225 2 FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE R Let noble thoughts come to us from every side VOL 51 ISSUE 19 07 13 India taking over U K to become the fifth largest economy is a ‘moment to savour’ but there's a catch Type 1 diabetes patients unable to afford care Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry dies in a road accident P M Modi inducts India made I N S Vikrant to navy Bollywood celebrates G A N E S H C H A T U R T H I, kicks off festivities SE E PAGE 28 10 - 16 SEPTEMBER 2022 t e h Yo u r amb i t i o n O u r e x p e r t is Legal advice you can trust P Man Modhwadia nquiries@axiomdwfm.com089516989 gnesh +44 (0) 20 8951 enquiries@axiomdwfm.com6989 axiomdwfm.com ragn o hwadia Managing Partner Continued on page 15 Suella Braverman becomes the third Home Secretary of Asian origin Prime Minister Liz Truss announced h e r n e w c a b i n e t l i s t o n T u e s d a y evening S u e l l a B r a v e r m a n h a s b e e n a p p o i n t e d h o m e s e c r e t a r y . T h e f o r m e r a t t o r n e y g e n e r a l r e p l a c e s f o r m e r h o m e s e c r e t a r y P r i t i P a t e l , who quit the cabinet hours after Liz T r u s s w o n t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e l e a d e r s h i p c o n t e s t B e s i d e s B r a v e r m a n , t h e o t h e r c a b i n e t m e m b e r o f I n d i a n o r i g i n i s A l o k Sharma who has been reappointed as the President of COP26 T R U S S W I N S , R I S H I I N S P I R E S Liz Truss defeats rival Rishi Sunak with 81,326 votes to 60,399 among party members, becoming the third woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May Shefali Saxena Mary Elizabeth Truss took oath as the next UK Prime Minister on Tuesday after defeating Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership contest. Considering the earlier lead forecast for Liz Truss, she only got 57% votes, defeating Sunak with approximately a 14% margin This indicates that colour was not important in this election and for the first time a non white candidate made this far in the leadership race. Continued on page 16
Home Secretary Suella Braverman Rishi Sunak and newly appointed British Prime Minister Liz Truss during one of their hustings for the leadership race COP26 President Alok Sharma
P h o t o s o u r c e C o n s e v a i v e s O f c i a F a c e b o o k
Saranjit grew up in India and is thankful for the state policies that allowed free education for girls in India at the time She did engineering at University of Mumbai, and was 1 of 4 girls in a class of 100 students After her bachelor's, she joined Godrej a large conglomerate and a household name in India, as their Marketing Manager In 2011 Saranjit moved to UK having applied to London Business School receiving 2 scholarships She is an experienced leader with a successful track record of building busi nesses, growing teams, creating value for customers and partners across different industries and geographies, building a margin focused scale up strategies for EMEA, with the most recent exam ple being that of leading teams at UpGrad to make education more accessible and affordable for ever yone She is committed to working with people across cultures, with a key focus on inclusion and women representation Saranjit is married to Andrea Cillara Rossi and has a 3 year old daugh ter 1) Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in? London, United Kingdom I moved to the UK over 13 years ago And from the f irst day, I was drawn in The energy, vibrancy, diversity a n d o p p o r t u n i t i e s o f fe re d b y t h i s c i t y a re unparalleled I love how multicultural the city is, how diverse the food scene is, and the prox imity to lush parks for long weekend runs 2) What are your proudest achievements? I value my achievements with the impact created on people around me, not just on f inancial targets I feel my biggest and most proud achievement has been juggling my fami ly and career And I am actively coaching and mentoring women succeed in their profession al ambitions without stepping back on family commitments I am also ver y cognizant that millions of women in the UK and worldwide do not have the same support system Rising childcare costs has forced many women to hold back on their careers to be able to care for their growing families And this is an urgent need t h a t G o v e r n m e nt s a n d c o r p o r a t e s n e e d t o action to support more women in business and leadership 3) What inspires you? Being courageous, curious and doing new things inspire me When I look at my toddler, I am inspired by her curiosity She doesn’t start any task with pre conceived notions She tries her best, stands up after failing and tries again Success and failures are equally encouraging for her And that’s an inspiration I take to work and life ever y day I admire and respect people who are lifelong learners, they are humble, are intent listeners, and present a childlike curiosi ty on ever y topic Learning from them, obser v ing them, and working with them inspires me 4) What has been biggest obstacle in your career? At work and at home, I operate with great intensity Which means I spend long hours working and long nights juggling house chores a n d p a r e n t d u t i e s T h i s l e a d s t o e x t r e m e exhaustion and limits the freshness in ideas Through the years I have learned the impor tance of taking breaks, switching off and learn ing to relax This in turn has added to improved productivity and led to me spending quality time with family doing what we love 5) Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date? I take inspiration from ever y little instance, person around me However, the biggest influ ence on my career to date has been my f irst manager, Mehernosh Pithawalla He taught me the importance of always doing the best, no matter how trivial or small the task is I under stood that my background, culture, gender don’t def ine or limit my ambitions He showed me what leading from the front means, and what empathetic leadership is all about I am ver y fortunate to have such an incredible leader mentor me at such a young age He is a big advocate of coaching and mentoring and that helped me understand the importance of seek i n g h e l p a n d m e n t o r s h i p t h r o u g h o u t m y career 6) What is the best aspect about your current role? We are taking on one of the world’s great challenges by helping millions accelerate their careers, ensuring their skills are relevant in a r a p i d l y c h a n g i n g j o b m a r ke t Ex p a n d i n g upGrad’s proven technology across EMEA, to provide a truly unique & immersive learning experience that takes away the anonymity from online education makes learning fun, fulf ill ing and most importantly delivers job opportu nities & promotions In success, we are playing a catalysing role re writing a broken social con tract bringing together learners, educational institutions, government & corporates; deliver ing high quality, affordable learning at scale; that truly changes the lives of millions for the better 7) And the worst? I truly enjoy ever y aspect of my role And the continuous learning it brings about 8) What are your long term goals? Numerous studies have shown the produc tivity improvements, employee retentions and other benef its of having women leaders Yet, even in the 21st centur y we are still tr ying to raise awareness on the gap in gender equity and diversity The social contract is still broken And I hope to play a more active role in bring ing diversity and gender equity in leadership positions and boardrooms And that starts with engaging Governments and corporation on a more active role in improving infrastructure for women to return to workforce, continuous learning, upskilling opportunities and normal izing diversity 9) If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change? Offer more affordable childcare, w h i c h w o u l d b r i n g m o r e c a p a b l e women back in workforce and help the economy I would also invest m o re i n u p s k i l l i n g a n d j o b re a dy s k i l l s t o h e l p b r i n g a n e c o n o m i c boost to our countr y 10) If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why.
Gautam Buddha We live in a stressful world Be it the pandemic or the geographical conflicts or just the daily pressures of work and family I would love to learn the art of staying calm, of spreading happiness and f inding that inner peace EMEA upGrad Edtech UK Ltd 5DQ
The Stud ent Loan s Company (SLC) is urg ing students to be aware of fraud and phishing scams as the new aca demic year starts SLC will pay more than £ 2 billion to 2 mil lion students over the c o m i n g w e e k s a n d i s reminding people to be v i g i l a n t A s p a y m e n t s make their way to stu dents, the company is w a r n i n g Fr e s h e r s a n d r e t u r n i n g s t u d e n t s t o not be tricked into dis closing personal details or clicking on links in emails or text messages, a s t h e y c o u l d b e installing malware I n t h e l a s t t h r e e years alone, SLC’s dedi c a t e d Cu s t o m e r Compliance teams have s t o p p e d £ 1 2 m i l l i o n f r o m b e i n g l o s t t o f r a u d s t e r s f r o m s t u d e n t s ’ b a n k a c c o u n t s The expert teams have a range of methods and fraud analytics to stop s c a m m e r s i n t h e i r t r a c k s , b u t s t u d e n t s need to know that they are the best and f irst line of defence O v e r 4 0 m i l l i o n Britons have been tar geted by scammers this year, with losses per per son higher than in other m a j o r We s t e r n e c o n o m i e s (t h e U S, C a n a d a , A u s t r a l i a ) Named ‘fraud capital of the world’, total losses h a v e c r e p t t o a l m o s t £3bn a year in the UK! I n t r i g u e d , C l a i ms co uk examined off i c i a l O N S s u r v e y d a t a from 33,735 people over the age of 16, to uncover the most common char acteristics of fraud and c o m p u t e r m i s u s e v i c tims in the UK With scammers on the rise, a c y b e r s e c u r i t y e x p e r t ’ s tips on keeping personal details safe online were also obtained Contrar y to popular belief that the elderly are more vulnerable to s c a m s , C l a i m s c o u k can reveal that Gen X are the most reckless, w i t h t h o s e a g e d between 45 to 54 years old (7 7%) falling victim to fraud the most! This is 2 2% more than those between 65 to 74 years old (5 5%) T h o s e w i t h h i g h e r social status are more likely to be the target of scammers, with 8 1% of v i c t i m s b e i n g p r o fe s sionals or those at man a g e r i a l l e v e l s Additionally, divorcees ( 7 9 % ) a r e a l s o m o r e s u s c e p t i b l e t o f r a u d t h a n m a r r i e d c o u p l e s (6 6%) The most common amount of f inancial loss s u f fe re d b y v ic t i m s i s revealed to be around £ 1 0 0 t o £ 2 4 9 ( 2 1 8 % ) , while the biggest loss r e c o r d e d ( £ 4 0 , 0 0 0 o r more) was only suffered b y 0 5 % o f t h o s e scammed
with Keith Vaz SA R A NJ I T SA NGA R C E O
A la nd ma r k stud y ha s fo und wo rkp la ce d is cr imina t ion is sa pp ing the confidence of a large p ar t o f t he UK w or k force, forcing more than 1 20, 00 0 w or ke r s fr om minor ity et hnic ba ck g ro unds to qu it th eir jobs because of racism In the last f ive years, more than one in four workers from black and o t h e r m i n o r i t y e t h n i c backgrounds have faced racist jokes at work and 35% said it left them feel i n g l e s s c o n f i d e n t a t work, according to what i s b e l i e v e d t o b e t h e l a r g e s t r e p r e s e n t a t i v e sur vey conducted of the UK’s 3 9 million minority e t h n i c w o r ke r s According to the study b y t h e Tr a d e s Un i o n Congress, eight per cent of victims left their job as a r e s u l t o f t h e r a c i s m they experienced “Many told us they experienced racist bully ing, harassment and w o r s e , ” s a i d t h e T U C g e n e r a l s e c r e t a r y, Fr a n c e s O’Gr a d y “A n d a l a r m i n g l y, t h e v a s t majority did not report this to their employer M i n i s t e r s n e e d t o change the law so that employers are responsi ble for protecting their workers and preventing racism at work ” Doctors might go on a strike, warns BMA chief A s eni o r do c tor has claimed that patients are choosing death at home rather than risking wait ing on a trolley in a hospi tal corridor, as he said the gov ernment was st um bling towards a “winter of discontent” in the NHS P r o fe s s o r P h i l i p Banf ield, the chairman of t h e B r i t i s h Me d i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n , s a i d t h a t d o c t o r s w o u l d g o o n strike this winter and that there was a “distinct pos sibility” Because the NHS is in a terrible state, he said d o c t o r s h a v e t o m a ke d a i l y d e c i s i o n s a b o u t which patients live and die and he called for a pay rise of up to 30 per cent next year to bring real payback to pre f inancial crisis levels Nearly 500 surgeries have been closed and not opened elsewhere since 2013 due to the dearth of doctors, an investigation has found A c c o r d i n g t o t h e magazine, Pulse, 14% of c l o s u r e s w e r e d o w n t o recruitment issues It is believed that due to the increasing work load, doctors are avoiding to go into general prac tice and those who opt to work are working as part t i m e d o c t o r s A s h u g e n u m b e r s a r e r e t i r i n g early, surgeries don't have any replacements T h e g o v e r n m e n t i s yet to fulf il its promise of r e c r u i t i n g 6 , 0 0 0 m o r e doctors by 2024 Writer Vinay Patel all set to send Chekhov into space with his new play
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More than 120,000 workers have quit jobs because of racism
Th e Ch er r y O rc har d written by Vinay Patel is al l set to op en at th e Yard Theatre in Hackney Wick next week, is no r un o f th e mil l Chekh ov r ev iv al T h e tale revol ves ar ound a Russian aristocrat who is liv ing in denial as th e tides o f h ist o r y sh ift against her and has been r elo cat ed fr om a t ur n o f t he 20 t h centu r y Russian cou ntr y estate to a spacecraft billions of miles from earth He r e c a l l s h i s f i r s t a t t e m p t o f p u t t i n g a n epic science f iction stor y on stage at the age of s e v e n Ho w e v e r, h i s allotted time ran out and he was unceremoniously hauled off before a word could be uttered R e m e m b e r i n g t h e stor y earlier this month, watching set designers creating the set for his n e w p l a y, a r a d i c a l retelling of Chekhov set in space “I was looking a t t h a t s e t t h i n k i n g , ‘This is my revenge ’ , ” he laughs Fraud warning from SLC as new academic year approaches
The ship’s reverse osmosis plants produce over 400,000 litres of water every day The carrier has a large number of indigenous equipment and machinery and the indigenisation efforts have also led to development of ancillary industries, besides generation of employment opportunities for 2,000 CSL staff and about 13,000 employees in ancillary industries Globally, there is renewed push by major powers to deploy aircraft carriers despite the growing threats to big surface platforms from missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) While the US is fielding a new generation of super carriers, the UK has fielded new carriers while Japan is converting its helicopter carriers to operate F 35 fighter jets China, which is on a mas sive maritime modernisation spree, presently operates two carriers, and has launched a third carrier Any country’s naval strength can be gauged by the assets it holds, both offensive and defensive the aircraft carriers and ballistic missiles, heli copter carriers, corvettes, frigates, amphibious, active person nel and the allocated budget are the variables that decide the position of a nation, not just the total number of ships in the fleet On the basis of the above, the India Navy is considered among the top 10 in the world by way of its strength and power The Indian Navy has been steadily making progress and emerging as a formidable Naval force in the high seas The Indian Navy boasts of a total strength of approx 285 naval assets It also operates the world’s most capable destroyers; the 20 corvettes protect the coaster area India is among the only five other countries that have the technical know know and build nuclear powered submarines It is also among the few countries that operate one in service, a nucle ar powered submarine The Indian Navy is increasingly modernising, adding more teeth to its maritime prowess The Indian Navy has earned herself a name as the First Responder, whether it be a crisis situation or swinging into action to provide succour and relief to the affected populace The Indian Naval force is getting ready to rule the waves and face any eventualities India has been blessed with a favourable maritime geography and has all the attributes of a maritime power As the pre eminent naval power in this region, it is in the unique posi tion of leveraging this advantage to shape the future geopo litical outcomes which will be drawn up in this region
Alpesh Patel
However, the challenge to India’s regional maritime pre emi nence is here and now and there cannot be any complacency towards achieving that goal
Some people are afraid they will lose a lot of friends if they become a politician However, it's not that sim ple If you're in politics, you can't please everyone and there will be times when you have to do things that make some people angry It's just the nature of being in government work You will have to make tough deci sions and sacrifice things because sometimes it's best for the greater good of society or your country (or com munity) And if someone doesn't like these things about your job, then maybe they weren't really your friend anyway! I t is sc ary to put yourself forward for election but you c an only do what you believe in The best advice I can give is if you want it badly enough because of your beliefs, then nothing will stop you Like anything in life
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For most of us, the idea of becoming a politician is terrifying But why? There are many reasons why it's scary to put yourself forward for election, and we're going to help you figure them out Let's get started! Fear of putti ng yo urse lf out th ere Being a politician means putting yourself out there and putting your beliefs on display for all to see The fear of being judged can be a big one, especially if you ’ re an introvert It's scary to put yourself out there and open yourself up to criticism, but it's also scary not to go for what you want in life because of that fear What I've learned is that it's OK to be afraid that is part of being human! But don't let those fears stop you from doing what makes your heart sing and living the life you want when given the chance! Fear of be ing judg ed by y our p ast
With the commissioning of INS Vikrant, India has joined a select group of nations having the niche capability to indige nously design and build an aircraft carrier The aircraft carrier consists of 14 decks with 2,300 compartments which can carry around 1,500 sea warriors Vikrant has been built with a high degree of automation for machinery operation, ship naviga tion and survivability, and has been designed to accommodate an assortment of fixed wing and rotary aircraft The ship would be capable of operating an air wing consisting of 30 air craft comprising of MIG 29K fighter jets, Kamov 31, MH 60R multi role helicopters, in addition to indigenously manufac tured Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) (Navy) The ship has a large number of indige nous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country A major spin off of this is the develop ment and production of indigenous warship grade steel for the ship through a partnership between the Navy, DRDO and SAIL, which has enabled the country to become self sufficient with respect to warship steel Today all the warships being built in the country are being manufactured using indigenous steel Several design iterations, including the use of 3D Virtual Reality models and advanced engineering software, were used by the Directorate of Naval Design in shaping the design of the carrier CSL had also upgraded their shipbuilding infrastructure as well as enhanced productivity skills during the building of the ship With an overall indigenous content of 76 per cent, Vikrant is a perfect example of India's quest for "Aatma Nirbhar Bharat" and provides a thrust to government s Make in India ini tiative With the commissioning of the aircraft carrier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it was a proud moment for India IT is not a mere war machine but proof of India’s skill and talent Security concerns in the Indo Pacific region and the Indian Ocean had long been ignored, but today this area is a major defence priority of the country, said PM Modi The 262 mn long and 62 mn wide Vikrant is powered by four General Electric LM 2,500 engines which give it a maximum speed of 28 Knots and endurance of 7,500 NM, which means she can make a voyage from Kochi to Brazil without refu elling The ship has around 2,200 compartments, designed for a crew of around 1,600 that include specialised cabins to accommodate women officers and sailors Vikrant is the first ship in the Navy and the country which has a 64 slice CT scan machine onboard, in addition to ultrasound and digital X ray machines and two purpose built operation theatres
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There were 172,437 eligible electors Voters’ turnout was 82 6% Mr Sunak lost only by only 14% margin, much lower than anticipated by pundits, who predicted a 30% gap The British Indian community that rallied behind a man, proud of his heritage and faith, was left heartbroken, but their pride in Mr Sunak has doubled over time Every competition has a winner and a loser Mr Sunak, who got a rock star’s welcome and cheer from 6000 audience, as he walked into Wembley Arena, at the Conservative Friends of India’s final hustings, sadly could not win the Tory party members’ heart Some remained disgruntled about the non domicile status of Mr Sunak’s wife Akshata Murthy, or her father’s company ’ s Russia links, the others remembered his US green card appli cation But mostly those voted for Ms Truss, who still cheered for Boris Johnson But despite Ms Truss’s ignorance towards Mr Sunak after winning, he stood up in solidarity, clapping for the new Prime Minister Is this the end of Rishi Sunak? Will he ever become the Prime Minister of Britain? Critics say Britain will never be ready for an Indian man or woman as its Prime Minister Middle England, that is a recent convert to Conservative vot ers, supported Boris in 2019, for his stoicism, charisma and the ability to blend in, from the CEOs to students to labour ers But Rishi Sunak is symbolic of everything that Brexit stood for the anti immigrant sentiments that ultimately led to a friendship of 50 years disintegrate with severe conse quences Despite Rishi’s hard work or celebrated talent, he remains representative of the ethnic minority community that still faces racism in the UK, every day But can this minor inconvenience or bump stop Mr Sunak from dreaming big? Boris Johnson was an MP from 2001 08, after which he deflected to becoming London’s Mayor post many controversies Despite his problematic tenure as an MP, he again came back to the mainstream pol itics in 2016 and rose from the ashes like a phoenix Mr Sunak is hard working, earnest and focussed Despite losing the leadership election on Monday, he still remains a hero and pride the eyes of the British Indian community and Indians globally, for his sheer grit, courage, composure, the difficult roads travelled, as well as for inspiring our youth with many possibilities That is no mean feat Recalling an iconic dialogue from the famous Bollywood film Baazigar which remains apt for this scenario Sometimes to win you must be prepared to lose This is not the end of Rishi Sunak’s political journey or his ambition, rather it is just the beginning of something more powerful and definite ly greater (See p1, 16 17 for more)
So i t’s over Li z is f ull of fizz as she i s the winne r, e lect ed by 0 2% of the UK adul t pop ulati on (that ’ s 80 ,0 00 votes she got) Pre si dent Xi is probably snig geri ng at the na ture of democra cy All such contests are bruising It’s probably only for the independently wealthy or the unemployable or, wait for it, the true believer who wants to make the world better don’t we all? Would you do it?
With Vikrant, India joins an elite group of nations
Let’s face it: when you enter the world of politics, there is no way to avoid being judged by your past People will always look at what you have done in the past and use that as a basis for their evaluation of how well you would do in office The truth is though, this is a very flawed method of judging someone Truss had an affair, so did Boris, so did Trump (sue my Donald)
When Rishi Sunak was made the Chancellor by PM Boris Johnson, people wondered if he was as capable as Sajid Javid who had fallen out with then Prime Minister’s advisor Dominic Cummings Mr Sunak, a reasonably new MP and formerly junior Minister suddenly shot to fame with his fan tastic furlough schemes, business loans and other aids such as eat out to help out scheme that soon coined the popular nickname ‘dishy Rishi’ for him As he quickly became the Tory party’s sweetheart, people watched his every move closely, including when he lay diyas outside No 11, for the first time in history, to celebrate Diwali the festival of light But as the country opened up, taxes, VAT and NI went back to being pre Covid rates (if not more), the witch hunt began, and Mr Sunak could not escape the wrath of disgrun tled citizens as well as party members, including the Prime Minister, who perhaps thought the Treasury had a secret s t f o r w a r d t o s u m m e r 2 0 2 2 M r S u n a k resigned along with many senior Ministers in solidarity against Boris Johnson who made some very wrong deci sions Despite the MPs demanding a resignation from Boris Johnson, due to several allegations that threatened the party, his popularity among some key Tory party members includ ing the current Prime Minister Liz Truss, the former Home Secretary Priti Patel as well as common people of England remains intact He is still the hero who has been loved from “Kiev to Carlisle”, who delivered Brexit and vaccine for Britons Boris Johnson undoubtedly had a certain charm, and he was popular among the British Indian community for several reasons for a long period of time When he was the Mayor of London, he was pro development His immigration policies as the Prime Minister were India friendly He was a dear and “huggable” friend of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet had four Indian origin MPs and he deliv ered the UK India FTA He was previously married to Marina Wheeler, who was half Indian, making Mr Johnson India’s beloved and “goofy" son in law But as nothing is permanent in this world, with Mr Sunak’s appearance in the Tory party leadership race to become UK’s first ever Indian Prime Minister, the community quickly moved to stand by him, to ensure he wins against the other candidate, who was still Mr Johnson’s friend and ally in his future political ambition Conservative hustings across the country and all four nations of the UK, answering 614 questions in total Nearly 20,000 members attended the hustings (19,859), and a total of 2 2 million people viewed a husting across online platforms
Who’d Be A Politician?
Thought for the week Political Sketchbook
The media has the power to be used for good or evil they could use their influence to spread misin formation, or they could use it to spread truth Fear of fa mily j udgem ent Family members can be the harshest critics They'll tell you what they think and then some, but they prob ably don't realize how much their words affect you Fear of being judged by your family: It's common to worry that your family will judge you for making this decision, but it s important to remember that they re human too they might not understand why someone would want to become a politician If this is something that concerns you, discuss it with them before jumping into the political world! Fear of losi ng friends
03AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www asian voice com 10 16 Sepember 2022
m o n e y t r e e F a
L i z T r u s s a n d R i s h i S u n a k t o o k p a r t i n t w e l v e
People are not defined by their past; they are defined by who they are right now and what they are doing with their lives moving forward You can’t change the past but you can learn from it and move on to better things! Fear of the medi a As a politician, you'll have to be careful about how you interact with the media They can be a powerful force, and they can make or break your chances at winning an election
He will rise like a phoenix from the ashes
Win without boasting Lose without excuse Al bert Payson Terhun e
G rea ter Man che st er’ s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) has received £1mil lion in funding to develop an d tr ia l a n ew pro gr amme in the ci ty of Manches ter whi ch ai ms to help people leave a life of violent crime behind themThe financial boost is part of a £6million joint investment, shared between a number of different regions across England, from the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) and Home Office The investment is to enable those areas to trial ‘focused deterrence’ a strategy developed in the USAFocused deterrence attempts to identify the peo ple most likely to be involved in violence and supports them to stop Projects have worked with children as young as 14 or 15 It involves:
A total of £345,031 40 was confiscated from seven indi v id uals , i nc ludi n g si s ter s Shazia, 44, and Abia Din, 47, a t a rec en t Proc eed s of C ri me Ac t he ari n g at Manchester Crown Court Under the pretext of selling styling products across online marketplaces like Amazon from the shop, the duo were using the space in Oram Street to sup ply drugs and launder large amounts of cash The siblings ran the drugs ring out of the Beauty Booth on Chesham indus trialFestateollowing the confisca tion, Detective Chief Inspector Roger Smethurst said: “We are extremely pleased with the results of the confiscation hearing, and the case as a whole
“The officers involved have worked tirelessly to secure convictions against instrumental members of an organised crime group oper ating out of Greater Manchester“Wehope that this serves as a reminder to any one that we continue to investigate and secure con victions in large scale drug operations ”
Chain snatch thieves growing menace in Leicester
Tension between Hindus and Muslims in Leicester
• Community engage ment Engaging the wider community to communicate that they want violence to stop and those involved to be safe, provide support, and encourage reinte gration in the communi ty Projects will often arrange engagement between the people who are the focus of the intervention and vic tims’ family members, reformed former group members, and faith leaders
04 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian-voice.com 10 16 Septermber 2022 NORTH/MIDLANDS
In the past four weeks, eight people have lost jewellery to snatch thieves, police have confirmedThevictims include seven women and a 16 year old boy who were targeted for chains or necklaces while walking in streets in the east area of the city, including Belgrave, officers said Officers have asked resi dents to leave their jewellery at home or to wear it dis creetly with a scarf around the neck Ex landfill site could become 98-bed hotel and spa Months after a much larg e r s ch eme wa s t urn ed d ow n, a dev elop er ha s r eq ues ted outli ne p lan ning permission to build a 98 bed hotel and luxury spa next to a Leicestershire golf course Sparsis Leisure Ltd has put up a proposal to trans form currently vacant scrubland next to Forest Hill Golf And Country Club, in Botcheston into a luxury hotel resort with spa facilities, as part of wider plans to refurbish the Asiteproposal for a 152 bed development and accompanying spa next to the golf course which was first submitted in 2020 was turned down last year Women caught on camera amid gold heist After a large amo un t o f jewellery was stolen from a S u tto n Co ldfield ho m e, police are trying to trace two w om en who were caught on doorbell footage Intruders forced their way inside and stole expensive gold and dia mond jewellery The bur glary happened in Beech Hill Road on August 10 In connection with the crime, police have confirmed they would like to speak to the pairA West Midlands Police spokesperson said: "Do you recognise these two women? We want to speak to them over a bur glary in Sutton Coldfield last "monthAnyone with informa tion can contact us via our website's Live Chat by quoting 20/766547/22 " Hospital doctor wanted sex with 'eight-year-old girl'- court told H ospi t al doc tor Da vi d Cr ooks a lle ged ly tol d a n undercover police officer of wanting to have sex with a girl aged eight Birmingham Crown Court was told that he allegedly had conversa ti on s wi th othe rs on t he internet about abusing their childrenTimothy Sapwell, prose cuting, said: "He is a hospital doctor who, at the time we are concerned with, was working at a hospital in Staffordshire but who was living in Birmingham The prosecution case is he is a predatory paedophile who was using the Internet to try and find children to abuse via adult family members who were already sexually abusing their own children "
• Deterrence Clear communication of the consequences of vio lence and swift and cer tain enforcement if vio lence does occur Research from the YEF shows that focused deterrence strategies in other countries have been highly effective on aver age reducing crime by 33 per cent YEF and Home Office are investing in learning more about what impact it could have in England Greater Manchester’s VRU has been awarded £1million to develop this The project will be subject to rigorous evaluation, to learn how well it works to make the city of Manchester safer It will bring a number of different agencies and com munity groups including the police, housing providers, faith leaders and schools together, taking a partnership approach to ending violence
• Support Help for people involved in violence to access positive support and social services
More than £300,000 confiscated from Bury sisters who ran drugs empire
£1million boost to help tackle violent crime in Greater Manchester
O nl in e vide os hav e e me rg ed t his w ee k tha t show ed some ga ng s attacking Hindus and van dalising their property in pr ed omin a nt ly Hin du areas of Leicester In an Instagram post by British Hin dus, a n on prof it or ga nisa tion wit h ove r 14 5K followers, it was said, “So me ga n g m em b er s b oa ste d on social media that they are "pressuring t his w hol e b lo ck [of ] Mushriks"Mushrik is an Arabic word which is a derogatory term for polytheists, non Muslims or idolators Some videos show Hindu residents calling the police and explaining that their homes are being attacked by men brandishing knives Other videos show mobs assaulting people, smashing car windows and raising pro Pakistan and anti India slogans ” Leicester Mercury reported that an emergen cy meeting between faith communities was slated to be held on 6th September amid ongoing tension between Muslims and Hindus in Leicester Reports of further violence follow an incident on the Golden Mile a week ago which was caught on cam era The incident after the Pakistan vs India match on Sunday, August 28 involved large groups of people, while racist chanting was heard A Leicestershire Police offi cer was assaulted during the violence Video footage of the incident showed the moment a fight broke out in Shaftesbury Avenue, off Melton Road A man s T shirt was ripped off as sev eral men or youths were seen throwing punches at him and others
Cold homes will cost children’s lives, warn experts
The UK in qui ry i n to the ha ndl i ng of the C ovi d 19 pa ndemi c has begun that w il l i nve s ti gat e dec i s ion s m ade by pri me mi ni st er Boris Johnson and his senior advisers in early 2020 At hearings that will take place next summer, key players including Mr Johnson and former health secretary Matt Hancock are likely to appear in person Decisions over the tim ing of lockdown and testing delays will be scrutinised Later, the inquiry will also focus on decisions that were made up until early 2022, and the handling of the pandemic in Scotland, Wales and Northern IrelandSirChris Whitty, the UK government's chief medical adviser during the pandem ic, and Sir Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser, are also likely to appear before the inquiry Mr Johnson's former aide Dominic Cummings is also expected to appear
Health experts have warned that cold homes can damage c hildren’s lungs and brain development and can lead to deaths as part of a “signifi c ant hu ma ni tari an cri s is ” thisIwintertcan be prevented unless the next prime minis ter curbs soaring fuel bills, and children face a wave of respiratory illness with long term consequences, accord ing to a review by Sir Michael Marmot, the direc tor of University College London’s Institute of Health Equity, and Prof Ian Sinha, a respiratory consultant at Liverpool’s Alder Hey chil dren’s hospital Sinha said undoubtedly cold homes would cost chil dren’s lives this winter, although they could not pre dict how many “There will be excess deaths among some children where families are forced into not being able to heat their homes,” said Dr Simon Langton Hewer “It will be dangerous, I’m afraid ”
Mo re than 17 0 ser ving Metropolitan police officers are under investigation for alleged domestic abuse, the Evening Standard can reveal As per the figures from City Hall, a rising number of police officers are subject to inquiriesInFebruary, the Standard reported that 147 officers had faced allega tions of domestic violence against their spouses or partners in the last two years, with just eight per cent of those charged with a crimeAccording to the Greater London Authority, current ly, 173 serving Met officers have outstanding accusa tions against them at “dif ferent stages” of investiga tionLabour London Assembly member Unmesh Desai said, “This is a shock ing figure and these are only the ones we know about ”
05AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com 10 16 September 2022 Magnificent Listed Former Chapel, Windsor, SL4 3QR For educational, community or religious uses Town Centre location, set in gated landscaped gardens. Comprising two main halls, a function hall and original chapel plus ancillary accommodation having a total gross internal floor area of approx. 9,500 sq.ft. Immediate possession available. Freehold POA. Subject to Contract. Featuring stained glass windows, superb mosaics, magnificent vaulted ceilings, galleries etc. Private garden included, use of communal car parking facilities and use of communal gardens. For all enquiries contact the Westcombe Group on +44 0208 422 6814 and email at info@westcombe.uk.com
A win for NHS whistleblower Shyam Kumar
More than 170 Met Police officers accused of alleged domestic abuse
O rthopa edi c s urge on Shy am Kuma r, who was sacked for raising patient safety concerns has won a case against England's hospital reg ula tor, t he Car e Q ua li ty Com mi ss i on (CQC) Kumar worked part time for the CQC as a special adviser on hospital inspections Between 2015 and his dismissal in 2019, he had reported concerns regarding inadequate hospital inspec tions, staff bullying and seri ous patient harm Now, the Manchester Employment Tribunal found that he was unfairly dismissed While at an earlier Manchester hear ing, the CQC's barrister, Tim Holloway, put it to Mr Kumar that his claim the regulator had ignored his concerns was "fanciful", the CQC has now "accepted the findings"MrKumar, who has been awarded compensa tion, says his concerns were ignored"The whole energy of a few individuals in the CQC was spent on gunning me down, rather than focusing on improvement to patient safety and exerting the regu latory duties, he said The BMA has success fully supported a surgeon in his whistleblowing case against the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after he was dismissed by the regula tor following him raising patient safety concerns Orthopaedic surgeon Shyam Kumar worked part time as a special advisor on hospital inspections for the CQC, but between 2015 and 2019 he raised several con cerns with senior colleagues at the regulator, including around safety at his own trust Morecombe Bay, and said that he was expected to simply “rubber stamp” inspections He was then dismissed by the CQC in 2019The Manchester Employment Tribunal found last week that Mr Kumar had been unfairly dismissed, with the safety issues he raised playing a significant part in this Professor Philip Banfield, BMA council chair, said: “It is absolutely paramount that doc tors are able to raise safety concerns with out fear of recrimina tion or backlash from employers“This judgment clearly underlines the fundamental need to protect whistleblowers and is a significant legal victory that the BMA is proud to have supported That such a case happened within the very organisation that is meant to safeguard standards within the NHS and social care is incredibly concerning indeed and the CQC must answer serious questions about its culture and the policies that allowed this to happen “The BMA is clear that the NHS and the whole health and care system must have an open, learning cul ture where doctors and their colleagues can be confident in speaking out when they see patient safety at risk, and we are committed to safe guarding our members’ whistleblowing rights wher ever they work Rather than punishing those who brave ly speak up, the system should be supporting them, so that steps can be taken to improve safety for both staff and patients ”
Covid inquiry examines Boris Johnson's pandemic decisions
Narinder Punj An emotional and nostalgic concert took place at Hayes Beck Theatre on Saturday 2 7th Augus t 2 02 2 Led by Ba li B rahmbhatt, along with Mani sh Jos hi (from Mumbai), Krishna Patel and Manoj Iyer (winner of Bollywood UK Talent), the evening was well attended by over 450 people The eveni ng was electri c, the audience was captivated, glued to their seats throughout and participated vocally along with the singers Tributes were paid to legendaries Mukesh Kumar and Lata Mangeskar, a superb evening of music and e ver gr een son gs ba cke d b y t he RG AM OrchestraAllfunds raised from the evening will go towards educating tribal children in the very remote parts of India, through Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram We are committed to the development of tribal communities in rural regions of India, our network operates 20,203 service projects across 14,000 loca tions in India Kalyan Ashram Trust UK has been established in 1970 and is registered with the Charities Commission KAT UK organ ises various awareness events where people can find out more about the work we do We also organise medical and Eye camps Doctors from the USA and England volun teer All projects are personally visited by our team annually KAT UK has been finan cially supporting various projects on an annual basis Our new project is Krishna Devi School, a girls’ tribal school in ChitrakootYoucan join them in supporting the educational needs of girls in rural India The evening was graced by Shri CB Patel, always at the forefront in supporting charitable causes We have a long standing relationship with Shri CB Ji and are very grateful, once again for his presence and valuable sponsorship To find out more about Kalyan Ashram Trust, visit our website: www kalyanashram org uk or email at: info@kalyanashram org uk With thanks to our sponsors who made the evening possible: Gujarat Samachar, Asian Voice, Best in Jobs Best in Move (a game changer in International recruitment), Runsmart (Embroidery & T Shirt Printing specialists), Artful Blend (coffee specialists), Travelpack (sponsors of the flights) Sandra Davidson (leading Estate Agents) and Lyca Gold, our Media partners leading from the front, great coverage for the event leading up to the special evening!
Furious Leicester mum whose newborn baby almost died, lashes at NHS for not having routine test
A mothe r f rom Lei c es ter e xpre ss ed he r anguish over the unavailability of a routine £15 swab test on the NHS, that helps identify Group Strep B Preya Vaja's newborn baby Uma was battling for life due to sepsis caused by Group B Strep (GBS) a bacterial infection that can be easily identified by a swab test
Speaking to ITV Central, Mrs Vaja said: I think we need to raise awareness of Group B Strep and the infections it can lead to, the devastation it can lead to "Yes, it only happens to a minority, but that minority leaves with stories that haunt them for the rest of their life" She added: "In my community, we know Asian and black women are at higher risk, so I feel it's my duty to let other Asian women within my family and social networks know about it, because unfortunately you don't get this information in your antenatal care "
Kem Chhe with Bali and friends
Mayor Sadiq Khan did not follow the law while sacking Dame Creddisa Dick as the Met Commissioner earlier this year, an offi cial report by the former police watchdog has concludedSirThomas Winsor said in the wake of a series of scandals, the Mayor did not follow “due process” in removing his support from Dame Cressida and did not act “in accor dance with the legislative scheme, still less its spiritSir Thomas added that Mr Khan also ”failed to respect the dignity of the Commissioner as an individual, and as the holder of high public office”
06 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 10 16 September 2022
Former Met Commissioner resigned in February when the Mayor made it clear that he was not satisfied with the blueprint she had drawn up with regards to restoring pub lic confidence in her force
Three universities under investigation over ‘sharp increase in top grades’
New Chairman appointed for HM Land Registry
The government has appointed Nilesh (Neil) Sachdev as the new Chairman of HM Land Registry The department maintains the regi ster of ownershi p of land and property containing more than 26 million titles Neil brings a wealth of lead ership experience at the board level and strong commercial and business acumen He is current ly Chair of the East West Railway Company (EWR Co), overseeing the delivery of a new direct rail link between Oxford and Cambridge, as well as Chairman of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation Board for the Ministry of Defence He is also a Non Executive Director of Network Rail Property LimitedNeil has also previously held a variety of senior leadership posi tions in the energy, property and retail sectors He replaces Michael Mire, who has served as HM Land Registry Chairman since 2016 Chairman of HM Land Registry Neil Sachdev said: “I am very pleased to be taking up the role of Chair of HM Land Registry at this piv otal time I greatly look forward to leading the board in delivering its ambitious new Strategy to transform the process of land reg istration in England and Wales and enabling a world leading property market with people at the heart of it ”
According to files seen by the B BC, Shami ma B egum was s mugg led into a part of Syria con tr oll ed by t he I sl ami c Sta te by a Can adi an intelligence agent In 2015, Ms Begum left the UK aged 15, along with two friends, 16 year old Kadiza Sultana and 15 year old Amira Abase The same year, the trio joined the Islamic State group and Ms Begum has been prominent in the news in recent years due to her attempts to regain British citizenship and return to the country However, there is no whereabouts of the two girls who left with Ms Begum as teenagers Ms Abase married 18 year old Australian Islamic State fighter, Abdullah Elmir who died in a drone strike in December 2015 Though Ms Begum believes that her friend is alive, Ms Abase’s mother told the press that her daughter is dead Ms Sultana too stayed in contact with her family for a time after leaving the UK However, it is believed that she died in a Russian airstrike a few weeks after those phone calls in May 2016
NHS job vacancies hit ‘staggering’ high
Record pay rises for GPs in Covid pandemic
After a sharp rise was witnessed in awarding grades to students of first class and upper second class grades, three universities are being investigated with regards to the same It is believed that for the first time, the Office for Students (OfS) has officially probed institutions over grade inflation since gaining new powers earlier this year The regulator refused to name the uni versities under investigation on Friday “We expect to publish further details in due course, as our investigations progress,” it saidThe OfS said it had “identified potential concerns that require further scrutiny” at the institutions But it also stressed that this was not to be interpreted as wrongdoing at this stage
L R: Narinder Punj (Promoter and Trustee Kalyan Ashram Trust UK), Harish Parmar (Base Guitar and Musical arranger), Abdul Rashid (Naal), Ashish Macwan (Percussions), Bhavesh Patel (Drums), Nitin Parmar (Lead Guitar) Sunil Yadav (Keyboards) Bali Brahmbhatt Manish Joshi Krishna Patel Manoj Iyer (winner of UK Bollywood talent), Geetha Ravi, Ravi Sharma
Wages hi t a ‘di ff icult to justi fy’ leve l of £142,000 as patients were turned away from surgeries As per the new official NHS figures, During the pandemic, GPs saw their earnings rise to £142,000, new data show According to the official NHS figures, as GPs stopped performing surgeries, routinely restricting face to face appointments rose, leading to the rise in doctors’ incomes to unprecedent ed heightsInthe12 months after the first lockdown, the majority of family doctors saw average incomes rise by £20,000 to £142,000 The largest on record, a 17 per cent rise, came when the NHS moved to a system of “total triage”, refusing patients' GP appoint ments in person unless they had a telephone consultation first Mayor did not follow ‘due process’ in the sacking of Cressida Dick
As one in NHS jobs lie vacant, NHS leaders have warned of a “staggering” level of staff vacanciesAccording to new data, the number of unfilled NHS jobs hit a new high of 132,000 in June, prompting health service chiefs to issue serious warnings to ministers of an “all engulfing NHS crisis” With 46,828 nursing posts currently unfilled and 10,582 doctor roles remaining empty, the vacancy rate now stands at 9 7 per cent, records show Former Health Secretary Steve Barclay has claimed that the billions that are spent on management across the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) should be “streamlined” so that the money is used on frontline care Met Office reveals storm names for 2022/23 season
The Met Office has revealed the storm names for the 2022/23 season, with Cillian, Khalid, Priya and Betty among the latest picks The UK's Me t Offi ce , Ir e lan d's for e ca ste r Me t Eir eann , a nd the Nethe rla nds' KNMI have compiled the names This year’s names came via the public with Betty receiving 12,000 votes on Twitter to make the final list Storms are named when they have the potential to cause an amber or red warning The Met Office's Will Lang, head of situa tional awareness, said, "We know from seven years of doing this that naming storms works," he said"Last year, Storms Arwen and Eunice brought some severe impacts to the UK and we know that naming storms helps to raise aware ness and give the public the information they need to stay safe in times of severe weather "
What happened to Shamima Begum’s friends?
On stage Ravi Sharma and Bali Brambhatt in apprecia tion to Raj Baddan (CEO of Lyca Radio) and Alka Shah (Head of Sales & Marketing, Lyca Media)
“A Souls Reunited Concert”
Lord Meghnad Desai Lord Karan Bilimoria Pratik Dattani
The stress and fear of the bills mount ing in the future can be paralysing for many individuals and can impact their mental health negatively NHS leaders have warned that fuel poverty can lead to a public health emergency, causing and worsening physical and mental illness across the whole population and further straining the already stretched health and careMservicesubeenBhutta, Head of Policy, Public Affairs & Campaigns at Samaritans, said, “The rising cost of food, energy and fuel is making it hard for millions to make ends meet Whilst we know that suicide is com plex and that there is rarely a single reason that someone takes their own life, we do know that financial insecurity can increase the risk of someone dying by sui cideW”hen it comes to the new Government’s role in suicide prevention amidst the crisis, Mubeen highlights the need to “recognise the inequality that exists in different communities” “People from different ethnic groups do not always receive the same level of support from mental health services when they need it and this simply isn’t good enough given the impact that the Cost of Living crisis, following so quickly on the heels of the pandemic, may have on mil lions of lives”, he said According to Professor Kiran Patel, Chair of trustees at the South Asian Health Foundation, “It is not surprising that there is a health conse quence to the sit uation we find ourselves in Anxiety will inevitably lead to d e t e r i o r a t i n g mental health and for some people, this may even lead to illness and suicidal thoughts ” In his opinion, while “the government is ultimately responsible for trying to ease the pressures we face from the cost of liv ing crisis”, individuals and communities must make sure that firstly, we are aware of those who might be struggling and help in any way we can “We might even start to socialize more and encourage people to spend more time with each other, engag ing in community activities in community centres which are heated and cater for the vulnerable”, he said Talking about the need to take imme diate action given the rising risk of sui cides due to financial pressure, Maytree, a non profit organisation, told us: “Maytree’s vision is that everyone in suici dal crisis has someone to talk to and some where safe to be We know that having a choice about support is fundamental in engaging successfully and hence prevent ing suicide The connection between eco nomic downturn and suicide is well docu mented in academic research as well as anecdotal evidence As we witness the cur rent cost of living crisis and the return of inflation, we are planning for an increase in demand for our service Mental health and suicide are impacted by both social and economic determinants including unemployment, food and energy poverty, debt, housing insecurity and domestic vio lence, escalating underlying issues These may be clustered in geographies and com munities of greater economic deprivation, underpinning our decision to open a sec ond house in Greater Manchester, signifi cantly increasing our capacity and making our service more accessible Collectively, we can all help prevent lives being lost by becoming comfortable about discussing suicide, removing the stigma and listening without judgement, with kindness and compassion To help directly, why not consider becoming one of our trained vol unteers?” Mubeen Bhutta Kiran Patel
Suicide Prevention Month amid cost-of-living crisis
On 5th September, India’s Pr i me Mi ni s ter Na ren dra M odi an nounc e d I n di a’s achievement of eclipsing the United Kingdom to become the fifth largest economy in the world is a pleasure of surpassing those who ruled over India for around 250 years, and which supersedes t he "me re s tat is ti c s of improved ranking" According to figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India passed the United Kingdom (UK) to become the fifth largest economy in the world in the last quarter of 2021 India's economy cur rently ranks just four nations ahead of it in terms of size in dollars The United States, China, Japan, and Germany are the only nations with economies larger than India's The UK is currently in sixth place, just behind India While India has overtak en the United Kingdom in terms of the size of the economy, the per capita income in India remains very low When it comes to per capita income, which is a measure of how much money is made per person in a country, India is ranked 122 out of 190 countries Asian Voice reached out to experts in Britain, who believe that this is indeed a “moment to savour” but, India’s ascent to fifth has as much to do with Britain’s economy continuing a pro longed period of low eco nomic growth Br it is h e con omi st a nd f orme r La bour poli ti c i an, Lord Meghnad De sai told Asian Voice, “India has gone past its old rulers in terms of national income! It is a moment to savour But then let us not stop there India has a lot more yet to achieve between now and its next big anniversary in 2047, the hundredth year of indepen dence As India's Prime Minister has said India should be a developed coun try by then Now with a total income higher than the UK, India has more than fifteen times the UK population In per capita terms, the average Indian is poor India ranks near 150th in per capita income stakes The chal lenge is there and there is a new generation of young skilled persons who can take India to the skies Let us hope that will be the limit India will cross ” Lord Ka ran Bi li mor ia CBE DL told the newsweek ly, “From the day I founded Cobra Beer in 1990 I knew that India would one day be a global economic super power The following year India started its journey of liberalisation and today has overtaken the UK to become the 5th largest economy in the world in absolute terms Next year in 2023 India is projected to be the fastest growing major economy in the world with a growth rate of 7% It is only a matter of time before India is one of the top 3 economies in the world Meanwhile, the United Kingdom with less than 1% of the world’s popu lation punch well above its weight as the 6th largest economy in the world This year, the 75th anniversary of India’s independence is also the year where we have started, and are targeting to complete, a landmark free trade agreement between the UK and India, two coun tries with a truly special relationship which will only go from strength to strength ” Pr ati k Da tta ni , Managing Director at The Economic Policy Group told us, “The focus on these arbi trary league tables is mis leading They may help with some nationalistic chest thumping, but offers no use ful insights for economic analysis India’s ascent to fifth has as much to do with Britain’s economy continu ing a prolonged period of low economic growth, as it has to do with India recover ing post Covid What mat ters is per capita income, where India actually slipped behind Bangladesh over the last two years “The UK and India are expected to announce a bilateral trade agreement in the coming months, which is ever more important for the UK The GBP is approaching historically low levels against the USD and has also fallen against INR as a result of poor economic news The UK will need to significantly grow trade opportunities with coun tries like India to offset the fall in volume and value of trade with the EU The fall in the value of the GBP will help make British exports more competitive overseas ”
Anusha Singh As the cost of living crisis and rising ener gy bills build extreme pressure on those str ug gl ing fina n cial l y, w ar ning s ha ve be e n issue d re g ar d ing gr e a te r suicid e risk Mo re o ve r , th e price rise threatens to plunge 9 million hou se ho ld s into fuel poverty, with a wh op ping 8 0 pe r cent increase in gas and electricity costs The effect of rising bills can be seen in all spheres of public life, be it schools, pubs, corner stores and even festivals For many schools, reducing the staff and course plan is the only way to afford energy bills Similarly, thousands of pubs are under the threat of shutting off given the fact that they will need to raise the price of a pint to £15 or £20 to cover their soaring energy bills, which isn’t viable Craft brewer BrewDog’s went ahead to announce that it will close six pubs over the rocketing energy bills Corner shops face the same threat
India taking over UK to become the fifth largest economy is a ‘moment to savour’ but there's a catch
07AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian voice.com 10 16 September 2022
Shefali Saxena
With the theme of “Har Ghar Tiranga”, A AIS E Learning in association with Inspiring Indian Women IIW organised and celebrated the 75th anniversary of I ndia' s I ndep endence i n th e UK Children across the globe (UK, USA, A u strali a, U AE ) p arti ci pated in th e Virtual Talent show with Zeal as it was a great opportunity to express their love for their motherland, which they miss dearlyThe purpose was to instil invaluable Indian cultural values and traditions amongst those settled abroad and the second generation children born in the foreign land This was an endeavour to imbibe the rich history and diversity into those who are always on the look out for the ‘desh’ in ‘videsh’ Chief Guests of the show were Hon’ble Mr Rohit Vadhwana (Deputy High commissioner HCI; Kenya) and Dr Nandita Sahu (Hindi Attaché HCI UK) Guests of Honour were Mr Prem Bhandari (Jaipur Foot New York), Ms Seema Samriddhi (Supreme court lawyer Legal counsellor Nirbhaya's case), Ms Megha Prasad (Former Senior Editor Times Now) and Special Guests Mr Gyan Sharma (IT consultant and Vedic Astrologer), Ms Trupti Patel (President Hindu Forum Britain This event was also supported by Padamshree Bob Blackman (Hon' B MP UK) The event was followed by a moti vating speech by Mr Rohit Vadhwana, Mr Prem Bhadari ji Ms Nandita ji, and Ms Megha Prasad The event was successfully hosted by Dr Sanya Sharma (Founder/Director AAIS E learning) along with the Co host Ms Shivani Wadhwa who kept the audi ence engaged with questions on India and a few fun trivia
Foreign nurses and dentists to work in NHS
T he We mb ley b r an ch of Ma nd ha ta S ama j The Ma n dha ta Youth an d Community Association celebrated its Golden Jubilee on 3 September The event took the audience down memory lane, with photos and videos recalling so many different events, groups, and activities from over the years Each subcommittee presented an illustration of the journey from 1972 Wembley to the present day, building on the vision of the initial pioneers It was incredible to see the struggles and challenges which had been overcome within 50 years, and how generations maintained their loyalty to the Samaj Also on the show were several singing performances and a play President Kusumben Soma wel comed the guests Secretary Heena Ashok conducted the event A vote of thanks was given by Vice President Darshiniben Pullan
08 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian-voice.com 10 16 September 2022
Inspiring Indian Women celebrate the 75th anniversary of India's Independence
A se ve n d ay Sh re em an d Bh ag wa t Kat ha (Pit ru Katha) will be organised at Sanatan Dharma Mandir in Cardiff from 10 September Saturday to 16 September FridayKatha will be recited by Shree Ramnikbhai Dave of Leicester, formerly of Portugal from 2 pm to 6 pm on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th September, 3 to 6 pm from Monday 12th to Thursday 15th September and 9 30 am to 1 pm on Friday 16th September Maha Prashad will be served every day during Katha The venue is Sanatan Dharma Mandal & Hindu Community Center, Seaview Building, Lewis Road, Cardiff, CF24 5EB
The foundation stone laying ceremo ny of the AUM Crematorium, UK a nd Europe's f ir st ever Anty esht i Sa ns ka r B hava n or c rema tori um built according to the Sanatan dhar m a was hel d on 31 Augus t i n DenhamThis puja was performed at the Anoopam Mission, Denham, in pres ence of Pujya Sahebji and Pujya Shantidada Over 800 guests, including 108 hosts and many dignitaries from across the UK participated in this his torical ceremony Some key guests viz Venkaiah Naidu (former Vice President of India), Paul Scully (Minister of State for Local Government), Sanjay Kumar (Second Secretary of the Indian High Commission), Gopichand Hinduja, Lord Dolar Popat, Barry Gardiner MP, Virendra Sharma MP, Seema Malhotra MP, Rajesh Agarwal (Deputy Mayor of London for Business), Dr Onkar Sahota AM (Member of London Assembly), CB Patel (Editor in Chief, Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar), Vijaybhai Patel, Pradeepbhai Dhamecha, local council lors and representatives of Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities attended the eventPujya Manojdasji of Anoopam Mission completed the foundation stone laying ceremony by explaining the meaning of each ritual, in Gujarati, Sanskrit, Hindi and English He explained the purpose of this puja was to seek forgiveness from God, for any living object damaged or killed in the process of building this crematori um Venkaiah Naidu, the former Vice President of India, praised Pujya Sahebji for the services ren dered by Anoopam Mission and for strengthening Indian cultural ties and identity Sikh representatives Surendersingh Jagdevji and Reshamsingh Sandhuji recited Ardas and offered prayers Local MP Paul Scully appreciat ed the efforts made by Anoopam Mission to fulfil the dream of AUM Antyeshti Sanskar Bhavan
Arpana Giritharan
Can renewable sources of energy help UK?
(Expressed opinions are personal)
Anoopam Mission hosts foundation stone laying ceremony for the AUM Crematorium
Azaadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav
It prevents us from thinking logically This phenomenon was nicely explained by Richard Nisbett in his Op Ed titled 'Do you think like an economist? published in Los Angeles Times in 2015 People spend more money on repairing a faulty machine they have bought by mistake Since not repairing the machine would be a complete waste of invested money, so they think it is wise to add some money and get whatev er best they could out of it To have a logical approach, Nisbett says, we need to distinguish between the past cost and the future cost The past cost is already sunk, but if it's not really worth it, you can save the future cost Most of the time, the future cost is based on the emotional decision, to make value out of the past cost This is an avoidable loss In absence of such a logical approach, most people end up making a double loss of the past and that of the future If one learns to objec tively distinguish between the two, at least one cost can be saved So, next time, dare skip the movie that you are not enjoying, stay home instead of going to the rain interrupt ed match or discard the faulty machine demanding a huge cost of repair
Anusha Singh The Environment Agency has declared a drought for all of the South West of En gla nd B ri ta i n has be en g oin g t hr ough a cli mate cr is is whi ch has taken an extreme turn in the past few months The Britons have braved two he at wave s, fl as h f loods a nd w ate r s hort age whi c h wa s fol lowe d b y a drought in different parts of England Now the cost of living crisis and the latest rise in energy bills have been added to the pile of problems Talking about the impact of the cli mate crisis on the rising energy prices, Arpana Giritharan, policy assistant at Green Alliance, said: “Heavy reliance on fos sil fuels has resulted in the twin crisis of climate change and cost of living, which the government needs to address as soon as possible Households in fuel poverty are set to double to a stag gering 12 million by January, but all are expected to feel the pain ” “As we increasingly experience the impacts of climate change in the UK and around the world, such as recent heatwaves, it is critical that we expand cheap and clean energy, like wind and solar, which is now nine times cheaper than gas We also need to urgently insulate peo ple’s homes to perma nently bring down ener gy bills”, she said Whether this is sim ply a short term bump, caused by COVID and tensions over Ukraine or UK might face higher prices for years to come, the current increase in energy costs has made it abundantly clear that the UK needs to concentrate more on extracting fossil fuels Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Cardiff
Have you ever spent more money trying to get the worth out of already sunken costs?
The Sh ree S wami narayan Temp le o n M erc hes Plac e Cardiff is celebrating its 40th ann i versary from 5 to 1 1 September T he temp le, which opened in 1982, hosts many Hindu festivals, classes and events throughout the year The temple supports a wide range of public organi sations and has hosted thou san ds of school visits as a cen tre fo r learn i ng about div ersity and inclusion but with a common aim As such the temple also plays a key role in the Interfaith network of the City Celebrations started from Raas, Classical music event, Aarti and Ladies evening showcase There will be a Street Food extravagan za with Fireworks show on 9 September from 7 to 9 pm On the 10th Discover Mela at Bute Park is organised from 10 am to 4 pm On the last day 11 September, there will be a special program Mountain of gifts offering to the Lord Shreemand Bhagwat Katha at Sanatan Dharma Mandir in Cardiff from 10 September
To tac k le t he N HS ’s wors e ni n g staffing crisis, ministers will intro duce legislation as soon as parlia ment returns, which will make it easy for overseas nurses and den tists to work in the UK The former health secretary, Steve Barclay has laid out a plan that aims to increase overseas recruitment to help plug workforce gaps in health and social care Barclay believes that easing rules for medic al regulators will attract thousands of extra health professionalsIfitworks, then it will help pave the way for more nurses and den tists coming to work in Britain from countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, the Philippines and Malaysia
Rohit Vadhwana
Pujya Saheb ji talked about the Antyeshti Sanskar Bhavan's Sankalp, its history and thanked all those who joined on the day or helped otherwise
The Mandhata Youth and Community Association celebrated its Golden Jubilee
Have you ever spent more money trying to get the worth out of already sunken costs? Sometimes we keep investing more to keep an invest ment afloat Constantly pumping money into a loss making company to keep it running is such an example Many times we incur a sunk cost, and to justify it, we add a future cost to it Take an example of a movie ticket you have purchased You go for it The movie turns out to be a disaster Yet you sit through it because you have paid for the ticket You justify wasting time on a movie that you are not enjoying even a bit because you have already wasted an amount on the ticket Another example can be a cricket match you might have bought a ticket for On the day of the match, it rains You are sure the match will be interrupted, yet you drive an hour to the stadium to watch it because a ticket has been bought The pain of losing the money paid for the ticket is more than the trouble taken to drive to the match and watch the rain interrupted match Why? You believe in this way you have used at least part of the ticket's worth This rationale prompts us to take an action which we know is not worth the effort, but based on the past cost or efforts invested in something, we add more to them, to take as much benefit out of it as we can This is not the way an economist would think We know it But it is a psycho logical trait to disassociate ourselves from the pain of loss
Combstock once headed up delivery opera tions for Jiffy, which ceased making rapid grocery deliveries in May and told The Guardian that the market had collapsed “The pandemic created a warped vision of the way people were going to buy their gro ceries in the decades to come, but when peo ple could go out safely, the need for on demand grocery receded”, he said Companies are having to make the extremely difficult decision to adjust the size of the global workforce and focus on sus tainable growth, rather than “hyper growth”
09AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian voice.com 10 16 Septermber 2022
Bestway Group, the coun tr y’s lea din g fore ign i nv estor, h as an noun ce d financial and material sup p ort to the people of Pakistan of US$1 0 Million In a statement released by Bestway Group in London, the Group CEO Lord Zameer Choudrey, CBE SI Pk said, “On behalf of our founder and Chairman Sir Anwar Pervez, OBE H Pk; let me reassure the people of Pakistan the Bestway Group stands with them in this hour of unprecedent ed national tragedy”
In 2021 there were around 6 mi llio n people wi th non British nationality living in the UK Often referred to as ‘su perdi ver si ty’, this re la tively new landscape of such diverse national origins is reflected in the school sys tem, with around 20% of pupils speaking English as an additional language Most widely known strategies for language learning in multilingual families have clear rules like “one language one parent” or “minority language at home” approach With an appreciation of linguistic variation in superdiverse societies, many language experts advocate a new, more democratic approach to language learning: plurilingualism
Bestway donates US $1 million to help flood affectees
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, the presen ter said: "Right from the early stages she had this empathy towards me She is Christian as well and that’s important to me as a man of faith "What I saw in her, I saw in Gemma When she said my phone is always on, she meant it " Derrina Thomas is a Solicitor in the Litigation department and has been with IWG since November 2021 Before joining, Derrina trained with a Legal 500 firm and holds several years of experience as part of commercial dispute resolution and insolvency teams in large international law firms
After an accelerated growth during the pan demic, groc ery drop off servi ces s uch as Gorillas, Getir and Zapp are feeling the pinch as things go back to normal As a result, these firms are now shedding workers which is affecting rapid delivery drivers
Simon Thomas' wife Derrina is pregnant
Mayor launches emergency energy advice service to support Londoners
“As part of our two pronged strategy we are actively providing immedi ate relief, and by working in partnership with local businesses and financial institutions we are putting in place long term sustain able measures so that we can rehabilitate the masses affected by this national tragedy”Inaddition, in the United Kingdom, Bestway Group has launched a fundraising campaign through the country’s largest independent wholesale and retail net work, to complement these measures Lord Choudrey has announced that the Bestway Group will be organising a fundraising dinner on the 23rd of September 2022 at a Central London venue with over 500 people expected to attend In Pakistan, Bestway Group subsidiaries, Bestway Cement Limited and United Bank Limited have set up dedicated medical camps; are distributing food parcels, cooked meals and providing vital banking facilities across flood affected areasLord Choudrey acknowledged the con tribution of the Group’s employees in providing these vital services dur ing these unprecedent ed times and said “none of this would have been possible without our employees who have played and continue to play a pivotal role in these challenging circumstances and worked tirelessly to ensure we are servicing our local communities The health and safety of our employees is of paramount importance, and we are providing all necessary facilities and support to ensure that they remain safe and well I am extremely proud of how they have come together in the face of adversity” As part of its ongoing commitments, Bestway Group under the leader ship of Lord Choudrey has to date donated more than US$ 22 0 million to the health and education sectors in Pakistan During the recent COVID pandemic, the Group donated substantial sums to aid the relief activities In August 2022, the Bestway Foundation renewed a long standing relationship with the University of Bradford by gifting almost half a mil lion pounds to support Master’s scholarships for Pakistani students until 2028This month will wit ness the beginning of the £1 0 million Lord Choudrey Scholarship at the University of CambridgeLordChoudrey has played an instrumental role in the establishment of a dedicated scholarship for Pakistani students at the world class universi ties of Bradford, Oxford, Kent and Cambridge As the Chairman of the Conservative Friends of Pakistan, whilst acknowl edging and appreciating UK Government’s unre lenting support to the people of Pakistan in times of need, Lord Choudrey has been lead ing efforts to increase the British Government’s financial commitment to Pakistan
The May or of Lond on ann oun ced a ne w advi c e s erv ic e , Ener gy A dvi c e Lond on, t o suppor t Lond oner s s tr uggli n g to pay soaring energy bills due to the cost of living crisis Funded by the Mayor, the new service will be run by the Energy Saving Trust with a website and dedicat ed phone line to expertly guide Londoners through managing their bills and help them make their homes more energy effi cientLike the Cost of Living Hub, Energy Advice London will be available to all Londoners but with an energy focus It will com plement the support that the Mayor already offers to vulnerable and low income Londoners through the Warmer Homes Advice Service and the Warmer Homes scheme However, the Mayor has stated that this alone isn’t enough and that Government must immedi ately address the crisis fac ing Londoners and the nation Sadiq is calling for a ‘Lifeline Tariff’ which will allow a minimum floor of domestic energy use before charges begin for the most vulnerable people in London
The ex Sky News pundit Si mon Thoma s announced that his wife Derrina is pregnant with t he ir f ir st c hil d fi ve y ea rs af ter the t rag ic death of his first wife He shared the happy news on Twitter, writ ing: "Fourteen months ago today, @chrissay burn & @brittanysipling sang this beautiful song of blessing over us "There’s another lit tle blessing on its way " In 2017, Simon lost his wife Gemma Thomas to acute myeloid leukaemia, aged just 40 He stated Derrina helped bring his son “back to life” following the death of Gemma
In essence, the approach suggests that parents use different lan guages in ways that make sense to them, rather than follow a set of predeter mined rules There are many clear advantages to learning dif ferent languages, with cog nitive benefits beginning in childhood and persisting throughout our lives Children can also become more empathic because they learn to see things from different perspectives than their own
Multilinguist society is a result of superdiversity
Lord Zameer Choudrey, CBE SI Pk
Grocery drop-off services shedding workforce after pandemic
Some of the biggest names in the on demand grocery sector, which persuaded cash rich investors during the pandemic they were going to replace corner shop pur chases with 15 minute deliveries, are pulling out of cities and towns as consumers desert their apps and doubts grow about the viabil ity of the industry Industry insider Quaid
C
• Kapil
Better late than never
The Malayalees celebrate this festival with unity without any difference of caste and religion Onam is celebrated for ten days Atham is the first day of the festival and Thiruvonam is the final day It is believed by the Keralites that King Mahabali will come on this day to bless the people with hap piness and prosperity The festival is marked by various sports and festivities, including music, dances, games and boat races People put flower mats in front of their houses on this day to welcome King Mahabali Keralites all over the world celebrate this festival with great pomp and gaiety During Onam, traditional rituals are performed followed by a lavish feast with twenty one homemade dishes and a sweet dish (payasam) The state government of Kerala conducts Tourism Week celebrations in connection with Onam, showcasing Kerala's beauty and culture Jubel D'Cruz, Mumbai, India Fi r st pi ct ure of hit and r un dri ve r Raja Kh an has b een pub li sh ed wh o ki ll ed an 'aspiring doctor' in the ci ty R aja Kha n ha s now been sentenced to nine years of jail T h e 3 2 y e a r o l d overtook a bus which Yahya Adan had just got off as he crossed A l u m R o c k R o a d , i n Alum Rock Khan who was travelling at 50mph collided into his 18 year old victim a n d s p e d a w a y f r o m t h e scene Khan was arrested in October 2019 and on Friday, August 26, he was sentenced to nine years in prison and w i l l b e d i s q u a l i f i e d f r o m d r i v i n g f o r f i v e y e a r s o n release Speaking after the case, Detective Constable Jamie S i m o n s a i d : “ T h i s w a s a complex investigation and the family have been wait ing for nearly three years for j u s t i c e , s o I a m r e a l l y pleased to see Khan is now in prison for his actions
Time as they will tell, but unfortunately time is not what Truss has T r u s s c o m e s i n a t p r o b a b l y t h e w o r s t t i m e imaginable The world is in a mess, both financially and in terms of peace and unity Debt and inflation out of control in most western economies Energy costs spiralling out of control because the west decided to make an example of Russia Whilst I am in no position to advise Liz, I guess ‘hum be aadat se majboor’ and so in the spirit of one nation, here are my few thoughts W e h a v e s e v e r a l c h a l l e n g e s t h a t r e q u i r e immediate action She will have to do something dramatic to bring energy costs within the bounds of the majority of people By this I mean not just those who always get relief, but also those in the middle who traditionally don’t measure up for freebies The top 5% are OK, but the rest of us are in severe pain Bringing the cost of living down by any means might be the new mantra Making UK energy independent should be on a war footing The Prime Minister also needs to focus on other bigger issues like getting the Bill of Rights passed urgently Illegal immigration is now taking its toll You can test the patience of the British for only so long, I hope this elastic that is overstretched is not tested, lest it snaps! Continue and force the pace on all aspects of Brexit No holds bar interaction and FTAs with as many nations as possible Sort out taxation and raise the minimum wage to £12 as soon as possible This will puncture Labour’s hot air balloon Stop appeasement politics Nations like India are our future, not Pakistan or China Any British Prime Minister who does not understand this simple fact will end up costing us our future It’s time to challenge all opposition parties to come together to sort out social care We need a system in place that is fit for the next five decades The list can be extended (education, NHS, Law and Order, defence etc), but it gives a flavour of what the majority of British electorate are looking for in a government Truss must also be mindful to maintain quality and diversity at the top of government It has taken the Tories more than 5 decades to be a champion on equalities and diversity It would be an error to allow Labour any opportunity to back on this PM Truss, say little, but what you say, make it happen Don’t forget the enemy of the nation is an opposition that will pounce on anything for their politics Don’t strive for headlines, make the work you do for the nation the headline And remember, you are not Thatcher, you are Truss It’s time to plough your furrow in your own style
First picture of hit and run driver jailed for killing 'aspiring doctor' in Birmingham revealed
It is unfortunate to note that Pakistan has suffered severe and intense floods caused by climate change Added to this, most areas and normal life out there have been severely affected by flooding The East or the West, news of Pakistan having been ravaged by climate change triggered threats has got attention from every nook and cranny Having been hit by floods, Pakistan needs international help, especially in the form of food and money Asian countries and the West should reach out to the affected in Pakistan sooner rather than later True, the international community has been talking about impending threats from climate change First off, just like other Asian nations, Pakistan is a beautiful country located amid rivers, seas and mountains alike Even then, Pakistan has been reeling from unprecedented flood threats now Given the kind of damage caused to Pakistan, it is clear that climate change has been playing havoc with Pakistan Even in India, during this monsoon so many areas have been receiving unprecedented levels of rainfall right up to date this time around Going by all these facts and figures, there has been something on the ground that has to be changed Yes, it is all about the attitude of humans to Mother Earth Of course, climate change can largely be attributable to factors like fuel consumption, pollution, the felling of trees, failure to support more green activities and much more In this context, urbanisation and rigorous use of vehi cles [this has been everywhere these days] has been a huge deterrent to the very existence of humanity on this beautiful planet First up, we should stop using vehicles rigorously No doubt technology had been good, has been good to date and will be good forever However, we the people should switch to moderate/ordinary modes in part like walking, avoiding the rigorous use of automobiles, even turning to public transport facilities like buses and much more Despite hav Coimbatore, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai, I have long been enjoying only public transport modes like a bus in my native areas like Korkai, Tiruchendur, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Nagercoil, Marthandam and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to date So everyone and especially those born after 2000 [who have been blindly fond of luxury things in life] should come forward and think about Mother Earth home to all the beautiful natural sources and resources Apart from teach ers' involvement and parental guidance, an individual com mitment will have a profound impact Finally, the international community and the world media [from all countries] should come forward to create public awareness of small yet beautiful things like cycling, walking [in part] and much more [thereby preventing fuel consumption] This will pave the way for a beautiful world up ahead free from all the crises like climate change P Senthil Sarvana Durai Mumbai, India
My City Hall colleague, Dr Debbie Weekes Bernard, Deputy Mayor for Communities and Justice, commended Brent Council’s inspirational initiative I join her, and Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, in calling upon other local authorities to do the same, as the cost of living reaches a crisis point Krupesh Hirani AM London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow Significance of Onam Onam is a harvest festival celebrated by the Malayali people o f K e r a l a I t i s a s t a t e f e s t i v a l w h i c h f a l l s d u r i n g t h e Malayalam month of Chingam (either in August or in September) according to the Malayalam calendar The festi val commemorates the Vamana avatar of Vishnu and the subsequent homecoming of the legendary King Mahabali
It seems Western nations have come out of self imposed hibernation, realizing the threat posed by Putin’s Russia is insignificant, compared to threats that supper efficient China, under President Xi Jinping who became General Secretary of the Chinese Communist party in 2012 and President of China in 2013 China is progressing by leaps and bounds on every front, economically, in defence and enslaving Asian and African nations by giving them huge loans they could never be able to repay! This could destroy the Western way of life and democ racy inbred in our culture and tradition, going back hundreds of years It is only a question of time before China imposes its rule over Taiwan, if necessary using force But the million dol lar question is what will be West’s answer, response to China’s aggression! The answer is simple, do nothing, as any interven tion may lead to a wider conflict involving Russia and ulti mately NATO, although only America and Britain may be will ing to get involved, not the EU, especially Germany and to a lesser extent France, as EU is more interested in becoming super power on the economic front but leaving the defence to UK and USA, a smart move that helps them to spend as little as they could get away with on defence On the economic front, China dominates Western mar kets to a saturation point, dumping highly subsidized con sumer goods throughout the world but mainly in Europe and America If the West wants to break this stranglehold, then they should move away from China, and shift their factories to India and other South Asian countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lank where labour cost is much lower than in China that is if C h i n a o b s e r v e s i n t e r n a t i o n a l r u l e s a n d s t o p s u b s i d i z i n g exports No one should forget how China overran Tibet with out a murmur from the West and ethnically cleansed Tibet so that Tibetans are a minority in their homeland Moreover, their religious leader, Guru Dalai lama, a saintly figure, is con sidered a terrorist who would face the death sentence if he ever returns to Tibet Let us hope that this is the beginning of awakening on the part of the West!
The week began with the announcement from the Conservative Party that they have elected their third woman candidate to become the party leader This means the Rt Hon Liz truss MP is now the new Prime Mi nister of Great Britain You have to commend the Conservative Party; in modern politics they are the only party in British politics that has promoted and elected women to the highest office Not only that, in recent times it is the only party that has promoted and elected people of colour (PoC) to the top tier of Government Contrast this with the Labour Party where we have the dominance of white males who shout and scream loudly about equalities and diversity, but have consistently ensured no woman or PoC gets anywhere close to the reign of power Liz Truss is our new prime minister and history shows the last time we had a prime minister with the surname beginning with a ‘T’, she went on to become the most formidable leader in the modern era Can the new ‘T’ on the block emulate Thatcher? Or will she plough her own field and still make history?
K A P I L’ S K H
Bhupendra M Gandhi In a bid to tackle child food hunger across north west London, Brent Council has become the first London council to hand its kitchen facilities for free to a food bank London’s Community Kitchen used the space to ensure children who receive free school meals during term time also received nutritious meals in the six week summer holidays
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 D udakia Truss, a 21st C Thatcher? I H A
EU warns Truss over Article 16
i n g b e e n w o r k i n g p r o f e s s i o n a l l y i n v a r i o u s a r e a s l i k e
Tackling child food hunger across north west London
Bru ssels has warn ed Liz Tru s s that the E U wi ll refuse to engage in serious talks on reforms to post Brexit N orthern Ireland tradi ng arrangem ents unless she takes the “load ed gun” of unilateral legis lation off the table The foreign secretary, who might become prime minister next week, is the architect of a bill to scrap t h e s o c a l l e d N o r t h e r n Ireland protocol, a key part of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal I t i s s a i d t h a t T r u s s might override the proto c o l e v e n b e f o r e t h e b i l l becomes law by activating Article 16, the agreement’s emergency provision if she enters No 10 However, EU d i p l o m a t s h a v e w a r n e d that activation by Truss of Article 16 would be consid ered an “provocative act” a n d w o u l d o n l y e s c a l a t e tensions between Brussels and the prospective prime minister
I visited the project myself in August and was impressed by how the hard work of its founder, Taz Khan, is helping many people in my constituency 50,000 vulnerable children were fed this summer through his actions and those of the Council Meals were also distributed to Harrow children
Climate Change in Pakistan: Blame it on you and me
D I
10 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 10 16 Sepember 2022
Woman who died in Bradford flat started the fire deliberately
More than 20 flats in the t hree st orey R edwood Grove block in Bedford were destroyed and much of the building's roof collapsed in the blast on 4 July A woman who died in the explosion was believed to have started the fire herself, police said Police believe resident Reena James forced entry into another flat, doused it with a flammable liquid and set it on fire Ch Supt John Murphy said the 42 year old was "solely responsible" No one else was killed in the blast, although three other people were taken to hospi tal Murphy told BBC news that, “The vapour from this accelerant became so great that, when it was ignited, it caused an explosion fol lowed by the fire which took hold of the building " He added the force was not looking for anyone else in connection with the explosion The residents and family of Ms James con tinue to be supported by police, he added
Women who beat brother and sister with brushes and burned their soles with a met al s poon ha ve b een brought to justice 37 years later Preston Crown Court hea rd t he "cr uel an d unus ual " puni s hmen ts were carried out by sisters Ha mi da B aghd adi an d Hasina Kapadia at a house i n Bi c kn el l Str eet , Blackburn, in October 1985
Shefali Saxena Rakesh Patel, a 47 year old c ommod it y tr ade r took a plunge to visit Greenland Speaking to Asian Voice, he said, “Over a hundred years ago, our grandparents emi grated from India to Africa in search of a better life In 1972, our parents had to flee a good life in Uganda and the journey went through Eur ope and the U ni te d States They finally settled d own i n Norwa y, where both my brother and myself grew up 50 years later, my b roth er an d I c ros s the Greenland ice cap with the g uys i n N orweg ia n Tea m India ” Here’s his interview with Asian Voice where he speaks at length about his journey What inspired you to start this expedition?
Sikh Leader left for dead after “brushing past woman”
Three generations, three journeys
Women accused of historical physical abuse appear before the court
A Sikh leader, not named by the police, was in the centre of Man chester's N or thern Quarter when he was sub jected to the most appalling violence The 62 year old grandfather had taken the same route for 20 years The Sikh priest was left dead in the middle of the street The man accidental ly brushed shoulders with a woman after which her boyfriend approached him and simultaneously savage ly attacked him leaving him with a brain injury One witness told the Manchester Evening News, "When they got to the cor ner, then one of them swung for the other, and then did it again He punched him straight in the face and then got him on the floor, and then walked off ”The CCTV footage of the attack has since been released and Longsight CID are keen to identify the man and woman pictured in the attached images”
I think that I am speaking on behalf of all four of us when I say that with Norway's strong Polar history, there is a will or search for chal lenging extreme win ter conditions We have big Polar names in Norway, like Roald Amundsen and Fritjof Nansen, that went in front and showed that anything is possible The fact that they crossed the South Pole and Greenland 100 years ago tells you that this is possible in 2022 with modern equip mentHow different is this from going on a holiday or a trek? First, this is in more extreme weather conditions than anyone will experience in other places Weather changes fast and we need to be able to read weather pat terns and be prepared to act in any situations that are in front of us Second, this was an unsupported expedition without a guide We had to navigate in snowstorms, 35 degrees with windshields of 30 40m/s Also, there was nowhere to hide if you were tired or wanted a rest We skied for 10 11h a day and most of the food was dry food like porridge, drytech, chocolate, nuts, dry fruit, crisps etc We burned about 5000kcal a day Third, the preparation and training are done 1 2 years in advance There is physical train ing and mental prepara tion individually and with the team We did several smaller expedi tions running up to the 25 days it took us to cross Greenland from the West to the East coastWhat motivated you to cross Greenland? First of all, this expedition was a big team effort Dipesh Patel, Kim Gulbrandsen, Oddbjørn Rundtom and myself are always pushing boundaries and limits We wanted to see how far you can push your body and mental strength
The victims, a girl and boy who were aged 9 and 8 years old at the time, respectively, were the step children of Baghdadi The offences came to light when the girl, now in her 40s reported an incident of historical physical abuse against her and her broth er While the matter was investigated in the past, it wasn’t determined how the injuries were caused and no further action was takenJudge Andrew Jeffries, said: “I can’t remember how long it’s been since I have dealt with a case with such antiquity Baghdadi was ordered to carry out 25 rehabilitation activity days, and Kapadia was placed on a 60 day curfew between the hours of 6pm and 6am UK parents name their child ‘Pakora’
After the expedition, I must say that most people are not aware of how strong the human body is If you set your mind to something and you are prepared both phys ically and mentally you can achieve anything you put your mind to This is something I am try ing to tell my kids, but I think everyone needs to experience it in different chal lenges before they realize it themselves Also, working in a strong team where everyone knows their role in extreme conditions is impor tant What kind of mea sures does one have to take to be safe and suc c es sf ul on suc h missions?Themain thing is preparation From physical and mental conditions to spend ing 100s of hours going through sce narios with the team and discussing how to react in different situations We also had a satellite phone and rifle with us in case of emergency and we got attacked by polar bears Being honest with yourself and the team was also key to success If one got injured it would have put the whole team at risk
A child born in the UK has b ee n na med af te r the i mmensely popular Indian snack ‘Pakora’ According to the news agency ANI, news of the amusing name was announced to the internet audience by The Captian's Table, a famous restaurant in IrelandNetizens took the com ment section to extend warm congratulations to the couple Many saw the funny side of it and got involved in some fun banter A user wrote, "Just that kid should not come out in rainy sea sons if he's in India sab kha jayenge " "I am truly proud today! Baby Pakoda!" wrote anotherThe post shared a photo of the newborn and a photo of the bull receipt Pakora (fritter) is a piece of veg etable or meat, coated in seasoned batter and deep fried
11AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www asian voice com 10 16 September 2022
Chennai hosts same sex marriage
TTD told to pay devotee Rs 50,00,000
SCRUTATOR’S
The cops arrested a 19 year old youngster for raping the15 year old girl and impregnating her She delivered a baby at the hospital “The boy identified as Vishal Vasava has been booked for rape as the girl was a minor After she delivered a baby at a private hospital, the authorities there informed the police following which we filed a case of rape,” said L B Tadvi, inspector, Waghodia According to the police, Vishal who was also studying in the school met the girl some time back He convinced her to get into physical relationship with him Vishal got into physical relations with the girl a couple of times following which she got pregnant But the girl hid her pregnancy from her family “She kept attending her school for a few months despite being pregnant No one suspected anything as she used to wear loose clothes They may not have approached the police fearing social stigma,” Tadvi added (The Times of India) Thief seeks e payment to return mobiles
A consumer court in Tamil Nadu has directed the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams to either facilitate “Vastralankara seva” or pay Rs 50,00,000 to a devotee within a year It is the most sought after and costliest Arjitha seva at the Tirumala temple The weekly special seva is held every Friday at the hill temple K R Hari Bhaskar, a devotee from Salem, had booked a Vastralankara seva by paying Rs 12,250 to TTD in 2006
The TTD allotted July 10, 2020 as the date of the seva to Bhaskar, which was 14 years after his booking In the meanwhile, the temple closed in March 2020 for 80 days following the outbreak of Covid 19 and the conduct of all Arjitha sevas were stopped, including the Vastralankara
The police have arrested a mobile thief for demanding money from victims on his digital payment account, an official said Accused, Wasim Qureshi, a history sheeter, recently stole four mobile phones of his co workers in a bakery in Mumbai on the first day of his job, the official said Later, one of the co workers managed to get Qureshi's phone number and contacted him Qureshi told the victim that he would return their mobile phones once they transfer money to his digital payments account “The accused started calling up the victims every day and kept asking for money Fed up with his demand, one of the victims lodged an FIR Qureshi was tracked down to Thane and nabbed (Agency) Man returns home after spending 28 years in Pak jail
Undertrial cuts cake in police van, viral video invites probe A video of an
to initiate an inquiry since for anyone in custody, food from outside is not allowed without court permission The undertrial, Roshan Jha, lives in Ulhasnagar and is said to be politically connected He has seven serious criminal cases registered against him Recently, a Thane police team produced him before the Kalyan sessions court A source said that the police van carrying Jha and other accused was about to leave the premises to take them back to jail when over 50 of Jha’s supporters appeared on the scene with a birthday cake, which Jha proceeded to cut It was his supporters who recorded the event on their phones, later posting one of the videos on social media In the video, other undertrials and policemen can be seen next to Jha SP (Thane Rural) confirmed that an inquiry has been initiated A senior IPS officer said that in such cases, if cops are found providing preferential treatment to undertrials, they can be transferred or suspended after departmental inquiry In 2018, the then Thane police commissioner suspended a sub inspector and four constables for allowing gangster Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar to have biryani in a car during a hospital visit (Agency)
The TTD then sent a communique to Bhaskar asking him either to book any desired slot during the daily VIP break darshan, or seek a refund But Bhaskar asked the temple body to reschedule his seva date to any other date convenient to them even a year later The TTD administration, however, made it clear that it would not be possible to reschedule the seva, and again asked him to seek a refund Then he moved the consumer court against the temple authorities (Agency) Controversy over Savarkar's escape Controversy continues to dog the rtextbookevisionexerciseundertaken by the Karnataka Vgovernment,withcertainsectionsinalessononinayakDamodar
On her wedding day, Subiksha Subramani sat on her father’s lap in true Tamil Brahmin style and exchanged garlands with Tina Das, her partner And after a ‘traditional’ wedding in Chennai recently, they walked hand in hand, as wife and wife “It was everything we had dreamed of, but never thought possible,” said Subiksha, daughter of Tamil Brahmin parents settled in Calgary, Canada Her partner, Tina, hails from a conservative Hindu family in Bangladesh, and lives in Calgary too “After more than six years of soldiering through, we had our loved ones standing by us, cheering for us and fulfilling every ritual as per our customs We are blessed,” said Subiksha, a chartered accountant who identifies herself as a bisexual She opened up to her parents when she was 19 “I grew up in Madurai and later in Qatar It was only after moving to Canada that we even learned about the queer community,” says Subiskha’s mother Subiksha countered every ‘why’ from her parents, with ‘why not’, and didn’t stop until they saw where she was coming from The parents turned to counselling and finally their worldview changed and consented to the same sex marriage (Agency) Six pilgrims crushed to death
12 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 10 16 Sepember 2022
Six pilgrims going on foot to attend the Bhadarvi Poonam fair in temple town Ambaji, were crushed to death under an SUV whose driver lost control and ran them over, recently The accident occurred near Krishnapura village of Aravalli’s Malpur taluka Police said that the SUV driver possibly dozed off briefly and hit an electric pole first He lost control and rammed the victims from behind Seven people were also injured in the incident The SUV had a registration plate of Maharashtra and police said it was possible that the driver had not slept for several hours The devotees were natives of Kalol in Panchmahal district and part of a 250 members group that had started for Ambaji on August 31 Every year, thousands of pilgrims go walking for the fair from various parts of the state This year, the five day fair began on September 5, the full moon day The injured, including the SUV driver, were admitted to hospitals in Modasa and Himmatnagar (The Times of India)
Hullabaloo over a Pakistani jersey
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Sanyam Jaiswal, 42, reached late for the India Pakistan Asia Cup T20 match in Dubai recently A die hard India fan, he had travelled all the way from Bareilly in UP to UAE to catch a glimpse of his cricket heroes. At the packed stadium, he looked for an Indian team jersey but they were all sold out There was a Pakistani jersey on sale, though, and he bought it He had little idea about the storm it would trigger back home. As pictures of “an Indian man supporting Pakistan” went viral in his hometown, Jaiswal's family started getting threats Some tagged him in tweets and others appealed to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, senior police officers and BJP politicians to order an FIR against him. A distress call went out to Jaiswal from his family to make his stand clear urgently He did Jaiswal said, "Like many others, I am, of course, a supporter of the Indian cricket team I had planned to watch the match from the stadium with my friend After I failed to get an Indian jersey, I picked up a Pakistan jersey, which was available." Sanyam said,“I thought I would tease Pakistani fans by shouting ‘Hindustan zindabad’ while wearing their national colours I didn’t know such a harmless thing would result in misery for me ” (Agency)
and sentenced him to life term Yadav was released recently by the Pakistan Supreme Court and sent to India on August 28 Rekha used to send him rakhi every year addressed to Kot Lakhpat jail even when he had gone incommunicado since 2013, hoping and praying for his safety and well being Though free finally, Yadav’s ordeal, however, is far from over He is anxious and worried about his livelihood and has made an appeal to the Gujarat government and citizens for help Yadav said, “In 1992, after serving two years on foreign soil, I planned to return to India in June 1994, but before making it to my motherland, I was picked up by Pakistani agencies in 1994 and produced before a court For two long years, I was interrogated by various agencies ” A Pakistan court sentenced him to life imprisonment in 1996 and since then he was lodged in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore (The Times of India)
Savarkar in the Class 8 Kannada textbook drawing criticism as an attempt to “glorify the freedom fighter” The textbook in question is a second language book and is not yet available for public view on the website The controversial passage reads: “There was not even a keyhole in the cell where Savarkar was incarcerated But, bulbul birds used to visit the room Savarkar used to sit on their wings and fly out, and visit the motherland every day ” (Agency)
15 year old girl delivers baby, boy arrested for rape Police in Vadodara got a bizarre case when officials of a private hospital informed them about the minor girl’s rape
It was a belated Rakshabandhan gift for Ahmedabad resident Rekha whose brother Kuldeep Yadav returned to home after serving 28 years in a Pakistani jail Yadav, now 59, was arrested by Pakistani security agencies in 1994 on charges of espionage
As Meghan and Harry land in UK, royal insiders hit back at 'tragic and delusional' couple's sniping
Clarity needed over number of struggling London families missing out on healthy food scheme
Beyond the Classroom
In t the f final e ed itorial a about o our u ni q u e s c h o o l, P ard a d a Pard ad i E Edu catio nal S Society (PPES) , i in U ttar P radesh, w we l look at t th e a ad v a nt ag es b bey o nd ed u c ati o n e enj o y ed b y o u r students For context, the surrounding villages are highly patriarchal, have low literacy rates, and rank bottom on most human development indicators. Crimes against women here are the highest in India – a sad consequence of the lack of education.Girlsare seen as a family burden: investing in their education is never a priority and they are deprived of the most basic rights. Ironically, education is the only thing that can break this vicious cycle of ignorant discrimination.
13AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com 10 16 September 2022
The NHS is still unable to confirm how many eligible London households have been able to access the Healthy Start scheme, since it was fully digitised in April This came in response to a Freedom of Information (FO I) r eque st from L abour ’s Lon don Assembly Economy Spokesperson, Marina Ahmad AM Ms Ahmad has warned that it is likely that tens of thousands of struggling families with young children in the capital are missing out on vital financial support that could help them with the spiralling costs of buying healthier food and vitamins Healthy Start is aimed at helping low income expectant mothers who are more than ten weeks pregnant and parents and caregivers responsible for at least one child under the age of four Claimants can receive between £4 25 and £8 50 a week to go towards the costs of fruit, vegetables, vita mins, milk and formula The latest available NHS data, which only goes up to March 2022, shows that the average uptake rate of the Healthy Start pre paid card and paper vouchers amongst eligi ble families in London was at 63% 3.5 tonnes of laughing gas canisters collected during Notting Hill Carnival clean up F o ll o wi ng t he N ot t ing H il l Car niv al , st r eet cleaners have col l ect ed a “mind b lo wing ” 3 5 tonnes of laugh ing gas canisters wit h t he st r eet nam e “h ip py c rack” , causi ng del ays t o t he clean up process SUEZ UK said its teams have been working relent lessly to clear up the area and have faced “unprece dented challenges this year due to police barricades and a high volume of nitrous oxide cannisters which must be separated by hand for safety purposes” Gary O’Hagan, who is in charge of the Notting Hill clean up operation for the waste management company, said, “The canisters have to be hand separated from the general waste as they can explode if compacted, posing a serious health and safety risk “This has s i g n i f i c a n t l y slowed down the operation and we will have to re think the collection method next year By Friday it is likely that we will have filled four skip containers with over a thousand or more canisters ”
Type 1 diabetes patients unable to afford care
PPES believes that education is more than merely attending school and passing exams. Our holistic approach addresses our girls’ overall development, allowing them to become fulfilled, competent adults, making positive contributions to their communities and society. Two of our senior girls take up the story. Aditi Tyagi says, “Although academics are extremely important, PPES believes that a child’s overall development goes way beyond this. “Before coming to school, I was taught that having a period was a dirty thing: I wasn’t allowed in the kitchen or outside. Only when I started at PPES, did I start using sanitary napkins and now a menstrual cup. I’ve learned the importance of menstrual hygiene and, most importantly, that it’s a normal, regular thing which all girls go through and which we don’t need to be ashamed of.”
Dr Partha Kar OBE
The festering Transatlantic 'cold war' between the Windsors and the Sussexes heated as palace insiders hit back at 'delusional' Meghan and Harry's 'unsustainable' sniping at the monarchy and revealed the toll it is taking on the Queen This week, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex opened up a new rift in their feud with the Royal Family when former Suits actress Meghan spoke of 'truth bombs' in her new Spotify podcast and in an astonishing US inter view where she said she had been compared to South African hero Nelson Mandela and claimed that Harry had 'lost' his father Charles during Megxit One disgruntled Palace insider told The Sunday Times: 'Everyone hoped they would go off to be financially independent, pursue their philanthropic endeavours and be happy and that in going their own way, they might no longer feel the need to rail against the system as much as they still do 'But then the star power of them requires an association with the Royal Family, and the fuel on those flames is the family discord '
“PPES takes care of my every need. Our problems are understood and solutions provided. We are given medical support as well. This is not just my school, but my family”.Another senior, Shrishti Sharma, highlights PPES’ ability to help students deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life: “Today I am a strong and self-confident girl, well aware of my rights and able to fight for them. I used to be introverted and never used to answer back, even if what I was being told was wrong. After years of training at PPES, I never accept anything wrong and stand up for my rights and dignity. PPES is all about taking control of our lives and standing up for justice”. It’s clear from these eloquent testimonies that education at PPES goes way beyond the classroom. Our proud young women are equipped with values and knowledge for life. PPES’ transformative holistic education has helped to spark a revolution. Pardada PPardadi EEducational SSociety UUK iis a rregistered UUK ccharity ((Charity nno 1166879) aand ccan bbe ccontacted tthrough email aat iinfo@pardadapardadi uk org; phone aat 0079 003329311; ppostal aaddress 225 Sweetcroft LLane, UUxbridge, UUB10 99LE
Shefali Saxena Patients may not be able to afford devices which are now part and parcel of managing Type One diabetes treat ment approved by NHS Speaking to Asian Voice, Dr Partha Kar OBE, Diabetes co lead, NHS said, “About 70% to 75% of people with type one diabetes already on it Everybody's getting it and it is funded by the NHS But there are a couple of regions mostly based around the East of England, one being Norfolk, the other being Cambridge, which is unable to do that He further explained that people who have been self funding these devices will not be able to look after their Type One diabetes for too long amid the ongoing cost of living and rising energy bill crisis Dr Kar added, “I got emails from people saying, well, now we are not in a position to fund it, because everything's become so expensive Their care is dropping So now, people are having to make a choice between what they can buy That's because of the rising costs bills and everything People who could afford it before (it's not extremely cheap for everybody) shelled about £100 £250 a month Not every body's not in a position to afford it We are trying to sort it out with a lot of people We'll see where we go So that's the idea We have flagged it to Norfolk team They will send it to their consultants, but in short, yes, the rise in price is having an impact on their lives that they can't sell on their device anymore and thereby the care is dropping ”
Created in close consultation with local communities, the galleries will make the museum a cultural corner stone as Bradford becomes UK City of Culture in 2025 Sound and Vision also complements the city’s ambitious ten year culture strategy Culture is our Plan and supports the wider region’s commitment to building a digital economy The National Science and Media Museum explores the science and cul ture of image and sound technologies and their impact on our lives The museum is also home to Pictureville, Yorkshire’s biggest independent cine ma Switched On, the museum’s cur rent exhibition celebrates the last 100 years of broadcasting innovations as a part of the Broadcast 100 programme Broadcast 100 is a bumper year of exhibitions, special displays, events and digital content across the Science Museum Group to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the BBC and the 40th anniversary of Channel 4 The Science Museum Group has also digi tised 1,000 new objects from the BBC Heritage Collection to continue to tell engaging stories about the broad caster
Lopa Patel MBE at the Science Museum Group India Lates' event 2022 Lord Parkinson, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Arts and Lopa Patel MBE at the Science Museum Group India Lates event 2022 Lopa Patel MBE with British Asian artist Chila Kumari Burman MBE at the Science Museum Group 'India Lates' event 2022
This investment will make sure we support women facing these problems away from crime and into the help they need to get their lives back on track Tackling the root causes of female offending and providing vulnerable women with early support is a key part of the Female Offender Strategy, with many women who commit low level crimes being driven by underlying fac tors such as substance abuse, trauma or
Women lose five and a half weeks of sleep per year due to menopause, research reveals Wome n g oin g through menopause lose an average of more than five and a half week s of s le ep per ye ar, according to new national researchThestudy, conducted by sleep experts at Silentnight, was commissioned to lay bare the true impact that menopause is having on sleep It found that nearly two thirds of women (64%) going through menopause suffer from disrupted sleep The survey further revealed that women going through menopause wake up an average of 2 7 times per night, losing an average of two hours and thirty six minutes of sleep That adds up to more than five and a half weeks of lost sleep over a year, and 22 weeks of lost sleep weeks throughout an average woman’s menopause According to the experts at Silentnight, the UK’s most trusted sleep brand, changes in hormone levels as we age can cause sleep disturbances, and sleep dis turbances can alter hor mone levels, turning into a vicious cycle Sleeplessness can affect around ten different hor mones and shifts in these hormones can cause changes in appetite, mental wellbeing, cardiac health and even fertility
Independent expert panel appointed for Future of Compute Review
The panellists are: Professor Anne Trefethen, FREng, Pro Vice Chancellor and Professor of Scientific Computing, University of Oxford Dr Graham Spittle CBE, Dean of Innovation at Edinburgh University Shaheen Sayed, Senior Managing Director, Accenture UK and Ireland Sue Daley, Director of Technology and Innovation, TechUK
W omen whos e c ri mes ha ve b ee n f ue lled b y addi cti on , mental he alth issues and domestic violence will be better supported to stop reoffending thanks to new government funding With over 60 per cent of women in prison having experienced domestic abuse and 50 per cent having drug addictions almost £21 million will be invested in women’s services to tackle the causes of female offending and cut crimeOrganisations such as Working Chance, the UK’s only charity dedicat ed to getting women with convictions into work, support offenders who are serving a community sentence or have recently been released from prison and may be at risk of reoffending This tailored support, which can range from help to find a job or support with drug and alcohol abuse, can pro vide stability in getting their lives back on track ultimately helping to keep the public safe Without specialist support in the community, statistics show that half of women who have been in prison will go on to reoffend, contributing towards the £18 billion cost of reoffending to the Ataxpayerfurther £3 6 million will be allo cated to help local services, such as mental health support and drug experts, work more closely together to support female offenders This will include funding local coordinator roles, who would help to bring govern ment and third sector organisations together to provide a better service Prisons Minister Stuart Andrew said:Female offenders are often driven into crime by poor mental health, drug addiction or abuse
The research found over four fifths of women (82%) going through menopause suffers from body tempera ture issues, with 61% experi encing night sweats, 41% suffering from insomnia and 23% enduring heart pal pitationsIt’snot just at night that menopause has an impact, with 67% of women reveal ing they were more tired during the daytime than they ordinarily would be when going through menopauseSilentnight’s research also found there is work to be done when it comes to helping women as they go through menopause with over half of women (55%) agreeing that there is a stig ma in talking about it Just 21% of women believe there is enough menopause related support, while 42% did not seek out a professional to help them through the process Women cited several personal problems as a result of menopause, with 36% suffering from confi dence issues, three in ten (30%) experiencing relation ship problems and a quarter (25%) having issues with their social life
Four e xpe rts have b ee n appointed to s upport an external review of the UK’s advanced computing capa bilities, as part of plans to turn the country into a science and technology super powerThe Future of Compute Review, launched during London Tech Week, is being led by the Professor of Information Engineering at the University of Cambridge, Professor Zoubin Ghahramani, who is a world leading expert in the field of machine learn ing The four experts, who combine a range of exper tise from research, busi ness and finance, will form a panel to support Professor Ghahramani and explore what is needed to ensure the UK has the computing capacity need ed to remain at the fore front of innovation The panel will oversee the evidence submitted to support the review’s find ings, which will inform the government’s approach in this important area
14 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly 10 16 September 2022 www.asian-voice.com
National Science and Media Museum appoints Lopa Patel MBE as Chair of Advisory Board
difficulty in getting a job
While women who commit the most serious crimes will always be sent to prison, custody should always be a last resort On top of the £24 million funding, the government is also pilot ing a £10 million Residential Women’s Centre in Swansea, to reduce the num ber of women sent to prison Female offenders at the centre will receive one to one mental health ther apy and counselling to address their trauma from previous abuse and sup port to overcome substance misuse This is alongside plans to pilot a new Problem Solving Court targeted at women with complex needs, including drug and alcohol abuse Female offenders sentenced at the court will see the same judge or bench of magistrates for regular reviews, receive intensive support and supervi sion from the Probation Service and have access to services for drug and alcohol abuse, and support with hous ing, training and employment Since 2018, almost £55 million has been invested to support female offenders New specialist staff have been recruited to support pregnant women and mothers in prison, and charities and community organisations have also received funding to keep ser vices running
Millions invested to support female offenders
The Nat ion al Sc ie nc e and Med ia Museum, part of the Science Museum Group, has app oi n ted di gi tal en trep ren eur, Lopa Pate l MBE as Chai r of the m us e um ’s Adv is ory Board She becomes the first Asian woman to Chair the Advisory Board, with the museum entering an exciting period of change as plans coalesce for Sound an d Vi si on, t he mus eum’s major re developmen t project, a nd Bradford City of Culture 2025 Lopa has been a Trustee of the Science Museum Group since 2016 and was re appointed by the Prime Minister for a second term of four years in 2020 She has been involved with helping the Group deliver the strategy to digitise its extensive collec tion of seven million objects and exe cute its long term ‘Inspiring Futures’ strategy to grow science capital in young people and adults across the UK and around the world Speaking of her appointment Lopa said, “I am delighted to be taking up the reins as Chair at this exciting time for the National Science and Media Museum We have ambitious plans for new Sound and Vision galleries at the museum which will deliver a breath taking space to showcase one of the greatest collections and world changing sound and vision technolo gies, as well as an activity programme to inspire one of the most diverse and fastest growing cities in Britain I have been enthusiastically welcomed by many of Bradford’s leading influ encers and look forward to working with the museum’s Executive Team and many more people in the city” Jo Quinton Tulloch, Director of the National Science and Media Museum added, “I am delighted to welcome Lopa as Chair of the National Science and Media Museum’s Advisory Board Her tech nology, media and digital perspective will add to our ambition for the Sound and Vision galleries to tell stories of human ingenuity, connecting historic technologies to people’s lives now and in the future Bradford is a corner stone of West Yorkshire’s creative hub and having a media entrepreneur on our board will help ensure the muse um is a centre of media and digital heritage for Britain” The appointment comes as the National Science and Media Museum begins to develop two new permanent galleries as part of its ambitious Sound and Vision project Currently in the development phase thanks to support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Sound and Vision will inspire future generations, by provid ing wider access to world class collec tions of photography, radio, film, TV, sound and digital technologies
“My body of work does tend to have many exciting interconnected themes. Art needs to ask big questions about idealism and political systems and how these sit with emotional truth"
'I’m like the best version of brown I’m not even into Pakistanis and I’d probably hook up with myself ' Zaf a r f l ee s ho mop hob ic persecution in Pakistan to see k a sy l um in t he U K Londoner Bilal (or Billy as he prefers to be known) is ground down by years of Grindr and the complexity of being a brown gay man Their worlds are about to change forever Moving through casual hook ups to the UK’s hos tile environment, Waleed Akhtar’s sharp witted and devastating new play charts the parallel lives of two gay Pakistani men This story of who wins in the luck of the life’s draw is a new Bush Theatre commission Deirdre O’Halloran, Literary Manager of the Bush Theatre said, ‘The P Word is the story of an unlikely friendship in a time where it feels like we're all increasingly divided, there is something quietly revolu tionary about the people who manage to reach across barricades and find ways of communicating The play started out as a seed com mission at the Bush, with Waleed writing a full first draft in just a week and the team was so excited and inspired by its activism, truthfulness, and hopeful ness It’s a queer story that could not be more relevant to Britain today ’ £110m fund to level up rural communities unveiled Ru ral bu si nes se s su ch as farms, wedding venues and pubs will benefit from up to £110 mi ll io n o f f un ding being allocated today to sup port countryside communi ties across England The funding will be invested in projects which will boost productivity and create rural job opportuni ties These could include farm businesses looking to diversify by opening a farm shop, wedding venue or tourism facilities or improvements to village halls, pubs and other rural hubs for community uses The investment will be based on local priorities and support investment in pro jects such as grants for: converting farm build ings to other business rusesural tourism, such as investments in visitor accommodationcapitalgrantsfor provi sion of gigabit capable digital infrastructure at hubs such as village halls, pubs and post offices for community usecapital grants to develop, restore or refurbish local natural, cultural and heritage assets and sites creation of new foot paths and cycle paths, particularly in areas of health need, or capital grants to enable people to develop volunteering and social action pro jects locally The Rural England Prosperity Fund worth up to £110 million will be delivered by eligible local authorities and give local leaders a greater say in investment than they previously had under EU schemes It will be in addition to the £2 6 bil lion allocated via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to support levelling up across the UK The fund will be part of the UKSPF and is a rural top up for eli gible local authorities
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Circling back to today’s British politics, for example, people want better overall quality of life and leadership that acknowledges this The actress continued: “Part of the reason there was such an extreme xenophobic right wing resurgence is because many cannot make ends meet They’re not experiencing the benefit of grand ideas Multiculturalism is great but what do we do when inflation does not reflect real wages, the gap increas ing over decades now and itself a marker of the huge disjunct between rich and poor We need to tackle functioning of schools and the NHS and the cost of living at the moment Big thinking becomes a luxury, especially if it doesn’t deliver what is it really for and who does it represent?”
James Cleverly joined a Liz Truss led government as foreign secretary The for mer UK education secretary replaces the post previously held by current prime min isterKTrusswasi Kwarteng has been appointed chancellor of the exchequer Kwarteng, a longtime loyal supporter of Liz Truss, was the former secretary of state for busi ness, energy and industrial strategy He will be replac ing Nadhim Zahawi, now the second shortest serving chancellor since the start of the 20th century with his departure Thérèse Coffey has been appointed secre tary of state for health and social care and deputy prime minister Coffey was previ ously the former work and pensions secretary Defence secretary Ben Wallace will be remaining in his post under a Liz Truss led gov ernment Brandon Lewis has been appointed lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice
15AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly Amara Karan: Cosmopolitan Candour (Part Two) www.asian-voice.com 10 16 September 2022
AMARA KARAN
World premiere of Waleed Akhtar’s THE P WORD, at Bush Theatre
Suella Braverman becomes the third Home Secretary of Asian origin
Sunetra Senior In effect, there must be a ter ra formin g of our very con s ciousn ess: in n er co nc eptu al revol ut ion t h at m an ifest s t he workable infrastructural equality Of course, here, Amara’s current project, sci fi series Moonhaven, which premiered on AMC + this sum m er, is ve ry mu ch in t he metaphorical loop; possibly even on top it! In Peter Ocko’s visionary socio political drama, the versatile actress plays Indira Mare, envoy of t he tra ns ce nd en t A I, I O; a n omnipresent technology responsi ble for running a Utopian colony that futuristically thrives upon the moon: “in that community, there is complete regulation of growth and the environ ment, from the grass and water to gravity and even monitoring mental health The IO can track where you are and assess the condition of your physiology, including your feelings e g , your heartbeat may be used to gauge emotion and it can even provide therapy and aid to help should you need it ” The show’s premise is the reality of a full blown apocalyptic earth where the secrets to harmo n io us s ust ain abl e exist en ce are believed to have been achieved on this lunar community far away: “I am the diplomat sent on behalf of the company that has created and piloted the technology on the moon with its colony hav ing been a hundred years in the making. As an intermediary I have been trained in the way of the cul ture and my mission is to go to Moonhaven as the bridge who brings back the vital tech to earth to see if we can rescue humanity ” This speaks directly to the current global green and political crisis where the compelling show was recently commissioned for a sec ond series Within the space age model of Moonhaven, there is also interestingly the elimination of tribalism and inception of multi cultural society of sorts due to the fact that everyone in the colony raises each other’s children as the societal norm The adoptive rela tionships are referred to as ‘Water Brother and Sister’ However, brewing hotly beneath is the inherent conflict between the par allel cultures of the derelict earth and trailblazing moon. The insti gating incident is “an unusual murder in Moonhaven that’s almost unheard of” on the same day that Indira arrives to retrieve the computerised order This is reflective of the con temporary ideological rift occur ring in real time between two per ceived oppositional sides across the planet In this sense, the series goes beyond the dilemma of cos mopolitanism to highlighting the existential struggle of realising the wider progressive ideal for which it is a flagship Amara commented: “My body of work does tend to have many exciting interconnect ed themes Art does need to ask big questions about idealism and political systems and how these sit with emotional truth At the moment, we are lacking a raft of radical ideas and need some very interesting thoughts to change the contentious course of where we’re at Many different areas require revolutioniza tion e.g., education and farming to class inequal ity, energy consumption and distribution of food Moonhaven delves into this kind of experiment imaginatively to give us something to chew on We are in the position of trying to provide an immense weighty answer, whether or not the fictive creation of Moonhaven succeeds The shows asks the question of our time: How are we going to live? Sometimes a beautiful vision is not enough: what are the many social challenges we need to prop erly consider to reach it?”
Indeed, much of the cultural ten sion in the world of Moonhaven appears to be psychological; it exists as the troublesome divide between impossible perfectionism and isolated desperation the shared conscious and unconscious expressed in two physicalised public spheres The message seems not so much how two con trasting cultures can co exist as the mutually affirmative need for those commonly human to recali brate and form an all encompass ing complete paradigm of well being together This is to be cosmically in tune There must be spiritual reconcilia tion between beatific nirvanas and difficult lived reality to create a balanced paradigm of society over one of fragile hope To be Continued Next Week! FB: https://ms my.facebook.com/TheGoodStuffAMCPlus/videos/moonhavenmoonterms/3372355036423587/T:@amarakaran
Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss at the leadership race announcement on Monday
TRUSS WINS, RISHI INSPIRES
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The Queen has held an audience with new Prime Minister Liz Truss
16 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly 10 16 September 2022 www.asian-voice.com
In her first speech as the PM, Liz Truss said she is confident the U K can “ride out the storm” and listed tackling energy prices, securing energy supply and improving Britain’s health ser vices as her top priorities “I will deal with the energy crisis caused by Putin’s war,” Truss told reporters on the steps of 10 Downing Street It is reported that Rishi Sunak, is not expected to be offered a job in PM Truss’s first CabinetWhile Truss won, Sunak’s defeat put an end to a big dream for the British Indian community But the diaspora here and across the globe beamed with pride and drew inspiration from Mr Sunak’s resilienceLordRami Ranger CBE post ed a heart warming tweet, saying, “Great credit to Rishi Sunak for running an effective campaign You have inspired billions of peo ple worldwide with your determi nation and commitment to the nation Better luck next time ” NISAU UK Chairperson Saman Arora further resonated with the sentiment of Sunak’s supporters in the community She tweeted: “Liz Truss many congratulations on behalf of NISAU UK may you lead this great United Kingdom to pros perity Rishi Sunak thank you for inspiring millions & showing us the art of the possible Onwards & upwards!” Home Secretary quits Soon after the election of the new PM, Home Secretary Priti Patel who was not expected to keep her job in the new cabinet, sent her resignation to Boris Johnson, saying that she will extend her full support towards Truss and said, “It is my choice to continue my public service to the country and the Witham con stituency from the backbenches, once Liz formally assumes office and a new home secretary is appointed ” Maintaining her loy alty to Johnson, Patel was one of the few cabinet ministers who did not declare their support for either Ms Truss or her leadership rival, Rishi Sunak Jo hnso n ’ s last speech On Tuesday morning, Boris Johnson delivered his final speech as the Prime Minister outside No 10 and later flew to Scotland to offer his full resignation to the Queen Johnson said “this is it folks” and took an indirect dig at the Tories of “changing the rules halfway through” The same afternoon, Liz Truss met the Queen at the royal family’s Scottish home to be asked by the 96 year old monarch to form a governmentAdaunting list of problems for any post war leader in Britain awaits Truss, as inflation hits double digits, the cost of energy soars and the Bank of England warns of a lengthy recession by the end of this year In his last speech, Johnson reiterated that Britain would con tinue to have that economic strength to give people the cash they need to get through this energy crisis that has been caused by Putin’s vicious war “And I know that Liz Truss and this compassionate Conservative Government will do everything we can to get people through this crisis And this country will endure it and we will win And if Putin thinks he can succeed by blackmailing or bullying the British people then he is utterly deluded,” he said What Truss’ win means fo r Indi a Boris Johnson was hailed as India’s ‘Jamai’ (son in law) while he was married to his Indian origin wife Marina Wheeler and his foreign relations with India have been warm for the longest time Had Sunak won, being the Indian tycoon NR Narayan Murthy’s son in law and as someone whose grand parents hailed from Punjab (British India), the possibilities to further strengthen the UK India partner ship would have been limitless However, Liz Truss has devel oped a strong relationship with India both as Foreign Secretary and previously as Trade Secretary A source close to Asian Voice told us that Truss is ‘well placed to fol low up on the UK India partner ship and continue to prioritise a Free Trade Agreement if not by Diwali then certainly in the com ing year ’ “Rishi Sunak fought a strong campaign and the result was clos er than expected, albeit a clear win for Liz Truss Sunak should be appointed to a senior position in the Cabinet, ideally as Foreign Secretary, but it doesn’t look like Liz Truss will be big enough to offer him such a role The policy differences between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were less on UK India relations and more on domestic economic policy where Rishi wanted to prioritise tackling inflation and help on the cost of living rather than tax cuts It feels like Liz Truss is now pivoting towards some of the policies advocated by Rishi Sunak, having won the member ship vote,” the source told the newsweeklyPrimeMinister Modi’s mes sage of congratulations to Liz Truss, expressing hopes for strengthening the bilateral rela tionship, demonstrates that there is a willingness on both sides Britain and India’s respective stances on the Russia Ukraine war have always been a matter of scrutiny by the public and press It is imperative to note that among the three official visits that Liz Truss made to India as the Foreign Secretary of UK, the one in March 2022 awkwardly coincided with the presence of her Russian counterpart, Sergei LavrovDuring her India visit in March end, Minister of External Affairs of India, S Jaishankar and Truss discussed the divergences between India and the UK on the issue of sanctions on Russia Responding to questions on India buying oil from Russia at discounted rates, Truss said: “I have outlined the UK’s approach to sanctions and the fact that we are ending our dependence on Russian oil by the end of this year I think it is very important that we respect other countries’ decisions about the issues they faceIndia is a sovereign nation I am not going to tell India what to do T”he British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis said, “Liz Truss will further strengthen the UK India com prehensive strategic partnership She knows India well and has vis ited 3 times in the last 18 months She re kickstarted our trade negotiations which are now in full swing” Now i s the time for the party to reunite Commenting, C o ns e r va t i ve P ar t y C h ai r m a n t h e R t H on A n d re w St e ph en s o n M P who resigned later on Tuesday, said: “I’d like to congratulate Liz Truss on her election as our new leader This contest has shown the strength of our Party across the UK, with twelve sold out hus tings filling concert halls, hippo dromes and arenas and over six hundred questions answered Now is the time for our Party to unite behind our new leader and get on with the important work of delivering for the people of our country and tackling the chal lenges ahead ” L or d D ol a r Po pa t , P ri me M i n i s t er ’ s T ra d e E nv oy t o Rwanda, Uganda and DRC said, “After a close leadership contest, Liz Truss has won and will be our next Prime Minister During her time as Secretary of State for International Trade and Foreign Secretary, she built up a good relationship with the Trade Minister of India, Piyush Goyal This will help the UK to conclude the negotiations of a Free Trade Agreement with India which will significantly strengthen our rela tionship and close cooperation Liz Truss will continue to strengthen the relationship we have with India and has been a supporter calling India a ‘great friend, economic powerhouse and the world’s largest democra cy ’ I have every confidence that her premiership will see us con clude a trade deal with India and continue to build on the partner ship we have with India We may not have seen the election of the first British Indian Prime Minister this time but with many British Indians including Suella Braverman and Ranil Jayawardena who are tipped to serve in the next cabinet rising up, I am confident that we are not far from that happening Rishi’s campaign has been an inspiration to British Indians as well as people from other immigrant back grounds as he has shown that we are able to partici pate at all levels of society I wish Liz Truss all the best as she takes on the difficult task of being Prime Minister and look forward to work ing with her and the new cabinet ” In an official statement, Ameet J ogia MBE, Reena R an ger OBE and N ayaz Q azi, from the C on s e rv a ti v e F ri e n ds of I nd i a said, “Conservative Friends of India are delighted to congratu late and welcome Liz Truss as our new Prime Minister She has been a formidable candidate and her plan to address the various global challenges has been well received As a former Trade and Foreign Secretary, Liz is particu larly well placed to strengthen bilateral links with India Overall, the leadership contest was a great success in reflecting the engage ment of our members Our com miserations go out to Rishi Sunak who led a fantastic campaign As a British Indian, Rishi has trav elled a path unimaginable and one that because of his efforts, can now be imagined However, now is the time to unite and deliver the things that matter for the United Kingdom We should be proud that the Conservative Party is the most diverse and inclusive Party we have in Britain ” New Tory Leader offers more of the same Labour MP Virendra Sharma said, “Speaking to my con stituents they are outraged that only a small handful of the coun try have chosen the PM, while Tory MPs wanted Rishi Sunak, members have backed Liz Truss, this is a recipe for crisis They are furious the government offers nothing on the cost of living and that the PM and Chancellor broke the law during covid restrictions I hope we can have some real change, not a fresh lick of paint with a new Tory PM, but fresh ideas with a general elec tion ” The need for a serious plan Tony Danker, CBI D irec tor Ge neral, said, “Congratulations to the new Prime Minister This is an extraordinarily difficult time to be leading the country, and she has businesses’ full sup port in meeting shared chal lenges together, head on “Most immediately, support for struggling households and firms in jeopardy is top of the in tray This may not be the pan demic, but the exceptional cir cumstances we now face mean Government must play a central role in supporting our economy “And if we’re serious about getting the UK growing again, ensuring any slowdown is short and shallow, we need a serious plan for growth It needs to be bold, unconventional and rooted in the very real opportunities that still exist for the UK to thrive ” U K I B C M an a g i ng D i re c t or Ke v i n Mc Co le told the newsweekly, “We at the UKIBC believe that new UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss, will continue to champion the UK India rela tionship, putting it at the centre of her approach to foreign affairs In part, this is because of the hugely successful diaspora com munity in the UK It is also because our two countries’ economies are so complementary and getting even closer and stronger, particularly with FTA negotiations intensifying as we move towards the Diwali dead line for concluding the majority of talks It is also worth noting that Ms Truss’ has already shown great commitment to the bilater al relationship first as Trade Secretary and most recently as Foreign Secretary She has been a regular visitor to India and built a strong rapport with her counter parts in Delhi So the signs are very positive, and it is our strong belief that the UK India relation ship will continue to benefit from the political will on both sides of the bilateral corridor We also extend our congratulations to Rishi Sunak on a very positive run in the leadership contest a swing of only 11,000 voters would have given the UK its first British Indian PM Mr Sunak’s successful rise is a great example of the valu able and immensely successful British Indian community across the UK ” Speaking to Asian Voice, R ah ul R oy C ha ud hu ry , S e ni or Fellow for South Asia, IISS said, “With Boris Johnson’s departure, India loses a ‘champion’ for stronger bilateral ties Although new prime minister Liz Truss is expected to continue Johnson’s outreach towards India, it will be given less priority in view of her primarily domestic economic and political challenges in the run up to the next general elections The single exception will be the prospective trade deal with India, expected to be signed by the end of the year “As Trade and then Foreign Secretary Truss visited India three times since February 2021 She was clear that India was a “vital strategic partner for the UK”, despite policy divergences over the Russia Ukraine war But, Truss’ personal relations with Modi will not be as ‘vibrant’ as those of her predecessor “If Rishi Sunak had become prime minister, he would, per haps, have been more con strained than Truss in projecting the relationship to prevent being seen as ‘partisan’ towards India In contrast to Truss, Sunak did not visit India during his two and a half years as Chancellor” Justice Secretary and Deputy PM Dominic Raab, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Health Secretary Steve Barclay have left government
Liz Truss enters No 10 as the Prime Minister
17AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian voice.com 10 16 September 2022
Lord Dolar Popat Aloss of the l eadershi p, but a win for the British I nd ia ns Ri s hi Sunak ’s part ic i pat ion in the l ea ders hi p c onte st contr ib ut es to grea ter int egrati on of Br iti s h Indians into the society I know that many readers will, like me, be regretting Rishi Sunak not securing the Conservative party leadership Regretting it because he is like us a fellow British Indian But we should not be regretting, we should not be lamentingThereason why? Because in fact Sunak having come this far in the competition is a triumphant example A triumphant example of British Indians, and those of immigrant heritage in Britain generally A triumphant example of those of us who have excelled in so many fields from business and finance to politics, science, and the arts, contributing to British society in multiple ways A triumphant example, above all, of integration into the mainstream and being patrioticThere have been unwelcome whispers against Sunak’s triumph, and those are the real reason for regret Foolish whispers that Britain generally and the Conservative Party in particular are racist, and that’s why Sunak lost and Truss won but these are easy, throwaway lines that must be resisted They can resisted by an appeal to historyOne can see why even Sunak coming second is still a triumph if one reels back to those moments in the 1970s when so many of us, or our parents or grandparents, came to this country Thousands, like myself came from East Africa and many more from the Indian sub continent Nearly all of us in that category have prospered, thanks to the amazing welcome Britain gave us That doesn’t mean it was easy We all have had to work very hard indeed While the welcome was generally warm, some of us suffered racism, but that was at the start of a massive sea change in the nature of this country The actual details, technical and bureaucratic, political above all, of how that welcome happened need some examination It’s a process that deeply involves the Conservative Party, of which I myself have been a member for over 40 years Despite, in polls at the time (1972), only 6% of the country supporting acceptance of the Ugandan Asians as refugees, Sir Edward Heath, then Conservative Prime Minister, lead the charge in making sure it happened He did so against some resistance in his own party, notably that of the awful Enoch Powell at a Conservative Party conference at Blackpool in 1972 Heath had previously sacked Powell from his Shadow Cabinet, dismissing him while the Conservatives were in opposition, because of that disgusting Rivers of Blood speech in Birmingham in 1968Four years later, with a Conservative government in power, Powell and his misguided followers were still a significant force at that conference in Blackpool Luckily, wise Conservatives such as Home Secretary Robert Carr and leader of the young Conservatives David Hunt (the latter now one of my colleagues in the House of Lords) prevailed, following Heath’s lead in wanting to make Britain a fairer place for people of all colours and classes They also wanted to honour responsibility to British passport holders abroad So let’s be clear It is the historical effort of the Conservative Party that has made Asians, broadly considered, welcome in Britain And other immigrants too The process that Heath began was later picked up by other Tory Prime Ministers By the periods of John Major and David Cameron, when I myself began to be involved more fully, the diversity of the Conservative Party was significantly strengthenedWithBoris Johnson’s outgoing Cabinet, probably the most diverse in British history, that diversity was assured It was reinforced by a leadership contest that involved six people of colour, actually more than any other ethnic British category not that any of them, not Nadhim Zahawi, Suella Braverman, Rishi Sunak, Kemi Badenoch, Sajid Javid or Rehman Chishti, would have first identified as anything other than BritishAnd you know what? This growth story of diversity in the Conservative Party that I have told above, a growth story like that of all us Asians who came to Britain so many years ago, is one that is still crescent I have no doubt that our new Prime Minister, Liz Truss someone whom I have worked with before in her role as Secretary of State for International Trade will commit to a Cabinet of many hues, just like other Tory leaders before her (Lord Popat is a member of the House of Lords and the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo)
At his last husting at the Wembley Arena in London on Wednesday 31 August, during the leadership race of the Con se rva ti ve pa rty , R i shi Sun ak ’s pare nts , gen era l pr ac ti ti one r f athe r Yas hvi r a nd pharmacist mother Usha sat in the f ron t row al ong wi th hi s wi f e Akshata Murthy He thanked them and said, “It was their example of service and what they did for people that inspired me to enter politics Mum, dad thank you for always sacrificing and striving to provide a better life for your kids than you had And thank you for teaching me that with hard work and belief and the love of your family there is no limit to what someone can achieve in our great country ” Sunak also thanked his wife whom he met at Stanford University in the US, saying, “You know what you mean to me, and I am incredibly grateful that 18 years ago you chose to give up your high heels and take a chance on the short kid with a backpack The greatest sacrifice I have made is that I have been an appalling husband and father for the past couple of years, it’s as simple as that ” On Monday, 5th September, as Sunak walked alongside Truss into the auditorium already knowing the outcome of the leadership race, he exhibited tremendous grace and dignity It cannot be forgotten that it was William Hague, British Conservative Party politician and former leader of the conservative party who is one of the strongest supporters of Rishi Sunak from his constituency and other gradice of the Conservative Party are prevailing on Rishi Sunak to be involved in the unification of the party which was badly divided in the last 7 weeks of the Scampaignunaklater on Monday, posted a photo of him and Truss together and wrote, “Thank you to everyone who voted for me in this campaign I’ve said throughout that the Conservatives are one family It’s right we now unite behind the new PM, Liz Truss, as she steers the country through difficult times ” Sunak has been heavily critiqued and written off by the British media, for instance a headline by The Independent read, ‘The Rishi Sunak guide to failing: What can we learn from one man’s very public flop?’ A recruitment firm took a dig at Sunak and pasted his photo on a van that read, ‘Didn’t get the job? We’ve got jobs for everyone!’Onemust not forget that Sunak was the first to quit Johnson’s government, followed by Sajid Javid, and speak out against the toxic culture within the cabinet He never digressed from his stance on tackling inflation versus cutting down taxes, not to forget that when the nation was amid a once in a lifetime crisis, Rishi Sunak’s furlough scheme became a lifeline for Britons In his recent interview with Asian Voice, almost a week before the final verdict, Sunak had told us that ‘Britain is ready’ The 42 year old young man may have not won the leadership race, but the community and its youth may not lose hope after all while he wishes to continue serving as an MP from Richmond, that one day, if he doesn’t quit politics, Britain will indeed be, ‘Ready for Rishi’
Congratulations to Liz Truss on b ecom in g the Pr ime Min iste r o f the U K She started slowly; was third until the penultimate round, when she finally raced ahead of Penny Maurdant to r ea ch th e f ina l tw o Sh e n ev er looked back from there In a short sp ee ch a ft er b ein g de cl a re d t he winner she identified her priorities including cutting taxes and energy b il ls an d t he N HS PM Mod i con gr at ul at ed he r, wh il e R ish i Sunak asked Conservatives to unite behind her While Sunak stayed in the lead during the selection process, Truss was able to gauge what people wanted to hear Her campaign was politically savvy She repeated in every interview that she understood what people were going through and promised relief within days of being elected To large sections of population suffering from rising inflation and energy prices, depleting incomes and near prospect of freezing vs starving, the words of Liz Truss would have sounded reassuring Rishi ran a slick campaign, but there seemed an incessant effort of unknown origin to trip him over his success It was strange that a prospective leader of the Conservative Party should be questioned over his material success Why should it have mattered whether his shoes were from Prada or Bata? The ability to create self earned wealth is a valued conservative attribute Rishi would not be the only conservative leader to wear good shoes or clothes Yet questions about these followed him His campaign had to be moulded to make him look like ‘just another regular guy’, while it should have been highlighting his own success as a model for him to replicate for others and for the country After all, his success is proof that he knows how to make money I was once told in Ghana by a conservative political leader that governments have to be able to earn money, to be able to spend it for the welfare of the people!Was it due to the colour of his skin? Is it that people in Britain would rather not see so much success in a brown skinned person? From rich to the middle class, people of Indian origin seem convinced that Rishi did not stand a chance The conservative party’s leadership contest reminded the migrant community of the slights they had suffered and the struggles they had endured That does not make them less British or less committed to their adopted
Still a win for the British Indians
homelandTheUK is going through very tough times Two years of the pandemic squeezed the economy and before any recovery could take place, war began in Ukraine This led to a steep rise in energy prices, a cause of enormous economic hardship, especially to the economically disadvantaged andTvulnerablerusspromised relief, as did Sunak But the latter also highlighted the need to tame inflation and set the economy right The overall impression one got was that under Truss people would get breathing room The UK will borrow more money and the economy will expand Sunak, on the other hand appeared closer to the bitter reality that tough times can’t be wished or borrowed away Somehow, in elections, qualities like a warm smile, and connecting with unknown people, seem as important, if not more than ability I have limited political experience of contesting elections for president of the student’s union of my college I was elected unopposed and everyone in my team won The professor of political science asked his class why they had supported me To his surprise and my dismay, the predominant response was that they liked my smile! That was an important lesson for me as a political observer Truss gave the message that people wanted to hear She did not give details of her plan She says she wants to cut taxes I have limited understanding of economics, but it seems that this would benefit the rich more than the poor Those at the bottom of the ladder who may not even be paying taxes and who are most in need of the support would benefit minimally, or not at all Moreover, the lowered taxes would reduce the revenue available to the government, limiting its ability to spend for the poor or to support businesses Truss said that she would borrow to tide over these times, while hoping that lowered taxes would encourage growth I am left with several questions Lowering taxes may prevent businesses from moving to other pastures or invite investments But where would people be trying to move to? Or where would the investment come in from? If I was investing money at these difficult times, where would I go? Not to a country that seems to be trying to borrow its way out of trouble when its debt to GDP ratio is already 100 percent and where inflation is estimated to rise anywhere between 12 20 percent in the days to come! Even though I have questions, I hope that brilliant minds in the UK will find ways to navigate these tough times India wants a strong UK Liz Truss knows India well She has been negotiating a trade deal with India and has visited on more than one occasion Rishi Sunak has made an everlasting contribution to the Indian diaspora and to a modern Britain He has placed the community at the forefront of the leadership race It is no longer ‘if’ but ‘when’ an Indian origin person makes it to No 10 Downing Street He is young and has much time to recover Meanwhile, he should take satisfaction from a contest well fought!
Good Luck Liz Truss 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
HERO OF THE HEARTS
Of course, the rule of thumb offered by professional traders is to cut your losses short Take the following three (fairly common) rules about when to sell: sell if the share price drops by a certain percentage, say, 30 percent; sell if the company issues a profits warning; sell if a major broker age issues a company downgrade Such rules don’t guaran tee trading success, yet despite such sound advice, traders are still plagued by indecision This indecision can hardly be blamed on lack of infor mation either not when the internet offers up to date, accessible data on share price drops, profits warnings and even broker downgrades see TipRanks for instance No, the problem isn’t lack of advice, lack of information, or even the perceived difficulty of selling shares online It’s the mindset of the traders’ themselves: the fear of taking the plunge and committing themselves to cutting their losses
Research shows that 18% of British adults have experienced finan cial abuse at present or in the past Of this, one in five women (21%) and one in seven men (15%) have been a victim Financial abuse is a type of domestic abuse where someone has power over you and your finances There are several types of finan cial abuse Credit management company Lowell has conducted research to reveal how confident Brits are in spotting the signs of financial abuse Lowell asked their Customer Panel about their experience with financial abuse, and found that 37% have been a victim of it directly, or know of someone who has Over half (51%) of respondents men tioned someone spending money without telling you Over two fifths (41%) brought up someone deliberately withholding funds to stop you from seeing other family and friends, and finally, 38% said that their abuser kept track of every single thing they buy Lowell also asked Brits how confident they would be in being able to spot the signs of financial abuse One in six (15%) admitted that they don’t know the signs to look out for These are some signs to look out for: * Being asked to prove where you’re spending money and what on * Telling you how you can, and can’t, spend your money * Adding their name to your account or taking control of your accounts * Leaving you to pay off debt after making you take out money or getting loans in your name * Preventing you from access ing your accounts John Pears, UK CEO at Lowell, adds: “The results from our research on financial abuse are both shocking and deeply upsetting to read The lasting impact of financial abuse can be devastating, but it’s important to know that if you, or someone, are at risk from suspected financial abuse, you are not alone There are many spe cialist organisations who can help House prices rose at a double digit rate for th e 10 th co nsecu ti ve m onth i n August as a lack of supply supported va luati ons desp i te m ortgage rates increasing and the cost of living crisis The annual rate hit 10 per cent last month against 11 per cent in July, marking an uninterrupted double digit expansion since October, according to Nationwide, the mortgage provider
The annual growth rate was much faster than the 8 9 per cent forecast by economistsRobertGardner, Nationwide’s chief economist said that the slowdown had to date been “modest” and, combined with a shortage of stock, meant price growth had “remained firm” Prices were up 0 8 per cent between July and August, defying expectations they would come close to stagnating as inflation hit households and confidence Instead, the rise took the average house price to a high of £273,751 more than two years ago Andrew Wishart, property economist at consultancy Capital Economics said that the figures suggested house prices “managed to retain some positive momentum despite growing pressure on households’ finances” Tomer Aboody, director of property lender MT Finance, said that “with less stock on the market buyers have little choice and are therefore outbidding to secure a home” The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors data showed average stock per estate agent branch down to 35 in July, the lowest since records began in 1978 But with mortgage rates rising and the cost of living crisis deepening, many expect the market to cool in the coming months
HMRC chases 4,000 taxi drivers for unpaid tax
18 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 10 16 September 2022
One thing is certain: you don’t want to sell stock while it’s rising But when it comes to falling stock, selling is just one of several options: you might hold because you think that the worst of the falls may be over, or that there may be a brief upturn, offering you a better exit price
Your stock is falling should you sell?
The number of passengers flying with British Airways suffered 80 per cent drop during the pandemic and the air line was still struggling to recover after restrictions lifted last year, new figures sh ow A r anking of 6 00 o per at ors tracked in the Cirium airline database shows, global air traffic was down 57 per cent on pre pandemic levels at the end of 2021, with British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic taking two of the largest falls BA’s drop in passengers took it from the 12th largest airline in the world to the 30th, according to Cirium’s rankings of global airline size Virgin Atlantic saw an even larger drop, falling 83 per cent between 2019 and 2021, with long haul and luxury travel struggling to recover from the pandemic As a result, it dropped more than 50 places Jeremy Bowen, the chief executive of Cirium, said, “pre pandemic, Asia Pacific airlines held the single largest share of global pas senger traffic, with over a third of the world total As a result, it climbed from eighth position to fifth in the rankings, only European airline to make the top ten Wizz Air, its close competitor, saw a 33 per cent drop in traffic and climbed from 31st to 19th place In terms of passenger numbers, the total stood at 2 3 billion for the year, representing about half of the volumes from the peak in 2019 This summer was supposed to mark a major return to international travel, but strikes, staff shortages and delays at the UK’s largest airports have grounded planes However, airports and airlines which let staff go during the pandemic are struggling to keep flights running and on time Flight cancellations increased in June and July, and BA also cancelled more than 10,000 planned flights between August and October
“This year we have seen a growth in the num ber of Indian homebuyers, who make up 7 8 per cent of the overseas market players We are really reacting to where the demand is coming from rather than speculating and looking for business,” Stuart Leslie said In fact, according to a Knight Frank report, 10 per cent of Indians plan to buy a new home in 2022 and they prefer to invest in proper ties in the domestic mar ket, followed by interna tional markets of the UK, the UAE and the US
Another 3 mn people to be pushed into poverty 10 per cent rise in house prices despite pressures
BA suffered 80% drop in passengers during pandemic
Inflation is set to leave average real pay 9 per cent lower than two y ear s pre vi ousl y b y ne xt s pri ng, t he Re sol uti on Foundation said, wiping out all pay growth since 2003 Without government support, another 3mn people will be pushed into absolute poverty, defined as annual household income for a couple after housing costs of £15,781 The UK’s high street banks are, in effect, utilities that have chosen not to deal with the poorest in society, the first and the hardest hit by soaring energy bills Citizens Advice is reporting surging traffic to its cost of living web pages, with an increase in July But while it is helping rising numbers of people struggling with energy bills, the demand for help on credit, debit or store cards has remained flat More than half of UK households are expected to be in fuel poverty by next year, defined as more than a 10th of income going on energy bills Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has said that people on £45,000 a year, which puts them within the top fifth of the pay distribution, will find this winter “really hard”, requiring government support Higher bills and higher interest rates will hit measures of mortgage affordability
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at property agent Knight Frank, said that the market was “playing a slow game of catch up” with the economy adding, as supply continues to build this autumn and mortgage rates rise, demand will soften and annual price growth will fall
If you find yourself in that position, focus your mind on the following five arguments: Selling a loss making stock is a saving Suppose you bought £15,000 of a stock then sold it for £13,000 That could save you from further losses of, say, £3000 a saving that could then be compounded For instance, imagine that two net traders both own £15,000 of ABC stock: the first one takes a £2000 loss; the second trader waits, but eventually takes a £5000 loss Even if the rest of the year brings them both a 40 percent return on the cash they have after the ABC trades, the first trader’s portfolio will still outperform the second trader’s by 30 percent Selling unties capital Let’s say you hold fifteen stocks in your portfolio Is the loss making stock you’ve had trouble selling really one of the best fifteen stocks for a return on your capital? Too many net traders focus on their tally of winning trades, not the profits across all their investments They hold onto losing stocks to avoid having a losing trade “It’s not a loss until I sell the stock; it’s only a loss on paper ” Wrong The market does not care which stocks you lost money on or made money on, and neither should you Untie your capital and invest it in stock that offers the best return for the risk you are willing to take Selling at a loss can avoid over compensation Net traders who take a large loss on a trade often follow it with a bigger, riskier trade to try to recoup that loss You can avoid this pitfall by taking a smaller loss earlier Selling improves performance A net trader will expend more mental energy on a losing position than a profitable one (you get stress from sitting on a £10,000 loss, not a £10,000 gain!) It is better to sell, take a loss and spend your time looking for better opportunities, than to keep fretting about a stock that drops little by little It’s the trading equiv alent of the death of a thousand cuts: each day brings anoth er tiny loss, not enough to trigger a sale, but enough to grad ually bleed your performance dry Selling according to your own trading rules is the real measure of success Leading traders don’t focus on the loss they may be taking when closing a position; their concern is whether they followed their trading system Find yourself a set of trading rules, and test them to see if they will make you money If they do, then follow those rules and the money will take care of itself Ultimately, the tough part is committing yourself to that first, loss making sale No amount of trading advice can steel you for that moment But when you do, you may find yourself echoing the words of Brian Winterflood, managing director of Winterflood Securities and one of the highest paid city brokers: “The first cut is usually the best cut ” Voice Alpesh Patel OBE Indians own more property in London than the English
UK's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is chasing hundreds of rent drivers for unpaid tax as new registration necessities expose the dimensions of undeclared rev enue amongst drivers who function through on line apps HMRC is going to write to about 4,000 drivers who’re booked through apps equivalent to Uber, Ola and Bolt, whom it suspects might not have declared all of their revenue Since April, the federal government has made extra tax checks on the licence renewal functions of person al rent drivers, a course of that each one taxi and per sonal rent drivers undergo each three years Steve McNamara, basic secretary on the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, mentioned that personal rent drivers who had beforehand didn’t pay their taxes are actually being came upon as they try and renew their licences without an HMRC code He mentioned “many” personal rent drivers, most of whom function through the ride sharing app Uber, haven’t been paying the correct quantity of tax and he expects there to be “tens of thousands more” over the subsequent two and a half years as licences are renewed“The Revenue has been missing out on tens of thousands [of pounds] of income for years,” he added HMRC mentioned the lacking taxes had been amongst personal rent drivers who function on reserving apps not “black cab” taxi drivers, who’ve separate licensing necessities McNamara added that there are about 22,000 black cab drivers and greater than 100,000 per sonal rent drivers in London
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Indians living in the UK for gen erati on s, N RIs , investors living elsewhere, students and families trav eling to the UK for educa tion are among the highest number of property own ers in London the heart of the UK, even ahead of the E nglis h themselves They were fo llo wed the English and Pakistani peo ple, said Lo ndo n based res idential developer Barratt London And these Indian investors are will ing to shell out anywhere betwe en £2 90, 000 450,000 for a one, two or three bedroom apartment in London“Weare seeing a strong demand from Indian investors looking to pur chase properties in London and invest in the stable and long term prop erty market Outside of London, most of our prod ucts are sold to UK resi dential buyers, who buy these properties and live in them,” Stuart Leslie International Sales and Marketing Director for Barratt London, said Around 30 per cent of sales at Barratt London in the cap ital city are to pure investors (those who wish to use them as rental prop erties) and in that, 30 per cent includes buyers from overseas markets
Indecision can be cost ly in a market where stocks regularly lose ten percent in a day
19AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian voice.com 10 16 September 2022 FINANCE & REAL ESTATE
Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd
Gautam Adani is world’s 3rd richest person BEL signs MoU with UK firm to make high-energy scanning systems
The £5 12 billion net buying of Indian stocks by foreign funds in August, a 20 month high figure, has convincingly reversed a nine month continuous selling by these institutions But flow related volatility could continue for a while, brokers said A report by ICICI Securities pointed out that the US was still in a ‘quantitative tightening’ cycle that began in 2021 and the same was responsible for the huge net outflow by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) between October 2021 and June 2022
“We continue to be in a quantitative tightening cycle which will result in bouts of volatility from FPIs, although the phase of ‘unprecedented relentless selling’ seems to be behind us,” the report said “The trajectory of inflation going ahead in the US will be a key determinant of FPI flows in general towards emerging markets, including India,” it added The short term view among brokers, relating to the direction of FPI flows, however, is a bit confusing On the one hand, the strength of the dollar against other currencies could prompt foreign fund managers to take money out of emerging markets On the other, the view is that inflation in the US has peaked and, as this starts moderating, FPIs would buy Indian assets (stocks, bonds and hybrid products) again
Certainty during times of uncertainty
During that phase, FPIs had taken out around $33 billion from the Indian market, one of the sharpest in the country’s history Analysts at ICICI Securities believe that the record outflow was mainly in anticipation of an extreme quantitative tightening However, a similar outflow may not occur again
S piceJet, which is facing net loss to £78 9 million in the June quarter as high f uel p ric es and ru pee deprec iati o n adversely impacted the budget carrier Amid the financial turmoil, the airline plans to raise $200 million and expects to co m plete the h ivi ng o ff of i ts profitable cargo business into a separate company in the current quarter The airline also said that its CFO Sanjeev T anej a has resi gned T he lo w co st carrier had a net loss of £72 9 million in the quarter ended June 2021 In ongoing woes for the carrier, aviation regulator DGCA deregistered two more Boeing 737 planes of SpiceJet, following non payment of dues to lessors With the latest deregistration, a total of six Boeing 737 aircraft of the budget carrier have been deregistered in August The crisis hit airline has also delayed payment of salaries to staff for the second straight month However, SpiceJet said it has started crediting salaries and like the previous month, "salary will be credited in a graded format" Moreover, in the independent auditor's review report of the airline's latest quarterly results, it has been mentioned that there are indications of material uncertainties "that may cast significant doubt about the group's ability to continue as a going concern" The airline said that in the latest June quarter, the net loss is £42 million, excluding forex adjustment Total revenue for the reported quarter was £247 8 million as against £126 6 million, a year on year growth of 126 per cent, in the same quarter of the previous year The airline, which had delayed its FY2022 earnings, saw its net loss widen to £45 8 million in the 2022 March quarter from £23 5 million in the year ago period
Gautam Adani's wealth has galloped over 13 times, over t wo a nd a hal f y ea rs In January 2020, his net worth w as a b out $1 0 b ill ion Recently, the Indian tycoon b e cam e t he thir d r ichest person in the world with a net worth of $137 4 billion behind Tesla’s Elon Musk ($251 billion) and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos ($153 billion) India's Mukesh Ambani, currently with a net worth of $92 billion, is 11th Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e commerce giant Alibaba, is at 35th place with a net worth of $33 billion Adani, the promoter of Ahmedabad based group, overtook French businessman Bernard Arnault, co founder of world’s largest luxury brand LVMH Adani (60), whose business empire is spread over infrastructure to airports management and FMCG to cements, is the first Asian to break into the top three in the table of the richest people on earth The Adani group has a combined market cap of a little over $250 billion In the last two decades the group has entered several new businesses, through green field projects, acquisitions and joint ventures It has set up thermal and renewable power generation projects, acquired several ports along India’s coastline and also set up power transmission lines across the country It will be setting up data centres, and started its media business and has made huge investment commitments in the renewable energy space The rapid rise of the group has also attracted investment from top firms such as Total Energies SE and Abu Dhabi’s IHC Gautam Adani India's GST collection jumps by 28% at £14.9 bn FPI inflows in India hit 20-month high in Aug India's Goods and services tax (GST) collection remained above £14 billion for the fifth month in a row, increasing 28 per cent year on year (YoY) to nearly £14 9 billion in July This was the second highest mop up since the rollout of the regimeThe uptick is mainly on account of improved economic activities, compliance measures and inflation The highest ever mop up was recorded in April this year (£16 8 billion “GST revenue has grown 35 per cent YoY till July, displaying very high buoyancy,” the finance ministry said while releasing the data The finance ministry also said that this was an impact of various measures taken by the GST Council to ensure better compliance “Better reporting, coupled with economic recovery, has had a positive impact on the revenues on a consistent basis,” the ministry said GST collection stood at £11 6 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, according to the government data Of the mop up in July, Central GST (CGST) stood at £2 57 billion, state GST (SGST) £3 28 billion, integrated GST (IGST) £7 95 billion (including £4 14 billion collected on import of goods), and cess mop up £1 09 billion (including £99 5 million from import of goods) Experts say that rising inflation has contributed to the momentum in the revenue collection which could provide a cushion to the states as the guaranteed compensation period ended in June
B e n g a l u r u h e a d q u a r t e r e d Bharat Electronics Limi ted (B EL ) anno u nced th at it signed an MoU with Smiths Detection, a London based threat detection and security ins pec tio n tec hno logy co mp any, f or of feri ng advanc ed, h igh energy scanni ng sys tems to the Indian market The MoU is for fi ve years and c an be extended further by mutual consentBEL officials said that the MoU will help to meet India’s domestic security needs with the high end, technological capabilities of both firms “With a marked increase in movement of people and goods at critical infrastructure, land borders and urban sensitive points, there is a growing requirement for screening technologies in India To facilitate ease of doing business and enhance safety, the Indian government is investing in port and land border security,” a statement from the government owned aerospace and defence electronics company said“Moreover, the requirement for industry leading high energy scanning technology is being driven by defence installations, which need to screen large volumes of vehicles and impose restricted entry at sensitive areas BEL will handle front end requirements in the market, supporting localisation of the projects Smiths Detection will provide its state of the art screening technology and technological expertise for the project,” the statement added
SpiceJet Q4 loss mounts to £78.9 mn, CFO resigns
In di a’s Gros s D ome st ic Product (GDP) grew 13 5% in the first quarter of FY22 23 compared to a year ago period helped by the base effec t, thereby registeri ng the fastest growth in four quarters But the numbers cam e i n be low the 15 2% forecast by economists, and muc h low er than t he Mone tar y Poli c y Committee’s projection of 16 2%The last time India’s economy grew faster was in Q1 FY21, when it gained 20 1% from the pandemic depressed level a year earlier With rising interest rates, uneven monsoon and slowing global demand, analysts fear the economy may fall short of the 7 2 per cent annual growth target for FY23 projected by the Reserve Bank of India The GDP during April June 2022 stood at £368 5 billion, compared to £354 9 billion in the corresponding quarter of the pre pandemic year 2019 20 This means, the country’s economy has grown at an average of 1 26% a year in real terms over the past three years On a sequential basis, GDP in the first quarter contracted 9 6% from the preceding three month period According to Sachchidanand Shukla, Group Chief Economist at Mahindra and Mahindra, this is three times the average sequential contraction of 3 2% witnessed in the first quarter of each of the last five years before the pandemicBut,the year over year growth in GDP was led by consumption and investments, which grew 25 9% and 20 1%, respectively The growth in government expenditure was a weak 1 3% Looking at the sectoral trends, the GVA growth in manufacturing was 6 5, while the construction sector grew 16 8% The labour intensive trade, hotels and transport segment showed a strong 25 7% growth Inflation remains one of the biggest risks as it impacts consumer spending, which accounts for about 60% of India’s nominal GDP There is also a possibility of slippages in terms of rice and pulses production if the area under cultivation is lower than normal This can result in further price shocks if sowing doesn’t see a recovery On the fiscal side, buoyancy in tax collection will give enough comfort to the government in terms of budget management
I went to see a development in the South East of London It was a mixed use derelict property It was clear the whole site needed to be demolished in order to make way for something fresh and new On the way to the property I saw two women break into a verbal altercation with each other, with one threatening to stab the other It reminded me of Hackney, a couple of decades ago, which had the same vibe I remember witnessing a helicopter landing in the middle of the street coming to retrieve a body which had been shot in the middle of Kingsland Road Now, the prices of this location have increased due to its proximity to the city, specifically Liverpool Street Station The average price per sq ft of property in the location is said to be about £850 per sq ft It is clearly an area which is trying to break free from its past and emerge upwards The neighbours on both sides have done what seems from the outside a very high end expensive development, with an outdoor space which serves as a light well in between The length of the property stretches what looks like about 800 to 1000 feet There is enough floor space to do something substantialTheneighbouring development has set precedent One way to see if something is possible in planning terms is to see who else has done the same on the street previously This always serves as a good initial indication It seems highly probable a scheme such as the neighbouring one would be granted on this site However, the build, in my opinion, would be just in excess of £1M; and who knows what it would be by the time planning is granted It seems we are on the precipice of a collapse The lending rates have risen sharply in a short space of time, and will continue to creep upwards The inflation rate, we have been told, is not based on reality It is a figure which has been reverse engineered People like to quote headlines, without the need to lift up the bonnet and rummage around The rate of inflation has been understated The market will tip further This puts a deal like this into question, as you have two major variables to contend with; the lending rates and the build costs Something which if you get it wrong could cripple the project If you’re a cash buyer and able to fund the development cost as well, this will put one variable to bed But then the question asked would be why would you bury this much money into a project? Could your funds not work harder elsewhere?Itisan interesting deal; but not one for us, for the reasons given This is a time to pick up deals, but with more certainty, an in and out scenario Ideally with the build cost being reduced by working within the existing fabric of the building This makes the cost more tangible and easier to control
India's GDP registers growth of 13.5% in Q1
A former US police officer of Indian origin, who was accused of negligent homicide in the 2019 fatal shooting of a woman while aiming at her dog who charged at him, has been acquitted by a court in Texas Ravinder Singh was on trial after he shot and killed Maggie Brooks 30 while responding to a welfare check The Tarrant Criminal District Attorney’s Office said after the jury’s verdict was read saying that anytime the use of force results in the death of a civilian they take the case to a grand jury and if the grand jury returns an indictment, they prosecute the case A jury heard the facts related to the death of Brooks in 2019 They evaluated the testimony and evidence and determined that Ravinder Singh was not guilty, the district attorney’s office said INDIAN IN POLAND CALLED A ‘PARASITE’, TOLD TO ‘GO BACK’
An Indian man has been racially abused in Poland, allegedly by an American, who called him a “parasite”, “an invader” and told him to “go back to your country” The Indian whose identity has not yet been established, was filmed in a video that has gone viral on social media It is unclear in which city the video was shot but Twitter users have been tagging Warsaw Police while commenting on it In the video the American is repeatedly asking the Indian who can be seen walking near a mall and telling him to stop recording him, why he was in Europe I am from America And in America there s too many of you guys here So why are you in Poland? Why are you here? Do you think you can just invade Poland? Why don t you return to your own country?” says the man behind the camera
AFGHAN MOSQUE BLAST KILLS 18
I S LA M AB AD : The I MF has warned that Pakistan’s runaway inflation that shot up to a 47 year high in August could trigger protests and instability in the c as h s tra pped na ti on as de vasta ting mons oon al f loods have exacerbated its economic crisisThe country’s inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed to 27 3% this August This level of inflation was last seen in 1975, when the reading was recorded at 27 8% Observers said the floods and consequent disruption in food supplies could push up the inflation even more in September The IMF’s executive board approved earlier this week the seventh and eighth review of the stalled $6 billion loan package to Pakistan The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) received the much needed $1 16 billion deposit last week In its country report, IMF said high inflation and tighter global financial conditions because of the war in Ukraine would continue to weigh on Pakistan’s economy, pressuring its exchange rate and external stability The report said risks to the outlook and programme implementation remain high and tilted to the downside given the very complex domestic and external environment “Policy slippages remain a risk, as evident in FY22, amplified by weak capacity and powerful vested interests, with the timing of elections uncertain given the complex political setting,” the global money lender said The report said socio political pressures are expected to remain high and could affect policy and reform implementation, especially because of the tenuous political coalition and its slim majority in parliament “All this could affect policy decisions and undermine the programme’s fiscal adjustment strategy, jeopardising macro financial and external stability and debt sustainability,” it stated The lender warned that high food and fuel prices could trigger protests and instability, which could in turn jeopardise macro financial and external stability and debt sustainability
Kenya's SC upholds William Ruto´s presidential win
I SLAMABAD: Pakistan made a des perat e plea to t he i nter nati o nal co mmu ni ty to en su re that t he ir r eso lv e to s uppo rt the co u ntry remai ns undeterred, as the cataclysmic f lo ods , si mi lar to t he des tru c tio n cau s ed by Hurricane Katrina in the US in 2 005, has ki lled o ver 1,300 people and displaced more than 33 millionPakistan is struggling to respond to the floods given their unprecedented magnitude Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in northern mountains brought floods that have killed at least 1,300 people since June 14, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) The total number of people who have suffered injuries stands at 12,577, it said Addressing a press conference, minister for planning Ahsan Iqbal said the federal government called on the international community to ensure that their resolve for support to Pakistan remains undeterred as the scale of the disaster warrants a major humanitarian response, Geo TV reportedPakistan and the United Nations jointly issued a flash appeal for $160 million to help the country deal with the catastrophic floods “Pakistan is awash in suffering,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a video message “The Pakistani people are facing a monsoon on steroids the relentless impact of epochal levels of rain and flooding ” He said the funds will provide 5 2 million people with food, water, sanitation, emergency education, protection and health support
20 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian-voice.com 10 16 September 2022
IMF provisionally agrees on $2.9 billion loan for Lanka
N AI R O B I : Ke ny a's Suprem e Court has unanimously rejected challenges to the official results of the presidential election and uphe ld D eputy Pres i den t William Ruto's win Opposition candidate Raila Odinga had alleged irregularities in the otherwise peaceful Aug 9 election that was marked by last minute drama when the elec toral commission split and trad ed accusations of misconduct The court found little or no evidence for the various claims and called some "nothing more than hot air " It also expressed puzzlement why the four dis senting commissioners partici pated until the final minutes in a vote tallying process they criti cized as opaque The commission "needs far reaching reforms, the court acknowledged, "but are we to nullify an election on the basis of a last minute boardroom rup ture?"The court shocked Kenyans in the previous election in 2017 by overturning the results of the presidential election, a first in Africa, and ordered a fresh vote after Odinga filed a challenge He then boycotted that new electionThis time, Odinga was
Portugal's health minister Marta Temido resigned following widespread criticism of her decision to temporarily close emergency obstetric services, forcing risky transfers of pregnant women between hospitals apparently leading to the death of a 34 year old woman an Indian tourist The pregnant Indian woman died after suffering a cardiac arrest during an ambulance transfer from Lisbon s main hospital Santa Maria, which had no vacancies in the neo natology service, to another hospital in the capital The death came on the heels of a string of incidents this summer that critics blame on a staffing crisis across Portuguese natal units The health ministry said in a statement that Temido had decided to step down because she "realised that she no longer had the conditions to remain in office"
Pak inflation touches 47-year high
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been given special security and a state bungalow on his return to Colombo from Thailand where he fled amid protests over the coun try’s worst economic crisis, even as he faced calls for arrest from protesters and union leaders Gotabaya was garlanded with flowers by ministers and senior politicians after disembarking from his flight in Colombo last week He was driven in a security convoy to a new official residence provid ed to him by the government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, his successor in the posh area of Cinnamon Gardens A large security contingency will also be deployed to maintain security near the bun galow Gotabaya will be provided with all the privileges that a former president is entitled to, News Frist portal quoted Sri Lankan presi dent’s secretary Saman Ekanayake as saying Meanwhile, leaders of the protest campaign that toppled his gov ernment said Gotabaya, who lost his presidential immunity after leaving office, should now be brought to justice “Gotabaya returned because no country is willing to accept him, he has no place to hide,” Joseph Stalin, the leader of a teachers’ trade union that helped mobilise demonstrators, said “He should be arrested immediately for causing misery for the 22 million people of Sri Lanka,” he added “He can’t live freely as if nothing has happened ” Sri Lanka’s main opposition alliance, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), has yet to comment on Gotabaya’s return, but a former minis ter from the bloc said the ousted leader needed to be prosecuted “Gotabaya must be held to account for his crimes before and during his presidency,” Ajith Perera, former member of parliament, said COL OMBO : Crisis hit Sri Lanka has reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a loan of about USD 2 9 bil lion IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities have reached a staff level agreement to support Sri Lanka's economic policies with a 48 month arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of about 2 9 bil lion US dollars, the IMF said in a statement The objective is to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while safeguarding financial stability, among other factors, it added The IMF calls for action to raise fiscal revenue by implementing tax reforms, introducing cost recovery based pricing for fuel and electrici ty, raising social spending to help the poor and the vulnerable in the ongoing economic crisis, restoring flexible exchange rate, a capitalised banking system and a stronger anti corruption legal framework Sri Lanka's former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country following a public uprising against his government for mismanaging the economy Rajapaksa was replaced by his ally Wickremesinghe, who is also the country's Finance Minister and is leading the talks with the IMF delegation The country is also expected to restructure its debt worth $ 29 billion with Japan and other creditor nations, including China on this issue In mid April, Sri Lanka declared its international debt default due to the forex crisis The country owes $ 51 billion in for eign debt, of which $ 28 billion must be paid by 2027 Sri Lanka's infla tion level hit a whopping 64 3 per cent for August, continuing to spike as fuel became expensive In its latest assessment, the World Bank has said that Sri Lanka has been ranked 5th with the highest food price inflation in the world Sri Lanka is ranked behind Zimbabwe, Venezuela and Turkey, while Lebanon leads the list
PORTUGUESE MINISTER QUITS AFTER INDIAN DIES
Flood-hit Pak appeals for urgent aid; toll rises to 1,300 Gotabaya given security, bungalow amid arrest calls
INDIAN ORIGIN EX COP IN US ACQUITTED
An explosion tore through a crowded mosque in western Afghanistan, killing at least 18 people including a prominent cleric close to the Taliban, Taliban officials and a local medic said At least 21 people were hurt The explosion in the city of Herat left the courtyard of the Guzargah Mosque littered with bodies, the ground stained with blood, video from the scene showed The bomb went off during Friday noon prayers, when mosques are full of worshippers Among the dead was Mujib ul Rahman Ansari, a prominent cleric who was known across Afghanistan for his criticism of the country’s West backed governments over the past two decades Ansari was seen as close to the Taliban, who seized control over Afghanistan a year ago in brief
backed by former rival and out going President Uhuru Kenyatta in the latest example of shifting political alliances in East Africa's most stable democracy Odinga's team had chal lenged the technology used by the electoral commission and alleged that voting results had been tampered with, and it argued that the electoral com mission chair had essentially acted alone in declaring the win ner Odinga's team questioned an election seen as the country's most transparent, with results from tens of thousands of polling stations posted online within hours of the vote for Kenyans to follow the tally themselves
MYANMAR JAILS FORMER UK AMBASSADOR FOR ONE YEAR
The Biden administration is preparing to sell $1 1 billion in missiles and radar support to Taiwan in what would be the largest such transfer in almost two years The package would include as much as $650 million in continued support for a surveillance radar sold earlier, about $90 million for roughly 100 Sidewinder air to air missiles as well as about 60 additional anti ship Harpoon missiles, the official said The state department informally notified Congress of the sale Even though it offers Taiwan no new military capability, the move could prompt protests from Beijing, which has said American arms sales to Taiwan a violation of agreements that established diplomatic relations with Washington
IMRAN’S BAIL
A military court in Myanmar has sentenced Vicky Bowman a former UK ambassador to the country, to one year in prison for immigration offences according to people with knowledge of the situation The military regime also sentenced Bowman s husband, artist Htein Lin, to a year in jail Aung San Suu Kyi, the former leader who has already been sentenced to 17 years on various charges since being deposed in a coup last year, received a further three years for electoral fraud, according to local media outlet Myanmar Now The penalty will be the first against the 77 year old Nobel Peace Prize laureate to include hard labour
Indian-American surgeon pleads guilty to charge for accepting illicit payments
MALAYSIA EX PM'S WIFE JAILED FOR GRAFT
While the Fremont Police is investigating the matter, Police Chief Sean Washington addressed the community on social media He termed the incident despicable and assured the legitimate action against hate crimes "We take hate incidents and hate crimes seriously and understand the significant impact they have on our community These incidents are despicable We are here to protect all community members, regardless of their gender, race, national ity, religion, and other differences We would like to urge the com munity to be respectful of each other and to immediately report any circumstances such as this that, upon investigation, may rise to the level of a crime” Rohit Khanna, a US House representative from California, took to Twitter to condemn the incident “We must condemn every form of discrimination, including hate directed at Hindus ”
WASHI NGTON: Starbucks Corp has named as its new CEO c ons ume r produc ts ex ec uti ve La xma n Narasimhan, months after for mer hea d H owar d Sc hultz te mporar i ly t ook over to steer the coffee giant thr oug h ri s i ng cos ts , a unionization push and chal lenges overseas Narasimhan, 55 years old, has served as chief exec utive of the maker of Lysol and Enfamil baby formula, UK based Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, for the past three years Last week he announced he would step down from Reckitt on Sept 30 Before heading Reckitt, Narasimhan held various lead ership roles at PepsiCo Inc Starbucks and PepsiCo have a longstanding relationship through the chain’s ready to drink coffee, including a deal struck when Narasimhan was CEO of PepsiCo Latin America Starbucks in March said then CEO Kevin Johnson, who led the company for five years, would retire and Schultz, who had turned the Seattle based coffee chain into a global brand, would take over on an interim basis beginning in April Schultz has since said that the company had made mistakes in recent years and needs to change, from the way baristas are paid to the blenders in its cafes“We really do believe that we have found an exceptional individual to be our next CEO He’s a tested leader,” Starbucks board chairwoman Mellody Hobson said in an interview Narasimhan will relocate from London to the Seattle area and join Starbucks as incoming CEO on Oct 1, the company said Laxman Narasimhan
M OS C OW : Th ou sands o f m o urners have paid their respects to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachv, who was laid to rest in a ceremony snubbed by Vladimir PutinWidely considered to be one of the most important figures of the second half of the 20th century, Gorbachev was the final leader of the Soviet Union The statesman is credited with changing the course of history by bringing the Cold War to a peaceful end The Kremlin’s refusal to declare a state funeral reflects its uneasiness about the legacy of Gorbachev He has been venerated worldwide for bringing down the Iron Curtain but reviled by many at home for the Soviet collapse and the ensuing economic meltdown that plunged millions into poverty Putin had previously called the fall of
The video of the incident was widely shared on social media Singh can be heard using the N word, and repeatedly calling the person behind the camera, Krishnan, disgusting and nasty “This ain’t India,” the abuser railed Krishnan was agitated over the fact that the person abusing him was also an Indian He was frightened that the abuser might follow him to inflict more harm, so he called the police Fremont Police have charged Tejinder Singh with a hate crime in violation of civil rights, assault and disturbing the peace using offensive language
Laxman Narasimhan named new CEO of Starbucks
21AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com 10 16 September 2022
He has been in federal custody since May 2021 after he was found to have violated the terms of his pretrial release, said the Department of Justice According to his plea agreement and state ments at change of plea hearing, from 2010 to 2013, Tantuwaya accepted money from Michael Drobot, who owned Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, in exchange for performing spinal surgeries at that hospital The bribe amount varied depend ing on the type of spinal surgery, federal prosecu tors alleged
WASHIN GTON : An Indian American neurosur geon has pleaded guilty to a federal criminal charge of accepting approximately $3 3 million in bribes for performing spinal surgeries at a now defunct California medical facility Lokesh Tantuwaya (55) of San Diego pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and to violate the federal Anti Kickback statute
PARIS: The foundation stone for the new Hindu temple being c on s truc te d by B APS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) was laid on September 3 4 in the pre se nc e of Yan n D ubos c Mayor of Bussy Saint Georges, Jawed Ashraf Ambassador of India to the Republic of France an d Pri nc i pali t y of Mon ac o, Ylias Akbaraly Chairman and CEO of the Groupe Sipromad and President of the Board of Thomson as well as hundreds of guests f rom vari ous par ts of Fran c e, other c ount ri es of Europe an d I nd ia i n Bus s y Saint Georges The temple is being con structed at the Esplanade des religions et des cultures the multifaith and multicultural heartland of Paris It will pro mote culture, integrity, and har monyThe Vedic ceremony signi fied the start of the temple’s
construction It was accompa nied with a vibrant cultural pro gramme of dance, videos, and presentations delivered in French and Hindi which explained the positive and uplifting contribution that the temple will make to France Jawed Ashraf addressed the gathering and said: “This mag nificent temple makes Paris part of global network of cities that can boast of a BAPS Swaminarayan temple The temple will not only serve as a place of worship but will be a living centre of learning, humanity, culture, and a centre that provides refuge to all who feel a sense of despair and despondencyYannDubosc explains, “There are projects that mark a life This Mandir is one such project In my time on earth as mayor, I will be able to tell my daughter that I have participat ed in the building of a remarkable place of worship! Prior to this, I did not know anything about Hinduism, but with you, I have dis covered this light that enlightens humanity ” The Board of Trustees for BAPS UK & Europe as well as prominent well wish ers also attended this historic occasion Devotees from London as well as from across Europe made their way for this momentous occasion Ylias Akbaraly offered his gratitude to the French admin istration in France for support ing the temple and said that he felt “happiness and peace in his heart on this special day in France” Sanjay Kara, project head for the temple’s construc tion, added, “Temples in India have sustained and nurtured noble values for millennia We are honoured for the opportu nity to continue that legacy in the beautiful city of Paris and fulfil this vision of intercultural respect, community service and global harmony ideals propa gated by His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, the spiritual leader of BAPS ”
IRAQ CLERIC TELLS SUPPORTERS TO END PROTESTS Iraq’s powerful cleric Moqtada al Sadr ordered his followers to end their protests in central Baghdad and apologised to Iraqis after 22 people were killed in clashes between rival Shia Muslim groups This is not a revolution because it has lost its peaceful character, Sadr said The spilling of Iraqi blood is forbidden In a televised address Sadr set a one hour deadline for his supporters to leave their protests in the fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad where they have occupied parliament for weeks in brief Foundation stone for BAPS temple in France laid
the Soviet Union ‘greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century’ and claimed his schedule meant he was too busy to attend the former leader’s low key funeral Gorbachev, who died last week aged 91, was buried at Moscow’s Novodevichy cemetery next to his wife, Raisa His farewell ceremony was held at the Pillar Hall of the House of the Unions, a man sion near the Kremlin, which has served as the venue for state funerals since Soviet times Upon entering the building, mourn ers saw guards flanking a large photo of Gorbachev standing with a broad smile, a reminder of the cheerful vigour he brought to the Soviet leadership after a series of dour, ailing predecessors The turnout was large enough that the viewing was extended more than an hour beyond the stated two hours
PAK COURT EXTENDS
A Malaysian court sentenced Rosmah Mansor the wife of former PM Najib Razak, to a decade in jail for seeking and receiving bribes in exchange for government contracts, just days after her husband was jailed for corruption The couple have been the focus of multiple graft investigations since Najib’s surprise election defeat in 2018, when voters’ anger over a separate multi billion dollar corruption scandal ended his nine years in power A flamboyant figure by Najib’s side Rosmah was scorned in Malaysia for her extravagant lifestyle and faced questions over her influence in government matters She will also have to pay a fine of 970 million ringgit ($216 45 million) a record amount in Malaysia s history US READIES $1.1BN ARMS DEAL FOR TAIWAN
ALIFORNIA: Days after the Plano Police Department in Texas arrested a woman for vilifying four Indian women for their ethnic ity, a video has surfaced on social media where an Indian American man can be seen hurling racial slurs at another Indian The incident reportedly occurred in California’s Fremont on August 21 when Krishnan Jayaraman was abused and called a “dirty Hindu” by 37 year old Tejinder Singh, who also happens to be of Indian descent
C
A Pakistani court has extended former PM Imran Khan s pre arrest bail for two weeks on terrorism charges relating to a speech after Khan appeared in court, his lawyer said “It is not at all a case of terrorism,” Faisal Chaudhry, the lawyer said The bail was approved until September 12, he said Charges against Khan is related to what police said was a threat to Islamabad police chief and a female judge after Khan spoke about police torture of an aide who faces sedition charges for inciting mutiny in the military Khan says his words were taken out of context
Thousands pay respects as Gorbachev laid to rest Indian-American charged with hate crime against another Indian
Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry dies in a road accident
Big dip in fresh Covid 19 cases India recorded a big dip in Covid 19 numbers in the last week, with both fresh ca s es a nd d ea th s registering their sharpest we e kl y de cre as e s i n percentage terms at least the last four months For the first time since early J u ne , Ind ia is li k ely to r ecord le s s tha n 5 0, 00 0 ne w cas e s i n t he wee k (August 29 September 4), as the surge in infections seen from June till late July continues to subside for the sixth week running The tally of cases this week is likely to be close to 46,400, a 30% drop from the previous week’s total of 66,400 Such a sharp dip in weekly numbers was last recorded during the receding phase of the third wave in February and March this year Deaths from the virus too are likely to see a 23% 25% drop from last week's toll of 277, the sharpest decrease since mid May Active cases of the virus had fallen to around 51,000 dropping from nearly 69,000 All states and UTs logged a decline in fresh cases as compared to the previous week, with the exception of Kerala This would be the second straight week of rising cases in Kerala, which had reported 7,863 fresh infections last week Maharashtra, which had recorded the highest number of infections in the country in the previous week, reported a sharp decline of 31%, with the case count dropping from 12,101 to 8,370 In Delhi, where the weekly count of cases dropped by 59%, from 4,821 to 1,997 Kerala also reported the highest number of Covid deaths Maharashtra reported 35 deaths, one more than the previous week, while Delhi logged 19, down from 38 last week These figures do not include deaths from earlier periods added to the tally in data reconciliation exercises Cong rejects call to publish rolls for party president's poll
A cla sh b r ok e out in Con gr e ss ov er the forthcoming elections to the post of party president, with three MPs publicly demanding that the electoral rolls be made public, and the party rejecting it by saying that the practice has never existed After G23 leader Anand Sharma made the demand in CWC meeting, another dissident Manish Tewari said it be done in the interest of “free and fair polls” to help potential candidates who would need signatures of 10 delegates to file their papers He found support from Shashi Tharoor and Ka r ti Chi da mab r am, so n of ve ter a n P ChidambaramMadhusudan Mistry, AICC central election authority (CEA) said that the electoral college of PCC delegates can be viewed at the state headquarters, while the consolidated list will be provided to candidates KC Venugopal, AICC general secretary, rejected the demand and said, “This is an in house procedure, and it is not supposed to be published for all the public to see There is no such practice in Congress We will continue to follow the old practice How can there be a fair and free election without a publicly available electoral roll? Essence of a fair and free process is the name and addresses of electors” Tiwari tweets “Why should someone have to go to every PCC office in the country to find out who the electors are This does not happen even in a club election ” Tharoor said, “I think it’s important everybody should know who can nominate and who can vote There is nothing wrong with that” Karti said, “Every election needs a well defined and clear electoral college The process of forming the electoral college must also be clear, well defined and transparent An ad hoc electoral college is no electoral college ”
Seeing the path tak en by Indi a since 2014, India is likely to get the tag of 3rd largest economy in 2029 I n di a re porte d doub le di gi t economic growth at 13 5 per cent in the fi rst quarter of the current fiscal At this rate, India is likely to be the fastest growing economy in t he c urren t fi s ca l SB I res earc h paper said “India should surpass Germany in 2027 and most likely Japan by 2029 at the current rate of growth, a remarkable achievement by any standards ” According to analysts, India has undergone a large structural shift since 2014 and is now the 5th largest economy Recently it was reported that India crossed the UK to become the world’s 5th largest economy However, SBI Research analysts believe that India had surpassed the UK as early as December 2021 itself and not recently as is being claimed The share of India’s GDP is now at 3 5%, as against 2 6% in 2014, and it is likely to cross 4% in 2027, the current share of Germany in global GDP, the research paper said Apple recently decided to shift part production of its flagship iPhone 14 model for worldwide shipping from India, with a negligible time lag of a few weeks after its slated launch on September 7
India may become world’s third largest economy by 2029
Cyrus Mistry, former chairman of Tata Sons, was killed in a road accident after his car rammed a divider i n Maharashtra's Palghar on Sunday afternoon He was 54 The accident reportedly took place on the Surya River Charoti bridge on the Mumbai Ahmedabad National Highway Mistry was returning to Mumbai from Gujarat in his Mercedes car Reports say the deadly accident took place after the car hit a divider Three more people were accompanying him in the car One among them is said to have also died in the accident The other two who also suffered grievous injures are admitted in a hospital near by for medical treatment Visuals showed the front side of the car completely mangled The air bags did poped out but wasn't effective enough to save the lives of the two died in the accidentMistry, who was the sixth chairman of Tata Sons, was ousted from the position in October 2016 He had taken over as the chairman in December 2012 after Ratan Tata announced his retirement N Chandrasekaran later took over as Executive Chairman of Tata Sons Cyrus Mistry
Nitish on mission to forge Opposition unity
According to SBI’s Research, this move by Apple, the most recognisable face of tech infused innovation across the globe in the last two centuries, captures aspirations of an upwardly mobile population Analysts said that just how at the beginning of 21st century, China embarked on an accelerated growth path occupying the second largest economy tag, with the right policy perspective and realignment in global geopolitics, India might see a similar trajectory in the near future “Our current estimates might even undergo an upward revision,” they added Nitish Kumar
22 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 10 16 Sepembar 2022 Azad seeks J&K statehood, land and job rights
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on the second day of his trip to Delhi continued meetings wi th opposition leaders part of his effort to forge an opposition unity to take on the BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha polls He first met Left leaders on Tuesday morning Sitaram Yechury of CPM and D Raja of CPI at their respective party offices Nitish's return to the opposition fold and his desire to be part of a fight against the BJP is a great signal for Indian politics, Yechury said after the meeting Nitish later met Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Other Aam Aadmi Party leaders including deputy CM Manish Sisodia were also present "Discussion was held on many serious issues related to the country like education, health, 'operation lotus', open horse trading of MLAs to topple popularly elected governments," Kejriwal wrote in a tweet following the meeting Nitish also met former Haryana CM and INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala at his Gurugram residence He assured Chautala of his presence at INLD's September 25 rally in Haryana, along with Bihar coalition leader Tejashwi Yadav He is also expected to meet Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Singh Yadav Nitish's Delhi trip comes close on the heels of his party JD(U) ending its coalition with BJP in Bihar The move saw the fall of the NDA government but Nitish returned as CM as head of the new government with RJD, Congress, Left parties and HAM Nitish, who has been vocal for a united opposition to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, reached Delhi on Monday He met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the afternoon The two are learnt to have discussed the current political situation in the country He also met former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy of JDS on Monday itselfHe is also being tipped as the likely opposition PM face for 2024, but Kumar himself rubbished such speculations "This is wrong I am not a claimant for the post, nor am I desirous of it," he said Se ni or pol it ic i an Ghula m Na bi Azad said at his first public rally a ft er s ev eri ng his f iv e dec ad e a s soc i ati on w it h Cong res s on August 26, restoration of statehood for J&K, protection of land and jobs of its res idents , and return and rehabilitation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits are on top of his newly launched and still unnamed party’s t o d o l i st Az ad s pel led out hi s party’s agenda in front of more than 20,000 of his supporters gathered at Sainik Farms in Jammu for the rally Azad sought support from all sections of society “We have not yet decided the name of the new party and its flag The people and leaders of both Kashmir and Jammu will be taken on board to finalise the name and the flag He said it should be an “easy” name It will be in neither Maulana’s Urdu nor Pandit’s Sanskrit It should be a Hindustani name that everyone can understand Right to ownership of land, right to employment for the domiciles would be the main agenda of our party Another key agenda would be to facilitate the return of Kashmir Pandits without any compulsion Outsiders should not buy land, either in Jammu or Kashmir, and jobs should not be given to them How many jobs are available in Jammu and Kashmir? It is a trickle of water in a sea, and if the jobs are advertised at the national level, we will lose that trickle of water as well ” Appealing to Kashmiri Pandits, an estimated 200,000 of whom fled Kashmir during the peak of separatist terrorism in the 1990s, “I am happy that children of our Kashmiri Pandit brothers have done well in America, Europe, Calcutta and Mumbai Those who want to return must be given places to live in Kashmir ” Ghulam Nabi Azad
SC closes Babri contempt case Sheikh Hasina & Narendra Modi
India, Bangladesh sign 7 pacts during PM Modi-Sheikh Hasina talks
The share of Muslims in India’s total prison popula t io n com prisin g conv icts, un de rtr ia ls, de ten ues an d others has declined to 18 7% in 2021 from 20 2% in 2020, wh ile the pe rce nt ag e of Hindus rose to 73 6% from 72 8% over the same period, according to the latest all In dia prison sta tist ics r el ea sed b y the Na tion a l C rime R e co rds Bur ea u (NCRB)As on December 31, 2021, the percentage of Sikhs in the country’s prison population increased to 4 2% from 3 4% at the end of 2020; while that of Christians fell marginally to 2 5% from 2 6% in the rele vant time period In abso lute terms, too, there has been a rather sharp rise in the number of Sikh prison ers, from 15,807 on December 31, 2020 to 22,100 on December 31, 2021 Census 2011 had returned the share of Hindus in India’s population as 79 8%, that of Muslims as 14 2%, of Sikhs 1 72% and of Christians 2 3% As per the religion wise breakup available for 520,000 of the total 550,000 prisoners across India (as Maharashtra did not submit the breakup for undertrials and detenues to NCRB), over 380,000 were Hindus, 97,650 Muslims, 22,100 Sikhs, 13,118 Christians and 4,785 from other faiths Muslims as a percentage of convicts imprisoned across the country fell to 15 9% in 2021, as percentage of undertrials to almost 18% from 19 5%; and as percent age of detenues to 27 7% from 30 7% The share of Muslims among convicted prisoners was highest in Assam (60 5%), Maharashtra (25 5%), Telangana (21 7%) and UP (20 22%) Over 68% of the jailed undertrials in J&K on December 31, 2021 were Muslims; as were 49 3% of the undertrials in Assam (down from 52% in 2020), 42 8% in West Bengal (down from 43 5%), 31 3% in Kerala, 29 6% in Uttarakhand, 28 4% in Delhi and 25 9% in UP SC closes pending Gujarat riots cases
23AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com 10 16 Sepember 2022
India and Bangladesh on Tuesday signed seven agreements for coop er ati on i n ar ea s ra ngi ng f rom sharing of river waters to space an d un vei l ed new c onne ct i vi ty and energy initiatives, as leaders of the two sides held up the bilateral partnership as a role model for the neighbourhoodFollowingtalks with his visit ing Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said both leaders had stressed on cooperation against terrorism and fundamen talism“In order to keep the spirit of 1971 alive, it is very necessary that we jointly face forces that want to attack our mutual trust,” he said PM Modi described Bangladesh as India’s largest development part ner and the biggest trade partner in the region, while Hasina said India is the “most important and closest neighbour for Bangladesh” She added, “Bangladesh India bilateral relations are known to be a role model for neighbourhood diplomacy ” Hasina held out the hope that the two countries will resolve the issue of sharing the waters of the Teesta River an agreement on the matter has been pending since 2011 just as they had settled “many outstanding issues in the spirit in friendship andPcooperation”MModinoted that two way trade is growing rapidly and India is the largest market for Bangladeshi exports in Asia, and announced the two sides will soon start discussions on a comprehen sive economic partnership agree ment (CEPA) to give impetus to tradeOne on one talks between the two prime ministers was followed by a meeting with their delega tions, with the agenda focused on connectivity, energy, water resources, trade and investment, border management and security, and regional and multilateral issuesThe seven memorandums of understanding (MoUs) include the withdrawal of water from the cross border Kushiyara river, cooperation in space technology, collaboration on IT systems used by railways in areas such as move ment of freight, science and tech nology cooperation, training of Bangladesh Railway personnel and Bangladeshi judicial officers in India, and cooperation in broadcasting between Prasar Bharati and Bangladesh TelevisionPMModi and Hasina noted that the two countries share 54 rivers, and the Indian prime min ister said these have been linked to the livelihoods of people on both sides for cen turies The agree ment on sharing the waters of Kushiyara river will benefit southern Assam in India and the Sylhet region of Bangladesh, PM Modi said The two leaders unveiled the first unit of the Maitree super thermal power project being built in Khulna division of Bangladesh with concessional funding from India The unit was synchronised with Bangladesh’s power grid in August, and the project will gener ate 1,320MW when it is complet ed They also inaugurated the 5 13 km Rupsha rail bridge, a key part of the 64 7 km Khulna Mongla port broad gauge railway project India has provided concessional loans worth $9 5 billion for devel opment projects in Bangladesh, especially connectivity initiatives These initiatives include improv ing rail connectivity between Khulna and Dhaka, Chilahati and Rajshahi and connecting Mongla port with Darshana Gede at a cost of $312million, the Parbatipur Kaunia rail project to facilitate the transportation of fuel that is being built at a cost of $120million, and the supply of road construction equipment and machinery worth $41million to repair and maintain Bangladesh’s road network
NIA declares cash reward for information on Dawood
Nearly two years after settling the vexed Hindu Muslim litigation over the disputed Ayodhya land, the Supreme Court closed proceedings on a 31 year old petition filed by Mohammed Aslam, aka Bhure, who had first sought status quo at the Babri Masjid Ram Janambhoomi site in 1991 He had filed the first petition challenging the acquisition of land around the disputed site by the Uttar Pradesh government in 1991, ostensibly for creating amenities for pilgrims to Ayodhya The SC had ordered status quo on all construction activities at the site But, when this order was violated, and structures were allegedly raised on the acquired 68 acres of land, Bhure had filed a contempt petition against then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh and others in 1992 In 2002, he had also filed a petition in SC for seeking status quo at the disputed site after Vishwa Hindu Parishad decided to hold a ‘Shila Pujan’ ceremony The SC had agreed with the petitioner and granted status quo on all religious activities at the disputed site Bhure’s long standing counsel M M Kashyap informed a bench of Justices Sanjay K Kaul, A S Oka and Vikram Nath that the petitioner passed away in 2010 and that he needed to be substituted as petitioner for prosecuting the case He also said that there is a need to reconstruct the 31 year old files, which run into over 10,000 pages But the bench said that after the November 9, 2019 judgment of the Constitution bench, deciding the 70 year old title suits in favour of Hindus, nothing survived in the Ayodhya dispute
Veteran diplomat Sanjay Kumar Verma has been appointed as India's next High Commissioner to Canada Verma, a 1988 batch IFS officer currently India's Ambassador to Japan, will soon take over the new post Verma will succeed acting High Commissioner Anshuman Gaur Verma has served in Indian mission in Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and Turkey He has also served as the Consul General of India in Milan, Italy Amit Kumar is next envoy to Republic of Korea Amit Kumar, a 1995 batch IFS officer, has been appointed as India s next Ambassador to the Republic of Korea He is currently the Consul General of India in Chicago He will soon take over the post Earlier, the post was held by Sripriya Ranganathan, a 1994 batch IFS officer Nagesh Singh is new envoy to Thailand Nagesh Singh, a 1995 batch IFS officer, has been appointed as India's next Ambassador to Thailand He will succeed Ambassador Suchitra Durai Nagesh has also served as the Consul General of India in AtlantaRavi Kapoor relieved as CEO of ParliamentRTVavi Kapoor has been relieved of his duties as the CEO of Parliament TV The Rajya Sabha Chairman and the Lok Sabha Speaker have jointly decided that Utpal Kumar Singh, who is currently the General Secretary of the Lok Sabha, will also handle the functions as the CEO of Sansad TV In February 2021, it was decided to merge Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV and retired IAS officer Ravi Kapoor was appointed as its CEO The N ati ona l In ves ti ga ti on Agency, which had registered a case earlier this year against 1993 Mumbai blasts master mi nd Dawood Ibrahi m and other members of his interna t i on al ter ror s yn di ca te D Company, has declared a Rs 25,00,000 cash reward for any person who shares informa tion leading to his arrest In a notice dated August 18, 2022, the NIA also announced cash rewards for information leading to arrest of Dawood’s four key associ ates of Rs 20,00,000 for Shakeel Shaikh alias Chhota Shakeel and Rs 15,00,000 each for Haji Anees alias Anees Ibrahim Shaikh, Javed Patel alias Javed Chikna and Ibrahim Mushtaq Abdul Razzaq Memon alias Tiger Memon The NIA cash award for the arrest of India’s “most wanted” underworld don, who reportedly resides in Pakistan under ISI’s protec tion and is now working closely with Pakistan based terror outfits Lashker e Taiba, Jaish e Mohammad and Al Qaeda, comes 29 years after he executed the 1993 Mumbai blasts Interestingly, it is not the highest cash reward declared by NIA Of the eight abscond ing accused carrying a bounty above Rs 10,00,000, informa tion on CPI (Maoist) top lead er Nambala Keshava Rao com mands the highest reward of Rs 50,00,000; that on dreaded Maoist commander Hidma Rs 25,00,000 and on Sikhs For Justice mastermind Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Rs 20,00,000
Sanjay Kumar Verma appointed as next High Commissioner to Canada Number of Muslims in prisons comes down
The Suprem e C our t ha s closed pending cases per taining to the 2002 Gujarat ri ots for whi c h i t had formed an SIT under for me r CB I di r ec tor R K Raghavan Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the SIT, informed the court that trials in eight of the nine cases have been completed and hearing in the Naroda Patiya case is at an advanced stage and final arguments are being made in the trial court “Since all matters have now become infructuous, this court need not enter tain any application Trial in Naroda Patiya case be taken to its logical conclu sion as per law,” the bench said The apex court’s order passed on the National Human Rights Commission’s petition for conducting probe and prosecution in the nine cases have been complied with and nothing survives in them There was a pend ing application filed by Teesta Setalvad, social activist seeking the court’s direction for restoration of her security, the bench allowed her liberty to approach the appropriate authority for seeking pro tection and the authority would consider and decide her plea as per law The SIT was also given the task to probe the “larg er conspiracy” in the 2002 riots That issue has also now attained finality with the Supreme Court in June upholding the SIT’s find ings, giving a clean chit to the then Gujarat chief min ister Narendra Modi and other state functionaries Examining threadbare all the allegations made against Modi and other officials on the “conspira cy” behind the riots and the findings of the SIT’s report in its 452 page verdict, the apex court said that no case was made out against them and there was nothing to substantiate the allegations of hatching of criminal conspiracy at the highest level for causing violence against the minority com munity
The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation had picked former Kerala health minister and CPM’s central committee member K K Shailaja for the 64th Magsaysay award a few weeks ago but she turned it down following her party s diktat Shailaja had played a stellar role as health minister initially during the Nipah outbreak and later during the Covid pandemic CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said that the party leadership had rejected an award in the name of Ramon Magsaysay, a known oppressor of Communists in the Philippines “Shailaja was chosen as an individual But the fight against Covid was not the achievement of any single person Generally, political leaders are not considered for the Magsaysay award,” he said
KERALA’S EX MINISTER REJECTS
B EN G A LU R U : The chi e f pon ti f f of M urugha M utt i n Ka rna ta ka’s Chi tr adur ga, Shivamurthy Swami, 64, who is acc used of sexually assaulting two minor high school girls, was r ema nde d i n pol ic e c ust ody amid high drama The powerful Lingayat pontiff, who was arrested last week, was initially sent to 14 day judicial custody and lodged in Chitradurga prison, where he is said to have developed health complications He was shifted to Chitradurga district hospital, where a cardiologist suggested he be moved to Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research in Bengaluru A helicopter was on standby to airlift him When police sought permission from the C h i t r a d u r g a second additional district and sessions court, Judge BK Komala refused and took the police and local authorities to task for shifting the accused from the jail to the district hospital without the court’s permissionThecourt also objected to the preparations being made to airlift the pontiff to Bengaluru and asked police to produce him before the Chitradurga court
KO L KA T A : Mom ents after emerging from the C en tral G overnm en t of fic e com plex, whe re h e wa s gri lled b y th e Enf orcem en t D irec torate f or m ore than six hours in the coal s m ugglin g ca se, T rin am ool Con gress n ation al gen eral sec retary Abhishek Banerjee spitted fire on U nion Hom e Min is te r Am it Shah, calling him the real perpetrator of coal and cattle smuggling “If a cow is smuggled out of the country and the BSF cannot stop it and if coal is smuggled away from the mines and the CISF that guards it cannot prevent it then it is the controlling authorities of these two forces which are to be blamed So both cow and coal scams are the scams of Home Minister Amit Shah whose Ministry controls these forces and no one else,” Banerjee who was reportedly asked “very uncomfortable questions” by the ED said Banerjee was twice questioned by the CBI and ED earlier His sister in law, too, has been summoned by the central agency Abhishek’s attack on Shah also came hours after the Supreme Court provided him a temporary relief extending the interim stay on his arrest for another couple of days The Apex Court directed the ED not to take any strong step against the TMC leader
SOUTH INDIA PUNJAB WEST BENGAL 24 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 10 16 September 2022
Amid health scare, Karnataka seer sent to custody Nihangs clash with Radha Soamis, 11 hurt TMC may not give tickets to 'tainted' leaders in rural polls
Shivamurthy Swami
MAGSAYSAY AWARD
Masked vandals struck at a church in Thakkarpura village of Punjab s Tarn Taran district, damaging its pieta depicting the Virgin Mary cradling Christ's body and setting ablaze the administrator's parked car on their way out The desecration came a day after Akal Takht jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh asked the Punjab government to drop charges against the Nihangs who had been booked for disrupting a Christian religious function at Daduana village near Amritsar Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann directed DGP to conduct a prompt inquiry into the incident saying “severest of severe action must be taken against the perpetrators” Intelligence agencies said they suspected Pakistan’s ISI of having a hand in the recent incidents that have triggered acrimony between Christians and Sikhs after decades of living peacefully Christian protesters blocked the Patti Khemkaran road The blockade ended after the police assured them that the culprits would be brought to book
CH A N D I G A R H : On e f ami ly , one ticket, one election, at least 50 per cent tickets for Vidhan Sabha polls to women and other l ea ders be low t he age of 5 0 years, no chairperson posts in boards and corporations to the kin of party MPs and MLAs, and a break of one term for party president holding office for two c onsecutive terms are among s ome of the sw eepi ng organisational reforms that the Shi r oman i Ak al i D al announced The new measures, how eve r, would c ome i nt o a ff ec t onl y when t he SAD c ons ti t uti on i s f ormal ly amended“This is the first lot of changes being affected in the party, which has always stood for Punjab, Punjabis, Punjabiyat and Panth (the Sikh community); batted for more autonomy for the states, and ensured communal harmony, irrespective of the fact whether it was in power or not,” party president Sukhbir Badal said while announcing the 13 “ground breaking reforms” He said more changes will be announced to revive the party, which has taken a hit due to “false propaganda” by the opponents Badal said SAD was “not the personal property” of anyone as has been “falsely projected” The remarks come amid rumblings within the SAD against his leadership in particular and his family’s control over the party in generalHe said now the Akali Dal president would be eligible to hold office for two terms of five years each, and then take a break of one term “This will lead to induction of fresh leadership at the very top,” he added
AMR ITSAR : A clash broke out b etwe en N iha ng Si khs a nd followers of the Radha Soami Dera Satsang at Beas near here on Sun day a ft er the form er allegedly tried to forcibly enter the sprawling Dera premises to gr az e the ir c at tle , lea vi ng 10 pe ople a nd a poli c e of fi c er injuredAheavy police force was deployed around the Dera premises and senior officers, including the IGP, reached the spot to take stock of the situation Unconfirmed reports said shots were fired during the clash, but it is unclear whether the Radha Soami followers, the Nihangs, or the police opened the fire Though there were rumours, police said no death has been reported so far and that the situation is under control The scuffle apparently broke out following a fierce verbal duel between the two groups after a herd of cattle belonging to the Nihangs entered the Dera land for grazing, to which the Radha Soami followers objected One of the Nihangs allegedly attacked the security incharge of the Radha Soami Dera who sustained injuries in his shoulders Jandaila Guru police station SHO Davinder Kumar, who was at the spot, tried to intervene and sustained injuries in the process A total of 10 people from both sides suffered injuries, besides the police officer Amritsar (Rural) SSP Swapan Sharma said the police resorted to mild lathicharge to disperse the clashing groups Civil surgeon Dr Charanjit Singh denied the rumours of any casualty during the clash He said the injured were admitted to hospitals for treatment Nihangs are a Sikh sect whose blue robed members are often seen carrying swords or spears
VANDALS DAMAGE CHURCH IN PUNJAB
SC ADJOURNS HIJAB BAN HEARING TILL
ROW OVER MAMATA'S REMARKS ABOUT RSS
Akali Dal to introduce 13 'ground breaking reforms' ED grills Abhishek for 6 hours in coal scam
immediately The pontiff was then produced before the court in a wheelchair in the afternoon When the judge asked him to stand in the witness box, the pontiff became emotional and broke down The prosecution suggested that the accused can be presented through video conference “as he is unwell”, but this was turned down by the courtJudge Komala gave a clear direction that the pontiff should not be taken anywhere during police custody, ruling out any possibility of shifting him to hospital The police were directed to present the accused seer in the court later
SEPT 7 Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing on various pleas against Karnataka High Court's judgment upholding the ban on hijab in educational institutions The court will further hear these pleas on Wednesday Various petitioners have approached the top court challenging the Karnataka HC order upholding the Karnataka government s order which directs strict enforcement of schools and colleges uniform rules One of the petitioners in the top court has alleged "step motherly behaviour of government authorities which has prevented students from practising their faith and resulted in an unwanted law and order situation"
A political storm has arisen over TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s assertions that all in the RSS were “not bad” and there are many who do not support BJP” While the AIMIM Congress and CPM attacked her for what they saw as opportunism on Mamata's part, the BJP said it did not need certificates from her The RSS instead of commenting on her remarks pointed to Bengal s record of political violence and asked for corrective measures The sharpest attack came from AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi who said that in 2003 too she had called RSS ‘patriots', (and) in turn RSS had called her Durga” Owaisi said sarcastically, “hope TMC s ‘Muslim faces' praise her for her honesty and consistency” in brief
K O LK A TA : In an im age makeover bid, the Trinamool Congress may not give tickets to “tainted” leaders, who are either facing graft charges or have a poor public image, in the panchayat po lls in W est Be ngal du e ne xt year The TM C has s tarted a m ajo r rectifi catio n d ri ve after two sen io r leaders fo rmer minister Partha Chatterjee and party’s Bi rb hum dis tri ct president Anubrata Mondal were arrested in con nec tio n with schools jobs scam and a cattle sm uggling ca se respectivelyTheparty has effected three internal surveys, including one by Prashant Kishor’s I PAC, in the last few months to assess the functioning and conduct of its elected representatives and leaders at all levels ”Several surveys have been conducted, and a comprehensive report has been submitted to the party leadership The process of weeding out rotten elements is underway”Therectification drive will peak during ticket distribution for panchayat polls next year More than 50 60 per cent of the elected representatives might be dropped,” senior TMC leader Sougata Roy said Echoing him, TMC state vice president Jay Prakash Majumdar said the organisational overhaul process started in August when presidents of several organisational districts were changed “Since last month, the organisational overhaul is underway at all levels It will be completed by November this year While the media is busy with the schools jobs scam and cattle smuggling case, our party is silently undergoing major changes as part of the image makeover exercise,” he said Abhishek Banerjee Sukhbir Badal
25AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com 10 16 September 2022
PM Modi inducts India-made INS Vikrant to navy
Teesta Setalvad leaves jail after 70 days
SC seeks Centre’s stand on religion-neutral law
Pri me Min iste r Nare ndra Modi on Frid ay ind ucted in to the Navy its fi rst fully mad e i n I ndi a a ir craft carrier I NS Vi kran t als o the large st wars hip to be b uilt in country an d un vei led a n ew Shiv aji in spi red Nava l Ens ign to go with it, terming the fi rst “ a tri b ute to the r is in g s pi rit s of In dia on the glob al horiz on ” and the se con d a s ymbolic shedd ing of “the burden of slave ry ” “We are realising the dream of our freedom fighters, who envisioned a capable and strong India Vikrant is massive, distin guished and special If goals are distant, journeys are long, the ocean and its challenges are end less, India’s answer is Vikrant,” he said at Cochin Shipyard Ltd, where the mammoth warship built at a cost of £2 billio took shape over 13 years Flanked by defence minister Rajnath Singh and Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar, Modi compared the 262m long and 62m wide INS Vikrant named after its illustri ous predecessor that played a crucial role in the 1971 War to a floating city that was a living embodiment of the five pledges he proclaimed during his Independence Day speech this year "No challenge is too diffi cult for India today Vikrant has filled us with a new confidence," the PM said "We believe in a free, open and inclusive Indo Pacific region As India moves rapidly towards a $5 trillion econ omy, our share in global trade will increase A large part of it will inevitably be through mar itime routes In such a situation, INS Vikrant will safeguard our security and economic interests " Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan, CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Union ministers Sarbananda Sonowal, V Muraleedharan and Ajay Bhatt, NSA Ajit Doval and several for eign dignitaries, including the ambassadors of Russia, France and Australia and the high com missioner of the UK, were pre sent at the event Defence minister Rajnath said the commissioning of INS Vikrant showed the NDA gov ernment's resolve to ensure the safety and security of India for the next 25 years “Vikrant is an assurance to friendly foreign countries that India is capable of meeting the collective security needs of the region," he said Admiral Hari Kumar iterated the Navy’s aspira tion “to become completely self reliant by 2047" and remain a "combat ready, credible, cohe sive and future proof force"
A d ay af te r t h e S u p re me Court granted i nterim bail to activist T eesta Setalvad, i n t h e c as e w h er e s h e i s accused of fabricati ng evi dence relating to a purpo rt ed c o n sp i r ac y be h i nd th e 2002 po st Go dh ra riots, she wa lk e d o u t o f S a ba rm a ti Central Jail She was arrested by a Gujarat ATS (anti terrorist squad) team from her house in Mumbai on June 25 after the apex court upheld the clean chit given by an SIT (special investigation team) to PM Narendra Modi and others in the 2002 Gujarat riots She was booked by crime branch on June 25 along with former Gujarat DGP R B Sreekumar and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who has been jailed in an NDPS (Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substance) Act case The case was later given to an SIT headed by Gujarat ATS DIG Deepan Bhadran The trio was accused of abusing the pro cess of law by conspiring to fab ricate evidence in an attempt to frame innocent people for an offence punish able with capital punish ment in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots, states the crime branch FIR citing the apex court order upholding the clean chit The Supreme Court acted on a plea filed by Zakia Jafri, wife of Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed during the riots in 2002 The court had said Setalvad and Sreekumar were ‘dis gruntled’ In accordance with the SC order, she was produced before sessions judge V A Rana for the bail formalitiesAmitPatel, special pub lic prosecutor said that “The sessions court imposed two conditions over and above the conditions imposed by the apex court The sessions court asked the accused to furnish a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and not to leave India without its prior per mission ” Teesta Setalvad T he Sup reme C ourt asked the go vernment to make its stand clear on the issu e of relig ion neutral uniform law for mar riag e age, d ivorce, m aintenance and alimony, ado ption and g uardiansh ip, and succession and inheritance, w hich are d if ferent aspects of the U niform Civ il C ode A bench of Chief Justice U U Lalit and S Ravindra Bhat granted three weeks to the government to file a “compre hensive response” on the issue and also brief the court on whether it intends to introduce any bill in Parliament in the near future It asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on what could be the judicial process in deciding such cases and whether the court can pass direction to frame law Mehta said he would take instructions on the issue from the government and brief the court on the next date of hear ing The court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay pleading it to examine these con tentious issues He also pleaded that there should be gender and religion neutral uniform marriage age A IMPL B op poses pleas on uniform laws Upadhyay’s plea was strongly opposed by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which told the bench that the BJP leader had filed a similar petition on Uniform Civil Code in the apex court in 2015 and had withdrawn it with a liberty to approach the high court Advocate M R Shamshad, appearing for the Board, said it was disturbing that the peti tioner was not truthful to the court, which is an abuse of the process of law Upadhyay refuted the allegation and argued that the earlier petition was not similar to the present one being heard by the bench The court, while deferring the hearing, said the counsel should be fair to the court Pressing for fixing 21 years as the uniform minimum age of marriage for all citizens, Upadhyay said in his petition that different minimum ages for men and women were based on patriar chal stereotypes, and has no scientific basis
Am ids t the prevailing stal emat e over continuation of c hief m inis ter Hemant Soren as an MLA, the Jharkha nd as sem bly on Monday pas sed the confidence m otion tab led b y the rul ing c oa lition even as the m ain oppos ition party , the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) s taged a walkout jus t ahead of t he vot ing Of the 78 members of the 82 member house (including one nominated member), who could vote, 48 MLAs voted in favour of the government The Speaker of the house does not vote, unless there is a tie Three suspended Congress MLA could not attend the session as a West Bengal court asked them not to leave Kolkata after they were caught carrying Rs 49,00,000 in their car In all 29 MLAs from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), 15 from Congress, and one each from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), NCP, and CPI ML and the sole nominated member, representing the Anglo Indian community, voted for the gov ernment Those who staged walkout included the BJP, its ally the AJSU and independent legislators Saryu Roy and Amit Yadav Both Roy and Yadav won as BJP rebels in 2019 and the former was supporting the government until recently The main opposition BJP has 26 MLAs in the house while the AJSU Party has two The one day session was convened by the Soren led gov ernment amidst the silence on part of Governor Ramesh Bais in an office of profit case against Soren that could lead to his disqualification The Governor is yet to make public the Election Commision of India’s opinion over the issue sent to Raj Bhawan on August 25 ECI, it is widely believed, recom mended his disqualification as a member of the house It is not clear why the Governor is yet to act on the poll body’s advice
Soren wins ‘trust vote’ amid Jharkhand turmoil
Sledge flags were unique to British polar explorers and helped to forge an identity among officers and crew for each sledge sent from the ship Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay Tsaid:hisflag serves as a reminder of Britain’s rich maritime history, helping to tell the story of early British sailors and their travels in search of new places Its cultural and historical significance should be a driving force to keep it in the country I hope a buyer comes forward for this treasure soon ”
Understanding people through a musical lens
Lo nd on Kalibari will be stag ing their annu al Kalip uja, wh ich this year will be held on Mo nd ay 24 October at Hatch End Suite, Harro w A rts Centre, 1 71 U xbrid ge Rd , P inner HA5 4EA The Puja start tim e is 6 3 0 pm and prasad distribution will hap pen at Weald Hall fo llowing the com pletion of anjali The last Kalipuja was held at Harrow Arts Centre on 3rd July 2022, which was sponsored by LKB s long standing supporters, Mr Shyamal Sen and Mrs Tapati Sen They had over 100 devotees attending Puja was officiated by Pandit Sharmaji Those in attendance praised the stage set decorated by the mother daughter team of Millie and Suhana Basu Roy
A tempo rary expo rt bar has been placed on a sled ge flag from C ap tai n Henry K ellett’ s arctic expeditions A rare sledg e flag owned by Br iti s h Nav a l Of fi ce r C ap t ain He nry Kellett, wh o was inv olv ed in two major arctic expeditions, is at risk of leav ing the U K unless a buyer can be fo und Captain Henry Kellett, a proud Irishman, was a famous arctic explorer involved in expeditions charting the Northwest Passage the sea route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean which had become a focus for British science, trade and geographical exploration During the search for Sir John Franklin’s lost 1845 expedition, Captain Kellett’s voyages helped map out the northern extremes of North America for Britain The sledge flag, one of the earliest known in existence, helps to tell the story of British obsession in the 19th century with arctic exploration and serves as an important reminder of the tragedy of Franklin’s failed voyage
Deana Uppal's search for 'India's Forgotten People' U K b o rn e ntr ep re ne u r, former Miss Ind ia U K and f il m m a ker D ea na U p p a l re le as es h er d ir ec to ri a l debut in the docum entary sector, 'Ind ia's Forg otten P eo ple' o n Netfli x (U K & Europe) From respected forgers of armour and weaponry for Hindu kings in the 16th century to nomadic blacksmiths who barely survive, the history of India's proud but forgotten Gadia Lohar community is told for the first time in Deana Uppal's documentary India's Forgotten PeopleThe film provides a voice for a community that went from being highly respected to one of the country’s most poverty stricken, selling handmade items from metal scraps and living on the margins of Indian society Uppal witnessed the lifestyle of the nomadic communities whilst living in India and explores the Gadia Lohars, who rarely mix with others outside of their community Ordinary traders and workers were quick to dismiss the Gadia Lohars as “not nice people” who pester tourists, and Uppal herself admits to initially being nervous about visiting But, she soon found a community caught between powerful historical origins and an inability to fit into a modern day society where technology has overtaken their livelihood but whose sense of pride and tradition does not allow them to moderniseThisinvestigative film looks at the divide between rich and poor in India, and tells the true story of the Gadia Lohars for the first timeDirected and produced by Deana Uppal, India's Forgotten People is currently available on Netflix ( uk and europe ) Discovery Channel, MetaVerse and Deutshe WelleDeana Uppal is a UK born actress, former Miss India UK and film maker She was also one of the housemates in Big Brother, one of the contestants in Fear Factor, Khatron ke Khiladi 5, and has featured in various movies Following on from her documentary 'India's Forgotten people', Deana set up a charity 'Kindness Diaries Trust' to provide ongoing support and tackle poverty in rural India Deana executive produced the Punjabi film 'Jind Mahi' which releases this August, and stars Sonam Bajwa £120,000 flag from sledge of British polar explorer at risk of leaving UK
T oy Art U K is an exh ibition and sale of w orks th at concentrate on the art and artists w ho create designs and art toys We hav e in attend ance some of the best d esig ner toy artists in the UK and beyond show casing their am azing works of art all of w hich will be for sale Very often the pieces you buy at T oy Art U K will be limited ed itions, m aybe even one of a kind to be pro udly d isplayed in your house Designer Toy Artists are influenced by everything from Japanese pop art to American street art, but of course, being in the UK a lot of the artists put their very unique UK twist into their work Couple that with submitted, curated art from other parts of the world and you have a truly unique and inspiring event As well as the original works by the artists themselves there will be some interactive workshops to take part in courtesy of Pete Fowler and Chella Toys
Shefali Saxena P lum m is a g enre bending, stag e strutting c h a m el eo n; d i n in g w i th bo th li g h t an d sh ad ow After playing at BBC M aida Vale S tud ios with Moses Boyd for BBC 1 Xtra, ch amp ioned by BBC Introd ucing London, and playing w ith T aylo r M cF errin at Oslo in Hackney; Plumm recently perform ed 2 sold o ut shows at Th e Jazz C afe d oing M assiv e A ttack s Blue Lines This year she features on the them e tune fo r the new hit TV sh ow Rag d oll on A libi w ith Mo ses B oyd L iv e, P lum ms sho ws have created a buzz within the ev er growing Londo n jazz scene with her v arying arrangements; a full force Ro ck, Soul Jazz band, a one w oman v ocal pedal sh ow a nd p ar t o f l arg er co l lec ti v es s u ch as L ev itationOrchestra Plu mm is also a SOA S alumnus w ith a degree in Ethnomusicology and a specialism in North Ind ian Classical m usic P lum m is currently a Future Bubbler u n d er G i ll es P ete rs o n H er n ew E P , C hameleonic, out May 2022, begins the new take over in P lum m's versatile yet focused career as a song writer, artist and creative Here’s Plumm’s exclusive chat with Asian Voice T ell us about your background, fam ily and roots My background has always been musical I’ve been playing, studying and writing music since I can remember Growing up in London I was always surrounded by various styles and musical genres that influenced my sound as I grow My family are all from South Wales which has been a big influence as the song of the land is so rich and intertwined with magic, stories and history which I hope to be taking through into my music What is ethnomu sicolog y? Ethnomusicology; I would describe it as studying and understanding people through a musical lens from a non western perspective The course changed my life I learned so much about how music represents us as people just like the food that we eat and the languages we use Music is a language I chose this course because I wanted to study academia after studying music at the BRIT School which honed my path to becoming an artist I had an ethnomusicology teacher at BRIT who introduced me to the world of Indian Classical music and from there I was obsessed I then found a course at SOAS in London and began my training It’s quite an anthropological course that understands music and how we make, distribute and consume based on where we are in the world I then honed in as I kept studying and specialised more and more in Indian Classical and predominately North Indian Classical music What in tri gued y ou about North I ndian class ical m us ic? Which I ndian languages come under this art form? For me, one of the strongest draws is that music is way more than an art form but a way of life Composing and performing based on time of day, weather conditions, mood, location all these are so intertwined with the learning of the music that it’s very beautiful I started learning Tabla under Sanju Sahai who inspired me to keep it up and I am still learning now under Alok Verna As a singer and a drummer The tabla is the perfect instrument as it’s practically a singing drum Learning the language of Tabla blew my mind I love it So onomatopoeic and rhythmic I use a lot of tabla language in my Jazz scatting style as well as I tend to use my voice as an instrument building the language of tabla has enforced just more creativity in my improvising and my playing I also learned Khayal with Mehboobji Nadeem which has enabled my vocal abilities to thrive Especially ornamentation of the voice, the use of microtones, changing tone, the various Raag patterns and so forth I feel so blessed to be able to have but a mere insight into these musical practices I will forever be a student in this world and try to learn as much as I can and how I can intertwine it into my music I’m not trying to be a master in this field but a student and how I can build the bridge between the east and west in my musical vision What ins pi res you to write your m us ic in the present times when there’s a lot of un rest, fear and am biguity in the world? How do you focus? I focus on what my mood is at that exact moment My main inspirations are when I’m feeling something There is a lot to be unsettled pressure at the moment and sometimes when I am composing or recording I have to let it out, I have to face what I am feeling head on to create something true and meaningful We are multi dimensional beings and to create music that speaks to all of that is extremely nourishing and means one can make authentic music which then indeed creates focusIlet my mood write my music, I try and be as porous as possible
Kalipuja at Harrow Art Centre on 24 October
Retro events: Toy Art UK 2022
26 10 16 Septembar 2022 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww asian voice com
The trapezius muscle and scapulothoracic muscles are dynamic neck stabilisers These provide strong support to the cervical spine Improving their strength and maintaining good muscle tone is proven to delay the degeneration as well as improve neck symptoms
The benefits of tea have been known for ages It is considered soothing and contains helpful substances known to reduce inflammation In recent good news to tea drinkers, a large study has as s oc ia ted the b ev era ge wi th li fe l on gev i ty Sci e nti s ts f rom t he U S National Cancer Institute used a large database project that asked about the tea habits of nearly a half million adults in the United Kingdom, then followed them for up to 14 years They adjusted for risk factors such as health, socioeconomics, smoking, alcohol intake, diet, age, race, and gender
Inadequate insulin production in early stages of diabetes can lead to obesity I f you a re fol lowi ng a healthy diet, but not getting the desired outcome, then you are making these diet s a bota gi ng m is ta ke s The secret to your health goals is finding the right energy bal a nc e f or your i ndi vi dua l needs and there are many factors that can affect it If your diet isn’t bringing you des ired results, it may be likely that the problem is a c omb i nat ion of multi pl e factorsIna new Instagram post, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner Danielle Hamilton suggested five reasons why your diet isn’t working for you
A s tu dy gro up at the Un ive rsi ty o f Bas el ha s recently demonstrated that inadequacies in the body’s i ns u li n pro du ct io n contribute to obesity Poor n ut rit io n, t oo l itt le mo veme nt a nd t oo many po u nds o n the s ca le i nf lu enc e the ris k o f me tabo li c di se ase s li ke di ab etes Ho wever, the relationship works the other way round as well, according to a research group led by Dr Daniel Zeman Meier of the university’s Department o f Bi o medic i ne a nd the University Hospital of Basel reportsThe findings of the study were published in the journal Nature Communications If insulin production is compromised, as is the case in the early stages of type 2 diabetes, this can contribute to being overweight The research team focused on protease PC1/3, a key enzyme in the body that transforms various inactive hormone precursors into the final, active forms If this enzyme isn't functioning properly in a person, the result can be severe endocrine disorders The consequences include a feeling of uncontrollable hunger and severe overweight"Until now, it was assumed that this dysregulation is caused by a lack of activation of satiety hormones But when we turned off PC1/3 in the brains of mice, the animals' body weight did not change significantly,” Dr Zeman MeierThe finding that a defect in the insulin producing beta cells is a trigger of overweight opens up new therapeutic possibilities For example, it is conceivable that medications could be used to reduce the production of immature insulin precursors, creating a new tool in the fight against overweight and diabetes Tech neck or text neck is a common issue these days It comes from excessive use of mo bile ph one s a nd sed e nta ry jobs re quir ing one t o sit in fr on t of screens for hours It usually star t s wit h disc omfo r t ar o und t h e neck ar ea, shou lders and back T he condit io n al so c au ses stabbing pain, h eadaches, neck stiffness, jaw pain or numbness in the arms and handsIt happens because of the awkward posture of neck which leads to strain on the cervical spine and supportive muscles When you bend your neck forward to look at your screen or mobile for a prolonged time, it results in this condition Experts state that just bending the neck forward by 15 degrees puts around 12 5 kg of additional weight on our neck This increases to 16 kg at 30 degrees and 27 2 kg at 60 degrees of neck flexion This leads to a significant increase in the pressure over the cervical spine, making it prone to minor as well as major injuries While one does not realise it, putting our neck in such discomfort for longer periods can permanently affect joints and the cervical spine
Correct posture and ergonomics
Omicron linked to 34% of all long Covid cases
A thumb rule is to keep your screen at eye level Use stands, laptop raises and arranging desktops as part of ergonomic changes Intermittent rest and stretches Prolonged continuous posture leads to muscle fatigue, causing neck pain and degeneration Intermittent rest in a reclined position to offload the weight transmission of head over neck proves effective Intermittent stretches increase blood supply to the muscle, maintain tone and reduce muscle fatigue Improve muscle strength
27AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com Available from Superdrug, Holland & Barrett, Lloydspharmacy, GNC, supermarkets, health stores independent pharmacies, www vitabiotics com CALCIUM + Magnesium + Vit D3 MOST TRUSTED UVITAMINS K’ S AWA R D W I N N I N G N O.1 S K I N, H A I R , N A I L S B e a u t y T a b l e t s Most trusted for pregnancy TA B L E T S For all women over 40 years M e n o p a u s e Ta b l e t s HEALTH & VITALITY GTablets entle IRON+Vitamin syrup sponsored by: 10 16 September 2022 Is your diet not working? Let us tell you why Suffering from tech neck? Use these tips to tackle it
Grim new figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that 34 per cent of all existing long Covid patients devel oped their symptoms after ca tchin g Co vid 1 9 d urin g the Omicron era Leading testing expert, Dr Quinton F iv el ma n Ph D , C hief Scientific Officer at London M e dical La b ora tor y , say s, “UK Covid cases and hospi tal admissions continue to fall, but these latest ONS l on g C ovid f igur es a re a wakeup call The dangers of the virus, even in its purportedly less severe Omicron form, remain significant Looking at these figures, though 45 per cent of long Covid patients developed their symptoms at least one year previously, a worrying 253,000 reported they first caught Covid 19 less than 12 weeks previously However, they have already developed long Covid symptoms sig nificantly impacting their health and lives ” He added, “To put the numbers into focus, 29 per cent of long Covid sufferers reported they first had Covid before the first wave of Alpha became the main variant; 256,000 during the Alpha period, 386,000 dur ing the Delta period and a significant 681,000 during the Omicron period Anyone thinking that Omicron variants are less likely to result in long Covid than previous Covid strains must think again ” Dr Fivelman said, “The latest figures also reveal that you are more likely to devel op long Covid if you are aged 35 to 69 years, a female and/or live in a more deprived area Covid may remain active in our bodies, in areas such as the gut, for extended periods of time, potentially causing a long term, low grade infection This could well be the cause for long Covid For this rea son, at the beginning of June, London Medical Laboratory called for the Government to urgently consider vaccinating every one over 50 this autumn We are delighted it agreed to do this ” Your daily cup of tea has more benefits than you think
“If
You're not optimising your digestion Digestion is the number 1 healing priority of the body If we can't break down and absorb nutrients, we will never get healthy And no, taking a probiotic isn'tYenoughou'refocused only on diet and not on your lifestyle Sleep, circadian rhythm, when you eat, movement, stress reduction, sun expo sure, hermetic stressors, supporting detox pathways, mindset, community, spiri tuality, and positivity all are essential factors for healing You are spending too much time in a stressed state Being in a sympathetic state will block digestion, hor mone balance, weight loss, heal ing, and so much more We need to get into a parasym pathetic state more often You're eating food sensitivities or inflammatory foods When you eat foods you re sensitive to, that means that your body is reacting with inflammation Inflammation in the gut doesn't stay in the gut It not only blocks nutrient absorp tion but also the inflamma tion travels throughout your body via your bloodstream You're trying to do it on your own and aren't addressing root causes When you get all your health advice from different sources, you're not taking a consistent, root cause approach Try to take advice from a well qualified expert
The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, found the association held up for heart disease deaths, but there was no clear trend for cancer deaths Higher tea intake, two or more cups daily, was linked to a modest benefit nine per cent to 13 per cent lower risk of death from any cause vs non tea drinkers Tea temperature, or adding milk or sugar, did not change the results Maki Inoue Choi, who led the study, said they weren’t sure why, but it’s possi ble there weren’t enough cancer deaths for any effect to show up She said there’s not enough evidence advise changing tea habits you drink one cup a day already, I think that is good And please enjoy your cup of tea ”
Bollywood s ‘Badshah Shah Rukh Khan took to Instagram to wish his fans on the occasion, shar ing an image of the idol he d welcomed home along with his family He penned a note to the pic ture saying, “the learning is, through hard work, perseverance, and faith in God, you can live your dreams Salman Khan Salman Khan happened to be present at Arpita Khan s Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations He shared a video of the same on his profile where he’s seen performing the aarti He captioned it “Ganpati Bappa Morya ”
The industry s beloved celebrity couple attended Arita Khan’s annual Ganesh Chaturthi celebra tions To top it off they even colour coordinated with the actress sporting a yellow sharer set and the actor donning a yellow kurta churidar Sara Ali Khan Sara rang in the celebrations with her mother Amrita Singh She wore an orange ensemble com plete with gold details and statement accessories She captioned her post, “Happy Ganesh Chaturthi Ganpati Bappa Morya Kartik Aaryan Kartik sought blessings at Mumbai s popular Lalbaugcha Raja on the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi Thanking God, the actor said, “Aur hope karta hu aap aagey bhi meri saari mannate aise hi poori karte rahe ”
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Last week, social media was rife with photos of sweet, vibrant idols and worship As is tradition, Bollywood celebrities tapped into their spiritual sides this Ganesh Chaturthi, as they welcomed Lord Ganesha into their homes Many took to social media to offer fans a glimpse of how they celebrate the occasion There were elaborate ceremonies, glitzy get togethers, and generous amounts of couture Shah Rukh Khan
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Actress Shilpa Shetty and her family brought an idol from Lalbaug and welcomed Ganpati Bappa this year Sharing snippets of the celebrations on Instagram, she hailed Lord Ganesh She added, And he s back Ganpatti Bappa Morya, my favourite time of the year
Deepika and Ranveer Singh
Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal
Actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh joined industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his family dur ing their Ganesh Visarjan procession on a truck dec orated with flowers While Deepika was spotted sit ting on the floor Ranveer was at his best and danced
Amitabh Bachchan is a man of many hats In his 54 years of being in the industry, he has been an actor, a singer, and even a producer Now, he turned composer for R Balki’s upcoming film ‘Chup’ The movie stars Dulquer Salmaan, Sunny Deol, Shreya Dhanwanthary and Pooja Bhatt, and has been described as a tribute to the late filmmaker Guru Dutt Speaking in an interview, Balki s a i d , “ I t w i l l h a p p e n v e r y impromptu I asked Amitji to see the movie After seeing it, he called me over and he played me a tune on his piano and said that’s what the movie and the characters made me feel He was very touched I was ecstatic I asked him if I could use the tune and he immediately gifted it to the movie Today Chup is the first film that has Amitji’s official composition as the score for the credits ” The movie is touted to be a psychological thriller, which will be released theatrically on September 23 Talking about the film, Balki said in a statement last year, “Chup is an ode to the sensitive artist, and Guru Dutt is right on top of that list I have had the story for a long time and I am glad we finally wrote it and are almost done filming it ” Bollywood celebrates G A N E S H C H A T U R T H I , kicks off festivities
Anushka shares a heartwarming story about grief Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma is quite active on social media and often gives a sneak peek into her life through her social media accounts Last week, she shared a story titled ‘Kafka and the Doll’, inspired by the novelist Franz Kafka A n u s h k a w r o t e , “ A t 4 0 , Franz Kafka, who never married and had no children, walked through the park in Berlin when he met a girl who was crying b e c a u s e s h e h a d l o s t h e r favourite doll She and Kafka searched for the doll unsuccessfully Kafka told her to meet him there the next day and they would come back to look for her The next day, when they had not yet found the doll, Kafka gave the girl a letter ‘written’ by the doll saying ‘please don’t cry I took a trip to see the world I will write to you about my adventures ’” S h e c o n t i n u e d , “ T h u s b e g a n a s t o r y which continued until the end of Kafka’s life During their meetings, Kafka read the letters of the doll carefully written w i t h a d v e n t u r e s a n d c o n v e r s a t i o n s t h a t t h e g i r l found adorable Finally, Kafka b r o u g h t b a c k t h e d o l l ( h e bought one) that had returned to Berlin ‘It doesn’t look like my doll at all,’ said the girl K a f k a h a n d e d h e r a n o t h e r letter in which the doll wrote: ‘ my travels have changed me ’ the little girl hugged the new doll and brought her happy home A year later Kafka died M a n y y e a r s l a t e r , t h e n o w adult girl found a letter inside the doll ” The actress concluded, “In the tiny letter signed by Kafka it was written: ‘Everything you love will probably be lost, but in the end, love will return in another way '” Anushka Sharma is looking forward to the release of the sports drama ‘Chakda Xpress’ It is based on the life of cricketer J h u l a n G o s w a m i T h e f i l m m a r k s h e r comeback to the silver screen after the 2018 film ‘Zero’
Aamir finally breaks silence after ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ failure Aamir Khan’s ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ failed miserably at the box office While a lot has been said and done about the debacle, the one person who is yet to speak up is the actor himself. Khan, as he continues to follow the tradition of Paryushan Parva, a Jain festival, appears to have finally broken his silence. H i s p r o d u c t i o n h o u s e r e l e a s e d a n audio clip on social media, which begins w i t h ‘ M i c h h a m i D u k k a d a m ’ T h e P r a k r i t p h r a s e m e a n s , “ I f I h a v e offended you in any w a y , k n o w i n g l y o r unknowingly, in thought, word or deed, then I seek your forgiveness ” Aamir has been following the practice for many years now The words in the clip say, “Hum sab insaan hai, aur galityan insaan se hoti hai Kabhi bol se, kabhi harkaton mein, kabhi mazak mein Agar maine kissi tarah se aapka dil dukhaya hai, toh man vachan, kaaya se sama mangte ho ” The voice is not that of the actor A remake of the Hollywood classic ‘Forrest Gump’, ’Laal Singh Chaddha’ flopped miserably at the box office It was a project that took 10 years in production and three years for filming, and since its release, there has been silence from the star The movie was released on August 11 to mixed reviews and went on to become Aamir’s biggest flop in over a decade T h e r e a r e a l s o r e p o r t s o f t h e a c t o r forgoing his fee for the movie
Amitabh Bachchan turns music composer
Speaking at a recently held promotional event for 'Brahmastra' in Hyderabad, filmmaker Karan Johar said we must stop categorising films and consider them all Indian films The recent bout of success for regional movies has shed some light on the Bollywood Tollywood divide Talking about movies and the labels, the filmmaker said, “We, in our own tiny way, are trying to reach every corner (of the country with our film) Like SS Rajamouli sir said, this is Indian cinema Let’s not call it anything else We keep giving it a wood Bollywood, Hollywood We are not in the woods anymore, we are out of them We are proudly part of Indian cinema Each and every film will now be from Indian cinema ” On the work front, Johar is backing Ayan Mukerji’s ambitious project ‘Brahmastra’ as a producer The movie stars Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Nagarjuna, Mouni Roy and Amitabh Bachchan in lead roles It is a sci fi movie inspired by Indian mythology The film is all set to release on September 19 in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada languages
29AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly an-voice.com 10 16 September 2022 MON 12 SEP FRI 16 SEP 2022 6:00 KAL JE KORANO MARO SAYBO 9:00 SHUBH PRABHAT 9:30 SUR PRABHAT 10:00 DESHI BEATS 17:30 RASOI SHOW (O) 18:00 RASOI SHOW (O) 18:30 SURI (O) 19:00 JODE REJO RAAJ (O) 19:30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU (O) 20:00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI (O) 20:30 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU (O) 21:00 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM (O) 21:30 GEETA (O) 22:00 MARI LADKI RE (O) SATURDAY 17 SEP 2022 6:00 GFF MAA VINA SUNO SANSAR 9:00 SHUBH PRABHAT 9:30 SUR PRABHAT 10:00 DESHI BEATS 17:30 RASOI SHOW (O) 18:00 RASOI SHOW (O) 18:30 SURI (O) 19:00 JODE REJO RAAJ (O) 19:30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU (O) 20:00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI (O) 20:30 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU (O) 21:00 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM (O) 21:30 GEETA (O) 22:00 MARI LADKI RE (O) SUNDAY 18 SEP 2022 6:00:00 PARAKA PADARANI GORANDE 9:00:00 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU ® 10:30:00 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM ® 12:00:00 PARAKA PADARANI GORANDE 15:00:00 MARI LADKI RE ® 17:00:00 RASOI SHOW ® 18:00:00 RASOI SHOW ® 19:00:00 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU ® 20:30:00 RASHI RICKSHAWALI ® MON 12 SEP FRI 16 SEP 2022
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wn for ently oycott being stry ecularism asked ‘Boycott of erated t is lies I Bollywood’ brigade is actually running a small industry of their own. They are profiting from it All these Twitter handles It’s like an industry on its own ” When asked if this move is political in nature and to bring down the three Khans Shah Rukh, Salman, and Aamir, she decoded the agenda behind the social media trends She said, “It is driven by an agenda for sure The larger part of it has been that in 109 years, Bollywood has been one of the most popular vehicles of Indian secularism Look at the kind of films we have made, we have always given the message that everyone is equal, and love is greater than the societal divide Look at the credit at the end of the Bollywood film, every regional and linguistic identity of India is always represented there ” She added, “It’s an industry which was spearheaded in its early days the Parsi and Muslim communities, It’s an industry which has popularised Urdu poetry and easy to digest Sufi concepts and is very diverse in an organic way That is a problem for an agenda that wants to push a saffron kind of majoritarian identity in India So, you have to discredit and delegitimise the most popular vehicle for Indian secularism if you want to discredit Indian secularism That’s why Bollywood is being targeted ” is excited to work with again 16:30 RASOI SHOW DESI FLAVOURS 17:30 CHHUTA CHHEDA 18:00 SASURAL SIMAR KA 18:30 SHAKTI 19:00 DESI BEATS 19:30 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20:00 SWARAN GHAR 20:30 KAWACH MAMTA KA 21:00 AJNABI BANE HUMSAFAR 21:30 SASURAL SIMAR KA 2 SATURDAY 17 SEP 2022 16:30 RASOI SHOW DESI FLAVOURS 17:30 DANCE DEEWANE JUNIORS 19:00 DESI BEAT RESET 19:30 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20:00 COMEDY NIGHTS WITH KAPIL 21:30 SASURAL SIMAR KA 2 SUNDAY 18 SEP 2022 16:30 RASOI SHOW DESI FLAVOURS 17:30 DANCE DEEWANE JUNIORS 19:00 THE ANUPAM KHER SHOW SEASON 2 20:00 COMEDY NIGHTS WITH KAPIL
* Schedule is subject to change * Schedule is subject to change TV Listing
Every film will be now from Indian cinema: Karan Johar
vani
‘Bring down Bollywood’ brigade running a small industry: Swara Bhasker
Actors Kiara Advani and Kartik Aaryan are all set to work on their second film together, ‘Satyaprem Ki Katha’. The two were last seen in ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ in May this year. In a recent interview, Kiara expressed her excitement to work with Kartik once again. Talking about how the movie is a love story, her “favourite genre”, Kiara said, “Fortunately, our pairing (Kartik and herself) really worked well in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 We started off on such a great note We’ve begun to prep for the film and will be shooting later this month together I’m excited to be working with him once again! It’s a love story, my favourite genre, where I play Katha, and he plays Satya My last was Kabir Singh, which everyone loved ” She also shared how the team worke ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ for three years, even during the Covid 19 pandemic ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’, which also featured Tabu, had released on May 20 and collected over £20 million at the box office worldwide “It was just so overwhelming for the entire team orked on it for three years, even during the ndemic Everyone was happy with the esult It was incredible to be a part of a family comedy that also has an element of horror and was part of a well known franchise This year’s highest grossing film has given the industry hope!” Kiara saidApart from ‘Satyaprem Ki Katha’ with Kartik, Kiara also has ‘Govinda Naam Mera’ in the pipeline The film is directed by Shashank Khaitan and will see Kiara reunite with Vicky Kaushal The two orked together in ‘Lust Stories’, a 2018 lix anthology film, consisting of four short films directed by Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar
Jr NTR ‘RRR’ star Jr NTR joined the star cast of the upcoming Bollywood movie ‘Brahmastra’ for a promotional event in Hyderabad last week He shared a few words of wisdom on how to come out of the situation as several big budget films crashed at the box office over the last few months Jr NTR said, “They want something more than what we are deliver ing now Personally, I am a person who believes that we perform better when we are under pressure So the pressure is good, I think the indus try in total has to accept this challenge and make good, better films for our audience And I hope everybody understands that I am not putting anybody down here Let's accept the challenge, let's move forward and make good, great films for our audience ” Wishing success for the movie, he said, “I pray to God that Brahmastra truly comes out as the brahmastra of our Indian film indus try ” The event had the entire star cast of the movie including Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, Nagarjuna, and Mouni Roy in attendance, along with co producer Karan Johar, Jr NTR and ‘RRR’ director SS Rajamouli
30 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 10 16 September 2022
Actor Amala Paul filed a complaint against her estranged friend and former business partner Bhavninder Singh Dhatt for allegedly cheating her in a business deal and harassing her over some pictures According to a media report, Bhavninder was arrested last week, a day after the actress filed the complaint with Villupuram Police. She had earlier filed a defamation suit against him in 2020 after claiming that he had falsely published pictures of them from a private photo shoot. The duo were rumoured to be dating, however, it was never confirmed In 2020, Bhavninder shared pictures of the two in wedding attire on social media, sparking specu lations that the two had married However, after Amala clarified the pictures were from a 2018 photoshoot, he deleted them The two parted ways after According to reports, Amala and Bhavninder had started a film production company in 2018, when they were friends However, after they parted ways, Amala claimed he forged documents to remove her from the post of the company’s director He also threatened to upload their photos on social media According to the complaint, the police registered a case against Bhavninder under various sections, including forgery, intimidation, and harassment, and arrested him Amala was last seen in the Disney+ Hotstar film ‘Cadaver’ As per the report, the film was her home pro duction and the actor had heavily invested in it The Tamil language thriller was well received by critics upon its release on August 12
Actor Varalaxmi has never kept her love for Tamil star Vijay a secret A self proclaimed fan of the actor, she had a fan girl moment recently as her co passenger on her flight to Hyderabad turned out to be none other than Thalapathy himself. She took to Twitter to share pictures from the journey, and wrote, “Never had such a good flight to hyd…haha my favoriteeeeeeee #Thalapathy @actorvijay right next to me whaatteew day heheheh so much fun ludo laughter chit chat perfect flight perfect day ” Varalaxmi and Vijay have shared the screen ear lier in the film ‘Sarkar’ in 2018, in which she played the antagonist Komalavalli, the daughter of a corrupt politician She was lauded for her performance Varalaxmi was later seen in films such as ‘Maari 2’, ‘Velvet Nagaram’, and ‘Poikal Kuthirai’ Varalaxmi recently went through a significant physical transformation She took to social media to share pictures She wrote, “The struggle is real the challenge is real but noth ing can stop you from achieving what you want No one can tell you who you are or what you have to be Challenge yourself make yourself the competi tion and you will be sur prised with the amount you can achieve 4 months of hard work and this is what I have to show for it do whatever makes you happy don’t do things to make others happy Don’t let anyone tell you what u can and cannot do !!! Confidence is your only weapon !! (sic) ” Meanwhile, Vijay is shuttling between Chennai and Hyderabad for the shoot of his upcoming Tamil Telugu bilingual, ‘Varisu’ Directed by Vamshi Paidipally, the film has Rashmika Mandanna, Sarathkumar, Prabhu, and Prakash Raj in the lead roles
Amala Paul’s rumoured ex-boyfriend arrested after she files complaint Industry has to accept challenge and make better films:
Varalaxmi has a fan girl moment on a flight
‘Drishyam 3’ confirmed, Mohanlal fans rejoice SuperstarMohanlal’s acclaimed thriller franchise ‘Drishyam’ is finally getting a well deserved third instalment. Producer Antony Perumbavoor has confirmed that the tale of Mohanlal’s Georgekutty will be back for the third time The producer spoke about the Malayalam film and teased the movie’s fans that the much loved franchise is set to return As soon as a video from the event surfaced on social media, fans started rejoicing over the news. After Antony’s confirmation of Drishyam 3, fans started shar ing edits of the film’s poster, including their favourite moments of Mohanlal from the franchise Directed by Jeethu Joseph, Drishyam followed the struggle of Georgekutty and his family, who come under suspicion when the son of the Inspector General of Police gets killed The sequel chronicled the family and Georgekutty, who transitions from being a cable TV service provider an aspiring film producer, they fight the ghost of eir past While ‘Drishyam’ pened theatrically in 2013, e second instalment was leased on Prime Video last ar Both films garnered emendous acclaim for their reenplays and perfor ances Apart from ohanlal, the Malayalam iginal also featured Meena, nsiba Hassan, and Esther nil among others The film’s popularity led remakes in several lan uages, including Hindi, amil, Telugu, Kannada, hinese (Mandarin) and nhalese Its Bollywood daptation saw actor Ajay evgn stepping into ohanlal’s shoes as Vijay algoankar and also featured abu as a cop The Hindi remake was elmed by late filmmaker ishikant Kamat The sec Drishyam 2’ is directed by Abhishek Pathak The film is gearing up for a November release
Tiger Shroff manifests relationship with Shraddha on ‘Koffee with Karan’
Diamond of the season and ‘Bridgerton 2’ star Charithra Chandran recently turned into a bride as she wore designer Manish Malhotra’s lehenga for a photoshoot The actor posed in a dreamy white look on the cover of travel magazine Condé Nast Traveller. The British actor, who was born in a Tamilian family wore a white full sleeved blouse and embroidered lehenga, with a matching veil on her head from Manish Malhotra’s Khaab Mijwan 2022 collection She is seen with a bouquet of flowers in her hands, minimal makeup and very little jewellery on her Manish also shared the magazine cover on Instagram, which garnered love from her fans in the comments section A fan wrote, “Incredible!!!!!! Diamond of the season indeed ” Another wrote, “Woah the season's diamond ” One more fan wrote, “Oh my gosh, what a beauty ” A video was also shared that showed more glimpses of Charithra in multiple gowns from the designer’s collection She is seen standing in the sun in the bridal lehenga and a bouquet of flowers, in an off shoulder gown as well as chilling on a bed and on a sofa in different white attires Charithra played the sister to the season’s lead character Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) in the second instalment of ‘Bridgerton’ The show has been renewed for the third season Netflix has announced that filming for season three has begun The new season will focus on the love story of Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton)
Actress Priyanka Chopra, who entered Hollywood and gained international recognition and fame after she played Alex Parrish in the American TV show ‘Quantico’, has said she still has a lot to achieve in terms of her work. Priyanka said that after 10 years of being active in the entertainment industry in the United States, she is finally able to do the kind of roles she wants Speaking in an interview recently, Priyanka said, “I am a high achiever, I have always been a high achiever I am someone who is goal oriented I like challenges, growth, evolution, and knowledge When you combine all of these things, there is a lot more that I want to do If I break it down, I have had an incredibly successful career as an actor in India I have worked with the best filmmakers, and I have done films that I am really proud of And now I want to be able to, as an actor, create that body of work in my English language work which is in America ” She added, "As an actor, I am still new (in the US) After 10 years of working here, I have just about reached the point where I am doing the kind of roles I want to, where I have the kind of credibility within the industry that I have worked really hard for, where I have trust with the partners that I am working with ” After ‘Quantico’, Priyanka went on to appear in Hollywood films like ‘Baywatch’, ‘Isn’t It Romantic’, and ‘The Matrix: Resurrections’ among others He also has the romantic comedy film ‘It's All Coming Back To Me’ and the sci fi series ‘Citadel’ in the pipeline On the work front, Priyanka will be next seen in a road trip film by Farhan Akhtar The film, titled ‘Jee Le Zaraa’, also stars Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt and is expected to release in late 2023
‘Bridgerton 2’ star Charithra Chandran turns Manish Malhotra bride
‘The Lord of the Rings’ just got its own spin off in a web series titled ‘The Rings of Power’ The much anticipated series has begun streaming on September 2, on Amazon Prime Video The cast, along with show runner JD Payne was in India recently to promote the project During the promo Lloyd Owen shared his experience workin in the Bollywood film ‘Thugs of Hindostan’ (2018) and how it helped him prepare for this international magnum opus drama Drawing similarities between both projects, Lloyd said, “Not just in terms size and palette but also how we filme different places So yes, there was a strong sense of resemblance In ‘Thugs’, there was a strong mythological aspect and that is reflected in the set And hence, I felt I was well trained for the ‘Rings of Power’ working on the film ” The 56 year old also drew comparisons in terms of learning a new language in both projects He shared, “Victor Acharya, who was the director of ‘Thugs’, wrote 36 pages of lines in Urdu for me I had to try and earn and then add meaning, weight and motions to it It was the hardest and yet the ost rewarding thing for me as an actor ilarly, in this show, I have to speak Elvish the new words came, I was like, I am here again How to decipher and make the language my own emotions was another big similarity ” When asked whether he plans to show his new project to his ‘Thugs’ co stars Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, said, “I will force everyone in the team to watch it ” Lloyd Owen played the negative lead John Clive in the Aamir Khan Amitabh Bachchan starrerSubhrajit Mitra’s ‘Avijatrik’ to compete at the Grammy Awards Filmmaker Subhrajit Mitra’s National Award winn film ‘Avijatrik’ continues to win big across seas The period drama will now compete at the Grammy Awards for Best Original Soundtrack composed by Buckram Ghosh. Ghosh took to Twitter handle to announce the news He wrote, “Now time for The Grammys’ Abhijan(Journey) for ‘ #Avijatrik’ National Award winning Bengali Film Avijatrik sequel of 'Apu Trilogy' The wonderlust of Apu, ( directed by @SubhrajitMitra, Produced by #GaurangFilms )winner of several International Awards and nominations is now competing for The #Grammy Awards for Best Original Soundtrack Music score by yours truly ! We’ve just submitted! Bless us and support us @ShankarAnoushka features on the soundtrack”Rifewith soulful music and a rich legacy, ’Avijatrik’ saw Satyajit Ray’s iconic character ‘Apu’ come to life after six decades It is the sequel to the classic Apu Trilogy, and the plot takes off om where it ended in 1959 with ‘Apur Sansar’ The story revolves around a sublime bond between a father (Apu) and his six year old son (Kajol)The movie boasts an ensemble cast and crew including Arjun Chakrabarty (as Apu), Ditipriya Roy, Arpita Chatterjee, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Master Ayushmaan Mukherjee, Sreelekha Mitra, Biswanath Basu, Tanushree Shankar, Barun Chanda and Sohag Sen in key roles ‘Avijatrik’ bagged the Best Bengali Feature Film award at the 68th National Film Awards
The latest episode for ‘Koffee with Karan’ just dropped with Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon on the coveted coffee couch. Last week’s episode saw a brief discussion on Tiger’s rumoured relationship with Disha Patani Shroff set the record straight on the episode and said that he is single. Rumours of his potential break up have been doing the rounds for a few weeks now, but the actors have maintained silence on the subject Tiger said on Karan’s show, “I am single I think so at least and I am currently looking around ” This season, Karan has been pushing his celebrity guests to talk about their crushes on the show as he believes that the couch is the secret behind many of Bollywood’s successful relationships Trying his luck with the same, Tiger said that he is ‘infatuated’ with his former co star Shraddha Kapoor “I have always been infatuated by Shradha Kapoor I think she is great,” he said Tiger and Shraddha have shared screen space in 'Baaghi' and 'Baaghi 3' This is Tiger’s third appearance on the show He first appeared in Season 5 with his father actor Jackie Shroff He next appeared in Season 6 with his ‘Student of the Year’ 2 co stars Tara Sutaria and Ananya Panday For Kriti Sanon, this is her second appearance on the show She first appeared with Kartik Aaryan in Season 6 This season, ‘Koffee with Karan’ has hosted the likes of Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor among others
ally doing roles I t to do after 10 years in ywood: Priyanka
Lloyd Owen to 'force' Aamir Amitabh to watch ‘The Rings of Power’
31AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com 10 16 September 2022 CROSS-PLATFORM
BCCI ‘BOUGHT’ NEERAJ’S JAVELIN IN E AUCTION
It was BCCI, which had made a winning bid of £150,000 for Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra’s javelin when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s collection of mementos was e auctioned last year a Board official said Neeraj had presented one of his javelins to Modi when Prime Minister hosted Indian athletes after the Tokyo Games The javelin was part of many items that were presented during the e auction the proceeds of which went to Namami Gange Programme But we also bid for a couple of other collectibles It (Namami Gange) is a noble cause and as one of the premier sporting bodies in the country, we had a duty towards the nation,” a senior BCCI official said Apart from Neeraj’s javelin, BCCI also bought an angavastra, autographed by the Indian paralympic contingent for £100,000
There will be a change of guard at Sunrisers Hyderabad with West Indian great Brian Lara replacing Tom Moody as the head coach for the 2023 IPL season The former West Indies captain one of the games all time greatest batter joined the team last year as batting coach and strategic adviser Lara has a number of batting records during his illustrious 26 year international career The 53 year old made the highest individual innings Test score with 400 not out against England in 2004 He held the record for career Test runs until he was overtaken by India s Sachin Tendulkar in 2008 His 501 not out against Durham for Warwickshire in 1994 remains the highest first class cricket score Moody leaves after two stints with the team, the first between 2012 and 2019 when he drew the best out of a temperamental David Warner made the playoffs five times and won the title in 2016
ZIMBABWE STUN
Zimbabwe stunned a nearly full strength Australia by three wickets to claim a historic victory in the third One day International in Townsville After legspinner Ryan Burl (5 10) played a starring role in dismissing the hosts for a lowly 141 Zimbabwe overcame a wobbly chase to beat the cricket powerhouse for the first time in Australia when they hauled in the target in the 39th over triggering scenes of celebration It was a consolation victory for Zimbabwe to conclude the three match series We showed a whole lot of fight it was a testament to the work the boys put in, said Zimbabwe skipper Regis Chakabva, who top scored with a composed unbeaten 37 in briefLanka push India towards exit door
Bairstow ruled out of T20 World Cup due to injury
AUSTRALIA FOR FIRST TIME
India seam bowling allrounder Shardul Thakur who was originally picked for the West Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy has replaced injured India pacer Prasidh Krishna for the ongoing India A versus New Zealand A three match four day series in Bangalore Down with back spasms, the 26 year old Krishna did not play in the first four day Test Thakur has been replaced in the West Zone squad by Saurashtra’s left arm seamer Chetan Sakaria who played 1 ODI and 2 T20Is for India on their tour of Sri Lanka in July last year
A rejuvenated Sri Lanka firmly pushed the Indian cricket team towards the exit door with a six wicket victory in their Asia Cup Super Four match in Dubai on Tue sd ay Thi s i s I ndi a 's 2 nd successive defeat in the Super 4 s ta ge an d it puts the Rohi t Sha rma led s i de i n se ri ous danger of losing out on a semi finalCberthaptain Sharma's valiant 72 run knock went in vain as the Dasun Shanaka led side chased down the 174 run target to seal their second successive win in the Super 4 stage Sri Lanka exposed the Indian team's inadequacies, mostly poor mindset and atrocious shot selection, something that was exploited to the hilt by Pakistan just two days back Now India have to wait for other results to go their way to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup India would be hoping that either Sri Lanka or Pakistan go on to win all their remaining matches and they beat Afghanistan on Thursday Net Run Rate will once again come into play to decide the tie break Earlier, Captain Sharma led from the front and smashed a scintillating 41 ball 72 as India settled for 173 for eight against Sri Lanka in their Asia Cup Super Four match Rohit's innings came at a time when India was pushed back in the game by Sri Lanka's bowling attack, who got two early wickets in the powerplay India got off to a terrible start in the powerplay as Maheesh Theekshana cleaned up KL Rahul with a low full toss, while Dilshan Madushanka bowled Virat Kohli in the third over of the match Rohit then hit five fours and four sixes during his entertaining knock and was well supported by Suryakumar Yadav (34 off 29 balls) during a stand of 97 runs for the third wicket However, Rohit's dismissal triggered a slide as India added 63 runs after being 110 for three in the 13th over when the skipper got out Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka kept Sri Lanka ahead in the hunt towards the end to take them through Earlier, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin brought India back in the game While Chahal has claimed three wickets so far, Ashwin has got one wicket This happened after the opening partnership between Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka kept India at bay for long Dilshan Madushanka claimed three wickets, while Chamika Karunaratne and Dasun Shanaka claimed two wickets apiece Pak beat India For the second time, the outcome of an India Pakistan match was decided in the final over While in the first outing, India won the match, but in the second time, Pakistan beat India by five wickets, in the second Super Four stage match For Pakistan, left arm spin all rounder Mohammad Nawaz played a decisive role On India’s first innings after Rohit Sharma and K L Rahul came out all guns blazing in a 54 run opening stand, Virat Kohli top scored with 60 off 44 balls Chasing a competitive 181/7, Mohammad Rizwan anchored the chase with a 51 ball 71 But the game turner was Nawaz who struck 42 off 20 balls, including six fours and two sixes, giving a much needed impetus to Pakistan’s chase
Former India goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey was elected as the new pr es i den t of the All I n di a Footb al l Fe dera ti on The f ederati on conducte d its f irs t elections after nearly six years of a dmi ni s tra ti ve turmoi l , thus a ppoi nti ng the f orme r I n di a g oa lk eepe r as the ne w chi ef during the elections conducted at the AIFF headquarters in New DelhiThe elections were conducted to decide three posts For the post of vice president, NA Haris president of the Karnataka State Football Association was elected Kipa Ajay of Arunachal Pradesh won the election for the treasurer’s post, the report added The three will join the remaining 14 members already elected to form the executive committee of the AIFF Bhutia will be a part of the executive committee as one of the six co opted players along with IM Vijayan, Shabbir Ali, Climax Lawrence, Pinky Bompal Magar, Thongam Tababi Devi This was the first time since December 2016 that an AIFF election had taken place However, Praful Patel’s last election was deemed illegal on November 2017 after the Delhi
E ngl and ba tsman Jo nn y Bairstow was ruled out of the Twenty20 World Cup due to an injury, while out of form opener Jason Roy was dropped from the s qu ad f o r the to u rname nt i n Australia beginning next month Bairstow was initially included in the selection but the England and Wales Cricket Board later said he had been ruled out of the rest of the summer and the T20 Wor ld Cu p aft er s uf fe rin g a lo wer l imb i nj u ry in a fre ak accident while playi ng golf in LeedsBairstow said in a post on Instagram that he was injured after slipping on the golf course and that he would need to undergo an operation Roy has been an integral part of England’s whiteball squad Fit again seamers Chris Woakes and Mark Wood, both of whom last played for England during the test tour of the West Indies in March, have recovered from their respective injuries to be in both squads England’s squad includes Chris Jordan (finger) and Liam Livingstone (ankle) who will skip the Pakistan tour to continue their rehabilitation Captain Jos Buttler, who is recovering from a calf injury, will tour Pakistan but will be available to play only in the later stages of the series
LARA REPLACES MOODY AS HEAD COACH OF SUNRISERS
AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www asian voice com10 16 Septemer 202232
Kalyan Chaubey
“In Buttler’s absence, Moeen Ali will captain the side,” the ECB said T20 World Cup squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood Reserves: Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tymal Mills Pakistan tour squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen, Brook, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Liam Dawson, Gleeson, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Malan, Adil Rashid, Salt, Olly Stone, Topley, Willey, Woakes, Luke Wood, Mark Wood H ar di k Pan dya 's al l r oun d perf orman ce in India's opening game of the 2022 Asia Cup has helped him jump eight places on the T20 all rounder's rankings to a c ar ee r bes t fi f th positionHardik was instrumental in India s five wicket victory against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday Hitting the hard lengths consistently, Hardik picked up 3 for 25 in his four overs to help India dismiss Pakistan for 147 in 19 5 overs He then shepherded a tricky chase, smashing an unbeaten 33 off 17 balls to take India over the line with two balls to spareHardik has had a successful year with both bat and ball He led Gujarat Titans to the title in their maiden season in the IPL, and he's taken his all round form into international cricket as wellSince the end of IPL 2022, Hardik has played 14 T20s, scoring 314 runs at an average of 34 88 and taking 11 wickets with best figures of 4 for 33 against England He also captained India in three T20s two against Ireland and one against West Indies and won all three matches"Inbowling, my plans were pretty simple," Hardik told said after the India Pakistan clash "I always tell the same thing It's just how I use it I tell that it's important to kind of assess the situation and conditions, and use your weapon which I feel, you know, hard lengths and hitting the length is my strength But I make sure I use it very wisely, put some doubt in the batter and ask them to play the wrong shot " About his batting form, Hardik said, "In batting, over the years, I have understood [that] the calmer I can stay, it's going to help me execute all the plans Those executions, the 50 50 chances that I take, if I am calmer, it helps me to pull it off Chases like this, you always plan overs "
SHARDUL REPLACES KRISHNA; SHREYAS TO MISS DULEEP TIE
Hardik Pandya Kalyan Chaubey is India's new football chief
High Court found that the AIFF constitution violated the 2011 National Sports Code No elections were held thereon even after Patel’s tenure ended in 2020 since the AIFF approached the Supreme Court to help sort out the problems with the constitution In May this year, the Supreme Court removed Patel and appointed a three member Committee of Administrators to handle the AIFF’s affairs, alarming world governing body FifaA joint delegation from Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation gave India a July 31 deadline to adopt a new constitution, with elections to be held by September 15 Fifa’s demands were essentially to remove the CoA and hand back all power to the AIFF The Supreme Court passed an order on August 22 fulfilling the demands, and the ban was lifted four days later
Hardik Pandya breaks into top five in ICC T20 rankings