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VOL 50 - ISSUE 48

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Climate change - the scourge of our generation

India, Australia sign trade deal; watershed moment, says PM Modi

FAILING HEALTHCARE AND HUMANITY

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India-Nepal vow to strengthen bilateral ties

After Liz Truss, Boris Johnson to visit India The UK PM will be visiting India to meet PM Modi later this month.

The functioning of the NHS has been under severe scrutiny ever since the pandemic began. However, a recent report has highlighted the glaring and heart-wrenching stories of lives that could have been saved. It’s more than just a funding issue.

PM Johnson with PM Modi

Shefali Saxena 201 babies and nine mothers could have survived if an NHS trust had provided better care in the UK’s biggest maternity scandal at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS trust.

Police are examining more than 600 cases linked to the scandal.

In a letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from Donna Ockenden, Chair of the Independent Maternity Review, the latter wrote, “I publish the final report of the independent review of maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, at a time when

the NHS continues to face significant challenges arising from the coronavirus pandemic.”

In her letter, Ockenden acknowledged that the NHS staff – including maternity teams who have worked throughout this pandemic – are exhausted. “We have seen so many frontline NHS staff go above and beyond the call of duty to support and care for their patients in these truly extraordinary times. Our NHS is rightly held in high regard by so many for the lives it saves and the care it provides.

Continued on page 6

Reports indicate that the British PM is heading to India and the visit is expected to focus on deepening bilateral ties between the two countries and concluding a free trade pact soon. Johnson and Modi will talk about the ongoing global Russia-Ukraine crisis. In 2021, the visit of the British leader had to be postponed twice due to the surge in Covid-19 cases.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was in India on Thursday 31 March as part of a wider diplomatic push following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine last month.

In a meeting with India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the Foreign Secretary said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underlines the importance of democracies working closer together to deter aggressors, reduce vulnerability to coercion and strengthen global security. She wants to counter Russia’s aggression and reduce global strategic dependence on the country ahead of key NATO and G7 meetings next week. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “Deeper ties between Britain and India will boost security in the Indo-Pacific and globally, and create jobs and opportunities in both countries. This matters even more in the context of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and underlines the need for free democracies to work closer together in areas like defence, trade and cyber security. India is an economic and tech powerhouse, the world’s largest democracy and a great friend of Britain, and I want to build an even closer relationship between our two nations.”

Continued on page 9

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AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

9 - 15 April 2022

with Keith Vaz

Southall Sports Centre shut its doors, enrages women

MS LINEO ALPHONCINAH PALIME Charge d’Affaires - Lesotho High Commission, London Ms Lineo Alphoncinah Palime, is a diplomat with over 19 years of experience, currently Charge d’Affaires at Lesotho High Commission, London.

Lineo was born in Phahameng, Lesotho, South Africa, she is a single mother of two children Rets’epile Christina Palime and son Thabelo Charles Palime who sadly passed away in September 2021 after a sudden illness. After completing her degree in Public Administration and Political Science (PA/PS) at National University of Lesotho in 2003, Lineo joined Lesotho Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations working in the Directorate of Asia and Pacific Realm (DAPR) as First Secretary until 2013 when she was promoted as Counsellor in the same directorate.

In 2016, Lineo was appointed as Minister Counsellor at Lesotho Embassy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, transferring to London in 2019.

1) Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in?

United Kingdom.

2) What are your proudest achievements?

Being able to represent my country in Addis Ababa helped me contribute to the work of the African Union which included the Peace and Security Council (PSC), while in London the highlight of my career is representing my country’s contribution to the work of the Commonwealth and most importantly to hold fort as Acting Envoy for my country in Great Britain.

3) What inspires you?

Diplomacy.

4) What has been biggest obstacle in your career?

Lack of resources.

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

I have several role models of whom are my parents and Archbishop who always encourage me to strive to be the best, confident, dedicated and committed to whatever I do in life.

6) What is the best aspect about your current role?

Being able to assist the needy and represent my country with dignity both in Addis Ababa and in London.

7) And the worst?

There is no aspect, however, being entrusted to run the strategic Mission like Lesotho – London is a great honour and privilege.

8) What are your long-term goals?

To build my career, contribute in building my country Lesotho. As a woman strive towards getting a leadership position within a period of one year after general elections in September,2022.

9) If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change?

I would focus more in professionalising Civil Service as the backbone of the government.

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

President Nelson Mandela because he fought for freedom

People with cough or cold told to isolate Considering the increasing Covid cases, under the new guidance, the government is urging people who are experiencing cough or cold in England to stay home and avoid contact with other people. The guidance is also encouraging people to stay at home until they feel well.

The new measures were implemented from April 1 after the legal requirement for people to self-isolate after a positive Covid test

ended on February 24.

Children who are unwell and down with high temperatures are advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people. The Government said, they can go back to school, college or childcare when they no longer have a high temperature.

While ministers are being accused of leaving the decision until the eleventh hour, with free universal

testing due to end in England on Friday, the Department of Health and Social Care said testing has come at a “significant cost” to the taxpayer, with the testing, tracing and isolation budget costing more than £15.7 billion in 2021/22.

Meanwhile, DHSC said that from April 1, it will no longer be advised for venues and events to use the NHS Covid pass.

Sir Patrick Vallance warns of new deadly Covid variant The Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance has told MPs that

considering the rise in covid cases, it is evolving very rapidly and has warned that

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who has been using the gym for over five years said: “[The gym’s] womens’ space is used by women of all religions and faiths because they feel comfortable. It’s a safe space. It’s a community hub as much as it is a gym.”

Zainab said she approached MP for Ealing, Southall Virendra Sharma for help.

She said: “We are not going to be silent. We are going to make our voices heard. We are going to let it be known to officials that they need to come up with a solution for us.”

18-year-old dies in the collision in Dewsbury On 21 March, eighteen-yearold Rayhaan Hussain suffered fatal injuries in the collision on Station Road around 7:30 pm, who then succumbed to his injuries in hospital.

In a statement issued, Rayhaan’s family said: "Rayhaan was a kind and affectionate soul. He was well-loved in the communi-

ty, having been involved in Army Cadets, at boxing when he was young and being a regular at the local mosque.

"He was a major presence in his town and everyone who knew him always thought fondly of him, calling him a well-mannered man.

"He was popular among

friends and was extremely pleasant to be around, being able to make anyone smile and laugh."

West Yorkshire Police recovered an Audi Q3 and a Nissan Qashqai from the scene of the crash and enquiries are continuing.

Anyone with information should call the force via 101.

Voting fraud warning in Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman who was removed as the Mayor of Tower Hamlets in 2015 following corruption and voterigging allegations, is all set to lead the council.

However, the decision has not gone down well with Communities minister Kemi Badenoch who has written to the Met Police and Electoral Commission over her concerns about “family voting”, singling out Tower Hamlets.

Ms Badenoch said: “The Government is concerned of the risks of election fraud in the May 2022 elections:

whilst the Elections Bill is tightening the law to strengthen electoral integrity it will not be in force by then.

"We are concerned that fraud could be repeated on May 5 in areas where it has

occurred before, places such as Tower Hamlets where there is a particular history.”

Former solicitor, Mr Rahman was banned from standing for office for five years in 2015 after an election court found he had broken rules. He was also struck off the solicitor roll.

However, a watchdog later found out that the Met police had bungled its investigation into wrongdoing during the 2014 poll.

Mr Rahman whose ban is now complete is standing to be mayor as leader of his own party, Aspire.

Good Morning Britain presenter Ranvir Singh gets replaced Good Morning Britain swapped Ranvir Singh with another presenter in the middle of a live broadcast on Tuesday morning. Ranvir, who was in the studio with anchors Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid reading headlines, was praised by Richard for soldiering on despite what he described as “the worst hay fever I think I’ve ever seen”.

“What’s going on? Yes, that’s why I’m looking like this today, apologies,” she

then explained. “I’m OK, I think.

“I’ve got streaming eyes and a very sore face. But Dr Hilary is here, luckily! That’s one of the perks of working here is that you’ve got a doctor on hand.”

After half an hour later, it was revealed that she had been replaced by the occasional GMB stand-in Louisa James.

Only 10% of Ukrainians have been offered accommodation by UK

FINANCIAL A SERVICES MORTGAGES Residential Buy to Let Remortgages

Southall Sports Centre's decision of shutting down for an expansion of the West London College has left women furious, who believe they will have no place to exercise.

Women in West London are unhappy with the decision as it is a female-only gym that has a sauna and exercise area. It attracts female members who don’t want to work out with men for reasons of comfort, modesty or religion.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Zainab Hasan,

the next covid variant will be worse than Omicron.

He added that it is "a mistake" to believe the more Covid evolves, the less serious its mutations will become.

Experts believe that vaccines have played an important role to keep the cases at bay. Meanwhile, he told MPs that giving people booster jabs every four months was not a “credible” strategy.

Under the Home for Ukraine sponsorship scheme, only 2700 visas have been issued to people who have fled the RussiaUkraine war, despite receiving 28,300 applications. It clearly states that only 10 per cent of Ukrainians have been offered accommodation by the UK. On March 18, applications for the Homes for Ukraine scheme were launched after more than 150,000 people had regis-

tered an interest in accommodating refugees. The Home Office has not yet published any data on the numbers of those applying to sponsor named individuals or those whose visas have been approved until now.

Under the two Ukraine schemes launched since the start of the war, in total, 25,500 visas have been issued to people, with 59,500 people applying as of 29 March.

Unlike other European countries that have waived checks in response to the continent’s largest humanitarian crisis since world war two, the UK currently wants Ukrainian refugees to apply for a visa on security grounds.

Meanwhile, Refugees Minister Richard Harrington admitted that the process for resettling Ukrainian refugees had not been “as seamless as it should have been”.

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9 - 15 April 2022

A poor jibe at a rich Chancellor The Sunday Times wrote an article discussing how Rishi Sunak may be considered too rich to be a Prime Minister in Britain- far removed from the reality and requirements of common people.

It is interesting to read such articles attributed to an immigrant, especially in the post-colonial era, making one wonder if people thought of the same about Edward Stanley the 14th Earl of Derby (1799-1869) who was the richest British Prime Minister, with a personal fortune more than £7 million (about £444 million in today's terms). In fact, Derby served as Prime Minister three times!

Let us look at who Rishi Sunak really is. His parents came from East Africa. Father Yashvir, who came from Kenya and was a GP. Mother Usha was a pharmacist, who was born in Tanzania. During a conversation with the Conservative Friends of India celebrating Diwali, Mr Sunak described how as a young child, he would run errands for his pharmacist mother. He also worked in a restaurant in Southampton. That is not what rich children do while growing up in Britain, anyone who has read history would know.

Mr Sunak grew up with the very ethos immigrants raised their children with - to integrate as well strive for the best, despite limited resources. Most immigrant parents ensured their children landed white-collared jobs, rose to the top in their careers, as well as succeeded in being role models for generations to come.

Mr Sunak worked as an analyst in Goldman Sachs, then worked for the hedge fund management firm The Children’s Investment Fund Management, becoming a partner later. He then left it to join former colleagues at a new hedge fund firm, Theleme Partners, which was launched in October 2010. He was also a director of the investment firm Catamaran Ventures, owned by his father-in-law, Indian businessman N R Narayana Murthy.

Mr Sunak’s career trajectory is like many other South Asians who grew up in Britain. Second generation British Asians for example Lord Jitesh Gadhia or Alpesh Patel OBE or Manoj Ladwa is an example of this generation’s accomplishments through education but also due to the immense sacrifice from

their immigrant parents and families.

Mr Sunak’s wife is the daughter of one of the richest men in India, but that does not outshine Mr Sunak’s own achievements.

The wealth they own as a family unit does not define who Mr Sunak is as an individual, MP or as a Minister. His achievements are future possibilities for every British Asian striving for the highest positions in every walk of life. His photo ops are not his principles and the very thought that he would not know the price of a pint of milk, is still an assumption. Most men in Asian families are regrettably neither seen doing the family grocery nor found cooking. Their job is restricted to clearing dishes or loading the dishwasher, yet they would still not know the price of a washing liquid! The assumption that a man who only belongs to a rich family or has more wealth than the Queen would not know the price of a loaf of bread is not true.

Poor policies are not drawn up by politicians, they are merely executioners. If Mr Sunak becomes the Prime Minister, much to the joy of the Indian community, his wealth will become a beating stick for the Opposition, but then so has been his race!

A recent attack on him by a Labour councillor, asking him to “return to India with his wife” clearly shows how far inclusive Britain has come. If one dares a racial jibe at the Chancellor, what chances do a corner shop and petrol pump owner have?

The recent Ukraine crisis has given this government opportunities to fix many problems at once. There was a time, Britain was called the “sick man of Europe”. When Argentina's military invaded the Falkland Islands, a British colony, in April 1982, Margaret Thatcher's political future was reportedly in serious question. But apparently, the 74-day Falklands War became Prime Minister Thatcher's "moment" that led to quick British victory and helped save her political job. With Mr Johnson taking a lead in the Ukraine situation, there is a massive opportunity to salvage all that has gone wrong his way.

With his tweet, “Putin will never break the spirit of Ukraine’s people or conquer their homeland. Ukraine will rise again and take her place among free and sovereign nations once more,” comes hopes of solidarity from the West, a tune lost to the Brexit fiasco for years now.

An opportunity not to be missed While Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has been allegedly blaming his anti-Western rhetoric and global conspiracy responsible to remove him from his political post, the Pakistan military is apparently looking at reorganising its ties with the USA, as reportedly hinted by Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa at a seminar last weekend.

Sources have also revealed that their experience with poor Chinese products have prompted to rebuild a relationship with the West, which has been constantly criticised by Imran Khan.

In the meantime, as we went to press, Pakistan’s Supreme Court adjourned without ruling on the legality of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s move to dissolve Parliament and call for new elections. Al Jazeera reported, during Tuesday’s proceedings, the court said it still has to hear more arguments on the crisis and that the hearings would continue on Wednesday.

Parliament’s Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri dissolved the Assembly on Sunday before a no-confidence vote that Mr Khan would appeared to have lost, alleging the motion was part of a foreign conspiracy. The Opposition has said that the move was unconstitutional.

As China battles increasing Covid cases in the country, with hundreds in hospital, Sanghai has put the whole city on lockdown. At the same time, 40 MPs have left GotabayaRajapaksa led Coalition in Sri Lanka.

Amidst the ongoing crisis and controversies all around, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to visit India later this month. After Brexit, Mr Johnson had planned two

visits to India, which fell through as Covid cases increased in both countries. Though dates have not been officially announced, reports indicate that the British Prime Minister’s visit is expected to focus on strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries and to conclude the much-awaited Free Trade Agreement soon. The two leaders are also due to talk about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. While UK’s Trade Minister criticised India’s stand on Russia and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss requested India to take a stronger stand during her last week’s visit (see p1) Mr Johnson has refrained from criticising India’s stand, even during their latest telephonic conversation two weeks back.

The two Prime Ministers had last met during COP26 Climate Summit in November 2021 when both were seen hugging each other on the stage in Glasgow. In May 2021, they also spoke about the Indo-Pacific ties and Roadmap 2030. The two countries are keen to close trade agreement at the earliest as it would double UK-India trade, currently at £23bn every year.

Mr Johnson’s visit to India would not only focus on growing popularity of India in political and economic arena, with unprecedented turmoil in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and spreading medical chaos in China, it would also play a vital role in strategising the power structure between the east and the west, especially in the years to come. It is about time India secures a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and if Mr Johnson wants to win Mr Modi and India’s absolute confidence, this is an opportunity he should not miss.

International relations undergoing major changes Modern diplomacy is currently experiencing fundamental changes at an unprecedented rate, which affect the very character of diplomacy. These changes also affect aspects of domestic and international politics that were once of no great concern to diplomacy. India's rise to power has led to speculation and expectations about how it will change the global order. On the one hand, India is huge, with more than 1.3 billion people, and on track to become the world's thirdlargest economy. India is also the largest and most diverse democracy, but hesitates to promote these values abroad. As the United States welcomes and supports India's rise, Americans should better understand Indians' ambitions for themselves and for their role in the Indo-Pacific and on the world stage - ambitions that are still debated within India.

India is increasingly playing a major role in world affairs now. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought to it a new energy and clarity in India's foreign policy. His bold moves, while taking the country closer to the United States, and repeated outreach towards Pakistan and China, despite some setbacks, combined with rapid changes in the global matrix, are taking India into uncharted waters. The US and Russia are both wooing India, especially in the context of Russia's dispute with Ukraine. While the US wants India to denounce Russia for its actions, India is following an independent policy. India’s contributions to international relations are substantial and ongoing. India is helping Maldives, Sri Lanka,

Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh to tide over its problems.

India has offered financial assistance to Sri Lanka and Maldives to tide over its major financial crunch. Though China thought that it can browbeat India easily, it has learnt a lesson during its border dispute with India. Now there respect for India has increased.

India itself has changed since the economic reform programme was initiated in 1991. GDP growth rates have risen as a result of economic liberalisation and globalisation. While socialist planning policies are being abandoned, redistributive policies continue simply because in democracies, the more numerous poor matter. Since India is not a permanent member of the UN Security Council, it has limited bargaining power in international politics. India has also become a major economic power. Though the corona virus has affected the world over its impact in India is not major. It has emerged as a winner now.

Since the United States is growing more reluctant to bear the costs of world leadership, especially when it comes to using military force, China and Russia, along with lesser regional powers, have taken advantage of this reticence in recent years to assert their own interests and to undermine the United States’ international standing and authority. The benefits of the US-led order and, in particular, the many international agreements that the United States has championed to open up the world to the free flow of goods, services,

Thought for the week The reason for fasting is to understand the relationship between what's you and what's the accumulative body. - Jaggi Vasudev

Political Sketchbook Alpesh Patel

Britain Second Rate?

I was at the Equator, on an Atoll in the centre of the Indian Ocean, which is a couple of hundred miles from the British Military base, Diego Garcia. It’s when Putin, several years ago, called Britain a second rate power. Before they proved this past month Russia is a fifth rate one.

But it is the British base at Diego Garcia equidistant from Singapore and Somalia that holds a clue to Britain’s future and the world we want.

Is she a second rate power at Putin claims? Is this tiny island nation with bases thousands of miles away in a foreign ocean trying to punch above her weight?

Is Britain with a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, representing a mere 1% of the world’s population, irrelevant – despite having a veto power over all resolutions by the UN? Is this G7 member, the fifth largest economy in the world, weaker outside the EU as Obama claimed?

The UK Foreign Secretary visited India this past week. She could not pressure them to overtly change any stance on Russia.

I need a strong Britain. An economically strong and politically strong Britain, because I am British and like British values, and fear a world where those values are not held up. I fear a world where the values of the Chinese or Russians are the major voices.

That base at Diego Garcia is a joint base with the Americans as part of the British Indian Ocean Territories. It is not a remote island harking to yesteryear, but in fact a presence that protects free trade sea routes and a base from which to project power into the Indian Ocean to the Arabian sea to the coast off Western Africa – not Britain alone, but alongside America.

What business is any of this of ours? Of Britains?

Because in a landscape of competing national interests, we need to fight and stake and keep our claim, for the values which we first encourage upon the world, or at worst, impose. But we’ve seen their alternative visions from China to Russia to Syria, and I prefer our way.

Asian Voice is published by

Asian Business Publications Ltd Units 207-208, Harrow Business Centre, 429-433 Pinner Road, North Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 4HN Tel: 020 7749 4080 • Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com Website: www.abplgroup.com INDIA OFFICE

Bureau Chief: Nilesh Parmar (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt. Ltd. 207 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad380 015. Tel: +91 79 2646 5960 Email: gs_ahd@abplgroup.com © Asian Business Publications ideas, and people, no longer look so promising- not least to many Americans. This shift has caused a public backlash against globalization not only in the United States but also in many Western countries. The major powers either do not comprehend the risks of the current transitional period or they do not have a clear vision for a new international order that will be broadly acceptable and thus considered legitimate by most other states. If anything, mistrust and friction is steadily growing among them. The prospect of a war breaking out between two or more of the major powers is no longer unimaginable. Last week representatives from three countries visited India to influence its thinking. But India reiterates its independent foreign policy. Western countries criticise India for buying cheap crude from Russia, but India stood by its stand. Now India expressed its readiness to mediate between Russia and Ukraine in ending the dispute.

America also seeks India's influence with Russia to end the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

04 FESTIVAL SPECIAL

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AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

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‘I am so so happy to represent the W Sikh community’

hat kind of attitude must remain in business keep in order to reach leadership positions?

I don't think there's a one fits all attitude or perBBC Apprentice 2022 winner and business partner to Lord Sugar, Harpreet Kaur, a 30-year- sonality type. We're all different. My style wouldn't fit old owner of a dessert parlour from West Yorkshire, speaks exclusively to Asian Voice anyone else if that's not about winning the show, setting an example for the ethnic minority community and more. their sort of true nature. But I definitely think one thing is always to be fearless.

Shefali Saxena might get brought up in the There's nothing to be boardroom. But actually, if afraid of. If you've got an hat was the kind of preparation and you just invest yourself 100% opinion, be professional, clarity you went ahead with at the Focus on the job at hand have to channel it in the apprentice? rather than any boardroom right way. But don't hold I was 100% focused on the task and nothpolitics, then at least you're back. Just invest yourself ing else. And I think I've always had that making a contribution. Don't 100% And just keep going motto in life, whether it was for exams, take a backseat. for it and be honest and whether it was in my career or in my busiow significant is your true about what you ness, I really try not to let any other noise win for the Sikh comwant. If you don't have a affect my focus on my logic. And I always try munity? And what does it clear goal or voice or and make logical decisions as opposed to mean to you? direction, then you're not how I feel about something. So I think with I am so so happy to repregoing to end up anywhere the apprentice, I had a very sort of strong sent the Sikh community and and you'll just keep floatwinning mindset. And my mindset was, that the general Asian and Punjabi ing along if we won every task, we would not have to community and the female hat would your advice be to more girls worry about competing in the boardroom Asian community. I hope that I have come from ethnic minority roots to become because we've already won. So I think that across as professional, strong, and fearless like you? winning mentality definitely helped me. because that's how I believe we should all be My advice to girls from ethnic minority here do I think tests didn't make an in regards to our goals and achieving the best roots to become like me, well, I think everyerror or go wrong in that approach? version of ourselves. I'm just really happy one is unique. And definitely, people should There's a lot of pressure. And often they that I can be a positive role model in our become the best version of themselves and can worry too much about their input or, community. And I'll keep doing my best to not compare themselves to anyone else. Just you know, saying the wrong thing that inspire others to do the same.

W

H

W

W

Harpreet Kaur

be you 100% but also follow your dreams.

Don't worry about what you think society may think or what people may say. You don't need to worry about your gender, whether you're female, you can achieve anything that you want to if you're a good person, you've got the right morals and you've got goals, you go out and get them and don't let anybody get in your way or tell you any different because if you don't, you'll be living a life that isn't true to yourself or authentic and that kind of niggle, never goes away. So just live life to the max. It's too short. Look after yourself, look after your family, but go and smash your goals.

I wish a very Happy Vaisakhi to all the readers of Asian Voice. I'll be celebrating with my family. I hope everybody and their families have an amazing Vaisakhi 2022 and let's all have an amazing prosperous new year.

Ramadan Kareem!

I

know Asian Voice readers, many of whom are Muslim have been looking forward to a normal Ramadan for the last two years, the last time we had a normal Ramadan was 2019. And it's really important, obviously, because Muslims fast between dawn and sunset. And so what you know if that means you can come together, have a meal for your family and friends. And it's really important because this is a month where it's the month of sacrifice, a month of charity, a month of generosity, but also a month of mixing and mingling with people, both Muslims and non-Muslims.

And the great thing about London is our diversity, whether you're a Sikh or a Hindu, whether you're Christian or Jewish, or whether you don't even belong to an organised religion. Many people now understand fasting, understand about Ramadan. And it's wonderful to see non-Muslims taking an interest, but also accommodating the working day to accommodate those Muslims who are fasting and I wish all your readers who will be fast a very happy Ramadan Ramadan Mubarak.

This year, we're going to have Vaisakhi back into survivor square. So really exciting month for both was an exciting month for Christians, obviously, because of Easter, for Sikhs because of Vaisakhi. And obviously Muslims because of Ramadan. We commemorate the teachings of Sikhism, and it's really important for not just those from the Sikh faith, but those who aren't from the Sikh faith like me, to learn more about the teachers of the Guru to understand what the Sikh religion is about. And one of the great joys about having Vaisakhi back in Trafalgar Square is that many of those who don't understand Sikhism, can go along and provide a square and see and learn for themselves about the culture.

There'll be a langer as well. It's really, really exciting. And the great thing is you'll have non-Sikhs come along as well as Sikhs.

- Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan

Many years after having survived the brutal pandemic and lockdown, and going without meeting friends and family, this year cab driver Dipul Miah is going to meet his friends during Ramadan iftars while fasting and working. Speaking to us, Dipul said that he is trying to adapt to the working hours while fasting (keeping Roza). “Usually, I would work in the evening but now I probably work more in the daytime and go home towards sunset,” he told Asian Voice.

He chuckled and said that one does have hunger pangs but when you just

E

Ramadan about eating when it should be about other issues really.”

“Ramadan is without water sustain abstaining from drinking, not just bad habits other bad habits need to eradicate that as well,” he added.

Dipul also asserted that charity (an integral part of Ramadan) must happen all year round year. He said, “We just make sure the less fortunate, especially in the third world country have substance to actually feed themselves.”

Indian heritage paintings up for auction have a little bit - you're full up. “We do know that from experience but we still kind of thing we're gonna eat so much. Sometimes we make

very Indian must celebrate the event which changed their fortunes by restoring religious freedom in India. The story of Vaisakhi has its origin well before 13th April 1699. It began with the martyrdom of the ninth Sikh Guru, Teg Bahadur, who was publicly beheaded by Aurangzeb, the then Mughal ruler, for upholding the religious freedom of Kashmiri Pundits in India.

Regrettably, Aurangzeb had become overzealous with his blend of religion and wanted to force everyone to convert to his faith or face dire consequences. Guru Tegh Bahadur stood up for the Hindu Pundits who were threatened with conversion or face death. The great Guru challenged the emperor to convert him first before the Hindu Pundits. As Guru Ji refused the emperor’s demands, he was publicly beheaded for his act of defiance, and the Guru's martyrdom unleashed anger amongst his followers. They did not rest until they brought an end to the tyrannical Mughal rule in India. A unique example in the history of humanity is when a faith leader gives up his life to uphold another community's religious rights. The Sikh Gurus were the first to champion religious freedom in the world before anyone else.

In 1699 on Vaisakhi day, the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, son of the martyred 9th Sikh Guru, Tegh Bahadur, established the brotherhood of Khalsa to fight against the religious oppression and tyranny of Emperor Aurungzeb.

The emperor wanted to destroy India's diversity, but according to Guru Gobind Singh Ji, diversity must be accepted, respected, and, if need be, defended. Guru Gobind Singh Ji and his followers defended India's diversity as we see it today by paying the supreme sacrifices.

-Lord Rami Ranger CBE

The Christie’s auction house in London is working in association with the Indian design house Good Earth on traditional arts and crafts for its latest auction. has tied up with the Indian design house Good Earth to juxtapose the contemporary with traditional arts and jewellery for its latest auction featuring Indian works.

“The lots that I have selected have enchanted me. The opulent and sumptuous carpets and rugs; the inspirational designs and techniques and the noble provenance across the sale are a reminder of our rich cultural past,” said Anita Lal, Founder and Creative Director of Good Earth told PTI. The sale features paintings from Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s court in Punjab to his wife Maharani Jindan Kaur’s jewellery as part of over 200 lots.

Other paintings include those of Lord Krishna, a Kashmiri silk shawl, priced between £20,000 and £30,000.

The collection includes Maharani Jindan Kaur’s diamond and emerald set that costs £80,000-£120,000.

There’s also Agra Carpet with Mughal “shrub” design with precious stones on the Taj Mahal, and a range of Pahari miniatures.

Dear readers of Asian Voice, Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh I am delighted to wish readers of Asian Voice a happy Vaisakhi.

On this day we mark the creation of the Khalsa in 1699 by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh ji, and we remember the Panj Pyare (the five beloved ones) as symbols of steadfastness and devotion.

British Sikhs play a very important and significant role in our country. The values of the Sikh community – hard work and enterprise, good education, and putting something back through sharing and contributing to society – are of great benefit to our wider communities.

I am pleased that this year many of us will once again be able to celebrate at Gurdwaras and take part in Nagar Kirtan processions.

I hope that you all have a wonderful and joyous day.

- Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP

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Wish a happy Vaisakhi V aisakhi to lo ov ved ed ones in Punja ab.

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FAILING HEALTHCARE AND HUMANITY nurse or junior doctor who is trying to do their best while they face longer days and a squeeze on resources, the New Statesman reported.

Birth givers speak UK based Kamaljit Uppal told the BBC Panorama documentary ‘Maternity Scandal: Fighting For Truth’, she was refused to undergo a Caesarean section at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and told to deliver naturally – even though her son was in the feet-first breech position, which made it much riskier to attempt a vaginal birth.

In a heartwrenching account, Uppal told that after 18 hours of labour, he was eventually delivered

Continued from page 1

“However, this final report of the Independent Maternity Review of maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is about an NHS maternity service that failed. It failed to investigate, failed to learn and failed to improve, and therefore often failed to safeguard mothers and their babies at one of the most important times in their lives,” she wrote.

Her letter also threw the spotlight on the fact that there have been significant pressures in maternity services in the recruitment and retention of midwives and obstetricians.

Madhuri Bedi, Bereavement Support Services Officer, Sands (Stillbirth and neonatal death charity) spoke to Asian Voice about women her organisation has helped in order to navigate challenges with the NHS. At Sands, she hears from bereaved parents who tell them they didn’t feel they were listened to when they tried to raise concerns about their or their baby’s care during pregnancy or birth.

Bedi said, “Removing barriers to accessing care and improving communication between healthcare professionals and parents is especially important when caring for Asian women or those from other ethnic minorities, particularly those for whom English is not their first language. There is a complex mix of risk factors that can contribute to the death of a baby, but we know that Asian and Asian British babies are 1.6x more likely to be stillborn than White babies.”

Parents need to be given culturally appropriate information According to the Bereavement Officer, parents need to be given culturally appropriate information in their preferred language, about what they can do to keep themselves and their baby safe during pregnancy, and to have access to interpreting services when they use healthcare services (online, over the phone, and in-person).

Commenting on the latest news of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Madhuri said, “The recent report from Donna Ockenden into Maternity Services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) highlighted the need to really listen to parents so that opportunities to take action that could save babies’ and mothers’ lives are not missed. Crucially, hospitals need enough staff, resources and support to do this effectively. Trusts which are struggling must be identified earlier and offered support so that babies and mothers are kept safe and well.”

“We have also heard from parents and healthcare professionals that the Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on both maternity and bereavement care. Families, parents and mothers shared key concerns with Sands about having fewer appointments, attending appointments and scans alone, particularly for those pregnant after loss, receiving bad news alone, and PPE affecting the staff’s ability to give compassionate care,” she added.

Can NHS be more patient-friendly?

Discussing the core issue that needs to be addressed in order to make the NHS more patientfriendly, Bedi told Asian Voice,

“Listening to parents is key and we must ensure that bereaved parents' voices are heard by decision-makers in the NHS and government so that their experiences help improve safety in maternity and neonatal care. When a baby does die, parents must have the opportunity to feed their thoughts into the review of their baby's death, and to ask the questions that are important to them.”

She further mentioned that for healthcare professionals it can feel difficult to approach parents at an acutely distressing time and to raise sensitive issues. “We have developed resources, both within Sands and in collaboration with the Perinatal Mortality Review Tool group, to support anyone engaging parents in a review or investigation process,” Bedi told the newsweekly.

Repeated maternity failings Meanwhile repeated maternity failings and serious concerns about the safety of mothers and babies in Sheffield have come to light following the UK’s biggest maternity scandal at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS trust.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found Sheffield teaching hospitals NHS foundation trust, one of the largest NHS trusts in England, had failed to make the required improvements to services when it visited in October and November, despite receiving previous warnings from the watchdog, The Guardian reported.

When it came to the medical staff at the Sheffield trust, the “service did not have enough medical staff with the right qualifications, skills, and experience to keep women and babies safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment”, the report said.

Inspectors have reportedly found that staff were not interpreting, classifying or escalating measures of a baby’s heart rate properly, an issue that was raised in Ockenden’s review.

It also “highlighted that the service continued to lack urgency and pace in implementing actions and recommendations to mitigate these risks, therefore exposing patients to risk of harm”.

The report added: “We were informed by staff that there were often difficulties requesting additional assistance when women’s health was deteriorating. Staff told us that there were occasions when they would ‘bleep’ for medical assistance on more than one occasion before assistance arrived. We were also told on multiple occasions that there were instances where an emergency call buzzer would be pulled after receiving no response

to multiple bleep calls.”

NHS hits a 25-year low It is an alarming yet not quite unprecedented fact that public satisfaction with the NHS hits a 25year low. The latest British Social Attitudes survey showed overall satisfaction with the NHS at 36 per cent, down 17 percentage points from two years ago.

In an Op-Ed in Financial Times, Camilla Cavendish wrote, “The NHS has been our national religion, partly because it treats us without payment in our hour of need. But the idea that it’s “free” has sometimes made us too grateful and allowed the system to close ranks. The NHS is not actually free: we pay for it through our taxes.

This should give patients the right to ask questions, and not to struggle for years, as the Stanton-Davies and Griffiths families courageously did in Shrewsbury, to find out why their babies had died.”

She also empathised that “there is a culture of fear in parts of the NHS which helps neither patients nor the dedicated staff who are sick of working with bullying colleagues and box-ticking managers.”

While the NHS has been recognised for its world-beating excellence in some places, it does have some appalling management failures in others.

The NHS has been our national religion, partly because it treats us without payment in our hour of need. But the idea that it’s “free” has sometimes made us too grateful and allowed the system to close ranks. The NHS is not actually free: we pay for it through our taxes.

This should give patients the right to ask questions, and not to struggle for years, FT reported.

Strange fairy tale theory The Conservative party has been criticised for its strange fairy tale theory that the NHS needs a revamp and most of its problems are due to lack of funding. As has been the fashion for years, they point the finger at lazy doctors, as medical staff go into the profession in the hope of an easy life and not to improve the lives of their patients. The vast majority of people (94 per cent) still believe in the founding principle of the NHS: free when you need it. Almost as many (80 per cent) have identified a lack of NHS funding as the core reason for their dissatisfaction. The public wants the NHS to continue and they know it is failing due to this government’s decision to let it.

Something has changed; the government can no longer hide their role in letting the NHS fail.

Everyone has experienced how strained NHS staff are when they turn up at an A&E ward, or knows a

Madhuri Bedi

by emergency Caesarean. Uppal was still groggy from her general anaesthetic when, in her words, her son was ‘plonked’ on her and she was told he had died.

In 2020, then 31 weeks pregnant Shrimoyee Chakravarty told Asian Voice “My experience with the NHS in the last seven months has been awful. I had never been given a growth chart of my baby and I was only told about this last week when I was 29 weeks pregnant. When someone asked where the growth chart was, I replied oh, I’ve never been given one. Then I was given a growth chart saying the baby should have been monitored weeks ago.

“Even when you go to the midwife's office, they seem like 18thcentury offices with old computers, no printers. They still use an old school heartbeat monitor to check the heartbeat of the baby. It’s just ridiculous,” she added.

When she was 14 weeks pregnant, she suddenly started bleeding.

“I went to the hospital at 10 pm at night, because of bureaucratic nonsense, they kept pushing me from one ward to the other. They kept saying that we’ll only see you at fourteen weeks and I was 13 weeks 4 days pregnant. They pushed me around for two hours till I had to literally fight to be seen by a doctor.

I said I’m not leaving till you tell me if the baby is alive or not. For me, the whole experience with the NHS has been pretty traumatic, to say the least,” Shrimoyee explained.

Chetna Mistry, 42, told the BBC she is a 'prisoner' to endometriosis — a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb starts to

grow in other places, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes. Mistry has reportedly been left infertile and in need of a hysterectomy — a surgical procedure to remove the womb.

“She was referred to a specialist in June 2020 but still does not have a date for her operation,” she told Daily Mail.

Grim messages for leaders Not just patients, the staff at Liverpool's biggest NHS organisation sent a grim message to senior leaders - who issued an apology over their "deeply unsatisfactory" experiences. In the 2021 annual NHS Staff Survey, only 50% of respondents agreed that the trust was fair in awarding promotions regardless of ethnic background, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age, down from 53.7% the previous year.

It is also important to address the fact that the appointment system at the NHS is also fundamentally flawed. If one needs an appointment right now, they may get it after a month, or in the case of Chetna Mistry, years! This also means that appointment slots where patients don’t turn up or are missed, end up being a horrific disadvantage for those who need it more than others.

While community pharmacists are ready to share the burden with NHS, it is still a long road ahead. In between getting an appointment

á Gynaecology waiting lists jumped 60% over the pandemic á 570,000 women are now waiting for appointments, tests, scans and operations. á NHS figures show the number of women forced to wait more than a year for routine treatment is now almost 380 times higher than it was before Covid. á Data shows 6.1million were waiting for routine treatment by the end of January á Nearly 24,000 were waiting more than 2 years, a 9-fold increase from April 2021

and a prescription and then the actual medicine from a pharmacist, sometimes time, life and faith are lost.

Not every person has come out victorious in the pandemic. With job losses, Long Covid woes and more emotional turmoil, the spending capacity amid the rising cost of living have also altered the way patients would approach health.

Not everyone will be able to afford private health care if the NHS doesn’t fundamentally fix its alleged broken foundation.

Pandemic has affected social skills of young children, says Ofsted chief The education watchdog Ofsted has found out that during the pandemic, many young children could not understand facial expressions and got few opportunities to develop their social and emotional skills.

Amanda Spielman, Ofsted’s chief inspector, said,“I’m particularly worried about younger children’s development, which, if left unad-

dressed, could potentially cause problems for primary schools down the line.”

She further added that the pandemic resulted in delays in learning speech and language, it also affected social interactions and shook children’s confidence. As a result of which, children are finding it difficult to make friends, also there is a delay in walking and crawling.

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Transport bosses forced to hire security team over teenager's terror A 15-year-old single-handedly carried out a 10-month campaign of harassment and criminal damage on the trams that led to 'more than 200 reports' to transport bosses. Because of his behaviour, the number of incidents recorded at Rochdale interchange trebled compared to the previous year.

As per the transport bosses, such was the menace, they were driven to hire outside security to ‘reassure’ staff and passengers around the behaviour of the youth, whose rap sheet ranged from verbal abuse and harassment to criminal damage and carrying weapons.

Boyfriend secretly watched girlfriend hacking security camera Marcus Radway, a delivery driver, secretly watched his girlfriend in her bedroom after hacking into a security camera for two years to control her behaviour, where he would constantly keep a check on her.

In 2016, the victim first began a relationship with the defendant and after a period they lived together.

Jas Dhaliwal, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court said: “He made her feel guilty.

He would insist on taking her to and from where she was

going and travel to the train station and wait for her in the car park. He also began to control what she wore, demanding that she wear longer dresses.”

In August 2019 she discovered he had been cheating on her with multiple women.

Though the victim ended the relationship in 2019 and blocked Radway, he continued to send her unwanted emails.

Radway, 35, of Shard End Crescent, Shard End, was sentenced to 15 months, suspended for two years and ordered to pay £1,000 compensation.

Birmingham NHS Trust to make staff pay parking After the Government announced the suspension of charges, 20,000 NHS workers at the West Midlands' biggest hospital trust will be made to pay for parking again.

Though the three Black Country NHS trusts have decided to ignore the advice by not charging workers to park, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust

(UHB), which runs a number of hospitals including Queen Elizabeth, Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull, has said its staff will have to pay from May. It has not gone down well with unions who have blasted the Government for choosing to reintroduce parking charges for doctors and nurses during a cost of living crisis.

Shirley named Britain's top home buyer hotspot Rightmove has named Shirley, a thriving town in Solihull as the top competitive hotspot for homebuyers in Great Britain.

As per the data from the property website, there has been a rise of 143 per cent in the number of enquiries about homes in the area. And as more people are looking ahead to move to Shirley, asking prices have increased by 10 per cent as a result.

The busy town centre has a raft of shops, pubs and restaurants, the popular Parkgate development which includes a gym, Asda supermarket and various other retailers and eateries.

Local agents believe that varied food and beverage offerings are not drawing families to the town but the number of top schools is attracting the families.

Man stabbed in back in town centre brawl arrested A 24-year-old man who was stabbed in the back in a mass brawl that took place in Bolton Street in Bury town around 5 am on Sunday, was arrested by police while he was trying to leave the hospital.

Officers also used Pava spray, a substance similar to pepper spray on a family member for trying to intervene in the

arrest.

On suspicion of grievous bodily harm in connection with the stabbing, three men, three men, two aged 23 and one aged 34, were arrested.

The trio have been released on bail while police are continuing their enquiries, and anyone with information is being urged to come forward.

Parking free for NHS staff in Great Manchester Free parking that was implemented for NHS staff during the Covid-19 pandemic came to an end on April 1. The Health Secretary had issued a statement on Tuesday regarding the same.

However, many NHS trusts have decided to implement free parking for those who are in ‘greatest need’, including front line staff, who work in night

shifts, said the Health Secretary.

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, which operates the Royal Bolton Hospital, is one of the trusts that are keeping parking free for their staff.

In a tweet, the trust said: "We’ve postponed the reintroduction of charges to give us time to review our arrangements and understand what’s most important to our staff."

EnroChat raids lead to drug traffickers During the latest raids in an operation into the criminal use of encrypted mobile phones, armed police seized drugs, and a stolen car and cash were seized. Two alleged class A drug traffickers, aged 35 and 38 were also arrested. The duo was arrested during the operation that was carried out in Oldham and Rochdale around 5 am.

The Regional Organised Crime Unit and armed officers backed officers from GMP to execute three-drug warrants at properties in Waterhead in Oldham, the Langley area of Middleton and in Lower Place in Rochdale.

The raids are the latest in a huge police investigation into the criminal use of EncroChat mobile phones.

Oldham's 'running man' set for his annual 313km challenge Afruz Miah from Oldham is all set to run through 23 cities in 23 days during Ramadan.

He will be fasting while he takes on his annual 313km challenge during the holy month.

The 48-year-old former teacher says the challenge is getting harder as years are passing by, however, his purpose of helping the less fortunate keeps him going.

“I’ll be 49 soon and It’s not getting any easier. I’m a year older, I don’t know about wiser, the running side is not easy, but because I’m doing it for a reason and a purpose. My struggle and my pain is nothing compared to the pain and struggle some people go through during Ramadan

and beyond. That keeps me going."

This year, he will be taking a different route.

He said: “This year’s different because last year I did Oldham to London in a straight line and it was quite hard to engage with the community because we're going through rural countryside. This year we’re going to go through 23 cities and meet up with people, it’s the same distance, but we’re going to tap into more popular cities In June 2019, West Midlands and towns.

“It was important to Police seized 171 Subutex tablets a controlled Class C drug - along do this because of the with 880 illicit cigarettes and response I had last time 200g of foreign labelled hand- and I feel like I missed rolling tobacco from the store, going through these after officers executed a drugs important cities that have a lot of history warrant.

While sentencing Mahani, where people have setDistrict Judge Wilkinson, "Don’t tled.”

Last year, Abdul insult my intelligence by claiming previous warnings had not raised £100,000 and was sunk in. You knew exactly how recognised by the Queen serious the offences are and car- for his efforts. He is hopried on regardless, motivated by ing to reach a similar goal this year. greed."

Shop owner jailed for selling illegal cigarettes to child Mohammed Sokhanvar Mahani, who runs Super Mahan in Thornley Street, who sold illegal cigarettes and tobacco, including to a child, was imprisoned after pleading guilty to 12 charges including breaching the Fraud Act and Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

As per Wolverhampton Council, his shop, located in the city centre, has had a long history of problems. These included complaints, seizures of illegal tobacco alongside sales to underage customers and selling single cans of

very strong alcohol - contrary to the shop's license.

in brief BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL WARNS OF DISRUPTION IN BIN COLLECTION Birmingham City Council said some services “may be affected” by the absences as there is an increase in Covid-19 cases. They wrote on Twitter: "An increase in Covid-19 cases amongst refuse collection crews means some services may be affected." A statement added: "If your bin is missed, please leave it out as catch-up crews are operating (including possible weekend work), as per similar spells in the past.

Apologies for any disruption." In August last year, many council staff were selfisolating during a pandemic. Staff absences also saw missed bin collections in neighbouring Solihull. While covid related restrictions have been called off and free lateral flow tests have been phased out, cases are on rise across the West Midlands.

WOMAN EVICTED FROM HER HOME BY COURT ORDER 32-year-old Danielle Taggart has been evicted from her home by court order who had complaints against her of noise nuisance, drug abuse and dealing, prostitution, burglary and criminal damage.

Her neighbours had made a succession of complaints about her behaviour before the order was granted by magistrates.

Officers from Oadby and Wigston District Council and Leicestershire Police decided to take joint legal action to remove Taggart. The order, issued by Leicester Magistrates' Court, lasts for three months.

COELIAC DAUGHTER BECOMES UNWELL AFTER EATING FROM ‘GLUTEN-FREE’ MENU

Rabab Mohammad’s six-year-old daughter Qirat Khalid who lives with coeliac disease became unwell after eating waffles from the ‘gluten-free’ menu at the city dessert parlour. Mum was assured that it was safe for her daughter however she suffered from harsh symptoms thereafter.

City-centre dessert parlour, Haute Dolci in Granby Street’s menu was advertised as gluten-free, however, it was not as advertised, said the mum of a six-year-old girl. The restaurant has extended its apologies to the family and has reassured customers that they take dietary requirements “very seriously”. Coeliac disease is an auto-immune disorder where she can suffer from severe stomach cramps, nausea, diarrhoea and other symptoms. The mum-of-two uses a sensor to test food items for gluten and by the same kit raised her suspicion while at the venue. She said: "We ordered waffles and we had to send it back twice because it had gluten in it. I kept using it and I thought maybe I just need to trust them. It was distressing for my daughter as well so I just trusted them. The manager eventually came out and brought her waffles, reassuring us that he made them himself and they did not contain gluten.”

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UK supports free trade journey for Africa

By Lord Dolar Popat, UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Uganda, Rwanda and DRC UK and Africa have had a long trade history and it promises to enhance and bear further fruition with the UK government committing up to £35m to support negotiations and implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Last week UK’s Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner to Africa, Alistair Long and I hosted the Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area, Wamkele Mene. He was formerly the Director of International Trade Law at the Department of Trade and Industry, and was in London to iron out the fine lines to realise the benefits of AfCFTA coming from lower tariffs, which involves working with the continent’s trade negotiators to agree on rules of origin.

At the heart of that is the partnership with Trade Mark East Africa and targeting specific corridors for improved trade facilitation. I therefore also had meeting with the CEO of Trade Mark East Africa, Frank Matserat to ensure the success of the programme. Mr Wene knows bringing investment into Africa is all important, and remarked on how impressed he was with the UK investor community’s focus on impact and their practical examples of where improved trade facilitation would help.

This ambitious pact has been signed by 41 of Africa’s 54 countries, thereby ensuring a three percent extra GDP growth. This pact was much needed in the light of the fact that UK’s trade with Africa which was 30 percent not so long ago has shrunk to less than four percent.

It is estimated that by 2035 AfCFTA will be able to lift an additional 30 million people

above extreme poverty and increase intra

Loard Popat hosting Wamkele Wene, Secretary General of AfCFTA in UK Parliament.

African exports by 81 percent thereby raising wages by 10 percent. For UK businesses, the trade bloc will remove market access barriers by creating a single continental market, making it easier and more cost-effective for UK businesses to export goods and services across the 54 AfCFTA member states.

In a volatile and changing world of geopolitics, the UK, through AfCFTA, can continue to work as a strategic partner in making it the world’s largest trading bloc and creating new opportunities for businesses across Africa and the UK. It cannot be ignored that Africa’s 54 countries cover a landmass that is larger than China, USA, Western Europe, Japan and India combined.

By 2050, more than a quarter of the world’s population will be African and the continent has the largest middle-class in the world, with a very large young population. As the world’s largest free trade area, the AfCFTA has the potential to boost Africa’s economic growth by driving industrialisation, generating jobs and delivering prosperity across the continent.

Deeper ties between Britain and India Continued from page 1

She aims to work to deepen cyber security and defence cooperation between the two countries and announced a new joint cyber security programme.

The UK and India also agreed to closer maritime co-operation in the Indo-Pacific.

The UK will join India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative and become a lead partner on marLiz Truss with Nirmala Sitharaman itime security issues, coordinating work Strategic Studies (IISS) London told the with key partners in Southeast Asia. newsweekly, “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine This stronger partnership on maritime placed India in a diplomatic quandary in security builds on the visit to India last year terms of choosing between its oldest (Russia)

by HMS Queen Elizabeth and and comprehensive (US) strategic the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) – partner, amidst the aggressivea symbol of the UK’s world-leadness of its largest neighbour ing defence capability. The CSG (China). took part in the most demand“Instead, India chose to ing exercise ever undertaken demonstrate its ‘neutrality’ in the between the UK and India, conflict by abstaining from votinvolving all 3 military services. ing in UN resolutions; thereby Strengthening ties with not supporting nor opposing India has been a priority for the western condemnation of Russia.

Rahul Roy Chaudhury Foreign Secretary since taking But, amidst the highly-charged up the role. This is her second political environment, the west perceived trip to the country as Foreign Secretary folthis as being supportive of Russia. Yet, India lowing her visit last October and her third as has been critical of Russia through its a Secretary of State in 13 months. emphasis on 'respect for territorial integrity Since the 2030 Roadmap was agreed and sovereignty of all states', the provision of upon last year, the UK and India have humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and its launched free trade agreement (FTA) negotiabstention on the recent Russian resolution ations. in the UN Security Council on the humaniOn her trip, the Foreign Secretary contarian crisis in Ukraine. But, this also led to firmed £70 million of British International Russia’s unhappiness with India, representInvestment (BII) funding to support renewing the gravest challenge to India’s ‘strategic able energy use in India. This will help build autonomy’ and ‘multi-alignment’ policies. renewable energy capacity and develop solar “However, India's criticism of Russia power in the region. She also confirmed should have been bolder and louder as its plans for a new platform to allow British actions were a blatant violation of internainvestors to bid for green infrastructure, tional law and a severe challenge to an intertechnology, and business opportunities in national order that India has hugely benefitIndia. ted from. But, in the absence of any shortThe current volatility in oil and gas term, credible or affordable alternative to prices and energy security concerns, as a India’s dependence on Russian arms, this result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, underwould fall short of condemnation of Russia. score the importance of India’s green transiIndia’s calls for ‘diplomacy and dialogue’ tion and move towards energy self-sufficienshould also have been followed up by highcy. level ‘pro-active’ Indian diplomatic engageRahul Roy-Chaudhury, Senior Fellow for ment between Russia and Ukraine.”

South Asia, The International Institute for

For UK businesses, the trade bloc will remove market access barriers by creating a single continental market, making it easier and more cost-effective for the UK businesses to export goods and services across the 54 AfCFTA member states.

I am travelling to Africa this week to hold further discussions on trade deals as I am saddened to notice that Africa’s economic potential has often gone unnoticed.

Despite accounting for 17 percent of the world’s population, it has only three percent

of global GDP. But with sustained structural reforms, one can envisage Africa emulating China’s rapid rise over the past 50 years, and McKinsey has estimated that by 2025 there will be approximately $5.6 trillion in African business. And, as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy, I am confident that the success of AfCFTA will make a huge contribution to realising that dream, as I am sure a large population of Indians from Africa would wish the same and see an Africa open to trade.

Parliamentary Awards – Keeping democracy running Long standing Conservative demic, supporting Lord Political Aide, Ameet Jogia was Popat with India’s Covid awarded the prestigious appeal.

Parliamentary Peoples Award Ameet has also been pivlast week for serving over 10 otal in supporting Lord years working in the Houses of set up the Popat Parliament. Following tough Conservative Friends of competition, Ameet won the India in 2012, which was “Best Political Aide” award for launched with the then working for The Lord Popat of Prime Minister David Councillor Ameet Jogia Harrow.

Cameron. CF India has since grown into the Conservative Party’s largest Ameet, from Harrow, is widely known friends’ group, which Ameet has since as the “righthand man” of Lord Dolar appointed Co-Chairman of, carrying on Popat within the community. He won the Lord Popat’s legacy. award for going over and beyond his role, Ameet is also a Councillor in Harrow starting as a Parliamentary Assistant, since 2014 and has stood for Parliament working his way up to Chief of Staff. before. His service to political service was During his tenure, Ameet has supportacknowledged as he was presented with ed Lord Popat’s role as a Trade Envoy the much-deserved award by the Speaker working to double UK trade in East Africa, of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle. The cerewhilst also leading on initiatives such as mony helped recognise the efforts and International Women’s Day and achievements of people like Ameet, who Parliamentary debates. Ameet has also support Parliamentarians in keeping been instrumental in supporting commudemocracy running. nity issues, particularly during the pan-

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What is the real inflation rate?

A crying demand for food security in Sri Lanka Even in this technological world in the 21st century, humans cannot eat money and gadgets to quench their thirst and hunger. This statement is not just self-explanatory or not just an inference. This has been the fact and in other words, physical activities, agriculture and other farming operations should always be encouraged. In the East or the West, countries like the US, Australia and continents like Asia cannot brush aside agriculture anymore because people out there have been getting their food and eatables only from agricultural activities. This is also true of Russia which has been ruthlessly involved in the war against Ukraine, destroying the latter’s ecosystem, humans and economy mindlessly – thereby disturbing the global economy unnecessarily. Here comes a big sad story of the economic crisis Sri Lanka has been facing now.

First off, the people in Sri Lanka have been reeling from severe economic shocks caused by various factors including a failed regime. Unable to bear the brunt of the current economic crisis, people in Sri Lanka have been shunning their meals at least once or twice a day – even avoiding tea and coffee to save money. On the other hand, this current poor situation may lead to numerous humanitarian crises from violence to hunger deaths to suicidal attempts to child crises to threats to women’s safety – if allowed to continue. The Sri Lankan government apart, the international community, neighbouring Asian countries and the UN should send their assistance to Sri Lanka in the form of food items immediately. As a matter of fact, backed by water sources and rigorous agricultural activities, my native areas like Korkai, Tiruchendur, Tuticorin, Nagercoil, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu have been home to bananas, paddy, betels and other food crops. Only such rigorous agricultural activities and people’s hard work will pave the way for strong food security and economic growth.

In this context, the UN, some other Asian representatives and global farm experts should visit Sri Lanka now to take stock of the situation and share their ideas and strategies with the island nation regarding how to strengthen the local agriculture in the next few months.

P. Senthil Saravana Durai Mumbai

Abstain from voting on Ukraine War I can understand Alpesh Patel being a finance person would criticise India’s decision to abstain from voting based purely on the amount of trade with USA and UK in monetary terms.

However, there is another angle which is friendship.

As far as I can remember Russia has always been a friend of India. We all know how it saved sabotage by USA and UK during 1971 war. If Russia had not arrived to assist then India would have suffered massive losses, as well as may have lost some territory to Pakistan.

I think PM Modi’s decision shows courage against USA threat and also strengthens a point that each country has the right to abstain from voting if it cannot support the wording of the resolution that is on the table. On top PM Modi also encourages a peaceful settlement with dialogue, which is really a trademark of India’s thinking.

Suresh P Shah

The inflation figure put out by the government, that of between 5% and 7% is confusing and many find it difficult to believe, as most prices are going up by 50% to 100%, especially for small items of daily use.

The prime example is the use of energy. According to government figures, it will go up by £700 a year, costing most householders just under £2000, which means monthly standing order of £200 will be more than sufficient to cover it. In reality, most of us pay, before the 54% raise, well over £200 pm, now it has gone up to £350 to £500 pm, indeed a steep rise, especially for OAP, elderly and chronically sick persons. Yes, those who live in flats, in full-time employment; use energy for a couple of hours each day, with a weekly shower, may fit into the government’s inflation figure, not most ethnic minorities whose habits of the daily shower and much warmer homes fit in these criteria.

The second energy rise will come in October; I wonder how much it could be! Even the government doubling old age pension may not accommodate all these rises, yet OAP will be lucky to get a 10% rise in their pensions.

This will again affect us more, as most people from ethnic minorities are reluctant to apply for income-related benefits, unwilling to lay bare their financial affairs, which in many cases are more complicated, as they live in joint family culture.

Many Councils; to their credit, have abolished these criteria, thus encouraging people to apply, no matter what their financial situation may be. Many blame our government for this steep rise, due to war in Ukraine, flamed by belligerent West, mainly US and UK to draw attention away from their domestic problems like “Partygate” that used to dominate our TV screen. As we say, war has no causes, only excurses. Perhaps Ukraine could not have been a scapegoat if pragmatic Donald Trump was US president. Then politics is peculation, a dirty game beyond one’s imagination!

Bhupendra M. Gandhi

Cash bash Everybody is having a poke at chancellor Rishi Sunak for not giving more help to the poorest people of UK for paying rising bills coming from all sides. Now I put the following challenge to Asian Voice finance expert Mr Alpesh Patel. What advice he can give to Sunak about this desperate matter? In my opinion, the entire country and the rest of the world are experiencing hardships of great magnitude due to a rush of unforeseen circumstances. So why people are pointing fingers of blame at Sunak?

Ash Gupta

Save our soil Sadhguru, an ardent campaigner for the worldwide preservation of crop-growing soil, was featured in Asian Voice recently. This wise man may be impressed by the way I dispose of our household vegetable garbage. Instead of binning fruit and vegetable peelings and offcuts, I bury them all over our vegetable patch, nourishing the soil with natural goodness. The idea works well, rewarding us with delicious organically grown tomatoes, sweet corn, peppers and garlic.

I am probably one of the world’s keenest recyclers, inspired by something I heard a long time ago. Apparently, in Thailand, a rickety old village bike, instead of being dumped, was turned upside down and used as a cotton-spinning machine. How about that?

Rudy Otter

Royal Mail moving to barcoded ones As part of its modernisation drive, Royal Mail is moving to barcoded stamps including added security features and new services. It will allow customers to swap stamps for the equivalent value of new barcoded ones until February 2023.

The development will also let customers watch and share videos by scanning the barcoded stamps in the Royal Mail App. Nick Landon, Royal Mail's chief commercial officer, said: "As we move to this exciting new era of barcoded stamps, please check your kitchen drawers, wallets and purses for older non-barcoded stamps and make sure you use them up by 31 January 2023.

“If you can't use them up by then, we have set up a swap out scheme as a simple way to swap your old stamps for our new, digitally-enabled ones.”

Man charged with murder of a pensioner A man has been charged with murder after a pensioner was found stabbed to death in her east London home. Ali Subell, 33, has been charged with the murder of Shotera Bibi, 80, who was found at her home with stab injuries to her chest in Landeer Avenue, Manor Park at 9.56 am on Saturday. Ali has been remanded in custody. The London Ambulance Service and an air ambulance were called but Shotera Bibi was pronounced dead at the scene. Her family has been informed and a post-mortem examination was carried out on Sunday that gave her cause of death as stab wounds to the chest.

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Kapil Dudakia

Kapil’s KHICHADI

Sun always rises in the East On 24th February Russia began their ‘special military operations’ in the Ukraine, what the west termed as the ‘invasion of Ukraine’. Nations subservient to the west denounced Russia, leading to the most unprecedented set of sanctions ever applied to any nation in modern times. And in typical fashion the west jumped on their moral high horse to lecture the world about truth, justice and I guess the American way of life!

They rejoiced when the Russian Ruble collapsed by more than 70%. We witnessed commentators and columnists out doing each other in their bloodthirsty zeal to attack Russia, and any nation that did not yield to their demands.

One month on and what I had predicted is coming true. I defended India’s sovereign right to take a neutral stand, whilst others used the bogus narrative of the west to question and undermine India.

Russia has now declared that all unfriendly nations would have to buy its oil and gas with Rubles, and via a Russian Bank. Any nation that defied that order would have their fuel cut. Within days the Ruble recovered all the losses. In fact, the likes of Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Greece and Hungary are buyers who will conform to the Russian requirements. You see, only a foolish slave nation would accept the duplicity of the west. India is no longer that nation. It is big enough, strong enough and politically alert to show the west the proverbial two fingers.

The west trumpeting sanctions are now suddenly coming up with excuses to exempt certain items.

Items that they need desperately. The irony being we witnessed the spectacle of western nations and their diplomats all unsuccessfully attempting to force India into submission. I would advise our PM Johnson, be careful not to overstep the line in the sand with India.

The sleeping giant will flatten those protruding toes.

The world is trapped in a mindset determined by the metrics imposed by western imperial nations.

Wars have many facets, often steeped in history that one needs to understand if we are to ever seek out peace. NATO created an environment, intentionally, to intimidate Russia. Ukraine is but a pawn and President Zelenskyy a mere puppet of NATO and the EU. The conflict is destroying Ukraine and tens of thousands of Ukrainians have lost their lives. Millions have lost their homes with as many fleeing to other nations for safety. And the west calls this success against Russia!

And what has been achieved with this madness?

Only for President Zelenskyy to now accept Russian demands. He has also accepted that Ukraine will not join NATO or the EU. In fact, he accepts that certain regions of Ukraine will become autonomous or aligned to Russia. The tragedy being the blood of the innocent flows because the west wanted their proxy war with Russia. Now where have we seen this before?

There is a global reset taking place. With the rise of China and India, we will witness the Dollar economies try their level best to maintain their control over the world. For all of us, we must be careful that we are not taken for a ride by any of the vested parties. India has judged the room correctly. Its actions are best for India and Indians. It now needs to be even more emphatic about its role in the world.

The lesson to learn is to be wary of the west when they say they have got your back, lest you find they have stabbed you in that very same back!

Henry Kissinger famously said, “To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal”. I believe the time has come for the west to understand, to be an enemy of India will be their fatal mistake.

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

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Knowing Kashmir

Ruchi Ghanashyam 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 including South Africa, Ghana, before arriving in the UK. She was only the second woman High Commissioner to the UK since India’s independence and during her tenure, she witnessed a number of significant developments in the UK-India relations. @RuchiGhanashyam According to legend, Kashmir was formed when the great Rishi (sage) Kashyap drained a vast lake that came to be known as Kashyapamar.

The history of Kashmir is intertwined with that of the Indian subcontinent. An account of the early history of Kashmir is found in the Nilmata Purana (compiled 500–600 AD). Kalhana, often regarded as India’s first historian, wrote ‘Rajatarangini’ (River of Kings). It included 8000 Sanskrit verses that chronicled the history of Kashmir's dynasties from mythical times to the 12th century, with rational and critical analyses of events between the 11th and 12th centuries. It relies upon traditional sources like Nilmata Purana, inscriptions, coins, monuments, and his personal observations borne out of political experiences of his family. Kalhana’s ‘Rajatarangini’ has itself been used as a source for subsequent historical accounts including in Persian.

Buddhism was introduced in Kashmir by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BC when Kashmir became a part of the Mauryan Empire. Mahayana Buddhism was brought to Kashmir by Emperor Kanishka. Kashmir, thus, became a prominent centre of both Hinduism and Buddhism at different periods of history. In the 9th century, Shaivism rose to prominence in Kashmir. Muslim rule lasted nearly five centuries, ending when Kashmir was annexed to the Sikh kingdom of the Punjab in 1819 and then to the Dogra kingdom of Jammu in 1846. At the conclusion of the First Sikh War, Raja Gulab Singh, the Dogra ruler of Jammu, became Maharaja of an extensive Himalayan kingdom by the treaties of Lahore and Amritsar.

What is the “Kashmir Issue?”

With the end of British rule in the Indian subcontinent in 1947, India and Pakistan were created as the successor states to British India.

British Paramountcy over the 562 Indian princely states ended and the Indian Independence Act 1947, left it to states to choose whether to join India or Pakistan or to remain independent.

Accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India Jammu and Kashmir, ruled by the Hindu Maharaja Hari Singh, decided to stay independent. But, in violation of a Standstill Agreement that the Maharaja had signed with both India and Pakistan, Pashtun tribals, widely accepted to be at the behest of the Pakistani government, invaded Kashmir in October 1947. C. Christine Fair commented that this was the beginning of Pakistan using irregular forces and "asymmetric warfare" to ensure plausible deniability, which has continued ever since.

Unable to face the attacks, the Maharaja made an urgent plea to Delhi for military assistance. The Governor General Lord Mountbatten insisted that the Maharaja needed to accede to India before Indian troops could be sent. In his book, War and Diplomacy in Kashmir, 1947-48, Amb C Dasgupta, used declassified British archival documents, to explain these developments. The Maharaja signed an instrument of accession on 26 October 1947, which was accepted by the Governor General the next day.

The Indian troops were thereafter airlifted in the early hours of 27 October.

They secured the Srinagar airport. The city of Srinagar was patrolled by Hindu, Sikh and Muslim volunteers together with the National Conference, which also worked with the Indian Army to secure the city.

Why did the question of Plebiscite in Kashmir come up?

In January 1948 India moved the UN seeking vacation of Pakistani aggression on what was now Indian territory. Following the setting up of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP), the Security Council passed Resolution 47 of 21 April 1948. This resolution required interalia that Pakistan immediately “secure the withdrawal from the state of Jammu and Kashmir of tribesmen and Pakistani nationals not normally resident therein who have entered the state for the purpose of fighting” and conditions be created for a free and impartial plebiscite to decide the future of the state. The UNCIP made three visits to the subcontinent between 1948 and 1949. It reported to the Security Council in August 1948 that "the presence of troops of Pakistan" inside Kashmir represented a "material change" in the situation. It proposed a two-part process: in the first part, Pakistan was to withdraw its forces as well as other Pakistani nationals from the state; in the second part, "when the Commission shall have notified the Government of India" that Pakistani withdrawal has been completed, India was to withdraw the bulk of its forces. India was allowed retention of a smaller number of forces. After the withdrawals were completed, a plebiscite would be held.

Faced with Pakistan’s failure to withdraw its forces, J&K National Conference, the largest political party in the state, led by Sheikh Abdullah, recommended convening the constituent assembly in a resolution passed on 27 October 1950. On 15 February 1954 the assembly members who were present cast a unanimous vote ratifying the state's accession to India. Part II of the Constitution of J&K, which came into force on 26 January 1957, states 'The State of Jammu and Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India', and that “The territory of the State shall comprise all the territories which on the fifteenth day of August, 1947, were under the sovereignty or suzerainty of the Ruler of the State.”

Pakistan has never withdrawn its forces and nationals from Kashmir and has made every effort to change the state’s demography in the years that followed. In 1955, it joined the western countries in the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO). Declassified British papers are said to indicate that Britain and the US had let their Cold War calculations influence their policy in the UN. With the endorsement of the elected Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, India fulfilled its promise to refer to the people, the matter of the state’s accession to India.

Hindu tree planting ceremony at queen’s green canopy project Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS UK) volunteers in Barnet participated in a colourful Queen’s Green Canopy tree planting The Hindu Way worshipping Mother Nature in an event which was attended by Rt Hon Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet.

HSS UK, a proud recipient of 15 saplings from the Queen’s Green Canopy Project initiative performed the planting at Whalebone Park in Barnet with the help of Paddy and Helena Shannon. Queen’s Green Canopy is a unique treeplanting initiative to mark Her Majesty’s platinum Jubilee in 2022 inviting communities across the United Kingdom to plant a tree and help the environment flourish.

Welcoming the guests Vishal Shah of HSS UK said, ‘On the auspicious day of Varsh Pratipada, Gudi Padwa and the first day of Chaitra Navratri, it is a privilege to participate in the Queen’s Green Canopy project and Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations marking her 70 years of service to the country and commonwealth from which we all take inspiration.

Planting a tree is a wonderful way of leaving a lasting

legacy for future generations to enjoy’.

A colourful Hindu ceremony on a chilly but bright spring day commenced with thanking mother earth (Bhumi maata) by adorning the soil with kanku (coloured powder) and Akshat (rice) while chanting Hindu vedic mantra ‘Om Bhuvaneshehvariye namaha’ followed by planting of the saplings by Veer Sumaria, Sujal Depala and Theresa Villiers. Uniquely, the first watering of the saplings by all attendees during the ceremony was with waters from the River Ganges and River Thames; a symbolic gesture of the special relationship between India and the UK. An auspicious nadachadi (coloured thread) tying ceremony of the sapling denoted the appreciation in Hindu philosophy for trees and Vanaspati (plants and trees).

Official Queen’s Green Canopy and Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh UK commemorative plaques were installed as a permanent reminder of the celebration. The Shanti Mantra

for peace was chanted in conclusion signifying a wish for peace for all beings, all elements and offering reverence to Mother Nature Taking part enthusiastically in all the Hindu ceremonies Theresa Villiers said, ‘The participation of HSS UK in the Sewa (Volunteering service) projects during Covid-19 pandemic was exemplary and today, HSS UK’s participation in the Queen’s Green Canopy Project demonstrates the high regard the Hindu community has for the Queen’s life of service’.

Swayamsevak Young Dhaval Depala reflected, ‘I learnt so much about our Hindu ways of respecting nature and what the Queen’s Green Canopy Project is doing for our future on this planet’ Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh UK is a Charity with 102 chapters in the UK with over 2000 attendees participating in weekly activities which place emphasis on Hindu values of Sanskār (nurturing good values to develop virtuous character), Sewā ( Performing selfless service ) Sangathan (bringing people together) which together instils responsible citizenship and community cohesion.

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SCRUTATOR’S Youth buys Rs 260,000 bike with 1 rupee coins V Boobathi of Tamil Nadu’s Salem took a brand new Bajaj Dominar 400CC- paying the entire sum - Rs 260,000 - in one rupee coins. And staff at the motorcycle showroom took 10 hours to count his three years of savings, confirmed Mahavikranth, manager of the showroom. Boobathi is a BCA graduate and worked as a computer operator with a private company before he started a YouTube channel four years ago. He dreamt of buying a Dominar three years ago, but didn’t have the money as the bike cost Rs 200,000 then. So he saved, little by little in one-rupee coins from his earnings from the YouTube channel. He recently found out that the bike’s on-road price has now climbed to Rs 260,000. A few days ago, he counted his coins and there were enough to live his dream. He went to the showroom and told manager that he would pay in loose change.

The manager didn’t accept the proposal initially. “Banks would charge a commission of Rs 140 for counting Rs 100,000. But finally gave in, considering Boobathi’s dream. And then the countdown began. Boobathi took home his bike finally. The manager's worries haven’t ended yet. He said he would deposit the coins with State Bank of India. “We hope the bank will accept. ” (Agency) CCISF staffer suspended for 'stripsearching' 80-year-old

A Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) female constable was suspended after a complaint that a wheel-chair bound elderly woman passenger, who had undergone a hip implant, was reportedly strip-searched at the Guwahati international airport during a security check, officials said. According to CISF sources, the woman constable has been suspended and an inquiry into the incident is underway. Taking to Twitter, the daughter of the 80-year-old Delhi-bound woman, Dolly Kikon, complained that her disabled mother was made to strip at the CISF security check at the airport. The security personnel wanted "proof" of her titanium hip implant and forced her to undress, said Dolly. The CISF also tweeted: "Security and dignity of needy pax (passenger) go hand in hand. CISF has already started inquiry in connection with the unfortunate incident. The concerned personnel has been suspended. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) CISF has spoken with the passenger." (Agency) Bhopal wakes up to save a critically ill baby A couple send out a desperate message from a train that their newborn baby is critically ill and in need of oxygen. Their SOS went viral in Bhopal around midnight, triggering an outpouring of help.

Doctors, NGOs, railway officials and citizens rushed to the station with oxygen cylinders at 2 am. When the train pulled in, there was an entire lineup of cylinders waiting for the baby, who was saved and is now being treated at AIIMS, Delhi. “The people of Bhopal are angels,” Lata Sahare, the infant’s mother, said. “I will never forget the way people turned up to help my child in such a crisis. My baby was in a very critical condition,” said Lata. The family is from Nagpur. The baby, born 26 days ago, was diagnosed with a defective heart valve. The family hired an oxygen concentrator and boarded the Rajdhani for Delhi. On the way, the concentrator malfunctioned. With the child in critical condition, the family began panicking. “My husband sent messages to his friends and some railway officials after the oxygen cylinder ran out. Almost immediately, he was flooded with messages of reassurance.

Help will be waiting at Bhopal we were told. And when we arrived in Bhopal around 2 am, we were surprised to see the

number of people who had turned up at that late hour. They gave us three oxygen cylinders and saved my child’s life,” said Lata. (The Times of India) Couple from Canada adopts an Indian street dog People’s love for dogs is beyond words and it is heartwarming to see the things that some animal lovers do for rescued pooches.

Videos of dogs being adopted by a new family are always emotional to watch. Like this couple in Cananda that adopted a rescued street dog from India and it is really heartening to watch. “We adopted a street dog from India,” says the text on the video. In the video, the couple is seen waiting for their dog to arrive. They are going in a car to the international airport arrivals with all the required documents. The couple looks really excited to meet the dog. When it finally arrives, the dog seems a bit hesitant to get out of its cage but then licks the hands of the humans and it is really adorable to watch. “A little shy at first, but didn’t take long to bond. Welcome home Indy,” says the caption of the video. The caption also includes the hashtags rescue and indianpariah. The post got a ton of reaction with people praising the couple for adopting the dog and wished them the best. (Agency) Paraplegic swimmer wins gold medal Garima Vyas, a paraplegic swimmer from Vadodara, has won a gold medal at the 21st national para swimming championship recently. She not only won the medal but also broke the previous record of 3.20 minutes in the 50-metre category by completing her round in only 1.51 minutes. Swimming was the sport which brought her from depression after she met with an accident. She was bedridden and sore and the accident was enough to send the 20-year-old girl into depression. But the gutsy Barodian pursuing BA in psychology at MS University took up swimming to escape from depression. But swimming wasn’t just about pursuing a hobby for Garima, who is also treading the pool waters to get back on her feet. For paraplegia patients,

even normal movements are very difficult as mostly they are bedridden and need help to move around. So, swimming is almost out of question for paraplegics as half of their body doesn’t work, she said.

“But I decided to start swimming last year and it surprised many. I just love the feeling of being on my own in the water,” Garima said. (The Times of India) Dinner plate tree and its flowers Nature is incredible.

Every now and then we are reminded of that mesmerising beauty through various posts shared on different social media platforms.

IFS officer Ramesh Pandey shared a post about the interesting leaves and flowers of a tree called Kanak Champa. “Peeledbanana look alike flowers and dinner-plate sized leaf are popular features of Kanak Champa. Many call it ‘dinner plate tree’ because of its large leaves. Both dried leaves and flowers are falling from the trees these days,” he wrote while sharing the image. The image shows a huge leaf that is brown in colour on one side and white in other. Beside the leaf, two flowers are also seen and they look like peels of bananas. The post has also received some comments from tweeple. “Indeed!! What an awesome alternative to plastic and paper plates,” wrote a Twitter user. “I did a show around this flower on the #slowapp #forestflowers. Their fragrance stays even after the flower dries,” shared another.

“Nice, saw this first time in life,” expressed a third. (Agency) Delhi woman breaks world record for golden quadrilateral run

Sufiya Khan has set a Guinness World Record for the shortest time taken to

travel the 'golden quadrilateral' - a network of national highways connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai - by foot.

The runner from Delhi completed a journey of 6,002 km in just 110 days, 23 hours and 24 minutes. Sufiya began her run from the national capital on December 16, 2020. By April 6, 2021, she has completed the golden quadrilateral circuit.

A gruelling journey, but the 35-year-old athlete was determined to see it through.

Sufiya was supported on her run by her husband, who drove the support car, took care of her nutrition and physiotherapy and managed her schedule. Besides this, local runners and cyclists joined her at various stretches of her journey. "Most of the time in cities and small-town people were hosting me at their home for a night stay and dinner. Many times we took hotels and couple of nights we had to sleep on roadside shelters." Recently she was certified as the "fastest female to run along The Indian Golden Quadrilatrel Road."

(Agency) Loco pilots saved 83 lions in two years Loco pilots have saved the lives of 83 lions in Amreli district, sometime by slowing down the trains, while in some other cases waiting for hours for the wild cat to pass peacefully. The lives of lions in Savarkundla, Rajula and Liliya ranges in Amreli district are under constant threat due to the railway track connecting Port Pipavav. But the loco pilots slowed their trains spotting the lions, especially during the night and early morning hours.

Moreover, the fencing near the tracks between Rajula and the port, which was damaged in Cyclone Tauktae last year, has still not been repaired. According to the Bhavnagar railway division, the alertness of these drivers saved the lives of eight lions in the first three months of 2022 alone.

According to sources, Liliya, Pipavav, Savarkundla, Vajpadi, Baraftana, Uchhaiya and Bherai are the areas where lions often cross or squat on the railway tracks. There are around 100 lions in Savarkundla, Liliya, Rajula and Jafrabad ranges of forest department. However, the posts of range forest officers (RFOs) in Liliya and Rajula have been vacant for more than six months, and there are no forest guards and foresters either. On an average, one goods train passes through this area every hour.

Instead of blaming the speeding trains for the lion deaths, the forest department should appoint forest guards and foresters to guard the railway track in these vulnerable spots. Another important step is avoiding the running of the trains in the night times. (The Times of India)

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Boyfriend assaults teacher, tears his genitals

Two brothers slash cops with knife When PC Leon Mittoo and PC James Willets saw Maninder Hunjan, 26, and Parminder Hunjan, 37, after wearing thick coats and gloves outside Boots during a heatwave, they grew suspicious and tried searching for them, however, while doing so, both the brothers attacked the police officers with a knife at West Bromwich, West Midlands, last July.

During the attack, PC Mittoo suffered a slash wound to his head which required stitches and cuts to

his hand while PC Willetts suffered a wound to the back of his head.

Jurors were told that the brothers had smoked cannabis before launching their attack. In Parminder’s rucksack, an armoury of weapons including a BB gun, a revolver, a machete, a serrated blade, a hammer and a Bushman’s knife was also found.

Brothers were found guilty of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and will be sentenced on May 9.

Fire at a mosque in Newport treated as hate crime A fire that broke out in a mosque on George Street around 17:25 BST is being treated as a hate crime. The fire caused damage to the building but no one was injured. A 43-year-old man from Newport has been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life.

Ch Supt Tom Harding said: "At this time, we're treating this as a hate crime. It's never acceptable to

target anyone because of who they are and what they believe.

"We will take action against those who commit this type of crime, putting the victim at the heart of everything that we do."

He added that as part of the investigation, additional officers will be present in the community and has also appealed to the public to come forward with information if they have any.

High powered delegation visited the Neconsulatele General of India – Birmingham Entrepreneurs, businessmen, social activists, and community representatives from the North of England visited Birmingham to meet up Ms. Amanat Maan, the new Consulate General of India.

A high-powered delegation included Iqbal Suba

ing took place in a relaxed and open environment exchanging views, ideas, and information on how to connect North with Birmingham Consulate General. The delegates invited Ms Amanat Maan to Northwest. She has kindly accepted the invitation. She is also inter-

Patel (Businessman / Entrepreneur), Ahmed Patel Sarodi (Businessman / Entrepreneur /Community Repres-entative), Moha-mmed Musa alias Babubhai (Community Repres-entative), including Imtiaz Patel Varediawala (VVUK Representative), visited newly appointed CG Ms Amanat Maan, Consulate General of India. There were joined

by Midlands and South delegates, Dr Zafar Quraishi (Top Psychiatrist, Chair of International Zakat Foundation), Umar Faruqi (Spokes Person of Sharad PawarNCP Maharashtra). The meet-

ested to launch Visa Surgeries and Trade and Business Conferences in Bolton and the surrounding town. The delegates and Newly Appointed Consulate General of India Ms. Amanat Maan were pleased with the frank and open interaction for the betterment of people of Indian heritage. The meeting ended with good hospitality and a warm welcome by CG and her wonderful staff.

The meeting was a significant step to strengthen community relationships in diplomatic and political arenas.

A Birmingham teacher was left with a painful laceration after his genitals were repeatedly yanked by his boyfriend Luke Lal. The 32year-old teacher’s wound had to be glued at the hospital. He also suffered three punches to his head at his former home in Alcester Road, Moseley.

After an assault, the offender created a fake Grindr profile to harass the victim. For a year, the offender pleaded not guilty, however, later he admitted assault and harassment.

Before starting a relationship, the victim and Lal who met in November 2018 in Birmingham city centre, were friends for a period of three months.

The victim is now speaking out to highlight the ‘taboo of homosexual domestic abuse’ who claimed that he retracted some of his statements about Lal saying he loved him. The victim added that he ended the relationship with Lal when the latter became violent at their flat on the evening of January 29, 2020.

The victim said Lal got furious over their dinner plans and punched him, and pulled his penis five times. The victim was then taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where he was given pain relief and doctors glued the area.

The wound took two-three weeks to heal, he added.

On March 25, Lal was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work at Birmingham Crown Court.

Met PC pleads guilty of Ranvir Singh’s emotional confession about having alopecia owning 1,000 indecent The Good Morning Britain Pinkett Smith, who shaved child images star Ranvir Singh made an her head in 2021 due to emotional confession about alopecia during her stint presenting Lorraine. She bravely showed off her hair loss as a result of the disorder too. Alopecia is a disorder that causes the hair to fall out in parts, or to fall out completely.

The discussion took place following the incident that happened at the Oscars on March 27 when American comedian Chris Rock made a joke about Will Smith’s wife, Jada

alopecia. Jada’s husband WIll slapped Rock and shouted at him to “keep my wife’s name out your [bleeping] mouth”. The 44-yearold then spoke about hair loss.

“I’ve always found ways to cover it. I’ve got a patch in the middle, I’ve got a patch at the back.”

She continued, saying: “It started when my dad had a heart attack and died when I was eight or nine.

And it’s never come back.”

PC Swaleh Chaudhary has admitted using his mobile phone to secretly film the woman in a Primark fitting room in south London.

Appearing at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court, he also admitted possessing over 1,000 indecent images of children.

At the hearing, Chaudhry pleaded guilty to one count of voyeurism, one count of possessing extreme pornography and three counts of making indecent images of children. Upon searching Chaudhary’s place in Wandsworth, police found a library of horrific abuse images, the court was told. Chaudhry, who was attached to the Met's Taskforce, has been suspended by the force. He was remanded into custody by deputy chief magistrate Tan Ikram.

Northampton woman attends Buckingham Palace gardens for Big Jubilee Lunch Neelam Aggarwal, from Northampton, joined Mel Giedroyc to get the Royal Jubilee party planning started at a special Big Jubilee Lunch event in Her Majesty The Queen’s Buckingham Palace Garden. Seasoned organiser, Neelam, shared tips as people across the UK start planning their own Big Jubilee Lunch celebrations from 2-5 June.

In just two months’ time, neighbours around the UK will be coming together to mark The Queen’s 70-year reign with Big Lunch street parties and community celebrations. To kick off the festivities, broadcaster, actress and

comedian, Mel Giedroyc was joined in the gardens of the iconic Royal Residence by Neelam and nine other Big Lunch organisers from all four corners of the UK, to get their tips and inspiration on how to get the platinum party started.

Discussing what people in every street can bring to the table, Neelam shared her ideas with Mel and together they discussed how the annual event has helped make meaningful connections and bring communities together through simply sharing friendship, food and fun.

Neelam added: “It has been absolutely amazing to be part of such a wonderful day. I’ve met so many incredible people planning lots of different things for the platinum jubilee, all over the country. It is wonderful to be a part of it. I'm so grateful to be here.”

Neelam is Chair of the Indian Hindu Welfare Organisation, which held an Indian-style Big Lunch in 2012, which is now an annual fixture. A lifelong volunteer, Neelam and her team won the Queen's Voluntary Award in 2021 for their spectacular Diwali events and their community support during the pandemic. Neelam’s Big Lunch takes place in Northampton.

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How record keeping and memoirs became paramount during the pandemic Shefali Saxena

navigate life in a culture that champions individualMaryann Thomas is writer and ism. editor with a persistent love for hat makes you think words and emotionally wring'our' voices are not ing stories. Armed with a heard as much as needed in Masters in Media & the UK? Communication from LSE, she South Asians have such has written extensively, from an incredibly rich and news articles, blogs, and case diverse cultural heritage to studies to works of poetry, credraw our life experiences ative non-fiction and memoirs. from.

First-generation She has worked at Google, as a Asians are accustomed to Maryann Thomas journalist for the New Indian living and working alongExpress and as a copywriter and content creside people from different backgrounds, ator for tech companies. Her work has been regions, languages and religions in our counpublished in The Guardian, LSE’s student try of origin, and so, we have so much to journal, The Clare Market Review and The offer the world in terms of our belief systems Hindu, a leading news daily in India. and our attitude toward each other.

We speak to her about record keeping, South Asians have taken major strides memoirs and writing during the pandemic. and excelled in every aspect of public life in hy do you think memoirs and recordBritain, whether this is business, healthcare, keeping became more important than the arts, or politics. But less has been written ever during the pandemic? about the incredible sacrifices and struggles Stories of continued suffering and being that our forefathers have taken to make the separated from loved ones during the pancurrent generations of successful South demic started to make people more aware of Asians. I am particularly passionate about the fragility of life. People wanted to connect championing these stories because they with family, and also had the time to think rarely receive the attention they deserve. about their past and remember their family stories. There was a need to preserve these stories, and document lived experiences from the past, especially for future generations who will not know what life was like In a survey carried out for What Women for their elderly relatives back in the day.

Want research, the Centre for Progressive Many turned to ghostwriters to have their Policy found that nearly half of workingmemoirs written and published for posteriage women are providing an average of 45 ty. hours of unpaid care every week, while 25% hat similarity does your company have of men provide 17 hours. with this emerging concept? What are Every year women in the UK are providthe kind of stories you wish to tell and what’s ing 23.2bn hours of unpaid childcare care the process like? worth an estimated £382bn, while men proStories, by Mae is a ghostwriting service vide 9.7bn worth £160bn, according to that aims to write memoirs for anybody who research from the thinktank Centre for has a story to remember and share.

Progressive Policy.

As I writer and storyteller, I have always Calling unpaid work “one of the driving been curious about people’s inner lives - the forces of gender-based inequalities in the personal stories and the intimate details that workplace”, the CPP found that caring have shaped the lives of ordinary people responsibilities “disproportionately impact who sometimes have the most extraordinary women and exacerbate workplace inequalistories. That said, I’ve also worked with peoty”, The Guardian reported. ple who have lived through historic times of The think tank’s recommendation upheaval and suffering, including WWII and includes increasing the amount of “free the Partition of India in 1947.

At Stories, by Mae (Mae is the first syllable of my name and a nickname during college), I have a simple and straightforward process that involves interviewing people, The number one booking app for hair and taking extensive notes, transcribing the beauty is heading to Birmingham to help interviews, and writing a story that reflects residents freshen up for Spring – in just the life and personal journey of the person, ten seconds! The free to use app which as if they have written it themselves. I can lets customers book, pay for, and manage also help with the design, printing, and pubtheir next hair or beauty appointment lishing of their book. without the hassle of back-and-forth phone calls is on a whirlwind tour of the ould you tell us a bit about your work on UK to show customers what it can do, the Indian Ugandan couple and their landed in Birmingham between March experience as refugees when they were forced 30th and April 3rd. to migrate to the UK? Hot off the heels of its successful I cannot discuss the details (for print) at Liverpool takeover last month, Booksy is this point as I am still working on this proheaded to Birmingham to put a spring in ject and am contractually bound by a confithe step of customers across the city with dentiality agreement. a series of initiatives including a pop-up hat aspect of the lives of South Asians stand in the city centre where the team intrigues you? Which part of it is the will be handing out goodies and meeting most interesting and less explored which one residents, plus a huge advertising cammust read or document? paign. Team Booksy is also hosting a large I’m always amazed at the incredible B2B event for Booksy merchants with resilience and adaptability of our people, Ambassador Alan Beak and a separate especially as they encounter various social press and influencer event at a local barand cultural challenges when they move bershop. abroad from an environment that is entirely Vishal Khakhar, Booksy Head of different from the country of their birth and Marketing, said: “We are on a mission to upbringing. spread the word about Booksy this year It’s also fascinating to observe how a and what better way to do it than to hit strong sense of community prevails (and the streets of the UK’s cities. Liverpool sometimes governs!) over our lives no matter was a huge success, and the team is so where in the world we go, perhaps giving excited to visit Birmingham this week to meet people and show them how Booksy South Asians a much-needed balance as they

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Home Secretary launches new Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan The new plan aligns closely to the recent Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and sets a clear ambition of prioritising the prevention of these awful crimes, supporting victims and pursuing perpetrators.

Some 2.3 million people in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in the last year and around 1 in 5 homicides are related to domestic abuse. The government has already taken steps to prevent these crimes, but the new plan is set to go even further in tackling this threat, by delivering many of the provisions set out in the Domestic Abuse Act. Home Secretary Priti Patel said, “Domestic abuse is a devastating crime that ruins lives and tackling it is an important part of this government’s Beating Crime Plan. For far too long the focus has been on what the victim might have done

differently, rather than on the behaviour of the perpetrators themselves. This must now change. My Domestic Abuse Plan focuses on taking the onus off victims and making it easier for them to access the help and support they need while taking tough action against perpetrators.”

Pursuing perpetrators The plan includes new measures to tackle perpetrators including increasing electronic tagging to a further 3,500 individuals who have left prison and who pose a risk to women and girls and investing £75 million on directly addressing abusers’ behaviour, as part

of an overall £81 million for tackling perpetrators over the next 3 years.

Prioritising prevention The plan sets out key actions to prevent domestic abuse from happening in the first place.

Supporting victims The plan aims to help all victims and survivors who have escaped from domestic abuse feel that they can get back to life as normal, with support for their health, emotional, economic and social needs.

A stronger system The plan intends to improve the systems and processes that underpin the response to domestic abuse across society.

The government has also introduced new measures in our Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which will give victims of domestic abuse longer to report offences to the police, so that abusers cannot evade justice.

One in five women caring for an adult had also reduced their paid hours

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childcare” for three- to four-year-olds from 570 hours a year to 720 hours and expanding to the 15 hours a week allowance for disadvantaged two-year-olds to cover 48 weeks and funding for after-school and holiday clubs. It also calls for a national target of 70% of job adverts highlighting flexibility by 2025 and a reform of parental leave that offers take-it-or-lose it paid leave for fathers and co-parents.

A quarter of women had reduced their hours at work to care for a child, while childcare prevented one in five women from working more hours despite wanting to, the Yonder survey of 2,002 people found. One in five women caring for an adult had also reduced their paid hours, said the report.

A government spokesperson said: “We have invested more than £3.5bn in each of

the last three years to deliver the government’s free childcare offers, including the 30 hours per week for working parents.

We are also investing millions in Family Hubs – where families can access important support services.

“We continue to look for ways to improve the cost, choice and availability of childcare, and to further support working families we have brought forward flexible parental leave arrangements, including up to 52 weeks of maternity leave – one of the most generous entitlements in the world.”

Hair and beauty booking app booksy heads to Birmingham

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city so special.”

Booksy has seen downloads soar in 2022, boasting over two million UK users and thousands of new sign-ups each month. Booksy lets customers access hair, beauty, and wellness treatments in their local area 24/7 without any of the fuss of back-and-forth phone calls. Once registered and logged in, it takes just ten seconds for users to find and book a suitable, local appointment at a time to suit, streamlining the booking process and saving customers time and hassle.

could make booking their next appointment so much easier. Spring has officially sprung, and the warmer weather and sunshine have certainly boosted the country’s mood, A YouGov survey of more than 16,000 adults found that of the 40% of we hope to con- people who asked for a pay rise, just over a quarter succeeded. One in tinue that five women who ask for a pay rise are successful in receiving one comm o m e n t u m pared with just under a third of men, polling has found. when we arrive But disparities are revealed when breaking down the data along in Birmingham. gender lines. Forty-three per cent of men asked for a pay rise, compared Make sure to with a third (33%) of women. Furthermore, 31% of men were successful, head down to while just over a fifth (21%) of women received a salary increase. The Upper New research found that the chasm exists most prominently for those in Street this week- their 30s and older. For 18- to 29-year-olds in work, 18% of men and 16% end to say hello – of women have asked for a pay rise and received at least one. However, we can’t wait to for adults in their 30s, just under a third (31%) of men who asked for a meet the people pay rise were successful, compared with 19% of women. who make the

One in five women who ask for a pay rise are successful

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Bestway Group announces strong trading results to year-end June 2021 The Bestway Group, headed by Group Chief Executive, Lord Zameer Choudrey CBE, has seen a 10% growth in revenues during 2021, which reached £3.75 billion with an operating pre-tax profit of £350 million.

The Bestway Group’s principal activities during 2021 were in the Wholesale, Pharmacy, Property, Cement and Financial Services sectors.

The Group’s portfolio includes Bestway Wholesale, the UK’s largest independent food and drink wholesaler and Well Pharmacy which remains the largest independent retail pharmacy chain in the UK. Additionally, the Group owns the 2nd largest cement manufacturer (Bestway Cement) and 2nd largest private bank in Pakistan (UBL) as well as significant property investments in both the UK and in Pakistan.

The Group’s UK businesses were classified as essential businesses and played a key role during the pandemic in ensuring the UK’s food and medicine supply chain remained stable, with Well Pharmacy operating over 60 COVID vaccination sites.

The Group’s strong performance has been attributed to a combination of higher sales alongside improved systems and efficiencies within its portfolio businesses. It also focused growth on organic initiatives alongside tactical acquisitions, which included the set-up

of 55MW of off-grid solar power in Pakistan by Bestway Cement (the largest in the region), as well as Bestway Wholesale’s acquisition of Costcutter Supermarkets Group (CSG).

The Bestway Group won Business of the Year at the recent Asian Business Awards, with UBL (United Bank Limited) recognised internationally for its leadership position in digitising the Pakistani Banking industry and being voted the Best Digital Bank in Pakistan

by Asiamoney for the 2nd successive year.

The Group’s charitable arm, Bestway Foundation, remained active in its support of a variety of healthcare and education charities. During the year, Bestway Foundation set up a scholarship fund at the University of Cambridge that will fully endow a PhD Scholarship for a student from Pakistan to study at Gonville and Caius College each year whilst also providing more than £270,000 in grants to students of South Asian origin to attend universities in the UK. Lord Choudrey, CEO of Bestway Group, commented: “2021 was an extremely volatile environment which added significant complexity to our operations as customers were continually adapting to new regulations.

“However, despite the economic turbulence and the challenges faced during 2021, the Group has retained its

focus on growth and the continuous improvement of service and efficiency to support its customers. These results are a testament to the Group’s strategic and operating model.”

“I would like to sincerely thank all of our employees for the dedication and commitment they have shown during a difficult period.

“I am proud of the role our employees have played on the front line in the UK by ensuring the country’s medicine and food supply chain remains intact. Equally, the role colleagues have played in Pakistan should also be applauded as they have helped customers navigate a challenging operating environment.”

Sir Anwar Pervez, Chairman of Bestway Group, commented: “The Group has shown immense resilience in 2021 and we are confident that our businesses will continue to gain share within their respective markets during 2022”.

Owned by the Pervez, Choudrey and Sheikh families, Bestway Group was founded by Sir Anwar Pervez OBE in 1976, who remains Chairman.

Serving over 12 million customers and employing over 28,000 individuals, the Group supports and serves communities through its operations across the UK, Pakistan and the Middle East.

Its head offices are based in Park Royal, London.

British Indians call for more support and improved access to mental health services Analysis of over 2,300 British Indians living in the United Kingdom found that 76% of respondents have experienced challenges in accessing mental health services, with many citing inappropriate treatment for their culture as one of the main blockades.

Under review by the NHS Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health Trust Patient and Carers Race Equality Framework (PCREF), the new report, Improving Access to Mental Healthcare for British Indians, published today by the 1928 Institute - a University of Oxford backed thinktank focused on researching and representing the challenges, concerns and opportunities of the British Indian community - has been commissioned to improve Black, Asian and minority ethnic community experiences of mental health services, and aims to inform a national organisational competency framework tool for NHS Mental Health Trusts.

Barriers to mental health services As more people in the UK face hardship due to the rising cost of living, or the impact of the pandemic, the mental toll on communities can become overwhelming, resulting in one in four* seeking support from a mental health professional.

British Indians have been found to be at higher risk of needing access to mental health support**. However, the diaspora has reported barriers when accessing services.

A third (34%) of respondents have cited the associated stigma of accessing support as the biggest barrier; with many believing that it will be perceived negatively by the wider community; while a further 16% stated that the quality of care was their biggest concern, rising to 50% for Scottish respondents, and not being able to see a culturally relevant professional was highlighted by a tenth (9%) of all respondents.

Whilst many of these barriers can

be addressed at the community level, there is a clear call from British Indians that more needs to be done to remove the negative connotations of access to services.

Almost all respondents (93%) highlighted the urgent need for safe spaces to discuss mental health awareness in a culturally sensitive manner; while 16% would feel more comfortable in exploring services if the quality of care was tailored toward the culture and beliefs.

Kiran Kaur Manku, Co-Founder of the 1928 Institute and Researcher Fellow at the University of Oxford, said: “Our experiences and those of our families shape our lives, and many, British Indians have witnessed traumatic and culturally significant geopolitical events.

“These events have prompted the majority of our respondents to call for a greater understanding of the cultural nuances they have been through. With the upcoming 75th anniversary of Partition and the 50th anniversary of

the expulsion of Indians from East Africa, this year is expected to be challenging for many. As those memories reignite, many will be reliving traumatic events or reflecting on the impact of an uncontrollable force of social injustice it is critical that these issues are understood and addressed in a timely manner.”

The role of frontline NHS staff Analysis of access to services found that 86% faced discrimination from their GP, or other professional, while 81% experienced shame and stigma. In addition, 92% reported that GP appointments are too short to successfully diagnose the need for mental health support, with 94% perceiving that services are only available to those who can clearly articulate the need.

Concerningly, 60% reported that healthcare professionals assumed that a ‘family support network’ would be available to meet a British Indian’s needs.

Labour councillor suspended for tweet against Sunak Labour councillor, Peter Carpenter in Wandsworth was suspended by the party and prevented from seeking re-election on 5 May after writing on Twitter that Chancellor Rishi Sunak “should go back to India with his billionaire wife”.

Peter Carpenter, who deleted his Twitter account and described Sunak as “a complete waste of space”, attracted a complaint.

In a message to party colleagues, Labour group leader Simon Hogg advises them of Murphy’s suspension “with immediate effect pending investigation” in response to the

tweet, which was made on Sunday evening.

“I am extremely disappointed by the comment made by councillor Carpenter,” said Hogg in the message. “Views such as those stated have no place in the Labour Party”.

Hogg also warned: “It is possible that there will be reference made to this by the Tories – who may also try to use it in the press or their campaign material.” And he stressed: “It is important that the tweet is not circulated and that you make no public comment on this issue”.

Appropriateness of your demand Rohit Vadhwana Appropriateness of your demand matters in most social and professional settings.

What you demand and in which situation - is an important aspect of your personality. It shows how capable you are to handle a situation, especially awkward ones. If you ask for a very simple thing but in a situation where it becomes socially embarrassing - people will frown at you. On other occasions, not asking for something might be inappropriate as well. So, asking or not asking for something, appropriately or inappropriately, matters a lot on your understanding of the situation. It is a social skill that one needs to develop properly. It is a matter of social learning that cannot be ignored.

Not the kind of demand that we put forward but also the circumstances when we do that matter. Asking for a piece of sweet at a time when the other person has just received bad news is incongruous. But not asking for sweets when the person has received good news is also unfitting since s/he might feel we don't share her/his happiness. It's just a piece of candy or a gulab jamun, asked for or not asked for in different situations, that may put us in an embarrassing position. An employee cannot demand a pay rise when the company is incurring a loss.

How one requests something is another issue. If one is asking for a favour, certainly there cannot be an order or command. It has to be a request, a pleading. The use of words, body language, tone and manners should be appropriate to the request. On the other hand, if one has to give an order, there should be no doubt in the mind of the other person about it. Sometimes a boss's instructions are not followed by staff members, as the softly spoken instructions might be misunderstood merely as intentions.

'Should we complete the work by tomorrow evening?' might be a directive instruction in the employer but the employee might consider it just a question. Now, it becomes awkward both on the part of the employer and employee that such a situation arises out of miscommunication. We might learn with time the style of a person, how s/he makes a request, how s/he gives guidance and how s/he dictates terms, but till then, having clear communication is important to save ourselves from embarrassment.

(Expressed opinions are personal)

SBI’s Regional Head receives The Freedom of the City of London title The Regional Head, State Bank of India UK, Mr Sharad Chandak has received The Freedom of the City of London. The ceremony was held at The Mansion House and The Rt. Hon The Lord Mayor was in attendance.

The Freedom of the City of London is a recognition awarded to people who have achieved success, recognition or celebrity in their chosen field. It’s one of the oldest surviving traditional ceremonies still in existence today and is believed to have been first presented in 1237.

Receiving the Freedom of the city of London is one of the oldest and most privileged title.

The medieval term 'freeman' meant someone who was not the property of a feudal lord but enjoyed privileges such as the right to earn money and own land.

Town dwellers who were protected by the charter of their town or city were often free – hence the term 'freedom' of the City.

From the Middle Ages and the Victorian era, Freedom was the right to trade, enabling members of a Guild or Livery to carry

out their trade or craft in the Square Mile.

In 1835 eligibility for the freedom of the City was extended to anyone who lived in, worked in or had a strong connection to the City. The freedom that citizens enjoy has long associations with privileges in the governance of the City.

Whilst this no longer carries many substantive rights and largely exists as a tradition, the freedom is a pre-requisite for standing for election to the Common Council and Court of Aldermen of the City of London. Both the sheriffs and the Lord Mayor of the City must first become aldermen, and hence must also be freemen.

Few of the Past Freedom Awardees - Captain Sir Tom Moore - Diana Princess of Wales - Nelson Mandela - Jawaharlal Nehru - Bill Gates - Morgan Freeman

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have a positive impact on the climate crisis when the 2 nation’s leaders announced the 2030 roadmap ahead of last year's COP26 held in Glasgow.

‘Sustainability is now the new short term tenancy agreement we must all sign!’

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itesh Patel is the former Head of Sustainable Partnerships at the Born Free Foundation, the international wildlife and conservation charity. With over 20 years of business experience, combined with recent work within the 3rd sector, Hitesh enjoys helping to educate and promote sustainability practices with businesses and individuals alike.

In 2020, Hitesh attained a qualification in “Business Sustainability Management” at The Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership and used this newfound knowledge to forge invaluable partnerships with businesses to affect behaviour change in support of global biodiversity and conservation loss.

In an exclusive interview with Asian Voice, he spoke about sustainability and climate change.

Sustainability is a way of life In the broadest sense, Hitesh described ‘sustainability’ as ‘our’ (humans) ability to support ourselves, and therefore the planet and her future, with social, economic and environmental balance or equilibrium. “In short, ensuring our actions and decisions today do not negatively impact tomorrow and future generations. Living within our means. Replenishing more than we take. Taking responsibility and not leaving the issues and problems for others to solve for us,” he told Asian Voice.

“To me, sustainability is a way of life, shifting from old behaviours and thinking, to being more responsible for our fragile planet. Every single person on this planet can take action to do something, however grand or small, to ensure the pressures placed on Mother Earth do not accelerate past the point of retrieval.

This does not just relate to climate change or biodiversity loss, it also has implications for pressures such as food and water poverty, access to education, gender equality and responsible production and consumption,” he added.

Sharing an interesting analogy of landlord and tenant, Patel said, “We are all short-term tenants of Mother Earth, our landlord. Much like real tenancy agreements, leaving a property in poor shape after vacating is immoral.

However, we seem to think that doing this to our planet for the short time we live on it is acceptably someone else’s problem. Our landlord is responding.

She is angry. Extreme weather is a very physical embodiment of her rage.

Covid-19 was a warning shot for humanity not to mess with biodiversity.

Sustainability is now the new short term tenancy agreement we must all sign!”

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HITESH PATEL But at what age and stage should one start learning about sustainability beyond books? “I think it is vitally important that everyone, regardless of age or stage in life, contributes positively towards a sustainable future. For older people this may be harder to achieve as years of learned behaviour is often hard to change. Generation Z and younger are in a prime spot to influence their futures by the choices and decisions they make. They are better informed.

They are taught sustainability concepts at an earlier age. Access to technology and science is unprecedented in human history. Voting for more sustainable products and services with our wallets is increasing. Debates on TV, social media and inspirational individuals who champion these causes are all within easy access to us,” Patel answered.

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“Initiatives such as increased cooperation between British and Indian universities on crucial research in areas like health, emerging technologies, and climate science – and bringing enterprises together to propel ground-breaking innovations to communities that need them most. This includes the launch of a UK-India Global Innovation Partnership, which will co-invest in climate and health innovations from India to transform the lives of people across Africa, Asia and the Indian Ocean. It also includes an extension of the UKIndia Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) to conclude its important work in bringing higher education and research sectors, and the people who work in them, closer together. India and the UK must also share learning with each other, despite the obvious differences in living standards. Often the most novel solutions to problems come from the most unconventional situations.”

Covid-19 was a warning shot for humanity not to mess with biodiversity.

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t is no longer about climate change; it is a climate crisis and is happening more quickly than we feared. It is a term describing global warming and climate change, and their impacts. However, humanity is far from powerless in the face of this global threat. While science tells us that climate change is certain, it also tells us that it is not too late to stem the tide. But will require fundamental and big changes in all aspects of all societies of how we grow food, use land and transport, and how we power our economies.

How do we get people to act and think about the state of the planet? Sir David Attenborough has said, ‘saving our planet a communications challenge’ and is not wrong. There is so much mixed messaging, that it is perhaps no wonder that so many people zone out and wait for someone else to fix it; and this could be our undoing. We need to find better ways to engage people’s energy with this issue. Where we need to

SANGEETA WALDRON communicate the opportunity to build a vision of a more sustainable future, because sustainability is all about innovation and endurance.

From racial inequality to environmental justice, these issues need radical, urgent transformation, and the only way to do it is to ensure everyone is on that same path. Using our powers of communication and storytelling we can create this shift in the world and on 20 April, I will be joined by an informed panel, where we will share our insights to help foster the change that our planet urgently needs.

Community and future generations When asked how as a community, we can work towards building a more sustainable future for our future generations, the former Head of Sustainable Partnerships told us, “Knowledge is king. Knowing how we individually impact the planet, both positively and negatively is the first step in being able to work as a community to ensure future generations can afford a quality of life. The safety briefing on an aeroplane “put your own oxygen mask on before assisting others” has never been more apt.”

Offering practical advice, he said, “Could you start a local community sustainability group to help tackle local issues? Does your local community suffer from poor air quality or lack of choice in sustainable products? Can you influence local businesses to change?

Local Government? Can you offer up some of your time to conduct litter picking or food recycling projects?”

UK-India partnership and climate crisis Commenting on the UK-India partnership and how it can bring about positive results in tackling the climate crisis, Patel said, “The breadth and depth of India’s relationship with the UK are underpinned by the living bridge between our people – with more Indian companies in the UK than in the rest of Europe combined and a vibrant Indian diaspora of 1.6 million Brits sharing deep connections between the 2 countries.

“The UK-India Partnership has entered a new era which will hopefully

oil and gas, and similarly to the US, very little reliance. But it's surely for the EU, it might lead to a shift in the EU more towards climate benefiting sources of fuel, right?

‘When governments think they're not being watched, they tend not to move’

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lpesh Patel OBE, CEO in Asset Management, Media Commentator, International BestSelling Author and Philanthropist, former visiting fellow in Business, Oxford University and Asian Voice’s regular columnist who brings you Political Sketchbook & Financial Voice, talks extensively about climate change in this Q&A.

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ow do the current sociopolitical economic challenges affect climate change?

A lot of attention, particularly public attention is focused of course, on the war in Ukraine. That means that the same public attention is not focused on making sure politi-

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here and when do you think the human species went wrong in the assessment of climate change and its adverse impact?

ALPESH PATEL OBE cians' feet are kept to the fire.

That's a key problem. When the world gets around having its attention as it did during COP26 to a particular issue, governments move. When governments think they're not being watched, they tend not to move.

However, there is one slight positive, which is this. The conflict with Russia, certainly for the Western governments, if you consider which are the most polluting; China, EU, US. For Western governments, that move away from relying on Russian oil should mean the EU, UK, US will be less reliant on hydrocarbons oils. UK has very little reliance on Russian

I think there was an area where we went wrong and there's an area when even though we could have gone right, we continued choosing to go wrong. And it's this, first of all, to some extent you can't blame us if we don't have the data. When I look at the data on the NASA website and I like going to the NASA website, okay? Basically, the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide had never been above the 1950s level for millennia. And we know this because we can dig up old fossils and you can tell the carbon content of the air at that time when those fossils were fossilized, so from thousands of years ago.

I think you got to be pretty off your face if you think NASA data is somehow just manufactured artificial political unless you're a flat earth supporter. In which case you definitely don't believe in NASA's data. So

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Climate change - the scourge of our generation

C

limate change is, without doubt, a burning issue of our generation. The issue is all-pervading and 'destination 1.5 degrees' seems distant to say the least. Alarmingly, the world is currently on course to 2.4 degrees of warming by the end of the century.

The need of the hour is actionable plans, clear timescales, necessary funding and transparent strategies to deal with some of our highest carbon and greenhouse gas-emitting areas: agriculture and forestry, energy, buildings and transport. Some countries are already in grave peril and face unprecedented humanitarian crises.

These include island nations which are threatened with imminent extinction and coastal communities in many other countries too. It is true that all nations and people will be required to make changes to ensure sustainability. In my address to the parliament on November 21, I appealed to the President of COP26, The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, that the UK should lead the world and set an example by supporting the cli-

that's the basis where I go, where did we go wrong?

Well, we have the denies which still exist. And thankfully, they have a weaker force in government.

Governments are notoriously bad at colluding and creating cartels as the numbers grow bigger. You could probably create a formula and say, "The more governments are involved, the less law likely that collusion will hold." OPEC is ironically enough one of the bestknown cartels in the world, and even they get people cheating as it were. Simple so, what's the problem?

Self-interest is. We're, as I said, we don't have a united government of the world.

We have nation-states.

S

o how can UK-India work together?

What will happen going forward between UK-India is, of course, shared knowledge on the technologies that we need. India has a problem in that it doesn't make enough solar panels domestically of sufficiently high quality. Britain can help with that. Britain has a problem with carbon extraction technology, which India's rather good

LORD RAJ LOOMBA CBE mate-vulnerable countries, which are already being affected by climate change, with additional climate finance commitments throughout the UK’s COP presidency. After all, very often, they suffer for no fault of theirs.

The theme for the Be The Change event at the House of Lords on 6th April, which I am delighted to host, throws a challenge to each one of us: how can we be the change and make a difference to our environment. It is indeed a welcome challenge and I do hope that it will instil a renewed resolve in all those attending the event to make this world a better place for us and for future generations. I commend Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar for bringing this urgent issue to the fore.

at. We've brought companies like carbon clean solutions from India over to the UK using their intellectual property out there and they've been phenomenal.

So I think that partnership of knowledge sharing will be tremendously useful, plus India needs a lot of capital and the UK financial markets are very good at raising capital.

I think Britain can help whether it's green bonds or just raising capital for its companies in the conventional sense through the London markets. And as I said, the UK is very good at that.

H

ow can the Asian community contribute towards building a better or more sustainable future amid solving the climate crisis?

I think going back to that old attitude that our parents had when they first came to this country and when money was so tight, that you didn't just throw away clothes, you didn't just keep buying new ones, you didn't have fast fashion. You did recycle and reuse and relabel and repurpose.

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Gender equality and women’s rights are an indivisible part of climate justice N

ovelist, playwright and screenwriter, Laline Paull was born in London and read English at Oxford.

Her first novel The Bees is translated into 18 languages, most recently simplified Chinese, and she is currently adapting for the London stage. Her second novel The Ice deals with the realpolitik and corruption of Arctic development, and her latest, Pod, is a return to immersive storytelling set in a non-human world: the troubled ocean of today. She is married with children and lives in East Sussex.

She speaks to the newsweekly about her work and environmental awareness.

What does climate change mean to you and how important is it for the world to take it seriously?

This is a rare moment where everyone alive on earth, can be part of the collective decision to save our natural world - or to let it perish. It is an opportunity for positive change and human evolution, and if we focus on that instead of the dread and despair, we will be encouraged to keep up or begin, our efforts to join in and win the battle to slow, and then stop, climate change. The stakes have never been higher for all of us.

You’ve been praised for your environmental awareness by your readers. How much of that enables you to be more sensitive toward climate change?

I never intended to become known for my environmental awareness, and what I have, came about quite organically, when I became interested in honeybees. I never intended to write a novel about how amazing they were, until how amazing they really were, which was something I couldn’t stop talking about. That’s when I knew there was a story to be told, set in a beehive, and that’s when I really got stuck into studying them. And of course, everything is connected in this world, so studying the biology of the honeybee, led me to an awareness of the existential crisis that faces all pollinators. It took a little while for the data I was absorbing, to reveal itself as the terrifying picture of our life without bees, and pollinators. You can’t

9 - 15 April 2022

LALINE PAULL stay neutral in the face of the facts about that; we’ve been killing the tiny, brilliant and totally unprotected creatures we depend on for our own survival, and we have to stop. So the miraculous little honeybee led me to see her plight and write a novel set in her world.

How and from where do you derive inspiration and knowledge to write your books?

Though I had long secretly aspired to write a novel, my first one, The Bees, came about almost by accident, reading about honeybees in the aftermath of the early death of a beekeeper friend. Like most children, I was fascinated by animals and nature in general, but because my maths wasn’t good enough, I dropped all science subjects after GCSEs (O-Levels for me). Only when I stepped into researching honeybees, did I realise how much I loved learning about another life form, and how fascinating it was.

After I’d finished that novel, I was then much more aware of climate change, global warming, and how the Arctic is heating up faster than anywhere else on earth, and I became fascinated in that murky arena of geopolitics, and the unprotected high seas, and the opening up of the long-sought shipping route right over the North Pole. I found a story there, explored it in my second novel The Ice, which is more about the greed and short-sightedness of the human-animal than any other.

My third novel, POD, is set in an equatorial ocean and is about how two rival pods of dolphins (and other marine animals) struggle to survive in an ocean that is changing beyond their ability to understand. Once again, it’s science-based, and the stranger things are true. Nature is my inspiration, then I get fascinated and perhaps a bit obsessed by one aspect, then another, and then comes the hard work of making a good story from all the juicy bits...

As an award-winning novelist and as w woman, how do you think women can play an important role in spreading awareness around climate change, given the fact that women are deeply affected by it?

My understanding of climate justice is that those wealthy nations that

17

have contributed most to climate change should support the poorer nations that are most affected by it.

Women and girls in these poorer nations typically do not benefit from the kinds of freedoms and advantages of women and girls in the richer nations. To me, gender equality and women’s rights are an indivisible part of climate justice. There is no good argument to exploit women’s labour, keeping girls ignorant, degrading natural resources in the service of shareholder profit, and to keep poisoning our planet because it serves ’the status quo’. No one person, no one nation, is singly responsible for the mess we are in - but there is at least one clear and achievable thing we can do to start making a positive difference: educate and protect girls and women in those poorer countries and communities. Help them to help themselves and in turn, we will live in a better world.

How can the Asian community contribute towards building a better and more sustainable future amid solving the climate crisis?

At first, I was going to say ‘no different from any other community, but depending on where in Asia our heritage derives, we might have a particularly intimate relationship with the impact of climate change. We might be aware of particular areas and communities that are in acute need to support, and we have in-depth knowledge and experience of where and how we can target our aid.

I know that in Asia there are millions of girls who don’t automatically get an education, nor have an expectation of equality. My family came to the UK from India in the early 1960s, and ever since I was earning money, through ActionAid I have supported one Indian girl’s education at a time.

Each one of them could be me. In these troubled times, it’s good to pause and give thanks for all our blessings. If clean water comes out of the tap, if the press of a finger gives light, if there is food on the table and shelter at night, we are rich. Asian or not, we have so much to share, and so much power to harness for good - if we only know where to direct it.

This is a rare moment where everyone alive on earth, can be part of the collective decision to save our natural world - or to let it perish.

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9 - 15 April 2022

Dear Financial Voice Reader, How come the stock market keeps rising again? It’s also ISA season – for those who do not know, it means a tax-free account in which stocks you buy are added.

So, is the US Stock Market About to Collapse? The company my dad listed on the stock market in India just doubled in market cap in a year.

Following a downturn induced by the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, the US stock market recovered and finished the year at an all-time high. This trend has continued into 2021, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average currently over 31,000 points. Despite the vaccination deployment, unemployment and economic disruption remain high, raising the question, "What precisely is going on?"

The "Buffet Indicator" has long been regarded as an important stock market valuation tool on Wall Street. It's a basic ratio that divides the entire market capitalization of US equities by the country's GDP. This remains at worrying high levels.

Is the Stock Market in the United States in a Bubble?

For some years, there has been speculation that the US stock market is in a bubble. However, there is little agreement on this. One thing is certain: the US economy endured one of the most major shocks in its history last year, necessitating an enormous stimulus plan to avert economic disaster.

The Argument for a Bubble A few arguments have been advanced to support the notion of a stock market bubble. Since the financial crisis, the market has been on a 10-year bull run. This, along with overly optimistic projections from US investors, has caused many to assume that the bubble would eventually collapse. However, the study of the cyclically adjusted PE ratio provides the most compelling evidence.

The PE ratio is calculated by dividing the investment price by the company's profits or earnings. Because each year has its own ups and downs, the Shiller PE ratio, commonly known as the CAPE index, takes a long look and calculates the rate by earnings over the previous decade, adjusted for inflation.

According to the current Shiller PE rating, the US stock market has been this overpriced twice before: during the 1929 stock market crash and during the 1990s Dot Com bubble.

What Could Be the Cause of the Crash?

While a collision might occur in a variety of ways, it would require a series of circumstances to occur.

COVID-19 Issues Persist Though things are looking up, we're not out of the woods yet. The vaccination rollout has been positive, but more mutations or variations may render that silent. If this is the case, new lockdown measures might bring the economy to its knees.

The huge stimulus packages were all that stopped the market from collapsing in 2020, and failure to do this right during subsequent rounds would be disastrous. Overall, though, this conclusion seems improbable.

Delinquencies on loans and credit cards While the market has done nicely since March, things are far from normal on the ground. A sequence of loan, mortgage, and credit delinquencies might have a significant impact on US financial equities. And, with government money already being sucked up by other stimulus measures, the financial markets may find themselves unable to acquire the necessary aid.

Inflation Inflation causes rising interest rates and even less spending leading to a recession. But stocks in such circumstances history tells us recover rather quickly.

Ukraine Russia decides to go nuclear. Short of that, the market is unaffected. For now, we walk slowly in the dark – with our eyes open, but seeing little. For me, resilient stocks work best like Costco, Microsoft, Amazon, AbbVie, UnitedHealth.

UK mortgage performance to remain robust in spite of cost pressures Fitch Ratings expects UK mortgage performance to remain robust even though households are set to face significant cost pressures, according to a new report.

Rapidly rising prices, in particular for energy and transport, will lead to a decline in real incomes in 2022. Rising interest rates, intended to curb inflationary pressure,

over the ongoing Ukrainian conflict. With reference to stringent sanctions being imposed on Russia, Sunak, who is the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy was asked

28% in 2015. An increasing number of lenders have started to offer fixed-rate products for up to 40 years.

Unlike the US and Netherlands, UK borrowers have historically had limited choice in fixed-rate products longer than five years.

Housing transaction volumes increased year on

year, in particular ahead of stamp duty and land tax changes. The number of transactions is likely to reduce as interest rate increases and household cost pressure lead to the market cooling. Fitch expects house price growth to continue, although at a slower pace than the 10.8% recorded in 2021.

Banking Protocol rapid scam response scheme stops £202.8 mn fraud The Banking Protocol is a UK-wide scheme, developed

by UK Finance, National Trading Standards and local police forces. Branch staff are trained to spot the warning signs that suggest a customer may be falling victim to a scam, before alerting their local police force to intervene and investigate.

The latest figures show that branch staff made 10,072 Banking Protocol calls to the police during 2021.

The scheme led to the arrest of 162 suspected

criminals last year, bringing the total number of arrests to 1,005 since the protocol began. Branch staff at banks, building societies and Post Offices have worked with the police to stop £202.8 million of fraud through the response scheme since it launched in 2016, according to the latest figures from UK Finance.

Last year £60.7 million was stopped through the scheme, 34 per cent more than in 2020.

To build on the success of the scheme, banks and

building societies are continuing to work with local police forces on expanding the process to cover attempted bank transfers made by customers through telephone and online banking. So far, 42 out of 45 police forces across the UK are signed up to the enhanced scheme. Staff working in call centres and in online banking teams notify the police when attempted bank transfers are being made which they believe may be the result of a scam.

Customers using telephone or online banking are first asked by the bank or building society to visit their local branch to enable branch staff to carry out additional checks and use the Banking Protocol if necessary. However, if the customer is unable to visit their branch, for example if they are vulnerable or have a disability, staff would be able to directly alert the local police who will make a visit to the customer’s home and assess whether they have fallen victim to a scam.

BoE to withdraw paper notes Brexit moves 7,000+ of £20 and 50 by 30 Sept jobs from London to EU The Bank of England has been gradually replacing its paper notes with polymer ones over a number of years, and this WOLTS date marks the end point of that transition. The new polymer £20 notes feature the Romantic artist J.M.W. Turner, and the polymer £50 notes feature the mathematician Alan Turing.

The BoE has issued its six-month reminder to consumers and businesses about the withdrawal of legal tender status (or WOLTS) of the paper £20 and £50 banknotes on 30 September 2022. Anyone who’s got some of the old paper notes at home is encouraged to go out and

Infosys to shift services from Russia amid Sunak row According to sources, IT major Infosys is shifting its services from Russia to other global delivery centres. The move comes amid mounting pressure on UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who has been fielding some tough questions lately over the Russian presence of Infosys, a company in which his wife, Akshata Murty, has a share.

The UK earlier imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Russian businesses and individuals, with Sunak issuing a call for all UK companies to think very carefully about any investments in Russia

will also increase costs for borrowers with a floatingrate mortgage.

Mortgage origination in 2021 was exceptionally strong, with particularly high activity from home movers. Data from UK Finance shows 48% of new residential lending is made on a fixed product of five years or longer, up from

on air if his advice to businesses was not being followed within his own home.

The minister stressed that the operations of individual companies was a matter for them.

spend them, or deposit them at a bank or at a Post Office. Once the 30 September 2022 deadline has passed, people will no longer be able to spend paper notes in shops or use them to pay businesses.

Estimates suggest there may be in excess of £50 million in loose change lying around in people’s homes.

Research suggest that around 35 per cent of people store coins at home and don’t spend or bank it for over six months.

More than 7,000 finance jobs have been moved from London to the EU as a result of Brexit, down 400 from the total anticipated in December, the consultants EY said. While the total is well down on the 12,500 job moves forecast by firms in 2016, when Britain voted to leave the bloc, more could follow. New local hires linked to Brexit totalled 2,900 across Europe, and 2,500 in Britain, where just over 1 million people work in the financial services sector.

Further relocations could result from European Central Bank checks on whether Brexit hubs in the

EU opened by banks that used London as their European base had sufficient staff to justify their new licences. The Bank of England is scrutinising these to avoid banks in London being left with too few senior staff.

Dublin is the most popular destination for staff relocations and new hubs, followed by Luxembourg, Frankfurt and Paris.

Finance ministry defends regulators from criticism The Financial Conduct Authority has been criticised for being slow in authorising crypto firms as it grapples with an internal revamp and pay structure that has disillusioned some staff. The ministry and regulators face pressure to make financial rules more flexible to keep London globally competitive after Britain’s departure from the European Union.

In the meantime, Britain’s finance ministry flagged several reforms and defended regulators from

criticism they are too slow to license firms, saying flawed applicants must not get through.

Financial services minister John Glen said he has “very high regard” for the leadership at the FCA and its counterpart at the Bank of England, and that some people criticised regulators just because they don’t get what they want. He said he was aware of frustration over licensing waiting times and has told FCA CEO Nikhil Rathi that the complexity of

new types of financial firms like crypto means that some thought needs to be given to being more responsive.

“A change in rules could allow for the growth in Britain of “captives” or licensed in-house insurers set up by corporates looking to cut costs through selfinsurance. It’s ripe for further work to be done. I hope that we will see that evolution in the way insurance and reinsurance is offered to big corporates,” Glen said.

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FINANCE & REAL ESTATE

19

9 - 15 April 2022

Clinching The Deal

India's GST collection in March touches £14.21 bn India's GST revenue in the month of March has hit an all time high of £14.21 billion. The collection during the month is up 15% year-on-year from £12.3,9 billion in March last year.

The ministry of finance said that of the collection of £14.21 billion, CGST is £2.58 billion, SGST is £3.24 billion, IGST is £7.44 billion (including £3.91 billion collected on import of goods) and cess is £941.7 million (including £98.1

million collected on import of goods).

"The gross GST collection in March 2022 is all time high breaching earlier record of £14.09 billion collected in the month of January 2022," the ministry release added.

"Coupled with economic recovery, antievasion activities, especially action against fake billers have been contributing to the enhanced GST. The

improvement in revenue has also been due to various rate rationalization measures undertaken by the Council to correct inverted duty structure," it added. Reacting to the record collection, MS Mani, partner at Deloitte India, said, "With the major economic indicators on an upswing, aided by a datamining approach to detect cases of GST evasion, there

Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

has been a significant impact on the collections.

The record GST collections have been aided by the strong sales activity of corporates in March, as they race to close the fiscal with high top line growth.

This has a direct bearing on GST, which is a transaction tax."

Amul registers £4.65 bn turnover in 2021-22 Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) which markets Amul brand of milk and dairy products has registered a provisional turnover of £4.65 billion for 2021-22. The sales turnover has jumped 18.5 % over the previous financial year. With this, Amul group’s turnover has reached £6.3 billion.

The Amul group has witnessed an 18% growth

after a gap of five years. In 2016-17 the federation had registered 18% growth when its turnover had touched £2.78 billion from £2.29 billion compared to the previous fiscal.

During the pandemic, GCMMF had registered just 2% growth during 2020-21 when it had recorded £3.94 billion turnover while Amul group’s turnover was £5.30 billion. The pandemic had

hit hard segments like ice cream with sales falling by nearly 85%. The group's exports have grown from £50 million to nearly £145 million in 2021-22,” said RS Sodhi, managing director of GCMMF. Jayen Mehta, chief operating officer of GCMMF, said that after Covid-19 pandemic, consumers started shifting from loose and unbranded

to trusted branded products which helped us (Amul) increase our market-share across categories “Our member unions (dairy cooperatives) have continued to win trust of farmers by procuring milk at a good price during the year,” he said. GCMMF’s milk procurement has grown by 9% in Gujarat and overall 8% compared to the previous financial year.

Future Retail blames Amazon for destroying it The Future Retail (FRL) told the Supreme Court that it is ‘hanging by a thread’ while the battle of power and ownership between Amazon and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) over the company is still going on.

The FRL told the court that for £140 million, which is the worth of the AmazonFuture disputed deal, the US-based e commerce giant has successfully destroyed a £2.6 billion company.

“Our bank accounts are frozen and I can’t even pay rent. Due to the second wave of Covid infection and other associated issues, the retail sector has taken a solid knock. Amazon wanted to destroy us, they have destroyed us,” senior advocate Harish Salve appearing for Future retail

submitted before the court.

“If reliance doesn’t extend our scheme after three months then what will we do? We are on oxygen now. We have only 374 stores and over 800 have shut down due to nonpayment of rent,” he further read.

This comes after an outof-court settlement talk for the dispute between Amazon and Future Retail

failed last month and Reliance took over hundreds of Future Retail stores on unpaid rents mounting up to thousands of millions.

Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium appearing for Amazon said, “As far as the resumption of arbitration is considered, we both want that. There is a sudden handover of assets which should not be done. The assets have to remain in

HDFC Ltd to merge with HDFC Bank India’s largest housing finance company, HDFC Ltd, will merge with the largest private sector bank in the country, HDFC Bank, to create an entity with a combined balance sheet of £178.7 billion and net worth of £33 billion. While HDFC Bank will continue to be the second-largest lender in the country after State Bank of India, its size following the merger would be twice that of ICICI Bank, the third largest lender.

The closing of the deal is expected to be achieved within 18 months, subject to regulatory approvals and is likely to be completed by Q2 or Q3 of FY24. Sashi Jagdishan, CEO and MD, HDFC Bank, will be at the helm of the merged entity, and Keki Mistry, the current

chief at HDFC, will join as a director on the board of the new company. Deepak Parekh, who has been associated with HDFC since 1978, will step down as chairman.

“After 45 years in housing finance, providing 9 million homes to Indians, we had to find a home for ourselves. We have found it within our own family and in our own bank,” Parekh said. “Over the last few years, various regulations for banks and NBFCs have

been harmonised, thereby enabling the potential merger.

Further, the resulting larger balance sheet would allow underwriting of large ticket infrastructure loans, accelerate the pace of credit growth in the economy, boost affordable housing and increase the quantum of credit to the priority sector, including credit to the agriculture sector,” he added. Once the scheme becomes effective, the subsidiaries and associates of HDFC will become subsidiaries and associates of HDFC Bank.

Shareholders of HDFC will receive 42 shares of HDFC Bank, each of face value of 1, for 25 shares held in HDFC Ltd (each of face value of 2).

FRL. We pray for restraining from any alienation of assets and should remain with FRL should not be magically switched to any party.”

Subramanium also said, “The record shows us that in their annual accounts for 2021, in all their annual returns they say they have enough to pay their rentals.

There is not a piece of slightly compelling evidence that they are not doing well.

I would request this in the interest of justice.”

We are currently exploring an opportunity on the other side of the river.

The property consists of both residential and empty commercial.

It has all the elements we like in a deal: money coming in from day one, certainty in terms of planning via PD, and once all this has been done and executed we can then focus on further planning. With money having already been made.

When a deal has properties like this, you are insulated from risk; not immune, but insulated.

Inevitably, there will be speed bumps along the way, however, there is a stronger chance of navigating them if the property is producing an income and there is certainty on the horizon.

We are currently sitting on a deal which is still on a bridging loan, at least 6 months longer than it should have been. This was due to the complacency of the solicitor, we had to switch firms halfway through the remortgage. This is not ideal, but in this situation it was required. This delayed matters, and, therefore, required a revaluation. Luckily, the property is producing a good income relative to its purchase price.

And the construction cost was very competitive. We have learnt through hard experience that several angles are required on a deal, and it needs to be cash flowing.

The issue we are having with this deal is how do we close it? Do we press the trigger now and make an offer hoping this will be enough to get the contract, or do we bide our time, sniff at what other offers come in and then try to top them?

The issue with coming in too early is the offer can be used as leverage for others to increase their offers, above ours.

There is no black and white answer, either methods could work. The way to approach this is guided by gut feel rather than a procedure.

I think it is best to wait on this deal, and try and see what comes in first. It’s getting tough to find deals which tick all the boxes above; so, when one appears it needs to be grabbed with both hands.

An offer is essentially a piece of paper with a number on it, it shows no ability to firstly execute the deal and secondly in a timely manner.

Therefore, to strengthen our position it is important to evidence the ability to do both and work with a commercially minded conveyancer, one who can commercially quantify any anomalies which may come out of the woodwork during the transaction.

Mahindra and Tata all charged-up to partner on joint EV project In an unprecedented move, the two rivals of the Indian automobile sector are plugging in to a mutually beneficial alliance. India's Mahindra and Mahindra and Tata Motors - both of whom have ambitious Electric Vehicle (EV) plans will partner on a joint EV project. The details of this surprising yet rather electric alliance are being finalised, according to sources close to the development.

The joint project has been codenamed REVO and alludes to revving or accelerating their mutual EV plans. REVO also houses the abbreviation EV, and while Tata Motors has used this name as a prefix for its ICE powertrains, it is also a nod to Reva Electric - where Mahindra began its EV journey. Of course the name ending with the alphabet 'O' is also no coincidence in the M&M context. Sources have shared with car and bike

that the alliance was first sparked when top officials from both companies had an informal conversation in December 2021.

A further exploration has led to this project which is being currently being assessed on its own standalone merits.

If successful, it could pave the way for a more solid alliance.

The vehicle development for the REVO project is expected to focus on a compact SUV sized vehicle - something that is currently missing in the portfolio of both players.

While Tata has showed a Sierra concept EV at the 2020 Delhi Auto Expo, Mahindra is rumoured to have already begun work on a compact vehicle on the W601 platform, tipped to be the XUV400. That both companies have a born electric strategy is also not lost on us. And hence the outcome may involve the use of the Tata's SIGMA skateboard platform.

According to a source, a battery of senior executives from both companies have been roped in to build REVO in quick time.

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AsianVoiceNewsweekly

9 - 15 April 2022

in brief

Impasse continues in Pak as SC postpones no-trust verdict ISLAMABAD: Pakistan remained on tenterhooks as the Supreme Court debated on Monday the legality of the notrust motion against PM Imran Khan being rejected by the National Assembly’s deputy speaker before the five-member bench decided to adjourn the hearing to allow more submissions.

Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, who filed a suo motu case and ordered status quo soon after the president dissolved the National Assembly on Imran’s recommendation on Sunday, had raised expectations about a “reasonable order” being passed on Monday by the bench. The opposition’s counsel, Farooq H Naek, started the day’s proceedings by requesting the court to set up a full bench, a plea that CJ Bandial rejected by citing the possibility of other cases being delayed.

The five-member bench noted during the debate that there were “violations” in the proceedings of the no-trust resolution in the lower house of parliament. The chief justice, who heads the bench, observed that the customary debate before voting on the no-trust motion was dispensed with as deputy speaker Qasim Suri handed the floor to information minister Fawad Chaudhry and

almost immediately accepted his contention that the move to dismiss the government had been engineered by a “foreign power”.

House dissolution recommended Earlier, President Dr Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on the recommendation of Imran, who swiftly settled for the option of general elections within 90 days after the opposition’s no-trust motion against him was noballed as unconstitutional by the deputy speaker of parliament’s lower House. CJ Bandial took suo motu cognisance of the National Assembly’s dissolution even as the opposition moved court, putting on hold all actions and orders issued by the PM and the President till a three-member bench hears all sides. The bench issued notices to all respondents before adjourning for the day. Bandial warned against unconstitutional steps by any institution, saying no one should try to take advantage of the situation.

Caretaker PM Meanwhile, Imran proposed the name of former chief justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed for the office of the caretaker prime minister.

caretaker prime minister. In another development, a handout issued by the president’s office read that Imran will continue as the prime minister, despite being de-notified as the chief executive, till the appointment of a caretaker prime minister.

His name was nominated at a core committee meeting of PTI chaired by Imran. Gulzar’s nomination followed a letter of Pakistan president Arif Alvi to Imran and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, seeking suggestions for the appointment of a

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Lanka opposition rejects president’s unity govt offer COLMBO: Sri Lanka’s opposition has rejected an invitation from the president to form a unity government, urging his resignation over the country’s worsening shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

The opposition’s demand on Monday came as anti-government protests continued throughout the country over its worst economic crisis in memory and deepening mistrust in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s leadership.

Earlier on Monday, the president’s office said he “invites all political parties represented in the parliament to come together to accept ministerial portfolios in order to find solutions to this national crisis”. The largest opposition political alliance – the United People’s Power or Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) – rejected the proposal.

“The people of this country want Gotabaya and the entire

Rajapaksa family to go and we can’t go against the people’s will and we can’t work alongside the corrupt,” top SJB official Ranjith Madduma Bandara said. SJB has 54 MPs in the 225-member parliament. The left-wing People’s Liberation Front (JVP) also responded by urging Rajapaksa and his once-popular and powerful family to immediately step down.

“He really must be a lunatic to think that opposition MPs will prop up a government that is crumbling,” JVP MP Anura Dissanayaka told reporters. The main minority opposition

party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), joined the voices dismissing the idea.

All 26 Cabinet ministers handed in their resignations on Sunday, after thousands of people defied a countrywide state of emergency and curfew and joined street protests to denounce the government. Two other Rajapaksa brothers, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Irrigation

Minister Chamal Rajapaksa, were among those who resigned, along with the prime minister’s son, Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa.

But the president has already reappointed four of the outgoing ministers – three of them to their old jobs – while replacing brother Basil Rajapaksa as finance minister with the previous justice chief.

Previous ministers of foreign affairs, education and highways kept their positions.

Lanka closes some embassies Sri Lanka on Tuesday announced its decision to temporarily shut down its embassies in Norway, Iraq and its Consulate General in Australia from April 30. The decision to close down embassies was taken after 'careful deliberation' and is a part of the general restructuring of Sri Lanka's diplomatic representation overseas.

Earlier in the day, the ruling coalition lost its majority in Parliament after 41 lawmakers walked out of the alliance amid growing protests over the economic crisis. Sri Lanka’s new finance minister Ali Sabry also tendered his resignation less than 24 hours after assuming office.

Pak army chief calls for talks to settle disputes with India ISLAMABAD: Pakistan wants Kashmir and all other disputes with India “settled quickly through dialogue and diplomacy” while continuing to build on its “long history of excellent strategic relationship with the US” and “close ties” with China, army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa declared on Saturday, appearing to set a foreign policy direction even as PM Imran Khan dissolved parliament.

Gen Bajwa’s statements on ties with adversaries and allies, including Pakistan’s “relief” at the situation along its eastern border and the LoC with India being “satisfactory and fairly peaceful”, came against the backdrop of PM Imran’s purported slip of tongue about the US engineering a “foreign-funded conspiracy” to oust his government since he

visited Russia.

“With one-third of the Gulf region involved in some sort of conflict and war, it is important that we keep the flames of fire away from our region,” the army chief said at an event called Islamabad Security Dialogue.

Cannot condone Russia Gen Bajwa gave voice to "Pakistan's serious concern" over the war in Ukraine, saying Russia might have legitimate security concerns but its aggression against a smaller country could not be condoned. “Russia's invasion of Ukraine was very unfortunate as thousands of people have been killed, millions made refugees and half of Ukraine destroyed,” he said, taking a stand opposite to Imran Khan’s steadfast refusal to do the

West’s bidding and denounce Russia.

Bajwa warned that the continuation of the conflict would not serve the interests of any side, least of all developing countries bearing the socio-economic costs of a war that could still “easily get out of hand".

On Ukraine not throwing in the towel more than a month after the fighting started, the general said the country's military response had given hope to smaller countries that they could defend their territory with smaller but agile forces along with modernisation of equipment. He said Pakistan had excellent “defence and economic ties with Ukraine” while ties with Russia, which Khan visited even as the war started, were “cold” for a long time because of numerous reasons.

KENYAN LEADER ODINGA KICKS OFF UK TOUR Kenyan presidential candidate Raila Odinga started his official tour of the United Kingdom last week. Odinga, who earlier served as Minister is Prime Raila Odinga tipped to be the next President of Kenya. Raila who is the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement is geared up for a packed schedule meeting senior UK government officials, religious leaders and members of the Kenyan diaspora. The trip comes under a week after Deputy President William Ruto, his rival in the presidential race, led his Kenya Kwanza Alliance team for a similar visit.

Raila addressed UK Parliamentarians by sharing his vision for Kenya and Africa in an increasingly uncertain world. Lord Dolar Popat, the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to neighbouring Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo engaged with Odinga during his visit to Parliament.

75-YEAR-OLD SIKH MAN ATTACKED IN NY A 75-year-old Sikh man was allegedly attacked while he was on an early morning walk in Queens, in which his nose was broken and he received severe bruises. The assault, police say was unprovoked. Nirmal Singh spoke to Eyewitness News about the attack. He was still wearing his bloodied jacket and spoke in Punjabi. Singh said that he was allegedly punched from behind on a Sunday morning walk on 95th Avenue and Lefferts Blvd. in Richmond Hill. There were no words exchanged, but the assault left him with injuries. Singh has only been in the country for two weeks and was on a visitor’s visa.

MAN LIVING AT AIRPORT FOR 14 YEARS A Chinese man who wanted to escape his family has been living at Terminal 2 of the Beijing airport for over 14 years now. Wei Jianguo from Beijing left his home in 2008 after quarrelling with his wife. He told the China Daily: “I can’t go back home because I have no freedom there. My family told me if I wanted to stay, I had to quit smoking and drinking.” He has set up a mobile kitchen using an electric cooker that he had brought from home. Other times, he would go around the airport to buy the food he likes. Jianguo had been laid off from work and gets a monthly government allowance of 1,000 yuan ($157).

6 DEAD, 10 HURT IN US SHOOTING Six people were killed and ten injured in a shooting in downtown Sacramento, California, that took place in a busy nightlife district early on Sunday, police said. Police were still looking for the shooter and no one was in custody, Sacramento police chief Kathy Lester told reporters. “We are asking for the public’s help in helping us to identify the suspects in this and provide any information they can to help us solve this,” she said. The shooting occurred near the Golden 1 Center, an arena where the Sacramento Kings basketball team plays and concerts take place. Police said several blocks were closed while they investigate, but released no details on the ages or identities of the victims. Videos posted online showed people shouting and running in the street.

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in brief

Biden proposes increased funding to India

US HOUSE PASSES BILL TO DECRIMINALISE CANNABIS The US House passed legislation to decriminalise marijuana at the federal level as Democrats and three Republicans banded together to capitalise on the political resonance of legalised cannabis as an issue of economic growth, racial justice and states’ rights. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, which passed 220-204, is unlikely to secure 60 votes to pass the Senate, despite the backing of the majority leader, Senator Chuck Schumer. But supporters of marijuana decriminalisation said the vote was a necessary step toward building consensus on something that can become law. The bill would remove marijuana from the federal government’s list of controlled substances, impose an 8% tax on cannabis products, allow some convictions on cannabis charges to be expunged and press for sentencing reviews.

POPE SAYS SORRY TO CANADA INDIGENOUS PEOPLE Pope Francis issued a historic apology to Canadian indigenous peoples for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in residential schools that sought to erase their cultures and where many children suffered abuse and were buried in unmarked graves. Francis, in an address to native leaders after meetings with delegates from various indigenous nations, also said he hoped to visit Canada in July.

One of the leaders, who want the pope to make the apology directly to their communities on their native lands in Canada, called his words “historic”. “For the deplorable behaviour of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask forgiveness from God and I would like to tell you from the bottom of my heart that I am very pained,” he said, speaking in Italian. “I join my brother Canadian bishops in apologising,” he said.

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden wants developmental assistance to India in clean energy, digital economy, and also in combating increasing authoritarianism to be increased. The proposal would raise the numbers from $25 million in 2021 to $66 million for the fiscal 2023 is part of the State Department’s developmental assistance for the fiscal 2023, which was sent by the White House to the US Congress on March 28.

“The funding increase for India supports India’s role as a regional leader by increasing clean energy and other climate programming. Funds will also advance investments in the digital economy,” said the State Department’s portion of the budget.

“Assistance will combat increasing authoritarianism, bolster human rights and strengthen civil society participation and democratic governance,” the State

Department said.

The Biden Administration has also proposed an increase in health assistance from $34.5 million in 2021 to $48.5 million in 2023. The State Department cited a program Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance to India as one of its success stories. With OTA support, India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs made significant progress in its Smart Cities program to promote issuance of local project debt by cities, the State Department said.

OTA previously worked with the Indian municipality of Pune to help facilitate its first bond issuance in 2017. Based on this success, OTA and the Ministry of Housing of Urban Affairs expanded collaboration to include six additional cities — Vadodara, Pimpri Chinchwad, Rajkot, Faridabad, Mangaluru and Mysuru.

Indians largest group of immigrants in Canada TORONTO: Canada, which plans to admit a record 432,000 new immigrants in 2022, is on target to hit this mark as the country welcomed 108,000 newcomers in the first three months of the year.

“Canada is proud to be a destination of choice for so many people around the world, and we will continue to work hard to provide the best experience possible for them,” said Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, releasing the figures for the first quarter on March 31.

Though there is no countrywise break-up of the numbers,

Indians are the top immigrant group to take up residence in Canada this year. In 2021, nearly 100,000 Indians became permanent residents of Canada as the country admitted a record 405,000 new immigrants in its history.

During 2021-2022, over 210,000 permanent residents also acquired Canadian citizenship. As per figures released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), it also issued 450,000 study permit applications.

There are over 622,000 foreign students in Canada, with Indians numbering 217,410 as of December 31, 2021.

China extends lockdown in HK LEADER CARRIE LAM Shanghai, sends in military WON’T SEEK NEW TERM

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said she wouldn’t seek a second term after a rocky five years marked by huge protests calling for her resignation, a security crackdown that has quashed dissent and most recently a Covid-19 wave that overwhelmed the health system. Her successor will be picked in May, with the city’s hard-line security chief during the 2019 protests seen as a likely choice. “I will complete my five-year term as chief executive on the 30th of June this year, and I will also call an end to my 42 years of public service,” Lam said at a news conference. The 64-year-old career civil servant said she plans to spend more time with her family, which is her “sole consideration”. She said her decision had been conveyed to the central government in Beijing last year.

SHANGHAI (CHINA): Shanghai will remain under lockdown as it reviews results of an exercise to test all of its 26 million residents for Covid-19, authorities said. The city began its two-stage lockdown on March 28, initially in Shanghai’s eastern districts, and later expanded to cover the whole city.

The curbs, which have massively disrupted daily life and business operations in China's financial hub, were initially scheduled to end on Tuesday.

“The city will continue to implement seal and control management and strictly implement ‘staying at home’, except for medical treatment,” the city gov-

ernment said on its official WeChat account. It did not give an indication of when the curbs might lift.

The country sent the military and thousands of healthcare workers into Shanghai to help carry out Covid-19 tests for all of its 26 million residents. The People’s Liberation Army on Sunday dispatched over 2,000 medical personnel from across the army, navy and joint logistics support forces to Shanghai, an armed forces newspaper reported. About 38,000 healthcare staff from provinces such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang and the capital Beijing have been dispatched to Shanghai, according to state media.

German man gets 90 Covid shots to sell forged vaccine cards BERLIN: Officials at a vaccination centre in Eilenburg, Germany, caught a sexagenarian when he turned up for a Covid shot for the second day in a row. The police found several blank vaccination cards on him and have initiated criminal proceedings. During inquiry it was found that the man got himself vaccinated against Covid-19 about 90 times in a bid to sell fake vaccination certificates carrying real vaccine batch numbers for people against inocula-

tion.

His name has not been disclosed. The accused has not been arrested but is under investigation for issuing vaccination cards illegally and forging documents. The man has received dozens of Covid jabs from different brands, and it is not immediately clear how these would impact his health.

Police in Germany have been carrying out several raids in the wake of reports about an increase

in forged Covid vaccination passports in recent months amid vaccine hesitancy. The European country has recorded a fresh wave of infections in the last one month, which health experts and authorities have blamed on BA.2 Omicron subvariant.

$1.8bn for Indo-Pacific strategy Biden has proposed $1.8 billion in his budget plan to support his Indo-Pacific strategy along with another $400 million to counter China’s aggressive behaviour in the strategically vital region. Several world powers, including the US and Joe Biden India, have been raising the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s rising military manoeuvring in the region.

“In the Indo-Pacific, America is strengthening its role and expanding its cooperation with longtime allies and partners, including new diplomatic, defence and security, critical and emerging technology and supply chain, and climate and global health initiatives, while supporting stronger ties between our European and Indo Pacific allies,” Biden said.

Kenyatta's bid to change constitution held illegal Nairobi: Kenya's Supreme Court ruled that President Uhuru Kenyatta cannot initiate constitutional amendments or changes through popular initiative under article 257 of the constitution. Six out of seven judges ruled that Kenyatta's bid was was illegal and dealt a blow to him and his allies ahead of key elections in August.

But the court left open the possibility for the reforms - popularly known as the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) - to be instituted by parliament or through other means, so long as the president did not have a hand in the changes. The reforms would have been the biggest change to Kenya's political system since the introduction of a new constitution in 2010.

The initiative has left the East African nation's political elite divided. Kenyatta had argued that the change would make politics more inclusive and help end repeated cycles of election violence. The SC decision came after the High Court and Court of Appeal ruled against the proposed amendments last year.

The appeals court even said Kenyatta could be sued in a civil court for launching the process. But the Supreme Court ruled against this idea.

"Civil proceedings cannot be instituted in any court against the president or the person performing the functions of the office of the president during their tenure of office in respect of anything done or not done under the constitution," it declared.

BBI's detractors - including Kenyatta's estranged deputy William Ruto, who is running for the top job in August - say the plan is a little more than a naked grab for power by a two-term president who cannot run a third time. The timing of the reforms spurred speculation in recent years that Kenyatta is seeking to remain in power by establishing the post of prime minister as part of the BBI.

In strategic victory over China, India inks Lanka projects COLOMBO: In a deal seen as a strategic victory in its competition with China for influence in the Indian Ocean, India last week signed an agreement to set up hybrid power projects on northern Sri Lankan islands.

India's External affairs minister S Jaishankar, who was visiting Colombo, witnessed the signing along with former Sri Lankan foreign minister Gamini Peiris, the Indian embassy said.

In December, China had announced that it was suspending its own plan to build power plants on three Sri Lankan islands due to security concerns. An Indian official said that he couldn’t confirm if the plants in the new agreement are to be built on the same islands earmarked for the Chinese project. The power source and other details about the projects weren’t available.

India considers Sri Lanka, just across the narrow Palk Strait off India’s southeastern coast, to be within its sphere of influence. The island nation is in the middle of a key sea route connecting East and West and is important to China’s ambitious ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative. The cancelled Chinese power plant project would have been near India’s southern coast.

Sri Lanka is facing daunting problems with debt and is enduring its worst economic crisis in recent memory with shortages of medicine, fuel, fertilizer and milk power. Daily power outages are lasting for hours. The debt crisis partly stems from infrastructure projects that were financed with Chinese loans but are not making money. Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves are dwindling while it needs to repay $7 billion in foreign debts this year.It has approached both India and China for help. India provided a $1 billion credit line to buy essentials and $500 billion to buy fuel. China is considering a request for $2. 5 billion in economic assistance but has been non-committal about restructuring billions in debt. Sri Lanka's government previously scrapped a plan to allow China outright ownership to land on the Colombo Port City. It instead provided 62 hectares (153 acres) on a 99 -year lease.

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Assam and Meghalaya sign pact to end 50-year dispute Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma signed an agreement in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi last week, settling six of the 12 areas of their differences in the 50-year-old inter-state boundary dispute.

Shah described the accord that saw Assam making concessions it had refused so far as “another milestone in the fulfilment of PM Modi’s vision of a peaceful and prosperous northeast”. He praised Assam’s “large heartedness” for facilitating the pact.

According to the settlement formula, both the states will divide the disputed area of about 36 sq km, covering the six points of differences, in almost equal parts between them.

Shah said this agreement has ended the dispute in about 70% of the inter-state border area and the areas of differences in the remaining six places will be resolved soon.

The pact, which, as per the

ministry of home affairs statement, exemplifies cooperative federalism and will provide a road map for resolution of other boundary disputes between states, now paves the way for Survey of India to redraw the inter-state boundary between the two states at these six points. The freshly demarcated border will have to be passed by Parliament by amending the North Eastern Region (Re-organisation) Act of 1971 which then will have to be ratified by the legislative assemblies of both states.

The dispute between the two states has was there ever since Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972. Assam also has border disputes with

Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram.

Partial rollback of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced the reduction of “disturbed areas” under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland with effect from April 1. The decision was based on the recommendations of a committee the Ministry had constituted on December 26, 2021, to study the possibility of withdrawing the AFSPA from areas in Nagaland in the wake of public anger against a botched ambush by an elite unit of the Army that led to the killing of 13 civilians at Oting in Mon district on December 4.

How did the AFSPA come about?

British colonial The government had on August 15, 1942, promulgated the Armed Forces Special Powers

Ordinance to suppress the Quit India movement. It was the foundation for four ordinances, including one for the “Assam disturbed areas” invoked in 1947 to deal with Partitioninduced internal security challenges. The Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Act, 1958, followed the Assam Disturbed Areas Act of 1955 to deal with the uprising in the Naga Hills and adjoining areas. The Act was replaced by the AFSPA for wider application. A similar Act specific to Jammu and Kashmir was enacted in 1990.

In Assam, the AFSPA has been removed completely from 23 districts and partially from the Cachar district. The Act has been revoked from 15 police station areas in six districts of Manipur but continues in 82 police stations in 16 districts. In Nagaland, the AFSPA has been removed from areas under 15 police stations in seven districts but remains active in areas under 57 police stations in 13 districts.

BJP's tally in RS to touch 100-mark; but numbers may drop The ruling BJP has for the first time touched the 100-mark in the Rajya Sabha and become the first party to reach the milestone after 1988, but its new position may be a shortlived one as four of its MPs who entered the Upper House as nominated members will retire in the next three weeks, bringing its tally back to 96.

One more nominated MP will retire on May 3, which will effectively further reduce its numerical strength. At present, nine of the 12 nominated members are part of the BJP, taking its tally to 100 now.

The retirement list of members shows that the President will have to nominate

seven members in the next three to four weeks. The seven nominated members who are going to retire include Subramanian Swamy, Mary Kom, Swapan Dasgupta, Roopa Ganguly, Suresh Gopi and Narendra Jadhav in April, and Sambhaji Chhatrapati in May. Except Jadhav and Kom, all five had taken the BJP’s membership in the Upper

Anniversary of Gandhi's Dandi march Mahatma Gandhi reached Dandi, a small costal village in Gujarat, after travelling 385 km with 78 followers to break the recently imposed "Salt Law". This event is known as 'Dandi March' and was started from Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad. The march lasted from March 12th to April 6th, 1930, and was part of a direct action campaign of tax resistance and non-violent protest against the British salt monopoly.

Background The 1882 Salt Act gave the British a monopoly on salt manufacturing and distribution.

Despite the fact that salt was abundant along India's coasts, Indians were forced to buy it from colonizers.

In addition to having a monopoly on the manufacture and sale of salt, the British imposed a hefty salt tax. Despite

the fact that India's poor bore the brunt of the tariff, all Indians desired salt.

Gandhi came to the conclusion that if there was one product that could be used to start civil disobedience, it would be salt.

Salt, along with air and water, is possibly the most important component of life. The British government, particularly Viceroy Lord Irwin, did not take the antisalt-tax campaign seriously.

Gandhi announced his decision to defy the salt rules in front of a large crowd in Ahmedabad on March 8.

Lord Irwin, thought Gandhi's protest posed no threat. Millions across undivided India would be interested in salt, that essential simple component in every meal eaten by every common man for which he was forced to pay an exorbitant tax to the British government.

House, accepting the whip of the party. Under existing rules, 12 members are nominated by the President from among persons having special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service for six years.

Though nominated members invariably vote for the government, nine in the current House preferred to be counted as part of the ruling BJP giving the party numerical strength.

Elections for 53 more seats are expected to be held in JuneJuly to fill the new vacancies as 20 MPs will retire in June and 33 others in July. Since 11 of these

seats will be vacant from Uttar Pradesh, the BJP would be able to retain its strength, backed by its recent win in the state. The jump in the BJP’s tally in the Upper House is not expected before early 2024 when as many as 54 seats will go for biennial elections. It will, however, depend on how the ruling party will perform in five assembly elections - Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh later this year, and Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in late next year. If the BJP gains majority on its own in the Upper House by April, 2024, it will be for the first time since 1982 when the same party had majority on its own in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Centre hopes to hold J&K polls by year-end With the Delimitation Commission on the verge of completing its exercise in Jammu & Kashmir, the Centre is hoping that assembly polls shall be conducted in the Union Territory along with Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh by the end of this year.

Assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh will be due before January next year as the term of the Gujarat assembly is expiring on February 18, 2023 and that of Himachal on January 8, 2023. Sources said while it is for the Election Commission to take a final decision on holding assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, the possibility of the poll watchdog tying them up with Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls is not ruled out.

“Once the delimitation exercise followed by the revision of the electoral roll for the reconfigured constituencies is completed, the Election Commission can decide on holding polls in Jammu & Kashmir, after getting inputs from the government on the security situation and other matters,” a senior official said.

Government sources said the Centre will stand by its commitment on reviving the statehood of J&K, which will follow after the assembly polls. The Delimitation Commission is currently studying the objections and suggestions received from the public to its draft delimitation proposal and will be holding hearings in J&K next week.

CRPF man killed, 2 hurt in attacks A CRPF trooper was killed and his colleague critically wounded, while two non-Kashmiri labourers and a medical shop owner were shot at in three terrorist attacks in Kashmir Valley on Monday. These followed Sunday’s attack on two “non-local” men in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district in a stark reminder of a string of terrorist strikes on non-Kashmiris last October.

in brief RAJNATH, JAISHANKAR TO VISIT US AND JAPAN India will have back-to-back security and defence dialogue with the US and Japan this month. Following the 2+2 foreign and defence ministerial dialogue with the US on April 11 in Washington, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and defence minister Rajnath Singh will travel to Tokyo for dialogue with their Japanese counterparts, Yoshimasa Hayashi and Nobuo Kishi respectively, under the same 2+2 format.

The talks with India’s Quad partners will take place at a time when both the US and Japan are disappointed with India’s position on Ukraine and expect the Modi government to join others in condemning Russia’s actions. During his recent visit to India, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida asked his Indian counterpart to intervene with President Vladimir Putin to put an end to Russia’s aggression.

GOVT SAYS NO NEED FOR LAW ON POPULATION CONTROL The government said there is no need for a law to de-incentivise couples from having more than two children because family planning and healthcare policies are working well in the country without making them compulsory. Replying to a discussion on nominated BJP member Rakesh Sinha’s The Population Regulation Bill, 2019, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the government was running extensive public awareness campaigns on family planning as well as working towards providing accessible and affordable healthcare to all. With government’s “holistic approach”, population stabilisation policies are doing well without using force. “We have gained results as the total fertility rate has come down to around 2%. . . It tells us that the family planning mission is moving towards success,” the health minister stated.

CHIRAG EVICTED FROM PASWAN BUNGALOW The Directorate of Estates (DoE) under the housing and urban affairs ministry sent a team of officials to vacate 12 Janpath bungalow in the national capital where late Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan lived for nearly three decades. The premises are currently occupied by his son Chirag Paswan and family members. In the past few weeks, the DoE officials visited the bungalows occupied by three more former ministers as they failed to vacate the premises even after the directorate issued the eviction orders.

Officials said while the eviction process has been completed in the case of the 7 Moti Lal Nehru Marg bungalow that former minister Ram Shankar Katheria occupied, two other ex-ministers - Ramesh Pokhriyal and Pratap Chandra Sarangi - have assured to vacate their premises in the next few days.

CURFEW IMPOSED IN RAJASTHAN TOWN Curfew was imposed in Karauli city of Rajasthan after communal tension broke out following stone-pelting at a motorcycle rally passing through a Muslim-dominated area on Nav Samvatsar, the first day of the new year under the Hindu calendar on Saturday, officials said. During the violence, some shops and vehicles were set on fire. While the procession reached near a mosque, some miscreants pelted stones on them.

This resulted in stone pelting and arson by the other side too in which a few twowheelers and shops were torched. The situation is under control now and a large number of police personnel have been deployed,” said ADG Administration and Law and Order, Hawa Singh Ghumaria.

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India, Australia sign trade deal; watershed moment, says PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the trade deal signed between India and Australia last week, saying it will open up fresh opportunities for students, professionals and tourists of the two countries and enable both the sides to better harness existing potential. “This is a watershed moment for our bilateral relations…On the basis of this agreement, together, we will be able to increase the resilience of supply chains, and also contribute to the stability of the Indo-Pacific region,” Modi said.

He was speaking at a virtual ceremony, organised to facilitate the signing of the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA).

Australian PM Scott Morrison, Indian commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and his

Australian counterpart Dan Tehan were also present at the virtual event.

Modi said the conclusion of the ECTA in a short period (negotiations were revived only on September 30, 2021) points at the depth of mutual confidence between the countries. The agreement, Modi said, will further bolster the “warm and close ties” between the people of the two countries by expanding work, study and travel opportunities, in addition to raising bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

“This agreement opens a big door into the world’s fastest growing major economy for Australian farmers, manufacturers, producers and so many more,” Morrison said.

Chefs and yoga teachers can hope to get a quick entry. Students can now stay for up to four years on

post-study work visas, and 1,000 millennials who can mix work and pleasure, thousands of Indians are set to get easy access to Australia with the signing of the pact.

This is in addition to opening the doors further for Indian IT professionals and managers who can get up to four year visas, either as contractual workers on an onsite job or as part of intra-company transfers. Besides, mutual recognition agreements for professionals such as nurses and doctors will ensure that the qualifications of Indian medical professionals will be recognised in Australia. “We are planning to finalise these mutual recognition agreements in the next 12 months,” Goyal said.

Government officials described the visa concessions as a major gain for India, something

Israeli PM postpones visit to India after contracting Covid Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who contracted Covid-19, has postponed his maiden trip to India planned for next week, his office said. Bennett, 50, was scheduled to visit India from April 3 to 5 to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“Prime Minister Bennett’s trip to India has been postponed and will be rescheduled,” his office said in a brief statement.

Bennett tested positive for Covid-19. His office said the Prime Minister is “feeling well and will continue to work from home. ” Ambassador of Israel to India

ebrations of 30 years of diplomatic relations between the countries as well as 75 years of India’s independence. Israel will continue to strengthen its robust friendship and growing partnership with the people of India,” Gilon added. The premier’s postponement came a day after Naftali Bennett defence minister Benny Gantz also put off his planned visit to India due Naor Gilon said in a separate to the volatile security situation statement that it was not immediin Israel, after two deadly terror ately clear when the trip would attacks claimed the lives of six take place. “We are working with Israelis within days, The Times of our Indian partners on another Israel newspaper reported. date for the visit as part of the cel-

Jaishankar defends India's decision to buy crude from Russia Even as the US warned India that there would be “consequences” for the countries trying to circumvent its sanctions against Russia, India's external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar hit out at the countries which were carrying out campaigns against India.

Most of the countries in Europe continued to buy oil from Russia, and the minister said that it was natural for countries to look for ‘good deals’ in the oil market when the prices go up. He was speaking at the first India-UK Strategic Futures Forum in the presence of the UK foreign secretary Elizabeth Truss.

“India is a sovereign country, and I am not going to tell what to do,” the UK foreign secretary said in response to a media question related to India’s decision to buy oil from Russia despite the sanctions imposed by the West and its allies.

She also said that it was important to respect

other country’s decisions about the issues they faced.

According to the minister, the bulk of India’s energy supplies are from the Middle East and around 8 per cent from the US. And, compared to the European buyers of oil and gas from Russia, India buys just around one per cent crude from that country.

He also stated that three months later too the list of buyers of the Russian oil and gas would remain the same and India won’t be in the top ten on that list.

Interestingly, last week the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was quoted in media reports as saying that

boycotting Russian energy could put Europe into recession. According to reports, some of the Russian banks that are used by the European Union countries to pay for the oil and gas imports from that country have not been excluded from the SWIFT international payment system.

India’s position remains the same Despite pressure from several countries including the US, UK, and from the European Union, India has refrained from censuring Russia for the war against Ukraine. It abstained on all Ukraine related voting in the United Nations Security

Council or the UNGA and other bodies.

Such a stance taken

by India is based on its strategic partnership with Russia and its longstanding defence cooperation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his telephone calls with the leaders of both Russia and Ukraine has urged them to resolve the situation through dialogue.

India has urged the countries to respect the UN Charter, sovereignty and integrity of all states.

that India has been seeking for years through its agreements with Asean, Japan and South Korea, but did not make sufficient headway.

Now, the government intends to use the Australia ECTA as the basis during its trade treaty negotiations with the UK. On their part, the UK and Australia have agreed to a similar dispensation on visas.

The agreement offers massive gains for Indian students in Australia with those pursuing diploma courses eligible for visas of up to 18 months after their programme ends. Similarly, those completing a bachelor’s degree can get up to two years as part of the post-study work visas. And those who complete a master’s pro-

gramme and doctoral work will get up to three and four years, respectively.

Besides, those in the 18-30 age group can get a “work and holiday” visa for Australia with 1,000 such visas promised annually. India, which doesn’t have such a regime at the moment, has also promised to allow such visas on a reciprocal basis in case it implements a similar programme in the future, a source said.

For corporate and contractual workers, the visa concessions go beyond IT to include engineering, consulting (excluding legal), architectural and accounting.

Kejriwal launches AAP’s poll campaign in Gujarat Fresh from an assembly election victory in Punjab, the AAP launched its campaign for the Gujarat assembly election with the party’s national convener and Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal, leading a 2km roadshow in Ahmedabad last week.

Named the Tiranga Gaurav Yatra, the AAP chose the NikolBapunagar stretch for its show of strength. The area is dominated by the Patidar community, with whom the AAP has found favour in recent times. The roadshow began after Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, and other AAP leaders sought the blessings of Khodiyar Mata at a temple.

“I do not k now how to do politics, but I know how to end corruption. I stopped corruption in Delhi,” Kejriwal said. “Bhagwant Mann has stopped corruption in just 10 days in Punjab. ” He added: “The BJP has

become arrogant after being in power for 25 years. Yet corruption has not ended. ” Stating that the AAP is not here to defeat the BJP or the Congress, Kejriwal s aid: “I have come here to make Gujarat and Gujaratis win. We want corruption to end here. ” He added: “Give us a chance, you will forget all parties. The BJP will do nothing new if you give it another five years.” Kejriwal launched the AAP’s Gujarat campaign on the plank of nationalism with only tricolour flags at the roadshow. “We will all chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ during the roadshow,” Kejriwal said.

Mann said: “Hundreds of you have gathered with the tricolour. It proves people are patriotic.” He added: “The problem is that some are trying to divide us. Now that Delhi and Punjab are won, it is time to win Gujarat. ”

ED attaches Sena MP Sanjay Raut's properties The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached eight land parcels in Alibaug and a flat in Mumbai's Dadar suburb linked to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and his family under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the probe agency sources said.

According to a news agency, the agency issued a provisional attachment under the PMLA to freeze the land parcels (plots) and flat. The attachment is linked to a money-laundering investiga-

tion linked to a £103.4 million worth alleged land 'scam' related to the re-development of a 'chawl' in Mumbai, the report added. Reacting to the development, Raut said he is not scared and will fight and expose everyone. “... I'm not one to get scared, seize my property, shoot me, or send me to jail, Sanjay Raut is Balasaheb Thackeray's follower & a Shiv Sainik, he'll fight & expose everyone. I'm not one to stay quiet, let them dance. The truth will prevail,” he said.

Govt scraps 9 arms deals in favour 'Make in India' policy Nine proposed foreign arms deals worth £4.67 billion have been scrapped in pursuit of the “Make in India” policy, while expenditure on procurement from abroad has reduced from 46% to 36% in the last three years, the defence minister told Parliament.

In pursuance of the mandate given in the “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” for indigenisation of defence production, the nine proposals earlier accorded ‘acceptance of necessity (AoN)’ under the ‘Buy (Global)’ category of capital acquisitions have been cancelled after a review by the Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC), junior defence minister Ajay Bhatt said in a written reply.

The scrapped deals, which had got AoNs but

were yet to be inked, include helicopters, shortrange surface-to-air missiles and some vehicles after the armed forces were directed to prepare lists of their proposed foreign procurements.

“The government has taken several policy initiatives in the past few years under the Make in India programme and brought in reforms to encourage indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence equipment in the country, including design and development of projects like Kamov-31 (Russian naval helicopters),” Bhatt said. Replying to another question, the minister said the expenditure on defence procurement from foreign sources has reduced from 46% to 36%, thereby reducing the import burden, from 2018-19 to 2020-21.

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SOUTH INDIA

in brief

Andhra Pradesh SC quashes special quota for gets 13 new districts Vanniyars in Tamil Nadu HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh got a new administrative map on Monday, with the creation of 13 new districts that doubled their number to 26, in a massive overhaul that the state government said will improve governance and delivery of services.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the new districts at a virtual ceremony in the morning, following an "auspicious muhurat" time set by Vedic priests. The creation of more districts is meant to be a step in the decentralised development of all regions, he said.

The decentralisation of the government has been among the top-billed priorities of the YSR Congress government which had announced the creation of village secretariats as well. Jagan, while campaigning for the 2019 assembly elections, had promised that his party, if voted to power, would make each of the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies a district.

Each of the districts is now the same as the parliamentary constituencies except Araku that is going to be split into two districts as the Chief Minister reportedly wants a higher focus on the backward tribal areas.

"With the formation of smaller districts - distance from the district centre to remote and border villages will be reduced... District administration will come closer to the people... Increased accountability as the Government comes closer to people," the government said in a statement.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court struck down the 10.5 per cent reservation provided to Vanniyars, a Most Backward Community in Tamil Nadu, in government jobs and admission to educational institutions saying there is no substantial basis for treating them differently. A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai upheld the Madras high court order which had quashed the reservation.

"We are of the opinion that there is no substantial basis for classifying Vanniakula Kshatriyas into one group to be treated differently from the remaining 115 communities within the MBC groups and, therefore, the 2021 Act is in violation of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution. Therefore, we uphold the decision of the high court," the bench said. The top court said though caste can be the basis of internal reservation, it cannot be the sole basis.

The SC had earlier refused to refer the matter to a larger bench saying that it was of the view that the issue does not need consideration by a larger bench. "We are not inclined to the argument of referring the matter to a larger bench, you can start your arguments," the bench said.

The top court had earlier agreed to examine the pleas and said admissions or appointments already made under the said quota will not be disturbed. The apex court's judgment came on a batch of petitions filed by the state of Tamil Nadu, Pattali Makkal Katchi, and others challenging the November 1, 2021 judgment of the high court quashing the reservation provided to Vanniyars, saying it was unconstitutional.The high court had said the state government cannot come out with such a legislation providing reservation to Vanniyars without any quantifiable data on population.

PUNJAB

ED files chargesheet against Punjab assembly passes resolution Punjab ex-CM's nephew to stake claim on Chandigarh NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has filed a chargesheet against Bhupinder Singh Honey, the nephew of former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and others in the illegal sand mining case. The chargesheet was filed under sections of Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The court has fixed April 6 for hearing the case. Harneet Oberoi, the counsel of Honey, refused to speak when contacted. The ED twice got Honey's custody and was later remanded to judicial custody.

He was arrested during the intervening night of February 3 and 4 by the ED. "Honey was evasive and was not cooperating with the probe agency," ED had said.

Honey's counsel was allowed

to meet him on alternate days.

Documents said that Honey allegedly used to take money from the officials in lieu of their choice of transfers and postings.

"Moreover, Bhupinder Singh has explicitly stated in his statement during search, inter-alia, that all cash which was seized from his residential premises at Ludhiana (£409,000), Sandeep Kumar's premises at Ludhiana (£199,000) and from the Homeland House Premises at Mohali (£389,000) actually pertained to him. He admitted to having generated such proceeds of crime through mining related activities, including clearance of mining files and transfer of officials," read the ED document.

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab assembly passed a resolution reiterating its claim on the Union territory of Chandigarh, a city built in 1953 that functions as the capital of neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana. The resolution urged the Centre to “immediately transfer Chandigarh to Punjab”, though BJP MLA Ashwani Sharma opposed it and walked out in protest ahead of the voice vote, saying it was an attempt to mislead the people by hiding failures of successive governments.

The move was taken up during a one-day special assembly session called in the wake of a row following Union home minister Amit Shah’s announcement that central service rules will apply to the employees of Chandigarh. Apart from the treasury benches, opposition Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and BSP supported the resolution.

Moving the resolution, CM Bhagwant Mann Mann said: “Punjab has been laying its claim for complete transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab. In the past, this House has passed a number of resolutions urging the Centre. For maintaining harmony and taking the sentiments of people into account, this House once again recommends to the state government to raise the matter with the Centre to immediately transfer Chandigarh to Punjab.”

The assembly implored the Centre to honour the principles of federalism enshrined in the Constitution and not take any steps that may disturb the balance in the administration of Chandigarh and that of other common assets like Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB). Mann said time will be sought from the President, PM and Union home minister to put forth Punjab’s views on Chandigarh.

WEST BENGAL

BJP seeks CBI probe into Birbhum killings NEW DELHI: The BJP fact-finding team has urged the party leadership to request the Centre for a CBI inquiry in the killings in Birbhum district of West Bengal claiming that the village is still deserted as people fear for their lives if they return.

The strongly-worded BJP report drew sharp reaction from Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who said the document would “weaken and interfere” with the CBI probe in the case. “The BJP report on Bogtui killings will weaken and interfere with the probe. I condemn this attitude of the saffron party,” Mamata was quoted as telling reporters in Darjeeling.

The team comprising Rajya Sabha MP and former Uttar Pradesh police chief Brajlal, Lok Sabha MP and former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh, Rajya Sabha MP and former IPS officer K C Ramamurthy, a national spokesperson for the party, former West Bengal cadre IPS officer Bharati Ghosh and state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar, visited the village where eight people including women and children were burnt to death in alleged reprisal over the murder of a local TMC leader.

EC bars TMC MLA from campaigning for 7 days NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has banned Trinamool Congress MLA Narendranath Chakraborty in West Bengal from campaigning or holding meetings for seven days following a complaint from the BJP for threatening voters in Asansol bypoll.

The ECI order said, “A video clip of Narendranath Chakraborty, MLA, 275Pandabeswar Assembly Constituency of the State of West Bengal, is widely circulating on various media platforms which contained the threatening message and a report in the matter has been obtained from Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal wherein it has been informed that a notice for show cause has been issued to Narendranath. ”

T h e Commission also said that it has received an interim reply from Chakraborty in respect of the aforesaid notice, wherein he has denied the allegations levelled against him.

The Commission in its order observed that the aforesaid statement was a threatening to voters/electors to conduct peaceful, free and fair elections and hence the statement has potential to interfere with free exercise of the electoral right of electors. The poll panel censured Chakraborty for the above said violation and ordered to “prohibit him from holding any public meetings, public processions, public rallies, road shows and interviews, public utterances in media (electronic, print, social media), etc.

7 DEVOTEES KILLED AS TRUCK FALLS INTO VALLEY Seven devotees who were on their way to a Tirupathur temple in Tamil Nadu were killed while 22 others sustained grievous injuries after the pick-up truck they were travelling in plunged into a valley. Chief Minister M K Stalin offered his condolences to the bereaved families and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 200,000 each to the kin of those who died. He also announced a relief of Rs 50,000 for the families of those injured. Around 30 devotees from Puliyur village were proceeding to a temple located on the hilltop of Sembarai in the district when the mishap took place. The driver of the truck, while negotiating a curve on the ghat road lost control of the vehicle leading to the accident, a police official said.

PATIENT BITTEN BY RATS IN HOSPITAL ICU DIES A 38-year-old man left bleeding by rats inside the ICU of Warangal's MGM Hospital, and subsequently shifted to Hyderabad's NIMS Hospital, died. Director of Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr K Manohar, said that Srinivas had a history of chronic alcoholism. His liver, pancreas and kidneys were badly affected. He was already on ventilator and had suffered a cardiac attack twice before. "Even on the way to NIMS, he suffered a heart attack and came with a very poor pulse and BP," he said. "The death happened due to these complications and not due to rat bite," he said. Patients and public are, however, enraged and shocked at the state of affairs at MGM Hospital.

68 UNDERTRIALS IN LUDHIANA TO BE RELEASED The District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) organised a “Mega camp court” at the Ludhiana Central Jail and ordered to release 68 undertrials involved in petty criminal cases. The exercise was carried out with an aim to provide the undertrials with an opportunity to reform and “become an asset to society, rather than a hardened criminal”.

Presiding over the camp court, Justice Augustine George Masih of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, exhorted undertrials not to adopt shortcuts in life.

“It’s a golden opportunity for you to join the mainstream society. If anyone is found indulging in criminal activity in future, he would not get the same relief again,” added Justice Masih. He launched a QR Code facility for litigants and lawyers to deposit costs imposed by different courts online.

CBI PROBE ORDERED INTO MURDER OF CONG COUNCILLOR The Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI investigation into the murder of Congress councillor Tapan Kandu of Jhalda Municipality in West Bengal's Purulia district. On a prayer by Purnima Kandu, the widow of the councillor, Justice Rajasekhar Mantha directed the central agency to submit a report on its investigation in the case in 45 days. The court also directed that the investigation of the case be transferred from the West Bengal police to the CBI. Kandu was shot dead by assailants on March 13 while he was on an evening walk at Jhalda near his residence.

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India-Nepal vow to strengthen bilateral ties Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba inaugurated a cross-border railway network, a power transmission line and launched India’s RuPay payment card in Nepal after they held wideranging talks. The two sides also inked four pacts to expand cooperation in areas of railways and energy while vowing to further broadbase cooperation in a range of areas. In his media statement, Modi said the friendly ties between India and Nepal are unique and such a relationship is not seen anywhere else in the world.

He said India has been and will continue to remain a firm companion in Nepal’s journey for peace, prosperity and development. Modi said the joint vision statement between the two sides on power cooperation will prove to be a blueprint for future cooperation in the sector. It was agreed on the greater participation of Indian companies in Nepal’s hydropower development plans, he said.

Deuba on his part said Nepal’s relations with India is “highly important. The Nepalese prime minister, accompanied by a highlevel delegation, arrived in New

Delhi on Friday on a three-day visit. It is Deuba’s first bilateral visit abroad after becoming prime minister in July last year for a fifth time following a spell of political turmoil in Kathmandu.

The open borders of India and Nepal should not be misused by unwanted elements, said PM Modi during his statement after delegation level meeting with Deuba.

Both the leaders also discussed various aspects of cooperation, reviewed the progress of various projects and also discussed the blueprint for the future.

Deuba in his address said, “I truly admire your love and affection for Nepal and the Nepali people and my visit today will further enforce these sentiments.” He appreciated India’s effective management for battling Covid-19 and received first vaccine aid from India.

Train service and RuPay payment system PM Modi and Deuba jointly inaugurated cross-border passenger train services, RuPay payment system in Nepal and signed several Memorandums of Understanding.

Besides, the train services between Jainagar in India and Kurtha in

Nepal, the leaders inaugurated Solu Corridor 132 KV power transmission line and sub-station in Nepal built under the Centre’s Line of Credit.

Border issues Deuba raised the outstanding border issues between India and Nepal with PM Modi in their summit meeting and urged India to resolve the disputes through established bilateral mechanisms.

Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla said after the meeting that there was a “brief discussion” on the issues and there was a “general understanding” that they needed to be addressed in a responsible manner through dialogue and without any effort to politicise it.

The summit saw India and Nepal signing four agreements to boost connectivity and energy cooperation and also inaugurating several other projects, including introduction of Rupay card in Nepal for financial connectivity.

Modi and Deuba issued a vision statement for cooperation in the power sector and agreed to expedite work on the delayed Pancheshwar multipurpose dam project that was described by Modi as a game changer for the develop-

Wearing of masks not compulsory in three states Exactly two years and nine days after the Covid-19 clampdown, Maharashtra is free of all pandemic-related curbs, including mandatory masking and double vaccination for using public transport or entry into public spaces, from April 2, which marks Gudi Padwa, the Marathi New Year.

Maharashtra’s move was echoed by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) which decided to do away with the fine for not wearing face masks in public places, sources said. The authority, however, is going to issue an advisory asking people to continue wearing face masks and follow other Covid appropriate behaviour.

The Maharashtra cabinet lifted the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, that was imposed for Covid management in the state.

Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal chaired DDMA’s Covid-19 review meeting. “The mandate to wear face masks has not been removed but those found not wearing a mask in public places would not be penalised anymore.

However, they will be advised to wear a mask and follow other safety measures,” an official said on the condition of anonymity.

Masks not must in Haryana The Haryana government has also decided to do

away with imposing a fine for not wearing masks in public places but said that wearing it and observing Covid-appropriate behaviour was desirable. The decision came amid a significant dip in Covid cases in the state. The government has, however, advised the public to wear face masks, follow hand washing, use sanitisers frequently and maintain social distancing.

“The State government notification which made wearing of face mask by each person while being in public places and workplace was made mandatory, is hereby withdrawn with immediate effect," the order issued by the additional chief secretary (health) stated.

PM Modi meets BJP MPs from Gujarat Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with the BJP MPs from Gujarat.

Although all the MPs claimed the gathering was a routine non-political meeting, it fuelled speculation of an early assembly elections in Gujarat. All Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs from Gujarat attended the meeting held at the Prime Minister’s official residence in the national capital.

BJP chief J P Nadda, Union home minister and Lok Sabha member from Gujarat Amit Shah, BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh and Union minister Prahlad Joshi were also present in the meeting.

Sources said the Prime Minister asked the MPs to reach out to the people with the government’s development and welfare

WhatsApp group. The video will tell about the work of the Union and the state governments.

The MPs will also be asked to highlight their own work for their parliamentary constituency,” a BJP MP said.

Narendra Modi This was the second meeting of the BJP MPs measures. “PM Modi told from Gujarat with Prime all the MPs present in the Minister Modi in a week. meeting to tell people in On March 24, Modi had each and every village of met BJP MPs from Gujarat.

Gujarat about the public In the last meeting, the welfare schemes of the cenPrime Minister asked the tral government. The party BJP MPs about their works has decided to contest the in the parliamentary conelection on a developstituency and discussed ment agenda,” sources said. issues related to the state.

It was learnt that MPs “PM Modi asked about the were told to use social work we are doing in our media to explain to the area and advised us to people about the governwork for the people,” an ment’s work. “We are MP from Gujarat had said asked to make a short after the meeting held last video and share it with week. each voter through

ment of the region.

Deuba complimented Modi for India’s “effective management” of the pandemic situation and thanked India for vaccines and other medical aid .

Nepal says there’s already a foreign secretary-level mechanism to address the border issue and that it should be activated to resolve the disputes. The Kalapani border dispute has plagued bilateral ties for the past few years, not least because of Nepal’s decision to issue a new political map, showing disputed areas in it, following India’s own new 2019 political map.

According to the joint vision statement, Nepal invited Indian companies to invest in the development, construction and operation of viable renewable power projects, including in the hydropower sector in Nepal, including storage-type projects, through mutually beneficial partnerships.

India and Nepal now have road, air and rail connectivity.

Modi said he and his counterpart agreed to give priority to trade and cross-border connectivity initiatives in all respects. “The beginning of the JayanagarKurtha rail line is part of this initiative. Such schemes will make a great contribution to smooth, hassle-free exchange of people between the two countries,” he said. The passenger trains will cover the 34.5 km-long JayanagarKurtha stretch in an hour. It has eight stations. The section of the project that starts from Jayanagar in Bihar’s Madhubani district will be extended up to Bijalpura, which is another 17 km from Kurtha, and then to Bardibas.

India has funded this project at an estimated cost of £78.7 million crore.

President Kovind calls for ‘truly inclusive’ govt in Af During his visit to Turkmenistan, which shares border with Afghanistan, President Ram Nath Kovind reiterated India’s call for a truly representative and inclusive government in Afghanistan.

With efforts on to revive the stalled TurkmenistanAfghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, Kovind also said he had suggested that issues related to security of the pipeline and key business principles may be addressed in technical and expert level meetings.

“Cooperation in energy

Ram Nath Kovind

was one of the key areas of our discussions,” said Kovind. India remains concerned about pipeline security and also some commercial aspects of it. Asked if

the issue of the TAPI pipeline could come up during talks, Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West) in the MEA, said that “it is a difficult neighbourhood if you look at the geography. So, in that sense, this itself was a task in negotiating the pipeline”.

Kovind said as immediate neighbours of Afghanistan, India and Turkmenistan are naturally concerned about the developments within that country and their external repercussions.

Yogi govt hands over Gorakhnath Temple attack probe to ATS The Uttar Pradesh AntiTerrorism Squad (ATS) will probe the incident of an attack on police constables at the Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur. On Sunday, a man forcibly tried to enter the premises of the temple.

Armed with a sharp-edged weapon, he attacked two constables who tried to stop him. The attacker, identified as Ahmad Murtaza Abbasi, dodged security personnel at the temple for around ten minutes before being overpowered.

Notably, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is the head priest (Mahant) of Gorakhnath Temple and has his personal accommodation here. CM Yogi was not at the temple at the time of the attack.

According to police, the accused tried to forcibly enter the temple premises after raising the religious slogan of Allahu Akbar.

"Two of our Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) constables were injured after the accused tried to enter the temple with a sharpedged weapon. He went to a PAC post near the gate and tried to attack the police,” ADG, Gorakhpur zone, Akhil Kumar said.

Prashant Kumar, Additional director general (ADG), Law and Order, on Monday said the case has been transferred to ATS as we cannot rule out the terror angle in the incident and a detailed investigation has

been initiated." The accused, who was also injured in the attack, was held by the constables, he said. The injured constables have been identified as Gopal Kumar Gaur and Anil Paswan. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has announced a cash reward of Rs 500,000 for the two jawans and constable Anurag Rajput for foiling the attack. “The accused was injured and is also undergoing treatment,” Akhil Kumar said. Meanwhile, the father of the accused claimed that he was mentally unstable.

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Art meets spirituality Shefali Saxena Shreena Patel was passionate about art from a very young age. She studied at the University of the Arts London and Brunel University (Fine Shreena Patel Art- Graphics and Multimedia Technology & Design). “I’m known for my creative flair and love for all things colours and matching! (I even matched my stationery to my clothing at University!)” she told Asian Voice.

Since graduating, working in the civil service, getting married, having a baby and everything else in between, Shreena Patel says that she has been lucky enough to focus on her art (full-time) and have many of her paintings placed in beautiful homes.

Shreena’s artwork is bespoke and handpainted and my specialism is Acrylic on Canvas with a dash of sparkle with my signature lines.

“One of the first pieces I sold was my painting of Ganesh Bhagwan, religion is very close to my heart and my passion is to continue to paint deities to bless homes and bring smiles to faces. My paintings have been shipped all over the world including UAE, India, Netherlands, Las Vegas and South Africa. My canvases have even blessed the homes of Harbhajan Singh, Geeta Basra, a Bollywood actress and British TV Personalities such as Seema Malhotra from

the Real Housewives of Cheshire. I’ve currently been nominated for an award so fingers crossed!” she told Asian Voice.

“My greatest achievement was turning my passion for art into a full-time business and having the opportunity to paint Ganesh, Sai Baba, Mahadev, Hanuman, Guru Nanak and many more,” she added.

Speaking to Asian Voice about art during the pandemic, Patel said, “I’m still currently shielded due to health reasons so all of my creations and paintings are done in my studio at home.

People often ask- ‘how are you coping having not left the house for over two years?’ but my answer is simple- I have a toddler who keeps me on my toes and I have been extremely blessed with commissions that keep me busy and at the same timehelps with my stress levels which impact directly on my health condition. I’m very excited for the future post-pandemic as I will be able to showcase my work at exhibitions and meet my lovely clients face to face.”

Nina Wadia reveals why she left Eastenders

in brief £10 MILLION CÉZANNE PAINTING AT RISK OF LEAVING UK

Actress Nina Wadia has recently opened up about leaving Eastenders in an interview with Metro UK. Speaking to the news portal, Wadia explained why she quit the show.

She said, “I have nothing against the job.

I had honestly six and a half of the best years of my life on that show. And I have nothing against what was done to the character. I just got sick of her. I didn’t realise that when you do the same character for that long a period of time, you slightly start to turn into them.

“That’s what my husband [Raiomond Mirza] said to me: ‘You’re bringing her home with you. You’re very unpleasant!’

Zainab was a character people loved to hate.

If I’d have fully turned into her, there’d be real trouble.”

Banned Pakistani film to open the UK Asian Film Festival 2022 Banned, Pakistani film, Javed Iqbal: The Samir Bhamra said, “The festival’s theme Untold Story Of A Serial Killer, will receive this year, Dare to Dream, speaks to the its World Premiere as the Opening Gala at challenges of our time. In this era of the 24th, UK Asian Film Festival – the reckoning, we ask are people free to dream? world’s longest-running South Asian film 75 years after Indian and Pakistani festival outside India.

Independence, telling taboo stories still comes at a price. Our opening film, Javed The ‘Dare To Dream’ theme of this year’s Iqbal: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer, was festival commemorates 75 years of India and banned in Pakistan. Censorship remains a Pakistan’s Independence. The curation will barrier that we support brave filmmakers to acknowledge personal and societal freedoms overcome. Our festival facilitates the as well as address topical issues such as digs deep into the psyche of a serial killer and conversations that we need, but are climate change and human resilience in the that highlights the importance of mental prohibited from having. Year on year, we face of oppression through its programme of well-being.

Abu Aleeha’s directorial tells a fight to enable storytellers to dream freely. It film screenings, premieres, live events and compelling, real-life horror story of a is their intense, powerful and thoughtindustry panel discussions. psychopath captured by a woman police provoking films that allow our audience to UK Asian Film Festival 2022, presented officer, sensitively played by Ayesha Omar.” see the world through new eyes and imagine

by Tongues on Fire, will run from 4th – 15th UK Asian Film Festival Creative Director, a future where dreaming is no longer a risk.”

May in venues across London, Birmingham, Leicester, Coventry, Warwick, Bradford, Stockton and Glasgow; and online via BFI Player and Modern Films.

Making a bold statement for freedom of artistic expression against censorship, the Opening The latest season of Netflix’s Bridgerton is under Film will be the World Premiere of severe scrutiny. The show that rode on the Javed Iqbal: The Untold Story Of A massive popularity of its lead characters Duke Serial Killer (Pakistan, 2022, Dir: Simon and Daphne in Season 1 on Netflix seems Abu Aleeha, Language: Urdu and to have a poor grade this season.

Punjabi with English subtitles) on A review in The Independent read: “The Wednesday 4th May at BFI reset of this new series of Bridgerton is, it must Southbank. Currently banned in be said, a touch harsh. The entire central Pakistan, the film depicts the untold dilemma (and the very attractive couple seeking story of Lahore’s notorious serial to resolve it) of the first season has been excised, killer, Javed Iqbal, who confessed to giving this opening episode – “Capital-R-Rake” – police and media that he had the feeling of a spin-off. They might as well have abducted, sexually abused and renamed the entire show The Other Chandran. From heavy bronzers to the incorrect murdered more than 100 boys in Bridgertons. And on a pronunciation of their Lahore between 1998 and 1999. He spectrum running from surnames, Bridgerton S2 was arrested and sentenced to Frasier to Joey, The Other seems to have ticked many death. But just two years into his Bridgertons would be off the wrong way. sentence, he allegedly committed somewhere in the middle: a Asian Voice is open to suicide in his prison cell. The more trivial work than its publishing your opinion authorities suspected his horrific parent, but not without its about the show. If you’d crimes were part of a wider charms.” like to constructively paedophile ring in operation.

Meanwhile, the South critique Bridgerton Season UK Asian Film Festival Founder Asian community on Twitter, 2, please send your and Director, Dr Pushpinder especially women have heavily thoughts in 200 words Chowdhry MBE said, “We are objected to the representation along with your photo to looking forward to opening UKAFF of Indian characters Kate Sharma and Edwina shefali.saxena@abplgroup.com by Sunday 10th 2022 with Javed Iqbal, a film that Sharma played by Simone Ashley and Charithra April. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Sharma phenomenon - Bridgerton Season 2 on Netflix

Paul Cézanne’s Ferme Normande, Été (Hattenville) 1882 is at risk of leaving the country unless a UK buyer comes forward to save the work for the nation.

It was acquired by Samuel Courtauld in 1937 and once formed part of the most important collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art in the UK, The Samuel Courtauld Collection, which played a critical role in the reception of international modern art in the UK. Ferme Normande, Été (Hattenville) is one of four depictions of a site in Normandy which was particularly important to Cézanne due to its acquisition by his first major patron Victor Chocquet. It is a small, simple and sublime landscape which is an early example of the artist’s so-called ‘constructed brushstroke’.

The decision on the export licence application for the paintings will be deferred for a period ending on Sunday 31 July inclusive. At the end of the first deferral period owners will have a consideration period of 15 Business Days to consider any offer(s) to purchase the painting at the recommended price of £10 million. The second deferral period will commence following the signing of an Option Agreement and will last for six months.

MORE VITAL SUPPORT GIVEN TO OVER 300 CULTURAL ORGANISATIONS

£35 million from the final round of Culture Recovery Fund has gone to 340 organisations across England. Hundreds of cultural organisations have received a share of the final £35 million emergency support package from the Culture Recovery Fund, to help overcome the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since August 2020, the Culture Recovery Fund has distributed £1.57 billion to around 5,000 organisations and sites across the country, giving a lifeline to theatres, museums, independent cinemas and many more cherished organisations around the country through the pandemic. The final round of funding has supported organisations through the latest challenges, in particular those affected by the Omicron variant this winter. It has kept organisations up and running so that they can continue to support jobs and contribute to local economies. The recordbreaking fund has helped the country’s precious arts, heritage and culture through the pandemic, backing world-renowned names such as Blackpool’s Tower Ballroom, Glastonbury Festival and the National Theatre.

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UK scientists’ breakthrough could save Summer diet foods to millions from drug-resistant infections fight the heatwaves UK researchers have developed a “game-changing” antibiotic that could be used as a “last line of defence” against superbugs to save millions of lives from otherwise drug-resistant infections. They say they have developed new versions of the molecule teixobactin, which is thought to be capable of killing bacteria without damaging mammalian tissue.

Teixobactin was first hailed as a “game-changing” antibiotic in 2015, but the new project has developed “synthetic” classes of the drug, according to scientists.

These versions could destroy a wide range of microbes taken from human patients, a team including researchers from the University of Liverpool has found.

Our ultimate goal is to have a number of viable drugs from our modular synthetic teixobactin platform which can be used as a ‘last line of defence’ against superbugs to save lives currently lost due to antimicrobial resistance. They also successfully eradicated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – a so-called superbug known as MRSA, which is resistant to several widely used

antibiotics – in a study on mice. More than 1.2 million people died in 2019 from antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, according to a study published in The Lancet. Scientists said the tests suggested that in future, patients may be treated with just one dose of teixobactin per day for systemic life-threatening resistant bacterial infections.

The synthetic versions can also be kept at room

temperature, making global distribution easier by eliminating the need for cold chains, researchers said.

Those leading the project, which was delivered in association with the University of Lincoln, also hope the tests may pave the way for the drug to be produced inexpensively on a large scale. Lead researcher Dr Ishwar Singh said the breakthrough was a significant step towards unlocking the full medical potential of teixobactin to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

“Our ultimate goal is to have a number of viable drugs from our modular synthetic teixobactin platform which can be used as a ‘last line of defence’ against superbugs to save lives currently lost due to AMR,” Dr Singh said.

Exercising for 30 minutes reduces symptoms of depression According to a new study led by researchers at the Iowa State University (ISU), exercising for half an hour may reduce symptoms of depression for at least 75 minutes post-workout and amplify the benefits of therapy.

Professor of kinesiology at ISU, Jacob Meyer said, “A lot of previous research on the effects of exercise on mental health, in general, have used very broad measures of wellbeing. What we were interested in, specifically, is: how does acute exercise — that is, one session of exercise in a day — influence the primary symptoms of depression.”

The researchers recruit-

ed 30 adults, for the first study, who were experiencing major depressive episodes. The participants filled out electronic surveys immediately before, halfway-through and after a 30minute session of either moderate-intensity cycling or sitting, and then 25-, 50-, and 75-minutes post-workout.

Each survey included standard questions and scales used to measure symptoms of depression and several cognitive tasks, including the Stroop test; participants responded to the colour of a particular font rather than the word itself.

The researchers then used the survey data to

track any changes in three characteristics of major depressive disorder, depressed mood state (e.g., sad, discouraged, gloomy), anhedonia (i.e., difficulty experiencing pleasure from activities previously enjoyed) and decreased cognitive function (e.g., difficulty thinking, juggling multiple pieces of information at once).

During the cycling experiment, participants' depressed mood state improved over the 30 minutes of exercise and consistently up to 75 minutes afterwards. As for cognitive function, participants who cycled were faster on the

Stroop test mid-exercise but relatively slower 25and 50-minutes post-exercise compared to participants in the resting group.

Meyer said more research is needed to understand the variation.

“The cool thing is these benefits to depressed mood state and anhedonia could last beyond 75 minutes. The results suggest a window of time post-exercise when it may be easier or more effective for someone with depression to do something psychologically or cognitively demanding,” Meyer said.

structure and function.

However, in metabolic diseases, which are long-term conditions, the signals can kill the cells, make symptoms more severe, and worsen the illness.

Research supervisor Lee Roberts, Professor of Molecular Physiology and Metabolism at the University of Leeds's School of Medicine, said, “Although this research is at an early

stage, our discovery may form the basis of new therapies or therapeutic approaches to prevent the development of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as diabetes in people with elevated blood fats in obesity.”

Increased fat in the blood has long been known to damage tissues and organs, contributing to the development of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases including type 2 diabetes.

The research team replicated the blood fat levels observed in humans with metabolic disease by expos-

ing skeletal muscle cells to a fatty acid called palmitate.

The cells began to transmit the ceramide signal.

Professor Roberts said, “This research gives us a novel perspective on how stress develops in the cells of individuals with obesity and provides new pathways to consider when looking to develop new treatments for metabolic diseases.”

“With obesity an everincreasing epidemic, the burden of associated chronic disease such as type 2 diabetes necessitates new treatments. We hope the results of our research here open a new avenue for research to help address this growing concern,” he concluded.

this season

The season for fizzy drinks, ice creams, and ice-cold water is nigh. The summer sun is potent enough to drain our energy, dehydrate us, and make us sick with heatstroke. However, seeking an instant fix to cool oneself off during those swampy days does more damage than good.

In this article, we discuss foods to help you fight the summer heat. Our guts tend to get more sensitive because of the heat, which kills our hunger or triggers diarrhea, or even constipation. Other common health problems during the summers are nose bleeds, constipation, and bad body odour.

Gulkand Gulkand is an excellent body-cooling and refreshing agent. It is packed with nutrients such as Vitamin C, Vitamin B, Vitamin K, Vitamin E, Calcium, Magnesium, Carotene, and Copper. It not only brings your body temperature down but also helps with other seasonal problems as well.

Bel Also known as Bengal Quince and Wood Apple, it is a well-known summer fruit with cooling properties. It is used for treating dysentery and other digestive problems. The fruit is high in dietary fibres which acts as a natural laxative and helps in digestion and constipation relief.

Yogurt Yogurt or curd has vast cooling properties and is high in probiotics. It is a superfood rich with good bacteria content that boosts immunity and reduces the risk of infections. It also contains Vitamin E, Zinc, and Phosphorus, and is one of the healthiest goods to eat during the seasons.

Watermelon One of the best summer foods, it contains nearly 91.45 per cent of the body’s water requirement. It is also filled with anti-oxidant properties which give our body a cooling effect.

Cucumber Just like a watermelon, cucumber also has high-quality water content. It is full of finer and jeeps constipation at bay.

Mint Leaves Mint is an easily available herb that provides a refreshing effect to your body along with added benefits.

Coconut Water Regarded as the best summer drink, coconut water is loaded with essential vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. It prevents dehydration.

Sattu Made of roasted black chana, sattu is a good source of energy and drinking it mixed with cold water helps your body fight the risks of dehydration and heatstroke.

Study says smokers Higher blood fats in people with type 2 diabetes have less chance of more harmful than estimated surviving heart attack

Research led by the University of Leeds reveals that increased levels of blood fats in people with type 2 diabetes and obesity are more harmful than previously thought. Scientists have discovered that these stressed-out cells give off a signal which can be passed on to other cells. The signals, known as ceramides, may have a protective benefit in the short term because they are part of a mechanism designed to reduce stress in the cell.

In patients with metabolic diseases, elevated fat levels in the blood create stress in muscle cells, which is a reaction chain outside the cell that damages their

A new study led by researchers at the Jordan University of Science and Technology has found that smokers have a lower chance of surviving a heart attack than non-smokers. The study, which was published in the journal ‘Experimental Biology’, has also found that levels of Alpha-1 Anti Trypsin (A1AT), a protein in the liver that protects the body’s tissues, in smokers were “significantly less” than in nonsmokers.

A co-author of the study, Said Khatib, Ph.D., said, “The aim of this study was to compare the plasma levels of A1AT released in smokers and non-smokers and between hypertensive and

non-hypertensive individuals after an attack.” It is believed that A1AT could offer protection to cardiac tissue when it is released during a heart attack. The study was conducted on 29 adult men and 11 adult women through blood samples drawn within one, four, 24, 48, and 96 hours of a heart attack diagnosis. Participants were divided into four groups smokers and non-smokers, and hypertensive and nonhypertensive.

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S

peculation suggests actors Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor are all set to tie the knot in the second week of April in Kapoor’s ancestral home RK House, in Chembur, Mumbai. According to media reports, the couple is set to have a low-key affair unlike the recent slew of highprofile destination weddings. The venue is said to be decided by Ranbir himself as he was very close to his grandmother Krishna Raj Kapoor, and his parents Rishi and Neetu Kapoor too got married at RK House. There has, however, been no confirmation from either side.

Both, Alia and Ranbir fell in love on the sets of ‘Brahmastra’ in February 2018. They made their first public appearance as a couple at actor Sonam Kapoor Ahuja’s wedding in May 2018. Both of them have been vocal about their relationship lately. In a recent interview, Alia said she is the more excited one while Ranbir brings calm to the relationship.

She said, “In our relationship, he’s the cat, I am the dog. Now you go figure. Sometimes I wake up in the morning with so much energy and Ranbir is like ‘Easy, easy, calm down, breathe.’ If there’s been an exciting day, he’s the one I’ll start re-enacting it to.” She added, “He is way calmer than I am, so I rely a lot on him to pass on some of that calmness.”

Ranbir, when asked to reveal his wedding date lately, said, “Mujhe paagal kutte ne nahi kaata hai ki main media ko announce kardu date (No rabid dog has bit me that I would give out date during a media interaction). But Alia and I have all the intentions of getting married soon, so yes, hopefully soon.”

On the work front, both Alia and Ranbir will be seen together in Ayan Mukerji’s ‘Brahmastra’ which is scheduled to release in September this year.

AliaRanbir wedding set to take place in April I do what I do to make my family proud:

Need courage to post a picture in a bikini: Abhishek Bachchan Mrunal Thakur

B

ollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan is currently busy promoting his next film ‘Dasvi’, which features him playing the role of a politician who decides to pursue his education while in prison. With the trailer of the film dropping a few days ago, it has drawn positive reactions from many, including Abhishek’s father actor Amitabh Bachchan, who called him his successor.

Talking about it in an interview, Abhishek said he puts in the work so he can make his family proud and is glad that they appreciate his effort.

Abhishek said, “Well, I don’t know, any individual, an actor or any other professional, as and when they’re recognised, let alone praised by their idol or their hero, it’s not going to make their life. So I’m in a similar situation.”

He added, “I’ve always said I do what I do to make my family proud, to know that they have not only seen my work, but also recognise the effort put into it, and appreciate it.” Amitabh had shared the trailer of the movie, along with a quote from his father, writer Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

It read, “Mere bete, bete hone se mere uttaradhikari nahi honge; jo mere uttaradhikari honge voh mere bete honge – Harivansh Rai Bachchan (My sons will not be my successors because they are my sons. Only those who are successors will be my sons).” He added, “Abhishek, tum mere uttaradhikari ho – bas keh diya toh keh dia (Abhishek, you are my successor – there, I’ve said it).” Abhishek responded, “Love you Pa, always and eternally.”

Also featuring Nimrat Kaur and Yami Gautam, ‘Dasvi’ releases on April 8 on Netflix and JioCinema.

John praises Shah Rukh for his present day standing

'

Dhamaka’ actress Mrunal Thakur can rock just about any style. Be it ethnic wear or a western body-hugging dress, she has a knack for anything. However, she states she is not comfortable with wearing one thing on social media, and if you are just as curious as us, it is a bikini.

She said, “I feel India has not entirely normalised bodies. We still think if you are going to a beach you have to have a perfect body. But, that’s not how I want to inspire girls out there. It’s okay to be bloated and to have celluloid. You need to be fit (from) within and not necessarily have six-pack abs. I need to gather the courage to post a picture in the bikini, with the body type I have at the time and I am comfortable with it. I am just gearing up.”

When asked about her personal style is different from her on-screen or Instagram persona, she says, “I am just being me. I always wear my mood, and I am exactly the person I am at home. I cannot pretend to be someone else. I also have stylist friends who help me put my looks together, but that’s also how I personally dress in my everyday life.”

What’s a staple in Thakur’s wardrobe? “I cannot count how many denims I have, they are too many.

Denims are very dear to me, I can’t let go.”

J

ohn Abraham is all of praises for actor Shah Rukh Khan and has credited him for where he stands in his career. In an interview, John said that he owes a lot to Shah and revealed that the ace actor was the judge of a show when he started modelling. Both the actors are set to star in ‘Pathaan’ together and will be seen for the first time together in a movie.

“Shah Rukh Khan is, how do I say, he’s responsible for where I am because when I started modelling he was the judge on the show. So I owe a lot to Shah Rukh probably for him it was just another competition that he judged. There’s a lot of deep-rooted respect that I have that I can’t really talk about. But, he’s a wonderful person. He’s very charming, he’s lovely and supremely intelligent. It’s all I can say,” he said in a recent interaction.

John added, “I can’t speak more than this because ‘Pathaan’ is still being made. I’m going back to shoot for ‘Pathaan’ now in the whole of April. It’s an honour working with him.” John, Shah Rukh and Deepika returned to Mumbai lately after shooting in Spain. John was accompanied by his wife Priya Rachel.

Helmed by Siddharth Anand, ‘Pathaan’ is touted as an action-thriller and will arrive in cinemas on January 25, 2023. On the work front, John also has Mohit Suri’s upcoming film ‘Ek Villain Returns’ which is scheduled to release on July 8, 2022.

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Taapsee Pannu writes a heartfelt note for ‘Mishan Impossible’

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aapsee Pannu is making a return to the Telugu film industry with her upcoming project ‘Mishan Impossible’. In a heartfelt note, the actress said she chose the project because of the “gratitude” she has for the Telugu film industry for helping her become successful in cinema.

The actor got her big break in 2010 with ‘Jhummandi Naadam’, and went on to feature in ‘Vastadu Naa Raju’, ‘Mr. Perfect’, ‘Mogudu’, and ‘Sahasam’, among others. Ahead of the release of ‘Mishan Impossible’, the 34 year-old-actor took to Instagram and posted a heartfelt note.

“There are some films that one does as a good career move.

There are certain films one does which are good for the craft, and then there are certain films one does because of gratitude that today you have the power to pick, choose and payback. #MishanImpossible definitely falls in the latter category,” Pannu

wrote.

“Power that comes with success can make you highly addictive and greedy for more but seldom you realise the potential of the responsibility that comes with that power. Time and again I get these beautiful opportunities to associate myself with the so-called ‘small’ films which ironically have a big heart, films you know many will fail to understand why you chose them unless you watch them. Adding a film I know I will be proud of whenever I look at my filmography,” she added.

The movie follows the lives of three boys, who set out to find the whereabouts of Dawood Ibrahim for a reward of Rs 50,00,000 promised by the government.

'Mishan Impossible’ also stars Harsh Roshan, Harsha Vardhan and Bhannu Prakshan. It is produced by Niranjan Reddy and Anvesh Reddy.

Jr NTR and Ram Charan become 'best friends' after ‘RRR’

S

S Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘RRR’ is quite the rage around the world, with the audience all praise for Ram Charan and Jr NTR’s chemistry. Both the actors play revolutionaries Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem in the movie. In a recent interview with Anupama Chopra, Jr NTR shared that they did not share the same camaraderie before joining the sets of the movie. Their families, in fact, were rivals for almost three decades.

Jr NTR said his and Charan’s family have been rivals for “30-35 odd years”. He added, “We are rivals, but we are friends too. So our rivalry is very positive.” And, after ‘RRR’, he believes that “the whole scenario has

amantha Ruth Prabhu announced that she has finished filming her upcoming Tamil feature ‘Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal’, costarring Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara.

Written and directed by Vignesh Shivan, the comedy-drama is set to release countrywide on April 28.

Sam took to Instagram and shared pictures from the sets, where she was joined by Vijay and Nayan for a dance sequence. She captioned the post, “And it’s a wrap #kaathuvaakularendukaadhal Can’t wait for you to laugh till your tummies hurt and then just a little bit more! April 28 it is.” Vignesh too shared a picture of the three stars from the wrap up party and wrote, “Thanking God for making this possible!”

“Working with outstanding talents…

Extraordinary actors are always a dream for any director! Can’t ask for a better combination of actors to convert my script

ctress Rashmika Mandanna has joined Ranbir Kapoor-starrer ‘Animal’. The Hindi-language crime drama will be directed

by Sandeep Reddy Vanga of ‘Kabir Singh’ fame and is backed by T-Series. The announcement was made by T-Series on its official Twitter account. The tweet read, “On the auspicious occasion of Ugadi & Gudi Padwa, we welcome @iamRashmika to the team of #Animal!

Shooting begins this summer”.

Mandanna was last seen in Allu Arjun-led superhit ‘Pushpa’. She is set to make her Bollywood debut with the spy thriller ‘Mission Majnu’ opposite Sidharth Malhotra. She will also be seen in the Hindi movie ‘Goodbye’ alongside megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

‘Animal’, which will start shooting this summer, also features actors Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol. The film is slated to release on August 11, 2023.

Earlier, actor Parineeti Chopra was cast in the film, but according to media reports she had to opt-out of ‘Animal' because of a scheduling conflict.

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changed” and he and Ram Charan are “best friends” now.

‘RRR’ is dominating the box office and has broken numerous pandemic era records, having earned more than Rs 500 Crore at the global box office.

Samantha, Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanthara conclude ‘KRK’ shoot

S

Rashmika Mandanna to star alongside Ranbir in ‘Animal’ A

to screen!

“The Great Vijay Sethupathi! The always beautiful, stunning and extremely professional #NayanThara my Thangameyyyyy! The super Talented, pretty and amazing @samantharuthprabhuoffl,” he wrote.

MON 11 APR - FRI 15 APR 2022 6.00 Chundadi Ni Laaj 9.00 SHUBH PRABHAT 9.30 SUR PRABHAT 15.00 RASOI SHOW 17.30 SHRIMAD BHAGWAT MAHAPURAN 18.00 DESHI BEATS 18.30 SURI 19.00 BHAKT GORA KUMBHAR 19.30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU 20.00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI 20.30 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU 21.00 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM 21.30 GEETA SATURDAY 9 APR 2022 6.00 Lohi No Nahi A Koi No Nahi

* Schedule is subject to change

Vignesh thanked his team for making the project come out “so well”. “Everyday, every moment from this film! Will go a long way!

Thank you beautiful people,” he added.

MON 11 APR - FRI 15 APR 2022 16.30 RASOI SHOW DESI FLAVOURS 17.30 CHHUTA CHHEDA 18.00 SASURAL SIMAR KA 18.30 TU AASHIQUI 19.00 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20.00 SWARAN GHAR 20.30 DIL SE DIL TAK 21.00 THAPKI PYAR KI 2 21.30 SASURAL SIMAR KA 2

9.00 SHUBH PRABHAT 9.30 SUR PRABHAT 15.00 RASOI SHOW 17.30 SHRIMAD BHAGWAT MAHAPURAN 18.00 DESHI BEATS 18.30 SURI 19.00 BHAKT GORA KUMBHAR 19.30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU 20.00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI 20.30 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU 21.00 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM 21.30 GEETA SUNDAY 10 APR 2022 9.00 SHUBH PRABHAT 9.30 SUR PRABHAT 12.00 Tame Keva 15.00 Dhh 18.00 DESHI BEATS 18.30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU 20.00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI 20.30 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU 21.00 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM 21.30 GEETA

SATURDAY 9 APR 2022 15.00 SHU CHALE CHE 16.30 RASOI SHOW - DESI FLAVOURS 17.30 DESI BEAT 3 18.00 SASURAL SIMAR KA 18.30 TU AASHIQUI 19.00 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20.00 COMEDY NIGHTS WITH KAPIL 21.00 THAPKI PYAR KI 2 21.30 SASURAL SIMAR KA 2 SUNDAY 10 APR 2022 16.30 RASOI SHOW - DESI FLAVOURS 17.30 DESI BEAT 3 18.00 BFFs with Vogue - Season 1 19.00 THE ANUPAM KHER SHOW - SEASON 1 20.00 COMEDY NIGHTS WITH KAPIL 21.00 COMEDY NIGHTS WITH KAPIL

30 GRAMMYS 2022

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Grammy Awards for Falguni Shah, Ricky Kej T

wo Indian musicians were among the winners at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, given out to musicians on Sunday night in Las Vegas. Composer Ricky Kej won his second Grammy Award as he and Stewart Copeland won the award for Best New Age Album. Indian-American singer-songwriter Falguni Shah won her maiden trophy for Best Children's Music Album on the night.

Falguni Shah, who is known as Falu, won in the Best Children's Music Album category for her album A Colorful World. The New York-based musician has, in the past, collaborated with AR Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire. She received her early training in music in Mumbai, where she trained under the legendary sarangi and vocal master Ustad Sultan Khan.

In her acceptance speech, she said, "Who would have thought that having my mother sing an old children’s lullaby from India would get a response from parents in America?" The performer also posted a picture of herself with her award on Instagram celebrating her win. In the caption alongside, she

AR Rahman’s Grammy selfies are all the rage this year M

usic maestro AR Rahman attended the Grammy Awards as one does, but this year, he wasn’t alone. The ‘Jai Ho’ composer was accompanied by his son AR Ameen. He shared multiple pictures from the ceremony on his Twitter handle and the captions are a riot.

wrote, "I have no words to describe today’s magic. What an honor to perform for the opening number of the GRAMMY Premier Ceremony, and then take home a statue on behalf of all the incredible people who worked on A Colorful World.

We are humbled and thank the Recording Academy for this tremendous recognition. THANK YOU!" Ricky Kej, meanwhile, added to his 2015 win with a second Grammy Award. He and Stewart Copeland won the Best New Age Album award for Divine Tides. Taking to Twitter, Ricky shared a picture of himself and his collaborator and wrote, "Won the Grammy Award today for our album Divine Tides. Filled with gratitude and love this living-legend standing with me @copelandmusic . My 2nd Grammy and Stewart's 6th. Thank you to everyone who ever collaborated, hired, or listened to my music. I exist because of you."

Bengaluru composer Ricky Kej, collaborated with the Police drummer Stewart Copeland for their album Divine Tides and won his second Grammy for Best New Age Album.

Grammy too fails to pay tribute to Lata Mangeshkar F

ollowing the footsteps of Oscars, the Grammy Awards also left out legendary Indian playback singer Lata Mangeshkar in the In Memoriam section during the ceremony. The 2022 Grammys’ In Memoriam section paid tribute to songs by the late Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, performed by Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., Ben Platt and Rachel Zegler. Taylor Hawkins and Tom Parker were also remembered.

Lata Mangeshkar, however, along with late singercomposer Bappi Lahiri, got a mention on the Grammys’ website. The absence was sourly noticed by members of the South Asian community. Lata, whose career began as a playback singer and spanned more than 70 years, left behind a treasure trove of songs.

Dissatisfaction with her absence from the ceremony was made

evident on social media sites. One wrote on Twitter, “Lata mangeshkar wasn’t in the tribute? disappointed but not surprised. #GRAMMYs.” Another one wrote, “Such a shame @RecordingAcad failed to recognize Indian legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar who passed away last year. #GRAMMYs.” One tweeted, “So both the Oscars and the Grammys failed to honor the late great Lata Mangeshkar in their respective Memoriam segments? That’s a shame. #GrammyAwards #Oscars.”

Lata was the recipient of Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Her solos and immortal duets with Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Mukesh, along with a legion of other prominent Indian singers, are among Hindi cinema's most memorable songs.

Arooj Aftab makes history as the first Pak singer to win a Grammy Sharing a picture with son Ameen from the red carpet, Rahman wrote, “Parenting.”

He also captioned another shot, “All set.”

The Grammy-winning composer also posted a selfie from the awards.

Rahman has won two Grammy Awards in 2010 - Best Compilation Soundtrack for a Motion Picture (Slumdog Millionaire) and Best Motion Picture Song (Jai Ho).

Rahman has been attending the Grammys regularly for quite some time now. At the 2020 Grammys, the composer, accompanied by his son Ameen, met singersongwriter PJ Morton, who is also part of the pop band Maroon 5. A photo of the meet made its way to the internet and went viral.

P

akistani vocalist Arooj Aftab clinched her first Grammy for her song ‘Mohabbat’ in the Best Global Performance category. The 37-year-old has been gaining global attention for her work in recent years. Arooj, who has made New York her home for the past 15 years, has been instrumental in creating beautiful renditions fusing ancient Sufi traditions with folk, jazz, and minimalism. Speaking after the pregala ceremony on Sunday, the artist said, “I am beyond thrilled. It feels great.”

Born to Pakistani parents in Saudi Arabia, Arooj spent her teenage years in Lahore before joining the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, to study music production and engineering. Her third studio album ‘Vulture Prince’ gained critical acclaim. Her track ‘Mohabbat’ even made it to former US president Barack Obama’s 2021 summer favourites list.

The Brooklyn-based singer has performed at a number of major New York venues including the Lincoln Center and the Museum of

Modern Art and has also opened for Mitski at The Brooklyn Steel in 2018.

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Gujarat Titans beat Delhi by 14 runs Gujarat Titans defeated Delhi Capitals by 14 runs in their IPL match on Saturday. Sent in to bat, Shubman Gill smashed 84 off 46 balls to guide Gujarat Titans to 171 for 6. Besides Gill, skipper Hardik Pandya made 31 off 27 balls after being asked to bat. David Miller remained unbeaten on 20 off 15 balls.

Mustafizur Rahman scalped three wickets for 23 runs, while Khaleel Ahmed picked up two wickets giving away 34 runs for DC. Chasing 172 for a win, DC skipper Rishabh Pant made 43 off 29 balls but he didn’t get enough support from the other end as his side fell short. Lockie Ferguson shone bright with the ball with figures of 4 for 28, while Mohammed Shami picked up two wickets for 30 runs. Gill was in imperious form during his knock as he made amends of his cheap dismissal - zero runs -in the previous match.

Lucknow Super Giants win Lucknow Super Giants beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 12 runs in an IPL match here on Monday. Skipper KL Rahul (68 off 50) and all-rounder Deepak Hooda (51 off 33 balls) hit half-centuries as Lucknow Super Giants scored 169 for 7 and then restricted Sunrisers to 157 for 9. Avesh Khan took 4 for 24 while Jason Holder took 3/34. Asked to bat first, skipper KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda struck useful half-centuries to lift Lucknow Super Giants to 169 for seven after a disastrous start.

Chasing 170, Kane Williamson’s (16) innovation brought him two fours and a six but he paid the price for going overboard, his ramp shot off Avesh finding a sliding

Andrew Tye at short fine leg in the fourth over with SRH score reading 25 for one.

Avesh brought about Abhishek Sharma’s downfall with a change in pace as the batter failed to read it while trying to loft him.

Punjab beat Chennai Super Kings Punjab Kings paid a fortune for Liam Livingstone at the auction table. The Englishman hadn’t made an impact in IPL last season and one felt coach Anil Kumble might have gone a little too much for him.

But on Sunday night at the Brabourne, Livingstone showed that the investment was worth every penny. It was his allround effort that was the cornerstone of Punjab’s second win and Chennai Super Kings third loss in a row. Livingstone came in to bat at 14-2 when the chips were down and the ball was doing a bit for the CSK pacers. But Livingstone (60 off 32 balls) was not ready to hold back. Banking on his power and handeye co-ordination, Livingstone attacked the CSK pacers as if there was no tomorrow.

Run flowed from his bat and he found an able ally in Shikhar Dhawan (33 off 24) who kept the strike rotating.

Buttler powers Rajasthan Rajasthan Royals beat Mumbai Indians by 23 runs in the IPL match on Saturday. Joe Buttler's 100 off 68 balls helped the Royals to 193 for 8, which seemed slightly sub-par due to Jasprit Bumrah’s (3/17 in 4 overs) brilliant effort. Ishan Kishan (54 off 43 balls) and unheralded N Tilak Verma (61 off 33 balls) added 81 in 8 overs before Ashwin (1/30 in 4 overs) and Chahal (2/26 in 4 overs) decisively tilted the game in RR’s favour between overs 14 to 16 as MI managed only 170 for 8 after 20 overs. While Royals have now won two out of two, MI have lost both their games in another dismal start to an IPL season.

RCB beat KKR by three wickets Royal Challengers Bangalore overcame some nervy moments after leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga spun his way to a fourwicket haul to register a three-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in a low-scoring IPL match on Wednesday. The Sri Lankan was ably supported by the pace trio of Akash Deep (3/45), Harshal Patel (2/11) and Mohammed Siraj (1/25) after RCB won the toss and elected to bowl at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. In reply, Sherfane Rutherford (28), David Willey (18) and Shahbaz Ahmed (27) played crucial innings as RCB survived some anxious moments before overhauling the target, scoring 132 for 7 in 19.2 overs after Tim Southee (3/20) and Umesh Yadav (2/16) blew away their top order. Yadav and Southee troubled the top-order batters with their pace and bounce, leaving RCB at 17 for 3 at one stage.

Big boys vying for IPL media rights As soon as BCCI comes out with the Invitation-To-Tender (ITT) to sell the media rights for Indian Premier League's (IPL) 2023-27 broadcast cycle, all the big players – TV18-Viacom , Disney, Sony, Zee, Amazon and another unnamed company – are in the fray. BCCI sources said that American tech giant Apple is also expected to pick the ITT next week.

The BCCI is expecting to raise revenues to the tune of US$7.2 billion when the eauction for these media rights are held in the second week of June.

The deadline to purchase the ITT ends on May 10 after which, the next 30 days will be spent in

exchange of clarifications sought on the tender document.

“Transparency will be the key and the revenues coming from sale or rights will be directed to India’s domestic structure, better infrastructure and welfare of the cricketing fraternity,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said.

The rights will be sold in four separate buckets and the Board, for the first time, has said that it will not allow consortiums or consolidated bids (a sum of all parts) to be put in. Each bidding party will have to separately bid for each package.

The packages have been divided into the following categories: A) Television rights

Oz rout England in WC final Opener Alyssa Healy smashed a record 170 as Australia routed England by 71 runs to claim their seventh Women’s World Cup win in Christchurch on Sunday. Healy’s belligerent 138-ball innings, the highest total in a World Cup final, helped Australia set a mammoth victory target of 357 at Hagley Oval which proved beyond the defending champions despite a fighting century by Nat Sciver.

Sciver’s unbeaten 148 entertained the crowd but she played a lone hand as England were bowled out for 285 with six overs to spare.

Meg Lanning’s Australia finished unbeaten in nine matches, erasing their 2017 World Cup disappointment when they were stunned in the semifinals by India in England.

The peerless Australians have now won three of the last five 50-over World Cups and own both the major global trophies, having claimed the T20 World Cup on home soil

in 2020.

Four days after hammering 129 in the semifinal against West Indies, Healy again burnished her big-game credentials. On Sunday, she blasted 26 fours as Australia posted 356 for five after England skipper Heather Knight won the toss and elected to field.

England’s bowling plans were ripped to shreds as Healy and Rachael Haynes (68) put on an 160-run opening stand, enabled by dropped catches and poor fielding.

Healy cut seamer Anya Shrubsole for a single to bring up her fifth ODI century, yelping in delight as her husband Mitchell Starc, the Australian men’s fast bowler, clapped in the crowd. She was again dropped on 136 at short fine leg by a leaping Tammy Beaumont trying to scoop Sciver.

Healy was finally stumped

by Amy Jones off Shrubsole at 316/2.

for India subcontinent; B) Digital rights; C) A cluster of 18 matches (season opener, four playoffs and evening matches of the doubleheaders on weekends); D) Rest of the world. The overall base-price of the entire rights package has been kept at £3.28 billion. The final figure has been arrived at after BCCI kept the per-match base price of television rights at £4.9 million, digital rights at £3.3 million, 18-match cluster at £1.6 million and rest of the world rights at £300,000.

At 74 matches per season – which amounts to 370 matches over a period of five year s – the total base per-game base price multiplied by the number of

VISA PROBLEM DELAYS PUJARA’S SUSSEX STINT Cheteshwar Pujara’s debut for English county Sussex has been delayed by visa problems.

Sussex had hoped to have Pujara available for their opening County Championship match at home to Nottinghamshire starting on Thursday. But delays in issuing the 34year-old with a visa mean he won’t be available to the south coast club until next week at the earliest. “Securing overseas players has been tremendously difficult in the current climate," said Sussex performance director Keith Greenfield in a statement. We renegotiated the initial Pujara contract so he could return for more County Championship and Royal London 50-over matches, and this subsequently changed the visa requirements,” he said.

RAHUL MANKAD, SON OF LEGENDARY VINOO, DIES Rahul Mankad, a former Mumbai cricketer and son of legendary cricketer Vinoo Mankad, passed away in London after a brief illness at the age of 66. Rahul played 47 first class matches for Mumbai between 1972 and 1985.

He was a part of the team’s Ranji Trophy triumphs multiple times. He also played 10 List A matches, in which he scored 66 runs.

He’s survived by his wife and two daughters.

Having taken severe exception to the term ‘Mankaded’ every time a bowler ran out a non striker who was backing up unfairly, as he felt it insulted his father, Mankad finally won a long battle earlier this month when the Marylebone Cricket Club finally decided that it should no longer be treated as an unfair means of dismissal, and be considered as a run out. Sadly, he was in no condition to celebrate it after having suffered multiple heart attacks while on a visit to London from Dubai, where he was based out of.

TWO PARA ATHLETES FROM GUJARAT WIN MEDALS matches during the rights cycle totals to the above-mentioned figure of £3.28 billion. The BCCI has capped the matches at 74 per season right now but if matches increase in the coming seasons, broadcaster will have to pay prorata going forward.

50,000 pay tribute to Warne at MCG memorial An array of celebrities, including singer Elton John, golfing legend Greg Norman and champion surfer Kelly Slater, paid tribute to their friend, former Australian cricketer Shane Warne, at a star-studded state memorial service.

More than 50,000 mourners chanted their hero’s nickname “Warnie” at the outset of the service at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as they used to do when he took to the pitch for a match. It was his hometown pitch where he cemented his sporting legend in 2006 by becoming the first bowler in the world to take 700 Test wickets.

Warne’s death at a Thai resort of a suspected heart attack on March 4 at the age of 52 made headlines around the world. The pain was felt far beyond the cricket world. Tributes came from the fields of music, acting,

in brief

business, golf, politics, surfing, comedy, poker and others. Elton John dedicated a rendition of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” to Warne’s children Brooke, Summer and Jackson who were among the crowd that included Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

John and fellow British musicians Ed Sheeran, Robbie Williams and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin appeared on a large screen via video. So too did Australian singers (and sisters) Kylie and Dannii Minogue.

Australian-born former champion golfer Greg Norman recalled Warne’s passion, energy and enthusiasm for life. A picture of Sachin Tendulkar and Warne was beamed on the screens during the service. A statue of Warne outside the cricket ground became a focus of public grief.

Two athletes from Gujarat, Bhavina Patel and Sonal Patel, won medals at the para global meet in Egypt. Para table tennis player Bhavina clinched the ITTF Fa40 Egypt Para Open 2022 singles crown in Ismailia in classes 4-5 category to win her first title since bagging the silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics in July-August last year. Her fellow doubles partner Sonal Patel too was crowned the singles champion in the classes 2-3 category. In the summit clash, Bhavina held off the challenge of Iraq’s Rusual Al Waeli to win 11-6, 13-11, 13-11 at the El Qanah Stadium Hall 1 in the north African country.

She lost only one game, in the semis, en route to being crowned champion. Sonal too stamped her authority in the women’s singles classes 2-3. In the final, she thumped Iraq’s Hadeel Al Waeli 11-7, 11-7, 11-2.

SINDHU, SEN TO LEAD INDIAN CHALLENGE India’s latest badminton sensation Lakshya Sen and double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu will lead the Indian campaign at the Korea Open Super 500 tournament. With back-to-back finals at German Open and All England Championships, Sen is in the form of his life and will look to be third time lucky as he opens his campaign against world No 25 Lu Guang Zu of China. It will not, however, be an easy outing for Sen as the men’s singles draw boasts of some tough competitors. Sen, the world championships bronze medallist, had scooped his maiden Super 500 crown at the India Open in January before making two final appearances and he will be keen to lift the second title of the season. Sindhu, on the other hand, claimed two Super 300 titles this season at Syed Modi International and Swiss Open and the third seeded Indian will look to continue her fine run when she begins against USA’s Lauren Lam.

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