AV 18th July 2020

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

18 - 24 JULY 2020 - VOL 49 ISSUE 12

CORONAVIRUS IMPACTS THE BRAIN

inside: Discrimination between NHS and social care staff upsets stakeholders SEE PAGE - 4

Solving crossword puzzles, gardening & decluttering: How elderly residents are spending their time amid the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK SEE PAGE - 15

Priyanka Mehta On Tuesday 14th July, medical experts and scientific advisors warned that the UK can record up to 120,000 deaths due to a second wave of Coronavirus. The NHS has already been under considerable strain owing to Covid-19 and professionals believe that the flu season is likely to exacerbate the healthcare system. These stark warnings appear as doctors warn Covid-19 patients of long-term side effects with some likely to be re-infected from the virus.

Until recently coronavirus was primarily considered to be a respiratory illness which can result in multi organ failure especially for patients with preexisting illnesses. Now, doctors have warned of subsequent neurological disorders from

Covid-19 with complications ranging from brain inflammation to stroke. Dr Aravinthan Varatharaj is a neurologist part of the CoroNerve Studies Group coordinating national surveillance for neurological complications of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking to Asian Voice, about the first signs of brain disorder, he said, “We already know that infections in the body can affect the function of the brain and mind. Most of us have already experienced this to some extent – for example, if you have ever had the flu, for a while you probably felt tired, lost your appetite, and may have found it difficult to think clearly. This is a normal response, your brain is telling you to get some rest. In healthy people, these symptoms are usually short-lived and recover

completely.

“However, in people who already have an illness of the brain or mind, or in the elderly, infections can provoke more of a worsening. This sort of confusion is called delirium. It usually starts suddenly and the person may be less aware of what is going on around them, and unable to follow a conversation.

Sometimes they may be restless and agitated, or sometimes unusually quiet and sleepy.

Almost any infection can cause this sort of response, and Covid19 is no different.

“Other neurological complications of Covid-19 are almost certainly much rarer, and we do not yet have good evidence to know if the virus itself is the cause.

Continued on page 6

Four members of Bachchan family test positive for Covid-19 SEE PAGE - 26

Pilot, two ministers sacked from Rajasthan cabinet SEE PAGE - 26

2 UK

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

18 - 24 July 2020

with Keith Vaz

Patel criticised for Leicester Sweatshop comments

Anirudh Arora Credited with bringing Indian street food into the world of fine dining, renowned chef Anirudh Arora is the creator of hugely successful restaurant brand Hankies. Following openings on Shaftesbury Avenue and in Marble Arch, his most ambitious project, Hankies Haymarket, opened in spring 2020.

Anirudh also offered visitors to last year’s Hyde Park Winter Wonderland something totally different with his acclaimed pop up, Cedar & Spruce Bar + Kitchen.

In addition, the last few years have seen him cater for a number of private individuals as well as prestigious events such as the Hero World Challenge at Albany, Bahamas (hosted by Tiger Woods) and the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos.

Anirudh worked for other significant overseas venues such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and Le Palais Rhoul and Spa, Marrakech. Corporate clients meanwhile include the Hotel Nira Alpina in St Moritz; Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer and the Shanti Maurice Resort & Spa in Mauritius.

Which place, or city or country do you strong work ethic – to aim high, work most feel at home in? hard and value your relationships.

Without a doubt it would be London, I have lived here for nearly 15 years now What is the best aspect about your and its home. I love London its energetic, current role? vibrant, and truly a global capital for Well I am the boss though it is a huge food. responsibility but the best part I enjoy is that I am at liberty to take Risks (calculatWhat are your proudest ed ones of course!). It enables me to drive achievements? my company forward.

My Restaurant Brand "Hankies" and the fact that my customers are appreciative And the worst? of the Concept and Food, we offer at Hankies makes me even more Happy.

It is a long list. But if I would have to pick one, it would be when I have to make a What inspires you? tough decision as an owner when the heart is telling you one thing and your Although the source of my creativity is mind other. fuelled by many things such as nature, travel. But there is one thing I cannot get What are your long - term goals? enough of, it’s ambition. I am hungry to aspire and accomplish more.

I would like the Hankies Brand to Grow and perhaps be recognised Globally What has been biggest obstacle in someday. your career?

I do not look at it as an obstacle for me If you were Prime Minister, what one every Challenge is an Opportunity, I am aspect would you change? strong a believer of moving onwards and I am incredibly happy doing what I do, I upwards. would not want to be Prime Minister.

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

The most influential people in my life have always been the people closest to me. My family is small but supportive.

My parents taught me and my sister a

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

That is a very tough choice to make but I will pick the Dalai Lama and hope that I would gain some wisdom.

On Sunday 12th June, the home secretary was criticised for her claims that “cultural sensitivities” prevented a robust response to alleged worker exploitation in Leicester.

Recently a report titled Labour Behind the Label alleged that workers were forced to work despite high levels of infection in factories and allegations of “furlough fraud”. The same reported also indicated that this trend can be attributed to the higher surge in number of coronavirus cases in Leicester which was eventually forced into a second lockdown. Now, Patel is considering new laws to curb modern slavery following the report.

The report recorded the experience of an unnamed worker who had informed his employer that he was unwell but was told to come in to work anyway – even

Priti Patel

after testing positive. He was told not to inform other workers about the result. In one factory with 80 staff, around 15 had Covid-19 at the same time, another worker told the authors.

According to the Sunday Times, Patel had “privately raised concerns” that police and government agencies were turning a blind eye to the problem because they might be labelled racist.

The Home Secretary had reportedly compared the issues in Leicester, where

south Asian factory owners run an industry heavily reliant on immigrant and BAME labour, to the Rotherham grooming scandal. In an interview with LBC, Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire, Andrew Bridgen said, "There are probably 10,000 modern slaves in Leicester" in about 250 of these “sweatshops" and they have gone under the radar for such a long time because the city council don't inspect them."

"Locally it was an open secret in Leicester, everybody knew about it.

"I would point out that all the factories are in the constituency of Leicester East which is the hotspot of where the virus has flared up in Leicester and anyone saying there's not a link between those conditions, the poverty wages and the fact that Leicester's in a lockdown, it just doesn't add up."

Police to be inquired for racial discrimination On Friday 10th July, reports emerged that police across England and Wales may face an inquiry over allegations of racial discrimination against ethnic minorities in their use of force and stop and search.

According to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) there will be a formal investigation into cases and any pattern of racial discrimination will be traced for. The announcement for the enquiry appears amidst growing pressure for justification of the use of stop and search policy after a series of

high-profile cases that have been caught on camera.

It follows after the Met police commissioner, Cressida Dick, apologised for distress caused to the British athlete Bianca Williams when officers stopped, searched and handcuffed her and her partner

in west London. Research has indicated that stop and search is nine times more likely to be used against Black people Police powers in England and Wales are used disproportionately against black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people The IOPC inquiry could be one of the most significant examinations of police and race since the Macpherson inquiry in 1999 found the police to be institutionally racist.

IOPC will also examine whether BAME people are being failed as victims of crime.

Labour demands immediate publication Sadiq Khan pays tribute on 7/7 bombings of inquiry into Patel’s bullying claims On Saturday 11th July, Labour demanded that the inquiry into allegations of the home secretary bullying her staff must be published immediately.

Nick Thomas Symonds, the shadow Home Secretary wrote a letter to Michael Gove stating that the delay in publishing the findings was unacceptable. In his letter he wrote, “It has been over four months since the government promised a report into whether the home secretary broke the ministerial code. There are now allegations of deeply inappropriate political interference in the publication of the report, both in terms of content and timing. The delay in producing it is totally unacceptable.” Fresh demands from the opposition arose with claims that the inquiry’s chief is resist-

ing pressure from Downing Street to exonerate Priti Patel. A formal investigation was launched in March after claims that Patel bullied her staff and senior officials across three department.

The report has been completed. It was launched by the cabinet secretary, Sir Mark Sedwill after Sir Philip Rutnam who quit Office in

February, accusing the home secretary of a “vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign” against him. The inquiry is separate to an employment tribunal claim he has also launched against Patel. The home secretary expressed concern at the “false” claims and allies described her as a demanding boss, but not a bully.

Commemorating the 15th anniversary of the July 7 bombings, Mayor of London paid tribute to the 52 people who had died in the terror attack. Sadiq Khan said, “Our capital will never forget the terrible events of that day, and my thoughts are with all those whose lives were changed forever.

As we mark 15 years since the attack on our city, I want again to pay tribute to the heroic efforts of our emergency services and transport workers, who ran towards danger to save lives, on that awful day.

“The way that our city responded and stood united in the aftermath of the attack showed the world that our values of decency, tolerance and mutual respect will always overcome the hate of the terrorists.

“Today, we reaffirm our commitment to upholding these values. To those who

Sadiq Khan

wish to divide us and spread

hatred, we send a clear message that they will never succeed, and that we are stronger together.” On 7th July 2005, a series of co-ordinated explosions hit three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus killing 52 and injuring over 700 people.

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COMMENTS

3

18 - 24 July 2020

Racial capitalism disguised modern slavery Karl Marx had argued that the hierarchical structure of Capitalism is unfair and doomed to collapse. He stands correct with his first premise. But as opposed to being shredded apart, capitalism appears to thrive and foster under the stressors of Covid-19 pandemic. Demand-supply mismatch, socio-economic inequalities and survival of the fittest have been the repeated chapters of post-pandemic crises. But racial capitalism in recent times has exacerbated modern slavery as well as disguise it.

According to Harvard Law Review, racial capitalism is the ongoing process of racial exploitation wherein pre-dominantly white institutions derive value from the racial identity of people of colour. But what happens when the exploitation happens within the same race structures? When rich Asian corporates themselves deny maternity pay to their staff, keep immigrant workers uninformed of their legal rights and deny them off minimum wages? There is no clear study recording that the rise in illegal BAME immigrants or refugees has facilitated greater exploitation across the hospitality and fashion industry. Neither the opposite has been proved. But there are consistent media reports of raids and closures of hotels and restaurants where owners were caught paying cash-in-hand below minimum wages to immigrant Labour. Therefore, the recent headlining of the exploitation in Leicester sweatshops is not news. As the home secretary stated, it was “hiding in plain sight”. And the media, government, regulators, industrialists and the labourers are all culprits in allowing such a toxic system to be alive. It is unfortunate that it has taken a pandemic

for politicians to recognise that modern racial slavery was driving the fashion industry forward. But Priti Patel will go down in history as the righteous politician calling out the capitalist industrialists in Leicester. The corporates who are allegedly “forcing” staff infected of Covid-19 to come in for work without informing other fellow colleagues about their ill-health. As scandalous and insensitive the news is, economists have debated about distraught supply chains as governments balance reopening economy versus containing the spread of the infection. But in this approach of reviving a crumbled economy are the labourers sandwiched in approaching the HR desks or becoming whistleblowers as they reveal unhealthy work hours and disproportionate pay while submerged with the insecurity of being furloughed or permanently losing the job.

The very nature of Capitalism, Marx had said was unfair.

He had described this concept in terms of pay-parity and had perhaps not factored in basic health standards- physical and mental. It is true that consumer consciousness and ethical buying has penetrated the market today but not as rapidly as fast fashion had become the statement wardrobe style for the young. While work exploitation has been associated with fashion labels, this kind of a toxic work culture will be rampant across industries. Workers would be expected to become bigger robots than they were in the pre-pandemic world. Faster and more efficient results would be expected of staff even as workplace harassment and laws around legal rights continue to remain in place.

Swastika is more than a Nazi symbol Finland’s Air Force Command emblem depicted a pair of wings around Swastika, a symbol which pre-dates Nazism. This has been dropped quietly, after a century of use. People who noticed it, argued that the symbol’s negative association made it a political issue. Swastika is synonymous with fascism, but it has a thousand years of history and in most culture in the world, its symbolic of good fortune. The question remains if this sign can ever shake off its evil associations?

In Finland the hakaristi (Swastika) was used as the official national marking of the Finnish Defence Forces between 1918 and 1945 and also of the Finnish Air Force, until now. The Swastika was also used by Finnish paramilitary organisation for women, which was dissolved in 1944. An elaboration on the Swastika, is also used by scouts in some instances, and by a student organisation. The Finnish Airforce units still wear a Swastika on their colours. In addition, the shoulder insignia of the Airforce Headquarters bears a Swastika design.

The Swastika has not disappeared in Finnish medals and decorations either.

In the Finnish village of Tursa, the Swastika is used as a kind of a certificate of authenticity on products made there and is the origin of this name of the symbol. Traditional textiles are still made in Finland with Swastikas as parts of traditional ornaments. In Sanskrit, Swastika stands for “well-being”. Among Hindus, Buddhists and Jains, it is commonly assumed as an Indian symbol of good luck. Mukti Jain Campion producer and presenter of Reclaiming the Swastika in 2014 on BBC Radio 4 wrote that early Western travellers to Asia were inspired by its positive and ancient associations and started using it back home.

By the beginning of the 20th Century there was a huge fad for the swastika as a benign good luck symbol.

According to the Encyclopaedia Britanicca, Adolf Hitler adopted the Swastika as a German national symbol and as the central element in the party flag of the Nazi party, which rose to power in Germany the following decade. By 1945, the symbol had become associated with World War II, military brutality, fascism, and genocide spurred by Nazi Germany’s attempted totalitarian conquest of Europe. The icon was chosen by the party to represent its goal of racial purification in Europe. Hitler and his Nazi Party believed that a line of pure Germanic ancestry originating in the Aryan race, a grouping used to describe Indo-European, Germanic, and Nordic peoples—was superior and that other, less-superior races should be ousted from Europe. Ancient Indian artefacts once owned by Aryan nomads were found to frequently feature the swastika, and the symbol was co-opted from its ambiguous historical context in the region to exert the dominance of so-called Aryan heritage. Since World War II, the Swastika has become stigmatised as a symbol of hatred and racial bias. It is used frequently by white-supremacy groups and modern iterations of the Nazi Party. Along with other symbolism employed by the party, the use of the icon has been outlawed in Germany.But ironically in Western Europe, Swastika has been used long before the modern era or Nazi Germany, like the Swastika Stone in Yorkshire or even in ancient Greece. Some people believe the historical links can revive the symbol as something positive. But clearly removing the Swastika symbol from Finland’s Air Force shows, the damage is so deep seeded, that no number of positive stories or digging up of history can help that.

The future of Congress party The future of the Congress Party is going from bad to worse.

When Rahul Gandhi stepped down after the party's second consecutive Lok Sabha debacle, Sonia Gandhi took over as interim president of the party. Loyalists believe that she would lead the party from bad times it has fallen into. But happenings in recent times show nothing is working in the right directions and the party is yet to rise from its deep slumber. The old leaders are not willing to give way to the youngsters by clinging to the seats of power. The frustrated young leaders are deserting the party in search of greener pastures. If the party did not mend its ways fast, the Congress will soon become a party of oldies. In Madhya Pradesh when Jyotiraditya Scindia and his MLAs defected and the Congress government was toppled, this was after long notice of troubles between the old guard and young turks. Now a similar script is playing out in Rajasthan where the jockeying for power between chief minister Ashok Gehlot and deputy CM Sachin Pilot has been brewing an ominous storm, without anyone stepping in to calm it competently.

If it speaks poorly of Congress that its government can look vulnerable even in a state where it convincingly defeated BJP less than two years ago, the latter’s repeated association with the overturning of mandates is no healthier. The saffron party argues that it is only reaping the side effects of infighting within Congress, which in turn trace back to a prolonged leadership crisis at the helm. But the bottom line is that defections resulting in the destabilising of governments are deeply hurtful to the interests of people during a pandemic. Note the energy available for such shenanigans is in sharp contrast to state assemblies, Parliament and parliament committees having been in suspended animation.

Congress is India’s largest and most widespread opposition party but its worsening disarray makes it incapable of playing

this role robustly. One year after he stepped down, the loudest chorus is still for Rahul to resume the presidency. If potential alternatives like Pilot cannot even make headway at the state level, their central prospects are doomed. But for the party’s sake, they shouldn’t be. Worry lines deepened in party ranks over concerns that the organisation was in the grip of a serious crisis that has not really abated since the Lok Sabha rout while the leadership remained indifferent and in a state of denial.

The sentiment was articulated by lawyer-MP Kapil Sibal who tweeted, “Worried for our party. Will we wake up only after the horses have bolted from our stables?” Another lawyer-MP Vivek Tankha supported the remark. The comments come even as party loyalists have mounted their latest bid to convince Rahul Gandhi to “return” as party chief. Others in the party feel these distractions have only seen a steady stream of exits from Congress which do not seem to be halting. The public display of concern reflects how the Congress camp is wracked by heated discussions as leaders argue that the events are rooted in the leadership vacuum arising from Rahul’s resignation as party chief. “Nobody has any clarity on what is to be done. There is no authority,” an MP from a strong Congress turf said. Though he has stepped down, Rahul has not stepped aside. He continues to lead a strongly personalised attack on PM Narendra Modi which some feel has not worked - while organisational work has not received the attention it clearly demands.

Pilot is weighing options. If there is no reconciliation, he may join the BJP or float a regional party. Congress insiders said he was “determined to topple the government”. If it happens, Congress will lose another young turk after Jyotiraditya Scindia, both incidentally close to Rahul. Scindia promptly took to Twitter to say Pilot was being persecuted in Congress which had no respect for talent.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak.

Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen - Winston Churchill

Alpesh Patel

Those That Elevate At a time of social dislocation and turmoil, record upheaval economically, let alone Brexit, we need more than ever the inspiration and hope from those that elevate.

We need those people to show practical ways to help others. We need at a time of international upheaval – just look at China and US warships in the South China Seas, or, again, Brexit, those people who will utter out their voices.

But those people have to be you dear reader.

We created two initiatives or programmes to deliver this and help you, give more expression to the inner voice that sits within you. Silently, waiting to roar its thoughts.

First is the City Hindu Voice. Through this we train people to communicate their voice, their ideas, in the modern electronic era. It’s free. You learn from home. A simple video. Followed by future webinars.

Covid has shown that video is going to be how we communicate for a while. So we’ve taken TV presenters with experience of being on BBC, Sky, CNN to teach you how to create your own interviews. How to produce, record. How to ask questions. The online tools to record, edit. We will even supply the bumper and music. Then how to social media promote it.

Whether you are an arm chair general, or 20 something, you can express your voice. Show your loudmouth kids or your parents telling you whats wrong with the world.

The skills are easy to learn. We need more voices. We need more people willing to express themselves. We need to get rid of every single excuse.

It costs nothing. A community needs empowering. But we go further. City Hindu Voice is also launching a written voice element. We will teach you how to write a column for publication. The teachers are published authors and journalists.

Why ‘City Hindu’ Voice? It’s an initiative of the City Hindus Network – but open to all to participate. We will promote and teach you how too.

How do you start? Go to our website.

One more reason to do this? It was Asian Voice newspaper that published my first ever article some 30 years ago on the mandir in Watford. It was my innocuous letter, that the editor recalls to this day. A simple voice of a student can help make a small different – it put me on a career that led to being a columnist in the Financial Times and a broadcast journalist. There is nothing more fulfilling then expressing your voice. That allowed me to point out on the BBC to 300m viewers the sacrifices of Indian soldiers in the world wars and the greatness of Hinduism on Newsnight.

Do it. I want you to feel the joy of fulfilment.

Our community needs your views.

The second initiative is ‘The Elevator’ stories about how ordinary people in our community overcame great odds to elevate themselves and now elevate others and so inspire all of us to act.

Covid shows the we may be locked up, but a community needs communication more than ever. These modern ways have to be at the forefront of our community engagement now to ensure cohesion. We have to know new skills to communicate.The old Indian wedding ways are gone for now. So many have mastered WhatsApp – let’s take our community to the next level – be the most technologically sophisticated from uncles and aunties doing interviews and expressing their voices to young people claiming the airways and the printed word.

Editor: CB Patel Asian Voice is published by Asian Business Publications Ltd Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW. Tel: 020 7749 4080 • Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com Website: www.abplgroup.com

4 UK

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18 - 24 July 2020

Discrimination between NHS and social care staff upsets stakeholders Shefali Saxena The UK’s new points-based immigration system which will come into force in the new year, will not allow foreign care workers working in social care to apply for a special health and care visa.

The new rules state that people who want to live and work in the UK will need to gain 70 points to be eligible to apply for a visa.

Points will be awarded for key requirements like being able to speak English to a certain level, having a job offer from an approved employer, and meeting a minimum salary threshold. But special visas will be introduced for workers considered essential to the UK but who do not have sufficient points to immigrate.

The Home Secretary Priti Patel said it is designed to "make it easier and quicker for talented global health professionals to work in our brilliant NHS and in eligible occupations in the social care sector".

For foreign nationals who want to work with the NHS but lack enough points, a new-fast track health and care visa will be introduced.

Care homeowners told Asian Voice that this discrimination between ‘social care’ and ‘NHS care’ is not acceptable. Criticising this non-inclusion, Labour MP for Nadia Nottingham East, Whittome in a tweet said, “Interesting choice of name for a visa that does not appear to include care workers. Points-based immigration system statement explicitly excludes care workers from ‘skilled workers’ route and unclear whether Health and Care Visa will include them, or what the concessions would be if so. Looks like government rowing back due to campaigners and public solidarity. In February I asked Priti Patel why she considers care work “low skilled”. She had a chance to apologise and accept our amendments to the Immigration Bill. And yet care workers are still excluded from ‘skilled workers’ and the health and care visa. When work-

ers are hyper-exploited during Covid-19, linking people’s immigration status to their employers makes everyone more precarious.

It creates a two-tier workforce: migrants will be scared to unionise and fight against poor conditions because they’re dependent on the bosses.”

Raj Sehgal, Director of National Care Association and M a n a g i n g Director of Armscare Ltd told the newsweekly, “We at the National Care Association are exceptionally disappointed at the decision of the Home Secretary to virtually exclude social care workers from entry to the United Kingdom. The NCA has long since recognised the need and value of a multicultural workforce to support our vulnerable and elderly.

We fully appreciate and accept that there has to be a safe immigration policy but despite recommendations in a letter to our PM, the Government has failed to acknowledge that there are some 122,000 vacancies which cannot be filled by the local settled population.

“The Government has also failed to recognise that social care is a skilled profession. They have therefore excluded the sector from being able to recruit “the brightest and the best” into care. The important fact that is being overlooked is that we need a sustainable workforce to ensure we can deliver care - their heritage is not critical - it is their aptitude, willingness and ability to provide quality care which is paramount.”

Out of a staff of 102, his care home has 40 foreigners and 18 of them are Asian. “From a business perspective, our single drain on resources for the past 5 years has been the recruitment and retention of staff.” Raj added. “Our sponsored migrant staff have during this time provided us with stability and also enabled us to provide a consistent quality of service.

Many of our migrant workforce

have moved on to progress in their careers in the NHS. As this supply of migrant staff for the social care sector dries up, the shortages are now being experienced by the NHS too. As an organisation that operates in a rural area with little public transport, it is virtually impossible to attract and retain local staff and as our migrant workforce diminishes, many rural providers will have to re-consider whether they can continue to operate a safe and quality service for its local residents.”

Ravi Gidar, Director, Gold Care Homes speaking to Asian Voice said, “Care workers will not be on the fast track visa by the NHS. They are distinguishing between again the difference between social care and NHS care.

That’s a big thing that people are upset about. A care worker at the NHS should be treated the same as a care worker who is an immigrant. We are going to lose all the staff from eastern Europe as well.

There are already 22,000 vacancies in the care industry “There just aren't enough people in England who will do the care job. That’s why for years we have been relying additionally on Tier 2 visas from India, Sri Lanka and other countries. When they finish their shift, we rely on Eastern Europeans. Now from 1 January, everybody will need a work permit and it won’t be fast tracked. The Government has to decide, either they increase the care rates, they have a special exemption or make them eligible for fast track. We are already short of staff and now if they don’t do anything, this route is closed for us.”

Mathew Philip, Partner, Silk Route Legal said, “I believe this is a terrible decision by the Home Secretary.

Social care, as you can see, was already on the point of collapse prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. And

this has pushed it over the edge to be honest. The care workers were never on the list even before the home secretary said so. But it was said that given we are going to have Brexit, given we are going to have a shortage of staff, that will have a huge impact on social care.

“If care homes are used to relying on European nationals and if they don’t qualify for coming to the UK under the new point-based system, then who will do the work?

“The Government unfortunately doesn’t care about this industry. The amount of money the care home has to show to even recruit a foreign carer or nurse, then there’s also a hurdle of getting the registration. After that there are visa fees, NHS surcharge, skill surcharge – the list is endless. I don’t think the care home industry is going to survive this.”

Further criticising the Home Office’s skill charge, he added, “Skill surcharge is one of the biggest rip-offs I've seen in my life. If an employer decides to sponsor someone for three years, whether you apply for one year or three years, you end up paying the same amount of money i.e. around £1200. Now if this migrant worker decides to quit in three months, there is no way the employer is going to get the money back for three years. The same employee could then go and join another place, and the new employer would repeat the same process, and pay the skill surcharge again for the same person.

So technically the Home Office is getting twice the skill surcharge in a span of six months for the same person!

Age UK published a response to care workers not being eligible for the health and care visa as part of its skilled worker route on their website on July 13. In the Caroline statement, Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK said, “It’s really disap-

pointing that the Government’s Health and Care Visa turns out to be a Care Visa in name only. Care will scarcely benefit at all since the vast majority of care workforce roles are ineligible for the visa. What a missed opportunity.

With well in excess of 100,000 vacancies the care workforce needs all the help it can get, and even if the ultimate solution is to greatly improve pay and conditions any process of refinancing and reform is bound to take time.

In the meantime, say the next 3 to 5 years, the sensible thing to do is to keep the door open to EU based care workers. In the absence of this the mountain that care providers have to climb in order to be properly staffed up will be even steeper than it is now and it will be harder for them to provide good quality care, especially in London and other cities where EU based staff are clustered. It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the best interests of older people in need of care have been sacrificed on the altar of other political priorities. We urge the government to think again.”

In a response published by The Royal College of Nursing, Dame Donna Kinnair, RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary said, “Once again, we are disappointed to see the government’s plans for the UK’s future immigration system falling short of what is required to meet the workforce needs of the health and social care sectors, now and in the future. The government is ignoring our concern that we need an appropriate immigration route for social care workers. Arbitrary salary thresholds will prevent key workers from working in the UK, which will directly impact patient care. The pandemic has revealed how reliant the NHS is on good social care and vice versa – they cannot be viewed as separate services. The care system has been heavily reliant on international staff, and the proposals continue to ignore the significant risk to this sector, and therefore the entire health and care system across the UK.”

Barnardo’s calls for teachers amid Covid-19 pandemic

British student fled to join ISIS dies in Syrian jail

One of the UK’s leading charities has called for support from teachers, nursery workers and education professionals to offer vital support to children amidst Coronavirus pandemic.

On Sunday 12th July, reports emerged that a British student has died while being held in a Syrian prison.

Through the Department of Education’s new See, Hear, Respond programme, Barnardo’s is leading a ‘coalition of charities’ across England to provide muchneeded support to children who are susceptible to adverse impacts of lockdown, self-isolation and in some cases prey to grooming.

The service is particularly committed to finding children who may be most at risk of harm, including children under five, those with special educa-

tional needs or who experience other associated harms such as adverse home-life or online harms, children at risk of any form of abuse, criminal and sexual exploitation, BAME children (who are not being seen or reached) and young carers.

Commenting about the programme, Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said, “Children have too often been unseen and unheard during this crisis and they risk becoming the forgotten victims. This initiative is a vital lifeline for the hundreds of thousands of children and young people as we navigate the pandemic and its aftermath, helping to improve their long-term outcomes so they can have successful futures.”

In the biggest ever survey of the leading children’s charity’s services’ practitioners, respondents said that fewer children and young people were being referred into services, despite increasing need. Nearly half (45%) of Barnardo’s front line workers who reported a change in their safeguarding caseload in the charity’s practitioners’ survey, said they had seen a decrease in referrals to their services.

Frontline workers also reported that lockdown has resulted in vulnerable children and young people being turned away from the support they are entitled to and desperately need, with 8% saying this had happened to a child or young person they are working with.

Ishak Mostefaoui, 27, had fled to Syria in 2014 with the intention of joining the Islamic State. His British citizenship revoked and he is believed to have died either trying to escape custody or amid serious disorder in a jail in Hassakeh, which holds IS prisoners from across the world.

According to the BBC, he is also reportedly believed to be the first British ISIS supporter to die in their custody and is believed to be one of around 10 British men and 30 British women being held by the militia.

His father, Abderrahmane, said that his family came to London from Algeria when his son was five and that while they opposed extremism

he had been radicalised by people at university.

He was said to have been a popular, football-loving young man before he announced in 2014 that he was going to Amsterdam for a few days.

His family heard nothing for a month before he rang from Syria to tell them where he was. On hearing the news, his father collapsed.

The Foreign Office has advised against all travel to Syria. A government spokesperson told the BBC: “Those who chose to leave the UK and fight for, or support, Daesh [Isis] potentially pose a very serious national security risk.”

Ministers have said that, of the estimated 900 people who have left the UK for Syria to join violent Islamist groups, 20% have died, 40% have returned to the UK, and 40% are still in the region.

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COVID-19 IMPACTS THE BRAIN Continued from page - 1 In particular it does not seem to be the case that the virus infects the brain directly (only a handful of cases have been reported, out of millions of infections). Instead most complications are probably caused by the body’s own immune system trying to fight the virus, and upsetting the delicate function of the brain as a side-effect.”

Short-term memory loss, impaired mobility and psychosis Recent case studies published of more than 40 UK Covid-19 patients in the journal Brain highlighted that complications ranged from brain inflammation and delirium to nerve damage and stroke. In some cases, the neurological problem was the patient’s first and main symptom.

These cases also revealed a rise in a life-threatening condition Acute Disseminated called Encephalomyelitis (Adem).

Additionally, doctors warn of the long-term health effects of Covid19, which have left some patients breathless and fatigued long after they have cleared the virus, and others with numbness, weakness and memory problems.

Some doctors have even warned that the full scope of brain disorders caused by Covid-19 may not have been picked up yet, because many patients in hospitals are too sick to be examined in brain scanners besides an existing shortage of scanners at hospitals.

Dr. Aravintham Vartharaj

Dr. Arjun Ghosh

Therefore, patients especially elderly suffering from pre-existing mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s should take special caution and continue with prescribed medication. Dr Varatharaj insists, “People with Parkinson’s should be especially careful to continue taking their medication regularly if they are unwell, and if they are unable to swallow tablets then they need urgent medical help.”

Blood clots in vascular systems and other organs These warnings appear as doctors in Italy report about insomnia, psychosis, spinal infections and impaired mobility among those Covid-19 patients who have recovered. They have even warned that some people may find that their ability to properly work, to concentrate, and even to take part in physical activities will be severely impaired. But more concerning is

the fact that the doctors believe not just the old but even those as young as 16-year-olds are vulnerable to such life-long side-effects of Covid19. Does that mean that the virus is mutating? Especially as pathologists in New York recently highlighted that autopsy results of Covid-19 infected patients showed multiple blood clots were present in almost all organs of the body resulting in multiple organ failure?

Dr Arjun Ghosh is a Consultant Cardiologist at UCLH and Barts Heart Centre. He said, “Blood clots were seen in a lot of vascular systems at the beginning. Patients were coming in with thrombus in the heart besides other places. The difference now is the long-term effect of Covid-19 which is expected because we still don’t know a lot about the virus.

“People who are diagnosed with the virus may present different features from those who were diagnosed early on in March. But

presently, people are complaining of long-term effects including shortterm memory loss, brain fog, inability to form words, and problems with mortar ability. None of these patients had any primary neurological illnesses so this is unusual. And it is not just those people who are severely infected who are suffering from the long-term manifestations of Covid-19.”

While not much is known about the virus, several countries are in the race to manufacture a Covid-19 vaccine. Oxford University’s vaccine presently under phase III of the trial is believed to be the first one to be out in the market. However, a vaccine is does not guarantee that Covid-19 can be cured completely.

In a bid to prevent further deaths from coronavirus, doctors have relied on drugs such as Dexamethasone and Remdesivir to improve recovery periods and reduce possibilities of putting patients on ventilators. Speaking about the possibility of these drugs helping with neurological illnesses, Dr, Varatharaj said, “Dexamethasone works by dampening down the body’s immune response. Since it is the immune response which may be attacking the brain as a side-effect when trying to clear the virus, drugs like dexamethasone (steroids) may also be useful for some neurological complications, especially when there is evidence of inflammation in the nervous system. We are investigating the effect of this and other treat-

Face masks need to be introduced ‘immediately’, says BMA The Government’s announcement that face coverings will be mandatory for people visiting shops in England from 24 July is long overdue, the British Medical Association says – but measures need to be introduced immediately rather than waiting for 11 days. The policy must also be extended for all places where social distancing cannot be maintained, the association said.

The announcement comes on the same day that a major survey by the BMA revealed thousands of doctors overwhelmingly support the move to require mandatory face coverings for all settings where social distancing is not possible.

More than 5,000 doctors in England and Wales took part in the survey and 86% said it should be mandatory to wear face masks in settings where the public either cannot or will not social distance. Since the early days of the pandemic, the BMA, looking at developing evidence, has said the wearing of nose and mouth coverings helps control the spread of infection and so saves lives.

BMA council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said, “For months doctors at the BMA

have called on the Government to stop equivocating and to ask people to wear face coverings over their mouths and noses in public places where they cannot safely socially distance. Up until now the Westminster Government has refused to put in place this logical policy to prevent spread of the virus, and which has been the norm in around 120 countries globally including most of Europe – so this step is long overdue.

“However, why is it waiting another 11 days to implement this policy, when the risk from Covid19 remains present right now? This needs to happen immediately given that each day that goes by adds to the risk of spread and endangers lives. The BMA

also believes that the wearing of face coverings should be extended to all settings where people cannot maintain physical distancing.

“The latest ONS figures suggest that there are 1,700 new cases of coronavirus in England daily, which shows a lot more needs to be done before we can say this infection is anywhere near being under long-term control.

“Today’s survey results tell us that doctors overwhelmingly believe that the public should wear face coverings to curb the spread of the infection and prevent further local outbreaks or a second national spike, which would overwhelm the NHS as we approach the winter period.

“Making it mandatory to wear nose and mouth

coverings isn’t a fix all, but it will significantly reduce the risk of catching the virus for millions of people and will also help our economy and our health service.

“As more and more shops and social areas open, the more people will naturally want to visit them. By wearing a face covering, they reduce the risk to others and reduce the spread of a virus that’s already claimed more than forty thousand lives.”

Such a change to the law would bring England broadly in line with Scotland, Ireland and around 120 countries that have already mandated facial coverings to mitigate the potential detrimental effects of easing lockdown.

The Association believes people should have to wear masks until such time that the risk of Covid-19 poses minimal threat to the health of the population and economic stability of this country.

Asians have taken up the job of stitching and putting together washable face masks at home. Dr Usa Karmakar his one of them who has created a video on YouTube how to hand-sew face coverings, that can be completed in a couple of hours.

ments in the CoroNerve study.”

Renal failures and transplant guidelines Some people with Kidney disease are extremely vulnerable to Covid-19 infection and are also advised to follow self-isolation.

Patients with end-stage kidney disease have been particularly affected: with lack of availability of transport impeding their ability to access regular dialysis. Sunil Daga is a consultant Nephrologist at Leeds Hospital. Daga, says very little data is available in terms of helping Kidney transplant patients continue with their treatment after being affected from Covid-19. They have been following national guidelines wherein patients are reminded not to stop their immunosuppression in the event of infection, unless recommended to do so by a transplant professional.

The national public health guidelines around renal transplantation also states that recipients with active Covid-19 or recovering from an acute Covid-19 infection should not undergo transplantation. Additionally, the decision to undertake transplantation during the outbreak will need to be made on a case by case basis where the risk of infection at a time of peak immunosuppression must be balanced against the risk of organ failure or treatment of organ failure and patients for transplantation must be counselled about the added risks.

Community pharmacists key to biggest winter flu drive On Tuesday 14th July, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the UK will see the biggest seasonal flu vaccination drive in history this winter to try and mitigate the fear of a winter crisis doubled by coronavirus. Remotely addressing the National Pharmacy Association annual conference, Mr Hancock said, “We’re going to frankly need to use all of the capabilities at our disposal to deliver the vaccine programmes that we need to in the months ahead.”

According to the Health Secretary, community pharmacists would be key to helping vaccinate as many at risk people such as the elderly and those with underlying conditions. Speaking about the initiative, high street Pharmacist Umesh Patel, said, “Six months ago, community pharmacies were not recognised as an integral part of the NHS. When we worked countless hours each day to look after the population irrespective of the age or their background, when the general practice carried out all the work from home, only then the Government recognised our value in the UK. We were criticised for overcharging, threatened to close us down but we carried on with pride and without prejudice.

“The Government must provide the £370m as a grant and not as a loan. If in England we are paid within 30 days for dispensing prescriptions like its done in Northern Ireland, we can pay our suppliers on time which is now part of the problem as technically we are paid 90 days for the prescriptions we dispensed.

“We need more funding and are well prepared to provide flu vaccination service from September onwards. If there is pandemic, we will be ready for that as well. We hope we will get properly remunerated for this service which so important at the moment. However, we will need to improve and make our consultation rooms fit for purpose and to make it safe for us and the customers. We will need more funding to make changes in these private rooms and that is another hurdle to cross over.”

There are increasing concerns that a severe winter or flu epidemic besides a second wave of Covid-19 infections could overwhelm the NHS for a second time leading to more deaths and cancelled operations.

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PRODUCED IN ASSOC CIA AT TION WITH UK GOVERNMENT

NHS TE EST AND D TRA ACE C HELPIN NG PUT LIFE BACK ACK ON TRACK C NHS Tes Test and Trace brin n tog ogeth ether testin ng, g, contac c tracin ng g an and outbreak managem gement into an en o end service to help prev the spread of the virus, local ocal co communiiti ties and liives. NHS Tes Test and Trra ac provi ovides des protection p for friends, collea ague gues and community y.. It is here to all of us saffe e and an allow ow u us t en njo oy ssummer saffely ely.

Rupanjana Dutta

Atif Hu ussain, a locum optometrist When Atif Hussain from Rochdale saw an NHS Test Test and Trace Trace job advertisement on his Facebook page, the 32-year-old knew he could use his 10 years of skills as an optometrist to apply for for th role. the r l Atif said, “With the background I havve got, I haave to deal with things that are as serious or more serious on a day-to-daayy basis.”

“I havve to tell someone they won’t be able to drive or are losing their sight.

“Often I haave ve to reffer er someone who might havve a liffee-threatening condition as an emergency to a neurologist or A&E. So, I am comffortab ortable having v these difficult conversions that others might think were aw wkward.”

Atif joined NHS Test Test and Trace as a Clinical Contact Caseworker in mid-May and after undergoing training for around ar a week, his skills

were immed test.

“I havve had a raange of really interesting casses – no two calls are the sam me,” he said. “I have v realised d we are off ffering a lot l morre than tracing contacts – w we have managed to make so ome key interventions in helping people in diff ffer erent wa w ys.

“This service is a complete mpl t p k package fr from m finding out how people are, to getting details of their contacts, to supporting those that are vulnerable or might havve other concerns.”

Straightffor orward calls can take just 30 to 40 minutes, whereas others that are more complex can take up to two hours.

“There was an individual who had been tested routinely at work and was a bit surprised they tested positive because they didn’t havve any symptoms.

“When we used memory jogging techniques, it came to light that two weeks prior they had 24 to 36 hours of very high temperature and a sore throat. However, they thought with coronavirus

To sstop top th the sprrea ea ad of corrona onaviruss,, eevery yone will ll need to to play p their part rt by isolatin ng if if they have sym mpt pttomss, bookin ngg a tes test as soon as posssib iblee,, and iiff a asked to to do d so, identiifyin fyin ng ttheir close c conta tacts.

If you ha av ve sym mp pto toms: • Book a test as soon as possible at nhs. uk/coronaavirus virus or by calling 119 if displaying symptoms (a high temperature OR a new, continuous cough, OR a loss or change in sense of smell or taste) • Isolate if symptomatic or if asked to do so by NHS T Test est and Trace Trace • Share infformati ormation about recent close contacts with NHS Test and Trace Trace if positive for for C Covid-19.

y v temperatur so theyy didn’t temperature, think anything of it.

“I realised they potentially had the inf nffecti ection two weeks prior, so I went on to ask about whaat they did and who they had contact with.

“When I realised d, they were working in a homel omeless shelter, it came to ligh ht they h d b had been n on shift several r l times, so I escalated that via the team leaders who then took action to temporarily close the shelter and carry out disinffecti ection.

Then everyone else they’d been in contact with needed to be notified and to get a test.

“In these situations, it’s important we can take appropriate action as soon as possible.”

Atif believes if he hadn’t phoned the person, they would never have ffound ound out these important details.

“If they had just gone online, I don’t think they would havve put those symptoms or given them any significance. Without the telephone service, we wouldn’t havve identified that

put other people at risk unknowingly.

“A As heallthcare proffessi essionals we know there is a wide variiety of symptoms rather than an the cough and the temperatur erature.

There are other things ngs we can look out for for that at ring alarm bells.”

That wasn’t the on nly case where h r he h p potentially t nti lly saved d people from contrracting coronavirus.

“I have v spokeen to someone who was a teaching eaching assistant in a schoo ol, and they had been on a training raining dayy a day or two beffor ore testing positive.

“A Again, it was a case of taking the appro opriate action, so we could get that part of the school closed down ffor or deep cleanin cl ng and make sure everyone else involved in that training raining who would constitute tute a contact was notified to selfisolate for for 14 da days to prevent p any spread of the inffecti ecti ction.”

At the end of each ch call, Atif asks ffor or feedback feedback ck and around 90 percent saay they are ‘very satisfied’.

havve been apprehensive hensive about why we’re calling, once they realise about ut the full range of servicees and support, we havve to off ffer er, they really warm to the service.” he said.

“It’s good that people peop havve the opportunity to ask me about anything they want to – can I havve con ontact with ith my m spouse p orr do d X, X Y or Z? How to clean things around their house, how to use alcohol gel, because that they havve heard from other people might not be true.”

Atif couldn’t be prouder of the role he is playing to try to prevent a second wave of coronaavirus virus inffecting ecting the UK. “It’s working well. I think it’s really important as it allows the vast majority to get our freedom back.

“I havve been so pleased that I can help with the eff ffort. It’s I great to be able to make a diff ffer erence and be able to contribute towards the eff ffort.” ort.”

Dissclaimer: This is UK Government information for for readerrss in En ngl gland only.

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Pakistani organisations gather Candlelight vigil outside India House to protest against India A protest by Pakistani organisations based in UK, namely Overseas Pakistan Welfare Council, Global Pakistan and Kashmir Supreme was organised near the High Commission of India in London, on 8 July 2020.

The protest witnessed a very small gathering and was essentially peaceful. The Metropolitan Police London had made the necessary security arrangements around the High Commission including erecting a sterile zone between the High Commission building and the protestors. The security cooperation provided by the

Metropolitan Police, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Home Office was much appreciated by the High Commission of India.

Sources said that the protest was essentially organised to glorify the death of slain terrorist Burhan Wani, who was

killed by the Indian security forces on 8 July 2016 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Burhan Wani was a wellknown commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, an internationally recognised terror entity with a history of causing violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

Federation of Tamil Associations in UK (FeTAUK) organised a peaceful candlelight vigil outside the High Commission of India, in central London on 11 July 2020, to support the family of Jayraj and Bennix Felix, who died of alleged police brutality in Tamil Nadu Sathankulam police station in Thoothukudi. There has been widespread outrage over this alleged custodial death of father and son.

The vigil was attended by around 50 people and had around 30 police officers from Met police, on guard. Siva who attended the vigil, drove from out-

side London, to support the cause. He said, “I wanted to show my support to the family. I live far away, but I did not want to use the public transport amidst this pandemic.”

He added, “What has happened in Tamil Nadu is not right. It is a lesson for everybody, and we are hop-

ing such incidents will not happen in the future. The same station apparently had three such incidents before, but nobody came out. We Tamils in the UK are supporting the family of Jayraj and Felix and we are hoping justice will follow, and such an incident will not repeat itself.”

Indian diaspora protests outside the Chinese Birmingham activists demand action against consulate in London On Sunday 12th July, members of the Indian diaspora gathered outside the Chinese consulate in London to protest against China in the wake of the recent Indo-China clashes which resulted in the death of dozens of soldiers on either side of the border in the Galwan valley.

Demonstrating against the expansionist policies of China, Indians came together despite fears of coronavirus infection with posters and placards reading, “Say no to expansion”, “China back off", “Tibet is not part of China” and “Boycott China” among others. Instrumental in the protest, Bharat Shah, President of the Friends of India Society UK said, “I have been viewing

news of the recent past when it became apparent that China had moved its armed forces and begun to occupy Indian territory in Galwan Valley. This has cost lives of Indian armed forces and angered us all. Quite clearly this is totally unac-

ceptable and India has stood up to the Chinese intrusions. It has become a matter of importance since Indians living away from India want to show their support to India.

“Consequently when a few people from the

Diaspora decided to hold demonstrations outside the Chinese Consulate it gave me an opportunity to join them in London and from around UK to express our support to India.”

Besides, the Indian diaspora, some human rights activists from Pakistan also joined in calling for China to “Free Tibet, Free HongKong and Free Uighurs".

Besides these protests, the placards were also stuck on the Chinese consulate building.According to Kuldeep Shekhawat, President of the Oversees Friends of BJP, “This protest is the Indian diaspora’s effort to draw attention to the expansionist policies of China and express solidarity with our armed forces on the Chinese border.”

Virtual Covid-19 healing summit On Sunday 12th July 2020, Healing Our Earth launched the first of their virtual monthly Covid-19 session. Healing Our Earth is a wonderful e-community channel, to produce various free sessions for audiences across the world, on subjects that matter to the community – health, wealth and spirituality.

This initiative by Nil Kumar and his team comes as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to increase anxieties, fear, loss, and isolation among individuals especially the elderly.

Hosted by Chiropractor, Dr Lalit Sodha, seasoned speakers delivered key sources of information on variety of subjects.

Dr Sunil Gupta, a Consultant haematooncologist London, leading the clinical research division in haematology in his trust and has been principal investigator of 10

national and commercial clinical trials. He addressed the audience about the significance of Immunity Boosting By Healthy Living and Natural Methods to combat Covid-19 and the Role of Nitric Oxide.

Nitin (Nick) Palan MBE also delivered a speech Business Impact related to Covid 19 on the travel industry where he is employing 230 staff, his UK Tour Operator business runs more than 60 Buses/coaches in London and carries over 1.5 million passengers a year.

Nitin recommended that there are three important take away or lessons that he learnt.

1) Communicate with your staff so that there is no confusion – so regular telephone conversations and updates. 2) Remember that it is the staff that made our business and therefore treat them with total respect and as family – we

provided for a food bank and looked for other job opportunities for them while they were under furlough. 3) Creativity – look at other opportunities that arises in the present difficulties.

Professor Dr Tuhin Kanti Biswas also spoke about the Role of Ayurveda in Maintenance of Mental Health. Whereas, Professor Bhik Kotecha Consultant ENT Surgeon – London UK COVID and BAME Disproportionality.

Dr Mukesh Batra is an India homeopath of international repute and delivered a session of Homeopathy and Covid.

Eminent Lord Jitesh Gadhia - Member of the House of Lords, an investment banker, businessman and and a member of UKIndia CEO Forum was also in discussion with Dr Bharat Pankhania – Senior Clinical Lecturer and Former Consultant in

Communicable Disease Control.

Dr Rajeev Gupta Consultant in NHS for 17 years and is Chairman of Central Specialist Advisory Committee of The Royal College in London. Swami Ramdev ji lead medical advisory committee and actively help integrating yoga into medical practice in UK. He has set up teaching Yoga to doctors.

Dr Melissa Kapoor PhD from University of Oxford in Statistics applied to medical imaging delivered a session on How Hindu Philosophy Strengthens Mental Health especially at a time when the pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health.

Jiten Patel – in UK and internationally, helping clients with consciously inclusive leadership, and developing organizationally inclusive culture/change spoke about plans of Coming out of Lockdown.

“racist” officer

Activists supporting the Black Lives Matter movement in Birmingham have urged the West Midlands Police to name the officer who was sacked for making “racist and inappropriate comments” about some of his colleagues.

An independent misconduct panel had given the officer “a final written warning” in September last year, but the force legally challenged the decision. The panel has now “unanimously agreed” that the officer, whose identity was withheld, should be “dismissed without notice”.

But activists from the area’s Black community have described the police force of “protecting racists” after it failed to disclose the personal details of the officer as has been done following similar previous cases.

Earlier this week, the Independent Office for Police Conduct had announced a review into whether forces discriminate against ethnic minorities. Commenting on the case, Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Todd, head of Professional Standards, West Midlands Police said, “It was clear in this case that this officer felt it acceptable to talk about other colleagues in a racist way.

“There is no place for racism in policing and if we don’t eliminate it internally we cannot expect the public, particularly those from BAME communities, to put their trust in us.

“I hope now that this outcome will give confidence to our colleagues across policing to report such behaviour knowing that they will be supported; and that it will give confidence to our communities that they can trust West Midlands Police to root out racism.”

According to the West Midlands Police the officer’s identity was being “withheld due to the nature of his work”.

The West Midlands Police witnessed “a record year” in terms of applications to join the force, with about half of them coming from women, and at least 28 per cent from BAME communities.

Foreign criminals banned from entering UK As part of the latest immigration laws unfurled by the home secretary, ministers will be given powers to exclude or deport foreign criminals who have received prison sentences of more than a year, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The newspaper also notes that officials will reportedly be able to bar persistent offenders such as pickpockets and burglars, even if they have been sentenced to less than a year.

Under the current rules, convicted criminals from the bloc can only be excluded on a case-by-case basis. The new immigration system, will come into effect on January 1, is designed to cut the number of low-skilled migrants entering Britain from the beginning of next year, but aims to make it easier for higher-skilled workers to get UK visas.

The change would mean criminals from the European Union are treated the same as currently happens to those from non-EU countries.

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Tycoon donates £ 3.5 million to Oxford Ola invests £20 million for University for Covid-19 vaccine Ride Safe UK On 10th July, one of the richest business tycoons in London alongside his family contributed £3.5 million to Oxford University for facilitating further research into a potential Covid-19 vaccine currently underway at Oxford University.

Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal is believed to be reportedly making an endowment for the post of vaccinology which is presently held by Professor Adrian Hill. Mittal and his family have sponsored a critical professorship in vaccinology which will facilitate vital research on outbreak pathogens including Covid-19. Commenting on the family’s decision to endow the professorship, Lakshmi Mittal said, "This year has been a wake-up call to the world to be better prepared for pandemics, which, as we have all experienced, can cause massive social and economic disruption." "Having always had a keen interest in healthcare, like many I was following with great interest the work on potential vaccines and treatments for Covid-19.

After a fascinating conversation with Professor Hill, my family and I concluded that the work he and his team

Lakshmi Mittal

are doing is not only extraordinary but essential, not just for this current crisis but for other challenges we may face in the future.

The importance of dedicated and ongoing research in this field cannot be overestimated and we are delighted to be supporting this vaccinology professorship at

Oxford," Mittal said.

ArcelorMittal was also a founding member of the Ebola Private Sector Mobilisation Group, which coordinated response to Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014.

In 2014, Professor Hill led the first clinical trials of a vaccine aimed at controlling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, kickstarting the initiative at the Jenner Institute to develop vaccines for outbreak pathogens.

The University will add £1.75 million in funding to the donation and create a permanent endowment of the post.

A ride-hailing firm has decided to inject £20 million into Ride Safe UK initiative amid the coronavirus pandemic in a bid to ensure highest levels of safety.

Indian start-up Ola cabs are working with UK innovators and experts in public safety to ensure that initiatives represent best practice in safety and mobility.

Latest safety measures will include cleaning and disinfecting cars between each rides in a first of its kind initiative. The company’s new safety guidelines are in line with the launch of TfL’s new mandatory requirements.

The four priority areas under the Ride Safe UK initiative will be driver safety and

Sharma to review China’s involvement in UK’s nuclear energy sector On 7th July, reports emerged that the British government may review China’s involvement in the country’s nuclear energy sector. The review will be conducted under a new legislation on the national security implications of investment.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Alok Sharma, the business secretary said, “We will look at all investments that are made in the UK, we will look at that against the criteria we have set out in the Enterprise Act. That will be set out in the National Security Investment Bill, and that will be for all investments that are made rather than picking and choosing individual countries.

“I don’t think there is any inconsistency in welcoming inward investment and at the same time standing up for the UK’s values and interests and our security.” China General Nuclear Power Group

(CGN), a state-owned Chinese energy company, has invested more than £3.8 billion in Britain, primarily in the Hinkley Point C plant under construction in Somerset according to The Times. CGN is also seeking approval to build its own design of nuclear reactor at Bradwell in Essex. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former leader of the Conservatives, said he supported “a campaign for zero” participation by Chinese companies in Britain’s critical energy infrastructure.

The government had pledged to introduce a new national security investment law in the Queen’s Speech last December. Now, in light of national laws imposed in Hong Kong, the UK is more precarious of attracting further Chinese investments in the UK.

standards, industry-wide initiatives, technology and innovation and vehicle standards. The company backed by SoftBank is further expected to invest £50 million over the next 12 months globally to increase safety standards.

According to a statement, riders and drivers must wear a non-medical face covering for the duration of the journey and carry an alcohol-based hand sanitiser and use it before and after getting in the car.

Riders are advised to keep the car ventilated by winding down the windows, and the AC will not be set to recirculate.

“The launch of Ride Safe UK and the introduction of the new Ola safety guidelines will see riders and drivers working together to protect each other and the community as the UK gets moving.

“Ride Safe UK, and our investment behind it, demonstrates our long-term commitment and focus on raising safety standards across the industry. In the current environment this is more important than ever,” said Marc Rozendal, Ola’s UK Managing Director.

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18 - 24 July 2020

Defending Hindu Dharma and India from a hostile media In 1993 a film called Bhaji on the Beach was released here in the UK. I got a call from the BBC for an interview about the film. I was told that they would show me the film on a fast track. As I began watching the film a spotlight was focused on me and I realised that something was planned! The film showed an Indian girl kissing a black boy. The scene came and I showed no emotion and kept looking at the film nonchalantly! In the interview they asked me again and again about the kiss and how I felt about it.

I kept saying that in a multicultural society these things will happen. We are not keeping our young people behind any fence. But I said our children were doing very well in education and by and large valued and respected our culture and traditions. Their plan was for me to condemn the film and cause a controversy which would give the film a lot more publicity! This was my first learning curve in my dealings with the media.

Over the years I have got articles and numerous letters published in the national and international media.

What motivates me is gross unfair criticisms of Hinduism and India. Many of the critics are of Indian origin holding high positions and they from time to time write for the national media. Pankaj Mishra and many like him as well our Lords and Baronesses never miss an opportunity to denigrate mainly because Hindus and India are considered soft targets. They know that we never respond either because we are not bothered, or we would rather be on the good side of the great title holders. On 27th March 2016 multi-millionaire Kartar Lalvani wrote an article praising the British colonisation of India. I wrote to the Times challenging his views. The letter was published but I wondered why tens of thousands of Indians including the PR wing of the Indian High Commission kept quiet. A very important weakness we have apart from apathy is that though we are highly educated, we freeze in front of a camera and cannot put up a coherent argument. The same is true of writing precisely to the point and using words carefully and effectively. Mastering the nuances of the language of the country you are living in and being fluent in it is crucially important. In the fight to stop the Caste legislation we were betrayed by almost all of our favourite MPs and Lords whom we garland at every opportunity. We have to sharpen our debating skills. I spoke at a Caste debate organised at SOAS. Though it had been organised by the Caste lobby and had many of its supporters there the chairperson concluded after my talk that a lot more research needs to be done before Caste legislation in the UK can be taken seriously. At the same university Arundhati Roy came to give a talk. She was in full flow accusing Hindus of everything. I challenged her and some more people supported me, and she lost her argument and the meeting turned in our favour.

There are tricks of the trade like always put your hand up first for questions! If you are overwhelmed by the audience and dither your opportunity to ask a knockout question will be gone! You have to have a burning desire to defend your heritage. We all need to pursue our careers, but we should also have a parallel career of doing something good whatever it may be.

Nitin Mehta

By Email

Government’s concerning immigration proposals In the midst of a global pandemic, it’s concerning to see the Home Secretary rush through major immigration legislation lacking in detail.

The Covid-19 outbreak has opened-up a long-overdue debate over how we define ‘unskilled work’. The Government’s decision to introduce a points system, but not specifically address this issue, is short-sighted and could put key services at risk. The Home Secretary appears to confuse low-pay with low-skill - nothing could be further from the truth for our highly-skilled, but definitely under-paid, care staff. The Prime Minister recently issued a call to ‘build, build, build’, but these new immigration proposals also leave us uncertain about whether we will be able to fill the gaps in our construction workforce.

The exclusion of our care workers from the new Health and Social care visa scheme, despite their heroic efforts throughout the Covid-19 outbreak, is another irresponsible move and blow to care homes, when there are thousands of vacancies in the workforce.

We were able to rebuild our nation in the wake of Second World War because of the wide-ranging contributions of those that came to our country from around the world. As we face up to a deep recession and further isolation from our closest neighbours, we must keep this crucial lesson from recent history in mind.

Navin Shah AM London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow

Rishi Sunak to lead this country?

It was interesting to read about the chances of Rishi Sunak to lead the country (AV – 11-17 July 2020). He is one of the best chancellors and doing an extremely difficult job of balancing the books, finding new ways to kick start the economy and making sure that the adverse impact of Covid19 to general public is bare minimum.

Rishi Sunak has been maintaining a good relationship with different stakeholders including the leader of the opposition Kier Starmer and Dominic Cummings. With the support of the Prime Minister, he has been spending money and giving financial incentives to provide a boost to the economy, so people in the short term will like him. Once this crisis is over, he may have to make some tough decisions which may not be liked by everybody, at that time the resistance will come. Another important issue to be considered is inbuilt institutional racism. Because of legal reasons people in public life will act and speak cautiously about racism but to remove from the hearts and minds of people, it will take many more years. We all know how much resistance Priti Patel has been facing as a home secretary of the UK in discharging her duties. She is a tough lady having pre-determined objectives with strong support of the Prime Minister, is still there. We Indians feel proud to have 3 fellow countrymen in the cabinet today in commanding positions. Keeping in mind the present circumstance and strengths of Rishi Sunak, I feel, it is better for him to be remembered as the best chancellor than as a mediocre Prime Minister. It is better to be in number 11 (the official residence of Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer) than to aspire to become number 1. As soon as he tries to become No. 1 (Prime Minister) there will be more political opponents than friends.

Hitesh Hingu London

Time for PM to act decisively It seems Britain has become a soft touch on international stage, for Tom, Dick and Harry to bully at will. This is due to our weakness, foolishness and lack of judgement on the part of our politicians who lack patriotism and common-sense.

While Britain is right to protest against China for treating Hong Kong as Chinese colony, destroying their freedom, lifestyle and self-respect, Britain is in no position to subjugate China without all out support from EU that is distantly lacking, with Germany increasing their trade with China by leaps and bounds. It is the only nation in the world having an occasional balance of trade surplus with China, as German cars like Mercedes, BMW, VW and Porch most popular, status symbol for well-off Chinese people to show-off!

So why Britain is fighting a lost cause! The reason is we still think we are super-power with responsibility to police the world! China knows that Britain is a lost cause, living on past glory with near bankrupt economy. No wonder Chinese ambassador threatens Britain at will in our own Capital, London. It is time for PM to back-out, deny China any role in G5 technological participation which was opposed by America and many of his own back-bench MPs. As China has huge balance of payment surplus, China is not in a position to threaten Britain on trade front. Cyber-attack Australia type is the tool in China’s armoury. It is time to call spade a spade, form joint front with other nations being threatened by China and that include, Canada, Australia, India, Japan, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia many more and support India to become permanent member with veto power. China has no morals, no qualms in stabbing friends in the back; honesty is dirty word in Chinese vocabulary and is bent upon dominating the world politically, economically and militarily while West is in hibernation. It is time for PM to take initiative along with America to form anti-Chinese alliance, mend relations with Russia. But knowing how fragmented and selfish West is, it may never happen.

Bhupendra M. Gandhi

By Email

KHICHADI Kapil’s

Follow me on Twitter: @kk_OEG

Too Old to Serve?

Kapil Dudakia I came across a discussion recently that suggested that it was time to rid our Mandirs and Community Organisations of the elders who control them, and to replace them with our youth. We live in a world of bandwagon politics that thrives on slogans and in appeasing to get easy applause at the expense of any detailed inspection on merits or otherwise of what is being proposed.

What is it that drives such an agenda? Dare I say, often there are multiple reasons that become a Khichadi of despair and ignorance. Just the right time for those who might wish to play their mischief. We must of course begin with an honest debate.

Are all our Mandirs and Community Centres run properly? Most are, but some are not.

Are those in charge of them competent? Some are, but some are not.

Do they serve for the good of the community and its welfare? Some do, but some don’t.

You can see the thread of the answers, in my view many of our Mandirs and Community Centres are run satisfactorily in many respects. Some of them can certainly improve and by so doing, they would become even more effective and useful. Some of them are not run properly and have people in power who are there for their own greed, and often abuse that power and the resources that come with the high office.

I know of Mandirs and Community Organisations that have people in charge who in my view should be behind bars, let alone let lose in any Dharmic establishment. I reject the one size fits equation that the elders must move aside for the youth. Never. The youth must prove their competence. They need to show their dedication by their deeds. I have witnessed on many occasions what looks like very well-educated youngsters who come into an organisation like the whirlwind. Their impatience for power becomes clear and very quickly their actual productive work decreases, but their tenacity to undermine the same organisation and its leadership becomes their active objective.

The rite of passage to leadership is one that we must be careful about. The elders that we might be so quick to dismiss, happen to be the ones who have stayed and done the groundwork for decades. We cannot undermine that dharmic service to our community by equating it with the bad apples that we would find in some organisations.

The one thing that does bother me often is the silence of these good men and women. They know who the rogues are, yet they remain silent. Silence is not always golden; silence allows the corrupt elements time and space to infiltrate and do their adharmic work.

The answer to many of our problems was and still is the same. We need right-minded men and women in our community who are aware of the bad apples, to do something about it. At the same time, the young from our community need to show their commitment by becoming members, working steadfastly, and building numbers within organisations so that over a period of time they can affect change for the good. The revolution we need is in people’s behaviour, in people’s thinking and in how we as a community better serve our institutions.

People have asked me to start a public debate. I accept a review would be useful. Whether it’s me or someone else is not an issue, I guess we should visit this once lockdown is out of the way.

Crime-based TV Programmes

How to keep the virus away

Corona pandemic compelled people to stay indoors that in turn increased the time people spend watching TV. It is horrifying to observe that every TV channel invariably broadcasts one or the other crime-based programmes. Crime Patrol, Savdhaan India etc. are popular Indian TV serials but there are similar programmes being telecast on English channels also. These TV channels always claim that their programmes are based on true incidents with names, locations etc. changed and using fictitious identities. They depict how the crime was committed and what role was played by the police and the detectives. Some of these episodes are however very shocking and gruesome.On the one hand these programmes make people alert and awake to such happenings around us but on the other, unfortunately, they also furnish innovative ideas to the criminals to commit resembling unlawful acts. Their destructive effects on the minds of the teenagers and young adults are also beyond doubts. Even grownups have also been found to suffer from restless nights and fearful experiences after regularly watching these shows. Parents must be very cautious in such cases and not be too much obsessed with these crime-based programmes themselves that steer to dreadful outcomes.

Bharat Shah

By Email

Diabetes victims are regarded as magnets for the Covid-19 virus which means that we Asians must refrain from eating something I personally crave, namely jalebees, gulam jamuns, doodh peras, ladoos, halva, rasgollahs and other ghee-lavished Indian sweets. In India, as a youth, I freely indulged in all these treats but managed to stay slim by pursuing a number of physically demanding activities like climbing trees, cycling on rough roads, running, swimming, boxing, skipping, dancing, longjumping, hockey, cricket and more. However, in Britain, we lead largely sedentary lives, and eating too many Indian sweets would surely result in a dangerous accumulation of calories around our waists, tipping us into diabetes and presenting us as easy targets of the dreaded virus. So we must be careful what we consume. “Eat less, move more,” is the best advice to follow.

Rudy Otter

By Email

We are grateful to all letter writers for more and more versatile letters well within word limit.

Please keep contributing as always.

If you are new, then write to Rupanjana at rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com - AV

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Keir Starmer discusses Covid-19 impact with BAME-led businesses On Thursday 9th July, leader of the Labour party held a virtual roundtable discussion with Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) business owners to discuss the pressures BAME-led businesses are facing due to Covid-19.

Led by Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the event was the latest in a series of consultation sessions for Labour’s review into the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on BAME communities.

Speaking at the roundtable discussion, Keir Starmer, “This is a pandemic the likes of which we have never seen. And it has had a disproportionate impact on Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. It has picked away at inequalities which were already there.

“The coming economic challenge is going to be pro-

BAME-led businesses in virtual roundtable conference with Sir Keir Starmer

found. There is a genuine fear that we will see unemployment on a scale we have not seen for many years.”

BAME-led businesses highlighted their concerns in being less likely to have received Government support during the pandemic.

Around half of BAME-led businesses surveyed by one participant had not applied for government schemes, with many thinking they would not qualify. Analysis of loans delivered via the Government’s ‘Future Fund’

support scheme for start-ups has found that 43% have an all-white senior management team, whilst less than 5% are all-BAME.Sharing her experience, Minal Patel, founder of Marketing by Minal, said, “I live in a very diverse community in Hayes & Harlington. The challenge has been reaching those smaller businesses and helping them understand how they can apply for loans.

Because a lot of the paperwork is so involved that they don’t even know where to

Review finds signs of domestic abuse before gay pharmacist husband murdered wife A domestic homicide (DHR) review into the murder of Jessica Patel has urged family member to ask women seeking medical help for anxiety if they are suffering domestic abuse. Two years ago, pharmacist Mitesh Patel ha strangled his wife Jessica at their home in Middlesbrough as he had intended to move to Australia with his boyfriend.

The DHR review found the murder could not have been predicted but has urged for greater awareness of warning signs of domestic abuse.

The review, conducted by Middlesbrough Community Safety Partnership, said there were signs Mrs Patel was being domestically abused by her husband during their nineyear marriage.

According to the panel, individual family, friends and colleagues had pieces of

information that on their own "may not have seemed significant or alerted them of concerns", but when put together would have shown the abuse she suffered.

Among other signs, some incidents included, husband shouting at Jessica in front of colleagues and customers at their Roman Road Pharmacy, refusing to let her return home to visit her dying grandfather, moving houses to Middlesbrough from the Halifax area.

Evidence suggests that Jessica was already seeking help from a GP for anxiety.

According to the panel’s report she was also undergoing fertility treatment as she wanted to be a mother, but her husband was taking drugs to stifle his sperm count without Jessica’s knowledge. The review said, "Research suggests that

women experiencing domestic abuse are more likely to experience a mental health problem, while women with mental health problems are more likely to be domestically abused."In cases of mental health problems, health professionals should always consider asking a direct question of the patient."The panel also said the murder should be considered an honour killing as the "only way [Mitesh Patel] may have felt able to leave the marriage with honour was by killing Jessica".In a statement, Mrs Patel's family said they supported the "extremely painful" review to "provide a voice for her"."So that this act of evil is not repeated, we encourage everyone to open their eyes, to ask questions and never assume everything is ok," they said.

Shiva Hotels secures £230 million financing with Cale Street and Crosstree Shiva Hotels Group has secured a £230 million development financing package from Cale Street Investments, and Crosstree Real Estate Partners for the construction and completion of the 199-key luxury lifestyle hotel in Marylebone, London.

Cale Street is providing £160 million and Crosstree £70 million of the initial four-year facility, which has an option to extend and refinances an £80 million loan that was in place with ICG Longbow.Since acquiring the site, Shiva Hotels has worked closely with Westminster City Council and local interested parties to secure a planning consent for an exceptional building, featuring multiple destination restaurants, a roof top swimming pool and a subterranean event space. The first guests are due to be welcomed in early 2023.Rishi Sachdev, M anaging Director of Shiva Hotels, said: “This is a major milestone for our Marylebone Lane development, and brings

the delivery of what we believe will be one of London’s most iconic hotels one step closer. Cale Street and Crosstree are both hugely experienced and highly selective real estate financiers and bring a deep understanding of the UK hospitality sector.

Securing this package, particularly in the current economic climate, is a further endorsement of our vision to create an unrivalled luxury lifestyle hotel brand and we are extremely excited to be partnering with both parties.“This is a challenging time for everyone involved in the hospitality sector and our near-term focus continues to be on working closely with all our stakeholders to navigate through this period of uncertainty.

Longer-term however, we are steadfast in our conviction that the global appeal of London will continue and that this will translate into strong demand for our carefully curated hotels in highly desirable locations.”

start. “There has to be outreach, but once that outreach happens, business owners can’t just be left with a pile of papers. Without help for these business owners at the grassroots, I think a lot of businesses that are led by people of colour are going to miss out.”

Whereas, Shermeena Rabbi, founder of Unlocking Language, said, “We have had conflicting information on PPE. We’ve made the decision not to open our physical clinic until September because we feel it’s not safe enough. We’re in a community where there is a high number of Bangladeshi people, and we already know that Bangladeshi people are at 50% higher risk.

“Half of my workforce are also BAME, so I am looking for more guidance on how to protect my workforce.” Other members who attended the meeting included Marsha de Cordova MP, Shadow Women and Secretary; Equalities Anneliese Dodds MP, Shadow Chancellor; and Chi Onwurah, Shadow Minister for Digital, Science & Tech and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Black, Asian, and minority ethnic Business Owners.

Labour demands clarity on racial inequality commission The Labour Party has urged the government to provide further clarification into the new commission likely to examine racial inequality within the country. On 14th June Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced that he will be setting up a commission to look at inequality following the surge of protests and tearing up of statues in the wake of Black Lives Matter movement. Johnson in his column in Telegraph had said, "It was no use just saying that we have made huge progress in tackling racism…There is much more that we need to do; and we will. It is time for a cross-governmental commission to look at all aspects of inequality - in employment, in health outcomes, in academic and all other walks of life." The establishment of the review is being overseen by the head of the No 10 policy unit, Munira Mirza. Her appointment had faced considerable criticism for her past comments where she had questioned and rubbished the concept of structural racism. Structural racism in Britain remains a serious problem. It has been a month now and Labour has questioned the Government asking who will lead the commission, who its members will be, what its terms of reference are, and what it will be called.

In school Black Caribbean and mixed white and Black Caribbean children have rates of permanent exclusion about three times that of the pupil population as a whole; at work Black workers with degrees earn 23.1 per cent less on average than white workers; and Black people in England and Wales are more than nine times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police than their white counterparts.

Speaking about the commission, Marsha de Cordova MP, Labour’s Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary, said, “Over the last few years this Government has commissioned review after review but done precious little with the recommendations: four reviews in particular give us over 200 recommendations and it is far from clear just how many of those have actually been properly implemented.

"If the Prime Minister really meant it when he said there is much more to do then why doesn’t just get on and do it?

We should not have to keep asking to get even the most basic answers about what will happen next.”

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SCRUTATOR’S Destination weddings at Statue of Unity tent city In a bid to boost tourism in Gujarat amidst lockdown, the state government is planning to promote the Statue of Unity site and the area surrounding it as an the iconic site for destination weddings. According to a report, the authorities have decided to map the Statue of Unity Tent City 1 as a wedding venue. Quoting authorities, the report says that the picturesque location that also has an open-to-sky setting with Narmada Dam in its backdrop as a compelling location for people looking for destination weddings. The authorities of the Tent City 1 have made the booking open for weddings at Rs 250,000 per package of 50 people. According to the report, the wedding venue has 60 tents, and two “Presidential Cottages’ and authorities managing the venue said that the offering is affordable as they used to charge Rs 12,000 per night for each cottage before the pandemic hit the business. The authorities hope that destination wedding at the site can boost tourism as the Statue of Unity site is situated just 4 km away from the 182- meter statue of India’s iron man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Gujarat government has adopted a PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) model to develop Tent City 1 into an appealing site for destination weddings in collaboration with an Ahmedabad-based event management company. (The Indian Express) SC okays summons through WhatsApp, email Moving with the times, the Supreme Court of India agreed in principle that serving notices and summons to people, integral to judicial processes, through instant messaging services like WhatsApp and Telegram, in addition to emails, would be legally valid. This will be a significant boost to designated messaging services, already widely used informally for official work in government, as they get a legal stamp of approval.

A three-member bench of the apex court said this innovation was needed as physical delivery of notices and summons was difficult in the lockdown period. The bench agreed to suggestions of attorney general and solicitor general that sending summons and notices through email would constitute valid delivery of these legal instruments asking a respondent to either appear before the court or respond to a court query.

Army men told to delete FB, Instgram Army men in India have been told to delete their Facebook and Instagram accounts as well as over 80 apps from their mobile phones

by July 15 to prevent leakage of sensitive data. The army said that strict action will be taken against those who did not follow the guidelines. The outlawed apps include 59 with Chinese links, including Tik-Tok, which were banned by the government recently. The army in November

last year had also directed its personnel to avoid the use of

WhatsApp for official work, while asking officers holding “sensitive appointments” to delete their Facebook accounts. There have been many cases over the last twothree years where Pakistani agents posing as women have “virtually” honey-trapped Indian military personnel into divulging classified information, with even a Group Captain posted at the IAF headquarters in New Delhi falling prey to it in 2018. The fresh Army directive, taken to ensure the security of classified information in the larger national interest, comes after the Navy also banned the use of Facebook for all its personnel, while also directing them not to carry smart phones into bases and dockyards as well as on board warships, in December

the legal and legislative committee of Kuwait's National Assembly had approved the draft expat quota bill which could result in 800,000 Indians leaving the country. The National Assembly's legal and legislative committee determined that the draft expat quota bill is constitutional, Gulf News reported. The bill, according to which Indians should not exceed 15 per cent of the population, is to be transferred to the respective committee so that a comprehensive plan is created. Of the 4.3 million population of Kuwait, expats account for 3 million.

last year. (Agency)

affairs announced that 5,80,000 Indians have been evacuated from different countries under the Vande Bharat Mission as of July 8.

MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava announced that 637 international flights have been scheduled in the ongoing fourth phase of the mission. These flights would service 29 airports in India, Srivastava said. "As on 8th July 2020, against a total number of 6,61,352 persons who registered their request with our Missions abroad for repatriation to India, over 5,80,000 have returned under this mission," he added. Vande Bharat Mission is being carried out by the Indian government to evacuate Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus pandemic. The first phase of the mission

India shares its concern with Kuwait on expat quota bill India's ministry of external affairs said that it has shared its concern on the proposed expat quota bill with Kuwait's foreign minister. "We share excellent bilateral ties with Kuwait and our ties are deeply rooted in our people to people linkages. We have shared our expectation with Kuwait and they will take India's concern into consideration while taking further decisions," MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said. Recently,

5,80,000 evacuated under Vande Bharat Mission India's ministry of external

commenced on May 7. (Agency) Covid vaccine unlikely before 2021 A global or Indian vaccine for the coronavirus will only be ready

by 2021, a parliamentary standing committee on science, technology, environment and forests was informed at its first in-person meeting since March. The assertion came on the heels of a controversy over an ICMR letter last week that spoke of an August 15 deadline for launch of a vaccine for public use. Though no reference was made to the letter, principal scientific advisor to the government, K Vijay Raghavan and other officials assured the panel that India will “either lead in finding a Covid-19 vaccine or in manufacturing it”, since almost 60% of the world’s vaccines are developed in India. The submissions were part of wider discussions on the role of science and technology in dealing with coronavirus, and the lessons it served for India. (The Times of India) IPS officer suspended for ‘gross misconduct’ Less than two weeks after he tried to file a police complaint against J&K director general of police Dilbag Singh, the Union home ministry placed IPS officer Basant Rath under suspension for “gross misconduct and misbehaviour.” Rath, a 2000batch J&K cadre officer, was posted as inspector general of police (home guards) in the UT. On June 25, Rath had given a written complaint against the DGP to the Gandhi Nagar police station, asking its SHO to make it a part of Daily Diary. “I am not asking you to lodge an FIR against the person mentioned above. I am just asking you to make this letter a part of Daily Dairy in your police station. Today, in case something bad happens to me, you should know whose number you should dial,” Rath said in his compliant. This infuriated the police chief who posted his reaction in a private whatsapp group, with police personnel, bureaucrats and journalists as members, in which he termed Rath as a "joker and useless". Rath was removed as IGP traffic after a public brawl with former mayor of Srinagar Municipal Corporation Junaid Mattoo. (Agency) Ultras begin political killings in J&K BJP's Bandipora district head Waseem Bari, his father and

brother were shot dead in their north Kashmir house by terrorists last week. This is being seen as the first major incident involving a senior political leader after Article

370 was nullified in 2019. Waseem (38), his father Sheikh Bashir Ahmad (62) and brother Umar Sheikh (30) were at their twostoreyed residence, which houses a family-run restaurant, barely 30 metres away from the police station and 600 metres from the residences of the deputy commissioner and district police chief, when the incident happened. “All three have firearm injuries in the head. There are injuries in other parts of the body as well. We have handed over the bodies to police,” a senior Bandipora medical official said.

The family had been provided security cover comprising eight personnel from Jammu & Kashmir police's armed battalion. However, none of them were present when the killings took place. Police sources said the eight cops are being placed under suspension with immediate effect and investigations are on to probe the reasons for their absence. (Agency) Dwarka, Dakor to be developed as Gujarat's Ganga ghats Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani suggested the development of the Dwarka and Dakor pilgrimage centres on the lines of the Ganga ghats in Varanasi. Presiding over a meeting, Rupani said that a longterm plan should be adopted to develop eight major iconic pilgrim centres, namely Ambaji, Somnath, Dwarka, Shamlaji, Pavagadh, Palitana and Girnar. It involves massive cleaning of 11,00,000 square metres of land in and around these places. Installation of CCTV cameras, e-rickhaws,

wheelchairs and ramps for senior citizens could be other features. He said that there is a need for attractive signage to prompt tourists visiting Dhordo in Kutch to go to places of religious significance like Matano-Madh and Narayan Sarovar.

(The Times of India)

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Coronasurmardini discusses impact of Covid-19 on Durga Puja globally Amid the lockdown, London based organisations Bengal Heritage Foundation and London Sharad Utsav have come together to utilise the digital platform and launched their latest innovation “Think Tank”.

The idea is to bring thinkers and audience, from all around the globe on a single platform to talk about topics that are relevant to the time and society.

The first webinar was ‘Coronasurmardini’ hosted on Saturday 11 July, covering the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on Durga Pujo globally in 2020.

Viewers from India and Europe joined in. They gave valuable inputs about how Durga Pujo 2020 can be organised maintaining various government guidelines.

Participants included Bidisha Datta from London Sharad Utsav, Dr Sandeep Raha from Wales Pujo Committee, Prithwish Majumdar from Sujan Bengali Cultural Society Dublin, Dr Saptarshi Basu

from Ballygunge Cultural Association, Subir Das from Bhowanipur 75 Palli, Avishek Bhattacharya from Forum for Durgotsab and was hosted by Swagata Ghosh from Bath Spa University and Arnab Basu, Partner at PwC. The series was designed and directed

by Suranjan Som from BHF, who also sent us a picture of the backstage set up for running the webinar.

Sourav Niyogi President of Bengal Heritage Foundation and Trustee of London Sharad Utsav spoke about how the two organisations worked jointly to support charitable causes pertaining to Covid19 and Amphan and support various organisations in UK and India during these unprece-

dented times with a total collection of £20,047, contributed by the community in the UK. Swagata Ghosh, one of the moderators of the Pujo webinar said, “The Pujo webinar was a wonderful transnational opportunity for people across various parts of the world organising Pujos to come together and share experiences on some of the challenges we are facing in preparing for one of the world’s largest public festivals. Despite uncertainties, the best part was the opportunity to break boundaries between Pujo near and far, small and big, old and new.”

On how Covid-19 impacted the economic livelihoods of few key sec-

tors was discussed by Mintu Pal, Secretary of Kumartuli association, Kaushik Ghosh, idol maker who also exports idols outside India, street food vendors and lighting technicians from Kolkata.

Through their messages they emphasised how critical Durga puja festivities are to sustain the livelihoods of people.

Speaking about the importance of Durga Puja in London, Bidisha Datta from London Sharad Utsav (LSU) said how the organisation this year would like to honour the legendary Satyajit Ray on his birth centenary.

She added, “Hopefully with the innovative thinking we will be able to create the Pujo spirit in a safe way for people in London.”

Dr Saptarshi Basu from Ballygunge Cultural Association said, “We are passing through difficult times, a big challenge in front of us yet we have the wish to organise Durga Puja this year. It will scale down naturally given the new norms, but we will try our best to make it happen and ensure livelihoods are maintained as much as possible.”

Essex Indians organise virtual festivals to raise awareness about heritage 2020 is an extraordinary year so far. Essex Indian is a registered charity based in UK and have a track record of working locally and globally with community cohesion and cultural awareness programmes within community. Recently they organised the Generation Next Festival encouraging children and young adults to be part of cultural heritage and focus on project related to global causes.

They have successfully staged various shows like Post office, Thousand cranes, Evolution, Showers of peace, Heal the world and 4 -Acts. This year they celebrated the theme of world and future leaders in global virtual platform through live streaming on Essex Indians’ Facebook page and YouTube link .

Children and young adults across the globe took part in it and reflected on their thoughts through interactive discussion and performances. More than 60 performers took part across the globe including India, Bangladesh, UK, Europe, Australia and USA. It was eight and half hours nonstop thought-provoking discussions and performances. Participants were from different economic backgrounds with the same plea for a better world.

Distinguished panel members from different

professions of life shared their thoughts on challenges of Generation Z and impacts of adult behaviour.

They covered a wide variety of theme starting from Covid pandemic to lockdown, caste and racial discrimination, domestic violence, economic recession, black lives matter, Homelessness, social media, crisis in civilisation, age of distraction, global warming, pressure on youth, educational pressure on children, air pollution, modern day definition of Feminism, artificial intelligence, kindness, exploitation of animals by human, definition of roots and ori-

gin, family time and its importance and social media and its impact .

Coordination and virtual platform support was provided by Astral studio led by Samriddha Ganguly, Baishali Bagchi and Dr Anirban Mandal. The programme was wonderfully compered by Dr Arpita Ray. Also to purely boost everyone's morale in these trying times Essex Indians organised a Global Fantakshari and 12 participants from across continents were invited to join each preliminary episode.

After 5 gruelling prelims involving 55 contestants/teams, 12 con-

testants qualified for the grand finale which was held on Saturday 28 June 2020.

Three semi-final rounds were conducted from which 4 contestants were selected for the finals. Ms Ratna Parikh from round 1, Dr Queen Aditya from round 2 and Dr Shalini Agarwal and Drs Rupalee and Suresh Mandke who were joint winners of round 3.

The 4 teams fought it out in the gruelling final round. Apart from the usual Antakshari rounds, there were pther rounds. The competition required deep knowledge of Bollywood and at the end everyone enjoyed to the hilt.

Helping Bengal’s distraught families Adda is a Slough, UK based charity organisation working for cultural integration between India and UK. During the Covid-19 crisis, Adda Slough embarked into a new role of serving the society addressing the call of the hour.

Adda Slough in collaboration with other organisations like Slough Mitra Mandal, Slough food bank, Slough Hindu Temple, Sewa Day reached out to provide food supplies, essential commodities and medicines to the doorsteps of elderly, the vulnerable, health workers and stranded Indian students abroad.

With the help of Slough council and Thames Valley Police, Adda Slough in itself has reached out to a total of 50,000 in collaboration with others.

One of the key international donors from Netherlands, Milton Biswas talked about Adda’s unwavering commitment on charity activities at the crisis times and cited the reason on his continuous support on Adda’s funding activities.

Super cyclone Amphan which originated from Bay of Bengal has severely destroyed South of Bengal including Bangladesh and Indian state of West

Bengal. Among them in Ganges delta mangrove forest region of Sundarban is worst hit where not only there has been numerous casualties but also people have lost most of the infrastructure and livelihood. Currently several organisations have come forward to raise fund for cyclone hit Bengal. Adda has been not only raising fund but also disbursing it faster to make sure the aid reaches to distress quickly and effectively. Adda teamed up with Kolkata based NGO Kolkata Mary Ward Social Centre (KMWSC) for the relief activity.

Life of simplicity Rohit Vadhwana Second Sunday of July every year is celebrated as Simplicity Day in The USA. It is to celebrate and honour the philosophy of Henry David Thoreau. A famous author, philosopher and historian Thoreau's landmark book 'Walden, or life in the woods' is a must-read for all who think of living with simplicity.

Considered as Thoreau’s masterwork, Walden is a philosophical treatise on labour, leisure, self-reliance, and individualism. It is also an influential piece of nature writing. Thoreau lived in the jungle, near the Walden pond for two years and two months, in semiisolation, and wrote a series of 18 essays.

The first question that arises is how much does an individual need in a lifetime? Through his practice and calculations, Thoreau explained we are putting lot more energy in things that we do not need essentially.

Life is better lived without them if simplicity is accepted. Simplicity, more or less means, having limited external means for life and I remember watching only one movie a week on television, as a child, when only one TV channels existed in India. Limited TV programs were simple to follow and wait every week for. I used to look forward to watching them. Now, with an abundance of channels and programmes, the situation is that I watch TV hardly once a month or so. When when I switch on, it is not easy to decide what I would like to spend my time on.

Similarly, when only the family tour that we used to take was during a vacation, it was much revered.

Now, travelling and touring has become so common that sometimes it becomes tiresome. Scarcity of choices used to add flavour to the destination. Now, after going around many countries and places, even highly recommended places hardly create any feeling of wonder.

There were days when simple food and a piece of sweet was mouth-watering. And then came the time of multi-course meals which hardly create an appetite anymore. Not that the food has lost taste, but it has limited utility and so limited appeal to taste buds. The more on offer, the lesser it attracts.

There are plenty of examples where the loss of simplicity has reduced the importance of particular thing from our lives. Simple living has the benefit of keeping our senses and body active and sensitive. By thrusting more than need, we have killed those desires and requirements. Better to be moderate, if not minimal, in what we offer to our body and mind.

Need-based consumption is a useful way of maintaining a fine balance between simplicity and efficacy.

While we cannot afford to live in deprivation, unnecessary affluence is also not a welcome way of life, especially when it affects our body and mind adversely.

Therefore, to gain satisfaction from small things in our life, it is important to live with simplicity.

(Expressed opinions are personal)

Eminent journalist Kailash Budhwar passes away Eminent journalist Kailash Budhwar passed away on Saturday, after spending two weeks in hospital. He was 88.

Former head of Hindi and Tamil section at BBC World Service, Mr Budhwar had also worked as a media advisor to the Indian High Commission in the past.

He was a regular commentator on radio and television and had worked with All India Radio and the National Radio Network of India.

Remembered as an ever smiling and pleasant person and often regarded as a beacon of knowledge, Mr Budhwar was one of the most prominent and senior members of the Indian Journalists’ Association (UK). He has been the Returning Officer overlooking the IJA annual elections for the past one decade.His daughter Mamta Kaash told Asian Voice, “It's wonderful to know the affection and high regard dad was held in by everyone and the number of lives he touched. "We have been overwhelmed by all the love and respect shown by his relatives, colleagues, friends and exstudents. We are truly humbled.”

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Solving crossword puzzles, gardening & decluttering: How elderly residents are spending their time amid the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK Shefali Saxena While the WHO (World Health Organisation is still learning about how Covid-19 affects people, older persons (e.g. persons over 60 years) and persons with pre-existing medical conditions, like high blood pressure, heart disease, lung disease, cancer or diabetes, appear to develop serious illness more often than others. In the light of this ongoing concern during the pandemic, Asian Voice spoke to elderly residents in the UK on how they’ve been coping with the testing times, as they continue to be vulnerable.

Jayati Das, 71, from Hertfordshire said that she’s one of the few people in her neighbourhood who are not English.

“People accepted me and did a lot for me.

She says she’s been recently planting a lot of flowers like begonias and geraniums. “I’ve got quite a big garden. My whole house with a car park is about one third of an acre. I’m watering them. They need a lot of care as you know. I have got rid of a lot of clutter, I thought in my spare room there’ll be a dead body or two. I have got rid of a lot of paperwork and stuff I don't need. I’m scared to clean my loft. I have got a lot of maintenance done, somebody came and

painted my shade, I got a lot done.” Das is a member of the patient panel and uses the Zoom app to join meetings. Her neighbour who has voluntary retirement has been doing all her shopping during the lockdown.

“He is fixing my wood lock right now,” she said.

Speaking about her pastime activities, Das said, “I do a lot of crosswords in the Daily Telegraph. It has been perfect. I am not much of a television person. I watch very little and lately the news has been pretty depressing. To survive, I watch what I want to watch.” She’s currently watching ‘Escape to the country’. Das says that her outlook is a lot more British than Indian.

Speaking about one thing that she wishes to do amid the pandemic, she said, “I have got a flat in Kolkata, I would like to go to India, that is my escape from the winter.

But this year I'm not sure. I had cancer, five years ago so I might be vulnerable. I’m not sure whether I can come or not, personally it is annoying me. Without the vaccine I don’t think I can. Calcutta worries me.” Das seemed content in where she’s living during the pandemic, “The beauty of where I live is that people are very polite and clean. I will give way to people if they are older than me, they will give way to me If I’m older. They are very law abiding people, polite and of course they know me, especially I do a lot of charity work, people go out of their way to help

me,” she happily signs off.

70-year-old Kanti Nagda advises people on healthcare benefits, housing, immigration, and matrimonial matters.

He said, “For the first three weeks I was in complete lockdown, staying indoors, watching television, no work, nothing.

After that, I started working from home. So I would spend half a day working and half a day watching television, reading books, going out for a walk.” Nagda appreciated the help he observed that was being offered at community level by organizations and doctors of the NHS. Speaking on the lesson one could learn from the pandemic, he said, “This is something which we have to accept the reality and live with it.” He also touched upon the rising rate of cases and rumoured language issues within the Asian community in Leicester and said, “Language was not a barrier. In fact the people in Leicester, particularly working in trade had no choice because they were paid peanuts. And if they did not go to work they would be starving, homeless, with no income. It wasn’t the language problem, it was the exploration by the factor owners.”

Suhas Khale, 79, said he used Facebook a lot to connect

Is the UK ready to “Mind the gap”?

Sejal Mehta (name changed), takes a train from East Ham at 6:30 am every morning. She travels to Pimlico for work. She duly wears a mask and covers herself up because her job involves taking care of a baby. When she reaches her work place where she also helps in cooking, Sejal changes into new clothes as an added precaution.

On her way to work on June 1, she hardly spotted 10 people on the tube.

They maintained social distancing protocol and there wasn’t any apprehension about traveling back then. However, on July 1, when most parts of the UK started to re-open, the rush on the tube was back to normal. Only this time, Sejal feared people who weren’t wearing masks. There was no social distancing at all, she exclaimed. “There was a mad rush and this time no one was standing a foot apart. There was an elderly British woman (must have been in her 80s) who ended up scolding a European on the tube who refused to wear a mask despite repeated requests from the co-passengers. He laughed at her, mocked her, while she continued to express her fear that because of him she might contract the coronavirus since she was much older in age and more vulnerable.”

“Most people only wear masks when the train enters underground because that’s where the checking starts. The moment they step out on the station platform, some of them take off their masks instantly, which is so wrong,” she said.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan tweeted on Tuesday morning: “Face coverings will be compulsory in shops, including supermarkets, from 24 July.

This is the right move (and one I've been lobbying the Govt to make for months) but why the PM is delaying on this is beyond me. Londoners: please, wear a face covering.” To which a user Gadgetman (@Jaydeeman2009) replied, “Yes this should have happened months ago..and why not immediately.

However there needs to be some proper deterrent and enforcing. In London I would say 50% aren't fully complying on transport and enforcement is non existent. Shambles!!!”

Tanya Kapoor (name changed on request) lives in Central London, and has been working from home during the entire pandemic so far. She has a one year old daughter who hasn’t stepped out in months because children less than three years old cannot wear masks and she doesn't want to risk stepping out at the cost of being vulnerable to the virus.

The couple has mutually decided to minimise use of public transport unless it’s essential or urgent. She has been ordering everything online and taking a cab to travel if at all they need to. “I’m really happy how London has considerably changed its online delivery system.

From grocery to clothes, I’m receiving my packages within a day. Earlier they used to arrive after a minimum of three to four days. We thankfully have the lux-

ury to afford a cab and not opt for the tube or buses. I’m not sure how people who’ve lost their jobs in the pandemic or have no other option, are managing in these tough times,” she said. She suffered from gestational diabetes so Tanya feels she’s more vulnerable to catch the virus. An online report says, “ The apprehension to take public transport hasn’t hit everyone the same way though. Musab Iqbal, a lecturer at the University of Westminster said, “I traveled a couple of weeks ago to Cambridge. I took the bus and train. You have to have a mask otherwise you cannot enter the bus. I felt ok traveling.” He said some people are flouting rules, but most of them are following it, wearing masks and maintaining appropriate distance. In a report published by City AM, Claire Mann, TfL’s director of bus operations, said: “We are trialling a range of temperature testing equipment for drivers and staff at a number of our bus garages to see if they can play a role in our commitment to protect our staff and customers during the pandemic.”Bus drivers in the UK have been among the most at risk categories of coronavirus victims, with 26.4 deaths per 100,000 drivers. Meanwhile, TfL said it is testing the use of UV light cleaning on Tube handrails, following reports that UV radiation damages the genetic material of the virus and its ability to reproduce.

However, current advice remains that people should avoid public transport unless their journey is essential, which could present difficulties for commuters who rely on London’s Tube and buses to get to work.

with his friends who belong to the political and non-political communities. He said he’s lucky to have his wife with him during the lockdown. He could spend some time in his house-garden and with his grandchildren who used to come to visit. “The only thing I missed is the cricket season.

I miss my bridge game because you can’t play bridge with social distancing. The only thing that just happened is that I normally don’t have a drink but I started having one, every dinner time. I need no help from the NHS but one thing I miss is my private physiotherapist because I’ve got a slight arthritic problem,” said Khale. Because he has been involved in issues of equality and justice with the labour party in the UK and in India, he raised some funds. “I help to raise some funds for migrant workers with one of my political mentors,” he said. What he learnt particularly from billionaires during the pandemic is that they haven’t been speaking “about who is the richest but how they can help marginalised people”. “We got to have some sort of compassion and understanding of humanity and people at large. It is very sad that the indians don’t have a national healthcare system and infrastructure,” he added.

MPs urge the government to keep free travel for children and young people in London Backed by 16 London MPs, Virendra Sharma MP’s cross-party campaign was launched with a letter to the Transport Secretary.

The campaign calls on the Government to maintain free travel for children and young people in the capital.

In the Ealing Southall MP’s letter, he wrote “We are deeply concerned by the Government’s decision to suspend free travel for children and young people in London. Given the deleterious effects of the pandemic on the finances of Transport for London and London Borough Councils, the central government must continue to provide free travel for children and guarantee their access to education. At a time when the effects of the coronavirus public health crisis are still being felt disproportionately by London’s children and young people, we believe that the Government should maintain free travel for London’s under 18’s, and urge you to reconsider your plans”. The letter mentioned that London has the highest rate of child poverty in any region in the UK, with 43% of children in inner London and 34% in outer London living in relative poverty. Fearing that children and young people might become a ‘lost generation;m Children's Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield had recently warned everyone regarding the same.Virendra Sharma MP said: “Young people have seen their apprenticeships cancelled and education curtailed, and we believe that they should not be subjected to any further harm. Without free travel, many will feel pressurised into travelling less and potentially missing out on school, college, work and training; not to mention sports, leisure and social activities which are crucial to their development and sense of self-worth. The Government must step up to its responsibilities and maintain free travel for London’s children and young people, and ensure that they can continue their education and extracurricular activities”.

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P ODUCED IN ASSOC PR CIA ATI TIO

INSPIRING BUSINESSES HELPING COMMUNITIES The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a liigh ght on stories of inspiring businesses and indiivi viiduals - those tha att ha ave g go one beyo yond the normal call of duty to mak ke e a diff ffer erren ence. When the lockd kdown own w was as announced ann in March 20 020 20, man ny y businesses b had to down own their th shutters altog ogeth ether or change ge the th way ay they th operra ated.

We’ve ve seen s and hearrd d about abo a tremendous effort frro om businesses to help their employ oyees ees, customers, and th wider community y,, with wi monetary dona ati tions, essential and PPE PE supplies.

On 4 Jully y business b es reo reopened to new guiid delines issued by the UK Governm vernment. They arre e now now operra ating under a ‘new normal’ and doing so saffel ely and efficien ientl tly ly y.

Rupanjana Dutta

Supportin ng g business b comm muni unity by piivoting into products applica abl ble to the situa ati tion Jigna Var Varu is the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Business Partner and shareholder of the global freshness ingredient brand Micro-Fresh® International, based in Leicester. They haave ve ten international offices across eight countries and are looking to open offices in Japan, Australia and Indonesia by the end of the year. Byron Dixon Dix OBE is the Founder and CEO of Micro-Fr Fresh® International.

Born in London, Jigna attended University of Roehampton in Middlesex and studied Biomedical Science. She joined MicroFresh® in 2013 as part-time Client Services Assistant and quickly established her position within the company.

Jigna now overlooks sales, marketing, research, development and finance at an international level.

Originally developed in 2006 as an anti-mould agent, Micro-Fr Fresh® is an awar awardwinning technology designed to give long lasting freshness to homeware, footwear footwear and

a variety of other products and is h hypoall ypoallergenic. It now featur features in products off ffer ered by over fifty retailers including John Lewis, M&S and Debenhams, as well as supermarkets such as T Tesco esco and Sainsbury’s.

During the lockdown, when businesses could not continue as usual, so MicroFresh® decided to support the business community by pivoting into products applicable pp to the situation.

Within 24 hours they had form formulated their version of hand sanitising spraayy for hands and surfaces lik ke door handles. These proved popular as MicroFresh® is a trusted brand in hygiene. All the operations were in-house, and they kept the team on full salary throughout the pandemic.

They also had to hire more people to cope with the work pressure. They are currently looking to recruit personnel in their sales and marketing team.

Jigna told us, “When the pandemic hit, we did not furlough anyone. We paid full salaries and many

people worked from home We were meant to assess the situation at the end of three months. As we havve got busier than beffore or we havve carried on payying existing staff and are recruiting more people.

“Luckily, we have enough space to practice social distancing measures. We work in diff ffer erent rooms and stores which have protective barriers. We are complying with all the UK Government rules, and regional sta were working from home Fortunately, we havve very ggood relationship p with other partners in the area. As a community we supported each other.”

They donated the sanitisers to hospitals, care homes and many charities around the local area.

Micro-Fresh® was acutely aw ware of the needs of the frontline staff who were fighting for for their own saffety ety and they did not want them to be in a compromising position. Jigna added, “We made a donation of 15% free sanitisers on each order directly to the NHS.” With the motto of further helping the community they progressed to making their own facemasks. “Micro-

Sanitaze, a portable fogging machine, that kills coronavirus

When the th h pandemic hit,,w we did not furrllough ugh an nyo yone. We We p paid full salaries and man ny people worked ked from fr home. We We w wer ere meant to assess the situa ati tion a att the end of three months nths. As we ha ave go got busier than before, we we ha ave carried c on payin ayin ng exisstin tin ng staff and are recruitin ng g more m people.

Fresh® as a brand is so trusted among retailers, that we were constantlyy receiving r enquiries about personal protective products,” ucts,” she said. “Since we wer were in the textile markeet already, we started manufacturing masks. Our m masks are double laayyered, havve N95 filtering in them and they are treated with h MicroMi Fresh® - so they have v many levels of protectiion. They are durable, reusable and can last up to 100 00 washes, so with a weekly wash it can last for for up to two years! We are all about susstainability and innovation.”

Due to growing ng demand demand, Micro-Fresh® also developed devel

portab Sanitaze, a portable fogging macchine, to deposit a micron-thin layyer of Miccro-Fr Fresh® over all surfaces, off ffering an ntibacterial protection in n between cleaning.

“Initially Micro-Fresh®® was only anti-fungal anti fungal. But B when testing was later done, we ffound ound it to be antian bacterial as well,” said Jigna. “It can an protect pr against pathogens such as MRSA A, E-coli, lmonella and Listeria. teria. N Now at we haave ve tested ed against ronavvirus and viruses iruses this ves a new dimensi sion to the Micro-Fresh® brand. d.

“A As retailers and a offices return to work thee challenge now is to enssure that workplaces are ass hygienic as possible. We w were asked about the possibility ibility of havving Micro-Fressh® on as many surfaces ass feasib feasible.

So, we develo oped the Micro-Fresh® Sanitaze, nitaze, a portable fogging fogging machine to deposit a miicron-thin layyer of Micro-Frresh® over all surfaces, thus off ffering ffering antibacterial protection in between cleaning. The Micro-Fresh® solution in the form of ffog og kills any an virus or bacteria that is in the air, and the Micro-Fresh® film prevents anything from being transfferr erred from

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AsianV Vo oiceNewss

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AsianV Vo oiceNewsweekly

www w.asian-voi voice.com

AsianV Vo oiceNews

UK

AsianV Vo oiceNewsweekly

surfaaces to hands and vice versa. a.

“Restaurants, “R t r nt gyms, m salon ns and several other businesses nesses haave ve shown interrest. Within two weeks of speaking peaking to local l people about ut Sanitaze, we had to set up a separate entity en within the business.”

T They havve also restructur ructured their office, in acccordance with the UK Governmen ernment guidelines, as emp employees returned to work. k. An en enthusiastic Jigna addeed, “We haave ve kept our team m involved at every step v enquired about and have theirr needs at every ever stage.

We ha h vve made sure that they havvee sanitisers and masks.

We hav h ve also installed plastic screeens around the desks, wherre these were requested.

For those w who wish to work from m office, we have v off ffer ered everyything that will give them m peace of mind. “ “On the production side, we are a restricting access to auth horised personnel and havvee discontinued factory visitss which w are popular with our cli clients.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a liigh ght on stories of inspiring businesses and indiivi viiduals - those tha att ha ave g go one beyo yond the normal call of duty to mak ke e a diff ffer erren ence. When the lockd kdown own w was as announced ann in March 20 020 20, man ny y businesses b had to down own their th shutters altog ogeth ether or change ge the th way ay they th operra ated.

We’ve ve seen s and hearrd d about abo a tremendous effort frro om businesses to help their employ oyees ees, customers, and th wider community y,, with wi monetary dona ati tions, essential and PPE PE supplies.

On 4 Jully y business b es reo reopened to new guiid delines issued by the UK Governm vernment. They arre e now now operra ating under a ‘new normal’ and doing so saffel ely and efficien ientl tly ly y.

Rupanjana Dutta

Supportin ng g business b comm muni unity by piivoting into products applica abl ble to the situa ati tion a variety of other products and is h hypoall ypoallergenic. It now featur features in products off ffer ered by over fifty retailers including John Lewis, M&S and Debenhams, as well as supermarkets such as T Tesco esco and Sainsbury’s.

During the lockdown, when businesses could not continue as usual, so MicroFresh® decided to support the business community by pivoting into products applicable pp to the situation.

Within 24 hours they had form formulated their version of hand sanitising spraayy for hands and surfaces lik ke door handles. These proved popular as MicroFresh® is a trusted brand in hygiene. All the operations were in-house, and they kept the team on full salary throughout the pandemic.

They also had to hire more people to cope with the work pressure. They are currently looking to recruit personnel in their sales and marketing team.

Jigna told us, “When the pandemic hit, we did not furlough anyone. We paid full salaries and many

people worked from home We were meant to assess the situation at the end of three months. As we havve got busier than beffore or we havve carried on payying existing staff and are recruiting more people.

“Luckily, we have enough space to practice social distancing measures. We work in diff ffer erent rooms and stores which have protective barriers. We are complying with all the UK Government rules, and regional sta were working from home Fortunately, we havve very ggood relationship p with other partners in the area. As a community we supported each other.”

They donated the sanitisers to hospitals, care homes and many charities around the local area.

Micro-Fresh® was acutely aw ware of the needs of the frontline staff who were fighting for for their own saffety ety and they did not want them to be in a compromising position. Jigna added, “We made a donation of 15% free sanitisers on each order directly to the NHS.” With the motto of further helping the community they progressed to making their own facemasks. “Micro-

Bu uildin ng a stru ructure of care

Sanitaze, a portable fogging machine, that kills coronavirus

When the th h pandemic hit,,w we did not furrllough ugh an nyo yone. We We p paid full salaries and man ny people worked ked from fr home. We We w wer ere meant to assess the situa ati tion a att the end of three months nths. As we ha ave go got busier than before, we we ha ave carried c on payin ayin ng exisstin tin ng staff and are recruitin ng g more m people.

Fresh® as a brand is so trusted among retailers, that we were constantlyy receiving r enquiries about personal protective products,” ucts,” she said. “Since we wer were in the textile markeet already, we started manufacturing masks. Our m masks are double laayyered, havve N95 filtering in them and they are treated with h MicroMi Fresh® - so they have v many levels of protectiion. They are durable, reusable and can last up to 100 00 washes, so with a weekly wash it can last for for up to two years! We are all about susstainability and innovation.”

Due to growing ng demand demand, Micro-Fresh® also developed devel

portab Sanitaze, a portable fogging macchine, to deposit a micron-thin layyer of Miccro-Fr Fresh® over all surfaces, off ffering an ntibacterial protection in n between cleaning.

“Initially Micro-Fresh®® was only anti-fungal anti fungal. But B when testing was later done, we ffound ound it to be antian bacterial as well,” said Jigna. “It can an protect pr against pathogens such as MRSA A, E-coli, lmonella and Listeria. teria. N Now at we haave ve tested ed against ronavvirus and viruses iruses this ves a new dimensi sion to the Micro-Fresh® brand. d.

“A As retailers and a offices return to work thee challenge now is to enssure that workplaces are ass hygienic as possible. We w were asked about the possibility ibility of havving Micro-Fressh® on as many surfaces ass feasib feasible.

So, we develo oped the Micro-Fresh® Sanitaze, nitaze, a portable fogging fogging machine to deposit a miicron-thin layyer of Micro-Frresh® over all surfaces, thus off ffering ffering antibacterial protection in between cleaning. The Micro-Fresh® solution in the form of ffog og kills any an virus or bacteria that is in the air, and the Micro-Fresh® film prevents anything from being transfferr erred from

Nitin n Palan Palan MBE was born in Uganda U and his family when he emigrated grated to the UK w was 16 years y old. He qualified as a Chartered Charter Accountant and built a traavel vel business, Gold den T Tours, ours, with wiffee Kam mu, which has a turnover of £57 57 million. milli His company Gold den Tours Tours employs emp more than n 250 staff in the UK and 80 in n India.

The company’s blue T hop-on -on hop-off buses ar are a common site ar around London don’s tourist hotspots.

He is also an inter-faith leader er ffor or the BAPS Swam minaraayan temple temp and the Chairman of Go Golden Tour ours rs F Foundation. It is this trilogy of education, heritage and in inter-faith relations that inspiired Nitin to establish the Palan Foundation in 2013, which has given away way over £4 million to good causes.

Nitin believes that tourism can play a very important role in bringing better understanding between people. He stepped in to help the community when the lockdown ffor orced his offices to shut. For Nitin the welfare of his staff was paramount, and he used the UK Government’s furlough scheme to keep all his employees on the books.

Speaking to Asian V Voi oice, he said, “My duty towards the community includes my responsibility towards my

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18 - 24 July 2020

P ODUCED IN ASSOC PR CIA ATI TION WI W TH UK GOVERNMEN NT

INSPIRING BUSINESSES HELPING COMMUNITIES

Jigna Var Varu is the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Business Partner and shareholder of the global freshness ingredient brand Micro-Fresh® International, based in Leicester. They haave ve ten international offices across eight countries and are looking to open offices in Japan, Australia and Indonesia by the end of the year. Byron Dixon Dix OBE is the Founder and CEO of Micro-Fr Fresh® International.

Born in London, Jigna attended University of Roehampton in Middlesex and studied Biomedical Science. She joined MicroFresh® in 2013 as part-time Client Services Assistant and quickly established her position within the company.

Jigna now overlooks sales, marketing, research, development and finance at an international level.

Originally developed in 2006 as an anti-mould agent, Micro-Fr Fresh® is an awar awardwinning technology designed to give long lasting freshness to homeware, footwear footwear and

w w.asian-voi www voice.c .com

Beffore any tourist can board the bus, their temperature is check ked using a non non-contact infrared thermometer.

“Inside the bus we are required by Government guidelines to keep a quarter of the seats empty,” said Nitin. “Everybody sits on the upper deck and are requested to clean their hands beffor ore they get in.

They are provided with free masks and gloves to wear.”

“In In our St James Park office, in keeping with the guidelines, we are asking only those staff to come in, who can’t work from home.

95% of our staff are happy to work from home. We haave ve a webinar every Monday to keep in touch with all the staff. For the first time in three months, on Friday 26 June, we had a management meetingg in our office which staff attended in person.

These meetings now happen fortnigh ortnightly. But we ensure that the management staff only come in by cars and we pay ffor or their journey and parking.” staff. So, we created a food food bank within the office ffor or all our staff, where they could come in and eat. We also created a system of advice and d consultation l i if an any off our staff were stressed or had financial problems. They could call our staff in HR who would support them through their emotional or financial difficulties. We built a system of care. We held fortnigh fortnightly webinars.

We also invited our drivers to come along every Thursdaayy and understand what the future looked lik ke. As the UK Government allowed people to work part-time, we introduced them to jobs avvailable outside of Golden Tours.”

Besides making financial contributions to temples

My d duty uty towards the community includes des m my y r responsibility towar wards m my y staff ff.. So S , we we c created a food bank within th he office for all o staff our ff,, w wh here th hey could come and eat at food. f We also creat cr ated a structure off advi ad dvice i and d c consultation if a of our staff any were er stressed o had financial or prob blems.

and other organisations who distributed food food and essentials to vulnerable people, Nitin also helped hospital workers with d transport. “We “W PPE and PPEs partnered with Warner Bros and provided three double-decker buses to take nurses and doctors to three hospitals including the Watffor ord General Hospital,” he said. “The buses did rounds and transfferr erred frontline workers between these hospitals which were sharing resources. When the buses were on duty, duty as the frontline workers boarded them, the drivers got off the bus, to maintain social distance. Nobody was allowed to sit on the lower deck, so that our drivers remained saffe. e. “We also gaave ve

Nitinn P Palan MBE and wife Kamu Palan, Founders of Golden Tour Tours

out arround 50,000 plastic protective ctive gowns to nurses n and doctors octors in Southampton General al Hospital.”

H No ormally in July, Golden Tours would run 60 buses per day in London. But in the last three months, they had to return £6mn to customers who had made advance bookings. On 4 July, as they resumed service, there was only one bus on the road. “We needed to start with something. It is alwayys important ffor or people peop to know that you exist. It encourages people to come out. Iff there h is a demand, demand in August, we can haave ve 10 buses and in September we maayy even havve up to 20 buses!”

However, keeping keeping the passengers’ saffety ety in mind mind, the company started using fumigation equipment, cleaning the buses regularly.

In normal times, the tourism industry in the UK is reportedly worth £127bn per year, according to VisitBritain. It supports 200,000 , small and medium m businesses (SMEs), employing ying 3.1 million people, which is around 8% off the UK workffor orce, peaking ng at 35% in some ar areas.

Duringg the llockdown, 80% of those ose employees emp were furloughed ghed, which is the highestt proportion pr in any UK industr dustry sector.

Bu ut Nitin is optimistic for the th he futur future. He added with a dash of hope, ““It will take some ome time. But B I am positive, ve, that we will come around d, sooner or later.”

To rread about more inspiring GREA G AT stories stori visit https:// www.ggreatbritaincampaign.com/ inspirations

w w.asian-voi www voice.c .com

AsianV Vo oiceNews

UK

AsianV Vo oiceNewsweekly

18 - 24 July 2020

ON WI W TH UK GOVERNMEN NT surfaaces to hands and vice versaa.

“Restaurants, “R t r nt gyms, m salon ns and several other busin nesses haave ve shown interrest. Within two weeks of sp peaking to local people abou ut Sanitaze, we had to set up a separate entity within b the business.”

T They havve also restrructured their office, in acccordance with the UK Goveernment guidelines, as employees e returned to work k. An enthusiastic Jigna addeed, “We havve kept our team m involved at every step and havve enquired about theirr needs at every stage.

We ha h vve made sure that they havvee sanitisers and masks.

We hav h ve also installed plastic screeens around the desks, wherre these were requested.

For those t who wish to work from m office, we haave ve off ffer ered everyything that will give them m peace of mind. “ “On the production side, we are a restricting access to auth horised personnel and havvee discontinued factory visitss which are popular with our cclients.”

Bu uildin ng a strructure of care Nitin n Palan Palan MBE was born in Uganda U and his family emiggrated to the UK when he was 16 years old. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant and built a travvel business, Gold den T Tours, ours, with wiffee Kam mu, which has a turnover of £557 million. His company Gold den T Tours ours employs emp more than n 250 staff in the UK and 80 in n India.

The company’s blue T hop--on hop-off buses are a ccommon site around Lond don’s tourist hotspots.

He is also an inter-faith leadeer ffor or the BAPS Swam minarayyan temple and the Chairman of Golden Tour ours rs Foundation.

F It is this trilogy of education, heritage and inter-faith relations that inspiired Nitin to establish the Palan Foundation in 2013, which has given away away over £4 million to good causes.

Nitin believes that tourism can plaayy a very ver important role in bringing better understanding between people. He stepped in to help the community when the lockdown ffor orced his offices to shut. For Nitin the welfare of his staff was paramount, and he used the UK Government’s furlough scheme to keep all his employees on the books.

Speaking to Asian Voi Voice, he said, “My duty towards the community includes my responsibility towards my

17

Beffore any tourist can board the bus, their temperature is check ked using a non non-contact infrared thermometer.

“Inside the bus we are required by Government guidelines to keep a quarter of the seats empty,” said Nitin. “Everybody sits on the upper deck and are requested to clean their hands beffor ore they get in.

They are provided with free masks and gloves to wear.”

“In In our St James Park office, in keeping with the guidelines, we are asking only those staff to come in, who can’t work from home.

95% of our staff are happy to work from home. We haave ve a webinar every Monday to keep in touch with all the staff. For the first time in three months, on Friday 26 June, we had a management meetingg in our office which staff attended in person.

These meetings now happen fortnigh ortnightly. But we ensure that the management staff only come in by cars and we pay for for their journey and parking.” staff. So, we created a food food bank within the office for for all our staff, where they could come in and eat. We also created a system of advice and d consultation l i if any off our staff were stressed or had financial problems. They could call our staff in HR who would support them through their emotional or financial difficulties. We built a system of care. We held fortnigh fortnightly webinars.

We also invited our drivers to come along every Thursdaayy and understand what the future looked lik ke. e. As the UK Government allowed people to work part-time, we introduced them to jobs avvailable outside of Golden Tours.”

Besides making financial contributions to temples

My d duty uty towar wards the community includes des m my y r responsibility towar wards my my staff ff.. S So, we we c created a food bank within th he office for all o staff our ff,, w wh here th hey could come me and eat at food. f We also creat cr ated a structure off advi dvice i and d c consultation if a of our staff any were stressed we o had financial or prob blems.

and other organisations who distributed food food and essentials to vulnerable people, Nitin also helped hospital workers with d transport. “We “W PPE and PPEs partnered with Warner Bros and provided three double-decker buses to take nurses and doctors to three hospitals including the Watffor ord General Hospital,” he said. “The buses did rounds and transfferr erred frontline workers between these hospitals which were sharing resources. When the buses were on duty, duty as the frontline workers boarded them, the drivers got off the bus, to maintain social distance. Nobody was allowed to sit on the lower deck, so that our drivers remained saffe. e. “We also gave

Nitin Palan MBE and wife Kamu Palan, Founders of Golden Tours

out arround 50,000 plastic protecctive gowns to nurses and do octors in Southampton General ral H Hospital.”

No ormally in July, Golden Tours would run 60 buses per day in London. But in the last three months, they had to return £6mn to customers who had made advance bookings. On 4 July, as they resumed service, there was only one bus on the road. “We needed to start with something. It is alwayys important for for people peop to know that you exist. It encourages people to come out. Iff ther there is a d demand, d in August, we can haave ve 10 buses and in September we maayy even haave ve up to 20 buses!”

However, k keeping eeping the passengers’ saffety ety in mind mind, the company started using fumigation equipment, cleaning the buses regularly.

In normal times, the tourism industry in the UK is reportedly worth £127bn per year, according to VisitBritain. It supports 200,000 , small and medium m businesses (SMEs), employying 3.1 million people, which is around 8% off the UK workffor orce, peakin ng at 35% in some areas.

Duringg the lockdown, l 80% of those ose emp employees were furloughed ghed, which is the highestt proportion pr in any UK industr dustry sector.

But Nitin is optimistic for the he futur future. He added with a dash of hope, “It “ will take some ome time. B But I am positive, ve, that we will come around d, sooner or later.”

To rread about more inspiring GREA G AT stories stori visit https:// www.ggreatbritaincampaign.com/ inspirations

18 FINANCE - UK

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

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18 - 24 July 2020

Dear Financial Voice Reader, Alpesh Patel Will the economy rebound? How quickly? Property? Remortgage? Buy stocks? UK ones? US? Pension is shot to pieces. Now what? Good time to save for children? How? In what? My business needs funding – where should I look?

These were just some of the questions I received this week. I will do a live webinar to answer some of them: www.alpeshpatel.com/greattrades and do post daily on my Telegram channel information from all my sources as soon as I get it https://t.me/pipspredator But here are some quick answers.

A lot money is being pumped into the economy. It lags the stock market. I prefer US stocks – they will continue upwards.

Yes look into remortgaging. If you can lock in low rates for longer. No there will not be any significant interest rate rises in the next 10 years. Yes, I wish I had kept variable rate too.

Pensions are shot because your fund manager has dumped it all in BP, Shell and Tobacco in a fund marked ‘UK Growth’. Watch www.alpeshpatel.com/latest You should learn whats in your pension. Look into a SIPP with brokers like Barclays or Halifax. Avoid funds. Research buying Microsoft.

You need education to build confidence. This is free: www.investing-champions.com I wrote on my Linkedin that one of the most patriotic things a British person can do is own part of a American company. In the last 5 years some of the big 5 – Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet have risen 700% whilst the UK FTSE 100 is flat. Little wonder our American cousins get rich and we don’t as easily – or so it always seems.

The last 5 years are no aberration. Check any 5 years since World War 2 and compare UK and UK indices ie FTSE 100 vs Dow. I know I keep banging on about it, but I want my community’s money to work for them, because I know how hard you work for your money.

Education brings confidence. I hate speculating and gambling. So if I am going to buy a stock or anything, I want to be the cleverest person in the room.

Similarly, do not buy something because a journalist says so. I hold my stocks for 12 months and review. If they fall 25% I exit. Simple. You can complicate, but whenever I show people anything more than that, they start over trading and do not be patient.

Trading is different. It’s what a hedge fund does. You should learn to manage you own money, not think ‘let me give it to someone to manage for me’. No one cares as much as you do about your money.

UK bans China's Huawei from its 5G network The United Kingdom has bowed to US pressure and approved the phased removal of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from its 5G network despite warnings of retaliation from Beijing. Tuesday's policy reversal handed a significant victory to US President Donald Trump's administration in its geopolitical and trade battle with China.

But it threatens to further damage the UK's relations with the Asian power and carries a big cost for UK mobile providers that have relied on Huawei equipment for nearly 20 years. Oliver Dowden, the UK's digital secretary, announced the move in Parliament on Tuesday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson chaired meetings with his Cabinet and the National Security Council.

"From the end of this year, telecoms providers must not buy any 5G equipment from Huawei," he told MPs. The new guidelines also require all existing Huawei gear to be stripped out by the end of 2026.

Huawei had been reportedly pushing for the full ban to be delayed till after the UK's next general election, scheduled to take place in 2024, that could potentially bring a new government to power with a more sympathetic approach.

Huawei's reaction "This disappointing decision is bad news for anyone in the UK with a mobile phone. It threatens to move Britain into the digital slow lane, push up bills and deepen the digital divide. Instead of 'levelling up' the government is levelling down and we urge them to reconsider," Huawei said after the announcement of the ban.

"Regrettably our future in the UK has become politicised, this is about US trade policy and not security." Johnson angered Trump and upset some members of his own Conservative party by allowing the Chinese 5G leader to help roll out the UK's speedy new data network in January.

Chancellor Sunak offers furlough bonus for employers Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a 'mini-budget' that includes a bonus scheme for employers who bring furloughed staff or those sent on leave back to work as part of a major drive to save jobs hit by the shutdown induced by the coronavirus pandemic.

As part of his summer economic update in parliament, dubbed a miniBudget, the Indian-origin finance minister also unveiled a new 2 billion pound scheme to create “hundreds of thousands” of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across the UK, with the overall package of measures estimated at around 30 billion pounds.

“Our plan has a clear goal: to protect, support and create jobs. It will give businesses the confidence to retain and hire; to create

Rishi Sunak

jobs in every part of our country; to give young people a better start; to give people everywhere the opportunity of a fresh start,” said Sunak. As the UK enters what it categorises as the second phase in its Covid-19 recovery with the lockdown measures being eased up, Sunak’s so-called “plan for jobs” is designed to support jobs by focussing on skills; create jobs with investment in “shovel-ready” projects; and protect jobs through a VAT cut for the hospitality

sector.The rate on most tourism and hospitalityrelated activities will be cut from 20 per cent to 5 per cent, which is expected to save households around 160 pounds per year on average.

For the sector, he has also unveiled a “landmark” Eat Out to Help Out discount scheme to encourage diners to go back into restaurants and hotels. It will provide a 50 per cent reduction for sitdown meals in cafes, restaurants and pubs across the UK from Monday to Wednesday every week throughout August 2020. Together with the VAT cut and this scheme, he hopes to support over 2.4 million staff at over 150,000 businesses, helping them recover and reopen after the Covid-19 lockdown.

“This will give these businesses the confidence to maintain their staff, as more people get through the door

and business activity kickstarts again,” he said.

Warning against closure of furlough scheme The employment experts and business chiefs warned that the closure of furlough scheme and offering £1,000 bonuses to firms to keep their staff on will not help to prevent the rising unemployment among the people. The furlough scheme was introduced to preventing mass unemployment as the coronavirus struck, 9.4m jobs have been furloughed by 1.1m businesses since March, costing the exchequer £27.4bn so far. The scheme, which is due to end by the the end of October, pays 80% of workers’ wages up to £2,500 per month. Sunak said if the firms kept all of its furloughed staff and applied for the bonus, it would cost the Treasury £9.4bn.

UK economy slowly returns to growth British economy staged a modest recovery from the lockdown induced slump from April and according to the Office for National Statistics the (GDP) grew by 1.8% in May. The GDP crashed by a fifth during the first full month of lockdown. After the biggest collapse in activity since records began, economists had expected some recovery in activity in May. However, the bounce back was weaker than a 5.5% growth rate forecast by City economists.

With thousands of companies forced to close temporarily to limit the spread of the virus, Britain’s

dominant services sector – which makes up about 80% of the economy – grew by just 0.9% on the month, dragged down by falling levels of activity in arts, entertainment and recreation, as well as at estate agents and IT firms.

Manufacturing and construction grew by more than 8% from the level of economic output in April, as activity at factories and on building sites began to recover with physical distancing measures in place.

Despite the gradual return to growth, the level of GDP did not recover from record declines in activity in March and April as the global health emergency

led to widespread shutdowns in activity, with GDP about 24.5% lower compared with February.

The ONS said the economy shrank by 19% over the three month period to the end of May, as government restrictions on movement dramatically reduced economic activity.

Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the ONS, said: “Manufacturing and house building showed signs of recovery as some businesses saw staff return to work. Despite this, the economy was still a quarter

smaller in May than in February, before the full effects of the pandemic struck. “In the important services sector, we saw some pickup in retail, which saw record online sales.

However, with lockdown restrictions remaining in place, many other services remained in the doldrums, with a number of areas seeing further declines.”

Retail sales in June show Businessmen in UK urged to prepare signs of recovery The easing of the lockdown measures and the warmer weather have helped shoppers to return to the high street and as a result the retail sales recover in June. Total sales increased 3.4% on the same month last year as non-essential high street shops started to reopen after almost three months of enforced closure.

Despite signs of a gradual recovery taking hold, the latest snapshot from the British Retail Consortium and the accountancy firm KPMG, also revealed significant pressure still remains for high street firms, as many consumers continue to stay away from the shops while health risks remain from Covid-19.

Over the latest three months sales, excluding food, plunged by 47%. Figures from Barclaycard – Britain’s biggest credit card provider – showed spending on non-essential items was still down by 22% in June compared with a year ago. However, this was a smaller decline than in May, when sales plunged by 37%, as the gradual reopening of shops benefited the retail sector. The government has urged people to get out

and spend money to help reboot Britain’s virus-hit economy, relaxing restrictions and launching a raft of tax cuts and spending measures in last week’s summer economic update to encourage consumers to return to pubs, cafes and restaurants. Following an unprecedented decline in sales in April during the first full-month of lockdown, several major retailers are struggling to stay afloat. Household names including John Lewis and Boots have announced a string of store closures and thousands of redundancies between them, as Covid-19 threatens to unleash the highest level of unemployment in Britain since the 1980s.

Fears are growing that a VAT cut for hospitality firms, discounts for eating out and a £1,000 bonus for employers who retain furloughed staff – measures announced by the chancellor last week – could fail to prevent firms from cutting more jobs. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: “Though a month of growth is welcome news, retail is not out of the woods yet.

for Brexit crunch

Britain has left the European Union three and a half years back after a referendum, but a transition period has delayed any major change in the relationship with earlier trading partner. But now the country has urged businessmen and individuals to prepare for the Dec. 31 end of the Brexit transition period with an information campaign titled: “The UK’s new start: let’s get going.” The two sides have been working to agree a trade deal ahead of that period expiring at the end of the year.

Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said that progress was being made in talks but there were still divisions. “At the end of this year we are leaving the single market and Customs Union regardless of the type of agreement we reach with the EU,” he said.

“This will bring changes and significant opportunities for which we all need to prepare.”

The government will launch an information campaign regarding the exit with ads in TV, radio, billboards and online. A survey from lobby group the Institute of Directors (IoD) said only a quarter of companies were fully ready for the end of the transition period.

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19

20

INDIA GLOBAL WEEK 2020

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PM Modi: “India remains one of the most open economies in the world” Shefali Saxena Indian PM Narendra Modi, HRH Prince of Wales, political and industrial experts come together for a three day virtual conference at India Global Week 2020.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a global audience from 52 countries kickstarting the India Global Week 2020 hosted by India Inc. Group, a UK-headquartered media house.

The conference named 'Be The Revival: India And A Better New World' is being held virtually for the first time this year, because of the ongoing global pandemic.

This is the 7th year for the event which was formerly called UKIndia Week, held every year in the UK. The forum is also marking the 100th birth anniversary of Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. In his inaugural address at the conclave, that started from today and will run till Saturday 11 July 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that the government is equally focused about the health of the economy and health of people.

Highlighting about ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, he said that it does not mean India is closed to the world, but instead, means a ‘self-sustaining’ and 'self-generating' India helping the world.

“Aatmnanirbhar Bharat merges domestic productions and consumption with global supply chain,” he said. “‘Aatmnanirbhar Bharat’ is not being self-contained or closed to the world. It is about self-sustaining and self-generating. We will peruse policies, that promotes efficiency, equity and resilience.”

Calling India’s economy one of the most open economies and inviting global companies to establish presence in India saying India provides opportunities like no other country in the world.

"India remains one of the most open economies in the world. We are laying a red carpet for all global companies to come and establish their presence in India. Very few countries will offer the kind of opportunities India does today," he said. Saluting India’s talents,

important role in developing and scaling production of vaccines when it is discovered.” The speakers in this 3 conference day include Dr S Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, Government of Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India delivering his inaugu- India, Shri Ravi ral address at the India Global Week 2020 Shankar Prasad, Modi spoke about India’s tech proMinister for Communications, fessionals, “India is a powerhouse Electronics, IT, Law and Justice, of talent, eager to contribute and Government of India, Piyush ever ready to learn.”He added, Goyal, Minister of Railways and “Indians are natural reformers, Minister of Commerce & industry, India has overcome every chalGovernment of India, Dr lenge, social or economic.” “On Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union the one hand India is fighting a Minister of Skill Development and battle against the global pandemic, Entrepreneurship, Government of with an increasing focus on peoIndia, Dr Shashi Tharoor, Dominic ple’s health, we are equally Raab, UK’s Secretary of State for focussed on the health of the Foreign Affairs, UK’s Home economy.”He added, “Indians Secretary Priti Patel, UK’s Health have the spirit to achieve what is Secretary Matt Hancock. believed to be impossible, no wonAshu Khullar, CEO, Citi India der in India we are already seeing and Regional Head for South Asia, green shoots of economic recovJitesh Gadhia, Member, House of ery. In this time of pandemic, we Lords and Sanjeev Sanyal, have provided relief to our citizens Principal Economic Adviser, and undertaken deep structural Government of India discussed reforms. We are making the econthe “payment shock after moratoomy more productive, investment rium”. During the session ‘Let’s friendly and competitive.”

Not Waste a Good Crisis: India’s Speaking about India’s different Economic Reform Imperative’, the industries, including Start-Ups and panel shared its perspectives on pharma, he recounted the steps India's current reform path, its taken by the government so far to response to the COVID-19 crisis revive Indian economy. There are and the path ahead. opportunities in India’s sunrise 100 Most Influential: Launch industries, and we are opening our of the UK-India Women in doors to global investors, he said.

Leadership Forum: The India “India awaits you all.” He added, Global Week 2020 launched the “The pandemic has shown that UK-India Women in Leadership Indian’s pharma industry is an Forum to bring these efforts asset not to just India but also to together. The forum is supposed the world. It has played a leading to serve as a unique platform to role in reducing the cost of raise awareness and help boost medicine in the world. Speaking opportunities for women’s about India's role in developing empowerment in both countries. and producing vaccines to eradiThe panelists included Janhavi cate coronavirus, he said, Dadarkar, CEO & Founder, “Vaccines made in India are Maiora, Baroness Usha Prashar, responsible for two-third of the Shalini Arora, CEO, Savannah vaccine needs for children in the Wisdom, Jyotsna Suri, word. Today also they are a part of Chairperson & Managing Director, the international effort of developThe Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, ment and Covid-19 vaccine. I am and Poonam Gupta, CEO, PG certain that India will have an Paper Ltd.

I am enormously proud of the British Asian Trust : HRH The Prince of Wales On day two of the India Global Week 2020, HRH The Prince of Wales urged for an integrated international focus on sustainability, he said, “I am enormously proud of the way that the British Asian Trust, which I set up thirteen years ago now, has taken major steps in this field, having already deployed the Quality Education India Development Impact Bond with great success. As we rebuild from the current crisis we have an unparalleled opportunity to put people & planet at the heart of global value creation & move to sustainable markets for long-term value, balancing natural, social & physical capital' India's philosophies and values have emphasized a sustainable way of life and a harmonious relationship between humanity and nature. Looking forward, new employment opportunities, entirely new industries & markets rooted in genuine sustainability are within our grasp. They are now embarking on another such bond, with the National Skills Development Corporation of India, to address the skills shortage in critical sectors for Covid-19 recovery development.” HRH Prince of Wales also said that he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the importance of "sustainable living". He

HRH, Prince of Wales

quoted the ancient yogic concept of 'Aparigraha', and said it's the time when the world learnt this ancient wisdom from India as it seeks revival amid the pandemic. He accepted that he’s always been encouraged by the Indian Diaspora to build a sustainable future. "In many of my discussions with the Indian Diaspora community in the United Kingdom, I always felt so encouraged by their ambition to build a sustainable future," he said. "One of the most innovative ways, in which the diaspora is already involved - and a way that re-thinks the deployment of capital - is through the use of social finance,” he added.

“Global governance may be the real vaccine the international community needs”: Shashi Tharoor “When the pandemic is over, the globe has to learn about lessons what happened, and how to prevent what happened from happening again, and how international systems and institutions can possibly strengthen and radically reform in order to forestall its recurrence. Otherwise, we’ll again be lamenting global governance and be facing one more crisis if not next year but within a few years certainly,” Tharoor said. He also stated that India should help reboot the ethic and method of global cooperation.

That it should really offer to the world a sort of new ethic for global governance which may be the real vaccine the international community needs to navigate the new decade. Tharoor, who has spent three decades at the United Nations, said: “Member states had designed the institutions to help and never to challenge. We have to face a reality that says listen member states still call the shots, he who pays the piper, will call the tune.” Tharoor believes that when Covid-19 gets over, the 75th anniversary of the UN that falls this year, is a great opportunity to reinvent the way the entire UN works. “We need 21st century world leaders to step up.

The rapid and global spread of Covid-19 pandemic is a devastating reminder of the consequences of global governance.” He also spoke about the schengen agreements that essentially collapsed when borders were sealed. Tharoor feels that the Europeans have to ask themselves some tough questions. He fears that if those negative trends are the ones that continue to dominate, then the UN may not live to see its centenary.

Matt Hancock, UK Health Secretary: “India’s a m b i t i o u s Ayushman Bharat programme has a number of areas where NHS expertise can be highly beneficial, both countries are in need of digital solutions to overburdened systems.”

UK International Trade Secretary, Liz Truss said: “At JETCO 2020, we will be looking at removing barriers to trade between the UK & India. What excites us about India is that we want to diversify our trade and we want to work with countries that share our values.”

Priti Patel, Secretary of State for Home Department, UK Government said, “We’ve all been going through a terrible period with covid and now with the post Covid world in particular. Our condolences to both our countries for devastating loss of lives.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath: "I appeal to NRIs to do their bit for building our economy and to act as brand ambassadors for India.My govt is committed to

make UP the most attractive business destination in India and a $1 trillion economy in our journey towards AatmaNirbharBharat.”

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, “As leaders in the international C O V I D - 1 9 response, the UK and India also co-authored the G20 Action Plan, providing an immediate package of USD 200 billion of global support to the most vulnerable countries around the world. A vaccine created by British scientists and manufactured in India, if successful in clinical trials, will reach one billion people across the developing world, thanks to Oxford University and India’s Serum Institute.”

Commerce & Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said, “We'll be the largest railways in the world to be 100% electrified with 120,000 track km across India. By 2030, we hope to be the world's first 100% green railway with net zero emission”.

Gaitri Kumar, High Commissioner of India to UK, said, "The 1.6mn Indian diaspora seems to be catalysing every sector in the UK.”

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UK Government’s Summer Statement – 8 July 2020 Kiran D Patel BA (Hons) FCA, Director, Albury Associates The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, last week announced a series of measures in response to the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the British economy.

His latest statement was perhaps the most difficult, given the circumstances in which it was set: • The government finances are in deep deficit.

• The UK economy contracted by 2.2% in the first quarter of 2020.

• The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), will start to be phased down in August. At that point, employers become responsible for the pension contriand National Insurance butions Contributions (NICs) currently met by the Treasury. The CJRS, which has already been extended twice, is set to finish at the end of October.

As of 5 July, the scheme covered 9.4 million furloughed jobs provided by 1.1 million employers and had received claims totalling £27.4 billion.

• Parts of the UK are each emerging from lockdown, this could lead to an increased infection rate and local flare ups and lock downs.

The challenge for the Chancellor was to start the transition from the emergency employment support that has so far been the focus of his strategy. He presented his statement as a ‘Plan for Jobs’, composed of three elements promoting jobs: 1.

Supporting 2.

Protecting 3.

Creating The Chancellor placed a price tag on his measures of up to £30 billion.

Payments for employers who hire new apprentices Employers in England will receive a new payment of £2,000 for each new apprentice they hire aged under 25, and a £1,500 payment for each new apprentice they hire aged 25 and over.

The scheme will run from 1 August 2020 to 31 January 2021. These payments will be made in addition to the existing £1,000 payment the Government already provides for new 16-18-year-old apprentices, and any of those aged under 25 with an Education, Health and Care Plan.

Other supporting jobs measures • £895 million to enhance work search support by doubling the number of work coaches in Jobcentre Plus before April 2021.

• An additional £150 million in the funding for the Flexible Support Fund in Great Britain, including increased capacity for the Rapid Response Service.

• £101 million for the 2020/21 academic year to give all 18-19-year olds in England the opportunity to study targeted high value Level 2 and 3 courses when there are not employment opportunities available to them.

• £95 million in 2020/21 to expand the scope of the Work and Health Programme in Great Britain to introduce additional voluntary support in the autumn for those on benefits who have been unemployed for more than three months.

• £40 million to fund private sector capacity to introduce a job finding support service in Great Britain in the autumn.

• £32 million new funding for the National Careers Service.

SUPPORTING JOBS The Chancellor announced a range of initiatives under the ‘Supporting Jobs’ heading, including: Job Retention Bonus CJRS, as it stands, will end in October as planned. To encourage employers to support those people who have been furloughed, a Job Retention Bonus will be introduced.

The Job Retention Bonus will provide a one-off payment of £1,000 to UK employers for every previously furloughed employee who remains continuously employed through to the end of January 2021. Employees must earn more than £520 a month on average between the end of the CJRS and the end of January 2021. Payments will be made from February 2021. Further details about the scheme to follow.

Kickstart Scheme The Kickstart Scheme aims to provide “hundreds of thousands of high-quality six-month work placements” for those aged 16-24, who are on Universal Credit and are considered to be at risk of long-term unemployment.

Government funding for each job will cover 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week plus the associated employer NICs and employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions (a maximum of about £6,500).

There is to be no cap on the cost of the scheme.

Traineeships Employers who provide work experience for 16-24-year-olds in work placements and training will receive a payment of £1,000 per trainee. Provision of traineeships and eligibility for them will be extended to those with Level 3 qualifications and below, to ensure that more young people have access to training.

PROTECTING JOBS

Eat Out to Help Out The ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme will be introduced to encourage people to return to eating out. Every diner will be entitled to a 50% discount of up to £10 a head on their meal, at any participating restaurant, café, pub or other eligible food service establishment. The discount can be used without limit throughout the UK on any eat-in meal (including on non-alcoholic drinks). It will be valid Monday to Wednesday during the month of August, and participating establishments will be fully reimbursed for the 50% discount.

CREATING JOBS The job creation measures are mainly targeted on the housing and construction sector.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) SDLT receipts have fallen in the past few months. The slowdown in transactions has been accompanied by a stalling in prices. A temporary cut in SDLT on residential properties was widely predicted.

From 8 July 2020 to 31 March 2021, there will be no SDLT on the first £500,000 slice of property value, creating a maximum saving of £15,000. However, the 3% additional rate will still apply to additional properties.

The resulting revised SDLT table for residential property is shown below.

England and Northern Ireland – SDLT on slices of value from 8 July 2020 to 31 March 2021

Residential property % Up to £500,000 0 £500,001 – £925,000 5 £925,001 – £1,500,000 10 Over £1,500,000 12 Additional residential and all corporate residential properties £40,000 or more – add 3% to relevant SDLT rate(s)

This focuses on the hospitality and leisure sector.

Temporary VAT cut for food and non-alcoholic drinks A reduced 5% rate of VAT will apply to supplies of food and non-alcoholic drinks from restaurants, pubs, bars, cafés and similar premises across the UK. The temporary rate will apply from 15 July 2020 to 12 January 2021. Further guidance on the scope of this relief to be published soon.

Temporary VAT cut for accommodation and attractions The 5% rate of VAT will also apply from 15 July 2020 to 12 January 2021 to supplies of accommodation and admission to attractions across the UK. Further guidance on this to be published soon.

Green Homes Grant A £2 billion Green Homes Grant will be introduced, providing at least £2 for every £1 up to £5,000 per household to homeowners and landlords who spend on making their residential properties more energy efficient. For low income earners, the scheme will fully fund energy efficiency measures of up to £10,000 per household.

(This summary has been prepared for general information only. The proposals are in any event subject to amendment. You are recommended to seek competent professional advice before taking any action.)

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22 REAL ESTATE VOICE & INDIA FINANCE

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Govt to announce scheme to boost output of bulk drugs The government is set to announce a scheme to boost the production of 41 bulk drugs - ranging from antibiotics to ingredients for lifesaving TB and heart drugs like penicillin-G, vitamin B1, prednisolone and diclofenac sodium. The scheme, coming at a time when India’s dependence on China for crucial medicine ingredients has come under the scanner, is being finalised.

A technical committee set up to outline the details of the £694 million Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, first announced by the Union Cabinet in March, is learnt to have submitted its final draft to the Department of Pharmaceuticals last week. The department is currently working to bring the guidelines out “as soon as possible”, so that firms can set up capacity to churn out these key ingredients, a senior government official said. Under this scheme, the government will pay drugmakers 10-20 per cent of their annual turnover for making and selling these bulk drugs as an incentive, depending on the category of input. For instance, the government will pay a firm that has set up capabilities to make fermentationbased ingredient penicillin-G around 20 per cent of their total annual sales of this product as an incentive.

The PLI scheme is expected to

“encourage” domestic production of two categories of active pharmaceutical ingredients and key starting materials - chemical synthesis-based and and fermentation-based. Around 41 such bulk drugs have been approved under this scheme, including penicillin-G, vitamin B1, prednisolone, diclofenac sodium, valsartan and rifampicin. The scheme offers a “positive” development at a time when pharma companies have been facing difficulties with sourcing affordable bulk drugs from China, according to another senior government official.

“This (scheme) aims to strengthen India’s drug security. These measures also aim to reduce forex losses and generate employment,” the official said.

China currently accounts for nearly 70 per cent of India’s bulk drug imports, but the cost of several of these crucial ingredients have been on the

rise lately. “There are attractive incentives. The plan is to announce it as soon as possible, and work is going on to finalise the scheme,” the first official said, adding it would then have to go through processes of legal vetting and approvals from the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers before it is finally announced.

“This scheme will help promote self-reliance in active pharmaceutical ingredients and key starting materials.

This is very important from the perspective of Atmanirbhar Bharat, Make in India and strengthening the supply chain,” said the official. Several firms have expressed “huge” interest in participating, they added.

The upper limit of the annual incentives in this scheme will be capped, however, and will vary depending on the bulk drug. These incentives will be given to the first 136 firms that receive approval and invest a minimum amount set in the guidelines, ranging from £2 million to £40 million, to set up the manufacturing capacities for these bulk drugs.

“Older companies with available land that can be used for this purpose will also be eligible for these incentives, but they will have to put in the minimum investment to create the facilities,” said one of the officials cited above.

Voda Idea, Airtel asked to block special tariff plans Telecom regulator Trai has asked Airtel and Vodafone Idea to withhold tariff plans that offer faster speed and special incentives to customers who pay more. Trai, which has also sought explanation from the two companies, wants to understand whether the special plans for the high-paying customers come at the cost of those who have opted for prepaid or lower tariffs.

“Are they prioritising one set of customers by spoiling the experience of others?” Trai secretary S K Gupta asked. “We have asked the companies to explain the tariff plans. If prima facie there will be a violation, we will ask them to withdraw the plans.”

However, Gupta said there have been

no instructions so far which ask the companies to completely withdraw the plans as of now.

While Trai refused to speak on the matter, a section of industry analysts feel there could be a violation of net neutrality tenets by offering differential services based on the tariff plans.

When contacted, an Airtel spokesperson said, “We are passionate about delivering the best network and service experience to ‘all our customers’.

This is why we have a relentless obsession to eliminate faults… we want to keep raising the bar for our post-paid customers in terms of service and responsiveness. This is an ongoing effort at our end.”

A spokesperson for Vodafone Idea

said, “Vodafone Idea is committed to serve its customers with the best-inclass offerings and high-speed 4G data across all markets.” However, sources within Vodafone Idea expressed surprise at Trai’s move, saying the regulator has acted nearly eight months after it had launched the plan.

India’s factory output shrinks sharply, Foxconn to invest $1bn in India but pace of decline narrows Though India's factory output showed sharp decline for the third consecutive month in May as the national lockdown imposed to contain coronavirus took a toll on several sectors such as manufacturing, but the pace of decline narrowed.

The National Statistical Office (NSO) released the index numbers as a majority of the industrial sector establishments were not operating since the end of March. This has had an impact on the items being produced by the establishments during the period of lockdown and the subsequent periods of conditional relaxations in restrictions, it said.

The government had earlier said that it would not be correct to compare the numbers with the previous months due to data constraints. According to the NSO, the index for the month of May 2020 stands at 88.4 as compared to 53.6 for April 2020, indicating a graded pick-up in industrial activity in the

economy. The data, however, showed that the index of industrial production (IIP) contracted 34.7% in May compared to an expansion of 4.5% in the year ago month. The key manufacturing sector contracted 39.3% during the month compared to an expansion of 4.4% in the year earlier period.

The capital goods and consumer durables sectors recorded sharp contractions of over 60% in May, highlighting subdued investment climate and weakness in consumer demand in the economy.

However, the extent of negative growth has been lower in May than April, economists said.

“Economic activity is likely to tread a bumpy path in the coming months,” said Aditi Nayar, principal economist at ratings agency ICRA. Nayar said the biggest pickup was displayed by infrastructure/construction goods sector, the contraction in which halved to 42% in May 2020 from 84.7% in April 2020, driven by cement and steel.

The gradual production shift from China has begun with Foxconn planning to invest up to $1 billion to expand a factory in Sriperumbur, near Chennai, where the Taiwanese contract manufacturer assembles Apple iPhones.

Foxconn wants to navigate production disruptions from a trade war between Beijing and Washington and the coronavirus crisis.

“There’s a strong request from Apple to its clients to move part of the iPhone production out of China,” one of the sources said.

Foxconn said it does not comment on matters related to customers, while Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

Foxconn’s planned investment in the Sriperumbur plant, where Apple’s iPhone XR is made, will take place over the course of three years, another source said. Some of Apple’s other iPhones models, made by Foxconn in China, will be made at the plant, said the sources. Taipei-headquartered Foxconn will add some 6,000 jobs at the Sriperumbur plant under the plan, one of the sources said. It also operates a separate plant in Andhra Pradesh, where it makes smartphones for China’s Xiaomi Corp, among others. Foxconn Chairman Liu Young-way last month said it would ramp up its investment in India, without giving details.

A Cliff Edge Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

Interesting times for the property market. The chancellor has confirmed zero stamp duty for all property purchases below £500K. This, however, doesn’t apply to BTL properties and, yes, the 3% BTL premium still applies.

The treasury estimates this will affect 90% of transactions; this could be the time to incorporate by transferring your personal property into a Ltd company, thereby being able to offset the mortgage interest from the rental income.

There was talk previously of the holiday being effective from October. This thankfully has been scrapped, as the implication of this would have been a delay in transactions until the date come into effect. Which will mean a lull in the market for a few months.

The immediate application of this policy is a great move by the chancellor.

There is however the other issue of this stamp duty holiday creating a chink in the market place. It will be very difficult to sell a property for say £525K; properties priced at this level would be expected to drop.

A gradation would have avoided this rather than a step at £500,000. However, if you make a policy too complicated it cannot be understood and acted upon very simply.

Previously, when the stamp duty was 1% below £250K and 3% above, it proved very difficult selling a property for £275K. I recall having a potential purchaser suggesting creative means to try and bring the price down, however, the vendor who was a lawyer would not hear of it.

As an investor it may be a good strategy to start to target properties priced at around £525K to £550K, as these vendors would be sitting just outside of the boundary.

They will miss the furore which will be generated by this holiday; potentially giving the buyer a 5-10% discount.

This would now be the time to start to use the kids to purchase their first properties as first time buyers, they will be completely exempt when purchasing a property up to half a million.

It will be interesting to see the impact of this policy on auction deals. This will be the closest way to assess the impact of the holiday. Especially, when the bid’s reach passes the ceiling. In effect, when someone bids £501K they will be bidding £25K more, as once they go past this cliff edge the 5% duty will kick in.

A ‘normal’ buyer may develop a psychological barrier at this point, leaving the coast clear for perhaps the seasoned investor, who can see the greater value in a deal than just an increase in the costs by £25K.

GOVT DROPS PLANS TO MERGE 3 PSU INSURERS The government of India has called off the merger of the three public sector non-life insurers - National Insurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance - and has announced an additional capital infusion of £995 million. The Union Cabinet approved a £1.25 billion equity infusion into the non-life companies, which includes the £250 million already invested in FY20. “The process of the merger has been ceased so far in view of the current scenario and, instead, the focus shall be on their profitable growth,” the government said in a statement.

Of the £995 million infusion, £347.5 million will be released immediately, while the balance £647.5 million will come in one or more tranches. To enable the capital infusion, the Cabinet approved an increase in the authorised share capital of National Insurance to £750 million and that of United India and OICL to £500 million respectively to give effect to the capital infusion.

QUALCOMM VENTURES TO INVEST £73 MN IN JIO Reliance Industries (RIL) has raised £73 million from Qualcomm Ventures by selling 0.15% stake in Jio Platforms. RIL has so far mobilised £11.8 billion by selling 25.24% in Jio to 11 international investors, with the largest slice sold to Facebook.

The total money raised by RIL is just £200 million less than the Indian government’s disinvestment target of £12 billion for fiscal 2021. The foreign money will help RIL pare its £33.6 billion debt. Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of Qualcomm the world’s largest supplier of modem chips that connect cellphones and other devices to data networks - has pegged the valuation of Jio at £51.6 billion. This is similar to the valuation assigned by other financial investors to Jio. The investment will deepen the ties between Qualcomm and Jio, RIL said. The US company will support Jio in its rollout of 5G infrastructure and services for Indian customers, the Indian company added.

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24 EAST AFRICA & SRI LANKA

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Emergency won't be declared in Uganda to postpone election KAMPALA: The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party is opposed the demand to declare emergency in the country which would result in the postponement of the 2021 general election. A state of emergency is declared to suspend normal constitutional procedures to regain control. It is usually declared during national disasters, war and civil unrest, a pandemic or epidemic among other risks. Ever since the Electoral Commission released a revised roadmap, banning the mass rallies and campaigns, opposition groups and other stakeholders have cried foul, saying the proposed digital campaigns are going to disenfranchise a lot of people who have no access to electricity, radio, social media or TV. Several political actors in the

Yoweri Museveni

country have called for the postponement of next year's elections due to the coronavirus pandemic. But NRM officials led by the secretary-general Justine Kasule Lumumba and NRM’s legal director, Oscar Kihika while appearing before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee, said President Yoweri Museveni isn’t satisfied that the current Covid -19 require a circumstances declaration of state of

emergency in the country.

“Clearly as things stand, the president is not satisfied. This Article expressly provides that the president must be satisfied before he declare a state of emergency.

Now, obviously the declaration of a state of emergency is not a simple matter because most of the arguments that we have heard is that there should be a state of emergency and what follows thereafter is a postponement of the election.

That decision is a very serious one because you are denying the power of people in selecting their leaders. I believe that His Excellency doesn’t take this matter very lightly,” Kihika said.

According to Kihika the president is convinced that elections with restrictions can be held under current circumstances and hence no need to declare a state of emergency. The lawyer further explained that declaration of a state of emergency brings in serious consequences relating to civil liberties and can lead to abuse of power. "The last time the government declared a state of emergency was in 1966, we all know what happened thereafter.

If emergency is declared, there are serious consequences which relate to the abrogations of civil liberties and the powers that follow through can very much lead to abuse of those powers. As a result, it is very easy as happened in 1966 to lose the support of the population." said Kihika.

President Uhuru keeps cabinet reshuffle on hold Nairobi: Ugandan President Uhuru Kenyatta has hinted that the anticipated cabinet reshuffle may not happen now.

He has assured cabinet and principal secretaries that he will not effect the changes for now.

Top government officials said that the President was categorical that “as long as we can deliver to Kenyans on the development agenda, no one should worry”.

The purge of deputy president William Ruto allies in the Senate and the National Assembly raised fears that the President would extend the same to the Cabinet. Talk of a government of national unity was rife amid reports that ODM leader Raila Odinga, Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka, Chama cha Mashinani’s Isaac Rutto, and Kanu’s Gideon Moi were asked to forward nominees for consideration.

Sources said that 18 PSs out

of 44 were to be sacked and with the said replaced nominees. The sources further said that 12 cabinet posts would also should have been changed if the plan was as planned.

Word is rife that Raila’s absence has come to the rescue of the worried state officers as the Handshake principals were yet to agree on the changes.

Another factor is the bid by Sports CS Amina Mohammed for the World Trade Organization's Director General position. There is a feeling that the outcome of her bid will make the reshuffle easier, especially if she is considered for the post. The plan is to buy time - the winner will be known next month - so even if she is replaced, there would be no issue. The ODM leader’s absence is also taking a toll on the negotiations, most recently delaying a number of appointments at various parastatals. “The appointments

at the parastatals were to be done last week but the consultations took longer. They will be done this week,” a senior state officer said.

It is also emerging that the four parties - ODM, Wiper, Chama Cha Mashinani, and Kanu may have relaxed the push to first deal with the parliamentary leadership impasse. DP Uhuru Kenyatta Ruto, who has fallen before he fires any State officer, out with the President, he will have personally issued lamented that politicians, CSs, them with a verbal warning.

PSs and CEOs of parastatals “When I hired you, I never seen to be closer to him are announced it in the media. I targeted for prosecution, will also not announce in the removal and victimisation. media when I want you out. So, Some had reportedly started ignore what is being said out removing their personal there and serve Kenyans. I will property from their offices be keen on your track record quietly as talk of the anticipated and nothing else,” the President reshuffle grew. But that stands is said to have told the 85 to change, if the President’s officials who attended the assurance is anything to go by. virtual meeting.

He reportedly said that even

Lanka PM says India Tanzania's ruling party promises heeded his plea on to create 8mn new jobs Mattala airport COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has claimed that India on his government's request has decided not to seek a joint venture with it to run the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in the country. The USD 210 million facility, 241km south-east of Colombo, is dubbed the “world’s emptiest airport” due to a lack of flights.

The Mattala airport was funded through high interest Chinese commercial loans.

The airport, built with the capacity to handle one million passengers a year, was officially opened in March 2013.

Mahinda Rajapaksa said he and his brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, have asked India not to press ahead with seeking a joint venture to run the airport in his hometown.During campaigning in the southern district of Hambantota for the August 5 parliamentary election, Rajapaksa charged that the previous government headed by Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe had sold national assets to foreign governments.

DODOMA: CCM, the ruling party, plans to undertake several economic development programmes during the next five years and promised to create up to eight million jobs if it wins the presidency in October elections. This is contained in the ruling party's draft manifesto for the 2020 general election, which was distributed to delegates.

The party, which has officially endorsed its chairman, President John Magufuli, as its flag-bearer for the Union presidency election and Dr Hussein Mwinyi as its flagbearer for the Zanzibar top office, believes that it has what it takes to propel Tanzania's economic growth to new heights and create millions of jobs for Tanzanians in a span of five years. "The mission, and the specific goals, of the fifth phase administration for the period from 2020 to 2025 is to sustain the achievements that have been registered during the period between 2015 and 2020," reads a statement

in the ruling party's pamphlet that specifically carries the Curriculum vitae for its Union presidential candidate, Dr Magufuli.

Apart from sustaining and further improving the delivery of social services across the country, President Magufuli's second term will John Magufuli create eight million jobs in both the formal and informal sectors. The party pledges that it will do so by building a modern, inclusive, competitive economy which will embrace various needs of Tanzanians of all walks.

It says further that economic growth will specifically be built on a sound industrial base, services sector and ultramodern infrastructure. The ruling party pledges to sustain its tempo of building strategic infrastructure projects and create an enabling environment for Tanzanians to undertake their income-generating activities more easily. CCM's government will also improve the welfare of workers across all sectors of the economy.

in brief HAGIA SOPHIA MUSEUM TURNED INTO MOSQUE AGAIN President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree ordering Hagia Sophia to be opened for Muslim prayers, an action likely to provoke international furore around a world heritage site cherished by Christians and Muslims alike for its religious significance, stunning structure and as a symbol of conquest. The decree came minutes after a Turkish court announced that it had revoked Hagia Sophia’s status as a museum, which for the last 80 years had made it a symbol of the secularism that was part of the foundation of the modern Turkish state.

Built in the sixth century as a cathedral, Hagia Sophia stands as the greatest example of Byzantine Christian architecture in the world.

But it has been a source of Christian-Muslim rivalry, having stood at the centre of Christendom for nearly a millennium and then, after being conquered, of the Muslim Ottoman Empire. The US, Greece and church leaders were among those to express concern over the change in status.

NO MODERN TOUCHES IN NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris will be rebuilt just the way it stood before last year's devastating fire. No swimming pool or organic garden on the roof of the medieval Paris monument, or contemporary glass spire, or other modern twists. And to stay historically accurate, it will again be built with potentially toxic lead. That's the verdict reached by French President Emmanuel Macron, the cathedral's present-day architects and the general in charge of the colossal reconstruction project for one of the world's most treasured landmarks. Macron, who wants Notre Dame reopened in time for the 2024 Olympics, had initially pushed for a contemporary touch atop the cathedral, prompting eye-catching proposals from architects around the world.

But Macron came around to the traditionalists' argument, and approved reconstruction plans for the 12th century monument, ccording to a statement from the state agency overseeing the project.

STATUE OF US FIRST LADY MELANIA SET ON FIRE A wooden sculpture of US first lady Melania Trump was torched near her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, on the night of July 4th, as Americans celebrated US Independence Day, said the artist who commissioned the sculpture.

Brad Downey, a Berlin-based American artist, said he had the life-sized blackened, disfigured sculpture removed as soon as police informed him on July 5th of the incident. "I want to know why they did it," said Downey, who had hoped the statue would foster a dialogue about the political situation in the United States, highlighting Melania Trump's status as an immigrant married to a president sworn to reduce immigration. In Washington, the office of Melania Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

AUSTRALIA OFFERS SAFE HAVEN TO HONGKONGERS Australia offered pathways to permanent residency for thousands of people from Hong Kong in response to China’s crackdown on dissent. PM Scott Morrison said his government was also suspending its extradition agreement with the city. He said in addition to extending the visas of 10,000 Hong Kongers already in the country, he was throwing open the door to thousands more wanting to start a new life Down Under. Morrison said the decisions were taken in response to China’s imposition of a tough new security law in Hong Kong. China condemned the move. “China reserves the right to take further reactions, all consequences will be borne by Australia,” warned foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. “Any bid to suppress China will never succeed.”

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The writer is a Socio-political Historian - E-mail: haridesai@gmail.com

ED seizes Nirav Modi’s Mridula Sarabhai earned £32.9 mn assets the title ‘Anti-National’ Dr. Hari Desai

• If I had a hundred women like Mridula, I could launch a revolution: Gandhi ji • Though a freedom fighter, she was expelled from the Congress, branded a traitor! ridula Sarabhai, born into Ahmedabad's celebrated industrial dynasty and nuclear scientist Vikram Sarabhai's sister, was one of those amazing women who fought for India's freedom. She was mentioned as the real Boss and strength of Kamla Patel, the lion lady of Charotar, in the last column. 'If I had a hundred women like Mridula,' said Gandhiji, 'I could launch a revolution in India'. Born in 1911 into the Sarabhai family of Ahmedabad, she came under the spell of Gandhiji and left her home to join the Salt Satyagraha in 1930.

She was imprisoned several times between 1930 and 1944. Deeply influenced by Pandit Nehru's ideas on socialism and secularism, and a close associate of his, Mridula Sarabhai was involved not only in the freedom struggle but also in the fight for women's right to equality, civil liberty, and in the individual's right to dissent.

M

Mridula worked infiltrated into camps, fearlessly during pre ashrams, offices, and post communal every schools, riots to protect the institution, to spread rights of minorities the message of peace and restore communal and security. peace and harmony.

What is interesting Her work for the is that while many of recovery of abducted the freedom fighters, women in the Punjab particularly men, took in the aftermath of the position of high power Partition of India is and authority in the well known. The last Indian Government twenty years of her life after independence, were devoted to Mridula Sarabhai did and Kashmir not do so. Mridula had championing the cause been a general of Sheikh Abdullah. secretary of the She was even branded Congress party. She as anti-national and had been Gandhiji's was sent to Tihar Jail. special emissary. She In her most Pandit Jawaharlal with Mridula Sarabhai was also in charge of authoritative Jyoti Sangh, a home for biographical sketch of Mridula Sarabhai destitute women. She was also the “Rebel With A Cause” published in 1996, organizer of the Ahmedabad Women's Aparna Basu presents Mridula’s public Congress volunteer corps, and also life, her work for women, the freedom intimately connected to the Kasturba of the country, and Hindu-Muslim Trust, the Talimi Sangh, Sarvodaya unity. A nonconformist, and a rebel Samiti, and the Gandhi Peace championing unpopular causes, she Foundation. When the Recovery spurned offers of high office in the organisation was established under Lady political arena of national government.

Mountbatten's patronage, it was Her whole life, she spent in struggle Mridula who was its manager and and enduring hardship. She had joined everything else. the Congress movement at a very young Mridula Sarabhai continued to age, was a Satyagrahi, went to jail so remain an activist, many times critical of many times, lived in the Ashram, Government polices and was also jailed remained devoted to truth and post independence for her outspoken nonviolence as her religion, and gave views and actions. About Mridula her all to the battle for freedom every Sarabhai, Aparna Basu writes, “...From step of the way. But even though she 1953 Mridula devoted herself to Kashmir was a freedom fighter, she was expelled and stood by Sheikh Abdulla and his from the Congress. The government supporters even when they were considered her a traitor, and those who accused of treason, as a result she had to had once thought who closest to the resign or leave every organization she highest echelons of power now socially was connected with...her phone was boycotted her. tapped, CID watched her house...She Mridula was a true Hindustani, but was dismissed from the Congress party her mind was the scientific mind of the in 1958 and was finally detained under twentieth century. Her culture was the Prevention Detention Act in Tihar Hindu, but such was the absence of jail and later put under House detention distinction in the heart that every in her home in Ahmedabad under corner of her house was wide open to Defence of India Rules...” She died in the piety of all creeds and religions. the this house in 1974. The details of the soul of every faith dwelt in her, but what role played by Mridula Sarabhai in the her own religion was, one would not movement in Kashmir in the early years know. With one foot in India and one of Independence are documented in a foot in Pakistan, she could be found at book titled, ‘Kashmir and Sher-etimes in dialogue with the Kashmir: A revolution Next Column Prime Minister of derailed’ published in Pakistan, and at others, it Ansuya Sarabhai: A 2012. The author of the would be Lord or Lady book is PL.D. Parimoo, Mountbatten who were Labour Leader from a native of Kashmir Mill-owner family her interlocutors. Her based in Ahmedabad, unusual personality, her who has done much heroic endeavours, and her boundless research on the subject in recent times. generosity led to the birth of the Shanti It is indeed surprising that so little is Dal. Scores of the workers of this known of a person like Mridula voluntary organisation fanned out in Sarabhai. This is particularly intriguing the riot torn areas right up to Kashmir. because many other women from the A veritable army of workers - women Sarabhai family and their contribution and educated girls - was readied, who to the society is fairly known.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it has confiscated assets worth £32.9 million of diamond trader Nirav Modi under the fugitive economic offenders law. This is the first confiscation of assets under the law that was brought by the Modi government in 2018 with an aim to deter economic offenders from evading the process of law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts.

The businessman, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others are being probed by the ED on money laundering charges in connection with an over USD 2 billion alleged bank fraud at a PNB branch in Mumbai. "The confiscated properties are in the form of four flats at the iconic building Samudra Mahal in Worli Mumbai, a sea-side farm house and land in Alibaug, a wind mill in Jaisalmer, a flat in London, residential flats in UAE and shares and bank deposits," the probe agency said in a statement.

A special court in Mumbai had on June 8 authorised the ED to confiscate the assets. Nirav Modi, 49, was declared a fugitive economic offender

Nirav Modi

by the same court on December 5 last year. "The ED has attached the properties worth £32.9 million under the FEO Act, 2018 which now stands confiscated to the central government," it said.

As per the FEO Act, the confiscated property can be put up for auction after 90 days of issuance of the order and the amount collected is deposited with the exchequer or government account. The ED also sticks a notice of confiscation on such properties.

The agency till now has attached assets worth £234.8 million (assessed value) of Nirav Modi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in this case. The agency said the special court had "directed it to attach the properties (other than assets mortgaged or hypothecated and secured to PNB led

consortium) belonging to Nirav Modi and his companies and ordered that after attachment the said properties shall stand confiscated to central government under Section 12(2) and (8) of the FEO Act".

The court had also directed the consortium of banks to approach it for claiming the mortgaged or hypothecated and secured properties which were attached by the ED under PMLA. "On examination of properties attached, it was found that assets worth £100 million are prima facie covered under mortgage."

"Further, the Bombay High Court had directed that sale proceeds of paintings of about £4.5 million will be kept as fix deposits till further orders," the agency said. Process for confiscation of remaining attached properties under FEO Act is underway, it said.

The agency had filed an application before the Mumbai court on July 10, 2018 to declare Nirav Modi a fugitive economic offender based on its PMLA investigation against him.

Nirav Modi is currently lodged in a UK jail after being arrested in London in March, 2019 and is currently fighting extradition to India.

26 INDIA

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India to press China for exchange of maps in western sector India plans to push the Chinese side for an exchange of maps in the western sector after the process of disengagement and deescalation is complete and Indian troops go back to their old patrolling posts.

Government officials said this would clarify each other’s claim lines and actual control, which would make management and patrolling protocols easier.

China has so far refused to exchange maps in this sector. Even after 22 rounds of talks on the boundary question, it has shown no inclination to exchange maps or clarify the LAC, having exchanged maps for only the central sector.

While a resolution of the boundary question is a distance away, the Galwan clashes, India hopes, is sufficient reason to clarify this sector.

China’s reluctance to exchange maps led to the suspicion that they want to keep it burning so that they will be able to change the situation on the ground.

Sources said that disengagement was currently underway to get both countries to move their troops back from the forward positions they had moved to in the past few months. This is being monitored closely, certainly

by India. This is expected to be followed by a deescalation by moving back troops and weapons from what is called forward areas. “It’s not as if we’re conceding territory to them,” an official involved in the negotiations said.

The process is expected to take some time.

Complete disengagement Days before the next round of military commander -level talks,

India said that both sides agreed to ensure complete disengagement and deescalation. Keeping a close eye on the disengagement in eastern Ladakh, senior officials from India and China met virtually to talk through the details of the exercise. “They reaffirmed that both sides will ensure complete disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and de-escalation from IndiaChina border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquility in the border areas in accordance with bilateral agreements and protocols,” the Indian statement said in line with the understanding reached between foreign ministers

and special representatives.

The two sides “agreed it was necessary for both sides to sincerely implement the understandings reached between senior commanders. As agreed by the two SRs (NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi), senior commanders will meet soon to discuss further steps so as to ensure complete disengagement and deescalation in a timely manner". Once again, the statement recorded that India and China "agreed that for the overall development of bilateral relations, it was essential to maintain enduring peace and tranquillity in the border areas".

Earlier, the foreign ministry spokesperson said that Doval, in his conversation with Wang Yi on July 5, had said, "Indian troops had always taken a very responsible approach towards border management and, at the same time, our forces were committed to deeply ensuring India’s sovereignty and security."

Four members of Bachchan family test positive for Covid

Four members of the Bachchan family have tested positive for coronavirus. Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek announced that they had contracted the coronavirus on Saturday. Abhishek, meanwhile, asked fans to stay calm and not panic. He tweeted, “Earlier today both my father and I tested positive for Covid 19.

Both of us having mild symptoms have been admitted to hospital. We have informed all the required authorities and our family and staff are all being tested.

I request all to stay calm and not panic. Thank you.”

On Sunday, Aishwarya and her daughter Aaradhya were also tested positive. The rest of the family members, including Jaya Bachchan, Shweta Bachchan and her children, tested negative. While Amitabh and Abhishek have been advised to stay at the Nanavati hospital, Aishwarya and Aaradhya will quarantine at home. Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) visited all the three bungalows owned by the Bachchan family to sanitise them and also for contact tracing.

Pilot, two ministers sacked from Rajasthan cabinet In a move to stamp out the rebellion in its Rajasthan unit, the Congress on Tuesday sacked Sachin Pilot and two more ministers from the Ashok Gehlot cabinet, underlining that the party does not revolve around people but is based on policy and principles.

Sachin Pilot

Chief Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, sent as Central observer to the state, said the party had to make some decisions today with a “heavy heart”, referring to the dropping of Pilot as deputy chief minister and also as the party’s Rajasthan unit president. Govind Singh Dotasra was appointed Rajasthan Congress chief in place of Pilot, announced Surjewala.

“I regret that Sachin Pilot and some of his associates have been swayed by BJP’s plot and are now conspiring to topple the Congress government elected by 80 million Rajasthanis. It is unacceptable,” Surjewala told journalists. “Truth can be disturbed, not defeated,” tweeted Pilot, who has been camping in Delhi, as news travelled that the Congress has stripped him of his portfolios and even removed him from the post of Rajasthan Congress chief.

Chief minister Ashok

Gehlot drove down to Raj Bhavan to make a formal request to the governor to drop Pilot and the two ministers from his cabinet.

The Congress legislature party, that met for the second straight day, passed a resolution seeking action against the rebel leaders to send a “strong message” and prevent any such future trouble.

Pilot sticks to guns With the political crisis in Rajasthan showing no signs of abating, with CM Gehlot holding a show of strength by convening a meeting of party legislators and later placing them in a resort and Pilot challenging the CM’s claim to numbers while rejecting reports that a compromise was being worked out as being “too little, too late.” While a team of senior Congress leaders sent to Jaipur appealed to Pilot to call off his rebellion, he made it clear that the overtures were insufficient and measures such as a rejig of portfolios and assurances on his tenure as state chief

weren’t enough. Efforts of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, who spoke to Pilot and sought to persuade him to return to Jaipur, were met with a similar response.

The Gehlot camp appeared to be struggling to make up the numbers with at least 20 MLAs (Pilot included) of the 107 party legislators staying away from the Congress legislature party meeting despite the party issuing a whip to be present. By Monday evening, they appeared to concede that Pilot’s claim of having the support of 25 MLAs could not be bereft of substance, and played down the absence of MLAs by saying that hose missing had sought exemption.

State transport minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas claimed that there were 109 MLAs at the CLP meeting. They included 10 Independents and one CPM MLA, Balwan Poonia, who was suspended by his party for voting for Congress in the

recent Rajya Sabha elections.

Late night, a video was uploaded on Pilot’s official WhatsApp group showing around 16-17 MLAs, who skipped the CLP meeting, seated together. Sources close to Pilot said the video was from a hotel in Manesar.

The CM has called another meeting of the Congress legislature party

on Tuesday and the party has threatened to take action against MLAs who don’t turn up. The suspense about the outcome of the high-stake power tussle is likely to continue because of the uncertainty about any collaboration between Pilot and BJP. While income tax raids on three businessmen perceived to be close to Gehlot were

interpreted by many in political circles as a manoeuvre to help the disgruntled deputy CM and attracted allegations from Congress. BJP refrained from revealing its cards.

Congress circles are convinced that Pilot is acting in tandem with BJP while the saffron party is glad over the latest embarrassment to the Congress leadership.

AN URGENT APPEAL The coronavirus pandemic has caused an extreme hunger crisis throughout India and tens of millions of people are suffering terribly. The starving, the weak, the sick and the vulnerable desperately need your help. No amount is too small; even £10 will provide enough food to feed a family of four for a week.

Charity LILY is a well established nonprofit making charity committed to providing urgent support for the needy and vulnerable in India.

Funds raised in this appeal will be used to buy and distribute food to the poor throughout rural India. Charity LILY has raised £1.6 million over the last 10 years. It has been working very hard in recent weeks to feed the poor and vulnerable in India.

Please donate generously to the Charity Lily.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/covid19fund-forlily Frederick Parekh-Glitsch LILY Covid-19 appeal, iPartner India, Flat 34, Estillo Building5 Wenlock Road London N1 7SL The above charity fund raising is initiated by the grandson of Lady Pramilaben and Lord Bhikhu Parekh, a student of Oxford. It is published without any charge as part of community service by ABPL Karmayoga Foundation has Group. contributed a modest some of £100.

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Obituary

Professor Nagindasbhai Sanghavi Lord Dolar Popat Professor Nagindasbhai Sanghavi – one of India’s most established political professors – passed away on Sunday 12th July in Surat, Gujarat at the grand age of 100.

Naginbapa as he was lovingly referred to by so many, was a leading literary light in India. His passing represents the demise of one of India’s oldest journalists representing the end of an era of pre-independence writers.

Awarded the Padma Shri India's 4th highest civilian honour – Naginbapa was a renowned author, and a popular columnist in a wide range of English, Gujarati and Hindi newspapers.

Throughout his life, Naginbapa was also a keen writer on the life of Mahatma Gandhi.

Born in 1920 in humble beginnings in Gujarat, Naginbapa led an extraordinary, colourful life.

Having lived a century, Naginbapa has been an eyewitness to all types of national events and political formations and reformations. He has put in thousands of hours in his writing and travelled across Gujarat, collecting and collating stories for the benefit of ordinary people.

Arriving in Mumbai in 1947 to find his fortune, Naginbapa would go on to become one of India’s finest contemporary writers. After empowering himself with education, he taught political science at Bhavans College in Andheri – when no one else would go near it. He later moved to Ruparel College and ended his career as the Head of Mithibai College.

However, his greatest legacy was his devotion to Morari Bapu, who he served as a loyal Shrota

Naginbapa acting as a translator for Bapu during a meeting with Cardinal Tauran (President of the Vatican’s Interfaith Council) during Bapu’s Katha at the Vatican in 2014 which he helped to strategize and make into a reality. Also in the photo Lord Dolar Popat and son Rupeen.

(follower), translating over 60 of Bapu’s Ram Kathas into English.

Naginbapa played an invaluable role in making Bapu’s message of Truth, Love and Compassion accessible to thousands of people across the world, particularly young people. He was renowned for translating Bapu’s Katha here in London on countless occasions, as well as other destinations including the US,Japan, Greece and Jordan. His passing has been a huge loss to Bapu and has triggered thousands of young people across the world to pay tribute to this literary mastermind for providing them with the gift to understand Bapu’s message.

Translating Bapu’s Katha is no small feat. Naginbapa was an outstanding orator and his ability to translate without changing or influencing the true meaning of

We shall miss him greatly Lord Bhikhu Parekh The news of Nagindas Sanghavi's death saddened me deeply. I first met him nearly forty years ago in Usha Mehta's office and took to him immediately. He was warm, thoughtful, with great experience of the world, gifted with a brilliant analytical mind and courage to say things as he saw them.

Over time our friendship deepened and we began to consult each other on our writings. Naginbhai sent me his excellent book on Gandhi in South Africa for comments and a foreword, which I was happy to do. More recently he sent me his manuscript on Rajiv Gandhi, on which he had been working for some time, for comments.

Nagindas was a child of Mumbai. He secured an MA from the University of Mumbai and spent several years there, first as a lecturer in history in many Mumbai colleges, and later as a head of the Department of History and Politics. He was a gifted teacher and a brilliant analyst. His Swaraj Darshan was rightly a reference book for Mumbai University's postgraduate students.

In later years he wrote regularly for the media and was a great hit. His columns were widely read and shaped the culture of Gujarati speaking people.

In 1995 Gujarat Sahitya Academy adjudged him the best political commentator in the Gujarati language. In my view his influence through his columns and serious academic writings was immense and makes him one of the architects of modern Gujarat. He lived a long and healthy life and retained his intellectual vitality until the last moment of his life. We shall miss him greatly.

Katha was both commendable and honourable. Naginbapa is remembered for staying up all night to translate Bapu’s Katha from the day before, which followers would eagerly wait to listen to.

Naginbapa was also a political thinker and he strategized Bapu’s Katha in 2014 in the Vatican– the home of the Catholic Church.

What was deemed impossible was made a reality through Naginbapa’s resourcefulness.

Naginbapa was able to pave the way for the first Hindu recital of its kind to be held in the Vatican.

The Katha became renowned for the role it played in strengthening interfaith dialogue between Hinduism and Christianity.

By nature, Naginbapa will always be remembered for his glowing smile and infectious laughter. Charming, passionate

and quietly confident, he would always command the respect of his audience. His age was never a barrier for him to work or travel and at times Naginbapa was by far the healthiest and fittest man in the room. His physical health and stamina was remarkable, but he had the mental capacity to match.

Naginbapa’s memory was razor sharp and his philosophy thinking was unrivalled.

Throughout his life, Naginbapa was a tremendous advocate for the power of education. He loved thought provoking dialogue and believed in the importance of questioning. Prime Ministers would come and go, but Naginbapa would remain as the fearless critic which all politicians feared.

Tributes poured in from leaders across India and the world – including Prime Minister

Narendra Modi who tweeted; "Shree Nagindas Sanghavi was an enlightened writer and thinker.

His articles and books had the knowledge of history and philosophy and extraordinary skills of analysis of political events. I am saddened by his demise. My condolences to shocked family and his readers."

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani described Sanghavi as someone who made thorough observations of social life and problems facing the country and world and had the ability to analyse issues in depth. Here in the UK, Lord Bhikhubhai Parekh also paid tribute to Naginbapa, after writing a foreword for Naginbapa’s book “The Agony of Arrival: Gandhi, the South Africa Years”. Lord Parekh said his death was an immense loss to journalism. I also have very fond memories of Naginbapa and I will personally never forget his review of my own book - “A British Subject” – which was released last year.

Not only did he translate Bapu’s message for the book, but he translated extracts for Bapu and others to understand.

Naginbapa was literary marvel. He had a way with words, putting rhythm into prose and churning questions out of answers. His intellect was beyond compare. Only Naginbapa would know the ins and outs of Tulsidas and Valmiki’s teachings, but then speak with the upmost authority on Congresses downfall in India in recent years, to Trump’s rise in the US, ending by reiterating ancient Greek philosophy.

Professor Sanghavi was one of a kind whose like we will regrettably never see again.

Man for All Seasons (1920-2020) Hasu Manek, 1920-2020A lot has been and will be written and spoken about this remarkable centenarian who at the grand old age of 98 was described by Mumbai Mirror as The oldest columnist anywhere. Though I enjoyed reading his weekly columns on current affairs and his books, I am perhaps less qualified to comment on the journalist, the author, the political commentator, or the historian that he was.

Suffice to say that he was a man of letters par excellence. Like many others who met him through Morari Bapu, I also consider myself fortunate to have had a chance to meet and know this larger-than-life personality, fondly known as Nagindasbapa or just Bapa.

Bapa and Ba (his late wife Prabhaben) happened to stay with our family for some ten days in the scorching summer of 2006 when I had the

opportunity to experience his endearing personality at close quarters.

It was his simplicity and remarkable ability to comfortably engage with and relate to the young and the not so young on one hand and with eminent scholars, thinkers and politicians on the other, with equal ease, that I found to be most enchanting and engaging.

Needless to say we thoroughly enjoyed having them with us.

During his stay with us, I recall accompanying Bapa to Oxford for a meeting with another extraordinary person dedicated to the cause of the Hindu Studies; Shri Shaunaka Rishi Das, the Director of Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (OCHS). Whilst walking towards the OCHS building on a beautiful August day, Bapa suddenly halted and soon he was engaged in an animated conversation with the equally curious pedestrians, most of whom were students.

His friendliness was

always so contagious.

When we resumed the walk, he gleefully expressed that he was reminded of his days as a lecturer at two of the most prestigious colleges in Mumbai at the time.

Before we reached, I gathered the courage to ask him, “Bapa, if you don’t mind me asking; how old are you?” My question was answered with a question!

Hesitatingly, I said around 75. Lo and behold, he was 86 plus! I was truly gobsmacked. I asked what the secret was. He said that he has hardly exercised but has always eaten sensibly. However, fundamentally his secret lay in his quest for knowledge and maintained that he had still a lot to learn and accomplish.

Just before Morari Bapu’s last London Katha organised by the Sachdev Family in 2017, during a telephone conversation, Bapa (he was 97 then) asked me if there was any possibility for him to spend time at the House

of Commons Library and suggested that I enquire with his friend Lord Dolar Papat and I did. As it turned out, I think due to the summer recess, this was not possible.

However, the point is that this aptly demonstrates his endless pursuit for knowledge, a quality well worth emulating. He ceaselessly amazed us all.

His childlike curiosity, which sadly many of us have lost, was captivating to say the least. From what I know, monetarily, he had never been well off and had in fact struggled. His true wealth though was the enormity of his vast knowledge coupled with the unique skill to command the respect and attention of his readers and the pin drop silence from his audience even in his 100th year. His smile, his love for literature and his compelling positivity is a gift to all those whose lives he has touched, and these fine qualities will remain etched in our hearts and minds forever.

28 ART & CULTURE

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Artists speak: BAME in a bubble can never survive Shefali Saxena How will the arts community reap the benefits of the £1.5 billion government arts revival package and what has been the impact of Covid-19 on artists? We find out.

Ashokkumar didn’t identify as neurodivergent until he was in his 40s, and it was a seminal moment for his artistic practice. Since then, he has been focused on researching and writing about disability and neurodiversity. He is currently Associate Artist with Disability Arts Online and a Development Artist with The Spark Arts. Ashokkumar has also developed a number of exhibitions in Taiwan for National Cheng Kung University and A-Glow space.

Speaking about the current state of affairs in the Arts community in the UK, Mistry said, “Just as we were coming out of austerity and seeing a growing investment in the arts, the sector is again reeling from the effects of the pandemic. Many venues, large and small see no real prospect of reopening in the format they were accustomed to. One thing that many people did not appreciate was the impact of the Black Lives Matter protests on the arts.”

“There has always been an absence of diversity both in terms of race and disability in the arts.The Pandemic offered the perfect time for reflection and exploring the reason behind some of the problems the sector has faced in terms of diversity. Once the fog of "I'm too busy to do anything" cleared and people

stepped back to look at the sector, they were appalled,” he added.

“Funding has a big question mark across it as the bulk of it is always reserved on large institutions. No one really knows what funders big and small are doing. Many of them are reevaluating what should be funded and where cuts need to be made,” said Mistry.

Giving insight into the measures being taken to overcome the challenges of the pandemic, Mistry said, “The growth in online performances has been breathtaking. There are major productions such as "Fleabag" that are showing on streaming platforms. We are also seeing how people can return to large venues

in a big way. Many venues and artists are looking for new ways of safely bringing live audiences together in indoor and outdoor spaces. This work will take time and there will be casualties along the way,” he said.

Mistry addressed the point of any roadblocks hit by artists and entrepreneurs: “A lack of artists space especially for visual artists was a big problem.

During Lockdown the problem was accessing existing space. I have a studio in which I paint in oils and had to wait two months before I could use that space. At that time I started to work at home with different media.” He feels that “the agility of artists allows us to see opportunities even amongst

Online dance class in the time of Covid-19 : Your left hand becomes your right hand Seetal Kaur combines her love for rhythm and music with swift movement and emotive expression as a Kathak dancer. She was trained in Bharatnatyam and vocal music from a young age.

As a result of the pandemic her routine changed. Seetal Kaur said, “As an Indian classical artist, I was happily involved in training from one of my teachers who lives in Liverpool and I live in Leicester, so I was traveling three hours in one go each month to train under her. I spent a month in India training in Delhi. And I just got back at the end of January. I was getting ready to perform at the New York Kathak festival so I was selected to perform in April. So I’d booked all my flights, rehearsed very hard, pushing myself physically mentally and it was suddenly gone.” And afterwards when everything started to close down she had to cancel her trip to America.

Kaur treats her ‘Riyaaz’ as the utmost priority and dedication everyday. “It's a very insular and introverted kind of lifestyle,” she said. Alongside her practice, Seetal works professionally in arts development and administration through her initiative, 'ForwardCulture' that creates projects to empower young South Asian women and platform South Asian female artists.

Kaur acknowledges that while Kathak is not her source of primary income, there are many artists

Seetal Kaur. Photo credit: Simon Richardson

whose lifeline is in dance, networking, and performing. She also identifies the technical challenge of doing online performances. She has been approached to do them and has been only able to do it with her family’s support because she has the required equipment at home.

Seetal teaches only a few people online, via Skype, Whatsapp video or Zoom call. She agrees that many technical problems come up, but, “Verbal instructions are important, especially mirroring.

Your left hand becomes your right hand. So it's tricky but at the end of the day it's better than nothing.”

Kaur said that before this pandemic, some people turned

their nose up a bit at online teaching. She said, “There's nothing like being physically present with your guru. Online is a second best option, it's not a solution. I do think it's really important to hold the physical presence and relationship paramount. That stays the first and best option.”

Her advice to freelance artists would be to observe the online shift. Kaur, who is not too active and social media savvy online, said, “You have to start to get comfortable or social media platforms. Artists have to embrace it. Social media is too much for me.” Despite her absence from social media, whether discoverability has been an issue or not, she says, “Word of mouth is the strongest.”

As far as the UK art package to revive art is concerned, Seetal said, “When you look at the wider context, Black and asian people are a minority ethnic in this country.

When people look at a certain financial figure in the grand scheme of things it does look like the communities get a bigger pie out of it. I think there is work to be done. The press and media when they talk about arts, most of the time they talk about western classical music, theatre or ballet.

We have to shift the focus and value of ethnic minority arts and the fact that such kinds of cultural forms that exist in the UK don’t get the recognition they deserve.”

devastation”.

Sharing his thoughts on the £1.5 billion government arts revival package, Mistry thought, “Most of it will be swallowed up by directors' salaries and just keeping places closed and artists and innovators will see little of it.

There has historically been an imbalance in the English arts sector weighted towards institutions and away from artists. This really needs to change.”

“I think BAME in a bubble can never survive. I hate being labelled an Asian artist.

It feels like people expect me to break into a dance routine. I doubt the BAME community will see much change until the mainstream sector starts seeing them as equals. I think if the BAME led arts wants to survive, they themselves need to look beyond the lenses of the stereotypes they are seen through,” said Mistry.

If arts and culture in the UK is to truly flourish, everyone from local music venues to freelancers artists need to receive these funds.

Jiten Anand, is the Director of Inspirate, a social enterprise that creates inspirational experiences to connect communities with 21st century culture. Commenting on the state of the arts community in

the UK, he said, “Just like any industry, the Arts community in the UK has been impacted with venues closing or shutting down, events being postponed and loss of work for freelance artists. There has always been a sense of resilience with the artistic community here in Leicester and although things have slowed down, people in the industry are continuing to make culture accessible in new ways. An Indian Summer's online festival is one example of that.” Anand has been instrumental in bringing to life a breadth of cultural events through his work in Leicester, including An Indian Summer (marking the 70th anniversary of the subcontinent's partition in 2017). Speaking about roadblocks hit by entrepreneurs, he said, “There have been a large number of emergency packages that have been sought by organisations such as Arts Council England to deal with the ramprications of Covid-19.”

Commenting on the £1.5 billion government arts revival package which has been very well received by the arts community in the UK, he said, “If arts and culture in the UK is to truly flourish, everyone from local music venues to freelancers artists need to receive these funds.” Asked if he thinks that the BAME community in the UK will get their due within this package, he said, “I think it's crucial organisations such as the Arts Council continue to support diverse led organisations and the agenda around access, inclusivity and diversity does not become a secondary conversation.”

Book Recommendation Ikigai is the Japanese word for ‘a reason to live’ or ‘a reason to jump out of bed in the morning’. It’s the place where your needs, desires, ambitions and satisfaction meet. A place of balance. Small wonder that finding your ikigai is closely linked to living longer.

It’s an international bestseller written by Héctor García, Francesc Miralles, published by Penguin.

Bags of creativity for Bradford district children this summer A new partnership will deliver bags packed with creative activities and inspiring materials to 1,000 children and young people across the Bradford district this summer. IVE, the Bridge Organisation for Yorkshire and the Humber, is working with the Local Cultural Education Partnership (LCEP) and Bradford Council’s Social Services and the Education Partnerships Team to deliver Bags of Creativity.

For 2-6 year-olds, an orange bag contains vibrant chiffon scarves, a space blanket, and many other materials to enhance imaginative play.

The 7-11 year-olds will receive a bright green bag full of colouring pencils, pipe cleaners and further tactile materials for creative expression. Finally 12-16 year-olds will receive a navy blue bag with contents including watercolour paints and modelling clay, giving them additional ways to explore their creativity. LazenbyBrown of York designed the Bags of Creativity free of charge.

A New High Tier Music Education Program Is Launched Put together by tutors who have real-life music experience and success, Global Sound Group have launched a new music program to enable musicians to fast track their success without incurring a debt accrued from enrolling at a university or college. The new program consists of courses with 100 modules and 500 lessons.The company also knows that musicians cannot just solely concentrate on paying for their education. Also, student debt has just reached a whopping level of $1.6 trillion; therefore, they give back monthly through gifts and finance reimbursements to aid growth and success.

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Aishwarya wishes hubby Abhishek good luck for his first web series Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wished her husband and fellow actor Abhishek Bachchan good luck on the release of his first web series 'Breathe: Into The Shadows'. Sharing multiple pictures and posters of the actor and other cast members on Instagram, she wrote, “Shine on Baby!

Breathe”. Abhishek responded with a cute “Love you. Thank you.”

The actor's web series debut comes with a follow up of R Madhavan's 2018 psychological thriller 'Breathe'. The second season also stars Amit Sadh and Nithya Menen along with Bachchan. Abhishek will be seen playing Avinash Sabharwal, a psychiatrist who will go to any length to find his missing daughter Siya.

In a previous interview, the actor had said he agreed to the project on its story merit. “When I heard the story, I immediately said yes. The criteria that it was on Amazon Prime Video, or it was going to be a movie or TV show is immaterial to me. At the end of the day, it was great material which I really liked and wanted to be a part of it,” he said.

Hooda signs with Deepika gets nostalgic, posts new aRandeep Hollywood talent agency throwback picture

Posting throwback pictures is sort of Deepika Padukone's lockdown ritual, and we are head-to-toe in love. The actor's recent most throwback appearance is from a picnic or trip of some sort. She captioned it, “They say look ahead... But ever so often remind yourself about where you've come from and everything it has taken to get to where you are on this incredible journey...”

The post garnered over 100,000 likes in a span of 15 minutes. The actor had previously shared a picture from 2000 with actor Aamir Khan. She had captioned it, “Major throwback to 1st January, 2000. I was 13 & awkward. I still am. He was having lunch. Curd Rice to be precise. I was hungry, like I always am. But he didn’t offer and I didn’t ask...#random #anecdote @_aamirkhan,” she captioned it

Veteran actor Jagdeep passes away Veteran actor Jagdeep was laid to rest at a cemetery in south Mumbai's Byculla neighbourhood last week. He passed away at the age of 81.His son Jaaved Jaaferi, along with brother Naved, and son Meezaan, addressed the press briefly. Jaaved thanked the people for their “love and blessings” towards his father.

“There are a lot of people who have sent us messages but we couldn't reply to everyone. Whosoever is watching this, we thank you for your blessings and love. Our father gave 70 years to the industry and got a lot of love and respect. That love is being reflected today, as we can see,” Jaaved said.

He urged people to keep his father in their prayers. “On behalf of our father, who gave his 70 years, please, if you could say a small prayer for him. That will be a lot for us.”

Starting his career as a child actor, Jagdeep appeared

in over 400 films, including his most memorable portrayal of Soorma Bhopali in 'Sholay'.

Chris Hemsworth-starrer global success 'Extraction' appears to have opened doors to the West for actor Randeep Hooda. The actor who made his Hollywood debut with the movie, has signed with a talent management agency in the US – Authentic Talent and Literary Management.

Hooda released a statement saying, “Extraction was a huge success worldwide with a phenomenal reach. I really enjoyed working on it and got to learn so many new things from the fabulous cast and crew. As every artist wants to reach out to as many people as possible, I’m very grateful and excited for these new horizons in international cinema.”

Directed by Sam Hargrave, 'Extraction' featured Hemsworth as a black-market mercenary on a mission to rescue the son of an Indian crime lord. Hooda played a pivotal role. His action sequences found massive praise by the critics. The actor has revealed how much he enjoyed shooting the action scenes in the film.

“I got a great gun and I was waiting to fire some blanks and be like Rambo. I’ve never done this kind of action before. It was really, really cool. The stunt team in this movie was absolutely amazing whether it is driving, guns or hand-to-hand combat,” he said. On the work front, Hooda will be next seen alongside Salman Khan, Disha Patani and Jackie Shroff in Prabhudeva's 'Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai'.

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18 - 24 July 2020

Shraddha is third most-followed Bollywood actor on Instagram

by Vallisa Chauhan

Actor Shraddha Kapoor has crossed the 50 million followers mark on Instagram, making her the third most-followed Bollywood actor on the platform.

She is only preceded by Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra with 50.3 million, and 54.7 million followers respectively. Alia Bhatt stands fourth on the list with approximately 47.8 followers.

Like all other celebrities, Shraddha has been extremely active on her social media accounts, sharing pictures and videos of how she is spending the lockdown and self-isolation periods.

On the work front, Shraddha had two releases this year – Remo D'Souza's 'Street Dancer 3D' starring Varun Dhawan, Prabhudeva, Nora Fatehi, and Raghav Juyal.

She also starred in 'Baaghi 3' alongside Tiger Shroff, Riteish Deshmukh and Ankita Lokhande.

Four best friends navigating through life Four friends who can afford to drink their sorrows through alcohol meet whenever one is in a crisis to support add other and help each other get through life.

Taapsee's 'Looop Lapeta' likely to get Covid-19 insurance Actress Taapsee Pannu's 'Looop Lapeta' is most likely to become the first Indian movie to get a Covid-19 special insurance. Producers Atul Kasbekar said they are in touch with a legal firm to formulate a Covid-19 insurance for all their future projects.

He said, “We are in talks with the legal expert, Anand Desai of DSK Legal. Insuring a film so far implied guarding the product against unforeseen incidents like the illness of an actor or occurrence of natural calamities leading to delays in the schedule. Since Covid is a new development, we are working out the details of what the insurance plan should entail.”

He added, “Hypothetically, if a crew member tests positive, the

Genre: Indian television series Duration: 10 episodes

entire unit will have to be quarantined, leading to the shoot being halted. If the film is covered under the insurance plan, the producers will not incur a financial loss stemming from the delay.”

The official remake of `1998 German film 'Run Lola Run', the film is about a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutsche Mark in 20 minutes to save her boyfriend's life. Announcing the film, Taapsee had written, “Right, so here’s yet another announcement from my stable. I’m on a roll. Or shall I say in a loop? Stoked to announce Sony Picture India and Ellipsis Entertainment’s crazy thriller-comedy, “Looop Lapeta”, an adaptation of the cult classic “Run Lola Run.”

Varun Dhawan surprises school kids Actor Varun Dhawan surprised his young fans over the weekend, as he decided to interact with them through a video call. The official handle of a Nashik school posted screenshots of the kids chatting with Varun. They wrote, “Thank you for making our day!! We love you loads and loads.”

The official handle of the school had captioned the post as, “Our Junior Head Boy Yogansh says, ‘This was the best surprise of the year’. We couldn’t agree more. Thank you @varundvn for being so patient and answering the numerous questions of your lil fans. We loved hearing you. Thank you for this ‘ lovely surprise’.

Varun recently celebrated crossing the 30 million followers mark on Instagram and shared a video featuring his film journey. “30 million #varuniacs Thank u for believing in me Keep moving on the beat Thank u @stevenroythomas for this edit,” he captioned the video.

These four woman, Sayani playing Damini an investigative journalist, Bani playing Umang a bisexual trainer, Kirti playing Anjana a single mother and lawyer and Maanvi playing Sidhi, an only child from a rich family, are trying to navigate their way through life in Mumbai where they all have flaws but seem to find a common ground in alcohol but each of the woman have their own issues that they are delaying with.

Sidhi being ridiculed by her mother for being fat and always embarrassing her in front of her so called friends and not being able to find a husband. In an attempt to make herself feel good about her body she starts showing off her body on a sex site and realises that she can’t command an audience that makes her feel amazing.

Umang is a bisexual gym trainer who left her family home in the Punjab where she was in love with a girl who ended up marrying her brother and now she is living her own life in Mumbai where she moved to thinking it’s very open to different sexualities, she is now training a Bollywood actress who she starts a secret relationship with.

Anjana is a single mother whose ex husband is now dating another woman who she feels is trying to play mother to their daughter.

Damini is a confused investigating journalist who believes the truth needs to be told when it comes to news but her hard hitting journalistic tactics are not going down well with the board and they decide to bring in someone else to do her job. She is also split between three different men, one who she is just using for sex, one who is her gynaecologist and one who she doesn’t even know could be a contender. She also has severe OCD which she is trying to deal with.The four woman meet at the Truck Bar to help each other solve their problems and help each other through life.

This is a great fun filled adult comedy which shows the adult life in Mumbai. It is an easy to watch drama with 10 episodes released so far on Amazon Prime. It is an amazing time pass type show if you have watched yourself through all the films online and need something different to keep you entertained.

You can get in touch with Vallisa: djvallisa@gmail.com

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18 - 24 July 2020

Hansika flooded with birthday wishes Hansika Motwani has carved a niche for herself with her gripping performances, strong personality and charming screen presence. The lovely lady has won the love of countless fans, courtesy her bubbly nature

and bindass attitude.

Now, she finds herself in the news for a surprising reason.

Many fans took to Twitter to wish the leggy lass, thinking it's her birthday. However, the demure damsel herself set the

record straight when she clarified her birthday falls on August 9.

The actress will next be seen in her 50th film, 'Maha', which also features STR in a cameo and is directed by UR Jameel.

First look of Prabhas' romantic drama is as charming as it gets The first look of Prabhas and Pooja Hegde's next film is out, and it looks beautiful! Titled 'RadheShyam', the magnum opus will be released in 2021.

The poster shows both actors embracing each other while emerging from ocean waves. We can see Italy's landmark historical monuments like the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

Directed by Radha Krishna Kumar, 'RadheShyam' also stars Bhagyashree, Murli Sharma, Sachin Khedekar, Priyadarshi, Sasha Chettri, Kumaal Roy Kapur and Sathyan. The mega-budget trilingual is being simultaneously shot in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Sharing four posters in English, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam, Prabhas wrote on his Instagram handle, “This is for you, my fans! Hope you like it.” Coproducer Bhushan Kumar tweeted, “Jab Tak Rahenge Suraj Chand, Yaad Rahenge Ye #RadheShyam!”

Bankrolled by T-Series and UV Creations, 'RadheShyam' is Prabhas' latest stint after his last 'Saaho' failed to impress the audience in 2019.

Tamil stars, technicians face up to 50 per cent pay cut Vijay Deverakonda introduces his new Siberian husky Actor Vijay Deverakonda flaunted his cutest little pet to the world in a set of new candid pictures that have since gone viral on social media. The actor was seen bonding with his Siberan husky, named Storm.

On the work front, the actor will be next seen in Puri Jagannadh's upcoming Telugu-Hindi bilingual action film 'Fighter'. Vijay plays a fighter with a stutter. Vijay underwent mixed martial arts classes in Thailand in preparation for the character.

“The film will be shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi, and will be dubbed into other regional languages as well. Besides Telugu, I am planning to dub my lines in Hindi as well,” Vijay had said. He also has an yet-untitled Telugu project with filmmaker Indraganti Mohan Krishna in the pipeline.

Members of the Tamil Film Producers' Council have reportedly decided to cut down pay of top Tamil stars and technicians through a video conference.

Producer SR Prabhu was quoted in the report as saying, “This is not just about top stars. We are looking at ways on how to tackle this loss of 40-50 per cent, faced by producers in this scenario. For some 50 per cent may be reduced, but for others, 20 per cent may be sufficient. We are trying to bring in a basic guideline of what can be reduced. This is our first agenda. We will discuss other production costs as well.”

He added that the decision was taken unanimously. “This is a unanimous decision but this is not the first time producers have decided to reduce pay. Such meetings have been held in the past too where producers have decided to cut down pays of big stars. However, it has not worked out as intended always,” Prabhu said. It needs to be known that a few actors and filmmakers from the Tamil film fraternity have already voluntarily announced pay cuts. Actor Vijay Antony announced a pay cut of 25 per cent for his next three projects.

20:30: BARRISTER BABU

TV Listing

21:00: BALIKA VADHU - LAMHE

21:00: NAATI PINKY KI LAMBI

PYAAR KE

SATURDAY 18 JULY

LOVE STORY

21:30: PAVITRA BHAGYAA

11:00: DESI BEAT SEASON 2

SATURDAY 18 JULY

18:00: BFFS WITH VOGUE (SEASON 2)

22:00: UTTARAN

18:30:INDIA UNLIMITED 19:00:UTTARAN

20:00:NAAGIN (SEASON 4)

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 20 JULY FRI 24 JULY 2020

21:00:DESI BEAT RESET

21:00:KHATRON KE KHILADI

SUNDAY 19 JULY

15:30: SRIMAD BHAGWAT

18:30:

DESI BEAT RESET

19:30: CHOTI SARDAARNI

20:00:

NAAGIN (SEASON 4)

19:00: ISHQ MEIN MARJAWAN 2 20:00: SHAKTI

20:30: SHUBHARAMBH

19:00:

21:00:

21:00:

UTTARAN

DESI BEAT RESET

KHATRON KE KHILADI

17:00: DHARAM THI GUJARATI

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 20 JULY FRI 24 JULY 2020 8:00:

8:30:

TERE NAAL ISHQ

BHARADWAJ BAHUEIN

13:00: SWARAGINI

15:30: JAI SHRI KRISHNA

16:00: DHARAM THI GUJARATI 16:30: RASOI SHOW

17:30: CHHUTA CHHEDA 18:00: TUM KAUN PIYA 18:30: DIL KA RISHTA

19:00: MERE HUMRAHI

19:30: OM NAMAH SHIVAY

19:00: FEET UP WITH THE STARS (SEASON 2)

19:30: OM NAMAH SHIVAY

20:30: DESI BEAT SEASON 2 21:00: BALIKA VADHU

SUNDAY 19 JULY

17:00:

DHARAM THI GUJARATI

18:00:

DESI BEAT SEASON 3

20:30:

DESI BEAT SEASON 2

19:30:

21:00:

OM NAMAH SHIVAY BALIKA VADHU

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West Indies take lead in first test Jermaine Blackwood made a superb 95 as the West Indies beat England by four wickets in the first Test at Southampton on Sunday.

The West Indies, set 200 to win on the last day, were reeling at 27-3 after England fast bowler Jofra Archer's early double strike.

Blackwood, however, held firm until, in sight of just his second Test century, he drove England stand-in captain Ben Stokes to James Anderson at mid-off, with the visitors needing just 11 more runs to win. But John Campbell, forced to retire hurt on one after being struck on the toe

by Archer, returned to hit the winning runs. West Indies captain Jason Holder, the world's top-ranked Test allrounder ahead of Stokes, was 14 not out.

The match was a personal and tactical triumph for Holder, who took a Test-best of 6-42 in England's lowly first innings 204 after Stokes, leading the side in the absence of Joe Root, won the toss and batted. Although they hold the Wisden Trophy,

the West Indies have not won a Test series in England for 32 years.

But this victory put them 1-0 up with two to play in a behind closed doors series ahead of next week's second Test at Old Trafford. It was a thoroughly deserved success for the West Indies, who went ahead with their tour despite more than 44,000 deaths in Britain from the coronavirus during the pandemic.

But it might have been a different story for England on Sunday had they not given Blackwood several reprieves.

The 28-year-old Jamaican had made just five when he edged off-spinner Dom Bess only

for Stokes, moving at slip, to drop the chance. And he had moved on to 20 when wicketkeeper Jos Buttler floored a one-handed chance down the legside off Stokes.

Leg-byes were signalled but Blackwood would have been out on review had Buttler held on. England then squandered a possible run-out chance when Zak Crawley fumbled. But with West Indies needing exactly 100 more for victory, Barbados-born quick Archer defied a docile pitch to produce a rearing 90 mph delivery that Roston Chase, on 37, could only divert to Buttler via his glove and

helmet. It was the end of a valuable stand of 73.

The diminutive Blackwood pressed on, cover-driving both Bess and Anderson, England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker, for two of his dozen boundaries in a 154-ball innings. Archer had earlier made a useful 23 before he was last man out in England's second innings 313.

West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel took 5-75 in 21.2 overs -- his sixth fivewicket haul in his 46 Tests.

Archer then reduced West Indies to 7-2, having gone wicketless in the first innings after being selected ahead of dropped veteran Stuart Broad. He got Kraigg Brathwaite to play on and had Shamarh Brooks lbw for a duck. Shai Hope, whose two Test hundreds came in a win over England at Headingley three years ago, was then bowled for nine by Mark Wood. But it was England's loss of five wickets for just 30 runs late Saturday, a collapse sparked by Holder's dismissal of Stokes, that proved more important at the finish.

Lewis Hamilton wins Styrian Grand Prix with ease Six-time formula one champion and Mercedes racer Lewis Hamilton opened his account for the 2020 season as he romped home to a fine victory at the Styrian Grand Prix.

Following his win, Hamilton stated that the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg is one of his 'weak circuits' and that is why he is more happy with the podium in the second race of the year. This was only his second win at the circuit, having earlier won in 2016.

"This is one of my weak circuits so to get a

Lewis Hamilton

performance like this today, I'm over the moon," Hamilton was quoted as saying by told Sky Sports.

"I'm so happy, but I also know there is a long way to go. Last weekend was

d e f i n i t e l y psychologically challenging. To have the penalties, being called into the stewards before the race and get a penalty, and another later in the race... that was definitely not easy.

"All you can do is channel the energy and focus on the future. So I stayed here, trained, ate and slept well. I worked hard with Bono (race engineer) and the guys to understand where last weekend went wrong and correcting it," he

added.

It was a good day for Mercedes as Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished onetwo in the race. Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished third while Ferrari hostshot duo Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc couldn't finish the race after colliding with each other.

This was the first time in the history of the sport that two back-to-back races were held at the same circuit.

While the first race at the venue was called Austrian Grand Prix, the second one was named after the region, thus called as Styrian GP.

Olympic-bound boxers in soup for flouting rule India’s elite boxers Vikas Krishan, Satish Kumar and Neeraj Goyat have landed themselves in a soup after flouting the quarantine rules for coronavirus at the NIS centre in Patiala, where the country’s Tokyo-bound men and women boxers have been assembling for a national camp, scheduled for August 1start.

Vikas (69kg) and Satish (+91kg) have already secured quota places for Tokyo. Satish holds the distinction of being the first Indian boxer to have qualified for Olympics in the super heavyweight category.

Neeraj, meanwhile, is the country’s star professional boxer who made a successful return to the pro circuit after almost a year in March.

The irresponsible behaviour of the country’s premier boxers has left the

Sports Authority of India (SAI) redfaced. SAI has taken up the responsibility of organising national camps due to the derecognition of all 57 national sports federations (NSFs) by the Delhi High Court. Admitting the quarantine-protocol breach, SAI has launched an investigation into the matter and has vowed to take stern action against “erring players and officials” following an investigation into the matter.

SAI hasn’t ruled out possible suspension from the camp for these boxers, while also initiating action against NIS executive director (ED), Raj Singh Bishnoi, for the embarrassing lapse.

“We are investigating it.

We will take action against erring players and officials after a quick investigation.

For the record, our new guidelines require quarantine for seven days. On the sixth day, the (covid-19) tests are

conducted and, on getting the negative report, athletes are allowed to mix with other quarantined athletes,” SAI said in a statement.

“Apparently, a few athletes who reported late (at the NIS) were staying separately from the already quarantined athletes, for prevention of any infection, in the hostel inside the campus, which was isolated from other hostels where the athletes were housed.

However, they were also tested and post negative results were allowed in the hostel inside the campus and only after obtaining due undertaking from them that they would follow the quarantine process. Despite the undertaking, they allegedly mixed with the other athletes and a coach in the campus,” the statement said.

in brief GAVASKAR SLAMS NASSER HUSSAIN FOR HIS COMMENT Batting great Sunil Gavaskar has slammed former England skipper Nasser Hussain for his comments on the Indian team not being tough enough before Sourav Ganguly took over as captain. Hussain had earlier spoken about how tough Ganguly-led Team India were on Star Sports show "Cricket Connected". "Nasser (Hussain) went on to say that earlier the team would be wishing the opposition good morning and smiling at them etc. See this perception: That if you are nice then you are weak. That unless you are in the face of the opposition, you are not tough," Gavaskar wrote. "Is he suggesting that Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh to name just a few were not tough? That just because they went about their business without any chest-thumping, swearing, screaming and pumping their arms in obscene gestures, they were weak?" Gavaskar further questioned about Hussain's knowledge of the Indian teams before Ganguly was appointed captain in the year 2000.

HOCKEY INDIA PREZ ASKED TO STEP DOWN The Sports Ministry has asked Hockey India (HI) president Mushtaque Ahmad to step down, declaring that his 2018 election was violative of the national sports code’s tenure guidelines. In a July 6 letter addressed to HI secretary general Rajinder Singh, the Ministry asked the federation “to conduct fresh election for the post of president” by September 30 for the remaining term. “...the matter has been examined...and it has been observed that Mushtaque Ahmed had earlier served as treasurer in Hockey India from 2010-2014 and secretary general from 2014-2018. The instant term 2018-2022 of Mushtaque as president is his third consecutive term as office-bearer in HI,” the letter said. “Thus his election as president of HI is not in consonance with the government guidelines limiting age and tenure of office-bearers of National Sports Federations,” it added. Under the Sports Code (of 2011), office-bearers of an NSF can have only two consecutive terms of four years each. But after later amendments, a president can hold office for three terms.

BCCI CEO JOHRI’S RESIGNATION ACCEPTED Indian cricket board’s (BCCI) CEO Rahul Johri has stepped down from his position. Johri had tendered his resignation in December last year which was finally accepted by the board last week. As BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah were settling down in their roles, Johri was given an extension after he had tendered his resignation. “He has decided to move on a long time ago. He wanted to leave after the IPL if it had happened as per schedule. But BCCI thought they could use his services during these uncertain times to keep the board functioning amid lockdown,” a BCCI source said. Johri was brought in when Anurag Thakur was the BCCI president in 2016.

He was seen as the key man in the day-to-day running of BCCI when the SC disqualified all the veteran officebearers. He became the trusted lieutenant of the SCappointed committee of administrators.

BALL TAMPERING DURING 1989 INDIA-PAK SERIES Former India wicketkeeper Kiran More has said ball tampering was almost a norm during the team’s 1989 Test tour of Pakistan. More, however, said that neither side reported the other for it and everyone learnt how to scratch the ball and then generate reverse swing. “In those days, scratching the ball was allowed, so you used to get reverse swing, big time,” More said on a podcast.

“It was like, nobody used to complain from both sides.

Everybody used to scratch the ball and reverse swing the ball. It was difficult to bat, it was not easy to bat.

Even Manoj Prabhakar learned on our team how to scratch that ball and reverse swing that ball and Pakistan found it challenging.” More said that the umpires were pretty much powerless to deal with it.

While the officials had a word with captains K Srikkanth and Imran Khan, there wasn’t too much of a difference because of it. Wasim Akram was the highest wicket taker with 18 scalps while Prabhakar had taken 11.