Referring to doubts about vaccines that are still harboured by a lot of people, he urged people “not to believe what is My family are not celebrating Holi this year as we are being circulated in WhatsApp university”. mourning the recent loss of my father. Due to my own grief, India has taken a lead in sharI briefly overlooked the sadness of ing the vaccines manufactured in the millions of people who are the country with other parts of grieving for a loved one lost to the world. Many countries Covid-19 during the last one year. around the globe have already We were able to meet my father received the ‘made in India’ vacthe evening before he passed away. cines. Vaccination drive is proThe memory of the last evening ceeding at a fast pace inside the spent with him gives us a lot of country, even as there is concern comfort. This comfort is denied to at rising Covid-19 numbers. the families of Covid-19 victims.

Vaccination drive is proceedHow should families find closure ing smoothly in the UK as well. when they were unable to even The Government of PM Boris perform the last rites, leave alone Ruchi Ghanashyam Johnson has started relaxing some hold their loved one’s body one last of the strict restrictions that had time?

A moving video message for Mrs. Ruchi Ghanashyam is the former High been imposed to control the Holi by TATA Steel that is doing Commissioner of India to the UK. With a career spread of disease. With around the rounds on social media tries to in Indian Foreign Service for over 38 years, she has sixty percent of the adult populaaddress this poignant question. been posted in many countries including South tion having received its first dose The beautiful message pays tribute Africa, Ghana, before arriving in the UK. She was of the vaccine, the UK is tentato all the loved souls lost to Covid- only the second woman High Commissioner to tively starting to move towards 19. It gives a powerful and inspiring the UK since India’s independence and during her gradual restoration of normalcy. message, urging mourners to move tenure, she witnessed a number of significant One fervently hopes that the suffering caused by Covid-19 will forward for the sake of loved ones: developments in the UK-India relations. soon be a memory from the past.

‘Apnon ke liye Aage Badho’.

As both India and the UK prepare for the forthcoming Life has been tough on so many fronts for almost everyone during the last one year of the pandemic. We owe it to visit of PM Boris Johnson to India, success of the vaccinathe memory of our loved ones that we move forward. They tion drive against Covid-19 is important. The Oxford University/ AstraZeneca vaccine being manufactured for would want us to do that. The loved ones around us deserve India and the world by the Serum Institute of India can be it even more! As Covid-19 numbers begin rising again in a way forward for cooperation between India and the UK. India and reports of new variants start going around, we With a vibrant “living bridge” connecting the two counneed a reminder of the only known protection against the virus. It is imperative that one gets over one's fear and hesitries, there are immense possibilities of working together tation to get oneself and one's loved ones vaccinated. for the benefit of our two countries and peoples in mutual There are many reports about people waiting to see the interest.

Moving Forward

Become a Cambridge examiner We are welcoming Assessment Specialists who wish to become examiners for Cambridge International H1 Level Panjabi.

As a Cambridge examiner you will gain an insight into the teaching and assessment of Cambridge qualifications. We offer training and support with freelance opportunities which fit around your existing commitments.

For more details, visit asrecruit.cambridgeassessment.org.uk and search for ‘Panjabi’.

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Government rejects bailout for Gupta amid billions of debts On Tuesday, 30th March, the head of Liberty Steel and British Indian billionaire admitted for the first time that his company was “many billions” of pounds in debt as he addressed reports around the collapse of Greensill Capital.

Sanjeev Gupta has however, has insisted that his company “did not break any rules” as he confirmed that the government had stripped Greensill of guarantees for hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer loans made to his GFG during the pandemic.

However, Gupta said Greensill had taken “extensive legal

advice” on the application for the state-backed coronavirus lending scheme and had “followed all the rules”.

Liberty, which employs thousands of people, is reportedly at risk of insolvency.

According to The Times, GFG, which employs about 5,000 people in Britain, requested the government for an emergency loan but the appeal for £170 million government bailout was eventually rejected. Ministers are now preparing to try to protect jobs should Gupta’s businesses fall into administration. Gupta said that he had launched a pro-

Sanjeev Gupta

gramme to conserve cash at his steel operations.

Liberty is not only Britain’s main producer of so-called green steel — critical for meeting the net zero carbon target — but also a significant employer. About

3,000 people work at its electric arc furnace operations, which create steel from recycled products. GFG has a further 2,000 British staff working in the aluminium and renewable energy sectors. Liberty also has substantial operations in Scotland.

Gupta, 49, built up his sprawling business interests through acquisitions.

His group’s growth was largely funded by Greensill, a supply-chain finance company founded by Lex Greensill, an Australian investment banker who grew up on a watermelon and sugar cane farm.

Government proposes state-funded quarantine for those in large families The government is reportedly considering to offer state-funded quarantine facilities for those living in large families and cramped accommodations and are therefore facing challenges of self-isolation. These considerations appear amid reports of a third wave of coronavirus that has caught some neighbouring European countries by a storm and as Britain moves ahead with its slated unlock policy.

Contact tracing chiefs are concerned that people living with large extended families often find it hard not to pass on the virus to people they are living with, many of whom often work

Baroness Dido Harding

in jobs that cannot be done from home. Some do not come forward for testing as a result and even when they do it is harder to stop the virus spreading.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that coronavirus infections were no

longer falling and had started to level off and Monday, 29th March was the first day in six months that the country recorded zero Covid-19 deaths. But it is still concerning contact tracers that only 21 per cent of those who live with others are able to keep themselves separate while isolating, according to the ONS. Baroness Harding, head of Test and Trace, told council chiefs this week that for many people in multigenerational households, pre-dominantly those from Asian backgrounds, “self-isolation physically just is impossible”. She highlighted “households where maybe there

are eight or ten people who are all working, all of whom fearful that they might lose their job, which means that no one comes forward”.

Test and Trace is planning pilots to offer Covid-19 patients and their contacts the offer of staying in a hotel free of charge to reduce their risk of passing on the virus. Such a policy was discussed during the first local lockdown in Leicester last year but was never implemented. Details are yet to be finalised and Unlike hotel quarantine for travellers from red-list countries, the policy would be voluntary and statefunded.

in brief BBC JOURNALIST REPORTEDLY PROVIDED FAKE ABORTION “RECEIPT” BBC journalist had reportedly showed Princess Diana, a faked abortion “receipt” for Tiggy Legge-Bourke, her children’s nanny, in an attempt to secure his Panorama Martin Bashir interview in 1995, it has emerged. The Daily Mail had previously reported that the Princess was said to have believed that her husband wanted her murdered in order to marry the nanny.

She was said to have been so convinced that Legge-Bourke had become pregnant by the Prince of Wales that an investigation had commenced by Sir Robert Fellowes, who was the Queen’s private secretary and Diana’s brother-in-law.

An internal BBC inquiry was set up under Lord Dyson after accusations by Earl Spencer, the Princess’s brother, put a renewed spotlight on the methods used by Bashir to persuade her to talk to him.

According to The Times, in a letter to Bashir, which the inquiry has seen, Diana is claimed to have said she “gave the interview freely and was not influenced by any documents”.

Tony Hall, who was head of news and later director-general, had then said, “The graphic had no part whatsoever in gaining the interview with the Princess of Wales. We have her word in writing.”

Last year Spencer submitted a dossier to Tim Davie, the BBC’s director-general, stating that Bashir used the fake statements to persuade him to introduce the reporter to his sister.

Duchess of Sussex donated Sotheby’s auction of Mountbatten’s £10,000 to charity tackling racism collection raises £5.6 million A Sotheby’s auction of exquisite collection of over 350 objects from the family estate of Patricia Mountbatten, the eldest daughter of last viceroy of India has reached a grand total of £5.6 million in sales.

There were bids from over 1,400 bidders in 55 countries, and it tripled the pre-sale estimates, with 90 per cent of the pieces going for over the high estimate price. The collection from the Countess's home Newhouse in Kent, which spans jewellery, furniture, paintings, sculpture, books, silver, ceramics and objets d'art, was acquired from both her own family and that of her husband, John Knatchbull, 7th Lord Brabourne.

Pieces in the sale from her

husband's side of the family included Thomas Chippendale furniture from the Knatchbull family seat of Mersham le Hatch in Kent, as well as remarkable items once owned by the likes of Jane Austen's beloved niece Fanny Austin Knatchbull (née Knight) and Sir Joseph Banks, who travelled to Australia on

Captain James Cook's first expedition.

Standout pieces from the collection included two sweet anniversary gifts. One was sent by Lord Mountbatten, Patricia's father, to her mother Edwina on their 24th wedding anniversary. He gave her a pair of enamel elephants made in Jaipur and engraved with ‘Edwina from Dickie’ and ‘18 July 1946’. These sold for £34,020, fourteen times their estimate. Also included was a gift from John Knatchbull to his wife Patricia for their 20th wedding anniversary, a Fabergé inkwell with a romantic inscription in Patricia’s handwriting that says '20 even more perfect years'.

The director of British the trustees charity has recently took a view revealed that it had kept that she was a £10,000 donation like Marmite from Meghan Markle a and there secret because of repucould be reputational issues. Director tational issues Sajid Mohammad of - people not Nottingham based liking our charity Himmah has Meghan Markle and Prince Harry charity because chosen to speak out they don't like now following the Duchess of Sussex’ her - so we decided to keep the donainterview with Oprah Winfrey where tion secret. After the interview we she spoke about racism in Britain. realised we're a poverty and race organisation [and] that we needed to In August, Markle now based in show solidarity.” the US, had gifted funds from The Royal Foundation to Nottingham The community project, based in charity Himmah - a community proGamble Street, provides more than ject tackling poverty, racism and social 650 emergency food parcels every exclusion. Now, in his statement to month to people across the city, as the BBC, Director Sajid Mohammad well as serving more than 60 hot meals said, “The reason we didn't go public is every week.

Vaccination among ethnic minorities at the lowest, ONS Recently published data by the Office for National Statistics shows that Black Caribbean and Black African people reportedly have the lowest vaccination uptake figures in the country at just 58.8 per cent and 68.7 per cent.

A first detailed examination of its kind, the study, breakdowns vaccine uptake across England by ethnicity, religion and disability. It further highlights that peo-

ple who identify themselves as Bangladeshi and Pakistani had the next lowest uptake at 72.2 and 74 per cent, compared to 86.2 per cent for the white British population.

These statistics are worrying as research has demonstrated that individuals from minority backgrounds are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. One in three patients or 33% patients

admitted to critical care with Covid-19 were from an ethnic minority group, despite making up just one in eight of the population ICNARC figures had explained.

SAGE, the Government’s scientific advisory group, also found last year found that up to 72 per cent of Black people were unlikely to take a Covid-vaccine and that Pakistani and Bangladeshi

individuals were the next most-hesitant ethnic group.

There has been plenty of vaccine mis-information campaigns on social media channels where some propagate the false narrative that taking the vaccine could mean violating certain religious norms. MPs, Mayors, councillors and public celebrities besides key workers have explained that being vaccinated is the safest way of not contract-

ing the virus and stemming the infection rates.

The ONS data, recorded from 8 December 2020 and 11 March 2021, found that 90.2 per cent of adults aged 70 years and over had received the first dose of a coronavirus in England.

Ethnicity was shown to be a key characteristic in understanding vaccine trust. Black African people were shown to be 7.4 times more likely to not receive a

jab compared with people of White British ethnicity.

After adjusting for age, sex, socio-demographic characteristics and underlying health conditions, the odds were still 5.5 times greater.

Religion was also shown to be a key characteristic in vaccine uptake rates, with the lowest rates seen across people who identified as Muslim (72.3 per cent), followed by Buddhist (78.1 per cent).

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COVID-19

Childcare bubbles You’ve probably heard about childcare bubbles that can be formed during the current Covid-19 lockdown. But you might not know exactly what they’re for or if you’re allowed to set one up.

It’s important to understand the rules around bubbles in order continue to keep our families and communities safe. Even though children are back at school, these rules haven’t changed.

Dr Sulthana Ahmed supports childcare bubbles

Did you know?

Single parents with children under 14 can join up with one other household to create a childcare bubble.

You can only have one childcare bubble with one other household. The idea is you take turns looking after the children for each other.

Childcare bubbles where possible should be formed within your local area. You should avoid long journeys unless absolutely necessary.

Childcare bubbles are not for social purposes, those caring for children should not meet socially whilst with those in their childcare bubble.

Find out who can create a childcare bubble at gov.uk

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Remembering Srichand Hinduja I was forwarded a letter by Shanoo and Vinoo Hinduja about the deteriorating health of their parents Srichand (SP) and Madhu Hinduja. I remember S P Hinduja from the campaign to save Bhaktivedanta Manor. The temple website says that in 1973, when George Harrison donated the Manor building and estate, Hertsmere Borough Council allowed Bhaktivedanta Manor to operate as a theological college. At that time, Shrila Prabhupada established a Vaishnava college, with a shrine accessible to the public. But in due course popularity soared, locals started complaining as the traffic increased.

Hertsmere then issued an enforcement notice to close the temple to the public entirely. The temple launched an appeal to the Department of the Environment. So many protests happened, cases were lost in courts, yet petitions and marches kept it going and money was raised to keep it afloat. S P Hinduja supported the cause with funds as well as the Preston temple. We will always remember him for his generosity, kind nature and true Hindu spirit.

Vinay Shah London

Call for 2-part webinar next year I was not around to take part in ABPL’s interesting 2021 webinar for letter writers last Friday but caught up with the event later online. Thanks for airing my emailed comments which I hope were well received.

The webinar was conducted largely in Gujarati with a sprinkling of English. Because Asian Voice is published in English, I would have preferred the event to start with an AV segment solely in English, followed immediately by a GS segment solely in Gujarati. Non-Gujarati letter writers like myself, an Anglo-Indian, including your Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Tamil, Bengali and Urdu-speaking letter writers, who pen their thoughts to AV in English would surely also have preferred an all-English presentation for the AV segment. I hope the format for next year will be changed for an even more fruitful get-together.

Rudy Otter

Very Encouraging Vibes The proposed India-Pakistan joint statement on a ceasefire along the LoC is a positive sign perfectly in the right direction. According to the media inputs, the so-called backchannel diplomacy seems to have played a big role in enacting the current positive state of affairs along the de facto border areas.

Encouragingly enough, most English media outlets in Pakistan and the Indian media houses have started flashing this news piece. Even the international forums like the UN and the West have appreciated the whole ceasefire effort by Pakistan and India.

Yet again, it is the big responsibility of the media houses not to send out unnecessary sensational, confusing news items instead to concentrate on the possible positive things on the sides of both Pakistan and India. Right from my childhood and straight through all these years, I have been seeing many local people in my native areas like Korkai, Tiruchendur, Tuticorin, Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, who have often been speaking well of the IndiaPakistan relationship.

Most of all, the people in India and Pakistan have already been living through their respective culture and Constitution post the Independence era. This fact cannot be wrong either on both sides.

If Asian nations like Pakistan and India are able to resolve their disputes, then it will not only send the positive signals across the region but also attract the West and the rest of the world. Above all, other important channels like proper communication, regular train, ship and bus services across the border and transborder economic activities will strengthen the lives of Indians and Pakistanis and also create the robust economic activities across the Asian region.

P Senthil Saravana Durai Mumbai

Good Friday and Easter Good Friday is a day of mourning and repentance for all Christians throughout the world. Prayer services are held in all churches in the afternoon. Most of the churches have a bitter drink prepared from bitter leaves, vinegar and other ingredients. This drink is given to everyone to taste after the service as a sign of remembrance which Jesus Christ was forced to drink by the Jews when He was nailed to the cross because they found His teachings too hard to follow.

After Good Friday comes Easter. Easter is the biggest festival of the Christian community next to Christmas, as Jesus Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven on this day. Easter without Easter eggs and a delicious meal at home is also incomplete.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

Jubel D'Cruz Mumbai

KHICHADI Follow me on Twitter: @kk_OEG

Inspiring Asian Voice seminar I was fortunate able to attend virtual Letter Writers’ Seminar on Friday 26th March 2021 at 3.00pm hosted by Asian Voice team. As an occasional contributor to Asian Voice plus for other groups, I was incredibly impressed with the variety of opinions, experiences, expressed by all participants.

Lord Rami Ranger, with his strong sense of inspiration conveyed a message for our communities to become proactive in politics, and to compete on equal merit. These heralds a time of reflection for our present and future generations. I was a union activist and a political party member, but sadly over my time I did only meet very few people from our culture, background.

Alpesh Patel, very articulate versed into insights of City Hindu Network and encouraging writing to MPs, Councillors for what might be relevant to oneself. Personally, I always write to my MP or a councillor in question and get involved to get a resolution and rightful representation. I think I know my way around, but sadly again our people lack the knowhow, resource, time, or not bothered. We need to highlight this and make ourselves more active in this fields also.

Listening to Tushar Joshi, Dwaita Joshi, Jyotsna Shah, Kokila Patel in such a sweet Gujarati was so prolific refreshing and to get encyclopaedic knowledge which reflected our interests. Finally, I would like to share my appreciation to all the people who contributed to making this virtual seminar happen – thank you all.

Jatish Shah Northampton

Bristol protesters It was really disturbing to see protestors in Bristol creating violence and putting the lives of others in danger including the police officers on duty. Home Secretary Priti Patel is right in labelling them as thugs (AV 27 March – 2 April 2021).

Right to protest might be a fundamental right but with any right, there are some duties attached to it. Rights and responsibilities are two sides of a coin. No country or civilised society can give free hand to protesters to damage public property or harm officers on duty. Peaceful protests and demonstrations are fine as long as they do not interfere with day to day lives of hardworking taxpayers.

There should be fast track courts to punish those who are instigating others and creating nuisance, thuggery and disorder. The authorities have got enough videos, photographs and other evidence to grab culprits. If the government does not act fast enough, people will take it for a ride.

All the political parties, irrespective of personal or political differences, should unite and condemn these kinds of provocative protests. Priti Patel has been acting by keeping a very fine balance but if she has to give more powers to the police to take law and order under control, without any hesitation she should do it. Some people will not be happy, not because of her style of handling such incidents but because they are unable to tolerate the fact she has risen to such a high position from a modest background of Asian origin. She is not there to keep everybody happy but to make sure that Britain becomes one of the safest countries from external and internal threats of a handful of people.

Hitesh Hingu London

Worthless anti-Chinese gestures As usual, it takes a long time for the sleep-walking West to realise the threat other nations may pose to their liberty, freedom and way of life. China has been building their arm forces, spending billions, expanding naval and air force. China would be the first country to establish permanent base on the moon to facilitate the exploration of the galaxy, especially the planet Mars for human settlement. Many world leaders, especially from India, Vietnam, Philippines, Japan and few more from the Pacific Rim nations warned West but their warning fell on deaf ears until now. No one has seriously challenged China on nationalising South China Sea, by building artificial islands in shallow waters, hundreds of miles from their shore but only a stone throw away from the shores of Philippines, Malesia and Vietnam where waters are rich in minerals, especially oil and gas. At last West has realized that it is China and not Russia that poses real threat, with its bulging population and overflowing treasury, money made by exporting highly subsidised goods and using slave labour, killing our industrial base, such as steel, electronics and other consumer goods.

If West really wants to stop China in its track, then the most important step West should take is to stop imports from China and move investment from China to India, closing down West owned factories, thus depriving China financial muscle that enables it to spend vast amount on defence, space exploration and building mouth-watering infrastructure we can only dream about! Banning few Chinese personalities is toothless gesture of no consequences. As China has already accumulated some $2 trillion war-chest, it will require real guts and sacrifice to stop China. But West has no choice, either stop China now or let China dominate the world economy and threaten neighbours, taking over vast areas of oceans as well as land mass, making West redundant on the international stage.

It is time British Indians, Pakistanis and other minorities protest outside Chinese embassy for mistreating, using as slave labour Uighur Muslim minority in North West China.

Bhupendra M. Gandhi London

Kapil’s

You’ll Never Walk Alone Kapil Dudakia One year ago, I wrote a piece titled, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. The words that inspired that article came from a song written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers, and sung by Gerry and the Pacemakers.

When you walk through a storm Hold your head up high And don’t be afraid of the dark At the end of a storm There’s a golden sky And the sweet silver song of a lark Walk on through the wind Walk on through the rain Though your dreams be tossed and blown Walk on, walk on With hope in your heart And you’ll never walk alone You’ll never walk alone Walk on, walk on With hope in your heart And you’ll never walk alone You’ll never walk alone One year on and we are now on the verge of our national lockdown being eased. Much has happened since Covid hit these shores. As I write we have seen some 4,333,042 cases of Covid, 126,592 have died, 3,805,416 recovered and 401,034 active cases. During this time, we have administered 121,517,399 Covidtests. As a nation we have gone through a nightmare.

At such a time we as a nation came together. Do you remember the ‘Clap for Our Carers’ which took place every Thursday evening at 20:00 hrs between 26 March and 28 May 2020? Every Thursday, people of all ages, all colours, all faiths and differing political persuasion came out not just to clap for our carers, but to bang on anything that made a loud noise. I used a stainless-steel thali with a wooden ladle – and trust me, that made some serious noise. All our neighbours came out, some we had not seen or spoken to - but each Thursday, we felt part of a family. One of our neighbours is a Doctors, she broke down in tears. The affection of the nation for the carers was just too much to take. The raw emotion of having faced Covid patients, day after day and keeping that emotion and pain in check, just gave way.

Fortunately for us our Government was one of the leaders when it came to seeking a vaccine. During Spring of 2020 it had ploughed hundreds of millions of pounds towards securing a vaccine for the nation. On 8 December 2020 the UK started its vaccination drive. The methodology was simple and effective. There were multiple tiers of seriousness.

Those most vulnerable to be vaccinated first and so on. The media, and some politicians from the opposition parties of course played games. However, by the end of January 2021 almost 1 million of the most vulnerable had been vaccinated, including my Dad. The rate of vaccination increased dramatically. It took everyone by surprise. Every call the Government was making on the vaccine programme was proving to be correct. Today more than 50% of the adult population has had the jab. That’s more than 30 million!

This week we will see the lifting of some of the restrictions on the lockdown. My only observation being, let’s not go mad. We are not out of the woods yet. There is still a lot to be done and our success is dependent on all of us doing our bit. Let us stick to the timetable set forth by the Government. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Anyone who knows of a loved one with Covid will tell you, this is not a joke. Let’s not put our loved ones at risk.

We don’t walk alone; we walk together, and we win together. March 2022, I wonder what my article will contain?

Homage to father I just read Hon Ruchi Ghanashyam’s tribute to her father Rajendra Deo Shukla. I was much impressed with how a father can make a great impact on his children in their upbringing. Ruchi ji highlights a special relationship and learnings that work for her even now.

The strong message for us is to think of our own parents and acknowledge what they have done for us and thank them before it is too late.

It reminds me about what you have often mentioned to me about the teachings of your father upon you and how you are always working to fulfil what he said you should do.

We should all read this beautiful article.

Subhash Thakrar London We are grateful to all letter writers for more and more versatile letters well within word limit. Please keep contributing as always. If you are new, then write to Rupanjana at rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com - AV

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British Kebab Awards breaks all records despite the coronavirus pandemic The British Kebab Awards has attracted the most ever entries in its nine-year history despite the on-going coronavirus pandemic.

More than 350 entries have made it to the semi-final longlist – the most ever since the awards began in 2013 – and have a chance of winning an award at a prestigious ceremony at the Park Plaza Lord Karan Bilimoria Westminster Bridge Hotel on 26 October.

Judges of the illustrious awards this year will include: Conservative Minister Nadhim Zahawi, Labour MP Carolyn Harris, Assistant General Secretary of Unite Steve Turner, SNP MP Angus Brendan MacNeil, Conservative MP David Warburton and David Galman from Galliard Homes.

Business and Industry Minister Nadhim Zahawi, who is currently serving as the Minister for the Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment, said, “Recognising the UK’s thriving kebab restaurant and takeaway sector is very important. I’m proud to be part of this landmark event which will showcase what the sector has to offer and reward the best businesses for their success.”

The awards are also sponsored by Unilever, Cobra Beer, Big K Charcoal, Bookers, Coca-Cola, Alton and Co Accountants, Atlacarte, DD Points, Troy Digital, McCain Foods and Foodelo.

Lord Karan Bilimoria, the Founder and Chairman of Cobra Beer said: “Cobra beer is proud to sponsor the 9th British Kebab Awards. Kebabs have become a great British

institution, with over 1 million kebabs sold a day. The Kebab awards celebrate the hard work and achievement of the industry which

Nadhim Zahawi

3 - 9 April 2021

UK

11

South Asian frontline doctors answer most popular questions about Covid-19 vaccine The rollout of the Covid-19 vaccines is being celebrated because vaccination saves lives and offers us a way out of the coronavirus crisis.

Millions of people have already had their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, but there are some who are worried about the safety of a jab that has been developed so quickly. Here, four doctors, who are working on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic, respond to some of the most popular questions about the Covid-19 vaccine.

Ibrahim Dogus

contributes billions of pounds to the UK economy and employs over 200,000 people. I wish the Kebab Awards team, its inspirational founder Ibrahim Dogus, and all the nominees every success.”

The Awards, which are sponsored by JUST EAT and supported by the Kebab Alliance, the new industry body recently set up to represent the sector, recognise and champion the efforts of local kebab takeaways and restaurants across the UK. Ibrahim Dogus, founder of the British Kebab Awards and Director of the newly formed Kebab Alliance, commented: “This year’s longlist demonstrates the sector’s diversity, with more entries than ever before including from a wide range of restaurants and takeaways across the UK. From twists on the classics, to new vegan varieties, we are proud to celebrate one of the nation’s best loved industries, the kebab industry, as it continues to grow in new and exciting ways.

After such a challenging year of Covid-19 lockdowns, the ceremony will also give staff who work in the industry a chance to celebrate.”

Dr Koyes Ahmed Q: The vaccine was developed too quickly, how can I be sure it's safe?

Dr Koyes Ahmed, GP, Urgent Care Doctor and Vice Chair of the Bristol Muslim trategic Leadership Group: “The vaccines that are authorised have been through three stages of clinical trials and have been tested on tens of thousands of people around the world.

“The trial phases were organised to overlap, speeding up the overall time of vaccine production, but without cutting any corners on trialling the vaccine and ensuring it meets strict standards of safety and effectiveness.

“While the vaccines have been created quickly, they have been subjected to the same rigorous safety tests and processes as other medicines. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the independent regulatory body which approves all the medicines we use in the UK, has assessed the safety of each vaccine and continues to monitor them. Millions of people have received a Covid-19 vaccine.

“As a GP, I’ve witnessed the devastating impact that Covid-19 has had on my community. It is important to remember that any side effects from the vaccine are minimal compared to the much higher risks of ending up in hospital, in intensive care or even dying from Covid.”

Dr Annapoorna Sharma Q: Is the vaccine vegetarian and vegan?

Dr Annapoorna Sharma, MBBS FRCPCH Consultant Paediatrician with interest and experience in immunisation programme leading and teaching said: “The MHRA and manufacturers have confirmed that the Covid-19 Oxford AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines do not contain any components of animal origin. They’re suitable for vegetarians and vegans and those who want to avoid certain foods for religious or cultural reasons. Many religious leaders and organisations are encouraging their communities to take the vaccine.

Temples, cathedrals, gurdwaras and mosques have become vaccination centres, and volunteers from many faith organisations are helping in the vaccine effort.

Dr Harpreet Sood Q: Will the vaccine work with the new variants?

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Dr Harpreet Sood, GP in London and Board member of Health Education England: “Both the Pfizer/ BioNTech and Oxford/ Astra Zeneca vaccines are safe and effective against the Covid-19 variants currently dominant in the UK. In terms of other variants, even if a vaccine demonstrates reduced effectiveness against other variants in preventing infection, there may still be protection against severe disease that can lead to hospitalisation and death. The continued rollout of the vaccine is therefore essential to save lives and to protect our NHS.”

Dr Chintal Patel Q: After having two doses of the vaccine, can I return back to normal and start mixing with family and friends?

Dr Chintal Patel, GP in Westminster, London: “Even after you’ve had the first and second dose, at the moment, the advice is that you should still follow the current government restrictions. We know that the vaccines will help reduce deaths and they will help stop people getting really unwell and being hospitalised. However, it is essential that everyone continues to follow Covid-19 restrictions whether they have had the vaccine or not. It's tough, but really important for now.

“This means it is important to: • continue to follow social distancing guidance • wear a face covering and remember hands, face, space • cut down on your interactions with other people as this is how Covid spreads.”

12 MEDIA WATCH

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SCRUTATOR’S India suspends international flights till April-end In view of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Indian government extended the suspension on scheduled international passenger flights till 30 April, 2021. "However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis," noted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in a circular. The circular said the suspension does not affect the operation of international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the DGCA. Scheduled international passenger services continue to remain suspended in India since March 23, 1920 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral air bubble arrangements with other countries since July. India currently has bilateral air bubble agreement with about 27 countries, which include countries like Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Maldives, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Ukraine, the UAE, the UK, Uzbekistan and the US. Earlier, the government noted that Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) has brought back over 67,50,000 people so far. (Agency) Minister shares video of army jawans dancing in Ladakh

India's sports minister Kiren Rijiju recently took to Twitter to share a video of Indian army jawans dancing at Pangong Tso in Ladakh. Since being shared, the video has won people over.

There is a chance that it’ll leave you smiling too. “It feels great whenever soldiers enjoy! Brave Indian Army Gorkha Jawans and colleagues with full music at Pangong Tso in Ladakh,” he wrote while sharing the clip. The video opens to shows two army jawans dancing to a peppy song.

A few others are seen sitting around enjoying the performance. What makes the video even more amazing is the beautiful Pangong Tso Lake in the backdrop. Te video, till now, has gathered nearly 110,000 – and the numbers are increasing.

It has also accumulated various kinds of comments. “How lovely,” wrote a Twitter user.

“The background is so beautiful,” expressed another. “My dad was in the paramilitary forces. Proud of him. Proud of what our defence forces do,” said a third.

(Agency) Woman burns her father to death In a horrific incident that took place in the Chandpal Ghat area of North Kolkata, an elderly man was burnt alive in a park by his daughter, just hours after the two enjoyed a meal at a restaurant. The incident came to light when a few morning walkers noticed charred remains of the deceased, identified as Biswajit Babu, in a park the next morning. The police were informed and the CCTV clips from the area revealed that it was Babu’s daughter, Piyali, who poured kerosene on him and set him on fire while he was asleep in the park. They were both residents of Christopher Road.

The footage found the half-burnt body and Piyali next to it. During interrogation, Piyali revealed that she had taken her father to a restaurant for dinner. After

dinner, they went to the park for a stroll. Once inside the park, Biswajit decided to relax and enjoying a drink. After he fell asleep, she poured a cup of kerosene over him and set him on fire. Piyali said she committed the crime as his father was an alcoholic and subjected her to physical abuse and neglect. Police said Piyali got divorced a few years ago and started living with her father. (Agency) Man tumbles off balcony, alert bystander saves him

A man had a narrow escape in Kerala as an alert bystander rescued him from a fatal accident in the nick of time. In a chilling video, which was captured in a CCTV camera, two men are seen standing in the corridor of a building, leaning against the brick railing. Within a few seconds, the man is seen losing his balance and falling backwards from the balcony unconsciously.

However, the bystander immediately sprung into action by grabbing the man’s leg even as others rushed to pull him back on to the floor safely. As per reports, the incident took place at a bank branch in Kozhikode.

The netizens have lauded the actions of the rescuer, a daily wage earner. The man who fell down from the balcony of the building was later admitted to a hospital, but showed no signs of any major illness. (Agency) Govt junks plans to allow Bt Brinjal trials Bowing to the pressure of RSS-linked farm outfit Bhartiya Kisan Sangh and heeding to the unwillingness of some states, the Centre has junked its decision of allowing scientific field trials of transgenic crops, including indigenously developed Bt brinjal. The central regulator, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), had last year allowed bio-safety research field trials of two new transgenic

varieties of Bt brinjal in eight states - MP, Karnataka, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and West Bengal during 2020-23. The Bhartiya Kisan Sangh and other groups had, however, subsequently submitted seven representations to the Centre and different state governments, urging them not to give ‘No Objection Certificate’ for biosafety field trials of Bt brinjal. Environment minister Prakash Javadekar told the Rajya Sabha that it has been decided that proposals for field trials of GM crops, including Bt brinjal, will not be taken up for consideration in the GEAC without the concerned state’s UT’s recommendation. Besides submitting its representations against the scientific field trials of Bt brinjal to the Centre, the BKS had written to Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu governments. (Ageny) An electric scooter with 20 paise per km running cost

The Indian Institute Of Technology (IIT) Delhi incubated startup, Geliose Mobility, has launched an electric scooter ‘Hope’. The running cost of this scooter is only 20 paise per km.

‘Hope’ is a cost-effective scooter for delivery and local commuting. It gives a top speed of 25 km. Along with this, it also falls in the discount category available for the e-vehicles and does not require a driving license or registration for driving. ‘Hope’ comes with a portable charger and portable lithium-ion battery, which can be fully charged in common sockets used at home.

This battery is fully charged in 4 hours. The customers have the option to select two different ranges of 50 km and 75 km of battery capacity. IIT Delhi said that this scooter is equipped with modern technology like battery management system, data monitoring system and pedalassist unit. It comprises IoT which always informs customers

about their scooters through data analytics. Due to such features, ‘Hope’ falls into the category of smart and connected scooters of the future. During the journey, customers can choose the option of pedal or throttle as per their convenience. ‘Hope’ is equipped with special reverse mode technology for convenient parking, with the help of which the scooter can be parked even in difficult places. (Ageny) Magic mat will tell the outcome of exercise session Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) may soon be able to help ascertain how productive or effective the physiotherapy session was, thanks to a special low-cost sensory mat developed by researchers at the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H).

Currently, physiotherapists have to rely on cameras and other expensive equipment to track the progress of patients. The intelligent mat developed by researchers uses conductive foam, sensors and an AI algorithm to accurately monitor the speed and accuracy of exercises being done by patients in a session. “The biggest plus of using this system is the ability to quantify a physiotherapy session,” said Aftab M Hussain, principal investigator. “In addition to tracking the progress of patients in terms of accuracy of where they’re placing the load, one can also monitor the time taken to place the load. So, with this pressure sensor matrix, we can get both speed and accuracy of load positioning,” he explained. He said that the mat can be particularly helpful in restoring physical strength in victims of stroke or arthritis patients, who experience muscle weakness and are prescribed multiple exercises, including one that involves picking up an object from point A and placing it at point B repeatedly, as part of physiotherapy. A key ingredient of this magic exercise mat is conductive foam, which is a polyethylene foam filled with carbon that enables transfer of any static charge. (Agency) Man bites hand of shop owner On failing to get delivery of groceries in time, a man not only

assaulted the grocery shop owner and also bit his hand. Police have registered an offence and are investigating further. The complainant, Sanjay Patel, stated that he was at his grocery shop when Rajendra alias Radhe Patel, a resident of Chiloda, came to his shop. The accused is known to the complainant and asked Sanjay for the order he had placed earlier. According to police, Sanjay told him that his tempo was out for deliveries and when it returned he would get the groceries delivered. This angered Rajendra who started abusing him and attacked him.

Rajendra also bit Sanjay’s hand.

As people gathered, Rajendra left the shop. Sanjay said he was asked by community members not to lodge a complaint, and thus did not. On Sunday, Rajendra came with his son Maulik to the shop and threatened him against lodging an FIR. Sanjay then decided to file a complaint against the father and son. Police registered case of voluntarily causing hurt and other sections of the Indian Penal Code. (Agency) UP minister complains over ‘azaan’ After Allahabad University

vice-chancellor Prof Sangita Srivastava raised the issue of ‘azaan’ disturbing her sleep, Uttar Pradesh minister of state for parliamentary affairs and rural development Anand Swaroop Shukla wrote a letter to the Ballia DM seeking action for lowering of volume and removal of excess loudspeakers from a local mosque. In his letter, Shukla alleged that the high volume of loudspeakers is not only disturbing the academic activities at three nearby educational institutions, but also disturbing him when he practices yoga, meditate, worship or do official work at his home. The minister also released a video message, which went viral on social media.

(Agency)

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NHS and Tropical Sun start family ‘Heart to Heart’ about blood and organ donation Britons are being encouraged to have a ‘heart to heart’ as part of a new campaign to get people from Black and Asian backgrounds talking about blood and organ donation.

Launched on 23rd March,

by NHS Blood and Transplant and food brand Tropical Sun, the ‘Heart-to-Heart’ campaign hopes of sparking life-saving conversations about blood and organ donation. As part of the campaign Tropical Sun’s packets of rice and tins of Jackfruit feature the NHS’ calls-to-action prompting conversations around blood and organ donation. They also feature powerful real-life stories of people whose lives have been directly impacted by blood and organ donation.

Geraldine Parker Smith, National BAME Marketing Manager at NHS Blood and Transplant said, “Through this campaign, we also want to encourage families to have the conversation about organ donation. People from Black and Asian backgrounds are often more likely to need a transplant, and when it comes to organs like kidneys, the best match may come from someone of the same ethnic background. We are urging people

to register their organ donation decision and to share it with their family. Whatever your decision, we know that families are more likely to support it when they have the certainty of knowing what you want to happen.”

In addition to the on-pack promotion, Tropical Sun has also recruited some leading British celebrities to donate blood and record personal reflections on organ donation.

This includes support from celebrities including legendary athlete, Col Dame Kelly Holmes (MBE mil), actress Nina Wadia OBE and actor Ricky Whittle, best known for his starring role in the TV series American Gods.

Nina Wadia knows personally the importance of having a conversation about organ donation. Her mum lived with kidney failure and daily dialysis for many years, until eventually a suitable donor was found.

While her mum sadly died a few

years later, Nina speaks of her gratitude for the extra time the transplant gave to the family.

Nina commented, “Even as an actress, I know how difficult it can be to find the right words when you are trying to discuss a serious topic, such as organ or blood donation. So, I am glad that the NHS continues to try and find ways to make the conversation easier.

“For many families, cooking and eating are the times when we can all come together to discuss both the little and big life matters. Having the conversation can actually be much easier and quicker than you expect.

And yet the difference that quick chat can make, for people like my mum, and so many others, who are living in need of a transplant or regular blood transfusions is indescribable.

“What greater gift can there be of knowing that you can be responsible for saving somebody – or several people’s lives?

Or giving a child extra time with a parent, or a parent extra time with their child? Please don’t wait, find out more about blood and organ donation and have the conversation with your loved ones today.”

Government helps South Asian victims of domestic abuse The government is ensuring those in the South Asian community that help and support is still available during the coronavirus pandemic through the ongoing #YouAreNotAlone domestic abuse campaign.

Following the recent widespread discussions about women’s safety, the Government reopened its Violence Against Women and Girls call for evidence. The aim is to understand the views and lived experiences of people from all backgrounds to help shape the new Violence Against Women and Girls strategy and ensure the Government is able to protect more victims and tackle perpetrators. The #YouAreNotAlone domestic abuse campaign aims to reassure and inform anybody at risk of, or experiencing domestic abuse that: - Help and support is available for victims and their children during and beyond the coronavirus pandemic - Under the current lockdown rules, people are allowed to leave home if they are at risk of harm, including domestic abuse.

- If you are in immediate danger you should call 999 and the police will respond.

- You, and your children, can still access domestic abuse support services even if you are worried about your immigration status Nadia Ali, TV and radio presenter, said,“There are many beautiful aspects associated with South Asian culture, but there are also some that can be quite damaging. Whilst going through

my abuse, I allowed my husband to use our faith and our culture as weapons to manipulate me and keep me trapped Nadia Ali in an emotionally and psychologically cruel marriage. After a while, I had the strength to actually listen to the voices in my head telling me that what I was going through was very wrong and no one had the right to control my mind, body or soul. It was time to put myself first, before my husband and the community.”

Seema Dhanak, Housing Caseworker and social media campaigner for domestic abuse awareness, has seen first-hand how the lockdown has impacted women from the community. She has often supported members of the popular South Asian women’s network group, RecommendAsian, with their own experiences of domestic abuse. She said, “In my current role, I have dealt with hundreds of homeless people affected by various forms of domestic abuse ranging from physical, sexual, emotional and financial. It wasn’t until I started supporting members of the group RecommendAsian that I truly began to understand the horrific nature of this crime, and the pain and suffering it caused the women in my community.

14 WOMEN'S VOICE

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Who is a Passionpreneur?

Shefali Saxena Shilpa Panchmatia is a business growth strategist working with ambitious business owners to help them achieve more profits, more time and more joy in their life. With over 21 years as a business founder, owner and partner, she has experienced the joys of a successful exit and the lows of cash flow, challenges of building a team and keeping clients happy. Shilpa is also a trained NLP coach since the past 20 years.

In an exclusive chat with Asian Voice, she spoke about the challenges of being an entrepreneur.

- What books/novels/newspapers did you read while growing up?

I started getting interested in business from age 12. My maternal uncle would visit regularly and I would always answer the house phone where he would ask me what the economy was like in the UK, I would get scared that I didn’t know so would spend my pocket money buying the FT instead of cola fizzy bottles.

Early on in my life I got interested in personal development, the power of the mind and how we can manage our thoughts to control our beliefs to give us an optimum mindset for success. I wanted to be successful from an early age and I read all that I could to help me understand.

The personal development revolution was just starting and classics like Rich Dad Poor Dad and Think and Grow Rich were my favourites. Mindset with strategy and execution is a good formula for success in anything, business, sport, life.

- Who is a Passionpreneur?

Q

Q

Great question, everyone asks me that one ! Simply put it's someone who has plugged into his or her passion and turned it into a profitable business while positively contributing to other people's lives. In other words, they've created businesses to make money doing what they love.

I love working with passionpreneur and in my own life I have started businesses in areas that I have been really passionate about.

Q

- We're still living in a man's world.

What do you do and suggest women to follow so that an idea never gets rejected just because you're a woman?

That notion is changing slowly but surely, look at the number of women in business today and the rise of female entrepreneurism. It wasn’t like this when I started my first business 21 years ago, I was always the little Indian girl in the room, never taken seriously.

Since the economy no longer depends on muscular strength, women are able to take on more challenging and complex roles and start and scale businesses. Men and women are equal and complementary in their diversity.

Some great lessons that I learnt working in male environments were: - Get out of your own way. I wish I had learnt this sooner but they teach you to be nice and kind and sweet in life. To get ahead you really need to believe in yourself and trust yourself. Positive self talk is essential and knowing when you need to learn new skills and knowledge to excel. The world is constantly changing, being abreast with new skills is essential together with learning to trust your gut.

- Learning to take small steps and focusing on little wins each day is a way of life that is very enriching and lets you reach long term goals without mental and emotional anguish. I have had to learn patience and appreciate slow and steady progress. I learnt this with my daily yoga practise, everyday I would make tiny progress, but when I stuck to a daily routine and took small regular steps over time I saw a massive difference. Operating this way requires a tremendous amount of patience as well as confidence in your vision and your ability to reach your long-term goals.

-Embrace your centre and failure if it comes to you Business can be a real struggle sometimes, it’s a massive roller coaster of a journey with wanting to quit one day to having funding the next and a growth in sales. The pressure to perform is massive. I have always found myself up against the traditional views of womanhood and the role of

New vegan brand uses ‘tigernuts’ 32-year-old Ayesha Grover is the founder of strp’d. She launched the venture in 2020 after finding a relatively unheard-of superfood which could be used as a healthy and vegan ingredient for baking, or alternate to milk. Ayesha discovered tiger nuts while travelling in Nigeria, where the ingredient (which is actually not a nut and is more like a sweet potato) has been consumed for generations.

Upon further research Ayesha discovered that outside of tasting great, tigernuts had several potential health benefits including supporting gut health, enhancing digestion and, as they were naturally sweet, means you can add less sugar into recipes.

Therefore, she decided to launch her own range of tiger nut based products in the UK. Originally planned for an April 2020 launch, she had included products like on-the-go tigernut milk drinks, ideal for commuters, but when the pandemic hit the demand for such a product dissipated and she decided to pause production on the drinks for a later date. During the pandemic, Ayesha experimented

with tiger nuts as a healthier, gluten and nut-free flour alternative and in August of last year launched these as

the debut product for strp’d.

According to Ayesha, the products have been hugely successful the business has seen an average monthly growth of 90%, and they are expecting to turn over £300,000 by the end of this fiscal year.

in brief

Shilpa Panchmatia

a woman in society. With raised eyebrows, sideway comments and critical questions.

Always remember to stay focused, take care of yourself and your family and remember this is all part of the journey.

Ah and expect failure, all the time, it's part of business and definitely part of the rites of passage. I always think of Edison’s quote when I fail at something.

- Please share three fundamental points that any woman must adhere to while planning or aspiring to become an entrepreneur.

1. Learn from rejection, don’t feel dejected by it. Is your idea strong, is your market research deep enough, is your sector and audience clear enough.

2. Know when to go slow and know when to speed up. Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint hearted, you do need to take some risk to succeed but always ensure its calculated risk and always listen to your intuition !

3. Embrace being a leader and being a woman, bring people together to inspire and motivate them. Women are known for using a transformational leadership style, it’s a great way - What does a woman need in terms of support (financial and moral) to reach where you are today? What was your support like?

Formal and informal networks are really crucial to women in life and business- they don’t succeed without them. Find a support group, a mastermind peer to peer group, a sponsor or a mentor to champion, support and challenge you.

Before I started my first business, I ensured that I had sufficient financial reserves to bootstrap my business. Access to finance and funding is so much easier today for female entrepreneurs with banks and accelerators easily accessible.

If you’re wanting to work with Shilpa, she is launching a new Mastermind Peer to Peer group which will meet monthly remotely. https://shilpa-p.com/

Q

Q

Gender equality takes a hit in the UK music industry amid the pandemic The UK festival industry is getting back on its feet after a year of being struck by the pandemic. With that, gender equality has taken a hit.

“Friday marked a mini-boom for festival bill announcements, all heavily weighted towards male performers. Headlined by Liam Gallagher, Snow Patrol, David Guetta and Duran Duran, Isle of Wight offered a 73% male lineup,” The Guardian reported.

Reports also suggested that even Scotland's TRNSMT festival this year is all-male acts and makes up 61% of performers. At Kendal Calling, the line up featured 79% men.

“It’s totally unaccept-

able that after a year of turmoil, women and minorities are being excluded from this return to live,” Maxie Gedge, UK project manager of Keychange, told Guardian.

PRS Foundation has pledged to commit to lineups featuring 50% women and gender minorities by 2022.

The domination of males in the music industry coincided with other festival announcements.

The Dance festival Creamfields features a 91% male lineup.

INDIA-UK BUSINESS COUNCIL OF WOMEN'S INDIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (WICCI) ANNOUNCES ITS LAUNCH With a team of 20 members, the India-UK Business Council of Women's India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI) had a virtual launch which witnessed participation from women belonging to large corporates, business, government officials, influencers and changemakers. The Council aims to encourage and empower women in business, industry and commerce across India and the UK. The topic of the panel discussion during the launch was “Leading Businesses into the future: Opportunities and Trends for Women@Work.”

The panellists included, Mohandas Pai, Chairman Aarin Capital and Manipal Global Education; Richard Hawkes OBE, Chief Executive at the British Asian Trust; Anshu Bhartia, CEO at UnLtd India and Anisha Motwani, Founder of Storm the norm Ventures and Board Director at Abbot and L&T. Devapriya Khanna, President, WICCI India-UK Business Council said, “At the India-UK Business Council of WICCI, our fundamental objective is to bring together women from India and the UK together to support their professional growth, market expansion and professional development and to strengthen bilateral conversation and the business corridor between the two countries.”

WOMEN IN TRAVEL CHOOSES DIGITAL FORMAT FOR THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN IN TRAVEL & TOURISM FORUM 2021 Women in Travel CIC, the social enterprise dedicated to empowering women through employability and entrepreneurship in the travel industry, has announced its second International Women in Travel & Tourism Forum will take place digitally, from 10 – 15 May 2021. The five themes of the forum this year are as follows: Taking stock of where we are and getting ready for recovery, Building a better future for all in travel and tourism, Talent through a gender and inclusion lens, How do we build an inclusive travel and tourism industry, Using mentoring to empower yourself and your career and Experience one of three female-led London day tours.

The Speakers include Laura Storm the Founder of Regenerators, co-author of Regenerative Leadership and WEF Young Global Leader, who will be delivering a keynote address on regenerative leadership, as well as Natalia Bayona the Director of Innovation, Education, and Investments at UNWTO, Martinique Lewis, Diversity in Travel Consultant and President of Black Travel Alliance and John Bevan, CEO of dnata Travel Europe.

Sessions will be live and also available ondemand to registered attendees in the weeks following the event. Based on ticket type, ticket prices range from £10 £60 when booking the Early Bird Offer available at www.womenintravelcic.com, until Monday 12 April 2021 or from £15 £100 after this time.

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Sunetra Senior Armani is a rising young journalist and the co-founder of MESA Magazine along with co-editor Kardelen Yuce. The impressive cosmopolitan platform is dedicated to Middle-Eastern and South Asian writers who want to fully expressive themselves while independently honing their craft. From international news and editorial opinion to the particulars of beauty, pop-culture and sex & relationships, the stylish publication welcomes underrepresented cultural insight to promote a powerful totality. Recent stories range from political coverage such as why The Military Coup in Myanmar is terrible for the Rohingya to lifestyle where The Middle Eastern influence behind hen nights is intriguingly explored. Other striking pieces include Are Current Conversations in Racism Achieving Anything to Am I Champagne Socialist? Armani highlighted the desire to dismantle the one-dimensional image of people of colour as MESA Magazine’s primary goal: “Our experience on a daily basis isn’t as depressing as the media would have us believe! When I was freelancing, I really noticed that many mainstream editors only commissioned pieces that focussed on religion, culture and race based very much in conflict. This is limiting and just entrenches a negative bias. It felt as if I was selling a pound of flesh just to have some recognition. Of course, it’s important to talk about difficult things, but not to the detriment of one’s mental well-being. Writing solely on trauma definitely took its toll.”

Propagating a reductive philosophy then unsurprisingly undermines the spirit. In order to accurately reflect the dynamism of identity and reconstitute the social truth, Armani teamed up with friend in writerly revolution, Kardelen, creating the conceptual “space that would display a range of meditated emotion. There’s a scope of feeling from different people about the world, depending on the specifics e.g., my views as a South-Asian Muslim are going to be different to that of Kardelen’s whose background is Middle-Eastern. Usually, you won’t get the variety that we see within our own lives. We wanted our writers to be able to pen anything they felt deeply for: arts, current affairs, private stories and wider commentary. This would send a message to editors while giving proper chance to alternative talent to thrive.” Indeed, as well as introducing rounder positive representation, there is a responsibility for big papers to accommodate invested grass-roots perspectives to effectively evolve the industry alongside.

Armani further commented on the dearth of diversity: “Yes, the media landscape should mirror the public’s reality”, e.g., a British-Bangladeshi’s, “investigation of the gentrification of Brick Lane is going to be more incisive than some white man sat behind a

regular news desk. It would be great to have established platforms listen to specialist publications and collaborate on reporting, respecting the wisdom of those on the ground. We have a close relationship to our communities and so the information we are put out there is reliable.

Influential media outlets should ask themselves: what subject am I covering? Whose voice is the most authentic to that piece?” Here, interestingly, one of the many topics Armani covers in her general journalism is the Royal Family: “Human-led stories are really my interest. I love to highlight the many different areas that one person,” or in this case entity, “can illuminate.”

Indeed, there is an underlying commonality with every person in that each belongs to one anthropological race.

Armani stated: “the best way to invite empathy is to create stories that are relatable e.g. The Royals may seem removed from us, but they are ordinary people at the end of day.

Through them, you can explore fashion, history and heritage. Similarly, when I wrote a piece on Pakistani migrants, the account appeared niche.

Some who came to Britain from South-Asia would use Tape Letters to communicate with those back home being unable to read or write.

Although it seems as if only those in that same position can understand, negotiating loneliness and isolation is a state to which we can all relate – especially now. I love to unearth the intimacy in communities.” In this way, Armani also ultimately captures the warmth within personal ideas: good journalism being the ability to balance objectivity with sincere sympathy. “Aspiring journalists today need a combination of self-belief and love of good stories. If you find a story that you're super excited about, the chances are that someone else will be too and people will want to read it.

That's where conviction comes in – you need to know that you're the right

There’s a scope of feeling “from different people about the world, depending on the specifics e.g., my views as a South-Asian Muslim are going to be different to that of Kardelen’s whose background is Middle-Eastern.

Usually, you won’t get the variety that we see within our own lives

”

person to bring that story to life.”

Indeed, emotional fire is what makes analytical pieces creative and even infuses them with a playfulness or humour as another inspiring counterbalance to the didactic norm. This is evident in articles by MESA such as The Language of Internal Monologues When You’re Bilingual and Are You Ready for the Awkwardwear trend?

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TLIGHT

Armani Syed: MESA Mag and the Future of Progressive Journalism Armani Syed

UK

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Finally, a passionate professional, Armani not only reveals the progressiveness inherent to her industry, but also a new generation who wish to broadly better tradition. “Every aspect of society develops as we receive new informaScientific tion. advances have changed the face of medicine and continue to do so, and as we get closer to a state of irreversible damage caused by climate change, we realise the action we need to take to protect our planet.

Reassessing conventional outlooks is no different. We can evaluate them and decide what still serves us and what we can improve on. At the end of the day people will continue to hold the traditions that matter to them dearly and that’s never going to change no matter how much criticism an institution receives. We just need to reframe how we view these values.

For example, being a patriot doesn’t have to mean securing your borders and worshipping the flag - it could mean that you want to see your country have a great legacy by leading on human rights, using funds to look after its vulnerable and hungry citizens rather than being shamed into doing the moral thing, and by being a place that people dream of coming to.” As corollary to this, ironically, rejecting contemporary context can sabotage the otherwise timeless value of tradition. In a climate of extreme divisiveness, a combination of standard smarts and modern open-mindedness is the organic social salve.

Already in the process of a mass holistic restructuring, to enjoy the concrete benefit, we must simply let this be.

Elaborate on what makes a talented contemporary journalist?

An awareness of the digital world.

A lot of media has moved away from print and television, and towards webbased platforms. Know how to find a story that people will click on using Google trends. Learn how to find experts and sources using twitter searches and relevant hashtags. The internet can connect us to really exciting voices and stories and make our life easier. Most importantly, however, I think strong young journalists need resilience. Learn to take a rejection or fifty because they will be forthcoming. You may want to give up at times or think you're not good but you need those rejections, be that for jobs or freelance stories you've pitched to an editor, to steer you away from mistakes and learn what works.

What have been some highlight moments with MESA? The first time we did a shoot for our Modern Maharajah feature with DJ and curator, Ryan Lanji, of Netflix’ The Big Flower Fight and runner of popular queer Bollywood night in London. The spread and shots went live this year, giving us legitimacy: we are created by community for the community. We weren’t able to pay Ryan as we are volunteer-led, but he was happy to help us. We even got some great tips!

W: https://mesa-magazine.com/ T: @armani_sy

Sanctioned by China, ministers vow to “redouble” their campaign against human rights abuses China has imposed sanctions on nine UK citizens in total - including the five parliamentarians - who are among its most vocal critics and support Uighur

UK, US, Canada and the EU on China.

Now, Sir Iain, along with MPs Nusrat Ghani and Tim Loughton, and the peers Lord Alton and

Iain Duncan Smith, Nusrat Ghani and Tom Tugendhat

Muslims besides human rights of other persecuted minorities. In response, five UK parliamentarians sanctioned by China have released a joint statement vowing to "redouble" their efforts to campaign against human rights abuses.

Three MPs, including ex-Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, and two peers said the action by China was an attempt to stifle "free and open debate".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he "stands firmly" with those targeted

by China for criticising its treatment of the Uighur people. The sanctions follow similar moves by the

Baroness Kennedy, said, "The sanctions have unmasked the Chinese Communist Party. These actions are not only an attack on us as individuals but an attempt to stifle the free and open debate that is at the heart of our parliamentary democracy."

The group added that "intimidation" would only encourage them to "redouble" their efforts, as they pledged to continue advocating on behalf of "the Uighurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers and all other persecuted groups in China.

These are the true victims of the Chinese government's authoritarian rule, not us."

An Update on the Politics of Hindu Hate from Oxford Faculty Continued from page 3 I would also be happy to showcase the feelings among the community which have led this matter to reach the Indian Parliament.

I think it is key, reputationally, the University is not at fault. But the University would be seen at fault, if the staff member were not seen at fault.

It would place a kind of vicarious liability on the University, and I know that is not Oxford. I know it as an institution is welcoming regardless of faith or no faith.

I am a proud member of the University and as I wrote in my newspaper column, it is the near term reputation and applications to the University I care about. I do not fear for my faith, it has survived millennia.

Oxford has survived. But in the near term, the poli-

cies may not fit its goals of outreach which I have been proud to fund via my College, St Anne’s.

It is not offence that I object to. It is the incitement to hatred.

If it would help, I am happy to provide more insight into how those social media posts are perceived. I have several Parliamentarians who have reached out to me on this as well as several news outlets.

I would be most grateful if you have an indication of when the University will decide if its policies have been breached.

No reply has come from the University in the past fortnight.

Will keep you posted.

This does not go away quietly. We have not come this far, to only come this far.

Will keep you posted.

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LETTER TO LORD IRWIN Just as Mahatma Gandhi started his mass Non-cooperation Movement in the year 1922 giving a timely warning to Lord Reading in the form of an appeal, sometimes termed as ultimatum similarly in March 1930 before embarking on his Civil Disobedience Campaign Gandhiji sent a letter – again of the nature of an appeal and an ultimatum, combined in one – to Lord Irwin, the Viceroy of India at that time. Gandhiji wrote two letters to Lord Irwin – one at the time of launching the Civil Disobedience Campaign and the other sometime before his arrest.

The first letter:

W

hy I regard the British rule as a curse!

Dear Friend, Before embarking on Civil Disobedience and taking the risk I have dreaded to take all these years, I would fain approach you and find a way out. My personal faith is absolutely clear. I cannot intentionally hurt any thing that lives, much less fellow-human beings even though they may do the greatest wrong to me and mine. Whilst therefore I hold British rule to be a curse, I do not intend to harm a single Englishman or any legitimate interest he may have in India.

I must not be misunderstood. Though I hold the British rule in India to be a curse, I do not therefore consider Englishmen in general to be worse than any other people on earth. I have the privelege of claiming many Englishmen as dearest friends.

Indeed much that I have learnt of the evil of British rule is due to the writings of frank and courageous Englishmen who have not hesitated to tell the unpalatable truth about that rule.

It has impoverished the dumb millions by a system of progressive exploitation and by a ruinously expensive military and civil administration which the country can never afford.

It has reduced us politically to serfdom.

It has sapped the foundations of our culture, and, by the policy of disarmament, it has degraded us spiritually. Lacking inward strength, we have been reduced by all but universal disarmament to a state bordering on cowardly helplessness.

In common with many of my countrymen, I had hugged the fond hope that the proposed Round Table Conference might furnish a solution. But when you said plainly that you could not give any assurance that you or the British Cabinet would pledge yourselves to support a scheme of full Dominion Status, the Round Table Conference could not possibly furnish the solution for which vocal India is consciously, and the dumb millions unconsciously, thirsting. Needless to say there never was any question of Parliament's verdict being anticipated. Instances are not wanting of the British Cabinet, in anticipation of Parliamentary verdict, having pledged itself to a particular policy.

The Delhi interview having miscarried, there was no option for Pandit Motilal Nehru and me but to take steps to carry out the solemn resolution of the Congress arrived at in Calcutta at its Session of 1928.

But the resolution of Independence should cause no alarm if the word "Dominion Status", mentioned in your announcement, has been used in its accepted sense. For, has it not been admitted by responsible British statesmen that Dominion Status is virtual Independence?

What however, I fear, is that there never has been any intention of granting such

Dominion Status to India in the immediate future.

But this is all past history. Since the announcement many events have happened which show unmistakably the trend of British policy.

It seems as clear as daylight that responsible British statesmen do not contemplate any alteration in British policy that might adversely affect Britain's commerce with India or require impartial and close scrutiny of Britain's transactions with India. If nothing is done to end the process of exploitation, India must be bled with an ever increasing speed. The Finance Member regards as a settled fact the ls. 6d. ratio which, by a stroke of the pen, drains India of a few crores. And when a serious attempt is being made through a civil form of direct action to unsettle this fact among many others, even you cannot help appealing to the wealthy landed classes to help you to crush that attempt in the name of an order that grinds India to atoms. Unless those who work in the name of the nation understand and keep before all concerned the motive that lies behind the craving for Independence, there is every danger of independence itself coming to us so charged as to be of no value to those toiling voiceless millions for whom it is sought and for whom it is worth taking. It is for that reason that I have been recently telling the public what independence should really mean.

Let me put before you some of the salient points. The terrific pressure of land revenue which furnishes a large part of the total revenue, must undergo considerable modification in Independent India. Even

the much vaunted permanent settlement benefits a few rich Zamindars not the ryots. The ryot has remained as helpless as ever. He is a mere tenant at will. Not only then has land revenue to be considerably reduced, but the whole revenue system has to be so revised as to make the ryot's good its primary concern. But the British system seems to be designed to crush the very life out of him. Even the salt he must use is so taxed as to make the burden fall heaviest on him if only because of the heartless impartiality of its incidence. The tax shows itself still more burdensome on the poor man when it is remembered that salt is the one thing he must eat more than the rich man both individually and collectively. The drink and drug revenue too is derived from the poor. It saps the foundations both of their health and morals. It is defended under the false pleas of individual freedom, but in reality it is maintained for its own sake. The ingenuity of the authors of the Reforms of 1919 transferred this revenue to the so-called responsible part of dyarchy so as to throw the burden of prohibition on it, thus from the beginning rendering it powerless for good. If the unhappy Minister wipes out this revenue, he must starve education, since in the existing circumstances he has no new source of replacing that revenue. If the weight ot taxation has crushed the poor from above, the destruction of the central supplementary industry, i.e., handspinning, has undermined their capacity

Mahatma Gandhi's letter to Lord Irwin before his

Dandi March Mahatma Gandhi, the father of India's freedom struggle, had written 58 letters to the then Viceroy about the conditions prevailed in the country, before he embarked on the Dandi March

for producing wealth.

The tale of India's ruination is not complete without a reference to the liabilities incurred in her name. Sufficient has been recently said about these in the public Press. It must be the duty of a free India to subject all liabilities to the strictest investigation and repudiate those that may be adjudged by an impartial tribunal to be unjust and unfair. The iniquities sampled above are maintained in order to carry on a foreign administration, demonstrably the most expensive in the world. Take your own salary. It is over Rs. 21,000 per month besides many other indirect additions. The British Prime Minister gets 5,000 per year, i.e., over Rs. 5,400 per month at the present rate of exchange. You are getting over Rs. 700 per day against India's average income of less than annas 2 per day. The Prime Minister gets Rs. 180 per day against Great Britain's average income of nearly Rs. 2 per day. Thus you are getting much over 5,000 times India's average income. The British Prime Minister is getting only 90 times Britain's average income. On bended knee I ask you to ponder over this phenomenon.

I have taken a personal illustration to drive home a painful truth. I have too great a regard for you as a man to wish to hurt your feelings. I know that you do not need

the salary you get. Probably the whole of your salary goes for charity. But a system that provides for such an arrangement deserves to be summarily scrapped. What is true of the Viceregal salary is true generally of the whole administration.

A radical cutting down of the revenue, therefore, depends upon an equally radical reduction in expenses of administration.

This means a transformation of the scheme of Government. This transformation is impossible without independence.

Hence, in my opinion, the spontaneous demonstration of 26th January, in which hundreds of thousands of villagers instinctively participated. To them Independence means deliverance from the killing weight.

Not one of the great British political parties, it seems to me, is prepared to give up the Indian spoils to which Great Britain helps herself from day to clay, often in spite of the unanimous opposition of Indian opinion.

Nevertheless if India is to live as a nation, if the slow death by starvation of her people is to stop, some remedy must be found for immediate relief. The proposed conference is certainly not the remedy. It is not a matter of carrying conviction by argument. The matter resolves itself into one of matching forces. Conviction or no

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conviction Great Britain would defend her Indian commerce and interest by all the forces at her command. India must consequently evolve force enough to free herself from that embrace of death. It is common cause that, however disorganised and for the time being insignificant it may be, the party of violence is gaining ground and

making itself felt. Its end is the same as mine. But I am convinced that it cannot bring the desired relief to the dumb millions. And the conviction is growing deeper and deeper in me that nothing but unadulterated non-violence can check the organised violence ot the British Government. Many think that non-violence is not an active force. It is my purpose to set in motion that force as well against the organised violence force of the British rule as the unorganised violence force of the growing party of violence. To sit still would be to give rein to both the forces above mentioned. Having unquestioning and immovable faith in the efficacy of non-violence as I know it, it would be sinful on my part to wait any longer. This non-violence will be expressed through civil disobedience for the moment confined to the inmates of the Satyagraha Ashram, but ultimately designed to cover all those who choose to join the movement with its obvious limitations.

I know that in embarking on non-violence, I shall be running what might fairly be termed a mad risk, but the victories of truth have never been won without risks, often of the gravest character. Conversion of a nation that has consciously or unconsciously preyed upon another far more numerous, far more ancient and no less cultured than itself is worth any amount of risk.

I have deliberately used the word conversion for my ambition is no less than to convert the British people through nonviolence and thus make them see the wrong they have done to India. I do not seek to harm your people. I want to serve them even as I want to serve my own. I believe that I have always served them. I served them upto 1919 blindly. But when my eyes were opened, and I conceived non-co-operation the object still was to serve them. I employed the same weapon that I have in all humility successfully used against the dearest members of my family. If I have equal love for your people with mine, it will not long remain hidden.

It will be acknowledged by them even as members of my family acknowledged it after they had tried me for several years. If people join me as I expect they will, the sufferings they will undergo, unless the British nation sooner retraces its steps, will be enough to melt the stoniest hearts.

The plan through civil disobedience will be to combat such evils as I have sampled out.

If we want to sever the British connection, it is because of such evils. When they are removed the path becomes easy. Then the way to friendly negotiation will be open. If the British commerce with India is purified of greed, you will have no diffi-

culty in recognising our independence. I respectfully invite you then to pave the way for an immediate removal of those evils and thus open a way for a real conference between equals, interested only in promoting the common good of mankind through voluntary fellowship and in arranging terms of mutual help and commerce suited to both. You have unnecessarily laid stress upon the communal problems that unhappily affect this land.

Important though they undoubtedly are for the consideration of any scheme of government, they have little bearing on the greater problems which are above communities and which affect them all equally. But if you cannot see your way to deal with these evils and my letter makes no appeal to your heart, on the 11th day of this month I shall proceed with such coworkers of the Ashram as I can take to disregard the provisions of Salt laws. I regard this tax to be the most iniquitous of all from the poor man's standpoint.

As the Independence Movement is essentially for the poorest in the land, the beginning will be made with this evil. The wonder is that we have submitted to the cruel monopoly for so long. It is, I know, open to you to frustrate my design by arresting me. I hope there will be tens of thousands ready in a disciplined manner to take up the work after me, and in the act of disobeying the Salt Act lay themselves open to the penalties of a law that should never have disfigured the Statute-book.

I have no desire to cause you unnecessary embarrassment or any at all so far as I can help. If you think that there is any substance in my letter, and if you will care to discuss matters with me, and if to that end you would like me to postpone publication of this letter, I shall gladly refrain on receipt of a telegram to that effect soon after this reaches you. You will however do me the favour not to deflect me from my course unless you can see your way to conform to the substance of this letter.

This letter is not in any way intended as a threat, but is a simple and sacred duty peremptory on a civil resister.

Therefore I am having it specially delivered by a young English friend, who believes in the Indian cause and is a full believer in non-violence and whom Providence seems to have sent to me as it were for the very purpose.

I remain, Your Sincere friend, M. K. GANDHI

(Gandhiji's letter to Lord Irwin is reproduced as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 12, 2021 flagged off a march to commemorate Gandhiji's Dandi March. In the letter Gandhiji gave the reasons for undertaking the mass non-cooperation movement.)

LIST OF PEOPLE PARTICIPATED IN DANDI MARCH No.

Name

Age

Province (British India)

State (Republic of India)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi B.Chethan Lucky Singh Chhaganlal Naththubhai Joshi Pandit Narayan Moreshwar Khare Ganpatrav Godshe Prathviraj Lakshmidas Ashar Mahavir Giri

61 30 35 42 25 19 20

Gujarat Punjab Gujarat Maharashtra Maharashtra Gujarat West Bengal

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79

Bal Dattatreya Kalelkar Jayanti Nathubhai Parekh Rasik Desai Vitthal Liladhar Thakkar Harakhji Ramjibhai Tansukh Pranshankar Bhatt Kantilal Harilal Gandhi Chhotubhai Khushalbhai Patel Valjibhai Govindji Desai Pannalal Balabhai Jhaveri Abbas Varteji Punjabhai Shah Madhavjibhai Thakkar Naranjibhai Maganbhai Vora Dungarsibhai Somalal Pragjibhai Patel Hasmukhram Jakabar Daudbhai Ramjibhai Vankar Dinkarrai Pandya Dwarkanath Gajanan Khare Jethalal Ruparel Govind Harkare Pandurang Vinayakrao Aapte Ramdhirrai Bhanushankar Dave Munshilal Raghavan Shivabhai Gokhalbhai Patel Shankarbhai Bhikabhai Patel Jashbhai Ishwarbhai Patel Sumangal Prakash Thevarthundiyil Titus Krishna Nair Tapan Nair Haridas Varjivandas Gandhi Chimanlal Narsilal Shah Shankaran Subhramanyam Ramaniklal Maganlal Modi Madanmohan Chaturvedi Harilal Mahimtura Motibas Das Haridas Muzumdar Anand Hingorini Mahadev Martand Jayantiprasad Hariprasad Girivardhari Chaudhari Keshav Chitre Ambalal Shankarbhai Patel Vishnu Pant Premraj Durgesh Chandra Das Madhavlal Shah Jyotiram Surajbhan Bhairav Dutt Lalji Parmar Ratnaji Boria Vishnu Sharma Chintamani Shastri Narayan Dutt Manilal Mohandas Gandhi Surendra Hari Krishna Mohoni Puratan Buch Kharag Bahadur Singh Giri Shri Jagat Narayan

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Bihar Maharashtra Gujarat Maharashtra Punjab Bengal Gujarat

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18 UK - FINANCE

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

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3 - 9 April 2021

Dear Financial Voice Reader, Alpesh Patel Thank you everyone who has emailed about their pension questions and ISAs, SIPPs and agreeing how poorly their investment advisors or funds are doing, yet the US market hits all time highs.

On March 23, 2020, the COVID-19 crisis-driven market crash hit rock bottom. The S&P 500 had shed 30% of its valuation in 22 days. Bear-market sell-offs of this size have occurred five times since WW2, and history shows that the typical response is a strong year one bull market, with good — albeit slower — returns in year 2.

However, this bull market is different from previous years for several reasons. Firstly, the previous market crashes were brought about by dysfunction in the financial sector, while 2020’s crash was caused by a pandemic. Secondly, 2020’s rally was not organic and was propped up by massive government stimulus packages. The big question for investors is, can the market continue its recovery without government assistance?

The Industry Perspective for S&P 500 There is the usual diversity of opinion within the industry, but some consensus about tempering expectations for 2021. Commonfund, a nonprofit investment manager, has recently released the results of a survey of 300 investment managers. On the subject of S&P 500 returns for 2021, around 60% of institutional investors surveyed felt that returns would be lower than the average ten-year returns of 13.6%. Analysts at IG.com suggest that a successful vaccine rollout will benefit cyclical stocks like financials, industrials, energy, commodities and the currency market; however they are worried about the effect that a tech stock slowdown will have on the index. On top of this, they cite accommodative monetary policies from central banks as a driving factor in money flows being directed towards higher-risk markets and assets like Asia and the debt markets.

Morgan Stanley’s Andrew Slimmon shared similar reservations about market performance this year in a recent blog post. Slimmon noted that second-year bull market returns are traditionally good but that investors should brace themselves for some level of instability throughout the year. He believes some value stocks like banks, movie theatres, and cruise lines could represent an opportunity based on current prices. Russell Investments outlook for 2021 includes a belief that inflation pressures won’t materialise until 2023. Despite the U.S marketing being overbought, they suggest that equities are still a better option than bonds this year.

Furthermore, they believe the US stimulus means it will secure its place as the fastest-growing market throughout the year, with that growth helping Europe, China and Japan somewhat.

The Industry Perspective for the FTSE 100 Similar notes of caution have been sounded for the FTSE 100. Compared to the S&P 500, the index has underperformed due in part to the weight of more traditional companies like airlines and natural resources. A composition that lacks significant companies has resulted in slower gains. To counter this — and make the UK market more attractive to tech firms — a series of reforms like dual-class share structures are being proposed.

IG.com have highlighted a few sticky areas for the UK throughout the year, including Brexit and the potential ill effects of new coronavirus strains. However, as Q2 develops, they believe investors will have a clearer picture, with some positivity to be found in a shift away from the uncertainty over recent years.

A Rocky Road Ahead?

Despite all the upbeat predictions issued by many, some analysts believe things will be more complicated throughout the year. Investors.com have suggested that the market has already priced in an economic rebound and a flawless vaccine rollout, and any roadblocks will “rattle investors”.

Inflation and rising interest rates should be kept at bay through 2021, and largely centrist governance should keep burdensome regulations or big tax-hikes off the table, which are all positive indicators for the stock market. However, Acorns.com has noted that the forward price-to-earnings ratio of some of the S&P 500 means stocks have only been this overvalued around 5% of the time since 1985.

While Jarred Dillon at Bloomberg has said that the only prediction that matters for the year is that most predictions will be wrong. He underlined the futility of divining the markets, suggesting that any forecast of more than one or two months is vulnerable to unforeseen events.

Conclusion Nasdaq suggests that the big tech stocks are still cheap because they’ve underperformed the market since July.

J.P. Morgan’s growth forecast suggests an S&P 500 price target of 4,400 by year-end, with global growth at 5.8%.

So, overall, the stock market should continue to climb, but at a slower rate than in 2020. Some sectors stand to benefit from the economic recovery more than others, but investors should brace themselves for few surprises during the year. I want everyone to learn how to invest for themselves, or at least the right questions to ask their fund manager, or financial advisor. I create a Campaign to teach for free people how to invest better and so they feel they are seated next to me, connect with me on instant messenger and see what I see. It’s all free on www.campaignforamillion.com

What business faces after Lockdown Rachel Lester, Axiom Stone Solicitors The main impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been on the way we work.

Working from home has now become the norm for many of us, and businesses will have to decide whether this should continue or whether some sort of hybrid arrangement should be permitted whereby staff can work more flexibly. This ultimately may become the default position under new legislation proposed by the Government.

There are advantages to flexible working. There are likely to be fewer complaints about the safety of the workplace which will, in turn, reduce the number of legal claims. It will also avoid the headache of the vaccination and whether staff should be required to have the jab to do their job.

Businesses are also likely to face more requests for flexible working and will find it difficult to resist these when

businesses have been operating successfully remotely.

Should a business press ahead with a compulsory return to the office, they will need to consider the health and safety measures that should remain in place as well as variations to employment contracts to facilitate such measures such as staggered start and finish times. All contractual variations require the consent of their staff.

Practical considerations such as when staff can take holiday will also need to be managed. Of course, certain businesses, such as those in the hospitality sector, will have to decide whether staff can return at all if they are struggling financially. And the easing of Lockdown is unlikely to change their economic prospects, particularly with the support they receive from the Furlough scheme set to end in September. To avoid claims, a business should follow a fair process which attracts additional duties and obli-

Biden admin threatens up to 25 per cent tariffs on UK goods The US White House has warned of up to 25 per cent on a host of UK exports in retaliation for a UK tax on tech firms. A list published by the Joe Biden administration includes several items like ceramics, make up, overcoats, game consoles, and furniture. The duties are designed to raise around £235.8m, an amount America believes the UK will raise from US tech firms.

A British government spokesperson was quoted in a media report as saying it wanted to “make sure tech firms pay their fair share of tax.” They added, “Should the US proceed to implement these measures, we would consider all options to defend UK interests and industry.”

Washington argues the recently introduced digital services tax has “unreason-

gations if those potentially redundant exceed 20.

Above all, businesses should be alive to the following developments taking effect over the next few months: • Compensation limits for certain tribunal awards and payments such as statutory redundancy pay and national minimum wage will increase on 6th April 2021.

• The rules on off-payroll working in the private sector will take effect from 6 April 2021 to counter noncompliance with IR35.

These will shift the compliance burden from the worker's personal service company to the medium and large "client" organisations that they work for.

• Public Health England has issued new shielding guidance which will come into force on 1st April 2021.

Those categorised as extremely clinically vulnerable will no longer have to shield nor will be eligible for SSP or similar benefits.

Joe Biden

able, discriminatory, and burdensome attributes.”

The move was initiated under former president Donald Trump. The UK and US held talks about the digital services tax in December, with UK government sources stressing that the tariff list was being seen as procedural, rather than an escalation. The tariffs are now subject to a consultation in the US over the next

UK fashion and retail names seek government aid Some of Britain's best-known fashion and retail names have campaigned for the government to launch a “shop out to help out” scheme to aid beleaguered independent shops as they prepare to reopen on April 12. The group includes retail consultant Mary Portas, beauty mogul Charlotte Tilbury, and designers Charlie Casely-Hayford and Henry Holland.

The last two even designed the campaign's logo.

The group argues support should take a similar structure to last year's eat out to help out scheme, with the government covering 50 per cent of the cost of goods bought at physical stores with fewer than 10 employees.

Founder of 'Save The Street' campaign, Ross Bailey said independent shops have been the worst hit by lockdown regulations. The British Retail Consortium estimates that nonessential retail stores, many of which are independent, lost £22bn in sales in 2020, with footfall reduced by 40 per cent. Bailey said small family businesses have not been able to take advantage of the furlough scheme “because the small amount of online orders may be getting them through

the month.”

He was quoted in a media report as saying, “What’s distressing is that, during the pandemic, a lot of shops have had to shut but we have not seen the kind of support that has been offered to other industries.

Independent shops do not have the same kind of lobby groups that big pubs, transportation and aviation industries do. Even the technology sector – which has done incredibly from lockdown regulations – has benefited from matched funding from the government, while tiny businesses that are the backbone of this country have seen nothing.”

Only last year alone, over 11,000 outlets permanently disappeared from high streets, shopping centres and retail parks. Online shopping, on the other hand, has grown four-fold.

'Save The Street' campaign argues more than Chancellor Rishi Sunak's extension of business rates relief until July.

Bailey said, “There's an argument that there is some pent up demand. I agree that there is. But it is no way enough to make up for a store being closed for most of the year.

• New health and safety regulations will extend protection from detriment taking place on or after 31st May 2021 from employees to workers.

• Employers will be required to contribute 12.5% of capped furlough pay from 1st July and 25% from 1st August until the Furlough scheme ends in September.

• The deadline for gender pay gap reporting, delayed because of the pandemic, is now 5th October 2021.

With all the changes ahead, businesses and their staff should tread carefully and seek specialist legal advice where possible. few weeks.

Adam Mansell, head of the UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT) called the threat to UK-made overcoats “hugely disappointment”. He noted the US had only removed separate tariffs on other types of fashion goods, such as British cashmere last month. He said, “At a time when we are trying to start discussions over a UKUS trade deal, it is extremely important that both governments get around the table to remove this threat as soon as possible.”

The Office for Budget Responsibility calculates the digital services tax would raise £300m in the current financial year, and as much as £700m in future years.

BoE seeks to minimise cyber attacks, glitches The Bank of England has sought to minimise the impact of cyber attacks and IT glitches, urging banks and other British financial firms to set out by March 2022 how to jump back quickly. The BoE's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in conjunction with the Financial Conduct Authority, set out ground-breaking rules on operational resilience after the 2019 TSB glitches and at other banks left millions of customers locked out of their online accounts and faced delayed payments.

The rules were an international opportunity, reveals financial services partner at KPMG, Andrew Husband in a report. He said, “At a time when Brexit is focusing minds on the future of financial services, this is an area of regulatory policy that provides an opportunity for UK financial services to gain competitive advantage on the global stage.”

The BoE has urged each regulated firm to draw up plans that set out where disruption could hit customers and broader financial stability, and how long it would take to resume normal service. “The speed at which vulnerabilities are remediated should be commensurate with the potential impact that a disruption would cause, and will be an area of supervisory focus.”

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FINANCE & REAL ESTATE 19

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

3 - 9 April 2021

Fitch revises India's GDP growth to 12.8% for FY-22 from 11 per cent Fitch Ratings has revised India's GDP growth estimate to 12.8 per cent for the fiscal year beginning April 1 from its previous estimate of 11 per cent, saying its recovery from the depths of the lockdowninduced recession has been swifter than expected.

In its latest Global Economic Outlook (GEO), Fitch said revision is on the back of "a stronger carryover effect, a looser fiscal stance and better virus containment. India's second half of 2020 rebound also took GDP back above its prepandemic level and we have revised up our 2021-2022 forecast to 12.8 per cent from 11 per cent," it said.

"Nevertheless, we expect the level of Indian GDP to remain well below our preforecast pandemic trajectory." GDP surpassed its pre-pandemic level in December quarter, growing

0.4 per cent year-on-year, after contracting 7.3 per cent in the previous quarter.

"India's recovery from the depths of the lockdowninduced recession in 2Q20 (calendar year) has been swifter than we expected," it said. "The rapid pace of expansion at the end of 2020 was powered by falling virus cases and the gradual rollback of restrictions across States and Union territories." High-frequency indicators point to a strong to 2021.

The start manufacturing PMI remained elevated in February, while the pick-up in mobility and a rise in the services PMI point to further gains in the services sector.

However, the recent flare up in new virus cases in some states has prompted us to expect milder growth in 2Q21. "Moreover, the global auto chip shortage could

temporarily diminish Indian industrial production gains in 1H21(first half of 2021)," it said. The Union Budget for the fiscal year ending March 2022 (FY22) unveiled a fiscal stance more accommodative than expected.

Spending is set to be increased substantially, notably infrastructure, healthcare, and military outlays. Looser fiscal policy should support the shortterm cyclical recovery, which along with stronger growth underlying momentum prompted FY22 GDP growth forecast revision, Fitch said. "The increase in inoculation to the most at-risk people should allow restrictions to be eased significantly towards end2021 and in 2022," it said.

"This should further support services sector activity and consumption." The rating agency however said an

impaired financial sector is likely to keep the provision of credit tight, limiting investment spending.

"We expect GDP growth to ease to 5.8 per cent in FY23, a downward revision of -0.5 percentage points since December," it said. "The forecast level of GDP remains substantially below our pre-pandemic trajectory." It no longer expected the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut its policy rate, owing to a brighter short-term growth outlook and a more limited decline in inflation. The RBI will nonetheless keep its policy loose over the forecast horizon to shore up the recovery. The central bank will likely continue to use forward guidance on policy rates and carry out openmarket operations to keep a lid on borrowing costs, it added.

SC backs removal of Cyrus Mistry as chairman of Tata Sons In a big win for Tata Sons, the Supreme Court backed the removal of Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of the over $100 billion salt-tosoftware Tata Group in 2016 and set aside the company law tribunal order that had reinstated him. A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde said the decision to remove Cyrus Mistry was right. "All questions of law are in favour of Tata Group," said the judges.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had on December 18, 2019, restored Mistry as the executive chairman of the conglomerate. That order, challenged by the Tatas, has been scrapped.

Ratan Tata, in a statement, said the order validated the values and ethics that had always guided the Tata Group.

"It is not an issue of winning or losing. After relentless attacks on my integrity and the ethical conduct of the group, the judgment upholding Tata Sons is a validation or the values and ethics that have always been the guiding principles of the group. It reinforces the fairness and justice displayed by our judiciary," Ratan Tata posted. Shapoorji Pallonji Group had told the Supreme Court then that the removal of Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of Tata Sons in a board meeting held in October 2016 was like a "blood sport" and "ambush" and in complete violation of principles of corporate governance and pervasive violation of Articles of Association in the process.

Tata Group had vehemently opposed the allegations and said the board was well

within its rights to remove Mistry as the chairman.

Mistry had succeeded Ratan Tata as chairman Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry of Tata Sons in NCLAT last December, 2012 but was dramatically Mistry had also demanded sacked four years later. The that group chairman clash between Mistry and emeritus Ratan Tata Ratan Tata has been one of reimburse all the expenses the most high-profile and to Tata Sons since his publicly fought corporate departure in December battles in India. In his reply 2012 in keeping with best to the Tatas' petition global governance challenging his standards. reinstatement by the

The UK corporate and small business community face many challenges in 2021 from uncertain global activity, geopolitics, Brexit and of course the current Covid pandemic to name just a

Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

The deal I wrote about in Pinner, several weeks ago, predictably attracted many enquiries from people interested in investing; for three reasons: location, price point and development potential.

By location I don’t mean it is the most desirable location from the investment point of view, but it’s in the locality of where a high concentration of Gujaratis live.

The other two reasons are valid, however, the fact it’s on your doorstep should not be the criteria for choosing an investment.

Sure, it’s easier to manage the build and any issues that inevitably may arise in the process; but that is a ‘nice to have’, and should not be the criteria upon which you decide to make an investment. The fact it was in Pinner became a disproportionally overriding factor.

Currently, we are in the midst of negotiating on a few deals. All with a commercial element. One particular one is in a very strong area of West London. The property will be coming vacant, leaving the road open for us to use a little known process to convert it into residential. The main issue as of August last year is one of light.

“Adequate light” is now a requirement of conversion, in cases such as this. My understanding is this term has not been properly defined, and therefore there might be a loophole.

One of the great things about this property is it backs on to a very nice residential cobble stoned mews street. A residential development to the rear would be in keeping with the scene of the street; it would blend in very well.

This helps with the sale and revaluation values. You are likely to inherit the prevailing prices on the street, despite the fact you have converted it from a commercial property and the access is to the rear of the building.

The look and feel of the finished development will have an upmarket look and feel.

The deal is very sensibly priced at below £500K. The additional benefit is what is seen as the basement, or lower ground, at the front of the shop turns into the ground floor from the rear of the shop.

Basement flats go for the lowest values due to the problems they attract such as damp and rats, especially in Central London. This stigma which we will use to price the property low when we purchase will disappear when the development is completed.

The GDV, in my opinion, for the reasons given above would be circa £800K. The finishing would have to be to a good standard, deserving of the location.

With these numbers it would be possible to hold on to the asset and refinance, thereby pulling out all your cost, and keeping the property for the future uplift.

This is a deal currently looking for an investor.

Cairn plans to file lawsuits to seize India's foreign assets UK’s Cairn Energy plans to bring lawsuits in the US and other countries to pierce the corporate veil between the Indian government and its companies such as in oil and gas, .”shipping, airline and banking sectors, to seize their overseas assets to recover $1.2 billion ordered by an international arbitration tribunal.

The firm has moved courts in the US, UK, Canada, France, Singapore, the Netherlands and three other countries to register the December 2020 arbitration tribunal ruling that

SONIA - who is she?

Abhishek Sachdev

Upside Down

few. Equally important and currently under the radar is the replacement of the current interest rate benchmark GBP LIBOR with a new benchmark rate, “SONIA”, from the start of 2022.

With thousands of loan and derivative contracts currently linked to “LIBOR”, the implications on cash flow and risk management practice for small businesses, corporate and institutional clients are only now beginning to surface.

LIBOR has been in operation for many years, it was considered the bedrock of stability and impartial determination “by submission” of where banks and financial institutions financed themselves for a given maturity in the wholesale money markets,

therefore incorporating primarily banking sector credit risk. The recent investigations by regulators into LIBOR manipulation by banks resulting in fines demonstrated the flaws in the LIBOR submission process. The resulting solution, “SONIA” (Sterling Over Night Index Average), by its construct a “risk free rate”, has now been acknowledged as the reference benchmark for all future loan and derivative-based products from 2022.

“SONIA” was introduced in 1997 and since 2016 has been administered by the Bank of.

England, being reformed in 2018 to comply with “international best practice” for financial benchmarks.

So what does this mean for

overturned the Indian government's £1.02 billion demand in back taxes and ordered New Delhi to return $1.2 billion in value of shares it had sold, dividends seized and tax refunds withheld to recover the tax demand. With the government so far refusing to honour the arbitration award and instead choosing to challenge it, Cairn is looking to enforce it by seizing overseas Indian assets, Dennis Hranitzky, head of the sovereign litigation practice at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, a law firm representing the company, said.

businesses with a variable rate loan and or derivative-based product currently linked to LIBOR? In summary, all of these products will need to be amended to reference to the new “SONIA” benchmark no later than the end of this year 2021.

How will this occur?

At present, there doesn’t seem to be a universal approach to this but the consensus seems to centre on the banks either using “fallback language” in the loans and the underlying ISDA agreement accompanying a derivative, a clause which is not universal for all clients, or asking clients to accept the change to “SONIA” for an agreed NPV adjustment. Simply put, in an ideal world, clients could rely on the banks for this calculation for an spread adjustment from LIBOR to “SONIA”, but as recent miss-selling activities of the not so distant past have shown, each

individual assessment needs to be independently validated. We have already seen inconsistent approaches applied to borrowers by banks; even for our large PLC and REIT clients.

Here at Vedanta, we were instrumental in the redress for mis-sold derivatives in the past and consider the pending transition from LIBOR to “SONIA” as potentially problematic for clients who enter these negotiations with their banks unaware of the implications and the impact both from a cash flow perspective and in terms of their interest rate risk management practices.

Tel: 020 7183 2277 www.vedantahedging.com

20 WORLD

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Bangladesh violence spreads after Modi's visit, attacks on Hindu temples, train DHAKA: Hundreds of members of a hardline Islamist group attacked Hindu temples and a train in eastern Bangladesh on Sunday, police and a local journalist said, as violence spread across the country in the wake of a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Local police and doctors have said at least 11 protesters have been killed since Friday in clashes with police during demonstrations organised by Islamist groups against the Indian leader's visit.

Violence has raged on since Modi's departure as anger has swelled over the deaths.

Modi arrived in Dhaka on Friday and he left on Saturday.

Islamist groups accuse Modi of discriminating against minority Muslims in Hindu-majority India. On Friday, dozens of people were injured in the denselypopulated capital Dhaka as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters. Thousands

of Islamist activists marched down streets across Bangladesh on Sunday.

Activists with the Hefazat-eIslam group attacked a train in eastern district of the Brahmanbaria, resulting in ten people being injured, a police official said. "They attacked the train and damaged its engine room and almost all the coaches," the official said. Several government offices, including the land office and a government-

sponsored music academy, were set on fire and several Hindu temples were also attacked, said Javed Rahim, a journalist in Brahmanbaria town.

"We are in extreme fear and feeling really helpless," Rahim said, adding: "Even the press club was attacked, leaving many injured, including the press club president." One protester, who sustained an injury during Saturday's clash in Brahmanbaria, died on Sunday,

a doctor said. Islamist activists also set alight two buses in the western district of Rajshahi on Sunday, while hundreds of protesters clashed with police in several places, pelting them with stones. Protesters used electric poles, timber and sand bags to block roads and police retaliated with rubber bullets and tear gas, leaving dozens injured in Narayanganj, just outside the capital, Dhaka, one police official said.

Protesters also vandalised and burned several buses in Dhaka as they blocked many roads, a police official said. The protests have flared into wider demonstrations against police killings, and the Hefazat-e-Islam enforced a nationwide strike on Sunday. "Police opened fire on our peaceful supporters," Hefazat-e-Islam’s organising secretary Azizul Haque told a rally. "We will not let the blood of our brothers go in vain."

Traffic through Suez Canal starts up again as stranded ship finally freed CAIRO: Ship traffic through the Suez Canal has slowly resumed after salvage teams managed to move the 200,000-tonne container ship that had blocked all passage through the crucial waterway for nearly a week.

Helped by the peak of high tide, a flotilla of tugboats managed to wrench the bow of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given from the sandy bank of the canal, where it has been lodged since last Tuesday.

"We pulled it off!" said Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis, the salvage firm hired to extract the Ever Given, in a statement. "I am excited to announce that our team of experts, working in close collaboration with the Suez Canal Authority, successfully refloated the Ever Given, thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again." Flanked by tugboats, the ship made its way cautiously to the Great Bitter Lake, a wide stretch of water halfway between the north and south

end of the canal, where it was undergoing a technical examination to see if it was damaged and whether or not it is safe to proceed to its original destination of Rotterdam.

Billions of dollars worth of goods delayed About $9 billion worth of goods normally pass through the canal every day, and the backlog of ships numbered nearly 400 when Ever Given was finally moved on Monday. Dozens more had already left the canal's entrance and are making their way along the lengthy alternate route around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa's southern tip - a detour that costs ships hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel and other costs.

Indian crew The Japanese owner of Ever Given, Shoei Kisen Kaisha, has said that the entire crew of 25 Indian nationals were safe and no oil leaks have been detected.

The front of the ship is wedged around 5 meters into the canal

Differently abled girl raped, filmed in Pakistan ISLAMABAD: In yet another heart wrenching incident, a differently abled girl has been allegedly sexually assaulted and filmed in a rural area of Pakistan’s Punjab province. As per details, the victim was repeatedly raped by at least five suspects during a span of three months. Further details revealed that the suspects not only raped the victim, but also filmed the incidents and used it to blackmail her father, a security guard, into giving them money.

The 16-year-old deaf and mute girl was raped and filmed for months, videos of which were also made viral on certain social media platforms. The local authorities have taken notice of the incident and at least two alleged rapists have been taken into custody.

“The 16-year-old daughter of a resident of suburb village Kundi was deaf and mute by birth,” said Raees Ali, Station House Officer (SHO), Lodhran City.

wall, restricting the refloating efforts. The trouble began on Tuesday last as the strong winds kicked up sands along the banks of the 120-mile narrow Suez canal.

The over 200,000tonne vessel was on its way from China to Rotterdam when the gusts as high as 46 miles an hour swept the dust around it making the crew lose control of the ship.

Then the ship dashed into a sandy embankment that blocked nearly the entire canal.

Impact The 400 meters long ship has choked both ways of one of the busiest canals linking Asia with Europe. A line of 156 large container ships, tankers carrying oil and gas, and bulk vessels with grains have created a massive traffic jam, also referred to as one of the worst shipping jams seen in years. Around 30 per cent of the world’s shipping con-

tainer volume and 12 per cent of the total global trade of all goods pass through the narrow canal.

As per rough estimates, the blockage will cost about $9.6 billion worth of traffic a day.

India chalks out 4-point plan The Indian government had chalked out a four-point plan to deal with the situation, including advising ships to re-route via Cape of Good Hope. This plan was chalked out in a meeting convened by the logistics division, department of commerce, government of India. It includes prioritisation of cargo, freight rates, advisory to ports and rerouting of ships.

Pak bans all gatherings as it fights third wave of pandemic ISLAMABAD: As the third wave of the Covid pandemic grips Pakistan with a fresh surge in infections, the Imran Khan government on Sunday announced a complete ban on all kinds of gatherings, including weddings, from April 5 onwards.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), a body mandated to implement the government’s decisions on checking the pandemic, after the country reported 4,767 new cases and 57 deaths in a single day.

Federal minister for planning and development Asad Umar chaired the meeting which was attended by the chief secretaries of all four provinces via video link.

“Under the guidelines of the recent ses-

sion, NCOC will provide updated hotspot maps to provinces for enforcement of expanded lockdowns with effect from 29th March,” read a statement released by the NCOC. “There will be a complete ban on weddings, both indoor and outdoor. All social, cultural, political, sports and other events are also banned.

Provinces will be at a liberty to implement curbs as per the situation on ground,” NCOC said.

The NCOC said that the government is also mulling more curbs on inter-provincial travelling.

However, the final decision will be taken based on the input from all provinces and an analysis of the data about the number of inter-provincial commuters via air, rail and road, the NCOC said.

in brief US SENATE PANEL SPLITS ON VANITA GUPTA A bitterly divided US senate judiciary committee remained split over whether to approve the nomination of Vanita Gupta to be President Biden’s associate attorney general, with Republicans on the attack over her history of advocating for progressive policies. The tied vote in committee was not seen as a setback for Gupta, because her nomination can now proceed to the floor of the full Senate, which Democrats control. However, it will face an additional procedural hurdle before the Senate can formally vote to confirm her. “Her public record is too extreme and her testimony hasn’t helped me contextualize it in any meaningful way,” ranking Republican Charles Grassley said prior to the vote. At the same committee hearing, Republicans and Democrats unanimously approved Biden’s deputy attorney general nominee, Lisa Monaco, by voice vote without any debate. Gupta criticised former President Trump in her role as head of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights advocacy group. Despite opposition, Gupta is expected to win Senate confirmation after moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, a key swing vote, said earlier this month he will likely back her nomination.

INDIAN-AMERICAN PLEADS GUILTY TO $24 MN FRAUD An Indian-American from Texas has pleaded guilty to the charges of $ 24 million Covid-19 relief scheme fraud, the US Department of Justice said. According to documents, Dinesh Sah, 55, admitted that he submitted 15 fraudulent applications, filed under the names of various purported businesses that he owned or controlled, to eight different lenders seeking approximately $ 24.8 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

Sah claimed that these businesses had numerous employees and hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll expenses when, in fact, no business had employees or paid wages consistent with the amounts claimed in the PPP applications, they stated. According to the court documents, Sah further admitted that he submitted fraudulent documentation in support of his applications, including fabricated federal tax filings and bank statements for the purported businesses.

PROTESTERS DISRUPT HOLI CELEBRATION IN CANADIAN CITY Tension flared up in the Canadian city of Edmonton as a celebration of the Holi festival by the Indo-Canadian community was disrupted by protesters opposing the three farm laws passed by India’s Parliament. Nearly 400 people gathered at the Heritage Valley Park in Edmonton, a city in the province of Alberta, to celebrate Holi, to be followed by a Peace and Harmony Indo-Canadian Tiranga Yatra organised by the Bharatiya Multicultural and Heritage Society of Alberta. The participants included families with children.

However, they were confronted by a group of about 100 protesters shouting slogans against the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The protesters blocked the route that the car rally was to take, delaying the event for nearly three hours.

PAKISTAN TEST-FIRES N-CAPABLE MISSILE Pakistan last week conducted a flight test of the surface-to-surface ballistic missile, Shaheen-IA, which is capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear warheads up to a range of 900km, the army’s media wing said.

The test flight, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations, army’s media arm, was aimed at re-validating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system including advanced navigation system. “Shaheen-IA with its sophisticated and advanced guidance system is a highly accurate missile system,” the ISPR claimed. Pakistan’s missile programme, according to defence analysts, was aimed at balancing India’s conventional superiority.

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in brief MOVE OMAR SHEIKH TO LAHORE JAIL FACILITY, ORDERS SC Pakistan’s Supreme Court directed authorities to move Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a BritishPakistani militant who spent 18 years on death row over accusations that he had beheaded US journalist Daniel Pearl, from Karachi prison to Kot Lakhpat jail facility in Lahor. The court issued the order while hearing a petition filed by Sheikh against his continued detention despite a ruling for his release. “The detainee shall be accommodated in a government building in which officers of jail reside,” the court said. Sheikh’s lawyer objected to the proposal, saying being held in the prison staff colony was akin to being detained in jail. The court, however, overruled and adjourned the hearing for two weeks.

CHURCH BOMBING IN INDONESIA LEAVES 19 INJURED Two suicide bombers believed to be members of an Islamist militant group attacked a Catholic church in the Indonesian city of Makassar on Sunday on the first day of the Easter Holy Week, wounding 19 people, police said. The mass was finishing when the attackers detonated at least one device outside the church. The two suspects were the only fatalities. A security source said they were a male college student and his female partner.

Police chief Listyo Prabowo said the bombers were believed to belong to the IS-inspired Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, which is suspected of suicide attacks on churches and a police post that killed 30 people in 2018. Around 20 suspected JAD members were arrested in January. The group is believed to have been involved in a bomb attack on a Philippine church in 2019 that killed over 20 people.

TRAIN COLLISION KILLS 32 IN EGYPT At least 32 people were killed and 108 injured when two trains collided in Egypt last week, health ministry officials said. “Unknown individuals” triggered the emergency brakes on one of the trains causing it to stop, the rail authority said. The second train, which was travelling in the same direction, crashed into the first from behind. The public prosecutor’s office said it had ordered an investigation into the crash which took place close to the Nileside town of Tahta. Egypt has one of the oldest and largest rail networks in the region and accidents are common.

TALIBAN THREATEN TO TARGET FOREIGN TROOPS IF MAY 1 DEADLINE MISSED The Taliban threatened to resume hostilities against foreign troops in Afghanistan if they did not meet a May 1 deadline to withdraw. The Taliban threat followed comments by US President Joe Biden, who said it would be “hard” to withdraw the last US troops by the deadline, which was agreed with Washington last year. The Taliban said in a statement they would be “compelled to... continue its jihad and armed struggle against foreign forces to liberate its country” if the deadline was not met.

NZ APPROVES PAID LEAVE FOR MISCARRIAGES New Zealand’s parliament has passed legislation giving mothers and their partners the right to paid leave following a miscarriage or still birth, becoming only the second country in the world to do so. India is the only other country with similar legislation. The bereavement allowance, passed unanimously in parliament, gives employees three days leave when a pregnancy ends with a stillbirth without having to tap into sick leave. “Once again New Zealand is leading the way for progressive and compassionate legislation,” said Labour Party MP Ginny Andersen, who initiated the bill. New Zealand was the first country in the world to give voting rights to women.

Dozens killed as Islamic militants go on rampage in Mozambique MAPUTO: Dozens of people were killed as hundreds of Islamic militants targeted shops, banks and a military barracks in Palma, a town in northern Mozambique. Seven people were killed trying to escape a siege on a hotel, said Omar Saranga, a spokesperson from the country's defence department. Militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) group are behind the conflict in the predominantly Muslim region.

The fighting has left more than 2,500 people dead and 700,000 displaced since the insurgency began in 2017.

Hundreds of others, both locals and foreigners, were reportedly rescued from Palma after the attack. Marine traffic websites

showed a string of vessels around the town, and the port of Pemba to the south, as people tried to escape by any means - cargo vessels, passenger ships, tugs and recreational boats. Palma is near a major gas project run by the French energy giant Total, and more than 100 workers and civilians took refuge in the town's Amarula Palma hotel.

One contractor said that many who escaped the hotel via convoy hid at the beach overnight and were evacuated by boat. One source close to the rescue operation said that a boat with about 1,400 people on board had arrived in the port town of Pemba, which is about 250 km south of Palma, on Sunday afternoon. The exact number of casualties in Palma, a town of about 75,000 people in Cabo Delgado province, is unclear. Many are still unaccounted for.

The town and beaches are strewn with bodies "with heads and without", according to Col Lionel Dyke, whose private

security firm, Dyck Advisory Group, is contracted by the Mozambique police in the area.

The armed group is reported to have taken control of Palma, but those claims are hard to verify amid a communications blackout. There are unconfirmed reports of British citizens being caught up in the hotel siege. The UK parliamentary under-secretary of state for Africa, James Duddridge, tweeted that the government was contacting Britons in the area to provide support, adding: "The UK wholeheartedly condemns the appalling violence in Cabo Delgado. It must stop. We stand with the people of Mozambique against terror."

SA President Ramaphosa to testify before anti-graft commission PRETORIA: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will in April testify before a judicial commission investigating allegations of looting and corruption when his predecessor Jacob Zuma was in power, the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture (Zondo Commission) said.

Ramaphosa is summoned for four days, April 22, 23 and 28, 29, said the chairman of the commission, Judge Raymond Zondo, during a hearing broadcast on television.

Ramaphosa will testify in his capacity as leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), as well as president and former vicepresident of the country (2014-2018). The commission is probing allegations of looting and corruption which resulted in billions being stolen during Zuma's time in office.

A number of senior officials including Zuma, his former cabinet members and CEOs of state-owned entities have been implicated. The commission is also taking legal actions against Zuma after he refused to appear before the commission and respond

Sudhir Ruparelia reelected on Indian Association Uganda board KAMPALA: Uganda’s richest man Dr Sudhir Ruparelia has been re-elected as a Board member for Indian Association Uganda. He retained his position as the association elected seven members on its Board of Trustees. The election took place on Sunday in Kampala.

The property mogul was first elected on the board in 2019.

The elected members include; Dr Sudhir, Munnangi Sita, Goutam Das, Dharmesh Patel, Ashwin Kumar Patel, Chacko Babu and Koduvayur Parasuraman. Indian Association Uganda has for more than 100 years led Uganda’s Indian communities. In 1972 President Idi Amin expelled Indians from Uganda accusing them of benefiting more economically than indigenous Ugandan, which marked the journey of slowing the country’s economy as factories and other businesses collapsed as they were put in hands of poor Ugandan managers. However, since the Indian communities returned to the country in the 1980s and 1990s and reinstated the association members have worked hard to improve their relations and participated in charitable activities aimed at helping the disadvantaged in Uganda. Over 27,000 Indians are living in Uganda peacefully, with different communities helping each other and working towards the development of Uganda.Despite being less than 1 per cent of the population, the Indians are estimated to contribute up to 65 per cent of the revenue collected by government.

to the allegations.

Rooting out corruption Ramaphosa's pledge to root out corruption helped to propel him to power in Africa's most developed economy, which was in recession even before the disastrous effects of the coronavirus pandemic. But he has found it difficult to take effective action against widespread graft, which also infiltrated the country's attempts to fight Covid-19.

A report this month by the state's Special Investigative Unit found that more than $800 million might have been lost to

improper or corrupt govern- Cyril Ramaphosa ment contracts for protective equipment for health workers and others as South Africa grappled with surging cases in the first few months of the pandemic.

Last month, the commission demanded two years in prison against Zuma for refusing to testify, before the Constitutional Court, the highest court in the country. The former president was forced to resign in 2018 after pressure from his own ANC party.

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Troops fire at funeral as Myanmar mourns bloodiest day NAYPYITAW: Myanmar security forces opened fire at a funeral on Sunday, witnesses said, as people across the country gathered to mourn 114 people killed the previous day in the worst crackdown on protests since the military coup on February 1. Mourners fled the shooting in Bago at a service for 20-year-old student Thae Maung Maung near Yangon and there were no immediate reports of casualties, three people in the town said. “While we are singing the revolution song for him, security forces just arrived and shot at us,” a woman who was at the service said. “People, including us, run away as they opened fire.” Three people were killed in other shooting incidents on Sunday, witnesses and local media said.

One person was killed when troops opened fire overnight on a group of protesters near the capital Naypyitaw, Myanmar Now news reported and there were several protests on Sunday in the Sagaing region near the country’s second city, Mandalay.

There were no reports of largescale protests within Mandalay,

which bore the brunt of the casualties on Saturday, Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day, or in Yangon. At least six children between the ages of 10 and 16 were among those killed on Saturday. Protesters call the victims “Fallen Stars”. Saturday’s casualties took the overall number of civilians reported killed since the coup to more than 440.

The bloodshed drew Western condemnation. The UN special rapporteur for Myanmar said the army was carrying out “mass murder”.

Countries including the US, Britain, Germany and EU condemned the violence. UN special rapporteur Tom Andrews said the junta should be cut off from funding, such as oil and gas revenues, and from access to weapons. “Words of condemnation are ringing hollow to the people of Myanmar while the military junta commits mass murder against them,” he said.

BritishAmbassador Dan Chugg said the security forces had “disgraced themselves” and the US envoy called the violence

horrifying.

Military jets also launched air strikes on a village in territory controlled by an armed group from the Karen ethnic minority and at least two people were killed, a civil society group said. Earlier, the Karen National Union said it had overrun an army post near the Thai border, killing10 people, including a lieutenant colonel, and losing one of its own fighters as tensions with the military surged after years of relative peace.

Demonstrators turned out on Saturday in Yangon, Mandalay and other towns, as they have done almost daily since the Febraury1coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Myanmar Now news portal said 114 people were killed across the country in crackdowns on the protests. At least 40 people, including a 13year-old girl, were killed in Mandalay, and at least 27 people were killed in Yangon, Myanmar Now said. A boy as young as five

was earlier reported among the dead in Mandalay. Another 13year-old was among the dead in the central Sagaing region.

“Today is a day of shame for the armed forces,” Dr Sasa, a spokesman for CRPH, an antijunta group set up by deposed lawmakers.

A military spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment on the killings by security forces, the air strikes or the insurgent attack on its post. “They are killing us like birds or chickens, even in our homes,” said Thu Ya Zaw in the central town of Myingyan, where at least two protesters were killed. “We will keep protesting regardless... We must fight until the junta falls.”

Dr Vivek Murthy confirmed as US surgeon general WASHINGTON: IndianAmerican physician Vivek Murthy has been confirmed by the Senate as President Joe Biden's surgeon general, a role in which his top priority would be responding to the coronavirus pandemic that has severely hit the country.

Dr Murthy, 43, would occupy the position of America's Surgeon General for the second time. In 2011, president Barack Obama tapped him to serve on the advisory group on prevention, health promotion, and integrative and public health. “I'm deeply grateful to be confirmed by the Senate to serve once again as your Surgeon General. We've endured great hardship as a nation over the past

Dr Vivek Murthy

year, and I look forward to working with you to help our nation heal and create a better future for our children,” Murthy said soon after the Senate confirmed his nomination by 5743 votes. In 2013, Obama nominated Dr. Murthy to be the surgeon general. He was the

youngest ever to hold the office at the age of 37.

However, he had to abruptly leave the position during the Trump administration. As US Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy will advise President Biden on the coronavirus pandemic and will be the federal government's leading voice on public health.

Seven senators from the opposition Republican Party voted in support of Dr Murthy.

He was an adviser to the Biden campaign and transition.

Senator Joe Manchin said that during his previous tenure as Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy worked to create a culture of

public health promotion grounded in nutrition, physical activity and emotional wellbeing to help prevent conditions like obesity and diabetes. Dr. Murthy also released a report outlining plans to reduce opioid prescriptions and expand access to treatment for those suffering from a substance use disorder, he said. He understands the issues facing this nation including the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the drug epidemic and protecting rural healthcare. Covid-19 has taken the lives of several members of Murthy's extended family. During his confirmation hearing in February, he said that seven of his family members in India and America have died due to Covid-19.

Biden favours immigration reform to speed up Green Cards for Indian Americans NEW YORK: President Joe Biden wants Congress to act on immigration reform that would allow Indian American doctors and other professionals to expeditiously get their green cards, according to his spokesperson Jen Psaki. "He believes that there should be faster processing, that our immigration system is broken at many levels," she said. "He is eager to for Congress to move forward with action there."

Psaki was replying to a question about a demonstration by Indian doctors who had been in the frontlines of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, asking for the elimination of country quotas for green cards that would enable them to get permanent residence status faster.

Asked about the delays in processing work authorization for spouses of those holding H1-B and L-1 visas, Psaki said: "The reason we want to push for action on immigration (legislation) on the (Capitol) Hill is to move forward with expediting the processing and doing that on several levels, including a number of the visas.

"That's part of the reason why we think that's such an important piece to move forward on." A group of Indian doctors held a demonstration outside Congress last week demanding the removal of the country quotas to expedite their green cards. Last month, Democrats introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill in Congress that would remove the country quotas for green cards. While

spouses of citizens are not restricted by the quotas, all other countries except Canada and Mexico are each allowed only 26,000 green cards each year and this has created a huge backlog for applicants from countries like India, while some Joe Biden nations do not use their full The immigration reform bill quota. faces an uphill battle because According to the State Republicans demand that it Department, Indians with include stringent restrictions advanced degrees whose on illegal immigration and the immigration applications were backing of some members of approved in 2009 and skilled that party would be required in workers and professionals the Senate. Earlier, legislative whose applications were okayed action to remove country caps in 2010 are still waiting for their failed in the last Congress green cards. Those wait times because the Senate and House are only for those whose of Representatives versions of applications are already the bill had differences that approved, and it could run to were not reconciled in time and centuries for those in the it lapsed. immigration queue.

in brief N KOREA TEST-FIRES BALLISTIC MISSILES IN MESSAGE TO US North Korea test-fired its first ballistic missiles since President Joe Biden took office as it expands its military capabilities and increases pressure on Washington while nuclear negotiations remain stalled. Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga said North Korea’s resumption of ballistic testing threatens “peace and safety in Japan and the region,” and that Tokyo will closely coordinate with Washington and Seoul on the North’s military activities. South Korean foreign minister Chung Eui-yong expressed “deep concern” and urged the North to uphold its commitments for peace.

South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said the two short-range missiles were fired on the North’s eastern coast and flew 450 km on an apogee of 60 km before landing in the sea. A senior US official matched the information from Tokyo and Seoul, saying that initial assessments suggest the North fired two short-range ballistic missiles. “This activity highlights the threat that North Korea’s illicit weapons programme poses to its neighbours and the international community,” said US Indo-Pacific Command spokesperson Captain Mike Kafka.

NY REACHES DEAL TO LEGALISE POT FOR RECREATIONAL USE New York state officials finalised a deal to legalise recreational marijuana in the state, paving the way for a potential $4.2 billion industry that could create tens of thousands of jobs. Following several failed attempts, lawmakers in Albany struck an agreement with Governor Andrew Cuomo to allow the recreational use of cannabis for adults 21 and older. The bill could pass the state legislature as soon as next week, according to sources. The deal would allow delivery of the drug and permit club-like lounges where marijuana could be consumed. It would also allow a person to cultivate up to six marijuana plants at home, indoors or outdoors, for personal use.

BIDEN TRENDS ONLINE FOR USING ‘CHEAT SHEET’ AT FIRST PRESSER Joe Biden’s first presidential news conference was notable for what was missing after predecessor Donald Trump: no contentious exchanges with reporters, no Fox News and no questions about Covid-19.

But another reason Biden’s presser made buzz online was a list with pictures and first names of the 25 reporters who were allowed for the hour-long event. A photo of the card showed circled numbers around select reporters, apparently the ones he planned to call on. The 10 selected reporters mostly obliged him with softball questions and the president often looked at notes when answering. The list and the notes were dubbed as Biden’s ‘cheat sheet’ on social media. “Joe Biden needed 64 days to prepare for a press conference and still needed a cheat sheet,” one user on Twitter wrote. His defenders said the notes showed Biden was prepared and serious.

FACEBOOK CEO BLAMES TRUMP FOR RIOTS Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg refused to own up any responsibility for the January 6 attack on the US Capitol as he put the blame on former US President Donald Trump for his “words” and the people involved in the assault for “their actions.” In his first appearance before the US Congress since the January 6 attack, Zuckerberg also blamed the people for spreading misleading content. At the hearing with the House Energy and Commerce committee, lawmakers pressed the Facebook CEO to own up some responsibility for the attack for facilitating the organisation of the attack.

Zuckerberg said that “the responsibility lies with the people who took the actions to break the law and do the insurrection”.

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PM Modi talks of shared heritage, common challenges in Dhaka As he paid glowing tributes to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the two countries had not just descended from shared heritage and were advancing towards shared development and opportunities but also faced common challenges like terrorism. The sense of shared concerns and synergy in goals and challenges was reciprocated by Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina, who said, “India is not only our next door neighbour, we have a historical, social, cultural heritage and geographical rapport. The people and government of India were immensely involved in the evolution process of Bangladesh during our liberation war in 1971.”

Modi’s speech on the “historic” visit to mark 50 years of Bangladesh's war of liberation was significant as he slammed Pakistan for the atrocities committed by its army, mentioned Indira Gandhi’s contribution to the liberation and also sought to make a personal connection with the same by “proudly” reminding the people of Bangladesh that he had participated in their freedom struggle by doing a satyagraha and courting

arrest at a young age. Modi said he had been traumatised by the actions of the Pakistan army which had committed genocide of its own people. He also hailed the contribution of the Indian Army to Bangladesh’s war of liberation.

In her speech, Hasina spoke at length on Pakistani brutalities against the people of Bangladesh during the struggle for liberation.

In an oblique reference to Pakistan, Modi said the kind of

forces and mindset that gave effect to such inhuman acts were still active. “We need to remain alert and united to fight them,’’ the PM said. He quoted late Atal Bihari Vajpayee to say that the blood of Bangladeshi and Indian soldiers ran together and would stand the test of any crafty diplomacy.

Recalling Pakistan’s Operation Searchlight brutalities, Modi said the world had not discussed the issue enough. “In the middle of all

this, Bangabandhu was like a ray of hope for people here and for us Indians. His courage and leadership meant that no country could enslave Bangladesh,’’ he said, wearing what is locally known as a ‘Mujib jacket’.

Earlier in the day, Modi was received at the airport by Hasina as he landed in Dhaka with another 1.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines. He then drove to the National Martyrs’ Memorial to pay tribute to the valour and sacrifice of those who gave their lives in the

1971 war. At the National Day event, he handed over the Gandhi Peace Prize for Rahman to Hasina.

Thanking Modi and the Indian government for their cooperation and for gifting vaccines to Bangladesh, Hasina said at the National Day event that India had backed Bangladesh both in good and bad times. Modi also met community leaders on the first day of his visit, including minority representatives and Muktijodhas, the liberation fighters. PM Modi also visited two temples during his visit.

An explosive scare, a murder, Buzz of Pawar-Amit Shah meet adds spice to Maharashtra saga and now a political crisis Why did suspended police officer Sachin Vaze place 20 loose gelatin sticks inside a Scorpio and park it outside Antilia, home to Mukesh Ambani, in south Mumbai? According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over the probe on March 9 after the Union home ministry took suo moto cognizance of the explosives case, Vaze did this to regain his lost glory. A top NIA official said that Vaze, who was at the time of the discovery heading the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Crime Branch, “wanted to prove to Mumbai Police brass that he is still as good, by solving a bomb conspiracy.”

The official said that Vaze planned the whole episode to plant explosives outside Antilia. “He wanted the limelight again,” he said. Vaze was arrested and suspended in 2004, in connection with the alleged custodial killing of a terror suspect. In 2007, he left the force, and joined the Shiv Sena shortly afterwards. In the meantime, he started dealerships in partnership and security services.

Vaze was only reinstated in 2020, after the Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress (Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi) came to power.

Vaze was the lead investigator in the explosives case when it first came to light. It was later transferred to the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), before the NIA took over. Vaze, however, has refuted this theory and maintains his innocence.

NIA slaps UAPA on Waze The NIA invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against Waze and others in the explosives case.

Meanwhile, the anti-terrorism squad probe into the case reportedly indicates the conspiracy to murder businessman Mansukh Hiran was hatched by Waze and two of his colleagues at his office in the police headquarters. The explosives were placed in a Scorpio, owned by Hiran near Ambani's residence on February 25.

Waze wanted to show Hiran under stress What they did first was to ask Hiran to draft a letter through an advocate, alleging he was facing pressure from the police and the media, which was not the case. According to the plan, Waze wanted to show that Hiran was under mental pressure and was likely to kill himself,” an ATS official said. The technical details gathered about his mobile location showed on March 4, Waze was at CIU and there was not a single incoming or outgoing call from his mobile phone while there were 8 messages from various marketing companies.

“All communication with accomplices was through SIM cards procured from

Gujarat through an accomplice. During the interrogation of arrested constable Vinayak Shinde, it transpired that Waze was communicating with him with a SIM card procured from Gujarat,” an official said. “We believe that Waze himself called Hiran but told him to inform his wife that one inspector Tawde had called. This was done because the family was upset after Waze asked him to take responsibility for planting the explosives,” said an ATS official. Wasze was transferred after his name came up in the Hiren's death case.

Former top cop seeks probe against Anil Deshmukh Former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh moved the Bombay High Court in a criminal PIL seeking a CBI probe into the alleged corruption charges against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

Singh, who was shunted out as Mumbai Police Commissioner in the wake of the bomb scare case, has also challenged the government's order transferring him from the post. The ex-Mumbai top cop met a setback when the Supreme Court refused to entertain his plea on the same and asked him to approach the Bombay High Court instead.

The top court had said that the allegations and counter-allegations between Singh and Deshmukh are "serious" but the case should be heard by the HC first. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has been facing turmoil after Singh alleged that the state's home minister gave a target to cops to collect £10 million every month.

Amid speculation of a “meeting” with NCP leaders Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel in Ahmedabad, home minister Amit Shah on Sunday said "everything need not be made public”. The cryptic response, which stopped well short of denying whether he had met the NCP duo, came after speculation swirled through the day of a secret meeting. NCP, however, came out with a formal denial.

“There was no such meeting, it is a BJP conspiracy. It’s a fact that Pawar and Patel were in Ahmedabad but they never met Shah, it’s planted news to divert attention from main issues,’’ NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said. Sources confirmed that Shah as well as Pawar and Patel happened to be in Ahmedabad on Saturday but there was no clarity on whether they met.

The development came as tensions sparked by the sensational plot to extort money from industrialist Mukesh Ambani escalated among the constituents of Maha Vikas Aghadi, and triggered intense speculation in the country's political and financial capitals.

Shah, BJP sources said, had taken time off his intense electioneering schedule to meet his two granddaughters whom he dotes on. Likewise, sources in Ahmedabad's business and political circles said Pawar and Patel, who were in Jaipur, had stopped in Ahmedabad on their way back to Mumbai and were hosted by industrialist Gautam Adani.

However, there was no confirmation from any quarter of them meeting Shah at

Amit Shah and Sharad Pawar

the residence of the influential industrialist or any other place in Ahmedabad. Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel’s original plan was to visit the Statue of Unity along with Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani. However, the plan was shelved due to rising Covid-19 cases. They still decided to make a detour to Ahmedabad on their way back to Mumbai and after landing at Ahmedabad airport at 9.30 pm, drove straight to Adani’s residence. Sources said they stayed overnight and left at 10 am the next morning after breakfast.

If lack of verifiable information about the “meeting” failed to quell speculation, it has only partly to do with Shah refraining from scotching it. The buzz gained traction because of the timing. Sunday also saw senior NCP leader and Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar taking strong exception to Shiv Sena’s voluble MP Sanjay Raut taking a dig at Amit Deshmukh by saying that the latter got charge of the home department after Jayant Patil and Dilip Walse-Patil, Sharad Pawar’s original picks for the politically crucial assignment, backed out.

Delhi, Dhaka ink 5 agreements, Hasina pushes for Teesta pact Continued from page 1

PM Modi reiterated India’s sincere and continued effort to conclude the agreement in consultation with relevant stakeholders,’’ said foreign secretary Harsh Shringla, adding that the Indian side also requested Bangladesh for early finalisation of the draft of the interim agreement for sharing of Feni river water. The results of the West Bengal election could have a direct bearing on the Teesta pact.

A joint statement said, “She (Hasina) underscored that to alleviate the sufferings and save the livelihoods of millions of people dependent on the Teesta river basin, it is necessary that Bangladesh receives its fair share of the Teesta waters, the draft agreement of which has already been agreed upon by both governments in

January 2011.”

The delay in signing the Teesta agreement remains one of the few thorny issues in bilateral ties. Hasina had also raised the issue with PM Modi in their virtual summit last year in December. Showing no sign of softening her position, Banerjee said earlier this month that her state can share water only if it had enough for itself.

On security cooperation, recognising terrorism remains a threat to global peace and security, both sides reiterated their strong commitment to eliminating terrorism in “all its forms and manifestations.’’

Modi expressed India’s appreciation for the cooperation extended by Bangladesh on security issues.

The two leaders inaugurated three border “haats”, oversaw the foundation of

facilities at Rooppur nuclear facility and also jointly inaugurated extended development work at Rabindra Bhawan kuthibari at Kushtiaalo. The discussion on Saturday concluded efforts on both sides to accelerate cooperation across varied fields aimed at more closely enmeshing Indian and Bangladeshi development strategies. India also gifted 109 ambulances to Bangladesh.

Significantly, while Bangladesh thanked India for gifting 3.2 million Covid19 vaccine doses, it also requested India to facilitate regular delivery of the remaining tranches of vaccine procured by Bangladesh from the Serum Institute of India. According to the joint statement, India assured its best cooperation in accordance with its “domestic exigencies and international commitments’’.

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SOUTH INDIA

DMK's A Raja apologises for remarks against TN CM CHENNAI: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader A Raja apologised for offensive remarks against Tamil Nadu chief minister and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader E Palaniswami.

Issuing a statement on Twitter, Raja said he was "greatly pained" after reading the news about his remarks in the newspapers.

The DMK leader also said that his remarks were "misrepresented" and only portions of it were carried by media organisations, and apologised to the chief minister if he was hurt. Raja said he did not intend to hurt anyone. The politician said his intention was not to attack Palaniswami's personal life, and that he was only comparing their political careers.

Raja also said that he

discussed the issue with his party chief MK Stalin. Earlier, addressing a press conference, the DMK leader said he was hurt that the chief minister choked up during an election rally on Sunday. The remarks, allegedly about the chief minister and his mother, made the AIADMK leader emotional at an election rally. Palaniswami said that a mother occupied a respectable position in society and anyone who denigrated women would be punished by God. The ruling party also filed a case against Raja for allegedly making vulgar personal remarks against the chief minister. The case was filed based on a complaint to the state chief electoral officer (CEO) which was forwarded to the Greater Chennai Police, commissioner Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal said.

The AIADMK even knocked the

doors of the Election Commission with a plea to debar Raja from campaigning for the April 6 Assembly elections. Party workers also staged protest in Salem and Karur districts.

The AIADMK's ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also hit out at Raja for his

comments, with Union minister Smriti Irani alleging "DMK does not respect women". DMK president MK Stalin, without mentioning anyone's name, said that during campaign, partymen must make dignified comments, saying rivals would distort and edit speeches.

PUNJAB

BJP holds statewide protests, burns effigy of Punjab CM BATHINDA/AMRITSAR: BJP workers gathered outside Fire Brigade Chowk and burnt an effigy of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, protesting the attack on Abohar MLA Arun Narang in Malout. Alleging deterioration of law and order, they raised slogans against the Congress government. BJP state media co-in charge Sunil Singla and others, who were present during the protest, alleged there was no sign of democracy in the state.

BJP leaders said the Chief Minister was not capable of running the state and should resign. In Sangrur also, party leaders burnt the effigy of the Punjab Government to protest the attack on the party MLA. “The Punjab Government has failed to provide security to our leaders and its leading to repeated attacks on our leaders.

We will intensify our agitation in coming days,” said Randeep

Deol, Sangrur BJP chief.

BJP leaders alleged that the incident was an outcome of the Congress-sponsored ‘goondaism’ and deep conspiracy to intimidate BJP leaders who were holding meetings in view of the Assembly elections next year.

Led by Gautam Arora, the BJP Yuva Morcha held a demonstration outside the Hathi Gate area and raised slogans against the Punjab Government and Capt Amarinder.

Former state BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Shwait Malik alleged that the attack

was perpetrated by the Congress supporters as farmers did not indulge in such shameful acts.

“The Congress wanted to intimidate BJP leaders as the elections were approaching in Punjab, but we will not get afraid by such tactics. We did not get scared even during the Emergency,” he said.

Condemning the incident, district BJP president Suresh Mahajan said they would meet local police authorities to ensure security of BJP workers and leaders after holding a meeting with its colleagues following Holi. BJP leader Ram Chawla said the CM should immediately resign on moral grounds for his failure to ensure security of its legislatures while there were intelligence inputs about this.

4 held for assault Even as Punjab police arrested four persons on Sunday who were part of the mob that assaulted Narang, the Centre has expressed anguish over the attack with a senior Union minister saying that the state’s chief minister has failed to ensure the safety of the legislator. Asserting that the Centre is keeping a close watch on the functioning of the Punjab government with regard to the handling of violent protests against the new farm laws, the cabinet minister said, “We are disturbed and anguished. This will not go for too long, something will have to be done.” The minister was visibly perturbed about the attack on Narang, who was stripped and thrashed brutally by a violent mob in Muktsar and had a narrow escape after cops managed to shut him in a small shop.

WEST BENGAL

Voting for assembly election kicks off: 80% voting in Bengal, 77% in Assam KOLKATA: Voting for assembly election kicked off in Bengal’s tribal heartland and Assam’s tea and traditional Assamese bastion got off on Saturday with a turnout of 80% and 77% respectively amid sporadic violence involving Trinamool and BJP supporters. Of the 30 assembly seats in Bengal that went to polls in the first of eight phases, the spotlight was firmly on the seven East Midnapore constituencies where CM Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool and her turncoat former aide Suvendu Adhikari’s family are, for the first time, fighting an election standing on opposite sides.

The windshield of a car ferrying Soumendu Adhikari, the brother of BJP’s Nandigram candidate Suvendu, was allegedly smashed by Trinamool

workers at Sabajput, barely 8 km from the family’s Shanti Kunj home in Contai town .The brick attack, which occurred around 11am and left Soumendu’s driver Ram Singh injured, reflected the continuing bitterness between Trinamool and the Adhikaris in East Midnapore and elsewhere.

There were a few other incidents - crude bombs being hurled at Pataspur to intimidate voters and voting being suspended at Majhna, around 4km from Contai town, for an hour following allegations of malfunctioning of EVMs. Complaints and countercomplaints were lodged by both sides with the Election Commission over polling in the district.

The violence, however, did not deter women voters particularly Muslims - from

coming out in large numbers and pushing the polling percentage to above 80%, something that Trinamool and BJP polling agents noted with contrasting emotions. Neither Soumendu nor his father Sisir Adhikari, TMC’s Contai MP who crossed over to BJP recently, made much of the clashes.

“Votes will speak, the lotus will bloom,” Sisir said.

If the number of red flags in Khejuri was any indication, the Left Front, too, appeared to be in the fight in some pockets.

Khejuri and Pataspur had played a key role in the 2007 farmland stir that culminated in the Nandigram police firing that claimed 14 lives.

In Assam, the voting percentage across the 47 constituencies is 77%, the state’s chief electoral officer Nitin

Khade said. These 47 seats with an electorate of 81,00,000 voters, including CM Sarbananda Sonowal’s Majuli constituency, had registered a polling percentage of over 85% in the 2016 assembly polls that brought BJP to office in the state for the first time.

Barring minor glitches in EVMs at a few polling stations and clashes between Congress and BJP supporters at Samaguri in Nagaon and Jonai in Dhemaji district, voting was by and large disruption-free. Minister and BJP’s star campaigner Himanta Biswa Sarma said NDA would win “42 to 43 seats” out of those that went to polls in the first of three phases.

in brief SMRITI IRANI PERFORMS DANDIYA WHILE CAMPAIGNING Union Minister Smriti Irani joined party workers in a dandiya dance while campaigning for Vanathi Srinivasan, the BJP's candidate from Coimbatore South constituency of Tamil Nadu ahead of Assembly elections in the state. The assembly elections in the state will be held on April 6. Polls will be held for 234 seats in the state with the Congress-DMK and BJPAIADMK alliance being the major groups contesting against each other. Earlier, BJP president JP Nadda had said the party is certainly making inroads in the state and the enthusiasm of the crowd speaks of the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Taking a jibe at the DMK, Nadda had said, "D stands for Dynasty, M stands for Money and K stands for Katta Panchayat, this is DMK."

KARNATAKA MLAS DARED TO GO FOR 'MONOGAMY TESTS' In a bizarre statement, Karnataka health and medical education minister K Sudhakar dared all 225 Karnataka MLAs to come clean on their extra-marital affairs by undergoing “monogamy tests.” An hour later, he expressed regret after drawing flak from MLAs, including some from the BJP, besides the Speaker and opposition leaders. “No one bothered when Congress deliberately tried to defame six ministers. But my statement asking them to introspect has hurt some people. I request them not to take my statement literally but understand the pain and anguish of my words,” Sudhakar said.

Reacting to the Congress demand for his resignation, Sudhakar said the “monogamy test” will expose all those taking the moral high ground.

PUNJAB IMPOSES MORE RESTRICTIONS In view of the spiking Covid-19 cases, the Punjab government has decided to close all museums till 10 April, the state said. While the Virasat-e-Khalsa situated at Sri Anandpur Sahib will be closed with immediate effect, public entry would be strictly prohibited into the premises of the museum of Sikh heritage and culture. In a statement, the official spokesperson of the Punjab government said that the decision has been taken to restrict the public to gather in close vicinity. "The general public is also advised to comply with health advisories issued by the Punjab government to check the further rise of this deadly virus," a government notification said.

"The pilgrims coming to Sri Anandpur Sahib to take part in the Holla Mohalla celebrations should not gather at one place in large number. They should also put on masks all the time, maintain social distance and sanitize their hands at regular intervals," the spokesperson said.

BJP, TMC NOMINEES CELEBRATE HOLI TOGETHER Sinking political differences, Trinamool Congress candidate and maverick politician Madan Mitra on Sunday celebrated Holi with three actors-turned-BJP nominees on board a vessel on river Hooghly. Mitra, the TMC candidate, celebrated holi with Payel Sarkar, Srabonti Chatterjee and Tanushree Chakraborty, who are contesting the assembly elections on BJP tickets. Singing popular Holi-special Bengali song, 'Khelbo Holi rong debona', Mitra said, "They are my friends. We have known each other for many years. There shouldn't be any politics on Holi.

I invited them and they are here. Political differences should not overshadow our personal relations. We can have different political ideologies but we are all together on Holi, which speaks of amity and harmony.

This is the culture of West Bengal," he added.

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INDIA

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3 - 9 April 2021

Biggest weekly jump in India's Covid cases, deaths up India recorded a 51% jump in weekly Covid-19 cases, with the current week’s numbers 130,000 higher than the count in the previous seven days, making it the biggest weekly spike in coronavirus infections till date. Deaths too registered the sharpest-ever rise of 51%, with 1,875 fatalities during the week, the highest since December 21-27.

With fresh cases hitting a 168day high of 68,266 on Sunday as Maharashtra reported a record 40,414 infections, India logged more than 390,000 cases during the week (March 22-28), the highest since the October 12-18 week, when the count was 430,000. Last week (March 15-21) had seen a 67% surge with cases increasing by over 100,000 as compared to the previous week.

Together, the last weeks have seen the worst surge in cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

India’s total Covid-19 caseload crossed 12 million on Sunday. With pandemic numbers on the rise

again, the last one million cases came in 35 days, nearly half the time taken for the previous one million (65 days). Active cases of the virus also topped 500,000, with a record single-day rise of 35,703 on Sunday. This was the fastest-ever rise of 100,000 active cases, with the count rising from 400,000 to 500,000 in just three days. Deaths have been on the rise as well. The current week’s death toll of 1,875 was not just the highest this year but also a 51% increase over the previous week’s fatalities - the sharpest increase yet in the weekly fatality count.

Cases in Gujarat cross 300,000 Gujarat added 2,270 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, taking the cumulative tally past 300,000 cases. The state became 13th in India to clock three lakh cases. As Gujarat had reported its first two cases on March 19, it took 374 days to go past the landmark, averaging 804 daily cases. As the state also recorded 4,492 cumulative deaths with eight new deaths in 24 hours,

the mortality rate is1.5%.

Analysis of the cases reveals that four districts – Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, and Rajkot – accounted for 64% of the cumulative cases and 85% of Ahmedabad district deaths. recorded the highest 70,857 cases, followed by Surat (63,040) and Vadodara (33,577). Ahmedabad has recorded 2,345 deaths, followed by Surat (1,006) and Vadodara (246). n Sunday 11,528 active cases were reported, the highest in100 days.

Anyone over 45 years can get shots In a move to expand coverage of the vaccination programme and step up the fight against a resurgence of Covid-19 infections, the government announced that anyone above 45 years of age, without any requirement to show comorbidities, can get the shots from April 1. Following the announcement, over 340 million people in all are estimated to be eligible for vaccinations. At present, people above 60 and those in the 45-60 age group with

specified comorbidities, can take the jab.

The decision to expand the age eligibility comes at a time when calls for faster rollout of the shots are rising. Even though the pace of vaccinations has been accelerating, the rollout has been uneven with states reporting unfulfilled capacities and below-expectation participation of private sector hospitals. It was felt that allowing more people to take the shots

would increase the pool of people willing to receive the vaccines and this would more optimally utilise the capacities of some 50,000 government and private hospitals enrolled on the Co-Win portal. It was found that several private were sporadically hospitals scheduling the shots or not at all.

The expanded eligibility could increase demand and incentivise hospitals and states to create more sessions.

Nine Covid-19 patients die India temporarily halts OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine exports following fire at Mumbai hospital India has placed a temporary hold on all exports of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, foreign ministry sources said. They said rising cases meant domestic demand was expected to pick up in the coming weeks, and so the doses were needed for India's own rollout. The move - described as a "temporary squeeze" by officials - is expected to affect supplies until the end of April. Some 190 countries under the Covax scheme are likely to be affected. The scheme, which is led by the World Health Organization (WHO), aims to ensure vaccines are shared fairly among all nations.

India's largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India (SII), has delayed shipments of the AstraZeneca jab to several countries in recent days, including the UK and Brazil. India has exported more than 60 million vaccine doses to 76 countries so far, with the majority of these being the OxfordAstraZeneca jab.

Why has India taken this step?

The decision comes as India faces a surge in coronavirus cases. It recorded its sharpest daily rise this year, with more than 47,000 new cases and 275 deaths on Wednesday last.

It is opening up vaccinations for those over the age of 45 from 1 April, and officials expect demand for vaccinations to increase. "The export hold is a temporary measure.

Domestic demand will have to take precedence," one foreign ministry source said. The source said there was likely to be a squeeze on vaccine supplies until April, but the situation could ease come May when at least one additional vaccine is expected to be given emergency approval.

There have been no exports from India since Thursday last, according to the foreign ministry's website. "Everything else has taken a backseat, for the time being at least," one

source at the ministry said. "No exports, nothing until the India situation stabilises."

There has been no official comment from the government or the SII on the decision.

The SII - the world's largest vaccine manufacturer - has already delayed shipments of the AstraZeneca jab to the UK, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. Last week, the delivery of five million doses had been held up by four weeks. "We will try to supply more later, based on the current situation and the requirement for the government immunisation programme in India," an SII spokesperson said.

The SII has said it will produce one billion doses this year for low- and middleincome countries. And in January, it said it could turn out between 60 and 70 million vaccine doses a month. This figure included the AstraZeneca vaccine as well as the USdeveloped Novavax jab, which is not yet licensed for use in India. That month, the SII said that it was aiming to boost its monthly production to 100 million doses from March.

However, a recent check revealed production was still at 60 to 70 million doses and had not increased. The Indian government began its vaccination programme on 16 January, and so far has inoculated over 47 million people amid fears of a possible second wave. The authorities are hoping to administer 600 million doses within seven months - about 85 million doses a month.

OCI card holders no longer required to carry old passports for India travel People of Indian origin and Indian diaspora having overseas citizens of India (OCI) card are now not required to carry their old, expired passports for travel to India, as required earlier, according to a statement. "The requirement of carrying old and new passports, along with the OCI card, has been done away with," the Indian embassy said, referring to a notification issued in this regard by the Centre, addressing one of the major concerns of overseas Indians.

"Henceforth, an OCI cardholder travelling on the strength of an existing OCI card bearing old passport number is not

required to carry the old passport. However, carrying the new (current) passport is mandatory," the embassy said. According to the embassy, the Indian government has also decided to grant further extension of time till December 31, 2021, to get the OCI cards reissued for those below the age of 20 years and above 50 years. As per the current OCI guidelines that have been in force since 2005, an OCI card is required to be re-issued each time a new passport is acquired by the cardholder up to the age of 20 years or after completing 50 years of age.

Nine coronavirus patients died in a fire at a Covid-19 hospital in a Mumbai mall, civic officials said, adding more misery to a state that has emerged as the hardest hit in the pandemic. All nine patients died due to suffocation as a result of the fire while two other patients at the hospital had already died due to coronavirus before the fire broke out, the BMC said in a statement.

The hospital, however, claimed that there was no casualty due to the fire. “All the patients were shifted alive but there were a few patients on ventilator and were extremely critical. We believe the casualties are not due to the fire, but either in transit or at other hospitals (where they were shifted), it said.

The hospital had earlier said two deceased were coronavirus patients who were already dead from the disease when the fire broke out.

The BMC also confirmed this claim. The fire brigade and police are probing the cause of the fire, the BMC statement said.

The fire broke out at the Sunrise Hospital in the Dreams Mall building in Bhandup area around midnight, a BMC official said. The hospital is situated on the top floor of the fourstoreyed building.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray who visited the spot in the afternoon said strict action will be taken against those found responsible for the fire. Thackeray apologised to the families of the victims and announced Rs 25,00,000 to the kin of each deceased.

Thackeray said

permission was granted to the hospital last year to run a Covid-19 centre temporarily. The blaze comes amid an upsurge in coronavirus cases in Mumbai.

On Friday, Mumbai logged 5,513 new infections, the highest daily count since the pandemic began.

Altogether 78 patients were being treated at the 107-bed hospital when the fire broke out, the BMC said, adding 67 patients were shifted to other hospitals after the blaze. The cause of the fire has not been ascertained yet, the BMC said.

26 ART & CULTURE

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‘There is no doubt that London has emerged as a place of refuge’ Shefali Saxena Published by Penguin Random Publishing house, ESCAPED is a compilation of true stories of Indian fugitives in London– a new book by London-based journalists Danish Khan and Ruhi Khan decodes why London is considered an irresistible siren for those wanting to escape the law in India.

Ruhi Khan is a London based independent journalist. She has written on extradition cases for The Wire. She has worked with NDTV and Mumbai Mirror in India and was a curator at Twitter UK. She is currently an ESRC researcher at the London School of Economics & Political Science and edits the Media@LSE Blog.

Danish Khan is a journalist and historian living in London. He has been covering the UK and Europe for Times Now, ET Now and Mumbai Mirror for a decade. He has taught history courses at University of Oxford and Stanford University.

In an exclusive interview with Asian Voice, they spoke about the book at length and answered some crucial questions.

Q - How did you come up with the idea of the book?

Ruhi: The idea for the book germinated with the Vijay Mallya’s extradition case and the massive interest it generated in India.

The subject of extradition is absolutely intriguing. There have always been requests for extradition by India and that's why India was among the first countries in the Commonwealth to have an extradition treaty with the UK. It’s indeed surprising that there has never been a book on the subject, so perhaps it was high time someone finally wrote one.

Danish: This book is the perfect amalgamation of our journalistic skills and academic acumen. We both reported extensively on these cases, but we are also quite excited about digging through archives to unearth the forgotten stories.

And soon realised that it is an absolutely fascinating history and much in need of being explored through a non-fiction book that hopefully provides a point of reference for understanding extradition of Indian fugitives from the UK. Q - We've seen Bad Boy Billionaires, is the book an extension or more vivid account on those lines?

Ruhi: The interest in Bad Boy Billionaires shows that the world is interested in knowing about not just poverty and the underworld in India, but also the ultra-glam life of billionaires and their alleged billion dollar frauds. Our

Ruhi & Danish outside Vijay Mallya's house in Tewin village

book's strength lies in the details – and significantly in unearthing the ownerships of their UK assets and chronicling the arguments in the British courts, something which is not there in Bad Boy Billionaires.

Danish: Also, Vijay Mallya, for instance faced and continues to face several cases in the UK. Our book has details of his multiple legal battles, how he bought and saved his homes in London and Tewin village.

We also write about how the flamboyant party king is now reduced to petitioning the court every few days to ask for an increase in his allowance to meet basic expenses. With Nirav Modi we shed light on his life here in the UK from his posh Centre Point apartment to his cell in HM prison Wandsworth. And of course the book details his trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and the multiple times his bail was rejected – all of which is not in Bad Boys Billionaire.

Q - What kind of responsibility comes with penning such a book which has so many legalities attached to it?

Ruhi: We have been extremely careful in our fact-checking and everything in the book is based on documents and eyewitness accounts. It is always better to be cautious and in each of the cases we have tried to present the legal battle with as

Ten South Asian artists supported by Coventry 2021 Ten South Asian artists have supportive community been given £1000, bespoke using a participatory mentoring and development approach.

Lakshmi training to see the next generSrinivasan, a passionate ation of diverse artists shine in and accomplished Coventry. performer, tutor and choreographer, with a The ten local artists have track record of work in been recruited by Coventry City of Culture Trust and will Carnival of Lights; Credit: Ahsen Sayeed the two distinct forms of Indian Classical be working with Sampad Dance. Amisha Patel, a motivational speaker South Asian Arts to develop and use their and cultural enthusiast who has worked with diverse range of skills and talents to get the several South Asian Charities as a volunteer, chance to co-create an event during UK City undertaking a range of cultural activities in of Culture 2021. Some of the artists taking her roles. Navkiran Mann, Collaborative City part in the programme are: Gayatri Pasricha, team producer at Coventry City of Culture a UK-based graphic designer with a Trust said: “In creating this programme, I background in philosophy and economics. wanted to build platform for South Asian Avtar Kaur, a costume designer with a BA in artists to be seen, heard and acknowledged, Fashion Design with Design For not only to ensure representation but also to Performance from Birmingham City inspire the next generation of South Asian University. Nor Aziz, a creative engagement artists to take up space in arts and culture. practitioner, focusing on creating a

much detail as possible. This is also a rich and dense territory, and many times we had to weigh what details to keep and which ones to leave out. The aim was to keep the book as accessible as possible, but at the same time retain the extradition cases as the key element in all the chapters. Even in our narrative, we haven't taken much creative liberties, and thus have fortified the book by sticking to facts.

Danish: We became fascinated with the arguments after attending the many hearings in UK courts. There is a qualitative difference between writing a report for the media based on what you hear in the court, and writing a book to provide a comprehensive picture. And hence a book becomes more challenging. Extradition cases are very complex, and we had extended discussions with legal experts who were very kind to give us time and their insights on the law. As we have mainly stuck to archives, court documents, judgments, and our extensive notes we significantly reduced the chances of error. The book has also passed through a legal read.

Q - Having researched and written so extensively about these cases, what is your major take away on this escapism?

Ruhi: There is no doubt that London has emerged as a place of refuge for those escaping the law in India. It began perhaps due to a sense of familiarity that the Indians shared with the British, the influence of the British culture on Indian life, the proximity and the ease of travel and migration. Yet the safety net comes from the faith in the British judiciary to test the requirement of a prima facie case and safeguard the human rights of the accused. This many hope will help them escape extradition.

Danish: The cases of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and alleged arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari have only served to reinforce this image, but the fact is that there have been several such high profile cases as we show in the book, which is precisely why India and the UK signed an extradition treaty.

Extradition is a complex process, but at the same time poor paperwork and slow response from India have also led to courts refusing extradition.

Meet the cast of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ The cast for the digital revival of The Importance of Being Earnest has been announced.

The show will be available from 19 April until Tuesday, May 4. The show has been adapted for digital by writer, radio broadcaster and performer Yasmeen Khan.

The show is co-produced by Dukes Lancaster and the Lawrence Batley Theatre. It will star Gurjeet Singh (Ackley Bridge, Wuthering Heights) as Earnest/Jamil, Tom Dixon (Twelfth Night, Romeo & Juliet) as Algy, Mina Anwar (Everybody's Talking About Jamie, The Thin Blue Line) as Ms Begum, Nikki Patel (Trojan Horse, Coronation Street) as Gul, Zoe Iqbal (Finding Fatimah, Ackley Bridge) as Safina and Melanie Marshall (Jane Eyre) as Miss Prism, with appearances from finalist of RuPaul's Drag Race UK Divina De Campo, star of stage and screen Paul Chahidi, award-winning actor, comedian and writer Hugh Dennis, actress Harriet Thorpe (Absolutely Fabulous) and comedian Sindhu Vee.

in brief THE NEW YORK INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL (NYIFF) CONGRATULATES THE 67TH NATIONAL FILM AWARD WINNERS In their 67th year, the National Film Awards were announced last week. In a press statement, The New York Indian Film Festival saluted all the winners. It was a rather proud moment for NYIFF because many of the films that screened at NYIFF in 2019 and 2020 got recognition.

The list of National Film Award winners for the year 2019 included: Manoj Bajpayee, Best Actor Award for Bhosle (NYIFF 2019), directed by Devashish Makhija. Manoj won NYIFF’s Best Actor Award for Guli Guleiyan (NYIFF 2018), Naga Vishal, Best Child Actor for K.D. (NYIFF 2019), directed by Madhumita Vijay, Kalla Nottam/ The False Eye (NYIFF 2020), Best Malayalam Film, directed by Rahul Riji Nair, Kastoori/ Musk (NYIFF 2020), Best Children’s Film, directed

by Vinod Kamble, Sudhanshu Saria, Best Director, Non-Feature Film (Short Film), Knock, Knock, Knock (NYIFF 2020) and Mandar Kamalapurkar, Best Sound Designer for Trijya (NYIFF 2020), directed by Akshay Indikar.

Aseem Chabbra, Festival Director for NYIFF said, "The Indo-American Arts Council and the New York Indian Film Festival congratulate all the winners. NYIFF shares the same objective as the National Film Awards - to celebrate and support the cinematic talents of India, about India and for India and to give due recognition to films in all the Indian languages. Hence, we take pride that audiences in the New York TriState Area and across the world were able to access and view these films before they became more widely available. Our curators will continue to seek out the best artistic talent and promote them.”

SEEEFI AND DHUN SPRING FESTIVAL 2021 An online music and arts festival in collaboration with Dhun will take place from Friday April 2 to April 5 and April 11.

This program will be organized online by Seeefi and Dhun and also in association with other organizations. This year’s theme is Spring, Love and Happiness. The segments are as follows: Multilingual segment including Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, and other Indian Languages which is to reflect the "Biswa Bandhutwa" (Global friendship). Rabindra Sangeet , Bollywood, Classical vocal and instrument and Dance and Poem recitation and Song.

The main aim of celebrating this festival is to reach people of all sectors of the South Asian society to bring awareness regarding current Covid-19 Lockdown, vaccination and social distancing. In addition to this, the festival is also trying to survive the age old and trusted guru shishya Parampara and music gharanas in various places. In this instance we are planning to gift music instruments (Surmandal and Kamaicha) to the Jaisalmer based Manganiar community.

The organisers are planning to give a couple of instruments set (Suramandal around Rs 25000 to Rs 30000 and Kamaicha around Rs 40000 to Rs 45000) to Manganiar community musician Chanan Khan .

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HEALTH

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3 - 9 April 2021

Alzheimer's progresses faster in women than men: Study Research from Lund University has found that Alzheimer's disease progresses faster in women than in men. The study reveals that protein tau accumulates at a higher rate in women. Tau and betaamyloid are two proteins known to aggregate and accumulate in the brain in patients with Alzheimer's.

The first protein to aggregate in Alzheimer's is betaamyloid.

While men and women are equally affected by the first disease stages, the analysis did not show any differences in the accumulation of beta-amyloid. Memory dysfunction rises later when tau starts to accumulate. It was for tau that the researchers found a higher

rate of accumulation in women.

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, with over 30 million people suffering from it. Author of the study, Ruben Smith was quoted by media reports as saying, “Tau accumulation rates vary greatly between individuals of the same sex, but in the temporal lobe, which is affected in Alzheimer's disease, we found a 75 per cent higher accumulation rate in women as a group compared to men.”

The accumulation rate of tau is higher in women even after adjusting for age and the levels of tau they had at the beginning.

Together with data from three similar cohorts in the

4 science-backed health benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar The ongoing lockdown opened its doors to a range of home remedies. While most internet users today benefit from the ghee, turmeric, and Chia seeds, Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) has grown to become a popular home remedy.

People have been using it in cooking and as medicine.

Apple cider vinegar has various healthful properties, including antimicrobial and antioxidant effects. Evidence suggests it may offer health benefits, such as aiding weight loss, reducing cholesterol, lowering blood sugar levels, and improving the symptoms of diabetes.

Benefits of ACV: 1) Helps lower blood sugar levels and manage

diabetes - One of the most convincing applications of vinegar is helping treat type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is characterised by high blood sugar levels caused by insulin resistance or the inability to produce insulin. Various studies have revealed that ACV may improve insulin sensitivity by 19-34 per cent during a high carb meal and significantly lower blood sugar and insulin response.

2) Helps kill harmful bacteria - People have long been using vinegar for cleaning and disinfecting, treating nail fungus, lice, warts, and ear infections. It can also be a food preservative, and studies show that it inhibits bacteria like E.

Feeling amazing can make a huge difference Psychologist Mamta Saha

USA, the project contains 209 women and 210 men.

Researcher responsible for the cognitive assessment of the patients, Sebastian Palmqvist was quoted as saying, “The next step would be to examine why this accumulation is faster in women.” Reasons for the higher rate of tau accumulation in women was not

investigated.

Professor Oskar Hansson said, “Our study strongly indicates that the faster spread of tau makes women more prone to develop dementia because of Alzheimer's pathology compared to men. Future experimental studies will be important to understand the reasons behind this.”

Coli from growing in and spoiling food. The acetic acid in ACV can kill harmful bacteria or prevent them from multiplying.

3) Aids weight loss ACV has most recently been associated with aiding weight loss. Studies reveal that vinegar could help people shed a couple of pounds. One such study

by promoting satiety, lowering blood sugar, and reducing insulin levels.

4) Boosts skin health Apple Cider Vinegar is a common remedy for skin conditions like dry skin and eczema. The skin is naturally slightly acidic.

Using topical apple cider vinegar could help rebalance the natural pH of the

finds that taking vinegar along with a high carb meal led to increased feelings of fullness, causing participants to eat 200-275 fewer calories throughout the rest of the day. ACV may contribute to weight loss

skin, improving the protective skin barrier. ACV could, in theory, help prevent skin infections linked to eczema and other skin conditions. People also use the diluted vinegar in a face wash or toner.

Dear Readers, Feeling amazing shouldn’t be hard work; and if we try, we can make a huge difference to our general wellbeing and state of mind. Normally I would write an article that is all about the changes you can adopt in your life to help you to start feeling amazing the moment you choose to, but I know that at this time of year its not always easy and particularly considering we are still in lockdown.

However, regardless of what goes on in the outside world it is important to remember how special and unique in your own way and when you start to love what is - life feels so much better. I assure you that despite the pressure we may feel there are still simple things you can do to make a difference to your inner self.

Identify 3 positive things that happened in your day and write them down. You can look back over these and see how much positivity you can/have achieved – it will be a great mood enhancer.

Give yourself 15 minutes to write down why you value your close friends and family. This will give you perspective on you’re closest relationships and will help you recognise a sense of support that you may otherwise have overlooked.

Say and think 3 positive things a day. Thinking and talking negatively will make you feel the opposite of amazing. Regardless of how good you may look on the outside, your negative energy will take away any potential spring that you could have had in your step!

Try going to bed one hour earlier than usual, sleep is good for everybody. You will notice how much more vibrant and alive you feel.

Spend an evening of watching your favourite movies, this is called movie therapy. Doing this can support you in appreciating the relationships you have in your life and further help you to clarify real life solutions to any problems you may have.

Make sure you recharge for 15 minutes before attempting any home tasks after a long day out. This discipline will help you to move into the rest of your evening feeling relaxed and refreshed rather than strung out by seemingly never-ending festivities.

All too often in life we worry about the end result, get embarrassed by our efforts and give up. True change is about the process and not what it looks like.

Be your own best friend not your own worst enemy and give yourself credit. Feel great that you have a choice to change how you feel and start making steps towards being amazing today.

Head over to YouTube and watch my Ted talk, Invisible No More – 5 Steps to being your best self. For further tips and tools download your free e-book ‘Just in time’ from www.mamtasaha.com, tune into Saha Mindset podcast on Spotify and follow me on Instagram: saha_mamta. Any questions, email: mamta@mamtasaha.com

Cardio yoga: The new Pilates A healthy heart in your 20s may help Home exercises are all the rage these days and cardio yoga is the most sought after style of exercise.

It has become increasingly popular among those who enjoy the relaxation benefits of yoga but demand more intensity. Cardio yoga has its benefits, specific workouts, and how it compares with other forms of cardio.

Rooted in Indian philosophy, yoga focuses on poses, breathing techniques, and meditation practices to enhance consciousness and relieve anxiety. The practice has become increasingly popular throughout the world as was to lose weight, relieve stress, improve sleep and boost mental and emotional health. While there are different types of yoga, they aren't really considered cardio or aerobic exercises.

Meanwhile, cardio yoga workouts involve performing yoga-inspired movements at a quicker pace and with continuous flow to engage more mus-

cognitive abilities in later years

cles and challenge the cardiovascular or circulatory system. It incorporates dynamic movements that ramp up the intensity and elevate one's heart rate.

As there is no definition of cardio yoga, instructors usually mix in their favourite movements and movement sequences. The Surya Namaskar, or Sun Salutation is a series of postures performed in a sequence. Other postures include the Child's pose pushup, leg lift pigeon sequence, and walk downs. Perform these postures as part of a routine. Perform each movement 10-15 times before moving into the next exercise.

A brand new study has possibly conveyed a connection between cardiovascular health and cognitive abilities. Young adults with risk factors for cardiovascular disease like high blood pressure, obesity, or high blood sugar levels, may also have a higher risk for greater cognitive declines later in life. Addressing health issues or keeping them at bay through diet and exercise may also be good for the brain, the study reveals. The study was published online in the journal Neurology.

In a press release, study author Dr Kristine Yaffe, a cognitive aging and dementia researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, said the results from the study “are striking and suggest that early adulthood may be a critical time

for the relationship between these health issues and late-life cognitive skills. It's possible that treating or modifying these health issues in early adulthood could prevent or reduce problems with thinking skills in later life.”

Yaffe and her colleagues pooled data from four other studies, which included a total of more than 15,000 adults 18 to 95 years old who were followed for 10 to 30 years. The studies included measurements of people's cardiovascular risk factors, including body mass index, fasting blood sugar level, systolic blood pressure, and total cholesterol. The scientists analysed the data to see whether cardiovascular problems in early adulthood, middle age, or later life were linked to greater declines in late-

life scores on thinking and memory tests.

They found that people who had obesity, high blood pressure, or high blood sugar levels at any of the three life stages were more likely to have a greater decline in cognitive skills later in life. The link between these risk factors and late-life cognitive decline was greatest for younger adults, those in their 20s and 30s. The decline was 80 to 100 per cent greater than what was seen in people without these health issues. Yaffe said, “With more young people developing diabetes and obesity in early adulthood, along with higher levels of underdiagnosed and undertreated cardiovascular problems, this could have significant public health implications for cognitive health in late life.”

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Fatima Sana Shaikh tests positive for Covid-19 Actor Fatima Sana Shaikh is the latest Bollywood actor to test positive for Coronavirus. The 'Dangal' actor shared an update on her health and informed her fans that she is in home quarantine.

Fatima shared a photo of a blue sky with clouds on her Instagram story with a text on it.

She wrote, “I have tested positive for Covid-19 and currently following all the

precautions and protocols and have been home quarantining myself.” She thanked everyone for their wishes and concerns, and concluded the note saying, “Please stay safe guys-Fatty.” Fatima's 'Dangal' costar Aamir Khan had tested positive for coronavirus only a few days back.

Several Bollywood celebrities are currently in quarantine after testing positive. They include Milind Soman, R

Madhavan, Kartik Aaryan, Vikrant Massey, and Rohit Saraf. Actors like Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ranbir Kapoor, and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali only recently recovered from Covid-19.

Meanwhile on the work front, Fatima looks forward to the release of her 'Ajeeb Daastans' on Netflix. She was also recently announced as the lead of the Hindi adaptation of Tamil hit 'Aruvi'.

Anil Kapoor gifts Mercedes to wife on birthday In a loving gesture, actor Anil Kapoor gifted wife Sunita Kapoor a brand new Mercedes SUV on her birthday this year. The actor poured his heart in his social media post, sharing incidents from their life and the struggles they have faced together.

Kapoor wrote, “To the love of my life @kapoor.sunita. From travelling in 3rd class train compartments to local buses to rickshaws to kali peeli taxis; from flying economy to business to first class; from roughing it out in small dingy hotels in villages like Karaikudi down South to staying in a tent in Leh Ladakh... We have done it all with a smile on our faces and love in our hearts.”

He confessed his love for Sunta and said, “These are just some of the million reasons I love you... You are the reason behind

Alia, SLB summoned by Mumbai court over 'Gangubai' row Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and actor Alia Bhatt have reportedly been summoned by the court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate in Mumbai in connection with a row surrounding their upcoming movie 'Gangubai Kathiawadi'. The movie is based on Hussain Zaidi's book 'Mafia Queens of Mumbai'.

One of the four children adopted by Gangubai, Babu Rawji Shah has filed a criminal defamation case, claiming that the chapter on his mother is defamatory, tarnishes her reputation, and violates his right to privacy and self-respect. The defamation suit is filed against the filmmaker, the actress, and Zaidi. A media report states that both Sanjay and Alia will have to present themselves before the court on May 21.

Meanwhile, Bhansali, who had tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month, has now tested negative and will resume work on the remaining parts of the movie. 'Gangubai Kathiawai' is scheduled to release in theatres on July 30.

my smile and you are why o u r journey together has been so happy and fulfilled. I feel blessed to have you as my soul mate and partner for life, today, everyday and forever... Happy Birthday ...Love You Always...”

Celebrity costume and jewellery designer Sunita Kapoor was a model before she married Anil. They have three children, Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Rhea, and Harshvardhan.

Meanwhile on the work front, Anil Kapoor is all set to be seen in Raj Mehta's 'Jugg Jugg Jeeyo' along with Neetu Kapoor, Kiara Advani, and Varun Dhawan. He also has Sandee Reddy Vanga's 'Anilam' in the pipeline.

I was an unwanted girl child, today work with the best: Kangana Actress Kangana Ranaut shared a tweet talking about her journey and how far she has come. In response to a tweet by filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri praising her for her relentless energy, Kangana said how she was an unwanted child.

He talked about the actress “working non-stop, doing amazing films after films, during the toughest

may have been unwanted but I was needed. Much needed.”

The actress is currently filming for her upcoming movie 'Tejas' in Rajasthan. The plot is based on the story of a woman pilot in the Indian Air Force. She recently shared a photo from the sets on Twitter and wrote, “Action in almost 50 degrees. When the survival instinct kicks in

Covid period. Imagine from Jayalalithaa to action to the Air Force. . . a kind of life to die for. A lot of young actors must learn from her.”

Kangana replied, “I was an unwanted girl child, today I work with best and passionate filmmakers, artists and technicians. I love my work, not for money, not for fame.

When best of the world look at me and say 'only you can do it'. I know I

something tells me, I can't do this but then something I don't recognise says, eventually this body will be burnt in this same fire what you saving yourself for, give yourself to me, all of you. Ok then, take me.”

On the work front, Kangana awaits the release of 'Thalaivi', in which she plays the titular character of late Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa.

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Radhika Apte's next is a spy-entertainer Genre: Dark Comedy Drama Duration: 115 minutes Streaming On: Netflix

Actor Radhika Apte has announced her upcoming movie, a spy-entertainer titled 'Mrs Undercover'. On the occasion of Holi, she shared the first poster of the movie in which she essays the titular role.

The poster reveals a woman dressed in a red saree carrying a revolver on her waist. The Howrah Bridge in the background of the image makes it appear like the story will be set in Kolkata.

Sharing the poster on Instagram, Radhika wrote, “An Indian housewife with a gun is one deadly combination, ain't it?

Presenting the first look poster of my next film, a SpyEntertainer that has me in & as #MrsUndercover!”

Pagglait Sandhya finds herself widowed very newly into her marriage to Astik. She has a very different reaction to what the norm would be and for this she is scrutinised.

The film starts with Sandhya (Sanya Malhotra) in a small town alone in her room post the death of her husband. There are grieving relative everywhere and she is seen looking through social media posts of condolences for her husband, but it doesn’t seem to be bother her much. She is asked if she would like some tea and her answer to that is, she would prefer some cola.

Everyone seems very confused about her attitude towards losing her husband and there are some that believe she may have PTSD. As the rituals commence Sandhya manages to steal some time away with her friend Nazia for some gol guppa and soon after we realise that the reason Sandhya has a nonchalet way of dealing with her lose is because her and Astik were not actually that close. Though by name she was his wife, he was still harbouring feelings for his ex.

Written and directed by debutant Anushree Mehta, the movie also stars Sumeet Vyas and Rajesh Sharma.

However, no characters have been revealed yet. The actress said she was excited to see the first look poster of the movie. In a statement, she said, “I think we all wanted to show the essence of the film through this first poster and I must say that we have captured it well. Now, I am waiting to see what the audience has to say about this special film of ours.”

Presented by B4U Motion Pictures and Jaadugar Films & Knight Sky Movies, 'Mrs Undercover' is produced by Ishan Sakshena, Abir Sengupta, Sunil Shah, and Varun Bajaj.

Rohit Shetty shares update on Ranveer Singh-starring 'Cirkus' Director Rohit Shetty has apparently begun filming the final schedule of his upcoming Ranveer Singh-starring 'Cirkus'. The movie is said to be Shetty's take on William Shakespeare’s 'The Comedy of Errors'. He shared a photo from the film's set on his Instagram profile.

And captioned it, “It's been a hell of a ride so far! And now. . . The final countdown begins!

Heading towards the final schedule of CIRKUS.” This will be the first time Ranveer essays a double role in his career. The film revolves around two sets of identical twins who were accidentally separated at birth.

Produced and directed by Rohit Shetty, the movie will be presented

by Bhushan Kumar and Reliance Entertainment. It will also star Pooja Hegde, Jacqueline Fernandez, Varun Sharma, Johny Lever, Sanjay Mishra,

Siddhartha Jadhav, Vrajesh Hirjee, Vijay Patkar, Sulbha Arya, Mukesh Tiwari, Anil Charanjeett, Ashwini Kalsekar and Murli Sharma.

Rajkummar Rao completes a decade in Bollywood, says mother's faith kept him going

The story fights all the social norms that should come when one loses a loved one and follows this young girl as she discovers herself and how to deal with the family she is left with. The issues also arise when the family realise that Astik has left a large sum of money to Sandhya through insurance but nothing for his parents who are surge with debt.

Due to the family dynamics the film has quite a large cast however I feel they were not all used to their strength. There were too many cast members and their stories were not explored as much as they could have been. However, Sanya plays her role very well and is a breath of fresh air to watch on screen and the script touches on a subject that is often looked over which is great.

You can get in touch with Vallisa: djvallisa@gmail.com

Ace actor Rajkummar Rao has completed 10 years in Bollywood. The National Award-winning actor called his journey in the Indian film industry surreal and rewarding, however, not without its share of challenges. In an interview, Rao said the initial two years were “extremely tough”.

“There were days when there was no money to buy food. But my mother gave me that confidence and she had this unshakable trust in me. I would call back home and they would send me money so that I could have food on my table,” he said. He said that even when he was struggling, the thought of putting his acting ambitions on hold did not cross his mind.

“I never thought of giving up, of going back and doing something else. I never came with a plan-B. This is what I wanted to do ever since I was a kid.

Things started moving post 'LSD' and since then the journey has been good. When I look back, it feels surreal. I never expected this to happen, to do all these wonderful films and roles. I didn't come to this city chasing fame or money. I am in films because I really love it.”

Rao launched his career with Dibakar Banerjee's 'Love Sex Aur Dhokha'. He later went on to earn acclaim for his performances in films like 'Kai Po Che!', 'Aligarh', and 'Newton'. On the work front, he has Harshvardhan Kulkarni's 'Badhaai Do' alongside Bhumi Pednekar in the pipeline.

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Pooja Hegde makes a comeback to Tamil cinema after nine years Actress Pooja Hegde is all set to make a comeback to Tamil cinema with filmmaker Nelson Dilipkumar's upcoming. The movie, which has been tentatively titled 'Thalapathy 65' will feature Thalapathy Vijay in the male lead and be bankrolled by Sun Pictures. The film will mark her maiden collaboration with Vijay. It also marks her return to Tamil movie industry after a gap of nine years.

Pooja made her acting debut with Mysskin's

'Mugamoodi' in 2012, and went on to be a frequent face in the Telugu film industry. Promos of 'Thalapathy 65' suggest that it will be an out-and-out action movie, involving a lot of gunfights.

Meanwhile, Nelson is presently waiting for his second directorial 'Doctor', which stars Sivakarthikeyan in the lead. The movie was supposed to release on March 26, but got postponed due to the April Tamil Nadu elections.

Allu Arjun celebrates 18 years in the film industry Tollywood heartthrob Allu Arjun has completed 18 years of his journey as a celebrity. He announced the milestone on his social media with a post thanking his fans and well-wishers for their support. The 37 year old said, “It's has been 18 years since my first film released. I wanted to thank each n everyone who has been a part of my 18 years journey. My heart is filled with gratitude. I am truly blessed for all the love showered over the years. Thank you for all the blessings. Gratitude.”

Allu Arjun made his debut with K Raghavendra Rao's 'Gangotri' in 2003. Over the years, Allu has appeared in films such as 'Arya', 'Bunny', 'Happy', 'Parugu', 'Varudu' and 'Julayi' among others. His recent release 'Ala Vaikunthapuramuloo' became a blockbuster.

On the work front, Allu Arjun awaits the release of 'Pushpa'. The film, which also stars Rashmika Mandanna, reunites Allu Arjun, director Sukumar and composer Devi Sri Prasad. It will open in cinemas on August 13.

TV Listing

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 5 APR FRI 9 APR 2021 14.30 KASAM 16.00 THE GREAT INDIAN GLOBAL KITCHEN 19.00 UDAARIYAAN 19.30 CHOTI SARDAARNI 20.00 SHAKTI 20.30 MOLKKI

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 5 APR FRI 9 APR 2021 8.30 BHARADWAJ BAHUEIN 16.00 SILSILA BADALTE RISHTON KA 16.30 THE RASOI SHOW 17.30 CHHUTA CHHEDA 18.00 TUM KAUN PIYA 19.00 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20.00 DIL SE DIL TAK 20.30 BARRISTER BABU 21.00 BALIKA VADHU - LAMHE PYAAR KE 22.00 ISHQ MEIN MARJAWAN 3

21.00 PINJARA KHUBSOORTI KA 21.30 BAWARA DIL 22.00 NAMAK ISSK KA SATURDAY 3 APR 16.00 THE GREAT INDIAN GLOBAL KITCHEN 18.30 DESI BEAT RESET 19.00 UDAARIYAAN 19.30 CHOTI SARDAARNI 20.00 SHAKTI 20.30 BEST OF DESI BEAT 21.30 DANCE DEEWANE 3 SUNDAY 4 APR 16.00 THE GREAT INDIAN GLOBAL KITCHEN 18.30 FILMFARE AWARDS 2021 21.30 DANCE DEEWANE 3

SATURDAY 3 APR 11.00 DESI BEAT SEASON 2 16.00 SILSILA BADALTE RISHTON KA 16.30 THE RASOI SHOW 17.30 DESI BEAT SEASON 3 18.00 KHATRA KHATRA KHATRA 19.00 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20.00 DIL SE DIL TAK 20.30 BARRISTER BABU 21.00 BALIKA VADHU - LAMHE PYAAR KE SUNDAY 4 APR 11.00 DESI BEAT SEASON 2 16.00 SILSILA BADALTE RISHTON KA 16.30 THE RASOI SHOW 17.30 DESI BEAT SEASON 3 18.00 KHATRA KHATRA KHATRA 19.00 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20.00 DIL SE DIL TAK 20.30 DESI BEAT RESET 21.00 BALIKA VADHU - LAMHE PYAAR KE

Dhanush wins National Award for 'Asuran' Actor Dhanush recently claimed his second National Award in the Best Actor category; this time, for his film 'Asuran'. He released a statement saying, “I woke up to this amazing news of being honoured with the Prestigious national award for Asuran. To win one best actor award is a dream, to win Two is nothing short of a blessing. I never imagined I would come this far.”

He thanked his parents and his brother Selvaraghavan who he considers his first acting “guru”. He also thanked director Vetrimaaran for casting him as Sivasami in 'Asuran'. He added, “Vetri, never thought when I met you at Balu Mahendra sir's office that you would become a friend, companion and a brother. I am so proud of the four films we have worked together and the two films we have produced together. I am very glad you chose to believe in me so much and I chose to believe in you. Now can't wait to hear what you have written for me next. A big hug.”

The actor thanked his co-stars Manju Warrier, Ken Karunas and TeeJay Arunasalam and his fans for their “unconditional love”. He

added, “I sincerely thank the National Award Jury for this award AA, I thank my producer Thanu sir for all the support. I thank the entire Asuran team especially my family, my dear Pachaiyarnma Manju, my Chidambaram Ken and my Murugan Teejay. Thank you GV for ‘Vaa Asura, The blood bath song.”

Dhanush is currently camping in the US with his family as he shoots for his upcoming film 'The Gray Man', directed by Anthony and Joe Russo.

Lokesh Kanagaraj tests positive for Covid-19 'Master' director Lokesh Kanagaraj has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The filmmaker shared the news on Twitter early Monday, adding that he has been admitted to a private hospital. He tweeted, “Hello everyone, writing this to inform all my friends, family, and well-wishers that I have tested positive for Covid-19 and have been admitted in a private hospital where I am being taken good care of. Will be back soon and stronger, until then, Lokesh Kanagarj”.

Lokesh kickstarted his career with the 2016 anthology movie 'Aviyal'.

He made his feature film directorial debut with the acclaimed Sundeeo Kishan film 'Maanagaram'. The movie also featured Sri, Regina Cassandra, Madhusudhan Rao and Charle in pivotal parts.

His 'Master' broke the box office, with fans rushing to cinema halls to witness their favourite hero Vijay on the big screen.

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in brief SACHIN TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar has tested positive for the coronavirus and is quarantining at home.

The 47-year-old Tendulkar, test cricket’s Sachin Tendulkar all time leading runscorer, reported on Saturday that he tested positive ``following mild symptoms.’’ ``I’ve quarantined myself at home and am following all the necessary protocols as advised by my doctors,’’ he said on Twitter. Tendulkar, who scored 15,921 runs in test cricket, thanked ``all the healthcare professionals who are supporting me and many others across the country.’’ India has had more than 160,000 coronavirus-related deaths. Cases had been plummeting since September but began spiking last month. Health officials said that a new and potentially troublesome variant has been detected in India, as have variants first detected in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.

INDIA END WITH HIGHEST-EVER MEDAL TALLY IN SHOOTING WC India finished their shooting World Cup campaign with the highest ever medal tally in the trap team events on the concluding day of competitions on Sunday as the hosts recorded their most successful outing in a single edition of the WC stage by cornering 30 medals, including 15 gold. India has been ruling the medals chart at the shooting World Cups since the New Delhi edition in February 2019 and this was the country’s sixth successive No. 1 finish at the ISSF championships in the rifle/pistol events – New Delhi, Beijing, Munich, Rio de Janeiro (World Cups), Putian, China (World Cup Final) in 2019 and at the combined WC stage here in 2021. However, it’s also a fact that India’s overall tally in this edition was largely swelled by the host shooters’ medalwinning performances in non-Olympic competitions in the team and mixed-gender events. Overall, India’s medal count stood at15 gold, nine silver and six bronze. USA and Italy finished miles behind, with a total of eight and four medals, respectively. On Sunday, Shreyasi Singh, Manisha Keer and Rajeshwari Kumari combined to shoot India’s first gold of the day when they defeated Kazakhstan 6-0 in the final of the women’s trap team competition.

They won the first series of five-shot each 1211, the second 11-8 and the third by a margin of 12-9 to outclass the Kazakhs. Later, the trio of Kynan Chenai, Prithviraj Tondaiman and Lakshay Sheoran beat the Slovakians 6-4 in a hard-fought final to clinch the second gold of the day in the men’s trap team. Earlier, India had won a silver with the trio of Gurpreet Singh, Vijayveer Sidhu and Adarsh Singh going down 2-10 against the Team USA in the final of the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol team event.

TOKYO 2020 OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY FINALLY BEGINS The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch relay finally began last week after a year-long delay, signaling Japan’s determination to go ahead with the event despite strong opposition to the games amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Starting in the Fukushima prefecture, which was hit by a powerful earthquake in 2011 that triggered a tsunami and nuclear disaster, the torch relay will last four months and feature thousands of runners.

The relay will conclude at the National Stadium in Tokyo during the official opening ceremony on July 23. Many in Japan are opposed to the games in light of the pandemic, with polls indicating a vast majority of people favour delaying or cancelling them altogether. Aside from the Covid-19 pandemic that pushed the sporting event back a year, the Tokyo 2020 games have been hit by a number of sexism controversies.

India beat England by 7 runs, clinch ODI series 2-1 In a nail-biting finale of the series, India beat England by 7 runs to win the series 2-1. While England cricket team kept on losing wickets at regular intervals, it was Sam Curran who had different plans. He kept in smashing Indian bowlers all over the park and kept the hopes alive. Dawid Malan hit a valuable maiden 50 to help Sam. However, no other batsman could hang around with him.

India's poor fielding helped England. Four catches went down and a couple of run out chances went begging. Sam Curran scored his career-best 95 not out but could not help his team get over the line. With this the long India-England tour comes to an end. India managed to win all the series - Test 3-1, ODI 3-2, T20 2-1.

Earlier, openers Sharma and Dhawan had given India a strong start. Having put to bat by England after losing the toss, India needed to get a firm start in this crucial final match, being played at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune. This final tie of the three-ODI series is important, as the series stands levelled 1-1. While India had

beaten England convincingly in the first match, England had bounced back to register a thumping win in the run fest of the second match.

Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya built a 99-run partnership and kept the run rate over 7 an over. Both Hardik and Rishabh hit their halfcenturies, however, both were dismissed in quick succession.

Krunal and Shardul Thakur tried to keep the scoreboard ticking.

In the end, India was all out for 329 in 48.2 overs.

England chase 337 with ease A match-winning partnership of 175 runs in 113 balls by Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes was all that England needed to chase down 337 runs and beat India by 6 wickets and to level the three match ODI series in Pune. They scored 337 runs for the loss of four wickets with 39 balls to spare. Chasing India’s 336 runs, the visitors got off to a brilliant start with Bairstow and Jason Roy adding 110 runs in 16.3 overs. Roy was run out for 55 and his innings included seven boundaries and one six which set the base for the chase.

Things just went downhill for India after Stokes, who was promoted to bat at number three in the absence of Joe Root, and Bairstow sent Indian players on a leather hunt and unsettled the strike bowlers. The duo hit 17 sixes in their partnership for the second wicket which also got the match in England’s favour.

Stokes missed his century by a run after he nicked an edge to Rishabh Pant off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The damage was already done as Stokes’ knock of 99 in 52 deliveries comprised four boundaries and ten sixes which helped the visitors reach 285/2.

Bairstow top-scored for England with 124 runs in 112 balls which included eleven boundaries and seven sixes. England hit 20 sixes in the chase which bettered their previous most sixes record in an innings against India which was 13 in 2019 at Edgbaston Stadium during the World Cup. After India was put to bat by skipper Jos Buttler after winning the toss, seaming pair Reece

Topley and Sam Curran put Shikhar Dhawan under pressure.

After scoring in the second over, Dhawan nicked an edge to the second slip to Ben Stokes on the ninth dot ball he played in the innings. Dhawan was out for 4 which he scored in 17 deliveries trying to drive a full length delivery off Topley.

Kohli completed his 62nd half century at the end of the 27th over and kept the strike.

Kohli hit a six towards the backward square leg and it looked like he would switch the gear and accelerate the scoring rate. With a single off Moeen Ali in the 29th over, Rahul brought up the 100 run partnership with Kohli in 119 balls. The batsmen greeted each other after the 100 run stand made it evident that that’s how they had planned the innings after losing two quick wickets to a very disciplined bowling by England. Rahul brought up his half century in the 31st over and a consecutive one in the tourney.

Celebrating the British Indian cricket talent – Rishi Patel British born cricketer Rishi Patel, who will play for Leicestershire County Cricket Club this season, was endowed with Cricket bat sponsorship and specialist eye care products.

Twenty-three-year-old, a righthand batsman signed for Leicestershire CCC from 2019 County Champions and 2020 Bob Willis Trophy Champions, Essex CCC, ahead of the 2021 season, following a loan at Grace Road during the condensed 2020 season. He had a two-year contract prior to making the move to Leicestershire County Cricket Club.

The talented batsman first appeared for Essex’s first XI in

Rishi Patel

2019 against Cambridge MCCU and went on to make five further appearances, scoring a total of 146 runs with a best of 35. The youngster came to attention after equalling Darren Robinson’s Second XI record of

five centuries in a season in 2019. Patel equalled the record in 10 innings compared to the 24 innings needed for Robinson, which was rewarded with a call-up for their upcoming fixture against India.

He also made his List A debut in 2019, posting a best score to date, of 35, against Hampshire.

Patel became the 488th player to make a first-class appearance for the Running Foxes “MINT Securities are delighted to sponsor Rishi’s bats” said Surekha Chauhan, the Managing Director of MINT Securities, A Safe Deposit company in Leicester.

“Rishi personifies professionalism with talent as

well celebrating the diverse contribution made by the British Asian communities in the UK”.

Shabir Ibrahim, Manging Director of S.I. Opticals, providing essential Eye-Care to the local communities in Leicester said “It’s an immense pleasure to support Rishi with his contact lenses and eyewear.

As an amateur cricketer myself, it’s an absolute pleasure to see young players from the diverse communities being represented at a professional level.” Rishi said, “ it’s a privilege to play for the Leicestershire County, and to receive a warm welcome and support from the local businesses is most humbling”.

England offer BCCI, IPL franchises stake in The Hundred The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is reportedly luring Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises by offering them stakes in The Hundred, an innovative league starting this July in England. According to a Telegraph report, each of the eight IPL franchises have been offered “25 per cent stake” in all the eight teams of The Hundred, with Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) reportedly showing interest.

Besides, the ECB has also offered the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) a “slice of Asian television rights” to get the glamour boys of world cricket, such as Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant, among others, to play in The Hundred. The talks between the BCCI and the ECB had started before the Covid-19

pandemic broke out, said the report. It also said that when ECB chair Ian Watmore and CEO Tom Harrison visited Ahmedabad for the IndiaEngland pink ball Test last month, they discussed The Hundred with the BCCI officials. Two senior BCCI officials, however, said that they were not aware of any development or talks between the ECB and the BCCI regarding The Hundred.

The BCCI does not allow players to play in overseas T20 leagues. If an Indian cricketer wants to play in an overseas T20 franchise league, he has to retire officially from Indian cricket, and inform the BCCI. A lot of pieces of the jigsaw will have to fall in place for the BCCI to agree to the ECB proposal. One of the main factors will be the

workload of the Indian superstars like Kohli and Bumrah. Kohli, in fact, had expressed his views on The Hundred as early as 2018 when the ECB was planning the event. “I don’t want to be a testing sort of a cricketer for any new format. I don’t want to be someone who’s going to be part of that World XI who comes and launches the 100-ball format,” he had said.

The Hundred will be played from July 22 to August 21, with the final slated at Lord’s, London. The eight teams are: Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit, Manchester Originals,

Northern Superchargers, Oval Invincibles, Southern Brave, Trent Rockets and Welsh Fire.

Each innings in a match will comprise 100 balls. Whoever scores the most runs wins. The fielding side changes ends after every 10 balls. Each bowler will deliver either five or 10 consecutive balls, and can deliver a maximum of 20 balls per game.

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