AV 05th November 2022

has made history, and y e t , h e h a s a h i s t o r y c o u r s e t o c o r r e c t H i s a p p o i n t m e n t a s t h e l e a d e r o f t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e P a r t y post Liz Truss’ exit has put the onus o f r e s t o r i n g t h e U K I n d i a p a r t n e r s h i p o n h i m a n d b e i n g a c c o u n t a b l e f o r H o m e S e c r e t a r y S u e l l a B r a v e r m a n ’ s i m m i g r a t i o n a n d c o n f i d e n t i a l i t y b r e a c h controversies

Biden hosts biggest ever Diwali reception at White House

M Modi celebrates Diwali with armed forces in Kargil

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosted a reception to celebrate Diwali at 10 Downing Street In the background, Ashok Chauhan MBE, Asian Voice Managing Editor Rupanjana Dutta (second from left) and other guests

Rupanjana Dutta and Shefali Saxena

Rishi Sunak

The High Commission of India and Sardar Patel Memorial Society UK celebrate National Unity Day

Th e High Comm issio n of India and Sard ar Patel Mem orial So ciety UK cel ebrated National Unity Day on 31 st October Th e day was celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of S ard ar Vallabh bhai Patel who played a m ajor role in the integration o f India In the m o r ni ng , a s p ec i al U ni ty Hu m an C hain was formed in front of India Ho use and in the evening an interac tive discussio n w as held along with the lighting of diyas, offering p rayers and performances of traditional dance an d m u si c w it h t ri bu te s to th e National Unity

Kohima, it is Sardar Patel’s contribu tion He completed the extraordinar y journey of shaping the Nation in an extraordinar y time It was done with out using force, it was done through the iron will Sardar Patel had a vision of what an Independent India would look like We must have to remember

and that is why we are proud of India In the UK also Indians have marked

West Midlands delegation to visit India to boost mutual trade and investment

Lord Rami Ranger, Chairman of S a rd a r Pa t e l Me m o r i a l S o c i e t y U K said, “We are here to celebrate the birth of a remarkable man who shaped India as we see it today If he would have not done what he did, we would be living back in the stories With the vision of this man, today we are the number 5th economy in the world, 3rd in force, we have landed on Mars, Moon, we are the largest Covid vac cine producers, we export doctors, sci e n t i s t s , e n g i n e e r s a n d e v e n P r i m e ministers! We must remain united if we want to enjoy respect in the world Unity in diversity is the strength of India In India, diversity is accepted, respected and celebrated with a great sense of equality ”

The High Commissioner of India to the UK Vikram Doraiswami said, “Today we can travel from Kashmir to K a n y a k u m a r i a n d f r o m Ku t c h t o

that without unity, there is no democ racy and without democracy, there is no unity We were the most unequal society in the world We had no reason to believe in 1947 that we would suc ceed as a democratic countr y It all became possible due to Sardar Patel I urge the diaspora to keep the bond alive between you and India ”

L o rd D o l a r Po p a t s a i d , “ S a rd a r Pa t e l w a s a m a n o f e x t r a o r d i n a r y vision He has done reformation of India soon after Independence Today we are having one united India and that credit goes to Sardar Patel We have continued to follow those values

Women and minorities facing 120 years of wait for equality

Women and ethnic mi nori ties will not be fully repre s ented in the j udiciar y for a n oth er 1 20 y e ar s a t the c urrent rate of recrui tment, a law chief has predic ted Lubna Shuja, who took over the presidency of the Law Society last week, said its research showed that it could take well over a cen tur y for “ women, black and Asian people to represent the society they ser ve on the bench” Shuja is the f irst practising Muslim of south

Asian heritage to lead the s o c i e t y, w h i c h r e p r e s e n t s some 150,000 solicitors in England and Wales

E a r l i e r t h i s y e a r, a report showed that women and ethnic minority judges h a v e m a d e w i d e s p r e a d c l a i m s o f b u l l y i n g a n d racism against more senior judges The research was c o m m i s s i o n e d b y t h e Ju d i c i a l Exe c u t i v e B o a r d , w h i c h i n c l u d e s t h e n i n e m o s t s e n i o r j u d g e s i n England and Wales

g r e a t s u c c e s s s t o r i e s a n d t h i s i s because of the values which come from India and what we gain in this c o u n t r y We h a v e s u c c e e d e d n o t because we live in India or Britain but because Britain and India Live in us

Alpesh Patel, President of India League said, “Sardar Patel is truly the architect of modern united India It is due to him, the brand India in ever y sector is rocking ever ywhere in the world ”

Pratap Singh Head of retail and SME banking UK and Europe ICICI said, “On this Unity Day we want to contribute to the community If some vulnerable or senior citizen needs the h e l p o f d o o r s t e p s e r v i c e re g a rd i n g Indian banking needs, ICICI bank will be ver y happy to support them within the 20 kilometre radius of our branch es M a h e s h b h a i Pa t e l a l s o o f fe r e d tribute to Sardar Patel

Welcome speech was given by the S e c r e t a r y G e n e r a l o f S a r d a r Pa t e l Me m o r i a l S o c i e t y U K D r K r i s h n a

Pujara Treasurer Deepak Bhai Patel welcomed the guests A vote of thanks was given by Pravin G Patel, Vice Chairman of Sardar Patel Memorial Society UK H i r d e s h Gu p t a r e a d t h e u n i t y

pledge One moment of silence was obser ved in the remembrance of the tragic incident in Morbi, Gujarat

Doctor struck off for lying naked in hospital accommodation

A v eteran d octor has been st ru ck o ff fo r lo u n g i ng naked in his bedroom w ith the doo r op en at shared ho s pital accomm odation

Dr Bhikhubhai Patel, 73, a consultant paediatrician, le f t a fe m a le d o c t o r “d i s tressed” after she repeatedly saw him naked when she walked past his room, a tri bunal heard He was said to have ignored pleas from col l e a g u e s t o s h u t h i s d o o r

Pa t e l w a s d e s c r i b e d a s “inconsiderate” at a disci plinar y hearing and had his licence to practise removed He had a long career as a c o n s u l t a n t p a e d i a t r i c i a n after moving to the UK from India in 1977 His behaviour was reported while he was a l o c u m d o c t o r l i v i n g i n Southend Hospital accom modation

He is now retired and lives in India

Bu i ld i n g o n t he on go i n g negotiations for a new Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a tr a de m i s s i o n for me d of bus iness and politi cal lead er s f r om t he U K ’ s We s t Midlands is announced to take place between 6th 12th November

The delegation, led by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, will visit Chennai, Hyd e r a b a d , Mu m b a i , a n d Delhi to promote opportu nities for bilateral trade and investment between India, the West Midlands, and the wider UK

The trade mission seeks to cement existing econom ic ties between India’s sub r e g i o n s a n d t h e We s t Midlands Senior represen tatives will explore poten tial partnerships in areas including emerging digital t e c h n o l o g i e s , l o w c a r b o n m o b i l i t y a n d d a t a d r i v e n healthcare, with the com mon objective of creating more prosperous commu nities in both the UK and in India

T h e We s t M i d l a n d s Growth Company ( WMGC) and partners including the Foreign, Commonwealth & D e v e l o p m e n t O f f i c e (FCDO), have organised a s e r i e s o f m e e t i n g s a n d e v e n t s w h i c h w i l l b r i n g t o g e t h e r s e n i o r f i g u r e s from leading Indian busi n e s s e s T h e s e i n c l u d e multinational manufactur er Tata Group, motorcycle m a n u f a c t u r e r T V S, a u t o m o t i v e m a n u f a c t u r i n g g r o u p M a h i n d r a & M a h i n d r a , l o w c a r b o n t r a n s p o r t m a n u f a c t u r e r Sw i t c h Mo b i l i t y, b u s i n e s s ser vice provider Firstsource and Air India The UK dele gation will visit a number of key industr y hubs, includ i n g Hy d e r a b a d b a s e d T Hub and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)

Alongside Mayor Andy Street, the delegation will b e le d b y Co u n c i l lo r I a n B r o o k f i e l d , L e a d e r o f Wo l v e r h a m p t o n Ci t y Council and include senior r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s f r o m t h e

We s t M i d l a n d s G r o w t h C o m p a n y ( W M G C ) ; t h e D e p a r t m e n t fo r International Trade (DIT); t h e Un i v e r s i t y o f B i r m i n g h a m ; Wa r w i c k M a n u f a c t u r i n g G r o u p ; B i r m i n g h a m A i r p o r t ; B i r m i n g h a m Ci t y Un i v e r s i t y ; B r u n t w o o d ; K a g o o l ; B i r m i n g h a m R e p e r t o r y T h e a t r e , t h e Manufacturing Technology C e n t r e a n d t h e B r i t i s h Kabaddi League The dele gation will be supported on t h e g r o u n d b y A l a n G e m m e l l , H i s M a j e s t y 's Tr a d e C o m m i s s i o n e r fo r South Asia and the British D e p u t y H i g h Commissioner for Western I n d i a ; A l e x E l l i s , B r i t i s h H i g h Co m m i s s i o n e r ; a n d A n d r e w F l e m i n g , D e p u t y H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r i n Hyderabad

With a ‘living bridge’ of n e a r l y 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 e t h n i c Indians living and working i n t h e r e g i o n , t h e We s t Midlands and India already enjoy a strong relationship, rooted in a shared cultural h e r i t a g e a n d s t r o n g e c o nomic links India is the UK’s second largest source of investment in terms of number of projects, and the West Midlands represents a s i g n i f i c a n t p o r t i o n o f I n d i a n F DI i nt o t h e U K , with 57% of Indian invest ment into the UK in 2020 l o c a t e d i n t h e We s t Midlands

The region has already a t t r a c t e d s o m e o f I n d i a ’ s biggest companies, includ ing Tata Motors, State Bank o f I n d i a , I n fo s y s , O L A , E n z e n G l o b a l , Su p r a j i t G r o u p , E l d e r P h a r m a c e u t i c a l s , M i c r o land, BSA, Switch Mobility and Firstsource Andy Street, Mayor of t h e We s t M i d l a n d s , s a i d : “As the UK seeks to deepen our relationship with India t h r o u g h a Fr e e Tr a d e Agreement, we are delight ed to be meeting the Indian b u s i n e s s c o m m u n i t y t o s h o w c a s e w h y t h e We s t Midlands is the ideal invest ment destination for high growth, tech driven Indian companies

Tr a de un i o n l e ad e rs a re s u pp or t i n g m i l li o n s of Indi an workers c alli ng on Bri tai n to s usp end t rade deal talks

Frances O’Grady, gen eral secretar y of the TUC, has warned that the trade deal might open doors to child labour and modern slaver y in a “ race to the bottom”

The unions said in a joint statement: “Low pay a n d e x p l o i t a t i v e c o n d i t i o n s a r e w i d e s p r e a d i n I n d i a , w i t h fo r c e d a n d c h i l d l a b o u r fo u n d i n a

n u m b e r o f i n d u s t r i e s i n c l u d i n g t e x t i l e s , s i l k , brick manufacturing, ship breaking, embroider y, hos pitality and tobacco ”

As per India’s 2011 cen sus, the number of child l a b o u r e r s w a s p u t a t 10 1million

L e a d e r s r e p r e s e n t i n g 47 million Indian workers are pleading with the UK t o s u s p e n d n e g o t i a t i o n s with Narendra Modi’s gov ernment until it respects basic international labour standards

Ms O’Grady said the

UK should be “using its l e v e r a g e o n t h e g l o b a l s t a g e ” a n d h a s a d v i s e d ministers to listen to trade unions in both countries to stop serious rights abus es

She said: “A UK India trade deal could encourage c o m p a n i e s t o o u t s o u r c e more jobs from the UK to India, leading to a race to the bottom

“And such a deal could deepen gender inequalities and threaten food security i n I n d i a b y e n c o u r a g i n g cheap imports ”

“ T h e We s t M i d l a n d s has been the UK region of choice for India’s trail blaz ing companies across auto motive, manufacturing and t e c h n o l o g y, d u e t o o u r world leading R&D infras tructure, industrial ecosys tem, and wealth of special ist talent There is now an opportunity for the West Midlands and India to col laborate even more closely to advance new technolo g i e s a n d i n n o v a t i o n s , i n p a r t ic u l a r t o s u p p o r t t h e g

b e n e f i t ting both our societies and economies ”

e n t r a n s i t i o n

Unions demanding to call off India trade deal

Sunak is not just another immigrant success story

Rishi Sunak’s appointment as this country’s first ever British Indian Prime Minister has made headlines across the world, with a photo of the new Premier hosting a Diwali reception at 10 Downing Street printed on The Times front page The I n d i a n c o m m u n i t y h a s c e l e b r a t e d h i s a p p o i n t m e n t a t Parliament Square, while he has been mentioned in every Diwali speech made in public ever since While there is of course no denying of Mr Sunak’s roots in India (undivided or not), Kenya or Tanganyika, it is a major celebration for all ethnic communities for two reasons It proves the UK, is a country of aspirations and second, there is a method in this madness that of equality and representation

Mr Sunak has taken over the responsibility of running this country when others in his party failed to keep their head above the water It is not going to be easy Despite compar isons, he is no Barack Obama or Kamala Harris Mr Sunak is a man from a minority faith in the UK, with an Indian wife in a country where institutional racism led to hundreds of deaths even in 2020 His battles with or without his family wealth are different from Obamas of America and he will have to travel the extra mile to prove himself Yet opportuni ty has helped him smash the glass ceiling and if he can do it right till 2024, he may even succeed in being the elected Prime Minister of Britain

He has touched base with most leaders of other nations, the diaspora’s eyes are on Mr Sunak and his ability to steer the country out of the economic mess it is in, as well as a suc cessful FTA with India

Suella Braverman’s appointment to the Cabinet has of course questioned the objective, and Mr Sunak faced a har rowing PMQ on 26 October where he was asked, “if he was putting party before the country”

The Daily Telegraph in an article on Tuesday wrote that s e n i o r M P s a r e p r e d i c t i n g t h a t H o m e S e c r e t a r y S u e l l a Braverman won't last the week The writer of the article, Christopher Hope, however, has explained why Braverman will survive till the next general elections First Braverman is the darling of the Conservative party right wing Though a plane full of refugees to Rwanda may be “inhuman” to public eyes, the members at the Tory party conference loved the idea Second, ERG expects at least one of its members to have a Cabinet seat, Braverman as the former ERG Chairman is the perfect fit Third, Sunak is drawing up a plan to raise taxes for everyone Sunak's Cabinet is having moderate Conservatives and fewer “bona fide tax cutters” Braverman is one, so “she must remain there ” Fourth, with the Brexit mess in Northern Ireland, fresh elections to the Stormont have probably avoided crisis till before Christmas Brexiteers remember how Sunak tried to “water down” a new draft law t o o v e r r i d e t h e N o r t h e r n I r e l a n d P r o t o c o l H o w e v e r ,

Braverman and others ensured that the Bill stayed and is now on its way through Parliament An uphill challenge will be there later and a hard fight between Peers and Dublin and Brussels over this new law So, people would naturally like Braverman to lead the fight for her stand before Fifth, Sunak would not want Braverman as a backbencher As an ambi tious MP, she would resort to criticising Home Office for fail ing to do what she promised to do cut immigration by thousands and the last hope to sort the migrant boat crisis

India has clearly stated that Braverman’s comments about Indians being the largest overstayers in the UK has not led to the failure to complete FTA on time James Cleverly S e c r e t a r y o f S t a t e f o r F o r e i g n , C o m m o n w e a l t h a n d Development Affairs reached India 5 days after Sunak’s appointment and met his counterpart in Delhi Mayor Andy Street is also on his way to India this weekend, to further talks on the FTA It will be in the hands of Sunak and his Cabinet to fine balance this, to ensure the strategic position ing of this unique relationship in international politics is not lost

While Sunak, for the time being, has been able to unify the party, besides the cost of living crisis at hand, he will also have to look after the extreme shortage of funds and staff issues in NHS The doctors and nurses have been at wit's end and this winter will prove to be a challenge The Royal College of Nursing in its 106 years of history is recommend ing an industrial action

With sharp cuts in spending, worries are that healthcare, education and pension funds may be affected the most It is forecast that schools will run out of cash next year National Rail and Royal Mail have been on repeated strikes and plan ning to prolong them just to prove their point and stress on demands

When the Windrush scandal led to a huge question mark on Theresa May’s credibility as the Prime Minister and for mer Home Secretary, Amber Rudd resigned making Sajid Javid the first ever British Pakistani Home Secretary He s o l v e

arranged for mistakes made perhaps not enough, but at least there was something to avert a crisis An Asian man was rushed in to do what others failed to do Similarly, Rishi Sunak was promoted to Chancellor when Covid created havoc to provide people with financial aid loans and fur loughs But sadly, there are no free luncheons, and the tax rise now is the damage we have to pay for

It is of course a reason for jubilation and it is a milestone that a Hindu man and an immigrant’s son is at the helm of running this country, but he is British first and as the coun try’s Prime Minister, his responsibility is far beyond just his community’s success story or statistics

India emerging as a major manufacturing hub

A couple of decades ago, India was considered to be a third world country with limited economic potential When the idea of outsourcing first came up, most executives in the United States thought that Central American nations or Ireland would prove to be a better fit However, two decades later, India is the ultimate destination for outsourcing software services as well as knowledge processes After having achieved dominance in the service sector, India is now looking towards becoming a global manufacturing hub This intention has been made clear by the “Make in India” initiative that has been launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi As a part of this initiative, special con cessions have been announced for multinational companies to create manufacturing bases in India This has definitely drawn the attention of many American companies that are looking to reduce the dependence of their supply chain on China India is home to over 1 66 billion people These people have started to become affluent in recent years Hence, there is an increasing demand for several products sold by foreign compa nies As disposable income grows, many multinationals want to sell their products to the Indian consumer The most cost effec tive way to do so is to start manufacturing in India As a result, it is likely that the increased consumption will drive the growth of manufacturing operations in India Manufacturing facilities are huge and extremely cost intensive Companies can shut down their offices and move to other locations overnight with out causing too much financial distress However, this is not the case with manufacturing facilities The amount of money required to build such facilities is huge Also, the gestation peri od to recover the investment is quite large Companies would not want to build their facilities unless they are absolutely sure that their investment is secure India has the upper hand on its rivals when it comes to security and stability India is the most p o l i t i c a l l y s e c u r e n a t i o n i n t h e v i c i n i t y P a k i s t a n a n d Bangladesh are facing a problem with terrorism On the other hand, China is known for being an oppressive regime India is the most convenient option for corporations to invest their money in

Since India enjoys favourable relations with its neighbours as well as South East Asian countries, if a multinational compa ny sets up its manufacturing base in India, it can also serve other markets like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, etc At present some car manufacturing companies are even serving the European mar kets from their manufacturing facilities on the west coast of

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a gath ering after laying the foundation stone of the Tata Airbus air craft manufacturing plant in Vadodara said that stable, pre dictable and futuristic policies of his government have resulted in India becoming a significant international manufacturing base Now India is working with a new mindset and work cul ture He added that moving forward with the mantra of ‘Make in India, Make for the Globe’, India is now becoming a major manufacturer of transport aircraft in the world The defence and aerospace sectors are going to be the crucial pillars of the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ push in the coming years The govern ment is actively engaged in creating the necessary policy envi ronment for the development of the manufacturing sector

India possesses a large engineer and factory workforce, rep utable intellectual property protections, and easy access to workforce with good communication skills The upcoming legal and tax reforms and significant manufacturing infrastructure investments also add to this list of possible reasons to manufac ture in India India has the second largest English speaking population in the world, after the US The Indian legal system is based on British common law, which is most like the US legal system Despite some regulatory hurdles, a similar system makes it easier to understand for people from other common law countries (like the US) The force for manufacturing is very cost effective in India even when compared to China Indian work force comprises nearly 500 million unskilled as well as skilled workers, talent enriched market, capable of lending cost effective research and development support to manufacturing operations Around 12 million people enter the market each year Indians take pride in their work and are well known for the care and transparency of their work and business dealings

Thought for the week Political Sketchbook

India and the AIPAC Model

A re you thinking wh at I am th inking ? Certainly a lo t of p eop le are For instance, I mentioned the M odi Doctrine that the peoples of the world o f Ind ian origin and their treatment anywhere outsid e of India sh ould be a factor in consideratio n in the foreig n relations between Ind ia and that country It seems to be a policy of the Governm ent o f Ind ia Am sure you th ough t o f it And if I d id, then th e Gov ernm ent of India certainly d id

Here then is another From my days studying US pol itics at University and working in Congress, I learnt the most powerful lobby was AIPAC It was up there with the gun lobby, but more powerful

AIPAC was the America Israel lobby and it’s an unstated rule of politics that whichever party you are leader of in America, if you want to President, then you stand in front of the AIPAC convention and you swear to support the State of Israel

A I P A C h a s c e r t a i n l y e n s u r e d c l o s e s e c u r i t y a n d defence ties with Israel It has also been instrumental in ensuring a robust dialogue with the PM of Israel too Lobbying works both ways of course

So successful was AIPAC in the 1980s that the Saudis created and copied the idea with much success in pro curement of arms

It’s goal is simple, “We are a bipartisan American organization that advocates for a strong U S Israel rela tionship The mission of AIPAC is to encourage and per suade the U S government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial rela tionship with our ally Israel ”

They say leadership is having purpose and vision Change those words of AIPAC to this: “We are a biparti san UK organization that advocates for a strong U K India relationship The mission of our organisation is to encourage and persuade the U K government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutu ally beneficial relationship with our ally India ”

AIPAC goes on to state, “The U S Israel relationship is a mutually beneficial partnership that reinforces America’s moral values and strategic interests Israel is a reliable, stable, democratic ally that advances American interests in a highly volatile and strategically important region of the world American support for Israel pro motes peace including a negotiated two state agree ment with the Palestinians and helps deter regional conflict by making clear to potential foes that they can not defeat the Jewish state ”

Well that would be changed to “The UK India rela tionship is a mutually beneficial partnership that rein forces UK’s moral values and strategic interests India is a reliable, stable, democratic ally that advances UK inter ests in a highly volatile and strategically important region of the world UK support for India promotes peace and helps deter regional conflict by making clear to potential foes that they cannot defeat the Hindustani state ”

I have long admired AIPAC Not merely as a student of politics but as a role model for the powerful use of a diaspora I have advocated this model since 1994 when working in the US Congress

As President of the India League, founded in 1928, (www theindialeague org) I feel we have a vehicle to put thoughts into action, and to encourage the plethora of other bodies to do the same

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INDIA OFFICE

a

s a n d p h a r m a c e u t i c a l s

India will become the fourth largest economy by 2025 26 and by 2027, India will surpass Japan (nearly $5 trillion GDP) and become the third largest economy India has a few shining examples of world class excellence in manufacturing and well established core sectors such as textiles, auto components, and, m o r e r e c e n t l y , p e t r o c h e m

Manufacturing sector in India is gradually shifting to a more automated and process driven manufacturing which is expected to increase the efficiency and boost production of the manufac turing industry India is gradually progressing on the road to Industry through the Government of India’s initiatives like the National Manufacturing Policy which aims to increase the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 per cent by 2025

Bureau Chief: Nilesh Parmar (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt Ltd 207 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp Jain Derasar, Nr Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad 380 015 Tel: +91 79 2646 5960

Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons. Ji m Bis hop

Alpesh Patel

Community members to boycott Leicester communal riots review

T he un re s t b e tw e en H indu and Mus li m c om m u ni t i e s t ha t w e re s park ed in Le ic es ter in September 2022 is now s l a te d f or a re v i ew b y h a te c r i m e e x pe rt D r Chris Allen D r Allen sai d he would follow the facts a n d w a s n ot g oi n g t o "plac ate anybody or any p a rt i c ul a r c on s t i tu e nc y or group"

However, objections have now been raised to t h e t i m i n g o f t h e a n n o u n c e m e n t a n d D r A l l e n ' s a p p o i n t m e n t According to BBC, a group r e p r e s e n t i n g H i n d u a n d J a i n t e m p l e s s a i d t h e y would not take part as they felt previous comments by Dr Allen undermined his impartiality

The communal violence that was allegedly fuelled by s o c i a l m e d i a m i s i n f o r m a tion, made global headlines, w h i c h a l s o l e d t o H i n d u organisations writing a let ter to former PM Liz Truss to protect Hindus better At t h e s a m e t i m e , t h e Pakistani government said M u s l i m s n e e d e d g r e a t e r safeguards

At the review's official launch city Mayor Sir Peter S o u l s b y e m p h a s i s e d i t s i n d e p e n d e n t n a t u r e a n d s a i d h e e x p e c t e d c o n c l u sions by early next year

S i r P e t e r s a i d : " T h e r e h a v e b e e n l o t s o f p e o p l e wanting to point the finger of blame and often point ing it at each other

What we need to know a r e t h e a c t u a l f a c t s a n d t h o s e f a c t s w i l l p e r h a p s indicate not just who was responsible but how we can work together to prevent it happening again "

The review will be led by Dr Chris Allen, associate

professor in hate studies

a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f L e i c e s t e r H e s a i d h e w o u l d s t a r t b y a s k i n g basic questions

"What caused the dis t u r b a n c e s ? W h a t h a p pened both before during a n d a f t e r t h e d i s t u r b a n c e s ? W h y d i d t h e y happen when they did?" he said

" W h a t w e r e t h e drivers? Were they inter n a l o r e x t e r n a l ? W e r e there any warning signs that we missed and do we think there is potential for this to happen again in the future?"

H e a l s o e m p h a s i s e d t h e y w o u l d b e w o r k i n g toward one main goal

"The point of this is to t r y a n d u n d e r s t a n d , " h e said "From a distance these things can look straightfor w a r d a n d e v e r y o n e w i l l have an opinion

" I f w e c a n b e g i n t o u n d e r s t a n d a b i t b e t t e r , rather than making broad assumptions and knee jerk r e a c t i o n s , a c t u a l l y t h a t understanding will give us the foundation for moving forward "

Matt Hancock suspended

B r i ta in ' s r u l in g C o n s er va ti ve p ar ty o n T u es d ay s u s p e n de d M a tt H ancock, the former health minister during the co ro n a vi r u s p an de mi c , f o r ap pearing on a reality TV sh ow

The 44 year old MP will be absent from parliament while he takes part in the latest series of ITV's "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!"

Conservative chief whip S i m o n H a r t , w h o i s i n

charge of party discipline, followed a similar course on l e a r n i n g o f H a n c o c k ' s involvement

"I have considered the situation and believe this is a matter serious enough to warrant suspension of the w h i p w i t h i m m e d i a t e effect," he added

P r i m e M i n i s t e r R i s h i S u n a k , w h o p u b l i c l y s n u b b e d H a n c o c k w h e n mobbed by supporters after being appointed last week, a l s o d i s a p p r o v e s , a

spokesman said " T h e p r i m e m i n i s t e r believes that at a challeng ing time for the country, M P s s h o u l d b e w o r k i n g hard for their constituents," the spokesman said Sunak was unlikely to watch, he added

One of Hancock's sup p o r t e r s d e f e n d e d h i s i n v o l v e m e n t , s a y i n g t h e p r o g r a m m e w o u l d h e l p connect to the "politically disengaged" and show "the human side" of politicians

Landlords offered contracts to house migrants

Landlords and homeown ers are b ei ng offered long ter m con trac ts t o hous e record numbers of illegal m i gr a nt s T he H om e O f f i c e e m pl oy e d pr i v at e f i rm Se rc o w eb s i t e announces i t is “ Calling all Landlords” in a grab for more properti es to house some 30, 000 asylum seek ers

I t r e a d s : “ S e r c o p r o vides asylum accommoda tion and support services i n t h e N o r t h W e s t o f E n g l a n d , M i d l a n d s a n d East of England Our pur pose is the provision of a c c o m m o d a t i o n , t r a n s portation and subsistence payments for asylum seek ers whilst their claims are being processed We are r e s p o n s i b l e f o r o v e r 30,000 asylum seekers in an ever growing portfolio of more than 6,000 prop e r t i e s O u r o p e r a t i n g model is based on leasing

p r o p e r t i e s f r o m a w i d e n e t w o r k o f l a n d l o r d s , investors and agents with Serco acting as a Tenant ”

T h e G o v e r n m e n t i s l o o k i n g f o r s o l u t i o n s t o the skyrocketing hotel bill f o r t h o s e c r o s s i n g t h e C h a n n e l i l l e g a l l y w h i c h has hit £2 4billion a year The Serco offer to those willing to house migrants i n c l u d e s l e a s e s o f f i v e years, all council tax and u t i l i t i e s p a i d , a s w e l l a s property management and maintenance and no han dling fees A report from the Refugee Council pub lished in July this year said that over 26,000 asylum seekers were being housed in hotels as of 2021

This year more than 3 8 , 0 0 0 m i g r a n t s h a v e arrived in the UK and the S u n r e p o r t e d t h e H o m e Office spends around £7 million a day on housing D o v e r M P N a t a l i e

Elphicke said: "The small boats crisis is making it m u c h h a r d e r f o r B r i t s already struggling to keep a roof over their head or get a home of their own “This underlines why it is so important to tackle the crisis to reduce pressure on housing and other vital local services "

Speaking to the home a f f a i r s c o m m i t t e e o n W e d n e s d a y D a n O M a h o n e y , t h e C l a n d e s t i n e C h a n n e l Threat Commander, told MPs the Royal Navy has p r e v e n t e d h u n d r e d s o f drownings as migrants try to cross the Channel in f l i m s y b o a t s H e a d d e d : "Some of them will need our help and will file asy lum claims It reads: “Serco p r o v i d e s a s y l u m a c c o m modation and support ser vices in the North West of E n g l a n d , M i d l a n d s a n d East of England

Midwife retires after 42 years

A Wolv erhampton mid wife retired after 4 2 years in th e NHS

Barbara Kapoor, 60, over a 35 year period has deliv ered about 4,000 babies in the city

M r s K a p o o r t o l d B B C W M s h e w a s " s a d " t o b e retiring, however hoped that y o u n g e r c o l l e a g u e s w o u l d continue her legacy

42 years is a long time and I think it's time to hang my uniform up and hand it o v e r t o t h e y o u n g b l o o d now," she said " M a y b e t h e y h a v e

learned something from [us] legacy midwives I hope that they've learned a lot from us and that they can continue what we did "

In 1980, she started her career as a general nurse at t h e R o y a l H o s p i t a l , Wolverhampton, but soon fell in love with obstetrics

"When I saw the passion the midwives had, and I saw my first birth with a very e x p e r i e n c e d m i d w i f e , I thought, 'wow this is amaz ing'," she said

"I couldn't wait to finish my general nursing and start

doing what the other mid wives I saw were doing

"The joy of sharing that very special experience with a mother and father and being part of their life in that way is just absolutely a m a z i n g A n d t h e y w i l l never, ever forget you "

Muslim pupils were given food containing pork gelatine

Parents are enrag ed as some pupi ls were gi ven food con tai ni ng pork gelati ne d uri ng l u n ch t i me i n B i rmi n g ha m school

O n W e d n e s d a y 1 9 O c t o b e r , G r e e t P r i m a r y School in Sparkhill sent a let ter to parents to notify them of the incident

T h e s c h o o l s a i d a f u l l investigation will be taking place into how it occurred

In the Muslim faith, pork i s c o n s i d e r e d i m p u r e a n d harmful to humans making it a forbidden food

Fatima said: "I am a par ent of a child in Year 1, and I'm honestly appalled by the lack of transparency and profes sionalism regarding this mat ter

"Many kids, as well as my own, have eaten pork gelatine

"A matter of this degree

should be dealt with swiftly and urgently, not within two weeks as the school has told parents "

Mr Khan, who is a parent of a child who had been given the gelatine, said: "Simply put, if required checks were car ried out, this could have all been avoided

" M y c h i l d i s i n c r e d i b l y upset at hearing they had con sumed pork "

Post Office’s IT scandal “morally wrong"

A t t h e h ea rt o f th e P o s t

Office’s IT scand al awarding m u l ti m il li o n p o u n d g o v er nm e nt c o nt rac ts to t h e J ap a ne se f i rm i s “ m o ra ll y wrong ” , the g overnment has been told

A £48m deal to upgrade the police national comput er (PNC), despite its role in what has been branded the biggest miscarriage of jus tice in British legal history, critics in the House of Lords a r g u e d i t w a s “ a p p a l l i n g ” t h a t F u j i t s u c o n t i n u e d t o secure lucrative work

B e c a u s e o f t h e P o s t

Office’s defective Horizon accounting system, installed

and maintained by the tech n o l o g y g i a n t , w h i c h h a d “bugs, defects and errors ” from the outset, more than 7 0 0 s u b p o s t m a s t e r s a n d s u b p o s t m i s t r e s s e s ( S P M s ) were wrongly prosecuted for t h e f t , f r a u d a n d f a l s e accounting

R a i s i n g t h e i s s u e a t W e s t m i n s t e r , L i b e r a l

Democrat Baroness Ludford said: “The government has awarded contracts to Fujitsu of over £3 5bn since 2013, including nearly £500m this year, of which £48m was on the police national comput er “

Fujitsu’s Horizon software was at the heart of the Post Office sub postmaster scan dal, why do the government believe that Fujitsu software has the necessary integrity for the critical data in the PNC?

“How is a business as usual approach to the award of contracts before the offi cial Post Office inquiry con cludes prudent?

t

“Lastly, how does this g o v e r n m e n t l a r g e s s e g i v e Fujitsu any incentive to con tribute to the massive com pensation cost for sub post masters, which is set to fall on the taxpayer?”

Chhath puja in Edinburgh; Photo source: Twitter

Drug dealer escapes Derbyshire jail

An 'u nto uchable' drug deal er wh o boasted of flash cars and gu ns while on the run i n Pakistan is back o n th e lo ose after serving j ust th ree o f his 12 year sentence in Britain

A d n a n R a j a K h a n , 3 6 , w a s n o w h e r e t o b e s e e n during the lunchtime roll c a l l a t H M P S u d b u r y i n D e r b y s h i r e t o d a y Derbyshire Constabulary is now urgently appealing for help to track down Khan a crime lord who was sen t e n c e d t o m o r e t h a n a decade behind bars for pos session with intent to sup ply Class A drugs The force said: 'Mr Khan is described as 5ft 8ins tall, and of slim build, with black hair, beard, a n d b r o w n e y e s H e h a s links to Leicester '

But this is not the first time Khan has managed to go on the run In December 2016, Khan fled the UK after his former girlfriend, Amy

S c h r e d e r , f r o m

Leicestershire, was caught with one and a half kilos of high purity cocaine along with crack cocaine, cutting agents and £46,000 in cash When police tried to stop Khan later that day due to h i s l i n k s t o t h e d r u g s seizure, he took them on a wild chase, driving at up to 100 mph in the Fosse Park and Narborough Road area of the city, causing a family car to spin off the road a l t h o u g h t h e p a s s e n g e r s were not seriously injured

Despite this, and being found with cannabis, Khan w a s r e l e a s e d o n b a i l t h e next day where he fled to P a k i s t a n a n d f a i l e d t o a t t e n d c o u r t , i n J a n u a r y 2017 something the judge branded 'remarkable' at the time During his 15 months on the run, Khan brazenly posed in front of flash cars wearing expensive designer watches and brandishing a

India an important partner for the UK

T he Foreign Secretary James C l ev erly v i si ted I nd ia l ast w eek o n 28th October to s tr en g th en U K India relations and d i sc us s ec o nom i c c o o p er ati o n a s w ell as g lo b al s e cu ri t y c h al leng es

U K F o r e i g n S e c r e t a r y J a m e s C l e v e r l y a r r i v e d

India on Friday 28 October for his first official trip to the country to meet his c o u n t e r p a r t a n d d i s c u s s strengthening the UK India relationship

He visited Mumbai on Friday and travelled to New Delhi on Saturday

In Mumbai, he paid his respects to those who lost their lives in the city’s terror a t t a c k a t t h e T a j P a l a c e Hotel in 2008

O n S a t u r d a y h e t r a v elled to New Delhi to speak at the Special Meeting of the U N S e c u r i t y C o u n c i l C o u n t e r T e r r o r i s m C o m m i t t e e H e c a l l e d o n countries to work together to fight online terrorism i n c l u d i n g g l o b a l t e r r o r recruitment campaigns and live streaming of attacks I n N e w D e l h i t h e F o r e i g n S e c r e t a r y m e t India’s Minister of External Affairs Dr Jaishankar to dis cuss the latest on the 2030 R o a d m a p , t h e l a n d m a r k commitment to boost coop eration between the UK and India over the next decade u n d e r a C o m p r e h e n s i v e

b e e n m a d e , i n c l u d i n g t h e start of ambi t i o u s f r e e trade negotia tions, and the e x p a n s i o n o f o u r d e f e n c e a n d s e c u r i t y p a r t n e r s h i p , i n c l u d i n g through a visit to India last y e a r b y H M S Q u e e n Elizabeth and the Carrier S t r i k e G r o u p ( C S G ) , a n d joint exercises to enhance cyber security collaboration

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: “Our relation ship with India is hugely i m p o r t a n t t o m e ; a s t h e world’s largest democracy, India is a natural partner for the UK in the Indo Pacific It is an economic and tech p o w e r h o u s e O u r d e e p e r t i e s w i l l b o o s t b o t h o u r economies and help to tack le global security challenges

I look forward to work ing even more closely with India when it takes up the G 2 0 P r e s i d e n c y i n December

“ I n d i a i s a p o w e r f u l voice on the international s t a g e a n d a n i m p o r t a n t partner for the UK Had a p o s i t i v e a n d p r o d u c t i v e m e e t i n g w i t h D r S J a i s h a n k a r W e d i s c u s s e d c o l l a b o r a t i o n o n t r a d e , investment, defence & secu rity to improve the lives and livelihoods of our citizens,” Cleverly tweeted

variety of guns The married father began posting taunt i n g m e s s a g e s w i t h p h o t o g r a p h s o n I n s t a g r a m i n c l u d i n g : T h e y s a y m y whole team is under investi gation but you know what I say, the wise man always gets away '

D e r b y s h i r e C o n s t a bulary have asked for any one who has seen him or knows of his whereabouts to contact them quoting refer e n c e 4 5 2 o f 2 7 O c t o b e r HMP Sudbury is a Category D m e n ’ s p r i s o n n e a r A s h b o u r n e i n D e r b y s h i r e Earlier this month, another prisoner Laurence Connors absconded from the same jail Connors, who is Irish, was convicted for burglary at Reading Crown Court in July 2020

TikTok star accused of killing mum's lover

A Ti kTok s tar has allegedly " ki l l ed he r m um ' s lo ve r after he threatened her with a revenge porn sex tape" i n an alleged blackmail plot, a c o ur t h ea r d M ah e k Bukhari, 23, is ac cused of h at c hi n g a pl a n t o s t op S aq i b H us s a i n, 2 1, f ro m l e ak i n g r ev e ng e p or n im ages of her 45 year old mother Ansreen Bukhari

S a q i b a n d h i s f r i e n d M o h a m m e d H a s h i m I j a z u d d i n , a l s o 2 1 , w e r e killed when their car was rammed off the road and burst into flames just after midnight on February 11 A c o u r t h e a r d M a h e k h a d launched a "trap" in order "to silence" Saqib after he had threatened to send sex u a l l y e x p l i c i t m a t e r i a l o f Ansreen to her husband and

son Saqib also blackmailed A n s r e e n a n d d e m a n d e d £2,000 to £3,000 in return for not releasing the images and "dirty" videos, it was claimed

J u r o r s h e a r d t h a t Mahek, concerned for the impact on her own social media following, vowed to get Saqib "jumped by guys" and added: "He won't know what day it is" The two m e n , o f B a n b u r y , O x o n , were killed instantly when their Skoda Fabia hit a tree at high speed and split into two on the A46 in Leicester A c h i l l i n g 9 9 9 c a l l w a s played to the jury in which Saqib is heard telling call operators they were being c h a s e d b y m e n i n b a l a clavas

He pleads: "I am being

followed by two vehicles

They are trying to ram me off the road "They're right behind They're hitting into the back of the car very fast I am going to be rammed off the road Please sir I just need help and I am in dan ger They are trying to kill me Please I'm begging you, I'm going to die " He then screams before a loud crash is heard Mehek is charged with two counts of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter alongside her mother Ansreen and friend Natasha Akhtar, 22 They h a v e g o n e o n t r i a l a l o n g with Raees Jamal, 22, Rekan K a r w a n , 2 8 , M o h a m m e d P a t e l , 2 0 , S a n a f G u l a m m u s t a f a , 2 2 a n d Ameer Jamal, 27, who face the same charges

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Strategic Partnership S i n c e i t w a s l a u n c h e d last year, huge progress has

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly with his Indian counterpart Dr S Jaishankar

The Foreign Secretary speaking on the first day of the Special Meeting of Counter Terrorism Committee organised by the United Nations Security Council in Mumbai

Is Sunak between the devil and the deep blue sea?

We have nev er seen such infig hting, esp ecially am ong C onservatives wh o were once kno wn as a united and disci p lined party! So what could be th e reaso n? Normally M Ps w ould agree sooner o r later am ong st themselv es, resulting in an unopposed outcom e, as was th e case with Terrassa M ay and Boris J ohnso n wh en they became PM

Although Rishi became PM without going to the party members, it was a fierce battle between him and various contenders! Fortunately, common sense prevailed and everyone withdraw, for one reason or another! Setting a high standard, and minimum support from at least 100 MPs did the trick, as at best only three candidates can enter the race!

The reason for such infighting maybe there was not a s i n g l e o u t s t a n d i n g c a n d i d a t e i n t h e m o u l d o f L a d y Thatcher or John Major, so they are even willing to go back to someone who has already been rejected, like Boris Everyone agrees that Rishi Sunak, a brilliant economist is the best candidate who predicted what would happen to British Pound and our economy if uncharted tax refunds are on the menu

His appointment was praised by the media and raised Conservatives’ chances to win the next general election Liz Truss was a complete disaster who wanted to borrow and give away some £45 billion in tax rebate to the super rich, an elementary mistake one would associate with a com plete novice! Rishi was absolutely right; the pound crashed forcing Liz to resign after only 43 days in office, the short est tenure as PM in the history of British politics

It seems we are now following Italy where no single party gains the overall majority It is always a coalition of at least three parties with widely different policies that usual ly collapse after a short time, leading to a new election but having the same outcome This is a road to disaster I sin cerely hope our matured democracy will avoid such a sce nario to give us a stable government, as times are indeed testing, our economy in decline, in line with the world trend!

Bhupend ra M Gand hi

Mr Rishi Sunak: The PM of Britain

Mr Rishi Sunak was the next cabinet member to resign fol lowing Mr Sajid Javid and prior to him, many numerous Tory members had already resigned during the mass exo dus for which Mr Rishi Sunak can not be blamed solely His resignation carried a different motive, as the Tory party government was clearly on the verge of being completely collapsed due to long lasting turmoils, he decided to save the Tory government and to make it sustainable by reform ing it

Mr Boris Johnson was one of the finest Prime ministers of Britain, but sadly and unfortunately due to governmen tal discipline, he happened to lose his post

Parliamentary Tory members have overwhelmingly elected Mr Rishi Sunak to be the PM of Britain standing well with him, knowing him as a staunch Hindu respecting other religions, honest, hard working Tory member, and determined to unite the Tory party and to lift the British economy in the interest of all the British people

Rishi’s back

RN Patel

Rishi Sunak’s top priority should be to watch his own b a c k T h e U K ’ s f i r s t A s i a n p r i m e m i n i s t e r s h o u l d develop a thick skin incapable of being penetrated by b a c k s t a b b e r s , f r o n t s t a b b e r s a n d s i d e s t a b b e r s H e should not be discouraged if his achievements are lightly d i s m i s s e d o r i g n o r e d a l t o g e t h e r w h i l e a n y shortcomings, whether real or imagined, are blown up out of all proportion If this outstanding, brown skinned politician can cope with a constant flurry of racist digs ( a l l t h e e y e b r o w r a i s i n g , n u d g i n g , s m i r k i n g a n d whispering) and focus on delivering the Tory party’s m a n i f e s t o p r o m i s e s w i t h h i s d y n a m i c b r a n d o f leadership he can be sure of going down in history as one of the country’s greatest prime ministers

A sh Gupta

Kapil D udakia

A P I L’ S K H I C H A D I

Can we learn from J ewish an d Muslim communi ti es?

The Muslim community have been open in their plan to influence critical paths of governance in the UK via the Labour Party And to that extent they are succeeding Just have a look at the Labour front bench and the number of Muslim councillors, even under Keir Starmer

The Jewish community have become power brokers in the Conservative party, but they have done so quietly It is estimated that some 25% of the membership of the Tory party might well be Jewish Brilliant Because once you have the numbers; you can exercise influence

Our community invested heavily in Labour from 1950's onwards, but have little to show for this support, the party never gave anything back Our community is often deluded in thinking that politicians will honour their side of the pact Today it’s clear that Labour is on the side of the Muslim community Keir Starmer might visit a few Mandirs to get photos, write a letter for Diwali, but where it counts, the appeasement continues, and the Hinduphobia within Labour continues

So, what is the answer? Well in the first place Hindus need to wake up and smell the coffee They need to understand their own negligence, their own stupidity, and their own failures There is no point in people screaming their heads off, but without the intelligence to look at the bigger picture If our community wants to be a driving force, then you need to become not just members of a political party, you need to become an active member You need to understand the politics of party politics to understand how things are really done

For example, say 10% of our community became members of the Conservative party That means some 40000 new members for the Tories That would represent about 25% of the Tory party membership! With that level of presence, the community can enter proper dialogue with the party top tier

There are only two parties in modern day British pol itics that will govern, namely the Conservatives or Labour Just ask yourself, where can you make the biggest impact, and where might you get the best return? If the politics of the past decade has not shown you the path forward, then

British Politics 4 Hindus, Sikhs & Jains

get some help

There is however a new awakening Many more from our community are beginning to realise that their involve ment in politics is not only good for them and their com munity, but also for the well being of the nation Our community contributes positively in every spere of life where we have a presence In the field of politics, we can bring a breath of fresh air, of truth and of justice that is the very embodiment of Sanatan Dharma Our involve ment enhances and improves British values for all At this time, Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains gather to celebrate Diwali They are givers rather than takers

If you are stirred into doing something in politics and public life, then the following links take you to the party membership portal It's your choice, make it, live with it, and take responsibility

Cons ervative Party: https://www cons ervatives com

Lab our Party: https ://labour org uk

Lib eral Democrats: https:// www li bdems org uk

This year we had a double celebration, one for Diwali and one for PM Sunak in his monumental and history making achievement We salute a nation that welcomes a British Hindu of Indian origin to become their PM PM Sunak has made it clear, his first duty is to the nation, and his last duty is also to the nation He is not just our Prime Minister; he is the nations’ PM On the cusp of global h a

o n , national security and governance, our nation needs a Prime Minister who is serious in intent, and calm under pressure In PM Sunak the nation places their hope Now it is for all of us to mirror his strengths and work to get our nation to a better place

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 Shefali at shefali saxena@abplgroup com

Truly impartial

I am afraid I disagree with your correspondent Ash Gupta (Readers’ letters, issue 15 21 October) who complained about having to pay what I consider a quite reasonable BBC annual licence fee of £159 For the past 100 years, the BBC has provided not only the UK but the world with carefully researched and impartial news coverage via TV and radio When people want to know what is really going on, the unvarnished truth, they switch on the BBC Besides unbi ased news, the BBC also provides unrivalled entertainment with television programmes like “Strictly Come Dancing” which draws millions of viewers

Rudy Otter

backgro und

However, he feels that S u n a k i s b a d n e w s f o r Labour and the opposition parties, and they may as well face up to it

" T h e T o r i e s h a v e g o t t h e m s e l v e s a d e c e n t n e w leader; but also a new “ nar r a t i v e ” T h a t ’ s w h a t t h e y really needed above all a sense of what this govern ment is actually for What is its aim and purpose in practical terms? The answer: fixing the economy Tough choices now, better times ahead No more chaos and confusion Simple as that, and endlessly repeated "

B y t h e s u m m e r t o autumn of 2024, memories of the graft, drift and blun d e r s o f t h e J o h n s o n a n d Truss premierships will fade out, says Sean

Sean O'Grady, an Associate Editor of th e Ind ependent be li ev es Ri s h i S un ak w i ll clean up th e mess left by his i m m ed ia te p red e ce s so

an

Labour should be worried about new PM

New NHS recruitment campaign launches to encourage South Asian community to consider nursing career

81% of South Asian’s surveyed said that

have made

Asians

has been revamped to cham

Community based hair and beauty salons to promote health checks

Th e N HS R a ce an d He al t h O b se r va t o r y is ba c ki n g an innovative p ro ject to emp ower hair dr esser s and beau ty salon t he r ap is t s t o p r o m o t e t he up take o f NHS Health Checks an d p r o m o t e br ea st ca n ce r aw ar en es s a m o n gs t di ve r se female clientele

So far, eight salons locat ed in Brixton, Streatham and Hammersmith have signed up and will participate in dis c u s s i o n s a r o u n d t h e a p p design, proposed content and feasibility around utilising hair and beauty salon premises

on the extraord

nary

of S

Asian nurses and inspire a new coho

to consid

a career in the

The campaign highlights the range of nursing specialisms across the NHS, including in learning dis abilities, mental health, adult and children’s nursing It features a South Asian nurse, who is proud to s h o w c a s e t h e m a n y w a y s t h a t nursing has a positive impact every day, on patients and on himself Pratap Perseed doss, a nurse at O xl eas N HS F o u n d ati o n T ru s t, said: “It’s a very rewarding role I enjoy interacting with patients and listening to any concerns or feed back they might have this is abso lutely crucial to ensuring you can provide the best possible care ”

After completing his nursing d e g r e e a t L o n d o n S o u t h B a n k University, Pratap is now a Nurse Consultant Candidates for uni versity nursing courses have access to a support system to guide them step by step through the applica

t i o n p r o c e s s , a l o n g s i d e t a i l o r e d

support Annual payments of at least £5,000 are also available to help nursing students with their studies

The campaign aims to increase a p p l i c a t i o n s f o r b o t h d e g r e e courses and direct entry jobs, seek ing to build upon the existing 1 2 million strong workforce and to shine a light on the incredible w o r k t h e y d o i n m u l t i c u l t u r a l adverts across TV, cinemas, radio and billboards

D r N av i na E va n s, re c en tl y ap p o i n te d C h i e f Wo rk fo rc e Officer at NHSE , said: “I am proud to support this new recruitment c a m p a i g n T h e N H S ’ s g r e a t e s t strength is in the diversity of our people Nurses from multicultural

communities across the UK are t h e b a c k b o n e o f o u r n a t i o n a l health service and the contribu tions they make every day must be celebrated ”

Marimouttou Cou marassamy, F ounder and Chair o f th e Briti sh Indian Nursing As sociatio n, said: “When I first arrived from India to work as a nurse in the UK, I was pleasantly surprised by the respect given to the nursing profession T h r o u g h o u t m y c a r e e r , I h a v e been supported through various l e a r n i n g o p p o r t u n i t i e s , w h i c h have helped me to grow as a com passionate and inclusive leader ” Search ‘Nursing Careers’ for m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n o r v i s i t : https://www healthcareers nhs uk /we are the nhs/nursing careers

In London, less than half of women invited for NHS Health C h e c k s t o d i a g n o s e r i s k o f heart diseases take up the invi tation, with approximately six in 10 eligible women attending b r e a s t c a n c e r s c r e e n i n g s A s p a r t o f t h e c o l l a b o r a t i v e ‘ B E L O N G ’ s t u d y , r e s e a r c h e r s from King’s College London are w o r k i n g w i t h p r i m a r y c a r e h e a l t h c a r e p r o f e s s i o n a l s including GPs, nurses, health care assistants and salon own ers to develop customised con tent for a new tailored, NHS online health tool

F u n d e d b y t h e N a t i o n a l Institute for Health Research, the study will see local Black a n d A s i a n h a i r a n d b e a u t y salons working in partnership w i t h l o c a l G P p r a c t i c e s i n South and West London to pro mote a culturally adapted ver sion of a free, online App (Dr IQ), to promote heart health and raise breast cancer aware ness in women of all ages

All participating hair and beauty salons will receive reim bursement for their time and training, along with ongoing support from nurses and health c a r e a s s i s t a n t s b a s e d w i t h i n participating local GP Practices in South and West London

If successful, data will be used to design a larger study to examine if the app reduces the chances of heart disease and increases breast cancer aware n e s s a m o n g w o m e n i n d e p r i v e d c o m m u n i t i e s a n d whether it is good value for money

Dr Habib Naqvi, director of t h e N H S R a c e a n d H e a l t h Observatory said, “The Belong initiative is a simple, innovative a p p r o a c h t o t a r g e t w o m e n from ethnically diverse areas of London and signpost them to v i t a l , f r e e N H S c h e c k s W e appreciate the salons who have committed so far and look for ward to seeing how the app develops with tailored content over the next few months ”

Dr Navina Evans

Pratap Perseeddoss

Diwali and New Year celebrations at Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Kingsbury

ten tho usand visitors s tr eam ed th r o ug h t h e M andir to have the darshan o f the L ord presiding before a s p ec ta cu

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ad iq Kh an T

on,

w as the climax of a six d ay festiv al that started on Ramaa Ekadashi on Friday 21 st Aug ust

d

S a t u r d a y ( D h a n T e r a s ) s a w a c u l t u r a l e x h i b i t i o n and a light show in lieu of fireworks during a special e v e n i n g w h e r e K i n g s b u r y Mandir’s friends and neigh b o u r s c a m e a n d e n j o y e d sampling some of the many cultural activities run by the Mandir The week contin ued with Kali Chaudas fol lowed by Diwali and Shree S a d g u r u D i n o n M o n d a y 24th October Throughout t h i s p e r i o d , K i n g s b u r y Mandir has been collecting

i m p e r i s h a b l e f o o d s a n d essential items to donate to local food banks and chari ties

While this is an annual practice by the Mandir com munity and visitors during t h i s t i m e , t h e d o n a t i o n s received this year have been particularly generous given the hardships that so many are facing right now Hindu New Year fell on Wednesday 26th October, marking the end of the Diwali celebrato ry period and the beginning o f t h e n e w H i n d u y e a r K i n g s b u r y M a n d i r h a s b e c o m e r e n o w n e d f o r i t s

have praised the NHS dur ing the pandemic and cele brated London’s cosmopoli tan and diverse communi t i e s T h i s y e a r ’ s A n n a k u t c o m m e m o r a t e d t h e l a t e Queen’s unparalleled reign of 70 years and 214 days by an amazing showcase of the Commonwealth The food a n d d e c o r a t i o n s r e f l e c t e d t h e C o m m o n w e a l t h o f N a t i o n s t h a t t h e Q u e e n served This year ’ s was one o f t h e M a n d i r ’ s m o s t s p r a w l i n g a n d s p e c t a c u l a r displays to date, not least due to Kingsbury Mandir’s s p e c i a l a f f i n i t y w i t h t h e

Queen, with the Mandir’s S h r e e M u k t a j e e v a n Swamibapa Pipe Band hav ing performed during Her L a t e M a j e s t y ’ s G o l d e n , D i a m o n d , a n d P l a t i n u m jubilees in 2002, 2012, and 2022, respectively The truly remarkable display was a fit ting tribute to the Queen and an apt celebration of the 2 5 b i l l i o n p e o p l e a n d 5 6 c o u n t r i e s t h a t f o r m t h e

of London Sadiq Khan also visited and was awestruck b y t h e e f f o r t , i n t r i c a c y , innovation, and sheer scale o f t h e M a n d i r ’ s A n n a k u t this year The Mandir con tinues its charity endeav ours, with the food collec t i o n c o n t i n u i n g u n t i l Sunday 6th November, on

Welsh First Minister dances at Diwali celebrations in Cardiff

We l s h Fi r s t M in is t e r M a rk D ra k e f or d j o in ed the dan cers at the official In d ia n g ov e r n m e n t Diwal i cel eb rati ons h eld in Cardiff l ast night

T h e 6 8 y e a r o l d Labour politician joined i n w i t h t h e t r a d i t i o n a l I n d i a n d a n c i n g a t Glamorgan Cricket club in Pontcanna, Cardiff, for

R a j A g g a r w a l s a i d : " T h i s w e e k h a s b e e n a hugely important one in the story of Asian devel opment in British society As I'm sure you are all aware we now have the f i r s t e v e r A s i a n P r i m e M i n i s t e r . R e g a r d l e s s o f your political persuasion, this is a matter of vital i m p o r t a n c e S o m e t h i n g

which day they will be host ing their annual Diwali and H i n d u N e w Y e a r b l o o d donation session

Th e Mayor of Londo n, S adiq K han, s aid: “It was an honour and a privilege to v i s i t S h r e e S w a m i n a r a y a n M a n d i r K i n g s b u r y a n d

C o m m o n w e a l t h , a n d w h o work together to progress our shared values of peace and prosperity

S k y N e w s a n d I T V ’ s Good Morning Britain cov ered the Mandir’s celebra t i o n s w i t h n u m e r o u s l i v e broadcasts throughout the morning resulting in mil lions across the UK having the divine darshan of Lord S h r e e S w a m i n a r a y a n b a p a Swamibapa on this auspi cious occasion Thousands came for darshan through o u t t h e d a y , i n c l u d i n g dozens of councillors, MPs and dignitaries The Mayor

“During this wonderful festival of lights, we come together to pay tribute to the warmth and generosity of our Hindu, Sikh and Jain b r o t h e r s a n d s i s t e r s a n d recognise their huge contri b u t i o n t o w a r d s m a k i n g London the greatest city in the world

“I wish all those cele b r a t i n g a v e r y h a p p y a n d joyous Diwali ”

Jain Samaj Manchester hosts magical Diwali evening

3 20 guests cam

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an d m ag i c al ev eni ng , bri ng ing tog eth er four g enerations of fam ilies to celebrate in o ne comm u nity event

H i g h l i g h t s i n c l u d e d a flag hoisting to celebrate 75 y e a r s o f I n d i a n Independence, followed by a magical Vadil Bahuman cer emony and Diwali festivi ties

The Vadil Bahuman cer emony was a truly unique and special addition to the concept of this annual pro gramme In recognition of I n d i a ’ s 7 5 y e a r s o f Independence, elderly mem bers of the samaj, who had

b e e n b o r n o n o r b e f o r e I n d i a ’ s I n d e p e n d e n c e D a y (making them 75 years or over), were celebrated for t h e i r i n v a l u a b l e c o n t r i b u tion to the community

Jain Samaj Manchester w a s h o n o u r e d t o r e c e i v e f o r t y V a d i l r e g i s t r a t i o n s , w i t h t h e e l d e s t b e i n g 9 1 years of age Each elderly V I P w a s i n v i t e d o n s t a g e with a representative from their family and presented

with a personalised certifi cate of appreciation, sym bolic shawl and badge of the Indian flag as a token of a p p r e c i a t i o n f r o m t h e

Samaj

The family representa tive who accompanied the Vadil on stage also present e d t p e r s o n a l a n d h e a r t w a r m i n g m e s s a g e o f l o v e and gratitude

T h e e v e n t i n c l u d e d s p e c t a c u l a r m u s i c , d h o l

The event sponsors offi cially opened the evening by cutting a ribbon to symbol ize the promise of a memo rable and fun night, lighting diya and hoisting the Indian flag All the guests sang both the British and the Indian national anthems

On this auspicious day and in honour of the 40 V a d i l s , J a i n S a m a j Manchester also contribut ed to a charity in India to save 40 animals from being sent to a slaughterhouse

the Hindu celebration of Diwali He was joined by Health Minister Baroness E l u n e d M o r g a n a n d

Indian Honorary Consul Raj Aggarwal, who organ ised the event which was attended by hundreds of guests and included some exuberant celebrations

Speaking at the event Raj Aggarwal spoke about t h e e x c i t e m e n t i n t h e British Asian community to have the UK's first ever Asian Prime Minister

that was unthinkable in the 1970s and 80s, has come to pass, and now all British ethnic minori ties can know for sure that there are no limits to their ambitions "

The launch night had n u m e r o u s v i s i t o r s i n c l u d i n g W e l s h d i g n i t a r i e s i n c l u d i n g L o r d L i e u t e n a n t o f G l a m o r g a n M o r f u d d Meredith and Brigadier Andrew Dawes, pictured centre above

innovative displays of food offered to the Lord on this auspicious occasion I n r e c e n t y e a r s , t h e Mandir’s Annakut displays

B A P S S h r i S w a m i n a r a y a n M a n d i r N e a s d e n f o r t h e first full Diwali and Hindu New Year celebrations since the restrictions of the pan demic were lifted

Members of the Jain Samaj being honoured at the Vadil Bahuman ceremony

Diwali Celebrations centre Brigadier Andrew Dawes

Diwali Celebrations Mark Drakeford Centre, second to right Morfudd Meredith Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan, and Raj Aggarwal

Diwali Celebrations Cardiff Mark Drakeford Dancing and Raj Aggarwal

Historical first at Lords Cricket Ground UK celebrating Diwali in the Long Room

Vibhooti R Acharya

Neasden Temple supports local food banks during Diwali celebrations

Sa d iq K ha n , M a y or of Lo nd on , V i k ra m Dor ais wam i, High Comm iss ioner of India to t he U nit e d K in g dom , a nd D a vi d La m m y , Shadow Foreign Sec retary joined tens of t hou sands fr om the loca l c om munity and beyond at Neasden Temple t o c elebrate Diwali and the Hindu New Year on Monday 24 Oc tober and Wednes day 2 6 Oc tober 2022 Diwali is the Hindu ‘Fes tival of Light’, whe n hope, compas sion and goodwill are har ne ss ed and cel ebrat ed Neasden Temple embodied these themes during this year ’ s festivities which coincided with the centennial birth anniversary of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the cre ator of Neasden Temple His message, “In the joy of others lies our own ” , inspired the ‘Community Food Drive’ in which Neasden T e m p l e a n d o t h e r B A P S H i n

t e m p l e s around the country will donate food items to local food banks and shelters supporting those impacted by the ongoing cost of living crisis

The festivities began on Monday, the day

thanksgiving as the first meal of the New Year T h e s a n c t i f i e d f o o d w a s l a t e r d i s t r i b u t e d among devotees, volunteers, and visitors

the Mandir, Mr Lammy commented: “It is particularly poignant to know that people will receive nourishment and support from this great Temple ”

We couldn’t believe it when we received a phone call inviting us to celebrate a very special event, a historical first Diwali at Lords Cricket grounds London UK I was invited along with my mother and two sisters Hema and Bharti to perform the Aarti Our mother had the proud privilege of switching on the Diwa lights in the Long Room

I along with the High Commissioner of India and his wife performed the Aarti and Hemaben and Bhartiben sang the words of Hey Raja Ram Aarti live Hemaben also blew the traditional conch and played the drum to accompany the Aarti with music whilst Bhartiben played the bell (Ghantadi) This particular Ceremony was also conducted to mark the festival of joy, light, love and tri umph of good over evil

Amongst the guests present were digni taries, cricket fanatics, ECB staff and vari ous media people The highlight of the evening was when everyone in the Long Room joined in the Aarti when the room lights were dimmed and every phone light went on to mark this wonderful festival of light Diwali, symbolising and encircling the world in light hoping of bringing happi ness and harmony to everyone around the world

Essex Indians’ East Meets West Concert - Diwali

Essex Indians (EI)celebrated auspiciou s Diw ali with the East M eets West (EM W) co ncert too k p lace recently in M ayflower Sch oo

land mark

Billericay, E

of Diwali, which included a beautiful pyro musical fireworks display that illuminated the skies of north London high above the Temple domes The event brought together friends and families of all faiths and backgrounds to enjoy the colours, sounds and flavours of Diwali

The Temple heralded the Hindu New Year on Wednesday 26 October As part of the

Historic

and

Celebration at Anoopam Mission

Addressing the congregation, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I want to thank e v e r y b o d y i n

swamis, trustees, volunteers you are a bea con for the wonderful religion of Hinduism One of the greatest teachings of His Holiness [Pramukh Swami Maharaj] is ‘In the joy of others lies our own ’ which this Temple teaches You make me proud to be the mayor of this great City ”

Reflecting on the donation of food from

Y

Temple, further explained, “Diwali and the Hindu New Year bring values of goodwill, charity and harmony across communities in the UK, which have perhaps never been more important than today Our celebrations this year revolved around serving those who need us more than ever as we tackle these adversi ties together ”

along

politics

This was the 13th edition of EMW with a true blend of eastern and western cultures incorporating 16

states of India and bringing cultural and commu nity unity

T

Deputy Mayor Yetunde Aideshile along

Anthony, Billericay councillor

An

by City

The finale was DJ Sandyman

Ashirwad

Annakut Darshan

by Sahebji Hundreds of

held Annakut Aarti

for

hundreds of food dishes lovingly

artistically arranged and devoutly

HE Doraiswami encouraged everyone to bring “friends, neighbours and people from all communities” to be blessed equally by “this wonderful Temple” and “share its compas sion ”

Extraord inary Diwali celebrations becom ing even m ore special this year 20 22 for a num ber of reaso ns

Vaso Nagrik Mandal UK celebrate its 50th anniversary

On Sunday 3 0 October 2022, V aso Nagrik Mandal UK cel ebrated its 50th anniversary a nd j o i n tly w i th th e N ati o n al A ss o c ia ti o n o f P atidar Samaj and Karamsad S a m aj C ele br ate d S a rd ar V a ll abh b h ai P a tel ’ s Bi rt h

A nniversary and Diw ali Committee Members of the National Association of P a t i d a r S a m a j a n d V a s o Nagrik Mandal had made all the arrangements and deco rated the hall

S p e c i a l G u e s t s a n d speakers included Lord and Lady Navnit Dholakia, Mr Sanjay Kumar representing t h e I n d i a n H i g h C o m m i s s i o n , P r a v i n b h a i Amin, President of National Association of Patidar Samaj a n d V a s o N a g r i k M a n d a l , M a h e n d r a b h a i P a t e l , P r e s i d e n t o f K a r a m s a d S a m a j , J a y s h r e e P a t e l , President of Nadiad Nagrik Mandal, Mukundbhai Patel l , P r e s i d e n t o f D h a r m a j Society London, Jayeshbhai Patel proprietor of Nursing h o m e s a n d s u p p o r t e r o f B a l h a m M a n d i r a n d Pravinbhai Patni of Minar Jewellers, Tooting

All were invited to light a d i p a n d o f f e r f l o w e r s t o

Sardar Patel

The Music group played Rastriya and popular songs Pravinbhai Amin set the ball rolling by reciting the formation of Vaso Nagrik Mandal (U K ) in 1972 He

described, how in those days e v e r y t h i n g n e e d e d t o b e done by volunteers He was j o i n e d b y C o m m i t t e e M e m b e r s o f V a s o N a g r i k M a n d a l , N a i n e s h P a t e l , Pradipbhai Amin, Eleshbhai Patel, Vatsal Amin, Niranjan S h a h , K r i s h n a k a n t S h a h , G o p a l b h a i P a t e l a n d R a s h m i k a n t A m i n T h e y

j o i n t l y h a i l e d V a s o ‘ a 5 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y a n d s p o k e a b o u t v a r i o u s a c t i v i t i e s including helping financially various institutions in Vaso Gam

F a l g u n i , B i n d u , S h a r m i l a , P r i t i , A b h i s h a , Minaxi, Rashmi, presented G h o o m a r D a n c e a n d a Garba Dance

Eleshbhai Patel present ed popular music on Sitar P r a v i n b h a i , L o r d N a v n i t b h a i D h o l a k i a a n d Sanjay Kumar spoke about Sardar Patel’s life and partic u l a r l y h i s a c h i e v e m e n t s w h i c h c r e a t e d a u n i f i e d India

A l l j o i n e d t h e f e s t i v a l dancing to Gujarati Garba a n d p o p u l a r B o l l y w o o d songs

A l l e n j o y e d d e l i c i o u s

d i n n e r a n d m i t h a i f r o m A n n a k u t w h i c h t h e N a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n o f P a t i d a r S a m a j had organised at t h e H o u s e o f L o r d s D i w a l i c e l e b r a t i o n b y HFB

The vote of t h a n k s w a s b y Jayeshbhai Patel

Gita Foundation reaching out to give sight to children in a purposebuilt hospital in Kenya

Diwali is a good time to look to t he future and tak e a look a t the y ea r slipping awa y G i t a F o u n d a t i o n H a s u m a t i B a l m u k u n d Foundation, better known as Gita Foundation, a UK registered charity is hum bled to announce that it has t h i s w e e k t r a n s f e r r e d £22,000 this week making a total of £32,000 sent over the 12 months

The new build hospital is close to completion and it will be the first eye hospital i n K i s u m u C u r r e n t l y , Nairobi, miles away is the nearest

T h e l a n d h a s b e e n d o n a t e d b y t h e m e d i c a l teaching college and it is hoped that doctors quali

fied will offer free treat m e n t t o c h i l d r e n i n t h e fight to save eyesight

T h e L i o n s C l u b I n t e r n a t i o n a l h e a d s t h e project and we’ll have the task of funding it to provide free treatment to the needi est children

I n t h e p a s t , G i t a F o u n d a t i o n h a s d o n a t e d ambulances to hospitals in Vadodara and given dona tions to Krishna Hospital Karamsad, Gujarat

T h e T r u s t e e s , S h a r a d Parikh, Shree Parikh and Kaushik Desai also worked o n d i f f e r e n t p r o j e c t s t o sponsor girls' education in Gujarat In Naar, a small vil lage outside Sijitra, Gujarat a girls' school was refur bished The school had new

w a s h r o o m s a d d e d t o encourage girls to have pri vacy encouraging them not skip school In addition, a smart classroom, and din ing room was built In the y e a r s t o c o m e , t h i s w i l l , raise the standards of living for further generations

Our next dream is to place a Gita in hotel rooms next to the Bible We would welcome you to approach u s i f y o u h a v e h o t e l s o r funding for further copies of the Gita You can also m a k e d o n a t i o n s t o G i t a Foundation as, “Hasumati B a l m u k u n d P a r i k h A s s o c i a t i o n “ U K c h a r i t y n u m b e r 1 0 4 7 9 7 7 5 1 0 a t B a r c l a y s B a n k A / c N o 106538

Bhadran Bandhu Samaj to host annual meet and greet

Bhadran Band hu Sam aj (BBS UK ), the foremost Gujarati comm unity organisation in B ri tai n, h a s o rg ani s ed an an nu a l m ee ti ng o f C h h a Gam Nagrik M andal UK on Sunday 6th Nov em ber

T h e o f f i c i a l s o f t h e organisation have cordially i n v i t e d a l l t h e n a t i v e s o f Bhadran and members of the C h h a G a m ( s i x v i l l a g e s ) i n c l u d i n g m a r r i e d s i s t e r s and daughters to be present along with their entire families to attend this splendid gathering filled with enter tainment, Gujarati dance performances, music and relishing food The members of the Chha Gam Nagrik Mandal UK include

It is worth mentioning that everyone eagerly waits f o r t h i s c o l o u r f u l a n n u a l g a t h e r i n g h e l d u n d e r t h e a u s p i c e s o f C h h a

Nirupaben N Patel said in a statement that this year we are delighted

all

Degree, Master

Bhadran Bandhu Samaj (BBS U K ) , D h a r m a j S o c i e t y o f L o n d o n ( D H A S O L ) , Karamsad Samaj UK, Nadiad Nagrik Mandal, Sojitra Samaj U K a n d V a s o N a g r i k Mandal UK

Sharad Chandak

Sudhir Sharma

Invited guests

The State Bank of India organised a Diwali reception on Wednesday 19 October at the Banqueting House, Whitehall, London Sharad Chandak, the Regional Head of SBI spoke about the significance of Diwali, the traditions and introduced Sudhir Sharma as the Chief Executive Officer (Designate) and Regional Head UK Region (Designate) as his successor Mr Sharma took the stage to wish everyone a very Happy Diwali

City of London celebrates Diwali at Guildhall

T he City of L ond on cele brated Diwali on Friday 28 O cto b er a t th e Gu il d h all, w hich was decorated beauti fully with colourful flo wers and candles In attendance w as th e L o r d M ayo r A ld erman Vincent Keav eny, L ord Karan Bilimoria, Sujit G h o s h , D e p u ty H ig h C om m issioner of Ind ia to t h e U K , D r P a ra m S h ah , F IC CI UK , Jasv ir Singh of C it y S ik h s Ne tw o rk , C l lr P ranav Bhano t, cross faith and comm unity leaders and m em bers

and brightest moments of our city happening I know t h e F e s t i v a l o f L i g h t s i s being celebrated very keenly this year in Downing Street And it is wonderful It's such a powerful example of the British Indian communities’ contribution to life in the UK, a contribution which is also very evident here in the City itself

“I've had the pleasure of v i s i t i n g I n d i a o n s e v e r a l occasions, and most recent ly last month With a suc c e s s f u l v e r s i o n o f a f r e e t r a d e a g r e e m e n t i n s i g h t , t h e U K I n d i a r e l a t i o n s h i p will only go from strength to strength It’s a celebration of

Sister Nivedita commemorated on her birthday for the first time in the UK

in her

Torrington, Devonshire

Gre

Sister Nivedita was born as Margaret Noble, who spent a part of her c h i l d h o o d i n G r e a t Torrington, as her father worked in a church there as a priest Her younger

Speaking at the recep tion, Lord Mayor Keaveny said, “It is a real pleasure to h a v e t h e s e c o m m u n i t i e s here with us in the City of L o n d o n t h i s e v e n i n g I ' m honoured that we are joined by the deputy high commis sioner of India, the Hindu Council, UK City networks, a n d t h e C i t y o f L o n d o n m u l t i f a i t h n e t w o r k h a s become one of the biggest

the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance and appropriate love for the City I hope you all enjoy the celebrations this week and over the next few days ”

T h i s s p e e c h w a s f o l lowed by a few words from Dr Rishi Handa

A l a m p t o s y m b o l i s e Diwali was lit by Dy High Commissioner Sujit Ghosh, D r R i s h i H a n d a a n d t h e Lord Mayor The event con cluded with a beautiful flute p e r f o r m a n c e b y V i j a y V e n k a t a n d d a n c e b y Ragasudha and Manju

her on her birthday for the first tim

history

in Britain’

Great Torrington Town Council Mayor Cllr Doug Smith garlanded the statue and was joined by Chair of

Leisure Cllr Cheryl Cottle Hunkin

Cllr Hunkin said, “The statue and the cemetery is like a site of pilgrimage for not only Indian people but also for her English and Irish admirers It would be great to keep up this connection and continue to welcome more and more people to Great Torrington ”

Mayor Smith said, “I was fortunate enough to be pre sent as deputy mayor and take part in the unveiling of Sister Nivedita’s statue in 2 0 1 9 a n d m e e t w i t h t h e

monks and devotees of the Ramakrishna Mission who travelled to Torrington for the unveiling It’s a privilege to be here again, as mayor this time, to celebrate and remember everything that she achieved We reach out to our friends in the UK and India who are here with us in spirit and were able to join us online and on social media to celebrate this gath ering and thank them for their kind words and contri butions towards the event ”

The statue was donated b y W e s t B e n g a l G o v e r n m e n t o n S i s t e r N i b e d i t a ’ s 1 5 0 t h b i r t h d a y The statue was placed in G r e a t T o r r i n g t o n ’ s c e m e t e r y b y R a m a k r i s h n a Mission and Sister Nivedita Celebrations UK in 2019 It was installed where Sister N i v e d i t a ’ s a s h e s w e r e interred in the family grave in 1912 The ashes were sent

b r o t h e r R i c h a r d N o b l e d i e d a t t h e a g e o f 1 8 months As this was the first d e a t h i n t h e f a m i l y , t h i s became their family grave Sister Nivedita along with her both parents and sib lings are interred here

G r e a t T o r r i n g t o n i s a beautiful holiday spot and an ideal English serene sea side village, only peace pre vails there Now it’s, even more, to see there as the beautiful bronze statue of Sister Nivedita is attracting a lot of visitors Sarada Sarkar from the Sister Nivedita Celebrations U K s a i d t h i s i s i n d e e d a remarkable event in history Sarada also added that they have finally got permis sion for a statue of Sister Nivedita in Wimbledon too, a n d h o p e f u l l y b y M a r c h 2 0 2 3 e v e r y t h i n g w i l l b e r e a d y T u s h a r M a h a r a j o f R a m a k r i s h n a M i s s i o n i s building the statue

by Sir JC Bose to Mrs May Wilson here in the UK

Cllr Doug Bushby, Cllr Cheryl Cottle Hunkin and Mayor Doug Smith with the statue

Lord Mayor Alderman Vincent Keaveny

Dy High Commissioner of India Sujit Ghosh Dr Rishi Handa and the Lord Mayor lifting a lamp

Dance by Manju and Ragasudha

Flute recital by Vijay Venkat

Sheila Chadha:

Ina tumultuous economic clim ate, The Cred it C ollections C omp any em erges to cou nterbalance at least so m e o f the co nfu si o n and ch ao s

Drawing from over 25years of experi ence in h er sector, CE O and C hartered C red i t Manag er, Sh eila, establis hed her p rincipled financial enterp rise to h el p s m al l b u s in es s o w ne rs b ett er u nd ers tand an d i nternal ly re g ul ate th eir cred it In effect, if a com pany has substantial amounts of m oney d ue to th em and cannot effectiv ely collect, th ey risk go ing bust: “Just one im por tant customer w ho’s unable to pay on tim e can ruin yo ur com pany, ” S heila shared with us “Many bu sinesses hav e a backlog of debt for period s of m any m o nt h s o r s o m et i m es yea rs T h i s inclu des m assiv e organisatio ns who are household names One need s to watch mo ney that is ow ed o r th ing s can get v ery quickly out of hand C ash Flow is King ” Of course, g enerally, big corp orations can afford to make a few big mistakes and still thrive T his is far less likely for vulnerable rising bu si nesses wh o are alw ays g oing to be hard er h it To this end, T he C redit Collections C omp any focuses on lev elling the m etaph orical playing field “Personally, I wanted to g ive back to s o ci et y, ” th e f o u nd e r c o nti nu e d “Many small o r so le businesses do not know how to truly m anag e outstand ing i ntake, lacking the p rofessional kn o w h o w Ev en l arg e r o u tf it s, a s mentioned , can benefit from reinvigo rating their approach ” Indeed , S heila does ad ditionally consult for multina tionals to effectiv ely fund her current ly burg eoning venture

***

The Credit Collections Company does not simply ring customers to chase invoices, though debt recovery is offered as a specialist service, but can further introduce a structure of many innovative methods that “ empower small business owners ” to not only protect but further grow respective wealth In truth, the franchise puts forward a profitable constructive phi losophy to compensate for a social gap: “I wanted to become the Martin Lewis for Credit Martin teaches peo ple how to successfully manage their personal credit and I want to do the same, but for business owners so the average person could can feel in con t r o l o f t h e i r l i v e l i h o o d e g , m a n y S M E s a r e s t r u g g l i n g t o c o l l e c t amounts owed, much less conquer credit, and often this expert task is handed to a secretary, receptionist or assistant who may or may not suc ceed ” Here, The Credit Collections Company brings together accountan cy, law, IT, marketing, public relations and management to cover every aspect of credit and debt recovery and edu cate SMEs on the otherwise mystified world of credit, or, maximising one ’ s individual income Sheila’s organisa tion directly addresses the fact that c o l l e c t i n g s m a l l d e b t i s a t r i c k y manoeuvre when the issue is unlikely to be taken to court yet left as a bur densome stress on the shoulders of an overwhelmed owner “The language of money is universal but the way you approach it must be nuanced People think only huge companies can give credit and that it's limited to astro

nomical sums Similarly, they believe forceful tactics are necessary to extract money This is not the case as long as you responsibly allocate and assertive ly communicate with the concerned clients, it is possible to introduce cred it whoever you are It is also crucial to be sensitive when following up on

vinegar We know how to listen to

Project to diagnose and treat diseases earlier launched

A p roject has been lau nc hed in the U K th at c an help to diagnose and treat diseases earl y o r even prevent th em from develop ing inviting 3 mil lio n p eopl e to take p art this au tumn 5 million or more people will be recruited for the pro j e c t , c a l l e d O u r F u t u r e Health, from all walks of life, where participants will share their health records and will give blood samples, as well as have their weight, blood pres s u r e a n d c h o l e s t e r o l m e a sured, and their DNA anal ysed

Prof Sir John Bell, of the

University of Oxford, who is l e a d i n g t h e p r o j e c t , s a i d healthcare systems tended to be geared towards treating people once they developed symptoms and often in the last stages of a disease

“[The ambition] is to try and create a sandbox for test ing and evaluating these early d i a g n o s t i c o r p r e v e n t i o n strategies across a large popu lation of people,” said Bell “And we’ll be able to use that population to help us evalu ate these new tools, diagnose the disease early, prevent dis e a s e m o r e e f f e c t i v e l y , a n d intervene at an earlier stage ”

Headteachers in tears over funding crisis

Jonny U ttley, C EO of the Education A lliance academy tru s t, w h i c h r un s s ev en sch ools in Hu ll and th e East Ri d i ng o f Y o rks h i re , h ad m et h is h ea d te ac h ers to make an impossible choice: should they keep vital teach ing staff o r feed hungry chil dren who weren’t entitled to free school meals

are seeing “ a significant rise in real poverty” He worries t h a t , p a r t i c u l a r l y a t s e c ondary school level, it will b e d i f f i c u l t t o s p o t t h e young people who are skip p i n g m e a l s b e c a u s e t h e i r f a m i l i e s a r e s t r u g g l i n g t o pay for food for the first time

money owed; your business can really flourish I always use the example of considering whether you would lend £10 00 to someone as a small example of the practice of analysing risk which is central to the industry Whether or not you hand over a certain amount to someone entirely depends on whether

tomer’s solvency In terms of debt

“Do you hold reserves back ready for government spending cuts to avoid cut ting staff, or do you feed hungry children by setting up breakfast clubs and sub s i d i s i n g m e a l s ? ” h e s a y s “That is the discussion we were having ”

As the cost of living cri sis deepens, Uttley’s schools

Paul Whiteman, general s e c r e t a r y o f t h e N a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n o f H e a d T e a c h e r s , s a y s t h e m o o d among heads has changed “from anger to desperation” He has just returned from a t r i p a r o u n d t h e c o u n t r y , talking to union members, a n d r e p o r t s : “ A t e a c h o f these meetings there was at least one head in tears ”

NHS hospital trusts pay hundreds of millions to private firms

N HS t r us t s a r e sp e n d

close to ha

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n

billion poun

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compan

qualified n urses

costs such as design, con struction and maintenance

you trust them to return it, and this, in turn, is dependent on the person ’ s known character ” Sheila has worked across many sectors, from Telecoms and Tech to Aviation and Insurance She was also granted member status by the Institute of Credit manage ment “My company provides: back g r o u n d c h e c k s o n c r e d i t h i s t o r y , financial and strategic advice based on t h i s d a t a , l e g a l o p t i o n s i n c l u d i n g drawing up appropriate contracts that e n c o u r a g e t i m e l y p a y m e n t s , f i r m communication that ensures remain ing payments are promptly collected and lasting and affable relationships with clients in the process I always say when somebody owes you money, you can attract more with honey than

is much better to

simply sensible regulation of finances could broadly revolutionise a lot The whole some company hopes to grow organi c a

o m e r s a n d expand nationwide moving forward

I n 2 0 2

, h

p i t a l groups spent £2 3bn on lega cy PFI projects, of which just under £1bn went on costs for

cleaning and maintenance

A third of the remaining PFI spend £457m went purely on paying off interest charges

Through PFI infrastruc ture projects such as NHS hospitals get funding, which is then use to pay for upfront

In 2018, after the col lapse of Carillion,which was the main provider for two major hospital PFI contracts, the government decided to stop any future PFI deals The then chancellor, Philip H a m m o n d , s a i d : “ I h a v e never signed off on a PFI contract as chancellor, and I c a n c o n f i r m t o d a y t h a t I never will ”

Despite severe upcom i n g b u d g e t a r y c h a l l e n g e s , a c c o r d i n g t o a G u a r d i a n a n a l y s i s o f h o s p i t a l t r u s t accounts, a total of 101 NHS trusts are still on the hook f o r j u s t u n d e r £ 5 0 b n i n future unitary payments

10 Downing Street was tagged as Airbnb

Prim e M inister s arriv al and d ep a rtu r e fr o m Do w ni ng Street is being com pared to Airbnb

T h e m e m e t h a t w e n t v i r a l h a d a p i c t u r e o f Number 10 Downing Street with the Airbnb logo and the tagline ‘Perfect for short stays’

One person had tweet ed: ‘Liz Truss has literally used 10 Downing Street like

an Airbnb #torychaos’ W h i l e a n o t h e r c o m m e n t e r c h i p p e d i n : ‘Downing Street now with m o r e c h e c k i n s t h a n Airbnb Govt of chaos, disas Truss PM They have to go!

# L e t T h e P e o p l e D e c i d e #GeneralElectionNow' T h e r e w a s w i d e s p r e a d d i s s e n t f r o m t h e g e n e r a l public when Liz Truss was the PM

Sunetra Senior

Credit

SHEILA CHADHA

“The language of money is universal but the way you approach it must be nuanced. People think only huge companies can give credit and that it's limited to astronomical sums Similarly, they believe forceful tactics are necessary to extract money. This is not the case as long as you responsibly allocate and assertively communicate with the concerned clients, it is possible to introduce credit whoever you are. It is also crucial to be sensitive when following up on money owed: your business can really flourish"

Rishi Sunak makes History

th e Indian sweets that were laid ou t wh en Rish i S unak w as received by King Ch arles III at Bucking ham Palace

Mrs Ruchi Ghanashyam is the former High Commissioner of India to the UK With a career in Indian Foreign Service for over 38 years, she has been posted in many countries i n c l u d i n g S o u t h A f r i c a , G h a n a , b e f o r e arriving in the UK She was only the second woman High Commissioner to the UK since India’s independence and during her tenure, s h e w i t n e s s e d a n u m b e r o f s i g n i f i c a n t developments in the UK India relations

@RuchiGhanashyam

Th is m orning a friend sent a short Yo uTube vid eo of a Diwali receptio n that th e new Prime M inister of th e U K held at No 10 Downing Street a few days ago One also saw pictures of the first Indian o rigin p rime m inister lighting Diyas outsid e the official resid ence of th e UK's prime m in ister, a reminder of sim ilar pictures from 20 20 wh en he lit Diyas for Diwali at th e C hancellor’s resid ence One also read abo ut

Pictures and videos of Rishi Sunak and his family are circulating wildly on the s o c i a l m e d i a , s o m u c h s o t h a t w h e n WhatsApp stopped functioning for a cou ple of hours, there were memes about the h e a v y t r a f f i c o f m e s s a g i n g b y e x c i t e d Indians that crashed the messaging app Rishi Sunak has never tried to hide who he is He acknowledges his Indian heritage and Hindu faith, while repeatedly clarify ing that he is thoroughly British He is not an Indian; he is a British Hindu of Indian origin He represents the racial diversity of the UK In his success lies a lesson for all those that want a racially pure society A nation’s wealth lies in the diversity of its people

Whether it is observing Hindu festivals, going to temples, observing Hindu rituals, or tying the red Kalewa thread on his wrist, Rishi Sunak professes his faith openly He and his wife, Akshata have also made an effort to inculcate Indian culture and val ues in their two daughters

W h i l e i n L o n d o n , I a l w a y s t r i e d t o attend functions organised by the Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan At one such event, I was sur prised to meet proud parents, Rishi and Akshata, who had come to attend the classi c a l I n d i a n d a n c e p e r f o r m a n c e o f t h e i r daughter They happily mingled with other parents and people who had come for the event

Much is being made of their wealth in

the western media One has come across reports that his wealth may come in the way of his empathy for the less fortunate, basi cally questioning his ability to work for the poor because of his wealth, while question ing his acceptability

Just as Rishi Sunak does not hide his Indian/Hindu heritage, he has not tried to hide his affluence One should see this as a positive character trait: he is honest and authentic This is perhaps what made him stick to the unpopular line in his election contest with former PM, Liz Truss, when he continued to insist that the country faced a tough road ahead and fairy tale solutions weren’t possible!

So why have so many questions been raised about his wealth, or even the non dom tax status of his wife? Being an Indian national, she utilised an existing tax provi sion for wealth that accrued to her from her father’s company in India Hundreds of the UK’s rich, if not more, have taken advantage of this provision since the time of the French Revolution! That’s how long the provision of non domicile status has been available to the British in the UK! The “ non domicile” regime was originally introduced in 1799 when William Pitt the Younger was prime minister and the United Kingdom was at war with Napoleon to shelter those with foreign property from the UK’s new w a r t i m e t a x e s I t p r o t e c t e d t h e w e a l t h accruing to wealthy Britishers from the British colonies

Rishi Sunak’s wealth is self made This should be a source of reassurance to a coun

Notorious Rochdale gang loses appeal against deportation to Pakistan

Two men who wer e part of the not orious Rochda le g rooming ga ng ha ve lost a n appea l ag ainst de porta t ion ba ck to Pak ist an following a sev en y ea r le gal bat t le , immigra tion judge s ha ve r uled

Adil Khan, 51, and Qari Abdul Rauf, 52, had been told they are to be deported from the UK for the pub lic good after being part of a gang convicted in 2012 of a catalogue of serious sex offences against young girls

A decade after they were jailed and following a legal battle involving multiple legal challenges and appeals up to the Court of Appeal, both have been told their challenge against deportation on human rights grounds has failed In June, their appeal against d e p o r t a t i o n w a s h e a r d b e f o r e a n I m m i g r a t i o n

Tribunal Judges Charlotte Welsh and Judge Siew Ling Yoke, a diversity and community relations j u d g e , r e l e a s e d t h e i r 3 1 p a g e l e g a l r u l i n g o n Wednesday stating that Khan had shown a “breath taking lack of remorse ” and in his and Rauf’s case there was a “ very strong public interest” in their

P eople fr om a black an d et hnic min ority back ground " ex pe rie nced ine qua lity an d discr imina tion " wh ile wor kin g for NHS Blood an d Tran splan t, a re port say s

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected blood services operations at its Bristol headquarters, and five other centres in August It found "safe and effective care" was given by "competent and skilled staff, working together effectively" However, "there was a mixed view" in relation to its organisational cul ture

In its report on the service which also has centres i n B i r m i n g h a m , B r i s t o l , G l o u c e s t e r , O x f o r d a n d Plymouth the CQC said "some staff said they suf fered detriment when they tried to raise issues or con cerns" Staff from a black and minority ethnic back ground, as well as others with protected characteris

removal The decision was made in August and released publicly Khan told the tribunal hearing earlier this year he wanted to stay in the UK to be a “role model” for his son Both men cited their human rights as reason not to be kicked out of the UK and that they had both had certificates “renouncing” their Pakistani citizenship

The pair, along with another man Abdul Aziz, had fought and lost a long legal battle against an order depriving them of UK citizenship, the prelude to deportation, losing a final Court of Appeal ruling in 2018

The failure to then deport them has led to anger in Rochdale, where victims were living alongside their tormentors, and has heaped public criticism on a number of home secretaries The tribunal heard Khan and Rauf’s reasons for appealing against depor tation were on the grounds of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to a private and family life

tics, said they experienced inequality and discrimina tion, it added

However, the CQC also found staff were "proud to work for the organisation" and all staff had a per sonal and organisational commitment to provide high quality services Whilst leaders understood the importance of staff being able to raise concerns with out fear of retribution, the culture did not always encourage openness and honesty at all levels and learning or action was not always taken as a result of concerns raised," the report said

The inspectors identified areas where governance processes needed to be strengthened and said action is needed to fully embed a culture where all staff feel respected, valued and supported Deanna Westwood, CQC's director of operations South Network, said: "We heard concerns from staff about the organ isational culture particularly in relation to diversity and inclusion and the experience of staff from a black and minority ethnic back ground "We have made clear that these issues must be addressed "

Inspectors looked at a range of performance data, quality audits, board papers, internal and externally commissioned reports and records of handling complaints They also spoke to over 60 members of staff during the course of their review It found infection risk was controlled well at the blood donor centres and apheresis (technique for the exchange, removal or collec tion of components in the blood) units and areas where donations were taken were clean and well maintained

try that needs to pull itself out of strong eco nomic headwinds

It is said that he is the richest person to become the PM of the UK, though he’s not the only rich person in the country’s poli t i c s L o r d s B a l l y e d m o n d , S a i n s b u r y a n d Goldsmith apart from several other leaders of the conservative as well as the Labour P a r t y a r e m u l t i m i l l i o n a i r e s B o t h J a c o b Rees Mogg and Nadhim Zahawi are said to be worth £100 million each Current Labour Party Leader as also former PM Tony Blair a r e b o t h m u l t i m i l l i o n a i r e s T h e s e w e r e thrown up by a casual check of the internet

In the US, the picture is clearer Former President Donald Trump is a billionaire, as were some others in his cabinet Current US President is a multimillionaire, as are politicians from Mitt Romney and John Kerry to former President Bill Clinton, his wife, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama F o r m e r N e w Y o r k M a y o r , M i c h a e l Bloomberg, with his wealth of over $50 bil lion would seem to trump others The sur prising nugget was that founding father and first US President, George Washington’s wealth exceeded $500 million and that sev e r a l o f t h e f o u n d i n g f a t h e r s w e r e v e r y wealthy

The success of Rishi Sunak symbolises the UK's success in integrating immigrants and minorities As countries and societies along the globe struggle to live with even their own limited diversity, one hopes that the people and media of the UK would cher ish the rise of an immigrant amongst them to the top of the political echelon

Queen consort Camilla in Bengaluru for holistic therapies

The U K Queen consort Camilla is in a Be ng alu ru h e alth c ent re al on g with h er friends, po lice so urces said on October 23 She travelled by a British A irw ays fligh t and landed at th e K e m p eG o w d a In te rna ti o nal Airp ort of Beng aluru

Earlier, the sources had said that she had arrived at Bengaluru with King Charles III However, later, the sources said that she has come along with her friends The authorities are tight lipped about the visit as they were instructed not to reveal any information about her trip

T h e s o u r c e s s a i d t h a t s h e i s u n d e r g o i n g h o l i s t i c t h e r a p i e s f o r about 10 days She is presently stay ing at the Soukhya, Holistic Health and Wellness Centre located close

Doctor suspended for asking Muslim woman to remove her veil

A doc tor who asked a Muslim woman to re move her veil three times has been suspended Dr Keith Wolvers on has been banned f rom work ing f or nine months af ter a misc onduct panel found his ac tions were 'deplorable'

The medic, who has been a doctor for more than 25 years, committed a string of acts which amounted to mis c o n d u c t w h i l e w o r k i n g i n Staffordshire and Derby It included asking the married woman to remove her face covering, while the doctor w e n t o n t o c r i t i c i s e t h e E n g l i s h speaking skills of 15 of his patients But Dr Wolverson has since spoken on and said he plans to fight the ban He will appeal the ruling despite con fessing his acts were 'unprofessional'

It comes after Dr Wolverson, 56, was found guilty of or admitted to a total of 17 charges of misconduct during a hearing held by the Medical P r a c t i t i o n e r T r i b u n a l S e r v i c e (MPTS), StokeonTrentLive reports

The doctor said: "I'm going to appeal against this I feel very sad for the public, because it would mean a fur ther shortage for the NHS when it is extremely stressed "It's all very sad

because I don t think this is what the public want let the public decide What would they rather have, a doc tor with 26 years of experience to see them, or a doctor removed from the medical register for nine months? It's not about me trying to belittle an e t h n i c g r o u p , o r b e p r e j u d i c i a l against anyone of any cultural back ground, it's all about clarity of com munication

"I think this is something people are frightened to talk about now, and I think this is a big problem, and we don't talk about these things and they get misconstrued " At a hearing earlier this year, Dr Wolverson who qualified as a medical professional in 1996 was found guilty of or admit ted to a combined 17 of a total 28 charges of misconduct Some of the charges all of which date from January to May 2018 related to his work at the Royal Stoke, both as a locum, or temporary doctor, and at Derby Urgent Care Centre One inci dent saw him repeat a request to a Muslim woman, named Mrs Q, to take off her veil three times during a consultation on May 13, 2018

Ruchi Ghanashyam

t o W h i t e f i e l d R o y a l P r o t e c t i o n

Squad members of the elite force of t h e S c o t l a n d Y a r d h a d e s c o r t e d t h e m f r o m t h e B e n g a l u r u International Airport to the health centre, the sources said The sources at the Soukhya said that Dr Issac Mathai, the Chairman, is the personal holistic physician for the UK queen consort She has been visiting the health centre since 2010

Minorities staff in NHS Blood and Transplant face discrimination

Time and material cost alone of making work is not a true reflection of it

Shefali Saxena

J y o ti i s a p ra ct is i ng ar ti st w o r ki ng i n L o n d o n S h e g raduated with M A in Fine A rt f ro m C i ty an d G u il d s L ond on A rt S ch ool in 20 21 w here she also represented t h e s tu d en t v o i c e o n th e T rustee Board as co Ch air of S tud ents Hav ing grad uated from C entral St Martins in the 90s, she took a perio d away from painting to follow a ca ree r i n Fa s h io n an d Business M anag em ent Th ese interim years were followed by a retu rn to m aking large scale painti ng s in the new m illennium In 2016, she became the found er of PaintSpaces Stud io, an artist led w orking studio and g allery, w h ere wo rks c an be v i ewed i n an inform al setting

Currently, artworks from her most recent body of works on paper, titled ‘An Intangible Heritage of Humanity’ were selected for the ING Discerning Eye exhibition in November 2022, and the Society of Women Artists 161st annual open exhibition at the Mall Galleries, SW1 What is the impetus of art, especially in the post pandemic world?

Art is such a broad field, and for me somewhere in the zone of produc tion & exhibition, a profound need & connection is met for humans and society This is of course vital in a post pandemic world where humans are emerging from a phase of intro spection and isolation Art is not a thing, it’s an action which facilitates that necessity to connect & engage through enjoyment & inner reflection

Anyone who witnesses creativity flowing can breed & expand creativity

in their own lives, i t ’ s t h e l i f e b l o o d that keeps us tick i n g I t h i n k t h e n e c e s s i t y f o r t h i s d y n a m i s m i n o u r l i v e s c a n b e t r u l y underrated

What are the avenues for young artists, especially women to showcase their work in the current scenario?

Right now there are many more avenues for artists to showcase their work than say even 10 years ago Art fairs and art competitions are visible and accessible on social media plat forms as well as options to exhibit in public places through artist led initia tives Many of the organisations that run competitions are truly aware of the need for representation of the female voice due to a huge lack of it in the past If you are promoting the female voice, you ’ re alive at the right time, the world is your oyster right now!

What does it take as an artist to not just be able to translate something on the canvas, but also to make sure you get the right price for your work?

Ensuring you get the right price for your work can be tricky As an emerging artist, the time and material cost alone of making work is not a true reflection of it, and the value of origi nal ideas can be totally dismissed by buyers There’s a balance to be had here, and being realistic and fair has to feature when equating a price to the work Whilst having some sort of for mal art education, the material cost,

ITV journalist recruited by PM Sunak

P r i m e M in is t e r R i sh i S unak has hir ed Am ber de B ott on as his directo r o f c o m m u n ic a t io ns , Do w ning St reet confir med Ms de Botton’s career as a journalist has includ ed working for ITV News a n d S k y N e w s M s d e Botton leaves ITV News, where she was head of UK news She has also worked for Sky News Mr Sunak appointed ITV News’s for m e r n a t i o n a l e d i t o r A l l e g r a S t r a t t o n a s h i s

director of strategic com munications in 2020 when h e w a s c h a n c e l l o r M s S t r a t t o n t h e n b e c a m e B o r i s J o h n s o n ’ s s p o k e s w o m a n f o r t e l e vised briefings

I t w a s I T V t h a t obtained a video of Ms Stratton hosting a mock press conference and jok i n g a b o u t a “ f i c t i o n a l party” days after a rule breaching Christmas party at No 10 She resigned the following day

time & the size of work can give a helpful equation, but it’s also worth noting that you might not sell any thing if you over price it Times are changing and I have had the pleasure t o w o r k w i t h a r t c o n s u l t a n t s w h o value the true price an artist deserves for their work, but emerging artists need to be prepared that people will want to offer less than you price your work at

What would be your advice to more women like you who want to pursue a career similar to yours?

My advice would be to use your drive and voice to find the right places to show your work & have confidence in it, it is valuable! Be brave; an artist’s career can have monumental shifts in s u c c e s s & d r y p e r i o d s E v e n M i c h a e l a n g e l o g o t c o m m i s s i o n s rejected! Financially, it’s hard to sur vive & taking on another job role can be a great way to sustain your own practice The art world is subjective, remember that when you get rejection letters Find ways to manage the emo tional side which will undoubtedly come with highs and lows

How can women like you change the narrative of the art and culture industry?

W o m e n a n d m o r e s p e c i f i c a l l y women of colour have been underrep resented for years, and this is evident when we look back in art history to see how few museums and galleries exhib ited British Asian female artists As an a b s t r a c t a r t i s t , t h e m a t e r i a l s I u s e reflect my lived experience My per spective and impetus to make work through a holistic non dominant pro c e s s r e f l e c t a s e c o n d g e n e r a t i o n migrant voice, and this of course can set the tone for the future in terms of a richer art narrative

Braverman defends migrant action

Suel la Braverman h as s ai d s h e "n e ve r ignored legal advice" ab o u t s en di ng m igr a nt s t o h o t e l s from an overcrow ded proc essing centre

The home secre t a r y s a i d s h e k n e w " t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t a k i n g l e g a l a d v i c e into account" and never tried to stop migrants from the M a n s t o n p r o c e s s i n g c e n t r e from being sent to hotels M r s B r a v e r m a n d e f e n d e d

herself after days of p o l i t i c a l t u r m o i l a r o u n d i n c r e a s i n g m i g r a n t c r o s s i n g s and following accu s a t i o n s s h e s e n t s e n s i t i v e e m a i l s from her personal a c c o u n t t o c o l leagues S h e h a s n o t faced MPs since being reap pointed home secretary by Rishi Sunak, despite several calls from opposition parties to do so

Diversity debate rages as Sunak becomes UK PM

For t he fi rst t ime in the Uni ted Ki ngdom’s his tory, a non w hit e per son has become a prime mini ster

R i s h i S u n a k , 4 2 , a H i n d u i s a l s o t h e youngest prime minis ter in more than 200 years

H e w a s b o r n i n Southampton to ethnic Indian immigrant par ents

A f t e r h o l d i n g

Britain's top job for 44 days, Sunak was elected b y h i s C o n s e r v a t i v e Party to take over from Liz Truss, who broke an u n e n v i a b l e r e c o r d a s t h e s h o r t e s t s e r v i n g prime minister

According to Nayaz Q a z i , d i r e c t o r o f t h e Conservative Friends of I n d i a o r g a n i s a t i o n , Sunak’s elevation is “ a very proud moment for British Indians and all

e t h n i c m i n o r i t y c o m munities”

“ R i s h i ’ s a p p o i n t ment is a testament to h o w t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e P a r t y p r o m o t e s t a l e n t and meritocracy,” Qazi t o l d A l J a z e e r a “ T h i s will inspire all commu nities, particularly the British Indian and eth nic minority communi ties ”

Priyamvada Gopal, a p r o f e s s o r o f p o s t c o l o

n i a l s t u d i e s a t C a m b r i d g e U n i v e r s i t y , s a i d S u n a k ’ s p o s i t i o n cannot be celebrated as a win for diversity

“Sunak has himself consistently played on the ‘anti woke’ side of t h e c u l t u r e w a r s t h e p a r t y l i k e s t o s t o k e , adopting the role of a racial minority who is happy to enable white majoritarianism,” Gopal told Al Jazeera

How d o you respo nd to so meo ne who gets in to uch with you in a tim e of need but oth erwise ignores you for a pro long ed p eriod of time? Th ere are people wh o w ould disre gard you, no t resp ond to your messag e o r w on't even wish on your birth day But at th e time of their need , they w ould rush to you, seeking your assistance You mig ht have come across such people who w on't sh y away exhibiting ov er wh elming w armth and friendship when your help is need ed but all oth er times no com munication at all How d o you react to such p eop le?

In a general sense, it depends on the person who is approaching you If the person who is approaching is someone who you know to be a genuine friend, perhaps you won't mind considering the request and helping out positively It might also be from an acquaintance whom you know is extremely busy in life and therefore it is evi dent that s/he might not be in regular touch, again you would consider taking the request positively However, if the person is neither a friend nor busy, there will be a com pletely different approach towards the request It is possi ble that you would not at all think of helping her/him because such behaviour is not acceptable Or you might think of being nice and ignoring the behaviour completely to help the person

However, there is also an objective approach to the sit uation which can be contemplated If the person is inex cusable at the mistake of snubbing you, the merit of the request may be assessed without being biased If the help requested is something that you feel is very important in someone s life, perhaps it is your moral duty to take it affir matively But if the work that is being requested is also self ish and something that you would not want to do for your self as well, no harm in outrightly rejecting it After all, some requests are so in genuine that you won't like to involve yourself in them

It is helpful to at least give it a thought before rejecting the request only for the reason of it is a selfish approach from the side of the person who has made it Sometimes even if it is selfish, the cause is genuine, and therefore, it is your moral duty to do whatever you can If the person is a friend or a busy person, it is not appropriate to hold them accountable for being incommunicado when they genuine ly need you Perhaps they would respond to you in the same way in times of your need Therefore, being objective in the evaluation of the request is a beneficial approach (Expressed opinions are personal)

Housed man sets his bed on fire

A man wh o w as housed in a Sw indon h otel du ring the pand emic has been jailed for six years after setting fire to his bed

C l i v e G o n s a l v e s w a s homeless at the time and had been placed in the Great Western Hotel by Swindon Borough Council The 36 year old was found guilty of arson and criminal damage a t S w i n d o n M a g i s t r a t e s

Court T h e c o u r t h e a r d t h a t during the incident in April this year, he was dragged from his room into the car park The room was com p l e t e l y d e s t r o y e d b y t h e blaze

D e t e c t i v e C o n s t a b l e P h i l i p N a s h o f W i l t s h i r e Police said: “Thankfully the other residents were out at the time ”

Bangladeshi woman dies poisoning whilst

A mo ther fro m Card iff has become the fou rth person to die in a suspected poisoning whilst in Bangladesh

H o s n e A r a I s l a m , 4 6 , died in the hospital three months after the incident Police say the cause of the poisoning is thought to be carbon monoxide Her hus band, Rafiqul Islam, 51, and their son Mahiqul, 16, died

after the incident at a flat in the region of Sylhet in the n o r t h e a s t o f B a n g l a d e s h

Her daughter, Samira Islam, 20, died in the hospital 11 days later Son Sadiqul, 24, s u r v i v e d a n d h a s b e e n released from the hospital The family of five trav elled from Riverside to visit a relative who later found them unconscious

Rohit Vadhwana

How do yo u react to opportunists ?

Jyoti Bharwani

The living bridge between India and the UK grows stronger

Lord Dolar Popat

The relations hip b etween the U K and Indi a i s a speci al on e a nd with the di as pora i n the UK be ing c los e to 2 mi llion, Briti sh In dians sign ific antly s hape mod ern B ritain Over the las t few decade s, we have s een Britis h In dians integrate the mselves into Bri tish soc iety and have now b ecome a c ore part of their com muniti es

10 years ago, I founded Conservative Friends of India with David Cameron, after having spent 40 years trying to gal vanise the British Indian community to engage with the Conservative Party The aim of the organisation is twofold, to strengthen relations between UK and I n d i a a n d t o e n g a g e , e m p o w e r a n d s t r e n g t h e n r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e P a r t y a n d t h e B r i t i s h Indian diaspora This has helped ensure that British Indians are supported in playing an active part in British politics

At the time, David Cameron cele brated that we were the first party to h a v e a J e w i s h P r i m e M i n i s t e r i n Benjamin Disraeli and the first party to h a v e a f e m a l e P r i m e M i n i s t e r i n Margaret Thatcher He predicted that it will not be long before we have our first British Indian Prime Minister Little did we know that 10 years later, we would be celebrating one of our members and supporters, Rishi Sunak becoming the first British Indian Prime Minister

For those of the Hindu faith, the timing of Sunak’s rise to Prime Minister came at a special time for us as we cele brate Diwali Sunak is a Hindu himself and led the way in celebrating Diwali on the steps of No 11 during his time as Chancellor and now will do so on the

steps of No 10 as Prime Minister The UK has a long history of people practis ing their faiths whilst also recognising and celebrating others, this will be fur ther strengthened with it having the first Hindu Prime Minister

Many will wonder what this election means for the UK’s relationship with India The election of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister will certainly help when he engages directly with Prime Minister Modi Under Sunak’s leadership, we will see the completion of the UK India Trade deal which will solidify our part nership Exports to India have reached £5 5 billion in 2022 so far and imports to the UK have reached £990 million This is only the beginning as the trade deal will significantly make trade easier and ensure those numbers continue to grow

which will result in greater prosperity for both countries

Sunak has a major task ahead of him and his immediate priorities will be dealing with the cost of living, the war in Ukraine and restoring Britain’s cred ibility Being a politician and techno crat, he has the knowledge and experi ence to succeed, and I welcome that he has received support from across the party Only by having a united party can we have a strong Government that can tackle the challenges we face I strongly believe that Sunak will do this over the weeks and months ahead Sunak served as Chancellor during the pandemic and supported people and businesses at a time when they needed it most The support was not only delivered quickly but in such a way that it saved millions of jobs in the process

It is vital that we now come together a s a p a r t y a n d s u p p o r t t h e P r i m e Minister to lead us through this chal lenging time Today history has been made, not just for the Conservative P a r t y b u t f o r t h e U n i t e d K i n g d o m Children across the UK who come from immigrant backgrounds but especially those in the British Asian community will see that there is no limit to what they can achieve in the UK through hard work and determination

Rishi Sunak has not only made his tory as the first British Asian Prime Minister but will also bring stability to the UK

Dolar Popat is a member of the H o u s e o f L o r d s a n d t h e P r i m e M i n i s t e r ’ s T r a d e E n v o y t o U g a n d a , Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo

Such events rarely happen

by: Subhash V Thakrar Former Chairman, London Chamber of Commerce Commissioner to Department of International Development, UK Government

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

Abr

The Far cical Stat e of Brit ish Polit ics

Over the past few months, a bemused world is watching the British political scene slide into chaos and a dystopian nightmare It would be a mistake however to think that this situation has just happened suddenly The fall of standards in British politics and in so many other institutions has been going on for almost 20 years At the same time, corruption and sleaze have increased spectacularly The Labour Party led by Tony Blair took the country to war in Iraq while he and Gordon Brown were involved in intense internal struggles to the detriment of the country David Cameron proved himself out of death as a leader and gambled on the defeat of the Brexitears and lost The consequences of a small island nation leaving the European Union are being felt strongly Under Cameron, corruption and sleaze grew unchecked Meanwhile, the Labour Party went off the rails as the leader Jeremy Corbyn tried to drag the party into an uncompro mising extreme left wing direction The party came to be known as anti Semitic and anti India Luckily the party now has a sober and principled leader who would be a good Prime Minister

seemed like for him all the rules were to be con temptuously torn up The Covid crisis resulted in a huge death toll and none of his ministers seemed to have a clue as to what was going on Right in the middle of the deadly crisis, the Secretary of the State for Health was having an affair with his secretary! The corruption that took place in placing orders for Protective Person Equipment ran into billions of pounds £10 billion spent on PPE equipment was written off as the product was either substandard, defective, over priced or not delivered Not one individual has been made accountable

It's

remarkable th at hav ing been voted out in the lead ership elec tion when Liz Truss and her team took ov er the gov ernment, Rishi Su nak w as w ritten o ff and w as not exp ected to be in front line p olitics only to find that soon after, events unfolded for such an am az ing com eback

S u c h e v e n t s r a r e l y h a p p e n This time Rishi Sunak had a deci sive win and was duly installed as t h e f i r s t B r i t i s h A s i a n P r i m e Minister in the nation’s history When we consider these events from a spiritual point, Rishi was meant to become a PM when the time was right It was fortuitous that he became our PM on the day of Diwali which we know brings new light over darkness and good over evil This was also when Lord R a m t o o k o v e r a s t h e K i n g o f Ayodhya It was meant to happen only then Otherwise, until that day both Boris Johnson and Penny Maurdant were continuing in the race

My wife Rekha and I hosted Rishi at our home during the hustings in August My daughter, Kavita, offered to tie a spe cial Rakhi on his wrist We had brought the v e r y s p e c i a l r a k h i f r o m t h e B r a h m a k u m a r i s m i s s i o n H e w a r m l y accepted this blessing That was also the d a y o f K r i s h n a J a n m a s h t a m i T h e d a y before, he had been to Iskon mandir and performed Gau puja I just heard that our new PM requested for the idol of Pujya

Jalarambapa to be installed at 10 Downing Street All this suggests that Rishi Sunak is deeply spiritual in his life and he respects Hindu values

Liz Truss, although with the best of intentions for our country, failed with dis a s t r o u s e c o n o m i c c o n s e q u e n c e s w h i c h

Rishi Sunak had warned her about These events have actually helped clear the decks and remove any doubts about Rishi Sunak and his strategy

Rishi Sunak is a highly educated per son and has also held senior banking posi

tions and understands the econo my and finance very well These are strong capabilities in these chal l e n g i n g e c o n o m i c t i m e s H e i s doing this not for money but to make a difference in our country Indeed the Indian media are full of references to the guidance from his father in law, billionaire, Narayana M u r t h y , w h o s u g g e s t e d t h a t t o make a difference in the world, one has to be in politics Rishi men tioned this at home when Rekha asked him what made him join pol itics

Rishi’s Hindu values will be a strong factor in his success He has humility and human care predomi nant in his mind He has ensured h i s c a b i n e t i s a l l e n c o m p a s s i n g that brings unity

Good Hindu values of focusing on good karma rather than the fruits of actions as well as spread ing wealth to ensure the whole society is taken care of will make a huge difference

Hinduism is about inclusiveness and respect for all faiths Hinduism is about focusing on good karma for humankind Hinduism is about caring for those in need Hinduism is about accepting good and bad by having a balanced mind A l l t h e s e v a l u e s m u s t a l r e a d y b e embedded in the thinking of our new PM and it is these values that will make him strong and successful

Boris Johnson and some of his ministers and civil servants were ignoring the restrictions to curb the spread of the virus This turned out to be Boris' Achilles heel He was unceremoniously thrown out only to be replaced by Liz Truss She along with her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng decided that the richest people in the country should be given a 20% tax break Meanwhile, the masses of people are finding it difficult to make ends meet People are going without food Tens of thousands of people are depending on free food handouts Winter is upon the country and energy prices have skyrocketed Inevitably she had to go Astonishingly Boris Johnson wanted to come back in the leadership contest!

Instead, Rishi Sunak a young, brilliant leader of Indian origin will take up the reigns of the country A country that Britain ruled for 200 years and which got independence 75 years ago is ready to have an Indian Prime Minister! What would Winston Churchill make of it or even G a n d h

M

d P r i m

Ministers have one last privilege apart from get ting almost £140 000 every year forever! They will be able to appoint their friends to the House of Lords If there is one institution that is an exam ple of all that is wrong with Britain it is the House of Lords It is an exclusive club for which you get paid over £300 every year for just turning up

For those who are puzzled as to how Britain has come to this low point, we need to take a look at the Hindu epic Mahabharata When Droupadi was brought disrobed all the senior leaders, and all the wisest people were present But they remained helpless spectators Somehow their val our and their moral outrage could not turn into action Similarly, some of the great politicians, thinkers and intellectuals are just watching the events unfold in the UK They are powerless and dejected This is what is called the might of unstoppable Time When your Time runs out nothing works So a mighty nation which ruled a huge part of the world is struggling to govern this small island

Mehta

Political

full of Histor

symbolism giv en

of

Daughter Kavita tying Rakhi on Rishi Sunak

ALL EYES ON PM SUNAK

His appointment as the lead er of the Conservative Party post Liz Truss’ exit has put the onus of restoring the UK India partnership on him and being accountable for Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s i m m i g r a t i o n a n d c o n f i d e n tiality breach controversies

While the latter is a press i n g m a t t e r t h a t t h e P r i m e Minister is navigating cau tiously, all eyes of the diaspo ra are on Sunak to steer the country out of one of the w o r s t e c o n o m i c c r i s e s t h e nation has ever faced as well as to salvage the UK India relationship

Experts, leaders and com m u n i t y m e m b e r s s p o k e t o Asian Voice EXCLUSIVELY about Sunak’s role in saving the Foreign Trade Agreement (FTA) between UK and India, a n d t h e g r e a t e x p e c t a t i o n s that come with being a his toric Prime Minister A Hap py Diwali at No 10

In his first week as the Prime Minister, Sunak hosted D i w a l i a t N o 1 0 a n d w a s joined by his wife Akshata Murthy in a red and white dress The event was attend ed by members of the House o f C o m m o n s a n d L o r d s , c o m m u n i t y o r g a n i s a t i o n s , t e m p l e s a n d t h e A r m e d F o r c e s I n a t t e n d a n c e w a s Lord Dolar Popat with his w i f e , L o r d J i t e s h G a d h i a , L o r d K a r a n B i l i m o r i a , Baroness Sandip Verma, Lord T a r i q A h m a d , N a d h i m Zahawi MP, Pam Gosal MSP, Cllr Ameet Jogia, Cllr Reena R a n g e r , C l l r A b h i s h e k S a c h d e v , H E V i k r a m D o r a i s w a m i , t h e H i g h Commissioner of India to the U K , H E S a i d a M u n a T a s n e e m , t h e H i g h Commissioner of Bangladesh to the UK, to name a few

The passage to the recep t i o n h a l l a n d s t a i r s w e r e b e a u t i f u l l y d e c o r a t e d w i t h yellow and orange marigold f l o w e r s , r a n g o l i a n d d i y a s The reception had a small a n n a k u t o n d i s p l a y b y Jalaram Mandir and guests were treated to soft drinks and canapés catered by The Taj Hotel

People came from as far a s S c o t l a n d , W a l e s a n d M i d l a n d s t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n B r i t a i n ’ s f i r s t e v e r B r i t i s h Indian Prime Minister’s first ever Diwali at No 10

Mr Sunak was garlanded b y c h i l d r e n f r o m t h e C h i n m a y a M i s s i o n S u n d a y School and a smiling Akshata w a s h a n d e d o v e r a f l o w e r bouquet Lord Dolar Popat k i c k s t a r t e d t h e e v e n i n g b y w e l c o m i n g P M S u n a k i n t o t h e r o o m , w h e r e h e w a s g r e e t e d w i t h a p p l a u s e a n d loud cheers PM Sunak lit a lamp, and a short prayer was r e c i t e d b y a p r i e s t , w h e r e guests joined in as Mr Sunak stood with folded hands

Addressing the guests, the new PM described his experi ence with King Charles III

l a s t T u e s d a y , w h e n h e went to meet him and was offered a Diwali laddoo by H i s M a j e s t y t h e K i n g H e laughed and referred to Lord Gadhia’s efforts in “perhaps a r r a n g i n g t h e s w e e t s ” , h e added He then reminisced h o w i n 2 0 2 0 a s t h e Chancellor of the Exchequer and while living at Downing S t r e e t , h e h a d p u t D i w a l i d i y a s o u t s i d e N o 1 1 , b u t regretted that this year he “could not manage to do any thing as usual”

He then went on to talk about his grandmother and how his dad and mum had m i g r a t e d t o B r i t a i n f r o m K e n y a a n d T a n g a n y i k a respectively His mum Usha worked as a pharmacist in S o u t h a m p t o n w h i l e h i s f a t h e r Y a s h v i r w a s a G P Growing up, Rishi worked at his mum ’ s pharmacy called Sunak Pharmacy as a delivery boy and worked in a local restaurant too He described his journey in Britain as a “ many immigrants’ story“ and acknowledged he had a huge task at hand now to stabilise the country’s economy

C o n c l u d i n g , h e remarked, “I will do every thing I can in this job to build a Britain where our children and our grandchildren can light their diyas and look to the future with hope Happy Diwali everyone!”

Sav ing the ‘living brid ge ’

All eyes are on PM Sunak to now save the sinking ship that became of the UK India F r e e T r a d e A g r e e m e n t Indian PM Narendra Modi w a s r u m o u r e d t o v i s i t L o n d o n t o c l o s e t h e f i n a l round of FTA negotiations on D i w a l i b u t , a m i d S u e l l a B r a v e r m a n ’ s r e m a r k s o n Indians and immigration pat terns, Liz Truss’ unexpected departure as the PM within 45 days of her service, PM Rishi Sunak now has to mend the bridge and make sure it doesn’t fall

Sunak recently described himself as a visual embodi ment of the “historic links” between the UK and India in a call with Narendra Modi as part of a push to secure a lucrative trade deal “Glad to speak to @RishiSunak today C o n g r a t u l a t e d h i m o n assuming charge as UK PM We will work together to fur t h e r s t r e n g t h e n o u r C o m p r e h e n s i v e S t r a t e g i c Partnership We also agreed on the importance of early conclusion of a comprehen sive and balanced FTA,” Modi wrote on Twitter

“ T h a n k y o u P r i m e Minister Narendra Modi for your kind words as I get start ed in my new role The UK and India share so much I'm excited about what our two g r e a t d e m o c r a c i e s c a n a c h i e v e a s w e d e e p e n o u r s e c u r i t y , d e f e n c e a n d e c o n o m i c p a r t n e r s h i p i n t h e m o n t h s & y e a r s a h e a d , ” Sunak tweeted

Building on the ongoing negotiations for a new Free T r a d e A g r e e m e n t ( F T A ) , a trade mission formed of busi n e s s a n d p o l i t i c a l l e a d e r s from the UK’s West Midlands is announced to take place between 6 12 November The d e l e g a t i o n , l e d b y W e s t Midlands Mayor Andy Street, w i l l v i s i t C h e n n a i , H y d e r a b a d , M u m b a i , a n d Delhi to promote opportuni ties for bilateral trade and i n v e s t m e n t b e t w e e n I n d i a , the West Midlands, and the wider UK (Read more on P2)

Foreign Secretary James C l e v e r l y v i s i t e d I n d i a l a s t w e e k o n 2 8 O c t o b e r t o s t r e n g t h e n U K I n d i a r e l a tions and discuss economic cooperation as well as global security challenges (See P5 for full story)

H o w e v e r , t r a d e u n i o n leaders are reportedly sup p o r t i n g m i l l i o n s o f I n d i a n workers calling on Britain to s u s p e n d t r a d e d e a l t a l k s Frances O’Grady, general sec r e t a r y o f t h e T U C , h a s warned that the trade deal might open doors to child labour and modern slavery in a “ race to the bottom”

Referring to the appoint ment of Sunak as the PM and his potential in sealing the F T A w i t h I n d i a , S h eh l a Hasan, Executive Director at th e M a nc h es te r I nd i a Partne rs h ip sai d , “We wel come new opportunities for a n e n h a n c e d r e l a t i o n s h i p between the India and UK and look forward to seeing the impact of a Free Trade A g r e e m e n t o n M a n c h e s t e r , the region and both coun tries, alike As a result of chal lenges presented by the cli mate crisis and the pandemic, we ’ ve witnessed a strength e n e d p a r t n e r s h i p b e t w e e n t h e U K a n d I n d i a t o s e e k s o l u t i o n s , b o t h s h o w i n g s t r o n g r e s i l i e n c e a n d c l e a r opportunities for collabora tion It’s promising to hear t h a t p r o g r e s s i n g a p o s i t i v e partnership is still a priority ”

S anjiv M eh ta, Presid ent, FICC I told Asian Vo ice, “On b e h a l f o f t h e I n d i a n

B u s i n e s s e s a n d F I C C I , I w o u l d l i k e t o c o n g r a t u l a t e

The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak on becoming the Prime Minister of the UK We look forward to a renewed momentum in f u r t h e r s t r e n g t h e n i n g t h e I n d i a U K C o m p r e h e n s i v e Strategic Partnership It was heartening to learn that dur i n g a r e c e n t c a l l , P r i m e Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak discussed the need for early

s o m e w h a t c h a o t i c f e w months in British politics, I am pleased to welcome the Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom His appointment, taking place during Diwali, heightens this already very auspicious occasion As the first Prime Minister of Asian heritage, I am proud that the UK is championing diversity and breaking from historical stigma, showing that we are t a k i n g a s t e p i n t h e r i g h t direction that deserves to be celebrated This is truly the living bridge to write our two great countries It is also fit ting that Rishi takes office during the final negotiations of the UK India trade deal, the very first of its kind I am encouraged that these two n a t i o n s a r e c o m m i t t e d t o building a deeper relation ship across trade, health, cli mate and defence and I have n o d o u b t t h a t t h e P r i m e Minister will continue to pri o r i t i s e f i n a l i s i n g t h i s d e a l w h i c h w i l l b o o s t b o t h economies considerably, con tributing to new investment and job creation ”

The reinstatement of Suella Braverm an H o m e S e c r e t a r y S u e l l a Braverman is an alleged ‘dar ling of the party's Right wing’, as evidenced by the ovations s h e r e c e i v e d a t t h e Conservative conference in Birmingham last month, The

D a i l y T e l e g r a p h r e p o r t e d H e r r e a p p o i n t m e n t a f t e r b e i n g s a c k e d b y T r u s s i n Sunak’s government as the Home Secretary has stirred controversy for the new PM She has been accused of leak i n g s e n s i t i v e g o v e r n m e n t information to a Tory MP via her personal email address D u r i n g P r i m e M i n i s t e r ’ s Questions, Sunak defended her, saying, "The home secre tary made an error of judg m e n t , b u t s h e r e c o g n i s e d that, she raised the matter, and she accepted her mis take R ab in a K h a n, F o rm e r L i bD em C ll r a nd S p ec ia l Adv isor said, “It was interest

moment in British history In a c o u n t r y w h e r e f o r m e r P r i m e M i n i s t e r W i n s t o n Churchill had said about peo p l e f r o m I n d i a w e r e “ t h e beastliest people in the world next to the Germans” people should overlook the circum stances that propelled Sunak to come to be the UK's first A s i a n P r i m e M i n i s t e r b y default

S h e f u r t h e r s a i d , “ B o t h the main opposition parties a r e d e e p l y c o n c e r n e d w i t h Suella Braverman’s appoint ment A Home Secretary who said, “I would love to have a front page of the Telegraph with a plane taking off to Rwanda, that’s my dream, it’s m y o b s e s s i o n ” a n d c a l l i n g Indians the largest number of v i s a s o v e r s t a y e r s a n d h a d “reservations” about Britain’s trade deal with India citing it would increase immigration to the UK

ing that at Prime Minister’s Question Time the Labour leader recognised the signifi c a n c e o f S u n a k ’ s h i s t o r i c a c h i e v e m e n t w i t h t h e longevity of his remarks but put a short sharp question a b o u t S u e l l a B r a v e r m a n ’ s appointment Sunak’s con t r o v e r s i a l r e a p p o i n t o f Braverman after her resigna tion following a breach of m i n i s t e r i a l c o d e s a w t h e

Liberal Democrats call for a Cabinet Office investigation into Braverman’s reappoint ment

L i b D e m h o m e a f f a i r s s p o k e s p e r s o n A l i s t a i r C a r m i c h a e l s a i d : " S u e l l a B r a v e r m a n ' s a p p o i n t m e n t m a k e s a m o c k e r y o f R i s h i Sunak's claims to be bringing integrity to Number 10 ”

According to Khan, with o u t a d o u b t , R i s h i S u n a k becoming the Prime Minister o f t h e U K i s a s i g n i f i c a n t

“Sunak’s decision to rein state Braverman as the UK’s H o m e S e c r e t a r y d o e s n ' t appear to be favourable to India Perhaps, Rishi Sunak, a v o c i f e r o u s s u p p o r t e r o f Brexit who advocated harsher m e a s u r e s a g a i n s t a s y l u m seekers needs Braverman as his fixer to implement his 10 point plan to fix the “broken” asylum system Rishis Sunak s a i d h e w o u l d b e m a k i n g tough decisions in the weeks to come Braverman must have been a tough decision f o r h i m t o h a v e m a d e , ” Rabina added

“Sunak as the UK’s first Asian Prime Minister means different things for several d i f f e r e n t g e n e r a t i o n s o f South Asians in the UK, from the older generation's senti ment of pride and fulfilment to second generations feeling emotions of finally seeing an Asian person at number 10

“For many others, it will be seeing in the context of Sunak, a Hindu, a person of colour, the youngest Prime Minister leading a country

conclusion of a balanced free t r a d e a g r e e m e n t b e t w e e n India and the UK ” Bob Blackm an MP to ld th e ne w sw eek ly , “ A f t e r a

Sanjiv Mehta

Bob Blackman MP

Rabina Khan

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, his wife Akshata Murthy and Nova, their pet Labrador buy a poppy from Royal British Legion at the front door of 10 Downing Street. Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

with a long history of colo nialism, a nation divided over immigration and trade, and as Covid showed a popula tion struggling with racism and wealth inequality and the Ukraine invasion

“ P r i m e M i n i s t e r S u n a k also has his work cut out for him including rectifying the m i s t a k e s h i s p r e d e c e s s o r made only his actions will t e l l u s i f h e l e a d s t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e s i n t h e n e x t

General Election

“It will of course be of a g r e a t e r h i s t o r i c m o m e n t when a political party led by a person of colour wins a gen eral election At that point, British history will have an Obama moment "

Pow er of Hig her Education in the U K

S anam A rora, NISAU UK

Chairp erson said she is hope

of the largest groups This would be restorative I think what would be transforma tive is if Rishi were to first, r e m o v e i n t e r n a t i o n a l s t u dents from the net migration statistics in the UK, many e x p e r t s b e l i e v e t h i s w o u l d unleash the power of Higher E d u c a t i o n i n t h e U K e c o n o m i c a l l y a n d k n o w l e d g e wise Secondly, if he can set an ambitious target of 2 mil lion (instead of the current 6 0 0 , 0 0 0 i n t e r n a t i o n a l s t u dents) by 2030; and ensure t h a t t h e i n f r a s t r u c t u r e t o accommodate these numbers in the UK is created then I think he will transform the British economy and Britain's place in the world through Higher Education in a hugely significant way ”

c h a l l e n g i n g t i m e f o r t h e economy, global affairs and the health service

stone in British history, one that will have positive ripple e f f e c t s f o r y e a r s t o c o m e According to him, this devel opment also speaks volumes about the British sense of tol erance and fair play where it d o e s n ’ t m a t t e r w h e r e o n e comes from what matters is where one wishes to go He said, “This also speaks h i g h l y a b o u t t h e Conservative Party for select i n g t h r e e w o m e n P r i m e Ministers and now a non white Prime Minister The party has demonstrated that the Conservative Party is now truly inclusive Rishi will act as a magnet for attracting ethnic minority votes to the Tory fold

“Rishi Sunak has shown t h a t w i t h v i s i o n , c o m m i t m e n t , a n d d e t e r m i n a t i o n , one can reach any height one wishes This is a testament to o u r g r e a t n a t i o n a n d t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e P a r t y I t w a s not an easy election for Rishi Sunak as we saw he was not elected the first time around by the predominately white grassroots members because of his colour even though the was overwhelmingly popular with his Parliamentary col leagues ”

ing crisis and damaging the credibility of Britain on the financial markets ”

H e f u r t h e r m e n t i o n e d that Liz Truss’s policies were overwhelmingly rejected by the markets, and Liz Truss was forced to resign as the Prime Minister The quality o f t h e c a n d i d a t e c a m e through and Rishi Sunak was given the chance he deserved in the first place

“ A s t h e y s a y w h e n w e keep a good person down, then we also keep the nation d o w n F i n a l l y , j u s t i c e p r e vailed, and Rishi was allowed to run the country His prime aim will be to turn the econo my around, unite the party and stabilise the economic growth of the nation Rishi S u n a k ’ s s k i l l a n d e x p e r t i s e will bring the nation out of t h e e c o n o m i c c r i s i s Furthermore, as a leader with the utmost talent, Rishi will b r i n g i m m e n s e b e n e f i t t o Britain on national issues as well as the global platform, including the finalisation of significant partnerships such as free trade agreement with India

“Rishi with his roots in India, will get more out of the trade deal than any other PM He will attract more invest ment from India because of his Indian connection,” Lord Ranger said Su nak’ s appo intment w ill h av e ‘little imp act in bolster ing ties between the U K and India’

Britain is hugely exciting and s i g n i f i c a n t f o r t h e B r i t i s h Indian community and for some in India But it will have little impact in bolster ing ties between the UK and India The ‘living bridge’ that t h e d i a s p o r a c o m m u n i t y r e p r e s e n t s i n f l u e n c e s o n l y

part of the overall relation ship between the two coun tries that is often complex a n d , a t t i m e s , p r i c k l y A l t h o u g h S u n a k c a n b e e x p e c t e d t o i m p r o v e t h e optics of ties with India, tak ing cognisance of the senti ments of the overwhelming majority of the 1 7 million British Indian community, h e h a s n o t b e e n a p u b l i c advocate of strong ties with India during his parliamen tary or previous ministerial stints; indeed, as Chancellor of the Exchequer for over two years, he did not visit India even once

ful that Rishi Sunak can be a Prime Minister who is both restorative as well as trans formative She said, “Given that Higher Education is one of the largest exports that the UK offers to India and the world, I would imagine that rationality would dictate that he ensures that there is no degradation in the post study offer that the UK makes to Indian students

“At a time when Australia has extended its "post" study working offer and Canada its "in" study offer, I hope that at base minimum he won't let populist pressure from the far right impact the econom ic benefits the UK receives f r o m i t s i n t e r n a t i o n a l s t u dents, of which India is one

“Having an Indian origin P r i m e M i n i s t e r , a J e w i s h Home Secretary, a Muslim M a y o r o f L o n d o n a n d o f c o u r s e , a C h r i s t i a n K i n g s p e a k s v o l u m e s f o r m u l t i cultural Britain So, it is a his torical and a big win in the UK for representation, diver sity & inclusion But I really hope in India and amongst the Indian diaspora, it makes the average person, and our politicians really think about representation at all levels of our own parliament and gov e r n m e n t T h a t ' s w h e r e w e need some serious introspec tion as a country Rishi is not only brown, but he is also just 42 Juxtapose this to the aver age age of an Indian with the average age of India's parlia m e n t a r i a n s f o r s t a r t e r s Much to reflect for us all!”

So n of a p harmacist

M ark L yo n ett e, C h i e f E xe cu ti v e o f th e N ati o na l P harm acy As so ciati on, to ld u s , “ I c o n g r a t u l a t e R i s h i Sunak on his very significant a c h i e v e m e n t i n b e c o m i n g Prime Minister It is truly a h i s t o r i c m o m e n t f o r t h i s c o u n t r y t o h a v e i t s f i r s t

British Asian PM He is tak ing on the role at a hugely

“ W e l o o k f o r w a r d t o developing with him and his Ministerial colleagues a can d o a g e n d a f o r c o m m u n i t y p h a r m a c y D e s p i t e t h e changes at the top of govern ment, the prevailing circum stances for the health sector remain unchanged: there is a huge NHS backlog and a cri sis in primary care, both of w h i c h r e q u i r e c o m m u n i t y pharmacy to be part of the solution

“As the son of a pharma cist, it’s reasonable to hope that Mr Sunak has some gen uine affinity with the work that our members do During the Conservative leadership c a m p a i g n , h e v i s i t e d t h e p h a r m a c y t h a t h i s f a m i l y once owned and spoke fondly of his memories there

“ H o w e v e r , i t w o u l d b e naïve to expect any special t r e a t m e n t f r o m h i m j u s t b e c a u s e o f h i s f a m i l i a r i t y with the sector as a young man We need to keep mak ing the painstaking case for i n v e s t m e n t i n c o m m u n i t y p h a r m a c y , b a s e d o n a demonstrable return in terms of patient outcomes and ben efits to the NHS and society as a whole The government needs to think of community pharmacy less as a cost centre and more as a value creator ”

U nity in diversity

Lord Ram i Ranger C BE told th e newsweekly, that he thinks that the appointment of Rishi Sunak as the first n o n w h i t e B r i t i s h P r i m e Minister is a golden mile

Lord Ranger added, “As it turned out, they elected the wrong candidate, Liz Truss MP, who fought the election on an ambitious tax cut and s p e n d i n g a g e n d a S h e w a s w a r n e d b y R i s h i S u n a k repeatedly that her policies w e r e u n s u s t a i n a b l e a n d would lead to higher infla tion and high interest rates, n e g a t i v e l y a f f e c t i n g t h o s e with mortgages and further exacerbating the cost of liv

R a hu l R o y C h au dh ur y, Senior Fellow for South Asi a, The International Insti tute f or Strategic Studie s (I ISS) t ol d A s i a n Vo i c e, “ R i s h i Sunak’s appointment as the

“However, a substantive change in bilateral ties could take place if Sunak and his f o r e i g n s e c r e t a r y J a m e s Cleverly deliver a UK India Free Trade Agreement, initi ated by former prime minis t e r B o r i s J o h n s o n B u t S u n a k ’ s t o p f o r e i g n a n d security policy focus will be the Ukraine war, not India, alongside a laser sharp pri ority on mitigating the cost of living crisis in the UK If the war escalates and the UK a n d I n d i a n f o r e i g n p o l i c y divergence on the conflict widen, an early conclusion of the FTA will be unlikely

“ S u e l l a B r a v e r m a n ’ s r e t u r n a s H o m e S e c r e t a r y could also delay such a deal as could India’s resistance to l o w e r i n g t a r i f f s o n s c o t c h w h i s k e y H o w e v e r , a s u c cessful FTA could result in Modi’s visit to the UK next summer and pave the way for the next level of partner ship on defence technology c o o p e r a t i o n b e f o r e b o t h c o u n t r i e s g o i n t o e

e c t i o n mode”

f i r s t I n d i a n o r i g i n a n d H i n d u p r i m e m i n i s t e r o f

Sanam Arora

Mark Lyonette

Rahul Roy Chaudhury

Charles

Lord Rami Ranger CBE

Momentum toward social-economic transformation reflects in Uganda’s 60th Independence Anniversary Celebration

T o celebrate th e 60th Independ ence A nniversary of the Republic of Ug anda, the Hig h Com missioner of Ug anda to the U K Nimish a J M ad hvani ho sted a r ece p tio n at I M O Bu i ld i ng o n 21 s t Octo ber The focus of this celebratio n w as the declaratio n of interdepend ence a nd sh a red d

th

reflection of A frican solidarity, p atrio tism and m omentum toward social economic transform ation

C

honour to be here I want to pay tribute to what Lord Popat has done on trade This year we are also witnessing the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the Ugandan Asians For all the different things in different sectors we are able to do, it’s all because this country has

Lord Dholakia celebrates 50 years since Ugandan Asians arrived in the UK

said, “On behalf of the president of Uganda Yoweri Museveni may I con g r a t u l a t e a l l U g a n d a n s , f r i e n d s a n d well wishers of Uganda on this occa sion of celebrating the 60th anniver s a r y o f t h e i n d e p e n d e n c e o f t h e Republic of Uganda We are also com memorating the 50 years of expulsion of Asians from Uganda to Britain ”

The High Commissioner said, “I also thank the government of the UK for first hosting me as a refugee 50 years ago and now as a representative of a pearl of Africa Uganda Uganda has gone through turmoil in the past due to bad leaders like Idi Amin who destroyed development However, now under the visionary and steady leader ship of president Museveni, Uganda has achieved political and economic stability with a growth of 6 per cent per annum President Museveni and the ministers have frequently visited the UK prior to covid 19 I want to thank the government of the UK for the great support to Uganda in trade and invest m e n t , a n d m e d i c a l c a r e , i n c l u d i n g recently in Covid 19 and now in the E b o l a o u t b r e a k S p e c i a l s u p p o r t i n technical assistance in human resource d e v e l o p m e n t a s w e l l a s c o m m u n i t y development initiatives Now, when the UK is looking for a Free Trade agreement with India, the UK must think of signing this agreement with Uganda also ”

H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r M a d h v a n i s a i d , “ S t r e n g t h e n i n g t h e c o m m o n wealth partnership is very important Thanks to Lord Popat’s inspirational leadership as a trade envoy of Uganda, Rwanda and DRC, the trade has grown remarkably especially in the oil, gas, i n d u s t r y a n d i n f r a s t r u c t u r e s e c t o r s Many British companies are now par ticipating in Uganda’s development I must also thank the Ugandans and British Asian Ugandans who are work ing here for their significant role in the development of our country You all are actually our High commissioners and ambassadors outside the Uganda H o u s e T r a f a l g a r s q u a r e

Congratulations to organisations such as Once upon a time 50 years ago, Mr Harshad Modha, Ms Pragna Hey, Mr Sanjay Rughani, Mr Harish Bhai Joshi, The BUA 50 led by Lord Gadhia, Mr Praful Patel, Mr Mihir Patel and others, the Leicester group with Hon Jaffer Kapasi, Mr Atul Lakhani, Nik Kotecha,

Mehar community in Leicester and all Ugandans in Portman, Peterborough, S c o t l a n d , I r e l a n d a n d e v e r y w h e r e else ”

Now, there is a n e w a c t i v e A s i a n , T u r k i s h , C h i n e s e a n d y o u n g b r i g h t b r i l l i a n t L o n d o n c o m m u n i t y g r o w i n g i n U g a n d a Uganda is on the fast track develop ment path Uganda is heaven on Earth I look forward to welcoming you all there We await the first visit of the younger generation to their ancestral home TAMARO DESH UGANDA PAN CHE (Uganda is also your country) said Madhvani

opened the doors of opportunities for us We should definitely pay a tribute to all those who enabled that to hap pen ”

C o C h a i r m a n o f T h e H i n d u j a Group GP Hinduja said, “I am hon oured to be invited by H E Nimisha Madhvani She has been a family friend for a long time President Museveni is very kind hearted and has done so m u c h r e m a r k a b l e f o r U g a n d a , Ugandans and the regional countries He has become a really good leader of the Pearl of Africa If all the countries of the African continent follow the principles of President Museveni, it will be excellent Our group is very much

T h ank in g L o r d P o p at fo r initiating the debate, L ord Dholakia, noting the timely as p ec t, d ur i ng D i w al i, w i sh e d h i s L o r d s h ip s 'a hap py Diwali and a joyo us new y ear ' S t res s in g th e huge historical sig nificance of the first 'person of Ind ian orig in' to be elected Prime Minister of the U K, Rish i S u nak , L o r d D h o l aki a em phasised 'the g reat con tribution of the Indian com m un ity in Bri tai n', w h il st m o d es tl y ' fo r g et ti ng ' h i s own not insubstantial wo rk in p ublic life that has made a difference to many liv es

Reiterating Alpesh Patel, c h a i r m a n o f C i t y H i n d u s N e t w o r k , L o r d D h o l a k i a s a i d : ' T h e B r i t i s h I n d i a n diaspora is one of the largest m i g r a n t c o m m u n i t i e s i n t h i s c o u n t r y , n u m b e r i n g m o r e t h a n 1 5 m i l l i o n ' Impressively, '[m]any British Indians have contributed to their local communities and t h e n a t i o n a l e c o n o m y b y s t a r t i n g b u s i n e s s e s i n a range of sectors, including hospitality, energy, health care, engineering and prop erty '

Rt Hon Minister for Africa Gillian Keegan said, “I congratulate Uganda on this milestone 2022 is a landmark year for your country as most of us also rec o g n i z e t h e 5 0 t h a n n i v e r s a r y o f t h e expulsion of Asians from Uganda We are so grateful for your contribution to British society The UK will stand side by side with Uganda to fight Ebola We g a v e 2 2 m i l l i o n p o u n d s a n d s e n t experts to Uganda Uganda’s progress and experiences are benefiting other countries We will continue to work together ”

T h e U K p r i m e m i n i s t e r ' s t r a d e envoy to Uganda, DRC and Rwanda Lord Dolar Popat said, “The diaspora has a crucial role to play in strengthen ing the bilateral relationship between Uganda and the UK It is a diaspora that acts as a bridge between two coun tries I am delighted that I am able to make my contribution from this coun try to Uganda In 2016, our trade with Uganda was 140 million pounds and now it is 5 billion pounds 60 years is t h e m i l e s t o n e a n n i v e r s a r y T o d a y Uganda is one of the fastest growing e c o n o m i e s i n A f r i c a H a v e m a d e t r e m e n d o u s p r o g r e s s i n p r o t e c t i n g democracy, protecting human rights and economic development So, after Brexit, it is time for us to become more Global and the African continent is having huge potential

The focus of the 60th anniversary remains on trade and economic devel opment We all are proud as British, not only because we live in Britain but because Britain lives within us This month we are celebrating 50 years of expulsion of the Ugandan Asian com munity What an amazing contribution they have made to this country ”

Lord Jitesh Gadhia said, “It’s my

c o m m i t t e d t o i n v e s t i n g i n A f r i c a n countries and Uganda is one of them We are also looking forward to starting philanthropic work in Uganda ” Representative of The Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Jaffer K a p a s i O B E a n d y o u n g U g a n d a n entrepreneurs also congratulated all f o r t h e 6 0 t h I n d e p e n d e n c e D a y o f Uganda MP Bob Blackman, Deputy Mayor Ramjibhai Chauhan, Councilor M i n a P a r m a r , D h i r u b h a i S a n g h a n i , Subhash Thakrar, Shashibhai Vekaria, Ritu Chhabria, Union Heads of mission group mark their special presence Before the cake cutting ceremony, condolences to the Royal family were offered and a moment of silence was observed for the Late Queen Elizabeth II

Linking this to the skills g a p ' B r i t a i n f a c e s ' , L o r d Dholakia cited Home Office f i g u r e s f r o m 2 0 2 0 t h a t s h o w e d , 6 5 4 b u s i n e s s e s o w n e d b y B r i t i s h I n d i a n s had an annual turnover in e x c e s s o f £ 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 Together, these companies g e n e r a t e d £ 3 6 8 4 b i l l i o n ' , including £1 billion in cor poration tax' And the real value being, '[t]he top five businesses owned by British Indians have created more t h a n 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 j o b s i n t h e UK'

Going back to his roots, Lord Dholakia talked about h o w h e w a s b o r n i n T a n z a n i a , ' n e x t d o o r t o Uganda', and came to the UK long before Idi Amin 'forced thousands of Asians t o l e a v e U g a n d a , w h i c h brought pain, heartache and

f e a r t o t h e c o m m u n i t y there' Reflecting on the sit u a t i o n , L o r d D h o l a k i a d e s c r i b e d t h a t d u r i n g h i s 'early days' in the House, he met Lord Carr of Hadley, the Home Secretary at the time, who informed how it took less than five minutes of Cabinet meeting time to agree to the admission of Uganda Asians to the UK Comparing that to current issues of immigration, Lord Dholakia stressed, '[t]here is a l e s s o n f o r a l l o f u s t o u n d e r s t a n d a b o u t h o w important decision can be taken by the Cabinet with out referring to all the prej udices that go with it' ' This was at a time when adverse comments about immigra tion were rife in this coun try, he added wryly C o m m e n t i n g o n t h e i d e a l s o f t h e t i m e , L o r d D h o l a k i a c o n t i n u e d h i s descriptions of how events unfolded by describing the s t r o n g s e n s e o f c o m m i t ment to commonwealth cit i z e n s n e e d i n g o u r h e l p Asking, '[w]here are the peo ple of this stature in the T o r y p a r t y t o d a y ? ' , L o r d Dholakia stressed, '[s]ome one should have an open word with Suella Braverman a b o u t h a n d l i n g c o m p l e x m a t t e r s o f a s y l u m a n d immigration in a purposeful way'

F i n i s h i n g o f f , L o r d Dholakia paid tribute to the ' t h o u s a n d s o f v o l u n t e e r s who gave so much of their time to help in the process of settlement; in particular, with a special mention of Sir P e t e r B o t t o m l e y a n d t h e n o b l e B a r o n e s s L a d y Bottomley, 'for the contri bution they made in accom m o d a t i n g n e w a r r i v a l s i n this country', Lord Dholakia was keen to show how com m u n i t i e s a n d i n d i v i d u a l s rallied round to help anyone who needed help in what was a difficult and fraught situation

India’s Deputy High Commissioner to London Sujit Ghosh and HC Vikram Doraiswami celebrate Halloween with children

High Commissioner of Uganda Nimisha Madhvani and Minister for Africa Gillian Keegan cutting the cake

Lord Dolar Popat, High commissioner of Mauritius to the UK Mr G Nunkoo Ritu Chhabria Lord Jitesh Gadhia Minister for Africa Gillian Keegan GP Hinduja High Commissioner of Uganda Nimisha Madhvani

Vinubhai Bhattessa, Veljibhai Vekaria with Nimisha Madhvani

Subhash bhai Thakrar with Nimisha Madhvani

Sanjay Rughani and Vinod Thakrar with the cultural group

One of my biggest regret s in l if e is not st aying on in the US Congress and working there longer I continue t o f ol low US elections cl os ely

If you're like most people, you might think that US m i d t e r m e l e c t i o n s m e a n o n e t h i n g f o r s t o c k m a r k e t s :

Volatility followed by investor friendly upswings

In reality, however, the situation is far more convoluted Here's a quick primer on why Do the Midterms Really Ma tter?

P o s t m i d t e r m s t o c k m a r k e t u p s w i n g s e n j o y a l o n g history, although some analysts disagree whether the trend dates back to 1946 or 1939 Either way, watchers seem to concur on one fundamental idea: After an election, anxious stock investors have less to worry about, which has made for healthier markets since World War II

Having a single party definitively gain or retain power tends to generate less politically driven instability, but this isn't the only factor Research suggests that for whatever reason, events like bear markets, recessions, and armed conflicts tend to occur during the first two years of a This last point brings up an interesting idea: Maybe the midterms don't matter, or at least they aren't the primary driving factor everyone assumes they are

Some financial professionals go as far as to declare that investors shouldn't bother changing their portfolios in the run up to the big (election) day or even after To many of these experts, the overall market valuation and financial outlook ultimately outweigh whatever happens at the polls

The Reality Is More Nuanced

Analysts are likewise quick to point out that looking at historical trends is an imprecise science Not only do the predictions vary based on how you slice the data, but also there are plenty of outliers, and some believe that 2022 will be the year that bucks the trend no matter who wins

Take a look at tech companies, which during one particularly dismal week before the election lost $1 trillion in v a l u a t i o n A l t h o u g h t h e g r i d l o c k t h a t u s u a l l y f o l l o w s midterms ironically helps markets by keeping legislators f r o m p a s s i n g n e w b i l l s , i t ' s h a r d t o a r g u e t h a t i t c a n c o m p l e t e l y n e g a t e s u c h h u g e d o w n s w i n g s A l s o , t h e potential for a recession doesn't make the outlook feel any more favourable With all that said, the market could see some immediate if not long lasting changes depending on who wins For instance, if Republicans regain one chamber, leading to a split Congress, the healthcare industry might benefit from reduced regulation On the other hand, if Democrats stay in control of both the Senate and the House, sectors like renewable energy and infrastructure passion issues for the party would probably get a boost

So what's the final verdict? Well, the key takeaway is that e l e c t i o n s h a v e a m u l t i f a c e t e d i m p a c t W h i l e t h e y c a n heighten uncertainty before the polls open, they ultimately remove risk once the dust has settled, which explains why the naysayers are rarely the loudest voices

At the same time, any rally could prove short lived, e s p e c i a l l y i f a r e c e s s i o n f o l l o w s I n a l l l i k e l i h o o d , t h e volatility we've seen thus far is likely to persist, particularly if the Fed keeps its finger on the rate hike button

While the midterms are almost guaranteed to have some kind of impact, it's just not clear whether it will be enough to outweigh all the other factors suggesting that investors shouldn't make decisions solely based on the polls As usual, a well rounded outlook is best

Bottom Line: I will wait before buying more stocks Tune in next week to see if the waiting is over In the meantime see my Campaign for a Million to a million people to be better investors at www campaignforamillion com

Rishi Sunak vows to reinstate ban on fracking

Rishi Sunak is reinstating the ban on fracking th at Liz Truss controversially lifted Answering qu estio

th e new prime minister said he stands "by the

C

spokesm an explicitly confirmed he was reinstating the ban Liz Truss lifted the ban last month as part of her plan to limit rising energ y costs but said fracking would only resu me wh ere there w as local consent

Fracking was ultimately what brought her government down after Labour tabled a motion calling for a draft law to ban fracking But the Tory party whips said the motion was actually a vote of confidence in the government and told Conservative MPs they had to vote against it or face being suspended However, many of them and their constituents are opposed to fracking and said they could not vote to s u p p o r t f r a c k i n g , e v e n i f t h e w h i p s s a w t h e v o t e a s something different

As the vote was taking place there were accusations of "bullying" and "manhandling" of Tory MPs who were being told to vote against the motion The following day, Liz Truss stepped down as PM

Hunt may cut public spending, raise tax rates in autumn budget

P rime Minister Rish i Su nak h as warned of a ‘ pro fou nd eco nomic crisis’ and ‘diff ic ult d ec i s io n s ’ ah ea d w it h ru mours now swirling that a range of pu bl ic sp ending cu ts and tax rises are en ro ute In t h e c o m i ng w e ek s , C hancello r Jeremy Hunt will s e t o u t t h e 2 02 2 au tu m n b u d ge t Hu n t an d Su n ak mu st now plu g a rath er l arge h ole in th e p ublic pu rse rep ortedl y u p to £40 bil lio n

All the while, they must c o n t e n d w i t h t h e o n g o i n g cost of living crisis leaving people worried about energy c o s t s , f o o d p r i c e h i k e s , mortgage increases and even their pensions

The fiscal statement was

originally due on October 31, but was pushed back The delay is reportedly to allow Sunak a chance to ‘get under the bonnet’ of proposals to deal with the current crisis Hunt confirmed that his plan will ‘demonstrate debt falling o v e r t h e m e d i u m t e r m , which is very important for people to understand’

The Chancellor, who is in charge of the Treasury, a d d e d : ‘ I t ’ s a l s o e x t r e m e l y

important that statement is based on the most accurate possible economic forecasts a n d f o r e c a s t s o f p u b l i c finances ‘And for that reason t h e P r i m e M i n i s t e r a n d I h a v e d e c i d e d t h a t i t i s p r u d e n t t o m a k e t h a t statement on November 17 when it will be upgraded to a full Autumn Statement ’

This autumn budget will be accompanied by a forecast from the OBR, aka the Office f o r B u d g e t R e s p o n s i b i l i t y The forecast, as described on t h e O B R w e b s i t e , i s t h e independent office’s ‘latest outlook for the economy and public finances’

P r e v i o u s l y , t h e H a l l o w e e n d a t e f o r a

f i n a n c i a l u p d a t e w a s a n n o u n c e d b y K w a s i K w a r t e n g d u r i n g h i s b r i e f time as Chancellor Under f o r m e r P M L i z T r u s s , K w a r t e n g a n n o u n c e d b i l l i o n s i n t a x c u t s i n a S e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 2 ‘ m i n i budget’ dubbed a ‘Growth P l a n ’ w h i c h u l t i m a t e l y c a u s e d t h e p o u n d t o plummet, and eventually led to both politicians departing their roles

M a n y ‘ m i n i b u d g e t ’ p o l i c i e s w e r e s c r a p p e d f o l l o w i n g T r u s s ’ appointment of Hunt as C h a n c e l l o r , i n c l u d i n g r e m o v i n g t h e t w o y e a r Energy Price Guarantee in April 2023

60% of first-time buyer mortgages withdrawn by banks

Banks have withdrawn 60 per cent of m or t ga g e s f o r s m a l l d e po s i t borrowers si nce the start of the year makin g i t m ore di fficult for first tim e buyers to enter the property market, ac c or d i n g t o n ew f i n d i n gs T h e number of loan to value m ortgage s available to c us tome rs at 95 per c ent fell from 347 at the start of the year to 283 on Septemb er 23, the day Kwas i Kw a rt e n g d e li v e re d hi s e m e rg e n c y mini Budget

Following the announcement of his plans to scrap the top 45 per cent rate of income tax and to cut stamp duty, the number declined further, dipping to 135 on October 21 This

equates to a 60 per cent fall since the b e g i n n i n g o f t h e y e a r D u e t o increased uncertainty in the market and a worsening economic climate, m o r t g a g e e x p e r t s h a v e n o t e d t h a t lenders have stopped offering their h i g h e s t r i s k p r o d u c t s T h i s m e a n s home loans with small deposits have t a k e n t h e b i g g e s t h i t S i n c e K w a r t e n g ’ s b u d g e t a n n o u n c e m e n t , several banks have strengthened their stress tests, with homeowners having to prove they can afford as much as 8 5 per cent on their mortgages These checks mean people must prove to their lender they can afford their mortgage if rates go up further

Pound surges following Sunak’s appointment

The poun d hi t a si x week hi g h a s Ri s h i S u n a k b e ca m e p r i me mi n i s t e r , a n o t he r s i g n of t he ma r k e t s w e l co mi n g t he co un t ry 's n e w l e a d e r St e r l i n g w a s u p 1 8 % again st the dollar at $ 1 147, havi ng ris en b y 1 92% to $1 15 0 ear lier i n the d ay the highes t le vel si nce 15 September

The strong dollar had been weakened over signs that the American central bank, the Federal Reserve, w o u l d f u r t h e r r a i s e interest rates and slow the world's biggest economy T h e p o u n d h a d b e e n hovering at around $1 11, as reports emerged that Boris J o h n s o n w a s p l a n n i n g a p o l i t i c a l c o m e b a c k i n a challenge to Sunak Sunak is a known name to the U K ' s f i n a n c i a l s e c t o r , having been chancellor for two years under Johnson a n d a f o r m e r G o l d m a n S a c h s a n a l y s t a n d h e d g e fund partner before that, a n d i t i s h o p e d h i s administration will steady the markets He comes to the top job after Liz Truss announced big tax cuts late l a s t m o n t h , s p o o k i n g investors and prompting a m a s s i v e s e l l o f f o f g o v e r n m e n t b o n d s t h a t forced the Bank of England to intervene

Putting Jeremy Hunt in t h e c h a n c e l l o r ' s r o l e , replacing Kwasi Kwarteng, w e n t s o m e w a y t o w a r d s calming the situation, as H u n t r o w e d b a c k o n a l m o s t e v e r y p o l i c y t h a t had been announced in the T r u s s K w a r t e n g m i n i b u d g e t L o n g d a t e d g i l t yields, which were at the c e n t r e o f t h e p o s t m i n i budget chaos, have almost r e t u r n e d t o w h e r e t h e y w e r e b e f o r e h a n d , reflecting growing investor confidence

Hunt said on Twitter: "It is going to be tough, but protecting the vulnerable a n d p e o p l e s j o b s , mortgages and bills will b e a t t h e f r o n t o f o u r m i n d s a s w e w o r k t o r e s t o r e s t a b i l i t y , confidence and long term growth "

J o r d a n R o c h e s t e r , a N o m u r a s t r a t e g i s t , s a i d : "Every new leader tends to get a honeymoon period and Liz Truss's didn't last v e r y l o n g T h e q u e s t i o n will be how long does this honeymoon period last for Rishi Sunak? We assume h e h a s a b e t t e r understanding of financial markets than Liz Truss with his background and that he will allow Jeremy H u n t t o c o n t i n u e t h i s austerity budget

Commenting on the findings, Eleanor W i l l i a m s , a f i n a n c i a l e x p e r t a t Moneyfacts, said: “First time buyers are likely to feel the impact of the current circumstances keenly as the cost of living crisis shows no sign of abating

“Inflated house prices may be a c o n c e r n f o r t h o s e w o r r i e d a b o u t stretching to meet a deposit, and these borrowers may find themselves having to dip into their savings pot to cover rising expenses, so not only may they be more likely to be looking for a low deposit mortgage product, but they may also have concerns about meeting mortgage affordability requirements ”

BoE all set to raise borrowing costs to highest level in 33 years

The Bank of Englan d looks se t to raise borrowing costs by t he most since 1989 next we ek e ven a s it prepare s for a r e ce s si on t h a t c ou l d b e deepene d by spending cuts un der ne w Pr ime Minister Rishi Sunak Ana lysts b elieve t ha t B oE a t i t s e ig h t h me eting not onl y ra ise t he in t e r e s t r a t e s t o t a me in fl ation above 10 pe r cen t this time b y t hr ee quarte rs of a percent age point, BoE wil l become the world s fir st b ig ce n t r a l b a n k t o st a r t se l l in g b o n d s f r om i t s st imulus stock pil e

After a period of turmoil i n B r i t a i n , c a u s e d b y t h e e c o n o m i c p l a n s o f f o r m e r p r i m e m i n i s t e r L i z T r u s s w h i c h s p a r k e d a b o n d m a r k e t r o u t , t h e B o E ' s d o u b l e b a r r e l l e d m o n e t a r y t i g h t e n i n g m i g h t l o o k a t o d d s w i t h i t s c u r r e n t forecasts that the economy will be shrinking until 2024 But with inflation still set to be way above the BoE's 2% target in 2023 and some of T r u s s ' s c o s t l y h e l p f o r households and businesses still in place, the only way is up for borrowing costs

As things stand, my best g u e s s i s t h a t i n f l a t i o n a r y p r e s s u r e s w i l l r e q u i r e a stronger response than we perhaps thought in August,"

B o E G o v e r n o r A n d r e w Bailey said on Oct 15 On Aug 4, the BoE raised rates by half a percentage point, i t s b i g g e s t i n c r e a s e i n 2 7 years, and did so again in September Some of Bailey's inflation worries eased two days after he spoke when new finance minister Jeremy Hunt reversed almost all the tax cuts planned by Truss and shortened her income b o o s t i n g e n e r g y c a p programme to six months rather than two years But t h e o n g o i n g s p r e a d o f i n f l a t i o n t h r o u g h B r i t a i n ' s economy this year means the BoE remains on high alert

The BoE's plan to start selling some of the bonds it b o u g h t s i n c e 2 0 0 9 t o s u p p o r t t h e e c o n o m y w i l l a l s o e a s e s o m e o f t h e p r e s s u r e t o r a i s e r a t e s D e u t s c h e B a n k s a i d t h e planned 40 billion pounds' worth of sales over the next y e a r w e r e e q u i v a l e n t t o about 25 basis points of rate h i k e s B u t G o o d w i n a t

Oxford Economics warned of potential dangers in the plan

Jeremy Hunt

India to beat Germany as 4th largest economy by FY26: RBI official

India will match Germ any ’ s GDP (just o ver $4 trillion as of 2 0 21 ) a nd b eco m e th e fou rth largest economy by 20 25 26 and by 2027, India will surpass Japan (nearly $5 trilli on GDP) and beco me the third larg est eco nom y, Res er v e B an k o f I nd i a d ep u ty g o v ern o r M i ch a el Patra has said

A c c o r d i n g t o P a t r a , I n d i a a l r e a d y t h e f i f t h l a r g e s t e c o n o m y o f t h e w o r l d a h e a d o f t h e U K (about $3 2 trillion GDP) is

an engine of global growth with the second largest con tribution to global growth in 2022 “India’s population

w i l l b e c o m e t h e largest in the world n e x t y e a r a n d i t s y o u n g e s t I t w i l l demand the world’s best financial inter mediation services,” P a t r a s a i d a t a recent RBI event T h e d e p u t y g o v e r n o r ’ s s t a t e ment comes a few weeks after the IMF forecast that Germany and Italy will slip into recession next year According to the

I M F W o r l d E c o n o m i c Outlook, the German econ omy is expected to shrink by 0 3% in 2023 The multilat eral institution has forecast India’s GDP to grow at 6 9% with tight monetary condi tions slowing growth to 6 1% in FY24 Patra said that banks will have a critical role in this transformation “The reach and spread of the banking network have improved the mobilisation of financial resources in the economy, ” he said

Jio becomes top landline service provider in India

71,30,000 BSNL has been providing wireline services s

n

to telecom regulator Trai’s

while Jio launched its land line service three years ago Landline subscribers in India grew to 25 9 million in August from 25 6 mil lion in July The growth was dominated by the pri vate sector, with Jio adding 260,000 customers, Bharti

A i r t e l 1 2 0 , 0 0 0 , V o d a f o n e I d e a 4 , 2 0 2 and Tata Teleservices adding 3,769 users B S N L a n d M T N L l o s t 1 5 , 7 3 4 a n d 1 3 , 3 9 5 w i r e l i n e c u s t o m e r s respectively in August T h e o v e r a l l t e l e c o m subscriber base in India g r e w m a r g i n a l l y i n August, with Jio adding most of the new cus tomers and rural areas growing at a higher rate t h a n u r b a n c e n t r e s , according to Trai report

Microso ft has laid o ff about 1 ,000 workers from a variety o f de pa rtmen ts, in clu di ng th e Xbo x and Edge teams, Axios said citing unnamed s o u rces T h e US s of tware giant h ad earli er stated in J uly that a modest number o f p o s i ti o n s h ad b ee n r em o v ed a nd th a t i t w i ll eventually hire more peop le I n a s t at em en t Mi c ro s o f t said, “T oday we had a small n u m be r o f r o l e e li m i na ti o ns Like all co mp ani es, w e e va lu a te o u r b u s i ne s s p ri o r i ti es r eg u l ar ly , a nd m a ke st ru c t u ra l a dj u s t ments accordingly ”

I n I n d i a , W i p r o a n d I n f o s y s h a v e a l s o

announced layoffs this year

B e s i d e s a t t r i t i o n , m a n y c o m p a n i e s l i k e A p p l e , Oracle, Google and others have also announced a hir ing freeze for the coming months As per Crunchbase r e p o r t , m o r e t h a n 3 2 , 0 0 0 workers in the US tech sec tor have been laid off in mass job cuts, in late July M i c r o s o f t r e c e n t l y i n t r o d u c e d a n e w l i n e o f Surface products, including t h e S u r f a c e L a p t o p 5 , Surface 9 Pro tablet, Studio 2+, and many others On October 25, Microsoft will release its financial results for the second quarter of its fiscal year

Th e A dani Gro up will invest o ver $150 billion across business es ranging from g reen energy to data centres to airports and healthcare as it chases the d ream to join th e elite global club of com panies with $1 trillion v aluations On Octo ber 1 0, A dani Group CFO Jugeshind er ‘ Robbie’ Singh detailed the g row th plans of the g roup , which started o ff as a trader in 1 988 and exp anded rapid ly

The group plans to invest $50 70 billion in green hydro gen business and another $23 billion in green energy over the next 5 10 years, he said It will invest $7 billion in electricity transmission, $12 billion in transport utility and $5 billion in the road sector

Its foray into data centre business with cloud services would entail an investment of $6 5 billion in partnership with Edge ConneX and another $9 10 billion is planned for airports, where it is already the largest private operator Its foray into the cement sector entailed $10 billion investment It is foraying into the petrochemicals with plans to set up a 1 million tonnes per annum PVC facility at an investment of $2 billion and would enter the copper sector with a 0 5 million tonnes a year smelter with $ 1 billion, he said

R etail giant Wa lmart is reportedl y r aising up to $3 bil lion for its e comme rce giant Flipkar t t o fur ther e x pa n d i t s op e r a t i on s i n In d i a With n ew funds, Fl ipk art's valua t ion is set to soa r to more than $40 b illion, giving a fillip to t he Indian f un d i n g sce n e w h ich i s g o in g t hrough a harsh winter

Flipkart Group in July last year r a i s e d $ 3 6 b i l l i o n t o g r o w a n d a d v a n c e t h e d i g i t a l c o m m e r c e ecosystem in India The investment valued the group at $37 6 billion post the money then According to media reports, Walmart may bring strategic investors into Flipkart via this fundraising

The move, according to close sources, is to keep Flipkart ahead in t h e e c o m m e r c e r a c e a s o n l i n e shopping surges with every festive season in the country

The last fund raise demonstrat

ed significant interest from global i n v e s t o r s , i n c l u d i n g s o v e r e i g n funds, private equity and crossovers in addition to Walmart It was led by financial investors GIC, Canada P e n s i o n P l a n I n v e s t m e n t B o a r d (CPP Investments), SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Walmart, along with investments from sovereign funds D i s r u p t A D , Q a t a r I n v e s t m e n t A u t h o r i t y , K h a z a n a h N a s i o n a l B e r h a d , a n d m a r q u e e i n v e s t o r s T e n c e n t , W i l l o u g h b y C a p i t a l , A n t a r a C a p i t a l , F r a n k l i n Templeton, and Tiger Global " T h i s i n v e s t m e n t b y l e a d i n g global investors reflects the promise of digital commerce in India and their belief in Flipkart's capabilities to maximise this potential for all s t a k e h o l d e r s , " K a l y a n K r i s h n a m u r t h y , C h i e f E x e c u t i v e Officer, Flipkart Group, had said in July last year

Sebi bans Mehul Choksi from market for 10 years

Markets regul ator Seb i has banned fugitive busin essman Mehul Choksi, former promoter an d chairman of Gitanjali Gems, from tradin g for 10 years for using front entities to trade in shares of the c ompany to main tain its pric e fro m f al l in g C ho k si h as al so b ee n fi n e d £500,000 for the same Seb i rule violations that restric ts promoters of a c ompany from tradin g in shares or derivatives con tracts

Choksi had defrauded PNB and in January 2018 and fled the country Currently he’s been proclaimed an offender by the government and several cases against him, by agencies like CBI, ED and the I T department, are pending Sebi’s probe showed that between July 18, 2011 and January 25, 2012, while the sensex slid a little over 8%, the stock price of Gitanjali Gems dropped about 2 5% During this peri od, Choksi had used several entities, compa nies and individuals that acted as his front, to trade in the stock of Gitanjali Gems to main tain its price

Closing the Deal

I went to see a property last week, in a prime part of East Lo nd on It consists of a shop and uppers Th e beauty of this property is it is generating incom e from both the comm ercial and the resid ential Th e comm ercial tenant has only a couple of years left on the lease, and it can be assu med they w ill not be renewing There are four flats abov e, which are all rented ; albeit under rented

A s

d a y o n e , a generous yield even in the current environment, this allows some breathing space; and allows for any speed bumps which will inevitably come along as the project progresses

There is a lot of room in the rear for planning; basically, to pull the whole building back, and a little upwards

a

T

d i n t e r e s t rate costs Make no mistake, the avalanche has just started in the economy; it will get worse A banker whom I met recently was of the naive and optimistic opinion that the new PM will simply rectify the wrongs done by the previous PM, and we will be fine by the summer Not likely Time will tell, however

The appetite for the right type of property is still e

environment, and not despite it Property is a good inflation proof investment, and much better than keeping funds in the bank Perhaps investors know this and therefore the appetite for property investment has not been dampened but become more refined; they use the environment to become more choosier as to where to invest

This property consequently attracted a large number of bids; and we were at the fag end

An offer is one thing, if you ’ re chosen you’ll get the contract; closing the deal is something else

The sellers presumably will choose the highest bid, but if they do not perform then they will get frustrated, the under bidders will have dissipated, and hopefully we may still be left in the running; having started out as the underdog, and in pole position This has happened before, when sellers have been messed about, the quality they look for most in engaging someone else is the ability to execute the deal

This is the angle we will be aiming for in the deal As time goes on the economic avalanche will get bigger, interest rates will continue to rise, and the enthusiasm to do this deal will diminish We will be prowling around this deal waiting for this to happen

Of course, the other scenario is the top bidders could just complete the deal in a timely manner That’s the game we choose to play; then we move to the next one

Although saying this, there has also been a situation where we had bidders rush to exchange on four mews houses in Paddington, in a rush to beat us to the line, they did, but then they failed to complete the transaction and lost their deposit

The property went to auction, where it landed in our lap and it was completed

So, the game isn’t over until it’s really over; and it’s worth keeping a beady eye out until actual completion

90 per cent fall in Tata Steel's Q2 profit

Tata Steel’s second quarte r p ro f i t p l un ge d 9 0 % t o £129 7 milli on due to d rop in me tal pri ces an d e levat ed i n put cost s C oncer ns ov e r s lo w d o w n i n k e y e co n o mi e s , g e op o l i t i c a l is sues an d se ason al fa ctors have led to a “vola tile oper atin g en viron men t”, MD T V Naren dran sai d

O p e r a t i n g p r o f i t , a y a r d s t i c k f o r u n d e r l y i n g b u s i n e s s p e r f o r m a n c e , slumped 62% to £627 1 mil l i o n d u r i n g Q 2 F Y 2 3 “ U t i l i s a t i o n o f h i g h c o s t inventory of raw material and steel coincided with d r o p i n r e a l i s a t i o n s t o r e s u l t i n m a r g i n d e c l i n e across geographies,” CFO

Koushik Chatterjee said

Operating profit of the main India business dipped 62% to £513 5 million while that of the European unit fell 46% to £178 8 million

S e c o n d q u a r t e r r e v e n u e from operations marginal ly declined to £5 98 billion

The management expects the operating environment to improve in the second half of this fiscal on gov e r n m e n t m e a s u r e s a n d r e s t o c k i n g T h e m a r g i n s s h o u l d b e n e f i t a c r o s s geographies from gradual recovery in Indian markets and favourable movement i n r a w m a t e r i a l p r i c e s , e s p e c i a l l y c o k i n g c o a l , i t said

Suresh Vagjiani, Sow

Adani group to invest $150bn, focus on green

Michael Patra

in brief Former Pak PM Imran begins march to Islamabad

3 INDIAN STUDENTS KILLED IN US CAR ACCIDENT

Three Indian students, two from Telangana and one from Andhra Pradesh have died in a road accident in New Haven in the US recently The three were master’s students at the University of New Haven and Sacred Heart University in Connecticut Reports said the crash took place when the mini van in which the students were travelling hit a pickup truck head on The students are believed to have died on the spot The students have been identified as Goda Premkumar Reddy (26) and Gullapelli Pavani (22) from Telangana and Sai Narasimha (23) Local media reported they were returning home from an outing and thick fog in the morning may have caused the crash

DIWALI HOLIDAY FOR SCHOOLS IN NYC FROM 2023

In a significant decision, Diwali will be a public school holiday in New York City starting 2023, with mayor Eric Adams saying this sends a message about the significance of the city’s inclusiveness and this “long overdue” step will encourage children to learn about the festival of lights Adams said that he “learned so much” about Diwali and what this festival means He said that by declaring Diwali a holiday in New York City public schools, “we wanted to send a loud and clear message to the countless number of people who acknowledge this period of time of celebration

BAPPI LAHIRI’S ‘JIMMY, JIMMY’ IS CHINA PROTESTERS’ SONG

Millions of Chinese suffering the dreaded lockdowns have turned to Hindi cinema legend Bappi Lahiri s superhit song Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja from 1982 movie Disco Dancer to express their anger and frustration over the country s stringent zero Covid policy In the Chinese social media networks Douyin the song composed by Lahiri and sung by Parvati Khan is sung in Mandarin “Jie mi, jie mi”, which translates into “Give me rice, give me rice”, by people in the videos mockingly showing empty vessels to show how they are deprived of essential food items during the lockdowns The video has so far managed to escape Chinese censors that are quick to remove any post deemed critical of the country’s regime

SEOUL HALLOWEEN MISHAP TOLL RISES TO 153

Concerned relatives raced to hospitals in search of loved ones as South Korea mourned deaths of more than 150 people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, who got trapped and crushed after a huge Halloween party crowd surged into a narrow alley in a nightlife district in Seoul Witnesses said the crowd surge in Itaewon area caused “a hell like chaos as people fell on each other Some people were bleeding from their noses and mouths while being given CPR witnesses said while others clad in Halloween costumes continued to sing and dance nearby, possibly without knowing the severity of the situation

100 KILLED IN SOMALIA CAR BOMB BLASTS

The two car bombs that exploded at Somalia s education ministry, next to a busy market intersection, killed at least 100 people and wounded 300, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said warning the death toll could rise Mogadishu’s K5 intersection is normally teeming with people buying and selling everything from food clothing and water to foreign currency but it was quiet on Sunday, when emergency workers were still cleaning blood from the streets and buildings Saturday s attack was the deadliest since a truck bomb exploded at the same intersection in October 2017 killing more than 500 people

I SL A MA BA D: Form er Pakista n PM Im ran Khan k ick sta rte d his lo n g ma r ch f r o m L a h o r e t o Isla mabad with a “Dirt y Harr y ” dig at ISI boss L t Ge n N ade em Ahme d An jum, a day afte r t he latt er ’ s unpr eced ent ed appe ar an ce at a pre sse r to a ccuse him of t ry in g to lur e arm y chie f Ge n Qa mar Jav ed Ba jwa in to ba ck ing his erstwhile gov ern men t

“ISI DG, listen carefully The things I know, I am silent for the sake of my institutions and the country I don’t want to damage m y c o u n t r y , ” I m r a n s a i d t o cheers from the throng of sup porters accompanying him on the 380 km trek from the coun

try’s political and cultural hub to the capital in a purported quest f o r “ h a q e e q i a z a d i ( r e a l f r e e dom)” and to pressure the gov ernment into calling snap polls P a k i s t a n T e h r e e k i I n s a f said the march with Imran lead ing a tail of thousands of sup

p o r t e r s w o u l d e n t e r I s l a m a b a d o n November 4 after pass ing through a dozen o d d c i t i e s a l o n g t h e historical Grand Trunk Road Rallies starting s i m u l t a n e o u s l y f r o m the north and north w e s t e r n p a r t s o f t h e country will meet and merge with Imran’s march at a designated point before enter ing the capital, the party said PTI is in government in two of I s l a m a b a d ’ s n e i g h b o u r i n g p r o v i n c e s o f P u n j a b a n d Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the n o m i n a l l y s e l f g o v e r n i n g

regions of Gilgit Baltistan and AJK aka PoK

On the ISI chief’s allegation that Khan had made unconsti t u t i o n a l d e m a n d s t h r o u g h “ b a c k d o o r c o n t a c t ” w i t h G e n

Bajwa, the ex PM said, “I want free and fair elections This was d i s c u s s e d w i t h G e n B a j w a I want the people to decide who w i l l l e a d t h e c o u n t r y n o t Washington or anyone else ” Before his ouster from office in April, Imran had been looked at as the blue eyed boy of of the m i l i t a r y b r a s s H e h a s l a t e l y been accusing the military of supporting his rivals in collabo ration with the US

Lankans protest against economy, police brutality

C O L O M B O : T h o u sa nds o f Sri La nk a ns de m o n s tr a t ed i n t h e nation s cap ital, C olo mbo, agains t the s tate of the ec onomy and th e savage crackdown o n p rotesters earlier P articipants inc luded civil rights organisations, trade u nio ns and students

Sri Lanka is facing its worst e c o n o m i c c r i s i s i n d e c a d e s , p u s h i n g m a n y i n t o p o v e r t y Annual food price inflation is at 85 8 per cent and prices of non food items are at 62 8 per cent S r i L a n k a ’ s g r o s s d o m e s t i c p r o d u c t ( G D P ) i s f o r e c a s t t o contract by 8 7 per cent

The rally was organised by

the Trade Union Coordination C e n t e r T r a d e u n i o n s a n d well known individuals who were in charge of the prior demonstrations to oust former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa are now part of the merged people's movement Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected president by a vote in

Pak court refuses to release kidnapped Hindu girl from safe house

K A R A C H I : A P aki sta ni co u rt refused to allow a Hindu girl to leav e a shelter hom e and go with her parents d espite medical tests confirming that she was 16 years o ld w h en s h e w a s fo r ci b ly abd u c ted , c on v erted to Is lam and married to her captor in Sindh province

T h e g i r l w a s t a k e n f r o m Hyderabad, Sindh, on August 12; s h e w a s f o u n d a n d s e n t t o a secure home on October 20 as a result of a court order In light of t h e g i r l ' s p u r p o r t e d h u s b a n d ' s s u b m i s s i o n o f a m a r r i a g e certificate indicating that she was 19 years old, the court ordered a medical investigation to ascertain

the girl's age However, medical exams revealed that she was 16 years old

The court ruled that the girl will remain in a shelter home u n d e r t h e s u p e r v i s i o n o f t h e local administration until the next hearing, as it needed to look further into the matter According to her parents and their lawyer, the police did not file a case until September after which police and human right o f f i c i a l s r e c o v e r e d h e r f r o m B a l o c h i s t a n a n d b r o u g h t h e r b a c k t o H y d e r a b a d S h e w a s kept in a shelter home as her a l l e g e d h u s b a n d f i l e d a c a s e against her parents

P a r l i a m e n t o n J u l y 2 1 H e immediately declared a state of e m e r g e n c y , w h i c h g r a n t e d sweeping powers to the military a n d r e s u l t e d i n a s e r i e s o f crackdowns on protesters, with several protest leaders arrested I n A u g u s t , t h e U n i t e d Nations urged Wickremesinghe to end the crackdown, describing them as a “misuse of emergency measures ” However, with the cost of living rising and a series of t a x i n c r e a s e s s e t t o b e i n t r o d u c e d , d i s c o n t e n t i n t h e island nation of 22 million people is set to grow Sri Lanka is suffering from a

dollar shortage caused due to poor economic management and t h e i m p a c t o f t h e C o v i d 1 9 p a n d e m i c o n t h e c o u n t r y ’ s tourism market This has left the n a t i o n s t r u g g l i n g t o p a y f o r essential imports, including food, fuel and medicine

The country is set to receive a b a i l o u t a f t e r r e a c h i n g a p r e l i m i n a r y d e a l w i t h t h e International Monetary Fund for a loan of about $2 9 bn However, t h e d e a l i s c o n t i n g e n t o n financial assurances from official creditors and negotiations with p r i v a t e c r e d i t o r s , l e a v i n g i t unclear when it will be issued

Pak out of FATF grey list; able to access foreign loans

I SL A MA BA D: In a major r eprie ve for Pa kistan , the global t er rorist finan cin g wat chd og FATF an nounced t he count ry ’ s r emova l from its gr ey list , sa ying th e Sout h A sia n coun try , oft en de scr ibed by In dia as the fount ainhe ad of int er nat ional t er rorism, had larg ely complet ed its a ct ion plans on an ti mone y laun derin g a nd fina ncing of t err orism The ex it from the gr ey or increa sed monitor in g list is e xpe ct ed to allow Pak ist an access to more for eign loa ns a nd aid at a t ime it s econ omy r ema in s in d ire str aits

Announcing the decision after the plenary meeting in Paris, FATF chief T Raja Kumar welcomed Pakistan’s “significant progress ” in improving its anti money laundering/ combating of financing of ter rorism (AML/CFT) regime and also the “high level commitment” by the Pakistan leadership to the ongoing reforms for checking money laundering and terrorism financing He said an inspection team vis ited Pakistan to verify the action taken and it had returned satisfied The Paris based agency had in June this year agreed to an onsite eval uation in a sign that it was considering removing Pakistan from the grey list The onsite visit is allowed only when the agency is convinced that the action plans have been substantially completed There was no immediate reaction by the Indian authorities to the development Sources said though this was expected after the onsite visit in August Pakistan had been on the FATF grey list since June 2018

Issue summons to Gotabaya, orders Lanka SC

C O L O M B O : S ri L a nk a's S u p rem e C o u rt l as t w ee k d i rec te d au th o r i ti es to is s u e sum mo ns to o usted p resi dent Go tabaya Rajapaksa to app ear in court o ver the d isap pearances o f tw o activists in 2011 as he has no w b een s tri p p ed o f co n s ti tu ti o na l i m m u ni ty Ra ja p ak sa , 7 3 , w i ll n o w b e requ ired to give ev idence in the case filed on the disappearance o f tw o ri g h ts ac ti v i s ts L a li th We era raj a nd K u g a n Murugananthan in th e north ern district of Jaffna

T h e d i s a p p e a r a n c e s t o o k place 12 years ago soon after the end of the country's long civil w a r w h e n R a j a p a k s a w a s a powerful official at the Defence Ministry under the presidency of h i s e l d e r b r o t h e r , M a h i n d a Rajapaksa

A t t h e t i m e , G o t a b a y a R a j a p a k s a w a s a c c u s e d o f o v e r s e e i n g a b d u c t i o n s q u a d s t h a t w h i s k e d a w a y r e b e l suspects, critical journalists and activists, many of them never to be seen again He has previously denied any wrongdoing

W h e n R a j a p a k s a w a s originally summoned to appear in court in 2018, he petitioned the Court of Appeal claiming his life would be under threat if he

were to travel to Jaffna to appear in court

T h e A p p e a l C o u r t l a t e r r u l e d t h a t R a j a p a k s a c a n n o t b e summoned to court as h e h a d b e e n e l e c t e d President by then and enjoyed legal immunity as the President of the country As Rajapaksa has now lost his constitutional immunity, the a p e x c o u r t d e c i d e d t o i s s u e summons to him to make an a p p e a r a n c e o n D e c e m b e r 1 5 when the case would be heard R a j a p a k s a w a s o u s t e d i n t h e popular uprising against him for his mishandling of the island nation's worst economic crisis He fled to the Maldives mid J u l y a n d a n n o u n c e d h i s resignation from Singapore In

early September and he returned to the country from Thailand Issue summ ons to Gotabaya, ord ers Lanka SC C o l o m b o : S r i L a n k a ’ s S u p r e m e C o u r t d i r e c t e d authorities to issue summons to o u s t e d p r e s i d e n t G o t a b a y a R a j a p a k s a t o a p p e a r i n c o u r t over the disappearances of two activists in 2011 as he has now been stripped of constitutional i m m u n i t y R a j a p a k s a , 7 3 , w i l l now be required to give evidence i n t h e c a s e f i l e d o n t h e d i s a p p e a r a n c e o f t w o r i g h t s a c t i v i s t s L a l i t h W e e r a r a j a n d

Kugan Murugananthan in Jaffna district

T h e d i s a p p e a r a n c e s t o o k place 12 years ago after the end of the civil war when Rajapaksa was a powerful official at the defence ministry

Gotabaya Rajapaksa

in briefBiden hosts biggest ever Diwali reception at White House

50 KILLED AS RAIN LASHES PHILIPPINES

"we are honoured to host you This is the first Diwali reception of this scale in the white House ever to be held we have more Asian Americans than ever before in history and we want to thank you for making the Diwali celebration a joyous part of American culture," Biden said during a reception to celebrate the occasion wishing a happy Diwali to more than o n e b i l l i o n H i n d u s , J a i n s , s i k h s , a n d Buddhists celebrating this Festival of Lights in the United states, India, and around the world, Biden thanked the Asian American community in the Us for making the Diwali c e l e b r a t i o n a j o y o u s p a r t o f A m e r i c a n culture

"As we host the official white House Diwali reception, we are honoured to light the diya surrounded by members of the most diverse administration in American history

B i d e n t h a n k e d f o r t h e o p t i m i s m , courage, and empathy demonstrated by the incredible south Asian community all across America "Together, south Asian Americans reflect the soul of who we are as a nation, whether helping us emerge stronger from this pandemic, building an economy that w o r k s f o r e v e r y o n e , o r s e r v i n g a n d p r o t e c t i n g o u r c o m m u n i t i e s a n d o u r country

Man gets death penalty for murdering Sikh police officer in US

TEx As : The man convicte d for the murder of sa ndeep Dhal iwa l, a v etera n and first turban ed In dia n Ame rican sikh police officer in Tex as, was sen tenced to dea th on 27th october 2022, accor din g to police official state me nt

Robert solis, 50, was condemned by a jury in Houston’s Harris county court for the murder of Dhaliwal during a traffic stop on 27th september 2019 in northwest Houston

A jury comprised of citizens handed the verdict recommending the death penalty as punishment after deliberating for just 35 minutes The jury also deliberated for 25 minutes during initial pleas of guilt Harris county sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted: “Verdict is in: Jurors sentence Robert solis to death we are extremely grateful that justice has been served ”

Harris county District Attorney Kim ogg said in a statement "The defendant executed a uniformed deputy by shooting him in cold blood in broad daylight That makes him the worst of the worst, which is why we asked jurors to sentence him to death ”

In order to learn more about solis' 30 year criminal past, the jury heard testimony from at least 65 prosecution witnesses and witnessed multiple perspectives of the shooting incident during the trial solis, who represented himself after firing three defence attorneys, testified that the shooting was an accident However, prosecutors argued that the shooting was deliberate and intentional, owed to solis’ fears of going back to jail During solis’ closing argument, he used the last chance to address jurors by saying, “The only thing I have to say is that it’s your decision to make My life is in your hands ”

Salman Rushdie loses sight in one eye and use of one hand

New York: Th e 75 year old author, salm an Rushdie, h as lost sig ht in one eye and the use of o ne hand after the attack he suffered w hile p reparing to deliver a lecture in New York state tw o m onths ago, his agent has confirm ed

He received death threats from Iran in the 1980s after his novel 'The satanic Verses' was published, was stabbed in the neck and torso as he came on stage to give a talk on artistic freedom at the chautauqua Institution on 12 August

His agent Andrew wylie said “[His wounds] were profound, but he’s [also] lost the sight of one eye He had three serious wounds in his neck one hand is incapacitated because the nerves in his arm were cut And he has about 15 more wounds in his chest and torso so, it was a brutal attack ”

The agent declined to say whether Rushdie was still in hospital, saying the most important thing was that the writer is going to live He said that the world was going through “ a very troubled period” not least in the Us “I think nationalism is on the rise, a sort of fundamentalist right is on the rise From Italy to Europe, Latin America and the Us, where half the country seems to think that Joe Biden stole the election from Donald Trump And they admire this man who is not only completely incompetent and a liar and a crook, but just a farce It’s ridiculous ”

Hadi Matar, 24, the man accused of stabbing Rushdie pleaded not guilty to second degree attempted murder and assault charges when he appeared in court on August 18 Two weeks before the attack, Rushdie had told an interviewer that he felt his life was “ very normal again” and that fears of an attack were a thing of the past ”

As the world celebrates this gathering of light, he said, "as this community has experienced too o f t e n t h a t t h e r e i s a l w a y s d a r k n e s s l u r k i n g A m e r i c a n h i s t o r y h a s b e e n a c o n s t a n t s t r u g g l e b e t w e e n t h e A m e r i c a n ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh reality that we have n e v e r f u l l y l i v e d u p t o i t B y marking the victory of light over darkness, Diwali is a reminder that each one of us has the power to bring light to the world, whether here in America or around the world "

"with prayers, dances, fireworks, and sweets, Biden said may all who observe Diwali enjoy the chance to celebrate and connect, to feel the pride of the community, and to remember the power in the gathering of light "

V i c e p r e s i d e n t K a m a l a H a r r i s s a i d , "white House is the people's house and together our president and first lady have made this place where every American can celebrate their honour and tradition

New York renames street after Pramukh Swami Maharaj

NE w Y oRK : In a h istoric m ove, tow n of ficials of H unting to n, Ne w Y o rk, r en am e d De sh on D ri v e, a s tre et i n M el v i ll e T o w n sh i p to “ HH P ram u k h swami Drive ”

The renaming was meant to c o m m e m o r a t e t h e c e n t e n n i a l celebrations of Pramukh swami Maharaj, known to devotees as ‘ H i s H o l i n e s s ’ H e w a s t h e i n s p i r e r o f t h e B A P s s h r i swaminarayan Mandir located at 2 Deshon Drive councilman salvatore Ferro hosted the ceremony attended b y s t a t e , c o u n t y a n d t o w n officials who praised Pramukh

swami Maharaj and the BAPs shri swaminarayan Mandir in M e l v i l l e f o r i t s s o c i a l a n d s p i r i t u a l a c t i v i t i e s , a p r e s s release from BAPs said A m o n g t h e s p e a k e r s a n d o t h e r a t t e n d e e s w e r e s u f f o l k county Executive steve Bellone, T o w n s u p e r v i s o r E d s m y t h , s u f f o l k D e p u t y c o u n t y Executive Jon Kaiman, former Town supervisor Frank Petrone, s u f f o l k s h e r i f f E r r o l T o u l o n , s u f f o l k L e g i s l a t o r s t e p h a n i e Bontempi, state Assemblyman steve stern, state sen Mario Mattera and Town Receiver of Taxes Jillian Guthman

Flash floods and landslides set off by torrential rains in Philippines left at least 50 people dead, including in a hard hit southern province where as many as 60 villagers are feared missing and buried in a huge mudslide laden with rocks, trees and debris officials said At least 42 people were swept away by rampaging floodwaters and drowned or were hit by debris filled mudslides in three towns in Maguindanao province Eight other people died elsewhere in the country from the onslaught of Tropical Storm Nalgae which slammed into the eastern province of Camarines Sur early on Saturday But the worst storm impact so far was a mudslide that buried dozens of houses with as many as 60 people in the tribal village of Kusiong

UNSEASONAL HEAT SPARKS DOZENS OF WILDFIRES IN SPAIN

Dozens of wildfires raged in northern Spain last week after unusually high temperatures hitting 30 Celsius in some areas a day earlier turned vegetation into dry fuel, adding to mounting concerns about changing weather patterns in Europe In the Basque Country, Asturias and Cantabria about 40 blazes were reported according to regional emergency services Spain’s national weather agency AEMET predicted that it could be the hottest October since records began and said every day of the month except October 1 had been warmer than the normal temperature experienced at this time of year Basque weather agency Euskalmet raised the wildfire risk in the region to moderate and high, depending on the area

ICELAND PM PENS FIRST CRIME NOVEL

M o s c o w : R us s i a n pres ident Vladimir Putin c on g ra t ul at e d P ri m e Minis ter Narendra Modi f or pur s ui n g a n "i n d e pe n de n t f or ei g n po li c y " i n th e b es t i n te r e s ts of h i s n a ti o n , s a y i ng th a t R us s i a an d India have unique ties and h av e a l wa y s s up por t ed e a c h ot he r a n d w i ll continue to do so in the future He said Russia and India wi ll c on t i n ue t o c o ope r a te i n m i li ta ry a n d te ch ni c a l ar ea s

“w e have special ti es with India that are bui lt on the foundati on of really clos e allied relations for decades we never had any outstandi ng issues with India, ” Russian s tate media RT quoted Putin as s ayi ng

“PM Modi is one of those individuals in the world who is able to pursue an independent foreign policy in the interest of h i s c o u n t r y , a n d h i s p e o p l e without any attempts to stop him,” said Putin “A lot has b e e n d o n e i n r e c e n t y e a r s under PM Modi’s leadership,” he said “(India) is not only the largest democracy, in a good s e n s e o f t h i s w o r d , b u t i t should be proud of its growth r a t e , t h a t ’ s t h e b a s i s o f i t s

progress, ” he said Putin joined several global l e a d e r s , w h o h a v e e a r l i e r a d d r e s s e d P M M o d i ’ s l e a d e r s h i p I n a Q U A D m e e t i n g , U s P r e s i d e n t J o e Biden had praised the PM and his handling of the covid 19 pandemic by saying that Modi’s success has shown the world that democracies can deliver During coP 26 summit last y e a r , t h e n U K P M B o r i s J o h n s o n h a d c o m m e n d e d Modi, saying, “we should unite a c r o s s t h e p l a n e t t o t a c k l e climate change and there is one g u y w h o p a r t i c u l a r l y k n o w s how to do that there is one sun, one world, one Grid and one Narendra Modi ” In his a d d r e s s a t t h e U N , F r e n c h President Emmanuel Macron had praised Modi’s ‘Not an era of war ’ message to Putin

Like many around the world Iceland PM delved into her hobby during the pandemic Now, the crime novel she co wrote with one of Iceland s most popular authors has just been published Obviously, this is not something that I thought I would have any time to do, 46 year old PM Katrin Jakobsdottir said at an event this week for the book’s launch But it was “quite liberating to be working on this project during Covid,” she said “I don’t have any other interests this is my interest, ” she added with a laugh Titled “Reykjavik”, the thriller is written with Ragnar Jonasson, bestselling author of the “Dark Iceland” series, and is set in 1986, an important year in Iceland’s modern history

TRANSGENDER ACTIVIST BUYS MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT

Thai media mogul and transgender rights campaigner Anne Jakapong Jakrajutatip has bought the firm that runs Miss Universe pageants for $20 million Jakrajutatip becomes the first woman to own the beauty pageant organisation outright, as per an announcement by the JKN Global Group, of which she is chief executive

SAUDI JAILS US CITIZEN FOR 16 YEARS

An American citizen has been arrested in Saudi Arabia, tortured and sentenced to 16 years in prison over tweets he sent while in the US, his son Ibrahim said Saad Ibrahim Almadi, 72 was arrested last year while visiting family in the kingdom He was detained over 14 “mild tweets” posted over the past seven years, mostly criticising the government “We have raised concerns regarding the case at senior levels of the Saudi government,” the US state department said Saudi officials had no comment A Saudi court recently sentenced a woman to 45 years in prison for allegedly damaging the country through her social media activity

wA s HI NG To N: U s Presid ent Jo e Bi den and First Lady Jill Bid en last w eek h osted the bigg est ever Diwali reception ev er in the white Ho use w hich also saw th e p resence o f s e v era l I nd i a n A m e ri ca ns fr om t h e adm inistration

led by Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black American and south Asian American to become Vice President "

Russia and India have unique ties, PM Modi a true patriot: Putin

Vladimir Putin

PM Modi celebrates Diwali with armed forces in Kargil

K ee p i n g w it h h is t ra di t io n o f s p en di n g D i w al i wi th ar me d forces, P rime Minister Narendra Mo di sp ent this year ’ s D iwali with armed fo rces i n Kargil Addressing th e jawans , th e Prime Minister sai d that the reverence for the so il o f K a rg i l al wa ys d ra ws h i m to w ar ds th e b ra ve s o n s an d dau ghters of the armed fo rc es “Fo r years, you have been a part of my family”, the Prime Mi nister sai d

T h e P r i m e M i n i s t e r emphasised that no such battles a g a i n s t P a k i s t a n h a d o c c u r r e d b e c a u s e , f o l l o w i n g K a r g i l ' s v i c t o r y , t h e T r i c o l o r w a s n o t r a i s e d T h e P r i m e M i n i s t e r e x p r e s s e d t h e h o p e t h a t t h e festival of lights would highlight the way to peace and prosperity in t h e c u r r e n t g e o p o l i t i c a l e n v i r o n m e n t , r e f l e c t i n g I n d i a ' s

aspiration in the modern world

"I have witnessed the Kargil war closely It was my duty that had brought me to Kargil back then There are many memories of that time when the sounds of v i c t o r y w e r e r e v e r b e r a t i n g a l l around," Modi said, continuing

with the tradition set by him t o c e l e b r a t e D i w a l i a t t h e country's frontiers

"In Kargil, our armed forces had crushed the hood of terror and people still remember Diwali that was celebrated back then," he said He said over the last eight

Social media becomes a ‘toolkit’ of extremists, says Jaishankar

I nd i a's f ore ig n m in is ter S J aishankar referred to ter rorism as one o f the g reatest risks to hum anity and stated that over the past 20 years, the United Nations Security C ouncil h ad develop ed a sig n ifi cant arc h itectu re, c en tred on the counter terror i s m sa nc ti o ns sy s tem , to add ress this threat This was p a rti c u la rly su c c es sf u l i n a le rti ng th e na ti o ns t h at h a v e m ad e ter ro ri s m a " State fund ed enterp rise " T h e s a n c t i o n s r e g i m e has seen leaders of Pakistan based groups like Lashkar e T a i b a ( L e T ) a n d J a i s h e M o h a m m e d ( J e M ) b a n n e d b y t h e U N e v e n t h o u g h many others, some of whom a r e a c c u s e d i n t h e 2 6 / 1 1

Mumbai terror attacks, have been shielded by China from similar action by the UN

He said despite the UN action, the threat of terror ism was only growing and e x p a n d i n g , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n Asia and Africa Jaishankar also announced that India will make a voluntary con tribution of half a million d o l l a r s i n t h e U N T r u s t Fund for Counter Terrorism this year This will be used to assist UNOCT's efforts to help member states develop their ability to prevent and combat the threat of terror ism

T h e m i n i s t e r w a r n e d a b o u t " n o n S t a t e a c t o r s " abusing emerging technolo gy like encrypted communi

cations and crypto currency and said that social media platforms have evolved into p o t e n t t o o l s i n t e r r o r i s t organisations' "toolkits "

J a i s h a n k a r s t a t e d t h a t the technological advance m e n t s o f t h e l a s t t w o decades have fundamentally c h a n g e d h o w t h e w o r l d runs, and the newest and m o s t p r o m i s i n g t e c h n o l o gies, such as virtual private n e t w o r k s , e n c r y p t e d m e s saging services, blockchain, and virtual currencies, hold great promise for a variety of future economic and social advantages Jaishankar was speaking at the UNOCT m e e t w h i c h w a s h e l d i n M u m b a i a n d D e l h i f r o m October 28 and 29

All forms of Maoism must be uprooted, says PM Modi

In a C hintan Shiv ir confer e nc e, P ri m e M i ni st er Narend ra M odi stated th at “ ev ery form of Maoism, be it w it h g u ns o r w it h p en s, m ust be up rooted to prevent them fro m misleading the y o u th o f th e c o u nt ry ” W arni ng th at s uc h fo rc es are increasing their intellec tual sph ere to perv ert the m in d s o f co m i ng g en era tions, Mod i said they cannot be allowed to flourish “for t h e s ak e of u n it y a nd integrity of the nation”

The conference is head ed by home minister Amit Shah and attended by chief ministers, state home minis ters, LGs and administrators of UTs and senior officials of various central and state police forces was concluded with consensus that internal s e c u r i t y i s t h e s h a r e d r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f b o t h t h e Centre and states

Among the key assess ments shared in the meeting a r e t h a t B i h a r a n d Jharkhand have become free f r o m l e f t w i n g e x t r e m i s m and that peace in the north e a s t h a s s e e n A f s p a a r e a

r e d u c e d a n d 9 , 2 0 0 i n s u r g e n t s s u r r e n d e r o v e r t h e p a s t e i g h t y e a r s I t w a s agreed that focus should be laid on cyber crime, improv i n g c o n v i c t i o n r a t e s , n a r cotics, border security and using forensic science capa bilities to achieve 90% con viction rate

The PM asked the states for assistance in destroying the terrorists' underground network He proposed the notion of a uniform for state

p o l i c e f o r c e s a c r o s s t h e nation This, he said, will give a common identity to law enforcement as citizens will recognise police person nel anywhere in the country States can have their num ber or insignia, Modi sug gested “One Nation, One Police Uniform I am just p u t t i n g t h i s f o r w a r d a s a thought for your considera tion,” PM said while asking the states to take their time to mull the suggestion

years, the government has worked on implementing reforms in the armed forces by deploying new t e c h n o l o g i e s , d e v e l o p i n g infrastructure in border areas and opening up positions for women in the armed forces

H e h i g h l i g h t e d a b o u t h o w

India has been dealing with its e n e m i e s , b o t h e x t e r n a l a n d internal, with force and recounted the steps taken to "uproot" the "terror, naxalism and extremism" from within the country He said India has never viewed war as the first option "We have always seen war as the last resort We are in favour of global peace But peace c a n n o t b e a c h i e v e d w i t h o u t strength ”

The Prime Minister said that the eyes of the whole world today a r e o n I n d i a a n d i t s g r o w t h potential He said that the Azadi Ka Amrit Kaal is going to be a real witness to this power of India “Your role in this is huge because you are the Pride of India”, the P r i m e M i n i s t e r r e m a r k e d H e concluded his address by reciting a poem dedicated to the jawans of the armed forces

3 pilgrims from Gujarat among 7 killed in Kedarnath copter crash

Six C har Dham pilg rim s and a pilo t were among seven people killed w hen a heli c o p ter cr as h ed m in u tes af te r it to o k o f f f ro m K ed arn ath sh r in e f o r Guptkashi Out of the six k il le d th r ee are f ro m G uj a rat T h e a cc i d en t oc curred at Dev Darsh ini, b etw e en Ga ru d c h at ti an d L inch oli Repo rt said th at f iv e o f th e p il g ri m s w er e wo men

The chopper, operated b y A r y a n A v i a t i o n , w a s a B e l l 4 0 7 , r e g i s t e r e d a s VTRPN According to the S t a t e D i s a s t e r R e s p o n s e F o r c e , t h e c h o p p e r w e n t d o w n w h i l e n e g o t i a t i n g dense fog District disaster m a n a g e m e n t o f f i c e r N K

Rajwar stated that “It looks like the pilot, after seeing t h e f o g a h e a d , t r i e d t o return to Kedarnath In the process, the chopper’s tail hit the ground as it was fly ing too low ”

The fatalities have been identified as Purva Ramanuj (26), Kriti (30), and Urvi (25) f r o m G u j a r a t ; S u j a t a ( 5 6 ) , Prem Kumar (63) and Kala (60) from Tamil Nadu, and pilot Anil Singh, 57, from M u m b a i T e a m s o f S D R F a n d N D R F r u s h e d t o t h e

spot for search and rescue operations “All seven per sons on board died on the spot,” said an SDRF official

A senior police officer m o n i t o r i n g t h e d e v e l o p ment said, “the pilot had t o l d A T C t h a t h e w a s returning because of severe fog that had caused poor vision after taking off from Kedarnath He was turning around after gaining clear a n c e w h e n t h e h e l i c o p t e r crashed into a hill ” C Ravishankar, CEO of Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority said t h a t a D G C A t e a m h a s reached Dehradun and will start a technical investiga tion to ascertain the cause of the accident

Enemies trying to sabotage India's unity, stay united

P ri m e M i n i st e r N ar e nd ra Modi on Monday said that India’ s enemi es were tryi ng to break i ts unity and that the count ry should s tan d firm against them H e visit ed the Statue of Unity (SoU) in Kevadiya, Narmada dis t ri c t , to p a y tr i b ut e t o India’ s first home mi nister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on h i s b i r th an n i v er s a ry observed as the Ras htriya E kta D iwas or the National Unity Day

ED allowed to confiscate Nirav Modi's assets worth £50mn

A speci al c ourt granted the ED permiss ion to sei ze 39 of the fugi ti ve diamantai re N i ra v M o d i ' s p ro p er t i e s , v al ued at a lm os t £5 0 mn A d d i t i on a l l y , t h e P N B 's r e q u es t f o r 9 p r op e r ti e s totaling £42 4 milli on that M od i a nd hi s c om pan i es had mortgaged or hypothe c ated was allowed

The properties the ED w i l l c o n f i s c a t e w h i c h i n c l u d e s 1 2 i m m o v a b l e

p r o p e r t i e s a t t a c h e d t o R h y t h m H o u s e a t K a l a g h o d a , c o n s i g n m e n t s seized by agencies when in transit, amounts parked in several bank accounts held o u t s i d e t h e c o u n t r y a n d valuables seized from his A l i b a u g b u n g a l o w T h e y include 22 cars, including a M e r c e d e s a n d a B e n t l e y , and the ED could now auc tion them

The CBI had charged

him of defrauding PNB by obtaining LoUs of o v e r £ 7 0 0 m i l l i o n i n c r i m i n a l c o n s p i r a c y with several bank offi cials In June 2020, in t h e f i r s t o r d e r o f s e i z u r e u n d e r t h e F u g i t i v e E c o n o m i c Offenders (FEO) Act, 2018, the court had directed that M o d i ’ s p r o p e r t i e s b e a t t a c h e d b y t h e E D However, it had exempted

“This unity of our coun try has been an eyesore for o u r e n e m i e s N o t j u s t today, but from thousands of years and even during the period of our slavery, all foreign attackers did what ever they wanted to do to break this unity,” he said “The country is still having issues as a result of the poi son that was injected over such a long time We wit nessed the division of the nation and how its enemies

profited from it,” Modi said “Those forces are still p r e v a l e n t , t h e y w a n t t o m a k e t h e p e o p l e o f t h e country fight in the name of caste, region and language,” he said, adding that history is also presented in such a w a y t h a t p e o p l e c a n n o t stand with each other “It's i m p o r t a n t t o e m p h a s i s e that these forces are not just our well known exter n a l o p p o n e n t s ; t h e y f r e quently infiltrate our soci ety through the slave men t a l i t y , a c t i n g o u t o f s e l f i n t e r e s t , a p p e a s e m e n t , nepotism, greed, and cor ruption,” he said H a i l i n g S a r d a r P a t e l ’ s contributions, he said it is difficult to imagine the sit uation if India’s integration was not led by Patel He fur t h e r s t a t e d t h a t “ W h a t w o u l d h a v e h a p p e n e d i f m o r e t h a n 5 5 0 p r i n c e l y states were not amalgamat ed? If our princely states w o u l d h a v e n o t s h o w n sense of sacrifice and faith in ‘Maa Bharati’ and decid e d n o t t o j o i n u s , w h a t would have happened?

assets secured to PNB and a consortium of banks either through mortgage, hypoth ecation or personal guaran tee Modi was declared an FEO in December 2019

Nirav Modi

AAP to contest all 224 Karnataka seats in 2023 polls

BEN GA LURU : The fled gling A a m A a d mi P a r ty i n K arnata ka is aimin g bi g in the u p co m i n g s t a t e a s s e mb l y e lecti on a s it ha s d eci ded to f i e l d c a n d i d a t e s i n a l l 224 c o n s t i t u e n ci e s w i t h a n t i corruption ag enda as i ts main pla nk, a party leader sai d

The AAP is already in the stage of finalising more than h a l f o f t h e c a n d i d a t e s a n d intends to release its first list by the first week of January 2023, b a r e l y f o u r m o n t h s b e f o r e t h e election

Thereafter, the subsequent list of candidates will be announced "We have decided to contest in all t h e 2 2 4 c o n s t i t u e n c i e s W e h a v e s t a r t e d o u r c a m p a i g n i n 1 7 0 constituencies of the state through G r a m S a m p a r k A b h i y a n ( v i l l a g e approach drive) and we are in the process of appointing people at the b o o t h l e v e l i n t h e s e 1 7 0 constituencies," party spokesperson a n d K a r n a t a k a A A P c o n v e n e r Prithvi Reddy said

A c c o r d i n g t o h i m , t h e r e a r e 58,000 odd booths in the state and

the party is "aggressively" appointing at least 10 workers in each booth

"We are strengthening our party by working at the booth level That's how we can fight against money and muscle power," Reddy explained

These booth level workers have been assigned the task of raising issues concerning people in their a r e a , R e d d y s a i d a d d i n g t h a t t h e r e s p o n s e A A P i s g e t t i n g i s t r e m e n d o u s b e c a u s e p e o p l e a r e already fed up with the rampant corruption in the state

The AAP leader said all the three main political parties in the state have failed to check corruption and meet people's expectation

HYD ERA BA D: Tela ngana chie f mi nister K Chandrase khar Ra o accuse d the B JP of ‘try ing to buy’ 20 to 30 MLAs of the ruling TRS and topple his gov ern ment and cla ime d that ‘brokers’ from De lhi w ere offering £10 m illion to ea ch legisla tor

Addressing a poll rally at Munugode segment, Rao said, however, the legislators, who are 'sons of the soil,' rebuffed the offer Hitting back, the BJP stated that the MLAs were not worth £10 million and asserted it had no intention of toppling the TRS government Rao said, BJP thinks there is one KCR who is talking loudly Let's see his (political) end They have sent brokers to buy each MLA for £10 million They wanted to buy 20 to 30 MLAs and topple KCR's government and encroach Telangana so that they can implement privatisation as per their will ”

His remarks came a day after police detained and placed three suspects in judicial custody for attempting to "poach" four TRS lawmakers During the public meeting, the CM paraded the four lawmakers, praising them and saying that politics needed more individuals like them

“Four sons of soil (MLAs) came with me (today for the meeting) Day before yesterday some Delhi brokers came to buy our Telangana self respect and offered £10 million But our sons of soil hit them with their left footwear saying they were not for sale," the CM said, adding they wanted to purchase the legislators like “cattle” in the open market

Based on a complaint by P Rohith Reddy, one of the TRS legislators, cases were filed against Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nanda Kumar and Simhayaji Swamy on October 26

in brief

KARNATAKA CM READY TO FACE PROBE OVER DIWALI GIFT

Forty eight hours after Diwali cash gift from Karnataka CM’s office (CMO) to journalists made waves, CM Basavaraj Bommai said he is ready to face a Lokayukta probe into the controversy, which is “part of a Congress toolkit designed to spread lies about my government ” He distanced himself from the row and denied issuing any orders to give bribes to senior journalists and editors of newspapers and TV media Bommai said: The matter is before the Lokayukta with a complaint filed against the CMO and its officials It now has its own police wing Let them investigate I m ready to face investigations I never instructed anyone to pay the bribe

PANEL SEEKS PROBE INTO SASIKALA’S ROLE IN JAYA’S DEATH

The dera chief has significantly increased his online activity during his latest parole, his third this year There have been a few incidents of the dera sending its followers to invite people for gatherings in different villages being confronted by Sikhs These indicate that things could take a turn for the worse in the state

So far, only Punjab assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhawan, Congress deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Congress MP Ravneet Bittu, Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) leader and former finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, and SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia have spoken out against the dera head’s parole and his increased activity Punjab Youth Congress president B r i n d e r S i n g h D h i l l o n h a s q u e s t i o n e d t h e s i l e n c e o f political leadership across parties through a Twitter thread

The contrast within Congress gets even bigger as Randhawa has been acerbic in his comments against the dera chief but Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and LoP Partap Singh Bajwa have been silent

C HA N DIG A R H: Fat her of la te Pu nj abi sin g er Sid hu Moose Wa la Balka ur Singh s a i d t ha t h i s s o n w a s m u r d e r e d i n br o a d da ylight, but justice has n ot bee n ser ved ye t He st at ed t h a t h e h a s be c om e t i r e d o f t h e de la ye d justice If no a ction wa s tak en for a mont h, he said he would le ave t he coun tr y

W h i l e a d d r e s s i n g p e o p l e i n Mansa, the singer’s father said, “My child was murdered in a planned way Police want to show it as a gang war incident I have sought time from DGP to hear about my problems I will wait for a month, if nothing happens, I’ll withdraw my FIR and leave the country ”

He stated, “As a veteran soldier w h o s e r v e d m y n a t i o n , I a m c o n t i n u o u s l y c a l l i n g f o r j u s t i c e However, until now harassment has taken the place of justice, despite our

best efforts to cooperate w i t h t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n Y o u n g p e o p l e a r e f r e q u e n t l y l e a v i n g t h e c o u n t r y n o w b e c a u s e o f the lack of seriousness in t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n H e further stated, “I have sought time to meet the Director General of Police and will wait till November 25 After that, I will leave the country because we have become tired ” He said that National Investigation Agency (NIA) is now harassing girls also

“The government does not care that someone ’ s son has died, they are only concerned about the election,” he said “My son had not harmed anyone, some people are defaming him," said Moosewala's mother Charan Kaur Sidhu Moose Wala, 28, was shot dead on May 29 a day after the state g o v e r n m e n t c u r t a i l e d h i s s e c u r i t y cover The Punjabi singer was shot dead at point blank range

A panel that probed the circumstances leading to former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa s death in 2016 indicted V K Sasikala, the late leader's close confidante, medical doctor K S Sivakumar, former Health Minister C Vijayabaskar and the then Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan and recommended a probe against them The state government which tabled the Commission of Inquiry s report in the Assembly said it would initiate action after getting legal opinion The Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry said, they "have to be found fault with and investigation is to be ordered " Sasikala is indicted considering several aspects, it said

SIKH BODIES SEEK 'VISA ON ARRIVAL' FROM PAK GOVT

Liberalised visa policy, upkeep of the Sikh shrines and resumption of train service between India and Pakistan were the main issues raised during the centenary of Shaheedi Saka (martyrdom massacre) Panja Sahib at Gurdwara Sri Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal in Pakistan The samagam was jointly organised by the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (PSGPC) and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Akal Takht’s officiating jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said post Partition many gurdhams (Sikh shrines) including Gurdwara Panja Sahib, went to Pakistan, towards which the Sikh community had deep reverence and devotion He said that the Sikh shrines and institutions need to be strengthened

K O L K A T A : T h e fu tu r e o f d em ocracy in India is in d anger because p ower is co ncentrated in th e hand s of a few and this c o u ld le ad t o a “ p re si d e nti a l f o rm ” o f g o v ern m en t, u n d er m i ni ng t h e na ti o n ’ s f ed era l s tru c tu re , B eng al C M M am a ta Ba ne rj ee s ai d at a n e v en t w h ere C h i e f J u s ti c e o f India UU Lalit w as also present

“All the democratic power is being seized by some people, one section of people And if this goes on, the country may head f o r a p r e s i d e n t i a l f o r m o f g o v e r n m e n t W h e r e w i l l democracy be then?” Mamata said at the convocation of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences Apart from Chief Justice Lalit, who is the u n i v e r s i t y c h a n c e l l o r , C h i e f

Justice of Calcutta HC Prakash S h r i v a s t a v a , B a n g l a d e s h c h i e f justice Hasan Foez Siddique and SC judge Aniruddha Bose were among the guests at the event Mamata said: “The judiciary m u s t s a v e t h e p e o p l e f r o m d i s a s t e r a n d i n j u s t i c e ” T h e j u d i c i a r y m u s t h e a r p e o p l e ’ s cries Now, people are crying behind closed doors ” Mamata

a l s o l a s h e d o u t a t mounting incidents of media trial “There are so many things going on before a verdict i s p r o n o u n c e d , t h e media trial is on, ” she s a i d “ T h e m e d i a c a n n o t c o n t r o l t h e judiciary; they can give their opinion If you think I am wrong, I will be the first one to apologise

The media is attempting to i n f l u e n c e t h e j u d i c i a r y T h e y give their opinion and accuse anybody and abuse anybody ”

S a y i n g r e s p e c t a n d i z z a t (honour) are integral to one ’ s character, she said: “Our only prestige is our respect, our izzat Agar hamara izzat loot liya to sab loot liya (If someone robs us of

o u r h o n o u r , t h e y r o b u s o f everything) The judiciary must look into this ”

M a m a t a a s k e d t h e f r e s h batch of law graduates to ensure justice to the people “When the people are without hope, they move court to get justice We have the highest regards for the judiciary It is like our temple, mosque and church,” she said

The CM congratulated Chief J u s t i c e L a l i t , s a y i n g h e h a d restored people’s faith in the j u d i c i a r y “ D u r i n g h i s t w o month stint, we have seen what judiciary is ”

Chief Justice Lalit urged the students to keep their minds open and try out all solutions to s o l v e a p r o b l e m A l s o h a v e c o m p a s s i o n f o r m a n k i n d a n d society,” he said

BENGAL PANCHAYAT POLL LIKELY IN MARCH 2023

The West Bengal Panchayat elections are likely to be held in March 2023 sources said, adding that the State Election Commission (SEC) and Panchayat Department are preparing for it The process of delimitation, reservation and meeting with the district magistrate has been conducted and the SEC will announce the dates after consultation with the state government said sources In November Duare Sarkar’ (Government at Your Doorstep) camps will be held in different areas, to help people avail government schemes in every village and block Bengal BJP while gearing up for polls demands central security to prevent 2018 like violence The TMC government has already instructed all senior leaders to start an extensive district tour

PUNJAB

WEST BENGAL

Will leave country if justice delayed, Moose Wala's dad

BJP trying to ‘buy’ 20-30 TRS MLAs, alleges Telangana CM

Bitterness in Punjab over Dera chief’s parole, satsangs

Future of democracy is in danger, says Mamata

JA LAN D H AR : With bitte rness brewing in par ts of Pun ja b ov er the g ran t of par ole to ra pe a nd mur der con vict G ur me et R am Rahim, the hea d of Sirsa hea dquarte red D era Sa cha Sauda, pol itical parties an d their l eader s a re m a in t a in in g a st oi c sil en ce in t he st a t e , b a r r in g fe w e xce ption s

Balkaur Singh

Mamata Banerjee

PM Modi inaugurates TataAirbus aircraft plant in Vadodara Dedicates rail projects worth £290mn in Ahmedabad

P ri m e M i ni s ter Nar end r a Mod i said that h is gov ern ment's "stable, p redictable, and futuristic" p olicies h av e resulted in Ind ia becoming a signifi cant internati onal manufacturing base

The PM was addressing a gathering of industrialists a n d i n d u s t r y r e p r e s e n t a tives in Vadodara as he laid the foundation stone of the T a t a A i r b u s C 2 9 5 p l a n t , India’s first transport air c r a f t m a n u f a c t u r i n g u n i t for the IAF

“Now India is working w i t h a n e w m i n d s e t a n d w o r k c u l t u r e , ” t h e P M remarked “India is making f i g h t e r j e t s , t a n k s , s u b m a r i n e s , m e d i c i n e s , v a c c i n e s , e l e c t r o n i c g a d g e t s , m o b i l e p h o n e s a n d c a r s that are popular in many countries ”

He added that moving forward with the mantra of ‘Make in India, Make for the Globe’, the country is n o w b e c o m i n g a m a j o r

manufacturer of transport aircraft in the world

T h e T a t a G r o u p w i l l manufacture 40 C295 tacti cal transport aircraft at the Vadodara facility in cooper a t i o n w i t h E u r o p e a n aerospace major Airbus fol lowing a £2 19 billion agree m e n t i n S e p t e m b e r l a s t year India sealed the deal w i t h A i r b u s D e f e n c e a n d Space to procure 56 of the aircraft to replace IAF’s age i n g A v r o 7 4 8 p l a n e s t h a t entered service in the early 1960s

PM Modi said “It is for the first time that such a big

investment is being made in the Indian defence sector

The transport aircraft man ufactured here will not only s t r e n g t h e n t h e a r m e d f o r c e s b u t w i l l a l s o h e l p develop a new ecosystem of aircraft manufacturing ”

T h e d e f e n c e a n d aerospace sectors are going to be the crucial pillars of the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ push in the coming years He said “We aim to scale our defence manufacturing beyond US $25 billion by 2025 Our defence exports will also exceed US $5 bil lion ”

Dedicating two railway pro jects worth £290 million i n A h me da b ad o n M o n da y e ve ni n g, P ri me Mi n i s te r N ar en dr a Mo d i s ai d th e double engine BJP govern me nts a t th e Ce ntre an d Gujarat have resu lted in th e accelerated growth o f rai l ways i n th e state “Wh en th e g o ve rn me nt o f do u b l e engine works, its effect is manifo ld Here one and o ne together assume the power o f 1 1 W i t h t h e do u b l e e ng i ne go v er nm e nt , th e p ace of work in Gu jarat h as not o nly increased, bu t it a ls o g o t th e s t re ng th to e xp an d i t, ” t h e P M remarked at a fu nction i n Ahmedabad

Speaking on the occa s i o n , r a i l w a y m i n i s t e r Ashwini Vaishnaw said that p i e r s f o r t h e b u l l e t t r a i n p r o j e c t b e t w e e n A h m e d a b a d a n d M u m b a i have been constructed over a distance of 100km and pile has been cast over a length

Telangana govt withdraws general consent to CBI

T he T elangana gov ernment h as w ithd raw n its g eneral consent to C BI to inv esti g ate cases in the state, it is seen as tactical strateg y in the w ake of BJP demand ing an inv estigation by th e cen tral ag ency into the alleg ed cash for M LA scand al

After Telangana police detained three suspects for allegedly attempting to pay f o u r T R S M L A s w i t h £ 1 0 million each to defect to the B J P a h e a d o f t h e c r u c i a l Munugode bypolls, calls for a CBI investigation gained traction BJP officials filed a petition with the Telangana h i g h c o u r t , d e n y i n g t h e accusations, and asking for a CBI probe

According to a state gov e r n m e n t o r d e r i s s u e d o n August 30, prior consent is mandatory for CBI to carry

o u t a n i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n

Telangana Though the gov ernment order was issued two months ago, it did not figure in the public domain last week, when the addi t i o n a l a d v o c a t e g e n e r a l i n f o r m e d T e l a n g a n a h i g h court during arguments on a BJP petition seeking CBI probe into the bribery scan dal that general consent had been withdrawn

U n d e r D e l h i S p e c i a l P o l i c e E s t a b l i s h m e n t A c t , 1946, general consent of a state government is neces sary for CBI to operate in that state Telangana home secretary Ravi Gupta stated in the order that “consent given on September 23, 2016, has been withdrawn to all members of Delhi Special P o l i c e E s t a b l i s h m e n t A c t H e n c e f o r t h , c o n s e n t o f

TN bomber planned to hit temple, homes: NIA

A 29 ye ar ol d enginee ring graduate who wa s kill ed at the w h e e l of a ca r t h a t e x p l od e d in f r on t o f a t e m p l e in Coimbatore was poten tiall y a suicide b omb er whose l ack of compe tence wit h e xplosive s spared t he a rea t he ha rm he coul d have int ended t o wre ak, the National Inve stiga tion Age ncy said after col lecting evidence to connect the dots

A witness told the police that the car blew up soon after Jameesha Mubin, whom the NIA had interrogated in 2019, stopped in front of the Sangameswara temple at Kottaimedu at 4 am on Diwali eve The witness, who was informed of the investigation, claimed that the man exited the burning car and collapsed nearby Before anyone close, including the officers at a nearby checkpoint, could intervene, the body was burnt

According to their theory, Mubin was radicalised after reading IS literature but had not previously been trained in terrorist techniques He learned everything by reading arti cles about manufacturing bombs that were available online Based on the interrogation of the six alleged IS sympathisers arrested in the case so far, Mubin thought his suicide bombing mission would devastate an area with a radius of 50 to 100 metres, including the temple and some residential buildings in the vicinity

Mubin and two of his alleged accomplices Mohammed Azarudheen and K Afsar Khan placed three steel drums stuffed with potassium nitrate, aluminium powder, sulphur, charcoal, nails and ball bearings in the car along with two LPG cylinders CCTV cameras captured the act, an official said

Telangana government shall be required on a case to case basis for investigation of any offence or class of offences”

T e l a n g a n a C M K C h a n d r a s h e k a r R a o a s k e d all states to retract general

consent to CBI He had then said the Centre was misus ing investigating agencies to t a r g e t p o l i t i c a l r i v a l s I n N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 8 , t h e n Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu took back the state’s general consent to CBI

o f 1 9 3 k m “ F r o m a b u d getary allocation of £58 mil lion for Gujarat eight years ago, this year, the allocation is £474 5 million If the the bullet and freight corridor projects are included, the a l l o c a t i o n f o r G u j a r a t stands at £12 5 billion,” the minister said Modi dedicat e d t w o r a i l w a y p r o j e c t s w o r t h o v e r £ 2 9 0 m i l l i o n w h i c h i n c l u d e t h e Ahmedabad Himmatnagar U d a i p u r g a u g e c o n v e r t e d line and Lunidhar Jetalsar gauge converted line The P M a l s o f l a g g e d o f f n e w trains between Bhavnagar J e t a l s a r a n d A s a r w a Udaipur

“When the meter gauge line on a route is changed to broad gauge, it brings with it many new possibilities,” t h e P M r e m a r k e d W i t h c o n v e r s i o n o f t h e 3 0 0 k m r a i l l i n e f r o m A s a r w a t o

U d a i p u r i n t o broad gauge, the t r i b a l a r e a s o f G u j a r a t a n d Rajasthan will be c o n n e c t e d t o Delhi and North I n d i a T h e c o n v e r s i o n o f t h i s r a i l w a y l i n e t o broad gauge has also made anoth er route available f o r A h m e d a b a d and Delhi Also, direct rail connectivity has b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d b e t w e e n the tourist places of Kutch a n d U d a i p u r T h e P M remarked that with the con version of Lunidhar Jetalsar rail line to broad gauge, the D h a s a J e t a l s a r s e c t i o n i s n o w f u l l y c o n v e r t e d i n t o broad gauge This rail line p a s s e s t h r o u g h B o t a d , Amreli and Rajkot districts which till now have had lim ited rail connectivity

The PM said that 12 Gati S h a k t i C a r g o T e r m i n a l s have also been planned to give a new dimension to the d e v e l o p m e n t o f W e s t e r n R a i l w a y “ T h e f i r s t G a t i S h a k t i M u l t i m o d a l C a r g o Terminal has been commis sioned in Vadodara circle Soon the rest of the termi nals will also be ready to provide their services”, he added

135 killed as suspension bridge in Morbi collapses

My heart goes out to victims: PM Modi

It was a lump in the throat moment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he heard about the tragedy incident while he was participating in the National Unity Day celebrations held near Statue of Unity (SoU) at Kevadia in Narmada district “On one hand, there is a heart laden with grief, while on the other there is the path of Karma and Kartavya,” an emotional Modi said, adding that it is the path of duty and responsibility that had led him at Kevadiya on the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas PM Modi announced an ex gratia of Rs 200,000 from PMNRF for the kin of each of those who lost their lives and Rs 50,000 for the injured

PM meets kin of victims

PM Modi on Tuesday visited Morbi and met people who were involved in the rescue and relief operations Later, he visited Morbi civil hospital to meet injured people and family members of victims who lost their lives in the incident

9 people arrested

Sources said there were hundreds of people on this historic bridge Large number of people standing on the bridge fell into the river and started drowning The bridge, which was 1 25m wide and 233m long, was renovated by the Morbi based Oreva Group, said Sandeepsinh Jhala, chief officer of Morbi municipality He said the company had not submitted a fitness certificate “The bridge was given to Oreva Group for operation and maintenance for 15 years In March, it was closed for the public for renovation and reopened on the Gujarati New Year day on October 26,” Jhala said Morbi collector G T Pandya said that 170 people have

been rescued

The accident came as a grim reminder of August 11, 1979 when Machchu Dam tragedy left thousands dead The devastating flood occurred in the wake of 10 days of persistent rainfall and the earthen dam collapsed Within 20 minutes, floods of 12 to 30 foot height inundated the low lying areas of Morbi town

Officials of the state irrigation department c o n f i r m e d d e m o l i s h i n g a c h e c k d a m constructed by the municipality downstream of the Machchhu River to let off the water and aid rescue workers Several teams of National D i s a s t e r R e s p o n s e F o r c e ( N D R F ) w e r e searching through the river and the Army's help was also sought After hearing the news, chief m i n i s t e r B h u p e n d r a P a t e l c a n c e l l e d a l l h i s programmes and rushed to Morbi where he met the victims of the tragedy

Musk hires Indian origin technology executive to upgrade Twitter

An Indian origin technology executive, Sr ira m Kris hnan, is “h e l pi ng out ” Tw it t e r 's ne w o wn er a n d m ul ti billionaire El on Musk as he r ev a m p s t he s o c ia l m ed ia gi a nt f ol l ow in g it s a c q uis it i on b y t he entrepreneur K ris hnan is a ge n e r a l p a r t ne r a t S il ic o n Va ll ey v ent ure c apita l f irm Andrees sen Horowitz (a 16z )

Krishnan tweeted, “Now t h a t t h e w o r d i s o u t : I ' m helping out @elonmusk with T w i t t e r t e m p o r a r i l y w i t h some other great people I (and a16z) believe this is a hugely important company and can have a great impact on the world and Elon is the person to make it happen ”

He added that he is “still very much in my day job” at @ a 1 6 z c r y p t o “ I f y o u ' r e a c r y p t o f o u n d e r , y o u k n o w

India

A ft er m o nth s o f d e lay s brought on by th e conflict in U kraine, th e Ind ian sp ace a g en cy re p o rts t h at it s r o ck et h a s s uc c es s fu l ly l au n ch e d 3 6 i nt ern et satellites for the UK based satellite com pany OneWeb into orbit

The mission part of a c o m m e r c i a l a r r a n g e m e n t between New Space India Limited, a government run firm, and OneWeb was announced successful by the I n d i a n S p a c e R e s e a r c h Organisation (ISRO)

“ T h i s i s t h e f i r s t e v e r commercial launch of the new rocket LVM3 [Launch V e h i c l e M a r k 3 ] , ” I S R O C h a i r m a n S r e e d h a r a

B e f o r e j o i n i n g a 1 6 z , K r i s h n a n h e l d n u m e r o u s s e n i o r p r o d u c t r o l e s a n d most recently, he “led core consumer teams at Twitter where he was responsible for products including the home t i m e l i n e , n e w u s e r experience, search, discovery, a n d a u d i e n c e g r o w t h ” , h i s

profile said

A c c o r d i n g t o h i s p r o f i l e , h e p r e v i o u s l y established and directed a n u m b e r o f m o b i l e a d p r o d u c t s f o r F a c e b o o k and Snap, including the F a c e b o o k A u d i e n c e N e t w o r k , o n e o f t h e b i g g e s t n e t w o r k s f o r d i s p l a y a d v e r t i s i n g , a n d S n a p ' s D i r e c t R e s p o n s e advertisements business He s t a r t e d h i s c a r e e r a t Microsoft where he touched numerous projects related to Windows Azure

L a s t w e e k , M u s k c o m p l e t e d t h e $ 4 4 b i l l i o n acquisition of Twitter and fired chief executive Parag A g r a w a l , l e g a l e x e c u t i v e Vijaya Gadde, Chief Financial O f f i c e r N e d S e g a l a n d G e n e r a l C o u n s e l S e a n Edgett

Nine people, including ticketing clerks and subcontractors, were arrested on charges of culpable homicide The nine arrested include two persons from Oreva Group, the contractor responsible for repairs and management of the bridge

State mourning

On November 2, the state administration declared a day of mourning for those who died in Morbi The national flag will be flown at half mast on all official structures, according to CM Bhupendra Patel, and all state government events would be postponed

MP loses 12 relatives

BJP MP Mohan Kundariya said that 12 of his relatives were among those killed while a jeweller and his entire family perished in the same tragedy A six year old Anek Parmar was rescued by the search team but lost his parents

World leaders express condolences

World leaders, including US President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid extended their condolences to the families of the people who lost their lives in the bridge collapse

US returns 307 stolen antiquities valued at nearly $4 mn to India

T h e U S a u th o ri ti e s h av e re tu rn ed 3 0 7 art efa c ts , estimated to be v alued close to $ 4 m il li o n, to I nd i an officials Th ese were seized f ro m th e g al le ry r un by i nt ern ati o n al s m u g g ler Subhash Kapoor, oth er art g a ll eri es , a nd t raf fi c ki ng organisations

An inquiry into Subhash Kapoor, who assisted in the trafficking of artefacts from India and other nations, led to the seizure of as many as 235 of the antiquities Five others were recovered from a person, Nancy Wiener, in New York and one pursuant to an investigation against a n o t h e r p e r s o n , N a y e f Homsi The remaining 66 antiquities were stolen from I n d i a b y m u l t i p l e s m a l l e r trafficking networks

Panicker Somanath said as lift off took place from the S a t i s h D h a w a n S p a c e Centre in Andhra Pradesh T h i s 1 4 t h l a u n c h o f

OneWeb satellites relied on I n d i a ’ s h e a v i e s t r o c k e t , n o r m a l l y r e s e r v e d f o r g o v e r n m e n t s p a c e c r a f t

OneWeb launched its first satellite in 2019

It was the first launch for OneWeb since breaking w i t h t h e R u s s i a n S p a c e Agency in March because of M o s c o w ’ s i n v a s i o n o f Ukraine

Despite the setback this year, the British corporation claimed it is still on pace to l a u n c h a c o n s t e l l a t i o n o f 6 4 8 s a t e l l i t e s t h a t w i l l

provide global coverage in 2019 In the most northern latitudes, service is already being offered

T h e s a t e l l i t e s w i l l b e arranged in 12 rings with 49 satellites in each plane at 1,200km circular orbit, ISRO s a i d o n i t s w e b s i t e E a c h satellite will complete a full trip around the heart every 109 minutes, it added

The launch is important for India and reflects the gradual opening of its space agency to private customers, Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, a d i r e c t o r s p e c i a l i s i n g i n s p a c e a n d s e c u r i t y a t t h e O b s e r v e r R e s e a r c h Foundation in New Delhi said

All the antiquities were r e t u r n e d d u r i n g a r e p a t r i a t i o n c e r e m o n y a t t h e I n d i a n C o n s u l a t e i n N e w Y o r k a t t e n d e d b y I n d i a ’ s C o n s u l G e n e r a l

R a n d i r J a i s w a l , a n d U S H o m e l a n d S e c u r i t y Investigations (HSI), Acting D e p u t y S p e c i a l A g e n t i n Charge, Tom Lau M a n h a t t a n D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y A l v i n L B r a g g r e m a r k e d i n a s t a t e m e n t , “We are honoured to give t h e p e o p l e o f I n d i a h u n d r e d s o f m a g n i f i c e n t p i e c e s b a c k T h e s e antiquities were stolen by m u l t i p l e c o m p l e x a n d s o p h i s t i c a t e d t r a f f i c k i n g r i n g s t h a t s h o w e d l i t t l e regard for the cultural or h i s t o r i c a l i m p o r t a n c e o f

these artefacts stole these treasures ”

H o m e l a n d S e c u r i t y I n v e s t i g a t i o n s ( H S I ) N e w York, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Michael Alfonso said that “This repatriation is the product of a 15 year investigation that spanned the globe The investigating team sought leads, pursued the money, and eventually s e i z e d t h e s e i t e m s t o g u a r a n t e e t h e i r r e t u r n t o the Indian people”

One of the antiquities being returned from Nancy W i e n e r a r e t h e i d o l s o f Vishnu and Lakshmi with Garuda, dating to the 11th century, which was allegedly s t o l e n f r o m a t e m p l e i n Central India A Chola era Sambandar bronze idol, a Chola era Devi idol in stone, b r o n z e i d o l s o f V i n a y a g a , Narasimha with Lakshmi, a wooden idol of Muruga and wooden chauri bearers are other items that had been taken from Tamil Nadu

Obituary

Renowned businessman Dadubhai Patel passes away

Mr Dadubhai Chunibhai Patel, a renowned businessman based in South London Surrey, has tragically passed away at the age of 79 at Karamsad, Gujarat, on Monday, October 31, due to a heart attack Born in Kisumu, Kenya, Dadubhai moved to the UK in 1963 He achieved huge success in the pharmaceutical sector and also as a property investor From 1994, Dadubhai settled in Karamsad, Gujarat

He is survived by his Wife Hemaben, son Rajesh, daughter Ruple, daughter in law

grandsons Rohan, Shay, Aaron

almighty

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Dadubhai Chunibhai Patel

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A pl eas ant e vening turn ed into a s hock ing tragedy in M orb i town, 65 km

rom Rajkot c ity , a

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ent people plunging into the Mac hc hhu river and killing at

people

how to find me! ” According to his profile on Andreessen Horowitz's website, Krishnan i n v e s t s i n e a r l y s t a g e consumer startups and serves on the boards of enterprises Bitski, Hopin, and Polywork

Elon Musk

Best time to have juices and fruits

a t r a , n ut r i t io n is t Sh e sa ys t hat one must be m in dful of wh en an d how they a re consumed t o get t he most nutr itiona l value out of the m

Since fruit juices contain a lot of sugar which raises blood sugar levels and causes an insulin spike, resulting in a high body fat per centage and weight gain According to Batra, fruit juice also has less fibre and more calories and sugar than whole fruit This is why peo ple should limit the amount of fruit

juice they consume each day Fruit juice is best consumed in the first half of the day because it provides you with the energy you need to get

through the day

Fresh fruits are generally fleshy and highly valued for their taste, freshness, texture, and nutrition

The fruit’s pulp and skin is a rich source of dietary fibre which pro motes regular bowel movements, and also lowers cholesterol levels, helps control blood sugar levels, a n d a i d s i n a c h i e v i n g h e a l t h y weight When you eat a whole fruit, the dietary fibre in the pulp binds to the natural sugar in the fruit as it passes through your digestive tract

The expert said that, fruits can be consumed on an empty stom a c h , a n d i n b e t w e e n m e a l s I f you ’ re trying to lose weight, eating f r u i t s b e t w e e n m e a l s c a n h e l p because the fibre and water will fill you up and prevent binge eating But eating fruits right before bed time can be harmful to our diges t i v e s y s t e m A l s o , h a v i n g f r u i t s close to bedtime can increase blood s u g a r l e v e l s a n d i n t e r f e r e w i t h

Lack of sufficient sleep may have chronic illness risk

A s tu d y o f ar o un d 8 , 0 0 0 civ il serv ants has fo und that g etting at least five hours' sleep a nigh t could signifi c an tl y r ed u c e o v er 5 0 s ' ch ances o f develo ping m ul tip le chro nic h ealth prob lems

The analysis, led by UCL r e s e a r c h e r s w a s b a s e d o n t h e o n g o i n g W h i t e h a l l I I study, which has gathered data on the health of 10,308 officials since 1985

Data from 7,864 partici pants those who didn't already have multi morbidi ty aged 50 and who contin u e d p r o v i d i n g r e s u l t s t h r o u g h o u t t h e s t u d y informed the sleep findings

Study participants all of whom were British civil servants based in London offices when the research began, and a third of whom a r e w o m e n w e r e a s k e d how many hours of sleep t h e y g o t o n a n a v e r a g e weeknight Some also wore a wrist watch sleep tracker

They were checked for

chronic conditions includ ing diabetes, cancer, heart disease and dementia

Researchers found peo p l e w h o r e p o r t e d g e t t i n g five hours of sleep or less at age 50 were 20% more likely to have been diagnosed with a chronic disease and 40% more likely to be diagnosed with two or more chronic diseases over 25 years, com pared to people who slept for up to seven hours

Sleeping for five hours or less at the age of 50, 60, and 70 was linked to a 30 40% increase in the risk of

m u l t i m o r b i d i t y c o m p a r e d with those who slept for up to seven hours Researchers also found that sleeping five hours or less a night at age 50 was associated with a 25% increased risk of death over the 25 year timeline They attributed this mainly to the i n c r e a s e d i n c i d e n c e o f c h r o n i c d i s e a s e , w h i c h i n turn increases the risk of death

While the study found n o s t r o n g a s s o c i a t i o n b e t w e e n l o n g s l e e p ( o v e r n i n e h o u r s ) a n d r i s k o f c h r o n i c d i s e a s e o r m u l t i

morbidity, it did find some e v i d e n c e t h a t t h o s e w h o already had a chronic condi t i o n w e r e m o r e l i k e l y t o develop further conditions if they regularly slept for over nine hours

T h e s t u d y a i m e d t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e l i n k between sleep duration and the development of multiple chronic diseases and mortal ity risk amid rising multi morbidity in high income countries More than half of o l d e r a d u l t s n o w h a v e a t least two chronic diseases, the researchers said

Lead author Dr Severine Sabia said: “This is proving to be a major challenge for public health, as multi mor b i d i t y i s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h high healthcare service use, hospitalisations and disabil ity " Sabia said sleep of 7 8 h o u r s a n i g h t i s r e c o m mended, as previous studies h a v e a s s o c i a t e d d u r a t i o n s a b o v e o r b e l o w t h i s w i t h individual chronic diseases

4 Ayurveda tips for optimum digestion

E ating a nutri tio us diet is impo rtant fo r a health y body and mind but the r o l e o f di ge s ti o n i s n o t a ny le s s Wi th out a health y digestive system, o ur body may not be able to break the fo od efficiently, abso rb nutrients and s u p p l y th em t o al l p art s i nc lu di n g mind P oor digestio n can thus lead to many diseases fro m skin i ssues, h ai r l o ss , a u to im mu ne di s eas es , o b es ity , a nx ie ty, st res s, o r e ven de p res s io n Many o f u s may be suffering from i ssues like acidity, bloating and co nsti p atio n after indulging in all the high calorie stuff Wh ile yo u may be lo oking f o r q u i c k f i xe s f o r yo u r di ge s ti ve h ealth righ t no w, i t is impo rtant to fol lo w certai n tips for o ptimum digestion th at could h elp you stay h ealth y year lo ng

As per Ayurveda, having herbal teas in between the meals, keeping a signif icant gap between your bedtime and last meal could help you have a robust digestive system

Ayurveda expert Dr Dixa Bhavsar i n h e r r e c e n t I n s t a g r a m p o s t t a l k s about 4 tips to make your digestive sys tem better

Include all six tastes at ev ery m eal

A y u r v e d a r e c o g n i z e s s i x t a s t e s (sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter & astringent) each of which communi cates a unique combination of energy and information to the physiology By incorporating each of the six tastes into every meal, the body receives a bio diverse energetic palate Try to include a small amount of each taste into every meal It may be only a pinch of salt, a squeeze of lemon, or a slice of pepper but as long as the taste is present, the energetic puzzle will be complete Sto p eating 3 hours befo re bedtime

D u r i n g s l e e p , t h e b o d y r e p a i r s , h e a l s a n d r e s t o r e s w h i l e t h e m i n d digests thoughts, emotions and experi ences from the day If the body’s energy is diverted into physical digestion, the physical healing and mental digestive processes are halted For this reason, Ayurveda recommends that the last meal of the day be relatively light and completed three hours before bed to avoid this imbalance

Herbal teas between meals Tea is not just a palate pleasing beverage, it is also a powerful healer

that can aid in restoring health, vitality, and joy To avoid diluting agni, bever ages, including teas, should be mini mally consumed with meals (no more than 1/2 cup) However, between meals teas can be enjoyed liberally and they act as herbal remedies Drinking teas like CCF Tea between meals pumps the body full of “liquid medicine,” curbs snack cravings, facilities detoxification, and stokes the digestive fire Eat your larg est m eal o f the d ay at lunchtime

Agni is strongest when the sun is highest By consuming the largest meal of the day at noon, the body is able to use its powerful inner fire to break down and assimilate nutrients with less energetic output than at other times of the day The noon meal is the best time of the day to integrate heavier or diffi cult to digest foods

Each of these ancient Ayurvedic rules will help you remain healthy not only by virtue of the food you are eat ing but how you eat it And don’t forget to take your time to enjoy your meals and be grateful for the foods you eat along the way

sleep

Certain fruits are energising, so e a t i n g t h e m f i r s t t h i n g i n t h e morning or before exercise may be a great idea if you want to be active a n d g e t n a t u r a l s u g a r s F r u i t s should also not be consumed right after a meal as doing so can cause b l o o d s u g a r l e v e l s t o r i s e e v e n more Fruits eaten right after a meal may also cause indigestion and discomfort

Fruit and vegetables go well together, in general If you must drink a juice with your meal, pair it with a green vegetable salad or a simple raw vegetable dish This has t h e g r e a t e s t a l k a l i s i n g e f f e c t Additionally, you can also blend spinach with an apple, an orange, some berries, some ginger, and a dash of salt

Signs of a brain stroke and things one should do

The condit ion of stroke is a me di c al e me r ge n c y w hi c h r eq u ir e s q ui c k sympt om r ecognition and pr ompt tr eatment Stroke oc c ur s w he n t he b r a i n cel ls begin t o die due to r e du c ed o r i n t e r r u pt e d blood suppl y to the brain On e m ay r ed uc e a n y chances of brain damage b y t a k in g a q u ic k c al l Some common signs of a stroke in bot h men and women are: Weakness and numbness

I f t h e p a t i e n t c o m p l a i n s o f s u d d e n w e a k ness, do not take it lightly If the symptoms exceed to numbness on one side of the face or in one leg or an arm, call emergency ser vices

Loss of vision or hand eye coordination

Random loss of vision i s o f t e n a s s o c i a t e d w i t h stroke Low strength, poor h a n d e y e c o o r d i n a t i o n , feeling no or very little sensation, blurry speech, o r f i n d i n g t r o u b l e i n understanding directions o r s p e e c h i s a n o t h e r alarming sign of stroke T h i s s y m p t o m m a y g e t w o r s e o v e r t i m e I f a patient complains of sud den dim or blurry vision, especially in one eye, it should not be brushed off This can be riskier than it seems

Un explained falls

If the patient falls sud denly or trips due to loss of balance, there may be s o m e t h i n g w r o n g U n e x p l a i n e d f a l l s a l o n g w i t h n a u s e a , v o m i t i n g , fever all signal towards a c a r d i o v a s c u l a r p r o b l e m

Some patients may experi ence hiccups or have trou b l e s w a l l o w i n g r i g h t before a stroke

Sever e headaches

H e a d a c h e s s h o u l d never be ignored If your head starts hurting sud

denly or you experience severe cluster headaches w i t h n o o t h e r c a u s e i n sight, ask help from some o n e a r o u n d y o u M o s t patients pass out quickly followed by complaining o f s e v e r e h e a d a c h e Fainting briefly or notic ing dizziness should not be ignored FAST str oke r ecognit ion

In order to recognize the signs of a stroke and what to do as you or any o n e a r o u n d y o u e x p e r i ence it, experts use the acronym FAST By using t h e F A S T t e s t , y o u c a n check for the most com mon symptoms of a stroke i n y o u r s e l f o r s o m e o n e else FAST stands for the following actions: Face Ask the person to smile Watch to see if they are able to smile or if their face droops Arms Tell the person to raise both their arms Note if one of his arms goes weak or sags Speech Have the person read something or s a y a s i m p l e s e n t e n c e Watch to see if you hear slurred speech or strange w o r d s T i m e T i m e counts if the answer to any of the above is yes C a l l e m e r g e n c y s e r v i c e immediately

When treating stroke, minutes matter Do not try to put the patient into your car and drive him to t h e h o s p i t a l y o u r s e l f

Calling an ambulance can be a better response The medical staff of the hospi tal can judge the patient’s s i t u a t i o n s o o n e r

Depending on the type of stroke, doctors may pre scribe you powerful clot busting drugs or aspirin within 3 hours of when y o u r s y m p t o m s s t a r t e d Early access to the treat m

SCRUTATOR’S

‘Vegetarian’ croc, guardian of Kerala temple, dead

The famous ‘vegetarian’ crocodile Babiya which has been living in the temple pond around the Sri Ananthapadmanabha Swamy Temple at Ananthapura in Kasaragod, Kerala, for over seven decades has died. Sources said the crocodile was suffering from age related illness According to temple officials, Babiya was found dead in the pond Temple authorities had been considering Babiya as a ‘divine crocodile’ and it had been living on the boiled rice which is one of the main offerings of the temple They claim that Babiya was fully vegetarian and lived mainly on the temple's offerings. The temple authorities added that Babiya used to be given ‘Naivedyam’ (the offerings) twice a day by the priest and though there are a lot of fish and turtles in the pond, it didn't consume them Hundreds of people, including people's representatives, paid their tributes when the dead crocodile was kept on public display inside a freezer. Wreaths and floral tributes were placed on the crocodile Lakshmana Hebbar P, manager of the temple, said that the last rites of the crocodile were done as per Hindu customs and tantric rituals. Chanting of Sahasranama was held during the rituals. (Agency)

Nod for ropeway to Kedarnath shrine

The National Wildlife Board has given its nod for the ambitious Sonprayag Kedarnath ropeway project, which aims to bring down travel time to the shrine (which is reached via a trek route) from eight hours to 25 minutes Besides, the board has also approved the construction of a 5 km trek route from Rambada to Garudchatti near Kedarnath The trek from Sonprayag, where the ropeway would originate, to Kedarnath, a distance of around 18 km, takes about eight hours on foot or on mules since there is no motorable road there at present In view of the increase in number of pilgrims visiting the shrine each year, the Uttarakhand government had sometime back proposed to set up a ropeway from Sonprayag to Kedarnath The detailed project report for both ropeway schemes has been prepared by the National Highways Logistics Management Limited, an agency of the Nationnal Highways Authority of India (NHAI) (Agency)

He writes exams for blind despite having no fingers

The invigilators at the Blind People’s Association (BPA) in Ahmedabad were touched when they saw Rahul Baraiya, 19, writing exam paper for a Class IX student Baraiya, a native of Bhavnagar district and a student of BCom at Gujarat University, was born with just one thumb and no fingers He uses both his hands to hold a pen and write “I had earlier volunteered to write for a blind student in the Boards This is my second such experience and it’s immensely satisfying,” Baraiya said “As a person with disability myself, I can understand the pain the students with visual impairment go through when they don’t find writers for the exams My parents and teachers inspired me to volunteer for such students and I will do so even in future,” he added (The Times of India)

Teen gets 3 year RI for pulling girl’s dupatta

A boy who had pulled a 15 year old

girl’s dupatta, held her hand and threatened her when she protested was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for three years under the Pocso Act Handing out the sentence to the accused, now 23, a special Pocso court said there is an increase in sexual offences against children and it has an adverse impact on victims, their family and even on society “They are under the impression that the house and nearby vicinity are not safe for children Definitely, such type of incident causes terror in minds of people, victim and her family and leaves a scar for a longer time,” said the court (Agency)

Kerala connection to Nobel prize winner

Dr Renil Manat is on the top of the world as his long time associate and family friend Dr Morten Meldal has won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry Manat has a Ph D in Chemistry from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala The Keralite who has roots in Kozhikode, while speaking from Copenhagen, Denmark said, "It's really a happy moment of Dr Morten Meldal winning the Nobel prize for Chemistry with two others I am associated with Dr Morten for several years and it was in fact his invitation that brought me to Denmark Manat said that he and his family were at Meldal's home for breakfast Manat is now with Carlsberg Research Laboratory (CRL) and is associated with Meldal being invited by him to join his team in CRL along with a few other scientists Manat speaks highly of Meldal and said that the Nobel Prize winner has been a major support base for him ever since he landed in Copenhagen (Agency)

Muslim woman challenges extra judicial Talaq

A woman doctor has moved the Supreme Court challenging validity of Talaq E Kinaya and Talaq E Bain and all forms of Unilateral Extra Judicial Talaq The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has sought directions to Centre to frame guidelines for gender neutral, religion neutral, uniform grounds of divorce and uniform procedure of divorce for all citizens The petitioner has also challenged validity of the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, urging the top court to declare it void and unconstitutional as it fails to secure Muslim women from these forms of divorce The petition has argued that Talaq E Kinaya and Talaq E Bain and other forms of unilateral extra judicial talaq is an evil plague similar to sati, and unfortunately, continues to vex Muslim

Rahul Koli, 15, one of the six child stars of ‘Chhello Show' (The Last Film Show), India’s official entry to 95th Academy Awards (Oscars), breathed his last recently He succumbed to leukaemia for which he was under treatment for the past four months His family organized a prayer meet for him at his native Hapa near Jamnagar Ramu Koli, his father, got emotional while talking about the last interactions “He was very happy about the film and would even tell me that our lives would change after October 14 the release date of the movie But even before the film could go for wider release, he left us, ” he said, adding that it would coincide with the 13th day of his death, referred to as ‘termu’ in Gujarati, when some of the post death rituals are performed (The Times of India)

10 year old girl lifts 102.5kg, finds US ticket

Ahmedabad based powerlifting couple Indersingh Gurjar and Dharini Gurjar are known for medal winning feats at international meets, it is their 10 year old daughter Kanak Indersingh Gurjar who surprised them by lifting 102 5kg at the Gujarat state powerlifting championship Kanak’s performance enabled her selection for the World Powerlifting Championship 2022 23 in Orlando, Florida, in the US The championship in America will be held from October 30 to November 5 and Kanak’s event is scheduled on November 2 Powerlifting, a non Olympic event, is a strength sport comprising squat, bench press and deadlift Indersingh had hogged the limelight in December 2021 by powering his way to a gold medal in the 75kg category “My wife and I had gone to officiate at the Gujarat state powerlifting championship at Motera When our daughter saw a female athlete older than her but of the same height lifting weights, she told us she wanted to give it a try,” Indersingh said “I was surprised because she had never practised or trained to lift

weights And to our surprise and shock, she lifted 102 5kg ” (The Times of India)

Chained at 17, UP woman freed after 36 years

Fifty three year old Sapna Jain spent 36 years of her life bereft of the joys of sunlight, fresh air and freedom Imprisoned by her father due to an alleged “mental illness”, she was shrouded by darkness and shackled in chains Sapna, a resident of Mohammadabad village of Firozabad’s Tundla, ate meals slid to her through a door and took baths with water thrown across windows She was finally freed, thanks to help extended by former mayor of Agra and BJP MLA from Hathras, Anjula Mahaur Mahaur was informed of the case by members of local NGO Sewa Bharti A group of women from the organisation went to examine the situation after Sapna’s father, Girish Chand, passed away recently

“We found her in a very bad condition Members of our NGO bathed her and got her some clean clothes,” said Nirmala Singh, a senior member of Sewa Bharti (Agency)

Bihar's man eating tiger that killed 10 shot dead

A three year old male tiger that went by the tag T 104 and earned infamy as the ‘Man eater of Champaran’ fell to Bihar police bullets, living most of its short life near humans and making at least 10 human kills And almost as if from William Blake’s “Tyger Tyger, burning bright”, the strapping Royal Bengal’s piercing, fearless eyes were transfixed on the hunters a police special task force team till the very end It met its end following a 28 day hunt spread over more than 30 square km by police sharpshooters and foresters, who were assigned the task after the Schedule I protected animal was declared a man eater for its ferocious run along the fringes of Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) Apart from people, it had killed scores of livestock and other domestic animals The hunters used stealth, surveillance, stakeouts, and many miles of stalking till they finally got him T 104 was cut down by three bullets in a seven hour operation by 400 men and trained elephants after it mauled a woman and her son in the morning Its death brought joy and relief to the villages where it preyed People were afraid to go out after dark and many have lost family members to the tiger that had developed a taste for easy prey “T 104 was identified to be dangerous for humans,” chief wildlife warden (Bihar) Prabhat Kumar Gupta said (Agency)

women and pose extremely serious health, social, economic, moral and emotional risks (Agency)

Cancer claims life of 'Chhello Show’s' child star

Katrina teaches Salman Tip Tip Barsa Paani moves

In the upcoming episode of 'Bigg Boss 16', Salman Khan will dance with Katrina Kaif during 'Shukravaar ka vaar ’ In a promo shared on Twitter, Katrina is seen teaching Salman the steps to her hit track Tip Tip Barsa Paani from the film 'Sooryavanshi' In the video, Salman somehow managed to copy Katrina but in a hilarious manner Katrina will be seen next in 'Phone Bhoot', essaying the role of a ghost The film is set to be released in theatres on November 4

In the clip, Katrina wore a yellow bodycon dress with heels and Salman wore a black shirt with black pants and black shoes Katrina rocked the hook step of the song while Salman tried his best to copy her in a hilarious manner Both of them lip synced to the song as well

Katrina and Salman have worked in quite a few films together such as 'Ek Tha Tiger', 'Tiger Zinda Hai', 'Maine Pyaar Kyun Kia' and 'Bharat' Both of them will b e r e u n i t i n g f o r ' T i g e r 3 ' , w h i c h i s d i r e c t e d b y Maneesh Sharma The film will release on on Diwali

2023

Katrina is busy promoting her upcoming movie 'Phone Bhoot' on the sets of The Kapil Sharma Show among others The film is directed by Gurmmeet Singh It's backed by Excel Entertainment, which is headed by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar The

Chadha

seen in Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan' alongside Shehnaaz Gill, Raghav Juyal and Pooja Hedge, which is slated to release in theatres on December 30

OTT platforms refuse to accept Nawazuddin films for direct release

Nawazuddin Siddiqui became the pioneer for actors when it comes to jumping on the OTT bandwagon He was seen in Netflix’s acclaimed web series, 'Sacred Games', way back in 2018 and it exploded in such a way that there was no looking back for the digital industry In 2020, once films started releasing directly online due to the shutdown of cinemas, his slice of life 'Ghoomketu' was the first one to premiere on the internet, on Zee5 The same year also saw the release of his Netflix original films, 'Raat Akeli Hai' and 'Serious Men' He had no release in 2021 and was directly seen in 2022 as the antagonist in Tiger Shroff’s 'Heropanti 2.' His fans have wondered that when he has completed nearly a dozen projects, why don’t we see his new releases frequently in cinemas or on OTT?

As per the latest developments, OTT platforms have stopped accepting films for direct premieres They are insisting that producers release their films in cinemas first For direct to digital films, the onus of marketing the film falls on streaming giants I n m a n y c a s e s , t h e y w e r e h a n d e d o v e r mediocre products, which didn’t get the desired viewership, leading to losses for

OTT platforms as they paid a bomb to buy the films Hence, the change of policy ”

The source continued, “The small films have faced the maximum brunt of this new rule And many films of Nawazuddin have got stuck like 'Jogira Sara Ra Ra', 'Noorani C h e h r a ' , ' A d b h u t ' , ' S a n g e e n ' , ' B o l e Chudiyan', 'Rome Roam Mein,' 'No Land’s M a n ' e t c T h e O T T g i a n t s a s k e d t h e producers to release the film in cinemas first But in cinemas, these films won’t get healthy box office returns, considering how the market is right now for small, indie films ”

T h e s o u r c e c o n t i n u e d , “ I n J u l y , t h e producers of Jogira Sara Ra Ra made it clear that contrary to reports, their film will release in cinemas first But the truth is that they are compelled to do so and they would h a v e b e e n m o r e t h a n h a p p y t o s k i p a theatrical release ”

Nawazuddin did make his displeasure c l e a r w i t h t h e s t r e a m i n g g i a n t s I n a n interview, he said, “There are so many films that even OTT platforms are not ready to take Film festivals mein unn filmon ke baare mein baat ki jaa rahi hai ”

Priyanka shares pictures with daughter Malti from Diwali celebrations

Film actress Priyanka Chopra is having the time of her life which is evident in the recent pictures from her Diwali celebrations with her husband Nick Jonas, daughter Malti and mother Madhu Chopra

T h e a c t r e s s s h a r e d s e v e r a l pictures of her daughter, who looked adorable in a beige mini lehenga However, the little girl’s face was hidden in a white heart e m o j i “ L o v e , p e a c e a n d prosperity to all From a heart truly laden with gratitude, I wish you all a Happy Diwali Sorry I’m a little late but decided to stay in t h e m o m e n t j u s t a l i t t l e b i t longer From ours to yours Love and light,” Priyanka captioned her post Nick and Priyanka took to t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e I n s t a g r a m handles in late January this year to share the news of their baby d a u g h t e r M a l t i ’ s a r r i v a l T h e y w r o t e , “ W e a r e o v e r j o y e d t o confirm that we have welcomed a b a b y v i a s u r r o g a t e W e r e s p e c t f u l l y a s k f o r p r i v a c y during this special time as we focus on the family Thank you so much ”

Kareena plays sitar, is annoyed by Saif's question

Kareena

Kareena shared the video on Instagram and wrote, “Itna binge watching ke baad bhi (despite so much binge watching) he asks questions like this " Saba Ali Khan commented on the video, “ so cute” A fan wrote, “Hahaa Kareena’s expressions ” Another wrote, “You both need to be in a film together!!!” One more said, “Love it The best ” A comment also read, “This is so funny!”

Kareena was seen in 'Laal Singh Chadha' opposite Aamir Khan She has wrapped up shooting for her OTT debut project directed by Sujoy Ghosh The film is based on the Japanese novel 'The Devotion of Suspect X', and also stars Jaideep Ahlawat and Vijay Varma in the pivotal roles

Kareena is currently filming for Hansal Mehta's next in London It is a murder mystery in which she plays the role of a detective She had flown back to Mumbai for the Diwali break before resuming the shoot She left for the UK with younger son Jehangir while Saif was headed to another location with elder son Taimur

Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan have featured in a new television commercial in which they portray music teachers While Kareena is seen in a saree with a pinned up pallu as she plays the sitar, Saif is seen surfing on his phone while playing tabla with one hand A bunch of students are seen seated in front of them and give the answer to the question raised by Saif

The video shows Saif addressing Kareena as ‘Manju ji’ and asking where he can watch the web show, Asur But before she can answer, their students give him all the answers "Murli ji, ye to bachcha bachcha janta hai, ab to puchna band kar dijiye (now even kids know this, please stop asking this now) "

Samantha takes on urrogacy mafia in 'Yashoda' trailer

The trailer of Samantha Ruth Prabhu's new movie 'Yashoda' has dropped showing her as a surrogate mother caught in the trap of an illegal surrogacy mafia. The clip is sure to cause a sensation considering that the topic is much debated on mainstream and social media recently

The 'Yashoda' trailer sets up nicely with a lullaby song and the central character played by Sam musing that only a mother can feel the heartbeat of two lives The shots then turn intriguing as the women admitted at the fertil i t y c e n t e r e x p e r i e n c e s h o c k i n g p h y s i c a l changes and its up to our heroine Yashoda to set things right In 2 minutes 2 seconds the trailer gives the audience exactly what to expect which is a thrill ride with an vulnerable heroine dealing with an issue that's truly spine chilling

Yashoda is directed by Hari and Harish and stars Samantha, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, U n n i M u k u n d a n , R a o R a m e s h , M u r a l i Sharma, Sampath Raj, Shatru, Madhurima, K a l p i k a G a n e s h , D i v y a S r i p a d a , P r i y a n k a Sharma and others

The new age thriller has music by Mani Sharma and is produced by Sivalenka Krishna

TV Listing

MON 7 NOV FRI 11 NOV 2022

6:00 Gujarati Wedding in Goa 9:00 SHUBH PRABHAT 9:30 SUR PRABHAT 10:00 DESHI BEATS 16:30 Geeta 17:00 Geeta 17:30 RASOI SHOW (O) 18:00 RASOI SHOW (O) 18:30 SURI (O) 19:00 MARI LADKI RE (O) 19:30 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM (CURTAIN RAISER RUMZUM NORTA)

20:00 RUMZHUM NORTA 2022 20:30 RUMZHUM NORTA 2022 21:00 RUMZHUM NORTA 2022 21:30 RUMZHUM NORTA 2022 22:00 RUMZHUM NORTA 2022 SATURDAY 12 NOV 2022 6:00 DHOLO MARA MALAK NO 9:00 SHUBH PRABHAT 9:30 SUR PRABHAT

10:00 DESHI BEATS 16:3017:00 Bhakt Gora Kumbhar 17:30 RASOI SHOW (O) 18:00 RASOI SHOW (O) 18:30 SURI (O) 19:00 JODE REJO RAAJ (O) 19:30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU (O) 20:00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI (O) 20:30 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU (O) 21:00 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM (O) 21:30 GEETA (O) 22:00 MARI LADKI RE (O) SUNDAY 13 NOV 2022 7:00 GEETA ® 9:00 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU ® 10:30 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM ® 12:00 MAHISAGAR NA MOTI 16:30 MARI LADKI RE ® 17:00 RASOI SHOW ® 17:30 RASOI SHOW ® 18:00 RASOI SHOW ® 18:30 RASOI SHOW ® 19:00 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU ® 19:30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU ® 20:00 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU ® 20:30 RASHI RIKSHAWALI ® 21:00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI ® 21:30 RASHI RIKSHAWALI ® 22:00 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU ®

Atlee to direct another mega superstar after SRK and Vijay?

Director Atlee has the rare distinction of having delivered four back to back blockbusters since his debut in 'Raja Rani'. He directed Thalapathy Vijay in three consecutive films 'Theri', 'Mersal' and 'Bigil' The ace commercial filmmaker is currently shooting 'Jawan' which marks his debut in Bollywood 'Jawan' is produced by and stars Shah R u k h K h a n w h i l e V i j a y S e t h u p a t h i , Nayanthara, Priya Mani and others There

is also a strong buzz that Thalapathy Vijay i s l i k e l y t o m a k e a cameo appearance It is more or less con f i r m e d t h a t A t l e e s next project is going to be 'Thalapathy 68' his fourth with Vijay Bollywood media has reported that s u p e r s t a r S a l m a n K h a n w h o h a s t h e biggest box office pull has expressed his interest to work with Atlee If all goes well then this would be Atlee's next after he completes 'Thalapathy 68' The strong sig nal is that our own favorite Kollywood director is much in demand in Bollywood even before his first film release

Dhoni's first film has a strong Tamil Nadu connection

Legendary cricketer Mahindra Singh Dhoni and his wife Sakshi Singh Dhoni’s production house Dhoni Entertainment has commenced the various stages of producing entertainment content, across all mainstream languages

We all know that Dhoni has already carved his story in Indian cricket history and now he is all set to try his charm in the Indian film industry also He already pro duced the popular documentary, the ‘Roar of the Lion’, based on the IPL matches played by the Chennai Super Kings “Women’s Day Out”, a short film about Cancer awareness

Now Dhoni Entertainment will be pro ducing its first film in Tamil, a family enter t a i n e r c o n c e p t u a l i z e d b y S a k s h i , t h e

Managing Director of Dhoni Entertainment and will be directed by Ramesh Thamilmani,

w h o h a s a l s o a u t h o r e d A t h a r v a T h e O r i g i n , a n e w a g e g r a p h i c novel The cast and c r e w o f t h e f i l m will be announced shortly “ F r o m t h e moment I read the concept written by Sakshi, I knew it w a s s p e c i a l T h e concept was fresh and had all the potential to be a fun family entertainer I am hon oured and very grateful for this opportunity to develop this really fresh concept into a feature film story and to be directing the film a s w e l l ” S a y s R a m e s h T h a m i l m a n i , t h e

Director

V i k a s H a s i j a , B u s i n e s s H e a d , D h o n i Entertainment said, "Our priority is to reach our Indian audiences in every nook and cor ner of our country, through meaningful sto ries Though our first film will be originally made in Tamil, it will be released in multiple languages ”

Rajinikanth celebrates Diwali with grandchildren

Diwali

2022 was a lit affair.

MON 7 NOV FRI 11 NOV 2022 16:30 RASOI SHOW DESI FLAVOURS 17:30 CHHUTA CHHEDA 18:00 BALIKA VADHU SEASON 1 19:00 DESI BEATS 19:30 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20:00 SWARAN GHAR 20:30 KAWACH MAMTA KA 21:00 AJNABI BANE HUMSAFAR 21:30 SASURAL SIMAR KA 2

22:00 NAAGIN SEASON 1 SATURDAY 12 NOV 2022 16:30 RASOI SHOW DESI FLAVOURS 17:30 BALIKA VADHU 19:00 DESI BEAT 19:30 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20:00 COMEDY NIGHTS WITH KAPIL 21:30 SASURAL SIMAR KA 2 22:00 VISH YA AMRIT SITAARA SUNDAY 13 NOV 2022 16:30 RASOI SHOW DESI FLAVOURS 17:30 DESI BEAT 18:00 THE ANUPAM KHER SHOW 19:00 IIFA MAIN AWARDS 2022

VISH YA AMRIT SITAARA

All the celebrities enjoyed the festival with utmost enthusiasm. South celebrities too had a blast over Diwali. From Allu Arjun s fancy party to KGF star Yash's celebrations at home, South stars had fun Now, a few pictures of Thalaivaa Rajinikanth celebrating the festival with his grandchildren have made their way to the internet Daughter Aishwaryaa shared the pictures on social media and Rajinikanth s look has left his fans all emotional

In the pictures, Rajinikanth can be seen dressed in a white silk kurta His hair and beard are also white and fans are now all talk ing about his aging Many commented that The Legend is getting old but of course, old is gold In the pictures, one can see daughter Aishwaryaa Rajinikanth applying chandan and more on her sons' feet She can also be seen bursting crackers while dressed in a beautiful

silk saree

Rajinikanth is 71 year old a n d s t i l l i s s t a r p o w e r i s intact He is among the most loved and adored celebrities of the Indian film industry

His fans are spread across the globe who desperate wait for his films to hit the screens He is nothing less than a God to his fans and in fact, he is wor s h i p

e d ,

Rajinikanth is the living example of a true Star Recently, the actor made it to the news as h e a

'

t a r r i n g

Rishab Shetty In his review, Rajinikanth said that he got goosebumps while watching the film He wrote, "The unknown is more than the known” no one could have said this better i n c i n e m a t h a n

@hombalefilms#KantaraMovie you gave me goosebumps @shetty rishab Rishab hats off to you as a writer,director and actor Congrats to the whole cast and crew of this masterpiece in indian cinema "

Prasad under the banner Sridevi Movies The film will release world wide in theaters in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada on 11th November 2022

Kartik Aaryan starrer ‘Freddy’ to release on Disney+ Hotstar

Aaryan said he is elated to be part of 'Freddy', which gave him the opportunity to explore a new avatar on screen “I feel fortunate to be a part of ‘Freddy’, the story of the film is something that I haven’t explored before

“It has allowed me to experiment with my craft and explore a new territory I’m looking forward to the movie releasing on Disney+ Hotstar soon and hoping the audience will love this new avatar,” the 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa' star said in a statement

Gaurav Banerjee, Head Content, Disney+ Hotstar & HSM Entertainment Network, Disney Star, said, they are happy to screen Aaryan’s upcoming movie on the platform

“It is now time to welcome the hottest new Bollywood superstar, Kartik Aaryan to Disney+ Hotstar!! Post Kartik’s last blockbuster, ‘Freddy’, his next release is a thriller, which comes directly on Disney+ Hotstar,” added Banerjee

The streamer will announce the release date of the film soon After “Dhamaka”, a film directed by Ram Madhvani which released on Netflix last year, 'Freddy' is the second movie starring Aaryan which is heading for a digital debut

'Jhansi' streaming now on Disney Plus HotStar

Adding to a pre existing array of web series and movies spanning across a wide ranging library, Disney Plus Hotstar has come up with an awe inspiring story

T h e p l a t f o r m p r e s e n t “Jhansi”, an adventurous stor in the form of a completel entertaining series Starrin Anjali in the lead role, Thir the director of 'Jhansi', offe a n e x c i t i n g p l o t a s a f u l length enjoyable series

" J h a n s i " i s b a s e d o n t h horrifying realities of violen against women, children, an drugs The existence of th generation of innocent, pur m i n d e d l a d i e s i s s h o w n "Jhansi'' as an emotional acti thriller with surprising twi and turns

One of the mysteries of t i n t r i g u i n g s e r i e s , w h i c h h already begun streaming, is how Mahita, a regular lady, was able to transform into Jhansi Mahita suffers from memory

s and wakes up with an e x p l i c a b l e h i s t o r y , a n d ghtening memories, which ake her life difficult From ing a loving mother and a f e , h e r l i f e h a s t a k e n a eird turn She does not remember r haunted past and has no emory of her enemies All he remembers is that she as wronged Without any e m o r y o f t h e p a s t , c a n h a n s i a v e n g e t h e c r i m e s ommitted against her? Can h e d i s c o v e r t h e l i n k e t w e e n h e r p a s t a n d resent?

T h e s e q u e s t i o n s a r e u r r e n t l y d o m i n a t i n g t h e minds of the Disney Plus H o t S t a r v i e w e r s D o n ' t orget to watch "Jhansi'' on Disney Plus HotStar to get tions The conflict between Mahita's present and past is portrayed in "Jhansi'' Get a glimpse into her life only on Disney Plus HotStar

'KGF' star Yash meets F1 legend Lewis Hamilton

Yash is widely regarded as one of the most sought after names in the film industry. The Sandalwood heartthrob emerged as a pan India star with 'KGF Chapter 2', which opened to a thunderous response at the box office earlier this year Now, here is some big news for his ardent fans The Rocking Star met Formula One legend, Lewis Hamilton on October 6 This, unsurprisingly, created a buzz on social media

S o m e n e t i z e n s e v e n w o n d e r e d i f t h i s m e e t i n g would lead to a collaboration between the two

Yash, who began his film career with 'Jambada Hudugi' (2007), made a name for himself

expectations at the

Movie 'Brahmastra' is soon to get its OTT release

'Brahmastra' was released on September 9 this year and had a successful box office run with mixed reviews from the audience.

The movie stars Ranbir Kapoor as Shiva, Alia Bhatt as Isha in the lead, and other big names like Amitabh Bachhan and Nagarjuna

I n f l u e n c e d b y I n d i a n m y t h o l o g y , t h e s t o r y l i n e f o l l o w s t h e j o u r n e y o f S h i v a , a n A s t r a , a s h e r e a l i s e s h i s p o w e r s T h e movie was directed by Ayan Mukherjee and took nine years to complete and release The film was released on September 9, 2022 and was reported to be successfull at the box office The movie turned out as one of the biggest commercial successes of Bollywood in recent times The film made a total domestic collection of £25 3 million

a n d £ 4 2 8 m i l l i o n a t t h e worldwide box office

I t i s s c h e d u l e d t o release on Disney+ Hotstar It will start streaming on N o v e m b e r 4 a n d w i l l b e a v a i l a b l e i n f i v e I n d i a n l a n g u a g e s : H i n d i , T a m i l , T e l u g u , M a l a y a l a m a n d K a n n a d a T h o s e w h o missed watching the movie in theatres can now watch it from the comfort of their home with their family

A y a n M u k h e r j e e ' s o r i g i n a l p l a n c o n s i s t s o f r e l e a s i n g ' B r a h m a s t r a ' a s a t h r e e p a r t m o v i e s e r i e s T h e s e c o n d a n d t h i r d instalments are being worked upon as w e l l T h e s e c o n d p a r t i s n a m e d ' B r a h m a s t r a : P a r t T w o D e v ' a n d i s expected to start shooting by 2023 and is speculated to be released in theatres by December 2025

Tiger Shroff flying to London to shoot for 'Mission Lion'?

Tiger Shroff's last film 'Heropanti 2' shook him up a bit as it did not do well at the box office, but Jackie Shroff's son has now put it behind him and gearing up for his next There has been news that Tiger has been roped in for a new project that will be helmed by the Akshay Kumar starrer 'Mission Mangal' director Jagan Shakti. The film may be called 'Mission Lion' and is going to be produced by Vashu Bhagnani This will be Bhagnani and Tiger’s second collaboration post the Vikas Bahl directorial 'Ganapath' We also heard that the makers of 'Mission Lion' will be soon in talks

with Tiger to arrange his dates Speculation was also rife that this is the same movie that was supposed to star Akshay Kumar but was later kept at the backburner

A p p a r e n t l y , T i g e r h a s g i v e n h i s d a t e s t o V a s h u T i g e r h a s t o l d V a s h u t h a t December would be the right time to roll the cameras So, w e a r e l i k e l y t o s e e T i g e r f l y i n g o u t t o L o n d o n i n December

T h e h e r o i n e o f t h e film is yet to be decided A f e w n a m e s h a v e b e e n s h o r t l i s t e d a t V a s h u s office but the final call has not yet been taken The b a l a n c e c a s t a n d o t h e r modalities are fast being worked out

Bollywood star Kartik Aaryan starrer 'Freddy' is set for a direct to digital release on Disney+ Hotstar, the streamer announced

Produced by Balaji Telefilms and Northern Lights Films and directed by Shashanka Ghosh, the movie is billed as an edge of the seat thriller

'Sandalwood' with films such as 'Moggina

'Drama' He added

Shah Rukh Khan's 'Zero' He then consolidated his standing in the industry when 'KGF Chapter 2' became the third h i g h e s t g r o s s i n g I n d i a n f i l m w o r l d w i d e a f t e r P r a b h a s 'Baahubali 2' (2017) and the Aamir Khan led 'Dangal ' Yash is yet to announce his next project

in briefAustralia keep World Cup hopes alive

Aaro n F inch returned to form w ith a timely half century but finish ed und er an injury clo ud as Australia eased to a 42 run win ov er Ireland at the T20 Wo rld Cup on Mo nd ay to keep th eir sem i final ho pes aliv e Captain Finch’s 63 off 44 balls h elped the champions post an im posing total of 179 for five at the Gabba in Brisbane before Australia’s bowlers led by M itchell Starc terrorised Ireland’ s to p order on Hallow een

Australia move to second in Group 1 behind leading New Zealand, who have a game in hand, but the hosts missed a golden opportunity to lift their net run rate above third placed England after reducing Ireland to 25 for five early on Nonetheless, with the top two teams advancing to the semi finals, the pressure is on Jos Buttler’s England to take down unbeaten New Zealand at the same venue on Tuesday Ind ia lost to South Africa

India suffered their first loss of the ongoing T20 World Cup on Sunday The team was defeated by South Africa by 5 wickets in a low scoring Group 2 game David Miller hit an unbeaten 59 off 46 balls and Aiden Markram scored 52 as the Proteas successfully chased down a 134 run target against India in Perth It was Suryakumar Yadav's 68 off 40 balls that had helped India post 133 for 9 after skipper Rohit Sharma opted to bat first After the loss, India slipped to the second spot in the Group 2 table with South Africa claiming the pole position with 5 points The Proteas have won two back to back matches after their

first game against Zimbabwe was washed out by rain Meanwhile, their net run rate (NRR) is +2 772

On the other hand, India have four p o i n t s f r o m t h r e e g a m e s T h e y h a d registered consecutive wins before the loss to South Africa in Perth Their NRR is +0 844 Bangladesh are at the third spot in the table with as many points as that of India but their NRR ( 1 533) is comparatively weaker Zimbabwe hold the fourth spot with an NRR of 0 050, Pakistan are fifth with an NRR of +0 765 and Netherlands take the bottom spot in the table with an NRR of 1 948

Pak keep h opes alive Pakistan were once again scrappy with the bat but managed to eke out a six wicket victory over the Netherlands in the T20 World Cup at Perth on Sunday to keep their slim semifinal hopes alive The Dutchmen found Pakistan’s world class pace attack too hot to handle on a bowlers’ friendly Optus Stadium track, managing only 91/9 in their 20 overs The target of 92 was never going to be an issue for Pakistan but even then it took them 13 5 overs to complete the chase with Mohammed Rizwan managing 49 off 39 balls

With Bangladesh also getting the better of Zimbabwe in a thriller, Pakistan’s chances o f r e m a i n i n g a l i v e i n t h e t o u r n a m e n t increased The full credit for this win will go to the bowlers, who hardly put a foot wrong on the day as Shaheen Shah Afridi (1/19) and Naseem Shah (1/11) choked the run flow in

the Powerplay and the Dutch could never break the shackles Bang ladesh beat Zim babw e Bangladesh survived intense drama and a chaotic final over before prevailing by three runs in a T20 World Cup thriller against Zimbabwe in Brisbane on Sunday C h a s i n g 1 5 1 f o r v i c t o r y i n t h e s e e s a w contest, Zimbabwe slumped to 35 4 in the powerplay but Sean Williams’s valiant 64 left them needing 16 runs off the final over from off spinner Mosaddek Hossain at the Gabba Zimbabwe scored 11 runs off the first five balls, losing two wickets in the process, but Blessing Muzarabani was stumped off t h e s i x t h , p r o m p t i n g c e l e b r a t i o n i n t h e B a n g l a d e s h c a m p R e p l a y s c o n f i r m e d Bangladesh wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan had collected the ball in front of the stumps, not b e h i n d , b e f o r e s t u m p i n g M u z a r a b a n i Muzarabani took strike again to face the free hit delivery from Mosaddek, but his wild swing did not connect with the ball and Bangladesh went on to register their second Super 12 victory

Pandya, Dhawan to lead India in New Zealand

R ohit Sharma, Virat Kohl i a nd KL R a h u l h a v e b e e n r e st e d fr om India's tour of New Zeal and in Nove mb er, with H ardik Pa ndya a n d S hi k h a r D ha w a n n a me d capta ins of the T20I and OD I squads respect iv ely R i s h a b h P a n t h a s b e e n named vice captain for the entire tour that is set to begin with the T20Is on November 18, five days after the T20 World Cup final in A u s t r a l i a N e i t h e r J a s p r i t B u m r a h n o r R a v i n d r a J a d e j a , both of whom missed the T20 World Cup because of injuries, were picked for the tour Dhawan's selection as ODI

c a p t a i n , c h i e f s e l e c t o r C h e t a n S h a r m a s a i d , w a s a n o t h e r indicator of his place in India's 50 overs plans in the immediate future, especially with the next World Cup in India exactly a year away Dhawan most recently led India s second string ODI squad in a home series against South Africa last month

Though Sharma denied it, the d o o r s f o r I n d i a ’ s T 2 0 I t e a m seemed to have been closed for Dinesh Karthikand off spinner R Ashwin He has also announced the teams for Bangladesh test and ODIs

NZ T20 Is: Hardik Pandya (C),

Equal match fee for India's male and female cricketers

In a hi storic move, the B CCI announced i t was introduc ing equal match fee for India’ s male a n d fe m a le c r i c k et e rs fo r internati onal appearances This a nn oun c e me nt w a s m ad e b y BCCI s ec retary Jay Shah “ T h e @ B C C I W o m e n cricketers will be paid the same m a t c h f e e a s t h e i r m a l e c o u n t e r p a r t s T e s t ( R s 15,00,000), ODI (Rs 600,000), T20I (Rs 300,000) Pay equity w a s m y c o m m i t m e n t t o o u r women cricketers and I thank t h e a p e x c o u n c i l f o r t h e i r support,” he added India is now j u s t t h e s e c o n d c o u n t r y i n w o r l d c r i c k e t a f t e r N e w Zealand to introduce pay parity f o r i t s m a l e a n d f e m a l e c r i c k e t e r s A s p e r B C C I ’ s c u r r e n t a n n u a l c o n t r a c t s structure (which remains the same), the highest paid women cricketers in India skipper H a r m a n p r e e t K a u r , S m r i t i

Mandhana and Poonam Yadav earn Rs 50,00,000 by virtue of being in Grade A, while Grade B a n d G r a d e C c o n t r a c t s a r e w o r t h R s 3 0 , 0 0 , 0 0 0 a n d R s 10,00,000

In comparison, the Indian m e n s t e a m c a p t a i n R o h i t Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah are bracketed in an A+ category, which entitles them to £700,000 annually Those in G r a d e s A , B a n d C g e t £ 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 , , 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 a n d 100,000 India’s male cricketers, of course, will still earn much more in terms of match fee as t h e y p l a y m o r e i n t e r n a t i o n a l m a t c h e s c o m p a r e d t o t h e i r w o m e n c o u n t e r p a r t s “ I t ’ s a r e v o l u t i o n a r y , m o m e n t o u s d e c i s i o n T h i s d e c i s i o n w i l l make waves in world cricket The BCCI can raise its collar n o w ! ” f o r m e r I n d i a w o m e n ’ s

captain Shantha Rangaswamy said

Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), W Sundar, Y u z v e n d r a C h a h a l , K u l d e e p Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohd Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik

NZ ODIs: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), W Sundar, Shardul Thakur, S h a h b a z A h m e d , Y u z v e n d r a Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik

B a n g l a d e s h OD I s: R o h i t

Sharma (C), KL Rahul (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, S h r e y a s I y e r , R a h u l T r i p a t h i , Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, W Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd S h a m i , M o h d S i r a j , D e e p a k Chahar, Yash Dayal

Ba n gl a de s h T e s t s : R o h i t S h a r m a ( C ) , K L R a h u l ( V C ) , S h u b m a n G i l l , C h e t e s h w a r Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, R i s h a b h P a n t ( w k ) , K S B h a r a t ( w k ) , R a v i c h a n d r a n A s h w i n , R a v i n d r a J a d e j a , A x a r P a t e l , Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, M o h d S h a m i , M o h d S i r a j , Umesh Yadav

Akram admits to cocaine addiction after retirement

Former Pakistan captain and fast bowling legend Wasim A kram adm itted to his strug gles with cocaine addiction after th e end of his playing career in his upcom ing auto biog raphy S ultan: A M em oir A kram , 56, rev ealed he d ev eloped a d ep endence o n cocaine w hile w orking as a television pundit aro und the world

Extracts from his book, published along with an interview in The Times, disclose a lot a bout Akram’s addiction, which he says ended after the death of his first wife Huma in 2009

“I liked to indulge myself; I liked to party,” Akram, arguably cricket’s greatest left arm pacer and a Type 1 diabetic, was quoted “The culture of fame in south Asia is all consuming, seductive and corrupting You can go to 10 parties a night, and some do And it took its toll on me My devices turned into vices “Worst of all, I developed a dependence on cocaine It started innocuously enough when I was offered a line at a party in England; my use grew steadily more serious, to the point that I felt I needed it to function

“It made me volatile It made me deceptive Huma, I know, was often lonely in this time She would talk of her desire to move to Karachi, to be nearer her parents and siblings I was reluctant Why? Partly because I liked going to Karachi on my own, pretending it was work when it was actually about partying, often for days at a time

“Huma eventually found me out, discovering a packet of cocaine in my wallet ‘You need help,’ she said and I agreed It was getting out of hand I couldn’t control it One line would become two, two would become four; four would become a gram, a gram would become two I could not sleep I could not eat I grew inattentive to my diabetes, which caused me headaches and mood swings Like a lot of addicts, part of me welcomed discovery: the secrecy had been exhausting ”

INDIAN PLAYER EXPELLED FOR HAVING EAR BUDS

India s grandmaster Priyanka Nutakki was expelled from the World Junior Chess Championship being held in Italy currently for having a pair of ear buds in her jacket pocket according to the world chess federation (FIDE) The 20 year old Priyanka (ELO rating 2326) was found to have a pair of ear buds a banned item in chess tournaments in her jacket during a routine check “While there is no indication of foul play on her part, earbuds are forbidden at the playing hall Carrying these devices during a game is a violation of fair play policies, and it is penalised with expulsion from the tournament,” FIDE said

MSD’S CURVE BAT A HIT WITH INDIAN PLAYERS

T20 cricket has changed a lot of things about how the game is played While strategies, shots and deliveries have evolved rapidly, some Indian players are reworking the shape of their bats Looking closely at the bats used particularly by Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, one can notice they have pronounced curves at the bottom This happens to be MS Dhoni ’s brainchild and the adjustment is done to aid power hitting Dhoni who has been a mentor for Pandya and Pant had suggested them to try round bottomed bats to improve their T20 game “It was Dhoni who had first started using this kind of bat before the 2019 World Cup And now these Indian players have started asking for this kind of bat Paras Anand managing director of leading sports equipment manufacturer Sanspareils Greenlands (SG), said

GRECO ROMAN WRESTLER

SAJAN WINS MEDAL

Sajan Bhanwala became the first Indian Greco Roman wrestler to win a medal at the Under 23 World Championship when he edged past Ukraine’s Dmytro Vasetskyi on criteria’ to emerge winner in the bronze play off It was the Ukrainian who pulled off a four pointer on the edge of the circle for a solid start but Bhanwala bounced back immediately with a strong move that got him into a position from where he could p in his rival Though he could not pin his rival, it was good enough to earn four points Bhanwala lost two more points and got into defensive mode For staying passive, Bhanwala put on Par Terre position something Indians are very poor at defending and the Ukrainian pulled off another four pointer from the ground position for a handsome 10 4 lead Bhanwala scored two points with a take down move and with 35 seconds left in the bout, managed to push his rival on the back to level the scores The bout ended at 10 10 but since the Indian had scored the last point he was declared winner on criteria

FEMALE REFEREES SET FOR WC FOOTBALL HISTORY

The approaching men’s World Cup will be the first to feature female referees, with three women set to make history in Qatar while hoping that the focus remains on their job rather than their gender France s Stephanie Frappart Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga and Japan’s Yoshimi Yamashita were included in the list of 36 referees selected by FIFA, while three more women will head to Qatar as assistant referees

The trio of referees, as well as assistants Neuza Back of Brazil, Mexico s Karen Diaz Medina and Kathryn Nesbitt of the United States will go to Qatar having already established themselves as officials in the men’s game On announcing the appointments Pierluigi Collina, the head of FIFA s Referees Committee, insisted that “we clearly emphasise that it is quality that counts for us and not gender For the 38 year old Frappart, being selected for the World Cup seemed like a logical next step after a rapid rise to refereeing at the top level in Europe