AV 19th November 2022

Shefali Saxena

Director Assured HR Solutions

grew up in Harrow Mina is the Director of Assured HR Solutions an outsourced international recru itment company which specialises in supporting the NHS and Social Care providers and provides out sourced HR services to small and medium sized enterprises

Following a racial attack during Diwali celebrations at a Hindu Temple, Mina helped form the Hindu Forum of Britain in 2003 This encouraged her to take a stand and thus began her political career

In May 2022, Mina was elected for the third time as a Councillor in Belmont Ward, Harrow She helped the Conservative Party overturn the Labour majority and is now a Member of the Cabinet and is a Portfolio Holder for Housing, working on regeneration plans, supporting Ukrainian refugees, ensuring the vulnerable and elderly in society are supported Mina has a strong passion for diversity particularly, the Indian culture and inte gration of the community, she was previously a Trustee for Age UK and remains actively involved with several charities

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

I feel most at home in a space occupied by people I love and being in a calm, and peaceful atmosphere I feel most at home in Harrow where I live with my community who are very kind, empathic and supportive and we are always there for each other Whenever I travel, I look forward to return ing home where I have lived all my life, the place that I was raised and grew up

2) What are your proudest achievements?

Raising my son up as a single parent whilst pursuing my career aspirations was challenging My journey was tough but I stood by the values and principles my father instilled in me I’m proud that my son is now a Consultant Geriatrician in a London Hospital

I’m also very proud of my company Assured HR Solutions, which has expanded signif icantly over the last 2 years We are now working to support Nurses across the globe to work in the NHS and Social Care in the UK It’s a rewarding feeling helping peo ple with a life changing opportunity to work in the UK

3) What inspires you?

I’m inspired to support people get the opportunities they need in life so they can reach their full potential We live in a world where inequalities are endemic, whether it’s job prospects, career progression or health care outcomes I tr y to support people through my role as being a Councillor, my HR organisation and the philanthropic work I do

4) What has been biggest obstacle in your career?

Being divorced with a child, at a young age, was a taboo in the Indian community and at times I felt ostracised However, this ignited my passion to stand f irm and achieve my ambitions Despite f inancial constraints and isolation from the commu nity, I was able to through sacrif ice and hard work achieve a successful career 5) Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?

My father made sacrif ices and worked hard to give my family the best opportuni ties in life I learned the principles of hard

work, determination, self conf idence and perseverance from my father He was a humble and hard working man who did a lot of community service He cultivated the values of Mahatma Gandhi in me of helping others and working for the community I thank him for these values and he is always in my thoughts

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

As a single parent I had a fear of the cost of living at that time And now I’m helping hundreds of vulnerable people, many of which would be homeless, have security and a comfortable place they can call home Being the Portfolio Holder for Housing is an honour, as I was in a similar position to many of the residents I speak to and so I can relate to them through f irst hand experi ence and support them through there diff i culties and give them optimism of what can be achieved in life 7) And the worst?

Due to shortage of properties in Harrow, keeping people in emergency or temporar y accommodation is the worst feeling However, through our regeneration programme we hope to be able to provide long term and secure housing for them 8) What are your long term goals?

My biggest long term goal is to make Assured HR an established healthcare recruitment partner for the NHS and Social Care providers There are currently over 165,000 vacancies in social care, and inter national recruitment is the only sustainable way we can solve the workforce crises I also want to ensure we support the people of Harrow through our ambitious regener ation plans to build more affordable homes for Harrow residents

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

We have seen tumultuous times in the leadership of our country I believe a corpo rate approach to management should be brought in With my HR hat on, I would like to see performance managed with transpar ent key performance indicators, account ability for Cabinet members and a clear code of conduct Government Ministers need to show better discipline and account ability for their roles to ensure manifesto commit ments are stuck to 10)

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

Mother Theresa, for being a representative of uni versalism She also believed in universal brotherhood and she loved all religions and said everyone must become better human beings from their own religious back grounds by doing acts with LOVE She served people not based on their country, reli gion or colour or gender but simply based on need

Boy gets highest IQ score beating Al bert Einstein

Yusuf Shah,11, has achieved a higher IQ score than two of the world’s most famous g en i us es H e too k th e Mensa test and scored 162 the maximum IQ for under 18s, putting him in the top one per cent of all people

It is believed that Stephen Hawking scored 160 and Albert Einstein, who although never off i

cially took the test, is believed to have got the same

He said: ‘I have always wanted to know if I was in the top two per cent of peo ple who take the test

‘It feels special to have a certif icate for me and about me ’

He hopes to study mathematics at Cambridge

or Oxford and said he loves doing anything that stimu lates his brain

Most of the time when he is not studying, he enjoys sudokus and solving Rubik’s cubes

In Januar y, he started playing with the iconic cubes and it only took him one month before he could solve them with ease

Rishi Sunak becomes first British PM to meet Russia since war began

Rishi Sunak looks at the G20 summit in Indonesia as an o pp o rtuni ty to c all o ut Vladimir Putin’s “barbarism” and force Russia to confront the global suffering caused by its “senseless campaign of violence”

As per the sources in Downing Street, the high light of the PM's message will

be the economic impact of what is happening in Ukraine, and in particular his argument that "every house hold on the planet is feeling the impact of Putin's war

World leaders will be dis cussing how we can tackle food insecurity and soaring energy prices at a global level

Mr Sunak has put for ward a f ive point economic plan that includes calling for an end to the "weaponisa tion of food production and distribution a clear attack of Russia previously block ing grain from leaving Ukraine

The PM also called for global trade to be opened up

Man dies after blaze rips through West London home

A 34 year old man died after a huge f ire destroyed a house in West London on Sunday afternoon (Novem ber 14) Ali Khan was killed in the f ire and his mum Bobbie Wason was also in the house, along with a 70 year old homeless woman who is currently in an induced coma

After 4pm, the f ire start ed on Netley Road, just off Ealing Road, Brentford, and it took the London Fire Brigade over two hours to put out the blaze Eight f ire

engines and 65 f iref ighters tackled the f ire at the home

Bobbie believes the f ire began in Ali's room, as she saw his mattress was on f ire

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: "A man has sadly died following a house f ire on Netley Road in Brentford The two storey house f ire was badly dam aged by the blaze Firef ighters found the man on the ground floor He was pronounced dead at the scene

"A woman was rescued by f iref ighters and was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Ser vice crews Another woman left the property before the Brigade arrived and was also taken to hospital

The Brigade was called at 1603 and the f ire was under control by 1714 Fire crews from Chiswick and surrounding f ire stations were at the scene The cause of the f ire is under investiga tion "

Dr Manju Lodha’s “Bharat Bhagya Vidhata, Untold Storie s ” released at Nehru Centre

The b ook “Bha rat Bha gya V id hata , Unt ol d Stori e s ” by renowned writer and s oc ia l ac ti vi st Ma nj u Mangalprabhat Lodha wa s r ele as ed on 4 Nove mbe r a t the Neh ru Ce ntr e in London All the people pr es ent n ot only appreciated the book but als o bought the book in large nu mbers Lord Rami Ran ger, Vi render Sharma MP and Director of Nehru Ce ntr e Ami sh Tri pat hi we re pres en t as s pec i al guests Manju Lodha's hus b an d an d Ma har as htra Tou r i sm Mi ni s ter M ang alpr abha t Lodha were also present on the occasion

The book pays homage to India’s greatest revolu tionaries and freedom f ighters and narrates their emotional and inspiring stories that laid the fore front of India’s freedom and constitution It is

about all the heroes of our country, be it soldiers, war riors, kings, and sultans, revolutionaries, freedom f ighters, or politicians who have led the countr y through very tough times and steered the countr y towards betterment and who are unsung heroes

As an ode to visionaries that revolutionized India through social, cultural and industrial reforms, this book is an amalgamation of stories that have inspired Manju Lodha throughout her journey as an author, poet and philan thropist From the power ful story of Savitribai Phule

that revolutionized the Indian education system, to accounts of General Tatya Tope’s rebellious vic tories, this book aims to inspire the youth of our nation through tales that are left untold in our soci ety

Manju Lodha, a writer, poet, and philanthropist is the Chairperson of the Lodha Foundation which is involved in social activi ties She is running 3 libraries, which include the world's largest religious librar y with over six lac religious books and one 'Mobile' librar y She has written 11 books in all

Lest we forget

On Sunday 13 November, the UK observed Remembrance Sunday as the whole of nation came together to pay tribute to the soldiers who gave up their lives to gift us the present we relish today

A new Sikh War Memorial has been inaugurated in Leicester in the form of a bronze statue, paying homage to the contribu tions of the community in the two world wars The statue sitting at Victoria Park has been created by artist Taranjit Singh to mark the sacrifices made by this brave community (see p13 for more) A specially designated book of ‘tactical’ hymns made from water proof material was also launched, so that Sikh soldiers could carry that to battlefield without hesitation

According to sources, more than a million Indian soldiers were employed during the First World War (1914 18), serving in the British army as part of its imperial efforts These brave men fought in France, Belgium, Egypt, East Africa, Gallipoli, Palestine and Mesopotamia Similarly, during the Second World War (1939 45), India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were a part of the British Empire British India officially declared war on the Nazi Germany in September 1939 India, as a part of the Allied Nations, sent over 2 5mn soldiers to fight under British command against the Axis powers

Noor Inayat Khan was a spy princess, with roots in India, was a special operation executive in France on behalf of the UK Noor was born to an Indian father who was a Sufi teacher and American mother, and a direct descendant of Tipu Sultan Noor’s bust is on display at the Gordon Square in Central London and author, historian and journalist Shrabani Basu con tributed immensely into the history of Noor being told widely,

including installation of this bust and writing her acclaimed auto biographical book ‘Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan’ Noor’s story has been now adapted as a play, titled Noor, and will be showcased at Southwark Playhouse in a stage production in London The play, which is written by Azma Dar, is directed at capturing the complexity of Noor’s personality and her astonish ing bravery

T h e H i n d u a n d M u s l i m s o l d i e r s h a v e a l s o c o n t r i b u t e d immensely to the two world wars and Britain has a tremendous opportunity to remember them separately There are two schools of thoughts One thinks that soldiers from the subcontinent should be remembered as a whole as Indians for their sacrifices Afterall they were part of the British Raj, irrespective of their reli gion or location But other thinks that like the Sikh community in the UK, one should build separate memorials for Hindus as well as Muslim soldiers, to isolate the contributions or for just record purposes Afterall our children who are growing up far from their actual motherland, need to learn the history of their forefathers This could be treated as a shout out to the leaders in the Asian community to come together and create memorials and exhibi tions for learnings

But there is another learning from these wars They teach us to be kind, compassionate, empathetic, to understand and have regards for lives, small sacrifices and love But with the current Russia Ukraine or US China tensions, one wonders if humanity ever learns anything from its past mistakes If not, perhaps time to derive lessons from the pages of history and make amends before civilisations collapse or disappear into dusts

Corbyn cannot be Labour or London's future

On 3 November the Indian Journalists’ Association organised a Diwali dinner to welcome the new High Commissioner of India to the UK, HE Vikram Doraiswami The High Commissioner enjoyed the journalist fraternity’s company and joined them for a conver sation, around a table Among the guests was Navendu Mishra, MP for Stockport, who has taken up the monumental task of bringing the Labour party closer to UK’s Hindu community There was no other Tory or Lib Dem MP or Peer present an opportunity lost to meet the Indian foreign correspondents working in the UK, telling the stories of the living bridge to India’s 1 5 billion audience Labour party, perhaps preparing for the general elections, is trying to undo their mistakes under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership Though the Tories have given Britain its first British Indian Prime Minister, there is no denial the diaspora would like to see more community engagements at grassroot level from every party In the meantime, rumours are the Labour party is putting for ward Jeremy Corbyn’s nomination as the Mayor of London London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan, when elected, brought a lot of hopes for struggling Londoners After years of Boris Johnson’s Mayoral role, Londoners looked forward to a change that of course the Tory party candidate Shaun Bailey failed to provide Despite coming very close to winning, Covid 19 brought a break in Bailey’s

momentum Lib Dem candidate Siobhan Benita left the race Having worked in Whitehall, Siobhan had the fortitude and vision to bring the necessary changes to London, including budget for increasing ticket prices and becoming London’s first female Mayor

Sadiq brought hopes of sustainable houses and availability of homes for the first time buyers But with increasing walk outs, strikes and knife crimes, random road closures and diversions, Londoners are perhaps rightly looking for a change Though Khan did not receive UK government’s required cooperation on many occasions, it has become evident politics comes before develop ment and fulfilment of mandates or long due promises

In this scenario, Jeremy Corbyn, a divisive personality, as a candidate for the Mayoral role of the most diverse city of the UK, will be a colossal mistake for the Labour party Perhaps a great opportunity for other parties, but one should not forget how Corbyn alienated the Jews and Hindus within his party and com munity, which led to resignations and demands for his own dis missal Corbyn, an extreme leftist as well as controversial figure cannot be the future of a city like London or its people He is not what London stood or stands for If Khan really wants to move on, the party really needs to choose wisely

The Epitaph on the Kohima War Memorial were composed at the end of the First World War by a Cambridge graduate John Maxwell Edmonds, it reads ‘When you go home, tell them of us and say: for your tomorrow, we gave our today” On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we have 2 minutes silence to mark the end of the First World War and to remember all those who have fought, served, and made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom

I am privileged to be Chairman of the Memorial Gates Council; the Memorial Gates were inaugurated by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2002 and every year on Commonwealth Day in March we hold a cer emony to commemorate the service and sacrifice of the 5 million volunteers who served in the First and Second World Wars from South Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean Inscribed inside the roof of the pavilion of the Gates are the names of the Victoria and George Cross winners, 3 of whom were from my father, Lt General F N Bilimoria’s battalion, the 2/5th Rifles (Frontier Force)

This year on the 11th of November I spoke in a webinar organised by the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE), of which I am proud to be Patron, in which I spoke alongside Air Chief Marshal Fali Major PVSM, AVSM, SC, VM ADC the former Chief of the Indian Air Force and Sir Laurie Bristow KCMG, the f o r m e r B r i t i s h A m b a s s a d o r t o M o s c o w a n d Afghanistan and currently President of Hughes Hall Cambridge We discussed the uncertain world in which we live in and how important our Armed Forces are for the safety of our countries

When her Majesty the Queen sadly passed away on the 8th of September, the whole world looked up in admiration to someone who gave 7 decades of ded icated service; she was the ultimate service leader The motto of Sandhurst, the UK Military academy is ‘ S e r v e t o l e a d ’ M y g r a n d f a t h e r , B r i g a d i e r N D

formally assume the G20 Presidency from 1st December this year India will host the next summit in September next year India’s G20 presidency hopes to provide new strength, direction and perspective to G20 discussions on diverse subjects which include green development, digital transformation, women led develop ment and greater voice to the Global South in issues of interna tional economic cooperation India is also emerging as one of the most important economic powers in the world

The G20 is a premier forum for international economic cooperation and it plays a crucial role in shaping and strengthen ing the global architecture and governance on all major interna tional economic and development issues The membership com prises a mix of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies, representing about two thirds of the world’s popula tion, 85 per cent of global gross domestic product and over 75 per cent of global trade The members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union

Biden and Sunak also met for the first time as US diplomats stepped up pressure to agree a deal on the Northern Ireland pro tocol by the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement next year Biden has signalled he will visit Northern Ireland on the anniversary of the Good Friday agreement next spring Last week the government said elections for the Northern Ireland Stormont assembly could be delayed until April to give talks between the UK and the EU on the controversial Brexit trade arrangements a chance Sunak also had one to one meetings with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo Sunak also had a meeting with PM Modi They had discussed the roadmap for 2030 and the FTA deal Sunak also used the occasion to address the war in Ukraine He placed a five point plan for the global economy during group discussions

During the summit, world leaders also deliberated on key issues of global concern under the Summit theme of “Recover Together, Recover Stronger ” Three working sessions were held as part of the summit agenda These are food and energy security, health and digital transformation

PM Modi who arrived on Monday had interactions with the leaders to brief them on India’s evolving G20 priorities India will

According to Morgan Stanley’s projections, India is on track to surpass Japan and Germany to become the third largest econ omy in the world by 2027 and to have the third largest stock mar ket by 2030 India will be one of only three economies in the world that can generate more than $400 billion annual economic output growth from 2023 onward, and this will rise to more than $500 billion after 2028 India is likewise well positioned to become the global factory, as corporate tax cuts, investment incentives, and infrastructure spending encourage capital invest ments in manufacturing India has close ties with both Japan and China and is seen as a key player in the region

India has emerged as a major stakeholder in the Indo Pacific, explicitly supporting the growth of the concept and focusing on an inclusive approach for the region The concept of the Indo Pacific has become more explicit and assertive in recent years Almost all the major powers in Asia have played one card or another to protect or shape the potential of the Indo Pacific region India has emerged as a major stakeholder in the region, with its focus on an inclusive approach where its interests con verge with those of other regional powers through various mech anisms and organisations

PM Modi and Russian President Putin have very cordial rela tions The world leaders are looking at PM Modi to persuade Putin to end the war in Ukraine, as a Russian missile kill 2 in Poland Though the US is trying to enlist India as a close ally, India wants to follow an independent foreign policy It wants to continue its cordial relations with Russia and India knows that if it joins hands with the US, Russia and China will become closer which is not in the best interest of India India has the opportu nity to get the G20 back on track It’s far too important a plat form to be allowed to sink into irrelevance Framing an appropri ate agenda that can be realised through concrete measures will bring back the spirit of 2008 09 The long term implications of the strategic rivalry between US and China, and the events since 2020 have cast a shadow on global trade This is India’s moment and it must make something substantive of it

Bilimoria, was one of the few Indians to have been commissioned from Sandhurst in between the Frist and Second World War, he was known as a King’s Commissioned Officer My father was commissioned from the Indian Military Academy whose motto is ‘The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time The honour, welfare, and comfort of the men you command come next Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time ’ The most important responsibility of a government is the safety of its citizens and when I spoke in the debate of the 70th Anniversary of NATO in The House of Lords in 2019, I recommended to the government that we needed to increase our defence spending to 3% of GDP, given the uncertain environ ment globally, and sadly 3 years later Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February 2022

We must never take our Armed Forces for granted and always be grateful to them On one of the columns of the Memorial Gates are inscribed the words of the Booker prize winning author and poet, Ben Okri ‘Our future is greater than our past’

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Your body hears everything your mind says Naomi Judd

Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL

The G20 meet in Indonesia's Bali is the first time the State lead ers across the world are meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine It w

President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping Some of the leaders who are attending the meeting include, Joe Biden, Xi J

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (Virtual), British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others

Our future is greater than our past

India plays a crucial role in shaping global politics, as G20 members meet in Indonesia

Shops that connect people with their home countries

Vij aya Popat set up her own food shop Popat Mithai & Farsan back in 2011 in Leicester which has g rown f rom two me mber s of s taff to 15 today In 2 018, an online operation was launched

Serving the South Asian dias pora in the East Midlands city and further afield, sales went up during the coronavirus pandem ic, as customers sought more comfort food

Not just first generation immigrants but those who have recently moved to the UK make up the core customer base, says

Mrs Popat's son Shyam

"During the lockdowns, the website was a total lifesaver, and now we're out of lockdown it has become a thriving arm of the business in itself

"Online sales now account for approximately one quarter to one third of the entire turnover of the business "

Other than importing prod ucts from South Asia, the shop also buys from Kenya

In September, Kenya announced that it would be cre ating a new ministry for Kenyans

Manish Paul's impromptu performance thrills fans in London

A nc hor s i nge r a nd a c tor

Maniesh Paul surprised his fans by choosing to join a local per former during an impromptu gig in London

He was strolling the streets of the city when a local per former identified him and could not contain his excitement

The fan took to Instagram to

thank the star saying, "Thankyou superstar Maniesh Paul for join ing in and singing with me! So happy that India's no 1 host blessed my mic! So lovely to meet you Love you bro!"

Maniesh Paul too posted the video expressing his gratitude for the overwhelming love and response

Cleverly feared losing wife after she was diagnosed cancer

F o reign S ecret ary Jam es

Cleverly has said he "could not speak or sleep" when he found out his wife had breast cancer

Susie Cleverly, 49, was diag nosed with triple positive breast cancer in December 2021 after spotting dimpled skin underneath her right breast the month before nearly a year ago to the day The couple, who have been married for 29 years after meeting at university and have two teenage sons, spoke to Sky News' Beth Rigby

Interviews programme about her diagnosis, how they have coped, and what it has been like to handle it all while holding one of the great offices of state The MP, who was made foreign secretary by Ms Truss in September, said he could not have taken the job if it had been earlier in the year when she was going through chemotherapy Mr Cleverly also admitted there were a couple of times he thought he might lose his wife

Healthcare assistant to pay £26,000 for not disclosing criminal records

A for mer heal thc are as si s tan t must pay an NHS trust more than £26,000 after she failed to di sclose her fraud convic ti ons w hen s he appli e d f or j obs N arm in der Ra yat appl i ed f or d oze ns of post s a t Worcestershire Health and Care Trust but kept quiet about her criminal past

Rayat was found guilty of fraud by false representation in December 2019 She was also convicted for failing to disclose information to make a gain for self/ another or cause/ expose

another to a loss She was sent to prison for 16 months, suspended for two years, ordered to attend a 25 day rehabilitation programme and given a six month curfew Det Insp Emma Wright, of West Mercia Police, said: “This outcome is testament to a thor ough criminal investigation car ried out by officers from the Criminal Investigation Department and goes some way to compensate Worcestershire Health and Care Trust, who have been impacted by the criminal conduct of Rayat

Sir Gavin Williamson quits over 'slit your throat' remark

Over the accusations of bullying a nd sa yi ng he wi ll "c lea r my name of any wrongdoing", Sir Gavin Williamson has resigned from government

An ex civil servant made a formal complaint against the Cabinet Office minister claiming Sir Gavin told them to "slit your throat"

Sharing his resignation letter on Twitter, Sir Gavin said he "refutes the characterisation of these claims", but that the allega tions were "becoming a distrac tion for the good work this gov ernment is doing for the British

people"

The former Cabinet Office minister says claims against him were "becoming a distraction", while Labour says another Tory government has "descended into chaos"

As a result, he had "decided to step back from government" and would "fully comply with the complaints process"

Rishi Sunak, the prime min ister, said he accepted the resig nation "with great sadness", but added: "I support your decision to step back and understand why you have taken it "

living abroad, and US President Joe Biden has announced that he will tell next month's US Africa Leaders Summit in Washington that he wishes to amplify dias pora ties

Olivier Habiyambere, who is based in Paris, is helping to boost Kenyan exports to Europe With the help of his website Kenyan Diaspora Market, he imports food and clothing in bulk from the African country and then sells it to customers across the European continent Mr Habiyambere, who was

raised in Kenya, got an idea for the business when he moved to Paris to study and met others from Kenya and East Africa

Everybody wanted Kenyan products, but the issue was bringing the products from Kenya to here," he says "People could pick up the products when they went to Kenya, but it's not like they could do that every year "

So in April 2022, he launched the business to offer Kenyans in Europe an easier way of buying products from home

PM’s wife has collected £35 million in Infosys dividends since 2020

The Sunak fami ly finances received a £7 mi ll ion boos t today as divi dend payments went out from t he Pri me Mi ni st er ’ s fat her in law’ s I T bus i ness

Rishi Sunak’s heiress wife

Akshata Murty is a 0 93% share holder in Bangalore based Infosys, which distributes its half year dividend to investors today Since 2020 she has now collected £35 million in divi dends Her stake in Infosys, co founded by her father NR Narayana Murthy in 1981, is worth £594 million Sunak’s staggering wealth came under

scrutiny during his battle with Liz Truss over the summer to become the leader of the Conservative party Murty pays tax on all her worldwide income, after agree ing to surrender her ‘ non dom’ tax status in April following pressure from Labour who demanded an explanation for her non dom status

Home Office won't reveal how many migrants arrive illegally

Of the 40,000 channel crossers, how many this year could be said, to a legal standard, to have arrived illegally, is the question Dominic BBC's Home and Legal correspondent trying to find an answer for

Since 28 June 2022, it has been made clear that arriving in the United Kingdom without proper permission is an offence and the penalty is up to four years in jail

This offence of illegal arrival was created by the Nationality and Borders Act by the then

Home Secretary, Priti Patel

Just over a year ago, Tom Pursglove, the then junior minis ters who was in charge for tack ling illegal immigration, explained to MPs that the pro posed new offence aimed to tackle small boat migrants

The Home Office said that 244 people have been arrested "since the Nationality and Borders Act became law in June" But it did not reveal whether they were held for crimes under that Act including the new offence

Many schools considering cutting teachers to save money

In England, a majority of schools are considering cutting teachers or te ac h in g ho urs to s av e money, s ays the boss of a teach ers union

According to the largest ever survey of school leaders, due to Government underfunding and rising costs, more than half of schools in England are looking at staff redundancies, the head teachers’ union has warned In the survey which received responses from more than 11,000 school leaders in England, two thirds (66 per cent)

of headteachers said they will have to make teaching assistants redundant or reduce their hours

Half (50 per cent) of respon dents said they are looking at reducing the number of teachers or teaching hours

National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) general secretary Paul Whiteman said educators were being affected by a “ perfect storm of costs” as school leaders are battling to balance budgets amid “ eye watering energy bills”, spiralling costs and underfunding

in brief PLANS TO DEPORT ASYLUM SEEKERS

CRITICISED

The UK s plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda and tear up the Human Rights Act have been fiercely criticised at a United Nations review Rishi Sunak’s government suffered the embarrassment of countries ranging from the United States and Germany to Angola questioning its human rights record, at the gathering in Geneva Ms Braverman, the scandal hit home secretary sparked outrage by describing the arrival of an unprecedented 38,000 people this year as an “invasion , adopting the language of the far right The Home Office has argued the Rwanda deportation plan can cut the number of small boat crossings across the English Channel, but its own top civil servant disputed the claim

STRIKES PLANNED BY ROYAL MAIL

Royal Mail workers will stage two 48 hour strikes around Black Friday and Cyber Monday as a long running row over pay, jobs and conditions continue The action could have a significant effect on consumers, with these being two of the busiest shopping days of the year However, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has called off a number of walkouts planned for the first half of the month including actions on the 12 and 14 November Royal Mail workers are set to strike on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 November known as Black Friday They will walk out again on Wednesday 30 November and Thursday 1 December Cyber Monday is on 28 November However Royal Mail says it has not yet received formal notification of these new dates The CWU has to provide 14 days notice before they can take any strike action

SADIQ KHAN CALLS IT THE WORST EVER SITUATION FOR LONDON

Sadiq Khan has said he has “never known it so bad” in London after new figures revealed that the cost of living crisis is pushing food banks to breaking point The figures from anti poverty charity The Trussell Trust revealed that more than 1 3 million emergency food parcels had been delivered across the UK to those facing hardship between April 1 and September 30, 2022 an increase of more than 50 per cent compared to the same period in 2019 In London alone, there were 163,524 emergency food parcels delivered in that period more than any other region of the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will unveil the Government’s autumn Budget next week, which was pushed back from its original date of October 31

POLICE CHIEFS CLASH WITH SUELLA BRAVERMAN OVER POLICING CLAIM

Over suggestions they were being consumed with politically correct distractions, Suella Braverman clashed with police chiefs, as she suggested officers had lost the confidence to crack down on disruptive protests The Home Secretary said officers should concentrate on “common sense policing”, insisting their time is “precious” and the public wants them fighting crime, not “debating gender on Twitter” She also said that to take action against protesters like Just Stop Oil who she described as “radicals, the road blockers, the vandals, the militants and the extremists”, there had been an “erosion of confidence” However, Ms Braverman s comments came after one of Britain s most senior police chiefs asked officers to “stand tall” and defend themselves against accusations of being “woke”

Hinduja family feud over?

A feud between members of the UK's richest family, the Hindujas is finally said to be over Srichand Parmanand Hinduja, 86, is the eldest of the four brothers behind the Hinduja Group conglomerate They were top of this year's Sunday Times Rich List with their £28bn collective fortune up £11bn on the previous year

Public nursing home over private care?

But a High Court feud over a bank the family owns in Geneva has meant Srichand Hinduja's needs since he was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, "have become marginalised", Mr Justice Hayden said

Court judgments that have been made public have revealed that the two daughters of the eldest brother Srichand Hinduja, and the younger brothers led by Gopichand Hinduja were inimical to the well being of Srichand According to media reports, the brothers have agreed to end the family dispute

The second most senior judge at the Court of Protection said that despite the "extraordinary scope and reach of their financial capacity" the family had failed to organise his care, "driving him to con sider a placement in a public nursing home"

Mr Hayden has been quoted in the press, saying that a "private residence with a full care package" would be the best way to achieve "peace and dignity" for Mr Hinduja "Such a plan requires a financial settlement to be put in place to ensure the resilience of the care pack age," he said

But he added that "suitable accom

modation and appropriate care" had not been arranged and he has been "placed at a disadvantage by his own family members' conduct I entirely accept the O f f i c i a l S o l i c i t o r ' s a n a l y s i s t h a t

Srichand Hinduja's best interests have been consistently marginalised in con sequence of the parties' shifting posi tions," he said ”

A confidential agreement

G o p i c h a n d H i n d u j a a s s u r e d t h e judge the "feud was over"

"The Hinduja family matter regard i n g t h e h e a l t h a n d w e l f a r e o f S P [Srichand] has already been resolved amicably between all parties and today's j u d g m e n t s o l e l y c o n c e r n e d w h e t h e r those matters should remain private," a spokesperson for the Hinduja family said in an emailed statement to Live Mint

The Court of Appeal's ruling states that the Hinduja family has reached "a confidential agreement" to settle litiga

tion in London and abroad

Statement from daughters

A s t a t e m e n t f r o m d a u g h t e r s M s Shanu and Ms Vinoo Hinduja following the judgment said: "We have always lived and acted according to the instruc tions given to us by our father These are in line with his values, which have been instilled in us since childhood

"We have as any other children would have done cared for our parents and have worked in their best interests. Our absolute priority has been to ensure that our parents' wishes are fulfilled and that their dignity and well being are protected

"While we are pleased that the dis pute surrounding the health and welfare of our father has been resolved, a final settlement with respect to the broader disputes still needs to be reached, so that we can fulfil the wishes of our par ents for security and dignity in their final years "

Readers demand answers

ABPL Group approached Mr GP Hinduja to answer some questions for the readers of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar and we were informed that the ‘matter is resolved’ We were also told that it is their ‘personal mat ter’

In our email, to Mr GP Hinduja the newsweekly informed him that our Editor in Chief Mr CB Patel has received a number of calls with questions from the readers of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar Therefore we requested his response to the report about the court ruling involving your family in the media The newsweekly aims to fully under stand his standpoint and explain better to our readers In the messages and calls received from our readers, many have wondered why a wealthy and renowned family would consider putting an old man in a public nursing home when they could easily afford the best private care at home

Some of the questions from our readers that were sent to Mr Hinduja sought answers to the fact that he, as a public figure, has talked about philanthropy, Indian culture and its val ues, family unity and how wealth is nothing without family unity

Mr Hinduja has been an icon for the com munity, globally, yet the readers wonder why did he block information and the right to report the news about the family dispute over the last two years Another reader demanded to know whether SP’s daughters received equal status and rights as the sons of the Hinduja family

Some readers of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar also suspect that this could be a potential issue faced by many Indian families where lawyers and accountants are the only winners if families fall out over money and property

We did not hear from Mr GP Hinduja by the time we went to press on Tuesday evening

LAST CHANCE TO SAVE THE NHS

Healthcare workers need to be paid better. The private sector needs to put in its bit to clear backlogs, and government needs to come up with a master plan to save the NHS. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has warned that the NHS is on the brink of collapse. Hunt warned “we’re all going to be paying a bit more tax,” as he unveiled his Autumn Statement Budget on Thursday. Health leaders have demanded extra funds for the NHS amid record waiting times. As nurses prepare for their first-ever strike, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham added: “Services are at breaking point while workers are struggling to make ends meet. The blame lies squarely with the government. The Prime Minister should use the Budget to avert industrial action and fix the ongoing tragedy of underfunding across the NHS.”

Hunt was told by Sky News presenter Sophy Ridge that “Frankly this doesn't look like a health service that can find efficiency savings - this looks like a health service that is on the brink of collapse”.

The latest figures for September 2022 show a record high of almost 7.1 million people waiting for treatment. 2.87 million patients waiting over 18 weeks for treatment, a further increase from last month. 401,537 patients waiting over a year for treatment – which is around 308 times the 1,305 people waiting over a year pre-pandemic in September 2019.

BMA reports that a median waiting time for treatment of 14 weeks – is significantly higher than the pre-Covid duration.

Asian Voice spoke to NHS doctors and volunteers working towards resolving this looming crisis and we gather that healthcare professionals are on the pandemic has broken the staff to their knees. Yet, both British Medical Association and doctors do have solutions in mind to come out of this crisis. There are also loopholes in the public, figures which indicate that one in three beds are occupied by patients who are fit to be discharged. How can the NHS, the general public and the government come together to get back the healthcare system on its feet? We find out.

Waiting times have rocketed Since the lockdown eased demand has steadily risen, reducing performance against targets. There were a total of over 2.2 million A&E attendances in October 2022 – a slight increase from the 2.0 million in September 2022. Docto rs and healthcare workers working amid ‘toughest circum stances’

Dr Latifa Patel, British Medical Ass ociatio n (BMA) representative body chair, exclusively to ld Asian V o i c e, “Doctors and their colleagues working across the health service are doing all they can amid some of the toughest circumstances many have ever experienced. They are exhausted – physically, mentally and emotionally –having worked through a pandemic and now facing huge demand and a record backlog in care.

“We’re looking at the record –and growing – waiting lists with great trepidation, and share the huge frustration of those people who have already been waiting too long to get the treatment they need.

We want patients to know that doctors will put everything into meeting their needs, but at the moment it is an uphill struggle, resulting from years of understaffing, under-resourcing and underfunding, only made worse by the pandemic.” Giving a solution to clearing the backlog, Dr Patel told the newsweekly, “Key to addressing the backlog is recruiting and crucially retaining staff across health and social care so there are enough to treat people. This means employers supporting staff and their well-being, but most urgently properly valuing them with improved pay and conditions. The government must reverse more than a decade’s worth of real-term pay cuts for doctors and address absurd pension taxation rules that penalise them for taking on extra work to look after patients. Only by doing so will they stem the flow of doctors away from the NHS when they are needed most.”

Pandemic has broken the NHS and brought the staff to its knees

Dr Indranil Chakravorty MBE, a Physici an, Researcher in i nnova tion, health Inequ alities, and medi cal education told us that the pandemic has broken the NHS and brought the staff to its knees. The backlog of missed procedures, delayed appointments and consequences for missed or delayed diagnoses of life-threatening conditions is colossal.

He said, “In the NHS this week, we as frontline clinical staff discussed an imminent crisis-management strategy which united the most junior to the most senior professional in experiencing a sensation of impending doom like never before. To mitigate the risk of overcrowding in emergency departments, the ambulances queuing outside with high-risk patients waiting for delayed necessary treatment, and some who were inevitably going to suffer harmful consequences of such inordinate delays or suboptimal therapy - we agreed to spread the risk and manage extra patients in corridors or empty spaces within clinical areas. A process described as ‘onboarding’ and trialled with mixed success in some hospitals in previous winters.”

Dr Chakravorty believes that the anxiety in offering suboptimal treatment, missing life-saving treatment and over-burdening a workforce who are already traumatised and tired by the pandemic. “Albeit, this is a clever strategy to spread the risk from the front door to the rest of the clinical areas, there is no denying that while the emergency departments have a higher number of clinical staff, most ‘downstream wards’ and clinical areas are usually running on

empty on most ‘good’ days,” he said. But what can the government do? How can the public help? Dr Chakravorty said, “There is no easy solution. However, there are some measures which can reduce the pressure. The UK Chief Medical Officers and the regulator for doctors wrote to all professionals that if a ‘crisis’ were to strike, the traditional approach of holding the individual clinical professional punitively responsible for any acts of omission/ commission (human error) would now take the working environment and pressures into account when judging them. This reassurance is designed to reduce the anxiety of being held responsible for delivering care in an unsafe setting for the individual.”

He believes that still, it does not take away the moral, ethical and ultimately legal responsibility of providing the best possible care for every individual patient under one’s care at all times. There are no robust systems to record and classify the clinical risk of all patients within each clinical area.

One in three beds occupied by patients well enou gh to be dis charged

A report published in the Guardian has revealed that as many as one in three hospital beds in parts of England are occupied by patients who are well enough to be discharged, with a chronic lack of social care meaning many do not have suitable places to go.

Mental health consequences for clinicians

According to Dr Indranil, in good times, the NHS records around 3000 deaths and 300,000 episodes of human error each year. “The mental health consequences for clinicians who may inadvertently find themselves in such situations are immeasurable. Hospitals must provide a safe and responsive system for escalating concerns and suitably trained crisis management teams to respond when the alarms are sounded. The reassurance may be there, but no such adequately resourced teams exist in most hospital settings. The NHS Trusts will need to drastically ration the number of patients brought in for ‘faceto-face’ clinical reviews and use telephone, video consultations and remote monitoring for most nonemergency processes. The community diagnostic hubs will need to be up and running in every hot spot, so the hospital diagnostics are kept for emergencies or cancer detection. In primary care, every clinician should be pressed into working independently, within their competency and escalating based on evidencebased guidelines,” he added.

When asked what the public can do to help, Dr Chakravorty said,

“The only advice one can give to members of the public is to access their healthcare needs either through their GP practice, using online consultations, pharmacies where possible or accessing the NHS 111 triaging service, unless there is a dire emergency. Ambulances should only be used in an emergency; other forms of transport should be preferred whenever possible when travelling to a clinical facility.

“Ultimately, the public will need to lobby the government to increase investment in the healthcare infrastructure, staffing and resources for health promotion and prevention of diseases. This will inevitably lead to a rise in national insurance contributions, or the NHS will disintegrate into a failed social institution like transport and postal services.”

NHS is an important national asset NHS GP Dr Aaliya Goyal told Asian Voice, “The NHS is an important national asset that should be protected so it is accessible to people when they need it. There is a huge backlog, largely due to the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic. There is also a hidden backlog of patients who require help but haven’t accessed care yet, and this can store up problems for the future.

“We can all work together to ensure the NHS remains sustainable. The government can recognise these pressures by communicating them honestly to patients and removing targets which are unachievable and add to the pressure clinicians feel. They can also direct resources to the services and areas which need it most.

“Workload pressures mean it is even more important to look after our NHS employees with a zero tolerance approach to abuse and access to occupational health services and other services which offer psychological support. The poor pay and working conditions can also contribute to the feeling of being undervalued, adding to the risk of highly trained and skilled staff leaving the NHS.

“Finally we can all educate patients on how we can work together to ensure services are used appropriately. This could be making sure they know when self-care is appropriate, use of online resources, pharmacists, dentists and other healthcare professionals inside and outside of the NHS, while ensuring they feel confident speak to their GP or seek emergency care when they need to.”

To p leadership expert on how NHS is at ‘breaking point’ and why we need to act now

Speaking to Asian Voice, leader-

ship expert Kul Mahay, who spent 30 years working for the police and now works with organisations to help develop cultures where people perform to their very best, action must be taken immediately to support our NHS who feel ‘exhausted, drained and undervalued’.

Other hospitals have reported similar pressures and Kul, from Derby, said: “We all clapped for NHS and key workers during the coronavirus pandemic, but it is now, as hospital wards are full to capacity and there is a massive backlog of appointments, that they need our support.

“It’s not just in hospitals; dental practices are struggling too. GP surgeries are feeling under pressure. They need empathic leadership to help combat low morale, sickness and burnout which, ultimately, poses a risk to patient care.

“People are exhausted, frustrated and sad in healthcare. They are going off sick in droves. I’ve been working with a healthcare sector provider in the Midlands recently which employs 1,400 people. They recognise that, over the last two years, healthcare has been one of the biggest industries affected by the pandemic and that it is important to carry out an internal ‘health check’ on their own teams.

“Like so many other areas of the healthcare industry, this organisation is experiencing high levels of turnover and abstractions and trying to an ever-competitive pool of potential recruits. It is not alone. I am helping many to explore the type of leadership and culture that is much-needed in this post-covid world.”

Kul, who specialises in emotional intelligence and creating healthy cultures, feels that whilst healthcare staff are probably the most affected, other public sector organisations are also experiencing high levels of stress, burn out and turnover from their staff.

He recently spoke to the CEO of the UK College of Policing, Chief Constable Andy Marsh, for his podcast called ‘Human Centred Leadership,’ and there was a clear acceptance that the police service is living through unprecedented times, with multiple challenges experienced over the past two years.

“Often we think of public sector investment as an increase of resources and staff and, to a large extent, that is true,” added Kul.

“However, unless we also invest in the cultures of our great public sector institutions and help them to become organisations that people aspire to be a part of, we will always struggle to deliver the highest quality of service that we can.”

Dr Latifa Patel; Photo credit: British Medical Association

Dr Aaliya Goyal

Kul Mahay

Dr Indranil Chakravorty MBE

The Loomba Foundation and US India Strategic Partnership launch project to empower widows in India

The Loomba Foundation, a n i nte rna ti ona l U N accredited NGO dedicated to improving the lives of w id ow s i n pa rtn er shi p with the US India Strategic F or u m ’ s phi la nthr opic F ou n dat ion The US India Friendship Alliance (USIFA), a charitable arm of USISPF , launched a pro j e ct t oday to empowe r 5 000 w id ows a nd t hei r children in India The beneficiaries will be provided skills training by the implementing partner Lok Bharti

The partnership was launched in the presence of Smt Smriti Irani, Union Minister of Women & Child Development and other distinguished guests like Nandita Bakhshi, President and CEO, Bank of the West and Shri Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

Among the distinguished atten dees were Shiv Nadar, Founder of HCL Technologies; Raj Subramaniam, CEO of FedEx; Tim Roemer, former US Ambassador to India; Veena Reddy, USAID India Chief; and Scott Nathan, US Development Finance Corporation CEO

The reception discussed how The Loomba Foundation and USISPF will jointly work to create an ecosystem that allows widows in India an oppor tunity to sustain themselves as well as become empowered and self suffi cient financially The Loomba Foundation and USIFA announced

the funding amount of USD 400000 to benefit the widows in India, which will be distributed over a period of two years, 2023 and 2024

Lord Raj Loomba, CBE, Founder and Chairman Trustee of The Loomba Foundation, said: “With rising aware ness, we have seen increased efforts from the government as well as the public to tackle the various challenges faced by widows It gives us great pride to see how far we have come in the journey of empowering them towards an independent life We look forward to the continued support from our partners and supporters as we progress on our mission to transform the lives of widows ”

Dr Mukesh Aghi, President & CEO, USISPF, added: “We are proud to be partnering today with The Loomba Foundation to contribute to this important cause and empower the lives of widows in need of assistance through financial support and skill training We believe that for the suc cess of the Prime Minister’s vision of achieving a USD five trillion economy by 2030, women will play a driving role in the workforce ”

The Loomba Foundation and USISPF also addressed the poverty, injustice and complete lack of oppor tunities for millions of widows across the globe at this reception

Axiom DWFM Real Estate Lunch

Axiom DWFM held its sec o nd f ace to fac e p ro perty l unc h o n W ed nesd ay, 2 November at the School of P h ilo so p hy and Ec ono mi c Science in Mandev ille Place, M arylebo ne fo llo wi ng the pandemic and seven virtual lunches on Zoom

J onath an M etli ss, Chairman of Axiom DWFM, highlighted a number of cur rent trends, such as the reduction in house prices, the level of interest rates, the sig nificance of the declining value of the pound and the booming rental market Regarding the current eco nomic situation Alex Brummer, City Editor of the Daily Mail said that it was “not as gloomy as had been made out”

Karyn Jones, Partner at Shaw Gibbs Insolvency and Advisory spoke about the cur rent level of insolvencies in the real estate area of which she considered are likely to rise in the current economic climate Clearly, she said, ris ing interest rates and cash flow issues were a major problem, and data illustrated that the construction sector was particularly hard hit, with a disproportionately high percentage being unable to repay COVID support loans

W il l Cl ou gh of Allsop talked about the continued buyer demand in evidence at recent Allsop auctions and that £180 million of commer cial real estate had been sold at their September and

Sarah

NHS health expert flags up Covid and flu vaccines

Should your winter include vaccinations?

Free Covid 19 and flu vacci nations are offered to people aged 50 and over, pregnant women, older adult care home residents, paid and unpaid car ers, those with certain health conditions and frontline health and care staff They give the best possible protection against seri ous illness from these viruses which circulate more, and cause greatest harm, in winter

Flu vaccines are also offered to young children, primary school aged and some secondary school aged children

Dr Nikki Kanani, the NHS’s Medical Director for Primary Care and Deputy Lead for NHS Covid 19 Vaccination, recently had her flu and Covid 19 vac cines, joining the millions who have come forward since September

She said: “The NHS is offer ing flu and Covid vaccinations at thousands of sites across the country You may even be able to get both at the same time, although this will not always be possible, so the important thing is to get each vaccine as soon as you can ”

The NHS answered our top questions

Do I need another vaccine? The flu vaccine is annual because the viruses that cause flu change every year Immunity from Covid vaccines reduce over time, so those at greater risk should top

up again This year, the next generation bivalent vaccine tar gets original and newer variants of the virus for extra protection

Are they safe? Like all vaccines offered by the NHS, flu and Covid vaccines are safe and effective They have been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) A re the y ve get ari a n? NHS Covid 19 vaccines don’t contain gelatine, eggs or animal prod ucts Muslim jurists have said

these are permissible and suit able for a halal diet Injectable flu vaccines don’t contain gelatine and you can ask for one that doesn’t contain egg The flu nasal spray contains gelatine, but you can ask about an injectable alter native

Are they safe in pregnancy? You can get the flu and Covid 19 vaccines at any time during your pregnancy, from the first few weeks up to your expected due date

Will I get ill? The vaccines don’t give you the virus and side effects are usually mild and don’t last more than a day or so

Can I have my missed Covid 19 vaccine? Yes if you need your first, second or another earlier dose, you can book them now

To find out more and book your vaccinations, please visit www nhs uk/wintervaccinations

Children to be screened for diabetes

risk

To detect type 1 diabetes earlier and reduce the risk of life changing complications, scientists are launching a trial screening programme for children

Around 20,000 children aged between three and 13 have been invited to take part in the Early Surveillance for Autoimmune Diabetes (Elsa) study, with recruitment open

Parth Narendran, a professor of diabetes medicine at the University of Birmingham, said: “As general population screening programmes for type 1 diabetes emerge around the world, we need to explore how best to screen children here in the UK ”

He added: “We hope Elsa will lead to the rollout of a type 1 dia betes early detection programme for children in the UK and encour age families with children at a suitable age to consider taking part ” Up to 400,000 people in the UK are believed to have type 1 dia betes, which is a lifelong autoimmune condition

Safe Spine Surgery at Shalby Hospitals Ahmedabad

estate,

DWFM) referred to Axiom DWFM’s large number of real estate related transactions and described the current Buy to Let market Rima Sengupta of Axiom DWFM (banking and finance and India desk) talked about the volatility of the cur rent market and the opportu nities it created Lenders, she noted, are being cautious, and borrowers are keen to com plete their transactions as soon as possible She had seen a significant increase in per sonal guarantees of late As head of the India desk, she has seen a rise in clients from India, Singapore and the UAE purchasing properties in the UK, to a large extent due to the fall in value of the pound sterling

Mi ra A rezi na of Axiom DWFM (property litigation) confirmed the high level of activity in her department and explained the current sit uation with court procedures P rag nesh Mo dh w ad ia, Managing Partner, Axiom DWFM, thanked the audi ence for attending the event It is anticipated that the next real estate lunch will be held in early 2023

Shalby Hospitals Ahmedabad is a world renowned hospital for all types of orthopedic disorders including spine dis ea se s I t i s eq u i pped wi th Digital Navigation System for spine surgery, which makes spine surgery very safe We speak to Dr Niraj Vasavada, Director of Spine Surgery at Shalby in detail about some important aspects of spine diseases, their treatment as well as about why Shalby is considered one of the best hospitals for spine treatment including surgery

Wha t a re c ommon s pin e diseases/problems?

Common spine problems that people face are slip disc, lumbar canal stenosis, degenerated deformity, scol iosis, back ache, neck ache and com pression fractures

Do all spine diseases need surgery?

No, absolutely not Most of the spine diseases can be treated with conservative treatment with medica tion, physiotherapy and recommend ed exercise Surgery is recommended only when all possible conservative treatments have been tried but have not been effective

We often see that people are afraid of spine surgery Is it a risky surgery?

Through the last few decades the whole scenario of spine surgery has changed dramatically Use of advanced surgical instruments like endoscopes, microscopes etc and the imaging devices and monitoring equipment provide the surgeon with unprecedented access and views into the spine, making spine surgery safer

You have digital navigation for spine surgery at Shalby Hospital s Ahmedabad Please tell us more about this We have Digital Spine Operation Room wherein we use digital naviga tion system for spine surgery Shalby Hospitals Ahmedabad is one of the very few hospitals in Gujarat with such comprehensive dedicated Digital Spine Operation Room with cutting edge digital technology supported by equally efficient in house surgical team Some of the key advantages of digital spine navigation are accuracy in navigating through the delicate anatomy, ability to carefully avoid critical structures in the spine and ability to perform a more minimally invasive procedure Tell is about a complex case you have treated

Some months back we had treated a UK lady in her mid sixties whose case was very challenging She was operated for spine surgery in UK about ten years back Initially, she was fine but soon started developing dis ability in walking Besides, she started to bend forward while standing or walking Gradually, her condition became so disabling that she had to be in bed all the time as walking and

standing were almost impossible for her Subsequently, as a result of years of being bedridden, she started losing strength in both legs the reason for her disability was what is called in medical terms as “post surgery saggital imbal ance with dynamic instabili ty” In this condition a per son ’ s spine becomes unsta ble and the patient starts stooping for ward whenever she tries standing or walking Something similar to a minaret due to loose base that starts bending forward Her imbalance was corrected through a highly complex spine surgery requiring precision, experience & cutting edge technolo gies like neuromonitoring & naviga tion Her surgery lasted close to nine hours and it was a success She could not only stand erect but could walk too after her surgery

Is spine surgery in India inexpensive compared to USA and UK?

Yes, it is Generally, it costs almost 50% less than than what it would cost in countries like USA and UK

We hear a lot about minimally inva sive spine surgery these days Tell us about it

Minimally invasive spine surgery is a surgery that is performed from just about 5 mm to 1 inch cut whilst a conventional surgery uses much big ger cut This surgery has several advantages like minimal blood loss, much lower chances of infection, less pain post surgery, faster recovery and shorter hospital stay We perform this type of surgery at Shalby regularly

November sales, principally to cash buyers

Sandy (general real

Axiom

Shalby’s team of doctors with UK patient after her successful surgery

Lord Raj Loomba CBE

Dr Nikki Kanani

Khumbu 3 peak challenge to help Parag reach fundraising heights for Kaleidoscope Plus Group

P ar ag , 41 , a i ms to ra i s e £5,000 for the Kaleidoscope Plus Group as he tackles the Khumbu 3 peaks challenge thi s November

The West Bromwich based charity helps thou sands of people across the UK each year and offers a range of services for people in need, struggling with their emotional health and wellbeing The challenge will involve Parag tackling the Khumbu Peaks, Nepal’s greatest challenge It will involve climbing in the heights of the Himalayas with three mountain ascents of increasing alti tude: Lobuche East (6,145m), Island Peak (6,189m), and Mera Peak (6,476m) Parag aims to complete all climbs in one extraordinary challenge Parag decided to take on the mammoth challenge after reflecting on his own strug gles following the Covid 19 pandemic On signing up for the challenge Parag added: “Life is like a moun tain; you start at the bottom and there’s a struggle along the way You have ups and downs, but you get up and make sure you reach the top “This couldn’t be more true following on from Covid 19 We’ve all faced some tremendous chal

lenges and the pandemic has affected each of us dif ferently That’s why I’m raising money for Kaleidoscope Plus Group so that I can help support those who have struggled with their mental health ”

feels like now ’ s the time to really to really challenge himself The trek will be challenging, not just physi cally but mentally too, so Parag plans on spending some of the trip meditating, thinking of the end goal and

what is an immense chal lenge, and can’t thank him enough for his support “The money raised will enable the Kaleidoscope Plus Group to provide life changing services, promot ing positive health and well

Why do we assume disproportionate self importance?

The planet earth is considered to be approximately 4 5 billion years old It is estimated that out of these 4 5 billion years, 90% of the time there has been an existence of life Not human life, but some form of life in the ini tial stage Recognisable hum ans emerged about 2 mil lion years ago on the earth

It is evident that whether the creation of a giant planet or the tiniest microbe on a small planet within this big universe consisting of millions of galaxies, everything is formed out of molecules and turns into molecules at the end The shape, size, appearance and energy of every aspect of existence take shape with time, change from time to time, and transform again at the end time of disintegration A pertinent question to ask is what could be the relative importance of our planet earth in this giant scheme? And what would be the significance of the existence of an individual whose life is not even one century on this one planet earth? It does not exist for even a blink in the history of millions of years, and in the remotest place in the whole univer sal space

Parag started the challenge on Saturday 22 October and has already reached the summit of Mera Peak and Island Peak This mammoth challenge is something Parag has always wanted to take on and in the lead up he was training hard in the gym to ensure he was physi cally fit beforehand Having previously completed the Three Peaks Challenge and all the Snowdon tracks, he

We want to reach out Globally: Maharashtra Tourism Minister

A re pli ca of the i con ic Gateway of India of Mumbai was the centre of attraction in the Incredible India slot at the World Travel Mart, E x CeL Lond on f rom 7 9 November A live represen t ati on of t he a nnu a l Pa ndh arpu r pi lgri ma ge, a Maharashtrian wedding and n ewl y c rea ted 360 de gre e videos of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the state were displayed

and Cuisine Tourists may know Mumbai but we want to take them beyond Mumbai and business We have created documentaries to reach our audience of the west Eco tourism is our focus area We want to open unexplored Maharashtra "

Mr Lodha said, "We are developing circuits within the state, with the help of Japan we have developed a heritage circuit of

his family, as well as the positive impact his fundraising will have on the local community On the incredible support from Parag as he tackles the Khumbu challenge, Gary Wheway,Head of Business Development and Fundraising at the Kaleidoscope Plus Group said: “We are delighted to work together with Parag, helping him raise money for

being, challenging the stig ma around mental health, and creating inclusive com munities ” Parag has already raised an impressive £3,548 but still needs that support to reach his challenge tar get If you’d like to make a donation to Parag and help him achieve his £5,000 goal following this tremendous act of courage and kindness, then visit his JustGiving page https://bit ly/3erzDDa

Then why do we assume disproportionate self importance and create a burdensome identity that crumbles us under our own ego? Does this ring any alarming bell in your mind? The bitter reality in front of us is that we couldn't take care of this one planet during our lifetime In the last two to three centuries, there has hardly been any individual who has con tributed to the betterment of the planet Whether we consider the health of the soil or the water body or atmosphere, everything has gone worse from bad Equally disappointing is that our relationship with each other has also not been a good story Human beings have been fighting wars in an attempt to establish supremacy over the resources which do not belong to them There have been struggles with nature, and with other co existing lives on this planet It is time to realise our insignificant existence and learn to co exist with other components of the universe coexist peacefully

(Expressed opinions are personal)

Rajasthan Tourism is in vi ti ng tou r is ts to explore the colourfu l heritage, culture, cui sine and desert with the pri nc i ple s an d ethos of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ In a s pe cia l talk with Asian Voice, Director of Tourism Dr R as hmi Shar ma s ai d, "We are promoting respon si b le a nd ec o fr ie ndl y tourism With a vision of placing Rajasthan Tourism at t he t op of t he wor ld tourism map, we are looking forward to connecting with travel enthusiasts "

than luxury, we are also offering on spot experience For Intangible culture pro motion, we are working with UNESCO Western desert districts are devel oped to offer to stay with the local families and enjoy local cuisine, and tradition

Forty councils in England built no social housing for five years

In the wake of government fu nding cuts, forty cou ncils in E ngland saw no s oci al rent housi ng bu ilt in five years, according to official fi gu re s an aly s ed b y the Observer

districts

In an exclusive talk with Asian Voice, Maharashtra Tourism Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha and Tourism secretary Saurabh Vijay said, "Through WTM, we want to reach out to and welcome international tourists to showcase these and innu merable other products that the state has to offer Not many people in the west are aware that Maharashtra has the best places to explore Nature, Heritage, Culture

Aurangabad, Pune, Nashik and Mumbai We want to involve foreign tourists in the Pundherpur yatra and Ganpati festival in Mumbai We are applying for the intangible tag for these two festivals

In 2023 we will be focus ing on the Beaches, Culture, and Forts of Shivaji, Portuguese, Temple tourism, Medical Wellness Tourism and Wildlife We want to reach out Globally "

Dr Sharma said, "If someone is coming to Rajasthan then that visit should convert into a con tinuous association We are making a lot of new itineraries to promote some good experiences, especially for the youth Itineraries have woven around adven ture tourism, Astro tourism, trails, and music festivals Apart from wedding desti nations like Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Jaipur and Udaipur we want to expand sustainable and responsible tourism to protect the envi ronment We are creating a very nice wildlife experience around Jaipur, like Jhalana Safari, workshops on pot tery, heritage walk, and live lakh bangle making More

Rajasthan is the home of some of the best wildlife to be experienced Our Chief Minister has accorded the industry status to tourism We are very hopeful after that

My special message to Gujaratis is that you are very close to our state We have all the things for you except the sea Please come Visit Nature, Wildlife, Cuisine, Adventure and Dal Baati Churma I have an unforget table connection with Gujarat I studied in Ahmedabad for 8 years I have a lot of friends MANE

GUJARATI PAN AAVDE CHE TAME KHAAS AAVJO (I know Gujarati also You are specially invit ed )"

The Conservative led coalition slashed funding for subsidised housing by 60% in 2010 and redirected the remaining money away from social rent and towards more expensive “affordable rent” housing

As per the data pub lished by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), 40 local authority areas neither built nor acquired any new social rent housing units between 2016 17 and 2020 21

These areas are scat tered across England and include Peterborough, Luton, the Isle of Wight, Spelthorne in Surrey, and parts of Greater Manchester, as well as rural

Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, which represents housing associa tions, said: “There is a chronic shortage of social homes in England We know there are 4 2 million people in need of a social home across the country, and this is likely to increase rapidly as a result of the cost of living crisis we are facing

“Housing associations are ambitious to build much needed social rent homes at scale and pace However, over the past decade, government grants have prioritised affordable home ownership and affordable rent Social rent ed homes are much more expensive to deliver due to the lower rents charged, therefore most housing associations cannot afford to build these homes with out access to specific fund ing ”

Rohit Vadhwana

Parag at the summit of Island Peak as he fundraises for the Kaleidoscope Plus Group

Rajasthan is ready to offer you responsible and eco friendly tourism with Dal-Bati-Churma

National Kindness & Leadership Honour for British Asian Entrepreneur

Dr Nik Kotecha OBE DL, who is t he

r

for

C hai rma n of L oug hbor oug h b as ed Mor ni ng si de Pharmaceuticals, has been includ ed in the UK’s Top 50 Kindness & Leadership Leading Lights

The annual list honours lead ers from the public and private sectors, as well as academia, who are using the power of kindness to make a transformative impact in business and to empower change

Speaking about the impor tance of kindness to effective leadership, Dr Kotecha said: “I’m truly humbled to make this list and to be among some of the UK’s leading lights when it comes to putting kindness at the heart of corporate governance ”

For Dr Kotecha, establishing a culture of kindness, is key to business suc cess He said: “The culture of a business always comes from the top and must be lived and breathed every day by an organisation’s leadership ”

In addition to pioneering ethical leader ship within entrepreneurship, Dr Kotecha is also Chair of the East Midlands CBI, a Department for International Trade Export Champion; and a Board Member for the Midlands Engine Council, the Centre for Social Justice, the British Asian Trust and the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP)

In 2017 he also established his family’s charitable foundation, which through pro viding grant funding to charities around the world, has directly saved more than 150,000

lives and significantly improved almost 400,000 in the UK and globally

The goal of the Kindness & Leadership Top 50 is to challenge the global leadership conversation by placing a spotlight on trail blazers who are using the power of kindness to make an impact in business and to empower positive change

The 2022 judging panel was made up of international business leaders and was chaired by HRH Princess Badiya Bint El Hassan of Jordan New and previous listees include Chairman of the Midlands Engine and Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, Sir John Peace, as well as Ruw Abeyratne, Director of Health Equality and Inclusion at University Hospitals of Leicester, and Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever

Rishi Sunak’s old boss says restaurant on the brink

Rishi Sunak has received a stark warning from his for mer boss, Miah, who owns Kuti’s Brasserie, the restau r ant in S o ut ham pt on where the prime minister worked as a waiter when he was a teenager

“Times are tough at his old workplace,” says Mr Miah “Rising prices have

made it difficult for this place to break even In 42 years this is the hardest time I’ve gone through ”

“All the electricity has gone up, gas has gone up We cannot pass it to our customers ”

Miah told Australian television he isn’t sure how much longer the restaurant

will survive in current cir cumstances, but he doesn’t blame the PM “I saw Rishi grew up, ” he says, “he’s a very nice boy Very, very tal ented, a very human person who talks to people ”

In 2020, Kuti’s Brasserie was fined £1,000 for break ing coronavirus restric tions

A visual ode to South Asian community

Kavi Pujara who was sub j ect e d t o ra cism w hil e g row ing up , phot o se ries w a s his o nl y cha n ce to reconnect with and reimag ine his hometown

In 1979, when Kavi Pujara was seven years old, on his way home from school in Leicester, he would be heckled and teased by a group of older boys and their “tough” younger siblings who

wouldn’t let him pass easily

“They were doing some thing called paki bashing,” says Pujara “Which was a popular sport at the time Essentially white kids would chase down and beat up brown kids ”

In adulthood, Pujara moved to London and spent the last six years reconnect ing with the South Asian community that he left behind He came out with

his debut monograph This Golden Mile, a vivid docu mentation into the titular, predominantly Indian neighbourhood that covers the majority of Belgrave Road just north of Leicester’s city centre

This Golden Mile runs until 18 December at Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol and a book of the project is published by Setanta

Drivers warned about payment scam at UK car parks

I n t he w ak e of incr ea sing numbers of criminals target ing cashless payment systems, drivers are being urged to be vigilant of a car park scams

As cash payments are phased out, motorists are increasingly paying for car

parking spaces using their phones

Some car parks are using a QR barcode scanning sys tem similar to the ones that were widely used during the Covid pandemic

Fraudsters are targeting

these very systems as they try to steal money and personal data from unsuspecting vic tims

Anthony Cashel, of pay byphone, a global mobile parking app, said the scam is becoming “ more prevalent”

TfL brain drain caused 20% rise in consultants

D ue t o a “b ra in dr ain ” of employees and difficulty hir ing new recruits, the number of con sult a nt s an d a ge ncy staff working for Transport for London has increased by almost 20 per cent since April

For two years it faced bat tles to secure Government Covid bail outs and the need

to shelve many projects to save cash “reduced our attrac tiveness externally”, TfL board members have been told

Recent senior voluntary departures include commis sioner Andy Byford, deputy commissioner Gareth Powell and finance chief Simon

Kilonback

According to the latest figures, the number of agency staff, consultants and “ non permanent labour” have increased from 1,513 at the end of March to 1,753 by the end of the summer while a net total of 347 permanent staff quit

Suspected people smugglers arrested in London

As part of an international crackdown on immigration crime, two suspected people smugglers were arrested

The men are being probed over facilitating small boat crossings

On behalf of Belgian authorities, Met detectives worked with immigration enforcement officers to arrest the London based pair, the Home Office said

It is believed the duo are a part of an organised crime gang that operates between Belgium, France and the UK

On suspicion of assist ing unlawful immigration, the 29 year old and 42 year old, were arrested and taken into custody follow ing the pre dawn raid

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said: “This

operation shows our deter mination to dismantle the people smuggling gangs that are orchestrating illegal immigration to the UK

“Close intelligence cooperation with our European partners is vital to prevent illegal crossings and ensure those profiting from these dangerous journeys face the consequences of their despicable actions ”

Tory MP rebuked in Commons

A Co nservati ve MP was rebuked by the speaker of the Ho us e of Co mm o ns, fo r using the word J*** in parlia ment to refer to the Japanese Sir Lindsay Hoyle used the term, which was described by one Labour MP as an “ outdated and crass racial slur”, “should not be

used”

Mark Francois, a former Armed Forces minister, made this comment during ques tions to the defence secretary Ben Wallace

A Labour source said: "If there was ever any doubt, the nasty party is firmly back

"While Rishi Sunak and

the Conservative Party are distracted by scandal after scandal, their MPs are bring ing our Parliament into dis repute by using derogatory language in the chamber

"Mark Francois may need reminding that it is 2022, not 1940 He should apologise for this language ”

Founde

an d

mer

Victory of good over evil

On Sunday we watched Remembrance Sunday services on TV, held at different places in the UK here in Canada Monday morning in Canada was cold, cloudy and a little miserable but our morning turned warm and beautiful by reading a WhatsApp message from my niece Yogini Patel and photos and videos of her young son Yogesh Patel age 13 who joined the Royal Air Force 1454 cadet squadron in February 2022 and was selected and attended a street parade from St Ann’s shopping centre to Harrow Civic Centre where the Remembrance Day Service was held (See P13)

Those present were The Mayor of Harrow, Harrow MP Bob Blackman, the Leader of Harrow Council and fellow councillors, Air, Navy, and Army squadron leaders, and Representatives from Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, and Sikh faiths St John s Ambulance

I was totally overwhelmed by reading this as at a young age and that too third generation British subject of Indian origin to know and understand how so many Arm Forces personnel and other soldiers lost their precious lives many at the young age of 18 to 21 in world wars from enemies to protect democracy, freedom and guarding borders so that we all can have good nightly sleep I went down memory lane of 10 years ago on Nov 11 2012, I went with my grand son Jaiden age 7 to Shri Vishnu Temple ( I took Shri C B Patel when he came to Toronto to accept Global Gujarati Award ) Richmond Hill, Ontario Canada to attend Sunday service and at the same time Remembrance Day and Diwali festival that began that day

During holy service at the temple, at 11 a m sharp the presiding priest Dr Doobay stopped services and asked all devotees to stand up and observe two minutes silence to pay homage and offer prayers to the fallen soldiers While going home we saw some Canadian soldiers in the parking lot and they spoke to us, including my grandson Jaiden and told us that temple will be honouring them as a part of a Remembrance Day ceremony there I explained to my grandson that there are similarities between Diwali and Remembrance Day as it is victories of good over evil

Mr Boris: One of the best PMs of Britain

Referring to my letter dated 12 18 Nov ‘ 22 from which comments were made by one reader suggesting that Mr Boris could certainly qualify for the title of ‘ Britain’s most entertaining Prime Minister’ I would like to urge him to read between the lines of the letter, as it will explicitly reveal that he was one of the best PMs of Britain, until, unfortunately, he was made answerable for No 10 Downing Street parties etc during Covid lockdown, sadly, assuming him to be breaking the governmental discipline; though he had his birthright to celebrate his birthday socially as anybody else celebrates in whatever prevailed circumstance

He has made great service to the nation during Brexit, the Covid pandemic, the Ukraine crises etc, and, if he were to continue to be the PM, he would have done much more to be appreciated by the nation and could have proved himself perfectly loyal to the Sovereign state of Britain

It is well known that the Covid pandemic declared by WHO is still a globally controversial issue Responsible authorities and institutions are apt to be globally and legally investigated by International Courts, and the culprits may be found liable to be punished for the loss of lives of many innocent people; and the economic loss recoverable from them It is surprising that those people who have not taken Covid vaccines still survive

Anybody can guess, to this extent, that injustice is certainly done to Mr Borris Johnson, and, naturally, many people sincerely sympathise with him in his loss of the Premiership of Great Britain in a questionable circumstance that is in question

Well done, Rishi

Asian Voice last week reported the heart warming story of prime minister Rishi Sunak selling poppies at Westminster tube station and cheerfully interacting with travellers Public gestures like this will help endear him to everybody and forever banish the idea that he is “too rich” to mix with so called “ordinary people” We must never forget how Rishi progressed from a humble beginning delivering prescriptions from his parents’ pharmacy in Southampton all the way to bagging the top job in Downing Street a true Tory example of how hard work and ambition can pay off and the sky’s the limit

Our much loved NHS neglected by politicians

I have been using NHS since 1968 So I am in the perfect posi tion to judge the detrition of our beloved NHS in some 50 years So where the fault lies! Of course with our soft hearted gullible politicians and the British people who still linger in the past, unable or unwilling to accept changes that most other EU countries have adopted

I was surprised that some of our Romanian friends go to their country for medical treatment, especially dental treat ment, as they told us it is much cheaper and better than what we receive here

We have been brain washed that NHS treatment is free at the point of delivery Is it? Most of us pay a fortune for dental treatment, never less than £100 and so often some £1000 for a major treatment like canal root feeling and dental replacement

The same could be said about a visit to our opticians Although frames are free on NHS, hardly any optician stocks such frames, making us obliged to pay for a private one, never costing less than £150!

With the rising population, especially those in their over sixties, NHS is going to be under more pressure, with Cancer patients dying waiting for an appointment One may wonder how come other countries like France, Germany and Scandinavian nations are able to deliver much better service with no waiting list The answer is simple; they have moved with time and adopted changes that we can never even think of Moreover, they train their own doctors and nurses, not snatch ing them from developing countries like the Philippines, India, West Indies and South Africa, a few among many! How come the sixth biggest nation could not provide home trained doc tors?

EU citizens contribute for their hospital treatment, some through medical insurance, others privately which they can reclaim from their NHS, partly or totally It is never completely free although they have special hospitals but not of the same standard for those who are destitute and homeless

Our GPs have long been advocating appointment charges in the region of £20, not refundable except under special cir cumstances and A & E £50 which will remove time wasters and hypochondriacs who visit A & E some 30 to 40 times a year, wasting precious NHS resources!

Bhupendra M Gandhi

Climate action is the need of the hour

The current UN Climate Change Summit assumes great sig nificance in the wake of recurring natural disasters like flooding, droughts and much more the world over The East or the West, countries, world leaders and the media have been talking about climate change crises and related ramifi cations First off, it is clearly evident from recent flooding in countries like Pakistan and the US [Florida] that climate change has been playing havoc with countries and their agri cultural activities

Summits apart, how about action to be taken? Frankly speaking, the world needs strong action against climate change issues More than anything else, it is every single step that most matters For instance, there should be a positive shift in human attitude to Mother Nature After all, climate change is something created by human activities on Mother Earth in a nutshell

Added to this, humans have been strongly reliant on nat ural resources and they have been eating food made from agricultural produce Just imagine, what would happen to the world and humanity if farming activities were complete ly killed by climate change Of course, it is going to be Armageddon at any time in the future

That said, natural resources including agricultural activi ties have always been front and centre in matters of human survival on this beautiful planet As a matter of fact, rigorous agricultural activities have long been thriving across my native areas like Korkai, Tiruchendur, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Nagercoil and Marthandam in Tamil Nadu Well, such green activities have to be kept on track worldwide

P

Anti-Hinduism, time for Government to Act

I have advocated a definition of anti Hinduism for a while now I am pleased to note that others have worked on this issue as well Namely, Sarah L Gates, the Global Hindu F ede ra ti on, D r In du V is wa nat han, H i ndu Ame ri c an Foundation, Hindu Matters in Britain to name a few It’s time we had one definition that we can all subscribe to, one that we can have adopted at the UN, one that at the very least is adopted by India, USA and UK

Hindus have been under attack now for many cen turies There has been a consistent pattern followed by the invaders of India (Bharat) in their core belief of being anti Hindu Each invader put in place various systems to enslave Hindus in their own land In the main it was by force, using violence and rape as a tool of subjugation Each invader not only wanted to rule Bharat, but they also wanted to destroy all aspects of its culture and Dharmic traditions It defines their grotesque ideology of anti Hinduism

Anti Hinduism has spread to many nations across the globe, and within many people and their communities Over the past several decades we have seen the confluence of Marxists, socialists, fascists, Islamists and the elite of imperial west exhibiting their hatred for Hindus

The reason for this hatred for Hindus is complex and often stems from many ideological perspectives as well as the insecurity of those who promote and practice such racism

It is now time to define anti Hinduism (which can also be referred to as Hinduphobia, anti Hindu, Hindumisia, Hinduodium) to protect the global Hindu community from persecution, and to expose those who perpetrate this evil What follows is an exposition to aid understanding, and in finalising a definition that exemplifies all aspects of this hatred towards Hindus

Anti Hindu persecution affects Hindus in many spheres of life:

• Racial equality

• Religious equality

• Employment

• Media and broadcasting

• Exclusion in/from public bodies

• Educational institutions

• Crime and policing

Working Definition (Short):

“Anti Hinduism (Hinduphobia, anti Hindu, Hindumisia, Hinduodium) is a certain perception of Hindus, which may be expressed as hatred toward Hindus Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti Hinduism are directed towards Hindus and/or their property, towards Hindu community institutions and/or religious facilities ”

Anti Hinduism can be further expressed as prejudice, aversion, hostility, or hatred towards Hindus and encom passes any distinction, exclusion, restriction, discrimina tion, or preference against Hindus that has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fun damental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cul tural or any other sphere of public life

For example:

Manifestations might include the targeting of India (Bharat), conceived as a Hindu collective However, criti cism of India, like that levelled against any other country, cannot be regarded as Anti Hinduism

Anti Hinduism is frequently expressed in speech, writ ing, visual forms, and action, and employs sinister stereo types and negative character traits

Senthil

Saravana Durai Mu mbai, India

When we will learn to call ourselves Indians?

I am fed up with reading words like ‘Indian Hindu’ or ‘Gujarati’ in Asian Voice week after week Don’t you think just ‘Indian’ would emphasise our nationalism to the masses? Please let me know, if should I take pride (in being just Indian) in calling Rishi an Indian or an Indian Hindu I thought Asian Voice is the voice of every Indian without bringing caste into it It hurts me to outcast Rishi as a Hindu when first he is an Indian When will we learn to call our selves Indians? Perhaps never Every foreigner who makes America his or her home call themselves proud American not Christian or Catholic Americans or even Hindu Americans I wonder why?

Bobby Grewal

Asian Voice has never introduced Rishi Sunak as a Gujarati However he himself takes immense pride in being called a British Hindu (read our interview on this issue, 3rd September Pages 1&8) so we have left our stories factual, but your suggestion has been duly noted

Contemporary examples of anti Hinduism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, considering the overall context, include, but are not limited to:

• Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Hindus in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of a religion

• Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Hindus or the power of Hindus as collective such as, but not exclusively, the myth about Hindus and the Caste system (a system imposed by the British during the British Raj in India), that Hindus are ideologically fascists, that Hindus are idol wor shippers, and denigrating Hindu deities as animals These are just a few examples to help place the anti Hindu senti ments in context

• Denying the multiple counts of Hindu ethnocide and genocide perpetrated over a period many centuries

• Denying access to educational institutions to exercise freedom of speech and freedom of expression

The question remains, which national Government or international body will take up this challenge and put in place a definition for anti Hinduism that will protect Hindus, as does the definition on antisemitism which pro tects the Jewish community?

Suresh and Bhavna Patel Markham, Canada

RN Patel

Ash Gupta

• Kapil D udakia

Ruchi Ghanashyam

Mrs Ruchi Ghanashyam is the former High Commissioner of India to the UK With a career in Indian Foreign Service for over 38 years, she has been posted in many countries including South Africa, Ghana, before arriving in the UK She was only the second woman High Commissioner to the UK since India’s independence and during her tenure, she witnessed a number of significant developments in the UK India relations

@RuchiGhanashyam

Anot her U N C li mat e

nge Conference, COP27, is taking place in Sharm

emissions which remain high in absolute terms at over 2 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year It is also said that India’s goals are not ambitious enough to limit global warming

These concerns, however, mask the real picture India’s emissions have necessarily to be seen in the context of its massive pop ulation Per capita figures clarify that the contribution of the Indian people is actual ly minuscule: the average American emits 14 7 tons of CO2 a year, while an Indian person emits around 1 8 Moreover, the responsibility for global warming and caus ing climate change has to be seen in a his torical context The emissions from the developed countries post industrialization, are the cause of the problem As a result of industrialization, living standards in west ern societies improved way beyond those in the poorer developing world, which was largely colonised at that stage Asking a poor person to bear the responsibility for combating climate change that was caused continues to be worsened by the rich in the developed world, even as the poor struggle to eke out a survival, can not be justified

Disinformation about attacks on Muslims prompted a backlash against the Hindu community

A r epo rt b y th e H en ry Jackson Society think tank claims that disinformation about attacks on Muslims pr om pte d a b ac k la s h against the Hindu commu n i ty I s la mi s t ra di c al s c l ai me d gi rl s we re be i ng kidnapped and harassed by Hindus to i nflame commu ni ty tens ions i n Lei ce ster a nd oth er Eng li s h c i ti e s , Telegraph reported

Sheikh, Egypt

6 18 November India’s

is headed by Union Minister for Environment,

and

He i nau g u rat ed the I nd ia n Pav il i on an d lau nched the Indian campaign, ‘In our LiFEtime’ to encourage youth between the ages of 18 to 23 years to become message bearers of sustainable lifestyles

Bhupendra

India has always highlighted the need for sharing new technologies with develop ing countries and for developed countries to fulfil their commitments towards cli mate funding in accordance with the prin ciples of ‘polluter pays ’ and ‘ common but differentiated responsibilities’ It is vital that funding commitments be met, if our planet has to be saved India’s planned transition to a low carbon development alone will require “tens of trillions of dol lars by 2050 ” , with around $2 trillion need ed for adaptation between now and 2030 India has committed to an ambitious national plan focused on renewable energy to combat climate change PM Modi wants half of India's energy to come from renew ables by 2030 There is fast progress on solar power generation in India

Western media and climate change analysts, however, express concern about India’s continued dependence on coal for power generation “While renewable ener gy is growing faster in India than in any other major economy ” , says a report in the CNN, “the country remains reliant on coal, which has long powered the country s growth and accounts for more than 80% of its energy mix Indian officials have also said the country plans to expand its use of fossil fuel even as many of its nearly 1 4 bil lion people choke on the pollution it caus es ” Concern is also expressed about India’s

The discussion about responsibility and funding is at the base of the efforts to com bat climate change While this debate goes on, the globe is hurtling relentlessly to a point of no return As we have been getting concerned about melting glaciers, shrink ing rivers, worsening air pollution and eroding soil cover, scientists are talking about the release of vast amounts of carbon stored in the northernmost reaches of our planet This is said to be an “overlooked and underestimated driver” of the climate crisis Carbon stored in the frozen grounds of our planet are estimated to be around 1,700 billion metric tons According to NASA, it is about 51 times the carbon released globally as fossil fuel emissions in 2019 Overwhelmed by images of melting glaciers and shrinking ice sheets, the thaw ing of the permafrost is overlooked Intense wildfires sweeping Siberia in recent years cause, what is being described as, zombie fires, as fires continue to smoulder under ground even after the overground fires have been extinguished

The planet seems to be in a free fall While our generation may largely escape the disasters staring mankind in the face, we will surely bequeath a disastrous legacy to our children and theirs! As developed countries grapple with recessionary economies and the war in Ukraine, is there even any appetite left for the larger, all encompassing crisis that we all face togeth er as a world? There is no other planet in the galaxy where humans could survive, and no matter how much science progress es, there is no way that life as we know it could be recreated on another planet like Mars!

This planet is our one and only home Let’s hope that world leaders find the will to save it

Amish Tripathi to take over another prestigious role

Author, writer, bu reaucrat and Director, of Nehru Centre in London, Amish Tripathi has reportedly received a two year extension to serve in London

He has reportedly been offered an addi tional portfolio Education, which now makes him Minister (Culture & Education), High Commission of India

In a statement given to a news portal, Amish Tripathi said, “My team and I will manage all interactions with the British Education ministry, universities here in the UK and actively support Indian students here ”

In 2019, Amish took over as the minister (culture) of the High Commission of India in the UK and the Director of The Nehru Centre (London), the cultural wing of the High Commission of India in the UK He has been promoting Indian Arts & Culture with in the diaspora and beyond In his role as a diplomat, Amish is successfully reconnecting

the Indian diaspora to their roots as well as helping enlighten Western audiences about India and its cul ture Under his guidance, the team at The Nehru Centre have organised various book launches, talks, panel discussions, and music & dance programmes amongst others During the Covid lockdown, Amish and his team at the Nehru centre were able to take all their programmes online, which resulted in an exponential increase in viewership and the reach of the programmes to all corners of the World Amish continues to serve the country in this role

In the year ending March 2022, as many as 107,978 Indian students were issued study visas to the UK, marking a significant rise of 93% compared to the same period before that This comes as no surprise, as Indian students have always found the UK to be an attractive study destination

The report says that f From 4th 20th September 2022, there was significant civil unrest between ethnic minority groups in Leicester, including vandal ism of property, assaults, stabbings and attacks on places of worship Most notably, on the weekend of 17th September, marches comprised of Hindu and Muslim adherents occurred in the city, accompanied by chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Allah u Akhbar’ Some Hindu and Muslim protestors wore balaclavas and others were arrested for possession of weapons At present, there have been 55 arrests/voluntary police interviews

Following the protests, Charlotte Littlewood, a Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, investigated the underlying tensions Spending time in Leicester conducting inter views with both Muslim and Hindu residents, compiling social media evidence, video evidence, police reports and statements She observed a community cohesion break down pertaining to loud festivals, antisocial behaviour and a conflict between Muslim youth and Hindu youth stemming from territorial attitudes towards one another The report that has resulted is the first in depth collation of evidence and analyses of what led to the unrest

Contrary to press reports at the time, the investigations did not find Hindutva extremist organi sations operating in Leicester but instead dis

covered a micro communi ty cohesion issue falsely pre sented as an issue of organ ised Hindutva extremism and terrorism It finds that false allegations of RSS ter rorists and Hindutva extremist organisations active in the UK has put the wider Hindu community at risk from hate, vandalism and assault Some members of the Hindu community in Leicester imposed a volun tary curfew, some relocated to stay with family or friends until they felt safe to return, while still others were unable to return to work owing to fears for their personal safety

The introduction of the report starts with Leicester city s joint Muslim and Hindu leadership state ment: “We, the family of Leicester, stand in front of you not only as Hindus and Muslims but as brothers and sisters Our two faiths have lived harmoniously in this wonderful city for over half a century We arrived in this city together We faced the same challenges togeth er; we fought off racist haters together and collec tively made this city a bea con of diversity and com munity cohesion That is why we are saddened and heartbroken to see the eruption of tension and vio lence Physical attacks on innocent individuals and unwarranted damage to property are not part of a decent society and, indeed, not part of our faiths What we have seen is not what we ’ re about We together call upon the immediate cessation of provocation and violence both in thought and behaviour We together call upon the inciters of hatred to leave our city ”

Conclusions

The report concluded that the unrest has been falsely narrated as involving organised extremist groups and RSS terrorists One of the instigators of the anti

Hindutva Leicester march is a man expressing praise for a wanted terrorist who claims to speak with the crime syndicate the D com pany The social media influencers who peddled narratives of Hindutva extremism include a con victed terrorist offender and a man who has offered prayers to the Taliban Whilst the men accused of being ‘RSS’ terrorists, who had their festival vandalised and claim to be victims of stabbing, consequently organising the Hindu march, appear to have no links to nor an understand ing of RSS The methods employed have included projections including a false claim of a BJP organised bus, whilst car sharing of anti Hindutva protestors were in fact taking place; claims of racists, terrorists, extremists etc; misinforma tion regarding crimes being committed; attempts to have the uptake of their narrative by the mainstream press and collaborating with political leaders to gain sympathy for their narrative and potentially influence future policy The success ful spread of these claims has led to a security threat posed to the Hindu com munity and attacks on their places of worship

The media has at times conflated the issue by reg ularly relying on influ encers included in this report for comment and focusing on an issue of Hindutva extremism and Indian politics rather than providing nuanced and accurate analysis of the incidents There is a real concern that Majid Freeman is regularly being provided with a platform to express his views regarding the presence of Hindutva extremism in the UK and posing as a ‘ com munity leader’, meeting with the City of Leicester’s mayor and discussing the future of the upcoming independent review

Vulnerable children in England waiting for secure homes

In E ngland with vulner able and disturbed chil dr en la ng u i shi ng

time a child who has been denied their liber ty for their own protec tion will spend waiting for a secure placement is currently 65 days The longest time a child had t o w a i t f o r a s e c u r e placement was 211 days, in the two years to 19 October

duty to care for and pro tect children who have been assessed as need ing this type of special ist home

s t , t h e a v e r a g e

T h e D f E s a i d i n England, there were just 1 2 8 b e d s i n 1 3 s e c u r e children’s homes, avail able to local authorities, who hold the statutory

The figures show, on 14 September 2022, 58 children who were in need of a secure place ment were chasing just two beds available in the whole of England On 22 September, 62 chil dren were in need of a s e c u r e p l a c e m e n t b u t o n l y t h r e e w e r e o n offer

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SCRUTATOR’S

Footfalls at Statue of Unity hit 10 mn mark

In what could be a record for a tourism site in Gujarat, the footfall at the Statue of Unity (SOU) in Narmada district has surpassed the 10 million mark in just four years of its unveiling. SOU officials said that recently the number of tourists who visited the SOU crossed 10 million figure and the numbers are expected to shoot up in the coming months “In such a short span, SOU has attracted such a large number of tourists and that too when the site was closed for several months due to the Covid 19 pandemic,” said an SOU official From the time it was unveiled in 2018, SOU has been attracting thousands of visitors every day. “The numbers kept increasing steadily as a number of attractions were added to the SOU in the last three years And many more are being planned in the future,” the official added. While the world's tallest 182 metre statue of Sardar Patel remains most popular site, tourists also frequent Jungle Safari which offers a glimpse of wild animals like lions, tigers and leopards apart from exotic species like capuchin monkeys, lama, alpaca, squirrel monkey and giraffe, zebra etc Valley of flowers and a glowing garden offer you a walk through the scenic landscape while the Narmada River cruise gives you a glimpse of the serene surroundings. Recently PM Narendra Modi inaugurated a maze garden developed on three acres of land in the SOU premises along with a newly developed Miyawaki forest spread over two acres of land in Kevadia (The Times of India)

Lord Venkateswara temple’s net worth put at £22 bn

A police officer said, “Gauri found a wounded stray and brought it home She also spoke to a vet over the phone But the dog was in severe pain and died in front of her Her grandmother and others consoled her ” The cop further said, “The next day Gauri fed the other strays and left home A few local residents later found her lying in a pool of blood next to an overhead water tank ” (Agency)

Man

tries to drive off schoolbus with 30 kids in MP

The net worth of the Lord Venkateswara temple is pegged at £22 6 billion Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), keepers of the temple dedicated to Tirupati’s presiding deity, declared its net worth for the first time since its founding in 1933 The temple trust said it has 10 3 tonnes of gold deposits in nationalised banks worth more than £530 million at current rates It has 2 5 tonnes of gold jewellery, most of which are antique pieces and hence priceless Also, a lot of money in banks: around £1 6 billion The list of assets includes 960 properties spread over 7,123 acres of land across India The buildings and other fixed assets on the Tirumala hills and Tirupati guesthouses, cottages, houses having amenities for pilgrims and hospitals are alone pegged at £500 million The temple trust’s executive officer, A V Dharma Reddy, said: “Investments in the form of fixed deposits in various banks in 2019 were £1 30 billion, which have now grown to £1 59 billion Over the past three years, TTD’s investment increased by £290 million,” he said In 2019, TTD had 7 3 tonnes of gold deposits, while 2 9 tonnes were added in the past three years (Agency)

Girl ends life over death of stray dog

A 19 year old girl, who had cleared NEET this year and was supposed to start counselling shortly at a college in Mumbai, jumped to her death from a water tank after one of the street dogs she fed regularly was injured in an accident and died The neighbours of Gauri Tyagi said she was fond of pets and always fed strays Last week, she went for a walk and found that the dog had been hit by a vehicle She brought it home and tried to save it, but the animal died Distraught, Gauri refused to have dinner that evening The next day, she climbed a water tank, 300 mn from her house, and jumped off She succumbed to her injuries at a hospital and her family cremated her soon after

An intruder tried to drive off with a school bus packed with kids in Shujalpur town of MP, sparking panic among locals Thankfully, local residents boarded the bus and overpower ed him Later, parents launched a protest, demanding security for their children Shajapur SP Jagdeesh Dabar said no case has been registered “The man is mentally unstable and he didn't drive the bus He was stopped immediately,” he said There were 30 children in the bus on their way to school when it stopped to pick up another student Driver Ishaq got down from the bus and was helping the children sit properly when a young man climbed into the driver’s seat, turned the ignition and tried to drive away Ishaq shouted for help Some locals boarded the bus, nabbed the youth and handed him over to police (Agency)

Gujarat, Uttarakhand swap jumbos sans Centre's nod

Gujarat, the jumbos were sent to an Ahmedabad based private rescue centre, he said, adding that the exchange was done with “clearance from Gujarat’s chief wildlife warden” The then chief wildlife warden of Uttarakhand, Parag Madhukar Dhakatey, in whose tenure the process took place, when queried about the matter, said, “In case of captive elephants’ transport and transfer, the chief wildlife warden is competent enough to give permission ” Asian elephants are categorised “endangered” in the IUCN Red List of animals just like Bengal tigers and their exchange is not easily permissible They are part of Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (The Times of India)

Sikh brothers donate land to needy farmers

At the Anjineyar temple in Chennai's Pulianthope area, five weddings were delayed due to waterlogging inside the temple Couples, who had scheduled their wedding months ago, lined up outside the temple braving the extreme weather conditions A video from outside the temple shows a couple holding umbrellas and walking on the waterlogged street before they enter the flooded temple premises "The temple is waterlogged and we have been drenched I appeal the government to take steps to at least clear the temple premises and other public areas, one of the grooms said As the rain intensified, vehicular movement was disrupted and schools and colleges were closed in Chennai and 22 other districts

(Agency)

Cheetahs make first successful hunt

Gujarat and Uttarakhand’s forest departments are alleged to have exchanged as many as six elephants in March this year, even though the Union ministry of environment had refused permission for such an initiative The idea was to enhance patrolling at Corbett Tiger Reserve by getting mature elephants deemed fit for the task According to reports, Uttarakhand sent three dwarf sub adults less than 11 years old, and got three full grown jumbos over 30 years of age from Gujarat The trio is now safeguarding the southern boundaries of Corbett in the Dhela and Jhirna zones The senior officer in the forest department, privy to the details, added, “The state had sought approval from the Centre but it turned it down, yet the exchange happened ” In

Two Sikh brothers from Pilibhit have donated 12 acres of their land, estimated to be worth over £500,000, to 16 needy farmers in Khatima, US Nagar district of Uttarakhand, ahead of Guru Nanak’s birthday (Gurpurab) During this monsoon, the Uttarakhand farmers’ land in the area had been washed away by the Parvin river, a tributary of Sharda, and their story had reached the siblings in UP’s Pilibhit The brothers, Balwinder and Harpal Singh, both wealthy farmers from Bhagataniya village, said they were moved by the other farmers’ plight and decided to donate them land ahead of the auspicious occasion They plan to give away four more acres soon Later, they handed over land documents to chairman of Kanchanpur Society (local cooperative body) B Singh and revenue officer Hansu Lal in the presence of villagers and beneficiaries “To spread the message of humanity, we have decided to donate 16 acres of land to those farmers who had lost their only source of income during the monsoon And what could be more auspicious than the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Devji?” Balwinder said, adding that they are four brothers who own around 125 acres of farmland in Uttarakhand and UP (Agency)

Couple braves heavy rain to get married in Chennai temple

Several weddings in Tamil Nadu's Chennai were delayed after the city was hit by heavy rainfall

Almost all parts of Chennai and some of its neighbouring districts received moderate to heavy rains

Taking a big leap in their acclimatisation process, the cheetahs introduced into MP’s Kuno National Park have made their first successful hunt in India’s wild Just hours after being released into a larger enclosure, two male siblings, Elton and Freddie, teamed up to bring down a cheetal, which never learnt to outrun a cheetah Under stage 2 of their acclimatisation plan, “rockstars” Elton and Freddie were released into the larger “Boma 4 ” from their quarantine pen, where they had been held and fed since arriving on September 17 Foresters monitoring how the cheetahs from Namibia are adapting to their new home can’t hide their excitement The siblings hunted the cheetal after a chase in the open, without using the fence to corner it, they said The last time these two cheetahs would have made a kill was sometime in late July in Namibia before they were brought in from the wild for the world’s first transcontinental cheetah translocation From then till now, from the holding enclosures of Namibia to Kuno’s, Project Cheetah staff have been providing them meat “Our whole cheetah team is so pleased to learn that rockstars Elton and Freddie have made their first kill Recognizing a new prey species as food is a great indicator they are adapting to their new environment in India (Agency)

Shailesh Vara MP pays tribute to British and Indian soldiers in Parliament

Shailesh Vara MP paid tribute to the service and sacrifice of the brave men and women from the UK, as well as those who served from India and the Commonwealth.

In the Constituency Garden of Remembrance in the House of Commons, Mr Vara planted two tributes – a cross for those who served from the UK, and another token marked with the traditional Hindu sign of Om.

The Garden of Remembrance provides an opportunity for MPs to remember all those who died and suffered in the two World Wars, as well as in other conflicts. Mr Vara felt that it was important that in giving recognition to British military personnel, we should also remember the Indian soldiers and those from other Commonwealth

countries who fought alongside the British military.

Following the service of planting, Mr Vara said:

“November 11th is a special day when we remember the brave men and women from Britain who served in our Armed Forces. It is because of their enormous sacrifices that those who have followed have been able to live their lives in freedom.

As we wear our poppies and wreathes of remembrance are laid throughout the country, it is important that we remember all those who died and suffered alongside those from Britain, including those from India and the rest of the Commonwealth.

I was very pleased to plant the two tributes to remember everyone.”

Nation falls silent on Remembrance Sunday

A national two-minute silence led by His Majesty The King took place across the UK on 13 November as the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph took place to remember all those who have died in conflict since the First World War. King Charles III led Britain’s annual Remembrance Sunday service for the first time as monarch.

Royal British Legion ceremonies will be uniting communities across the nation in Remembrance and today is an opportunity for us all to take a moment to reflect on the sacrifices of all those who serve, past and present.”

India and UK commemorate fallen soldiers in World War 1

Marking 100 years since Armistice Day, the United Service Institution of India, supported by the British High Commission, is hosting a series of events over the weekend of the 11th November, to commemorate the contribution of the Indian Army to World War One.

The King attended the service alongside Camilla, the Queen Consort and other members of the royal family at The Cenotaph in central London.

The King laid a new wreath at the Cenotaph, the design of which pays tribute to the wreath of his grandfather, King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth II.

Camilla viewed the moment from the balcony of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. A wreath was laid on her behalf for the first time.

The King and Queen Consort’s wreaths were accompanied by handwritten cards bearing their new cyphers.

A two-minute silence took place at 11am, wreaths were laid by Members of the Royal Family, senior politicians and faith representatives at the Cenotaph. Approximately 10,000 Royal British Legion veterans, representing 300 different Armed Forces and civilian organisations, took part in the March Past; they were joined by an estimated 10,000 members of the public who were in line Whitehall to watch the service.

Among those marching will be 100-year-old Second World War veterans and those who served in recent conflicts including in Afghanistan. 400 members of the South Atlantic Medal Association marched past the Cenotaph to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War. They were also joined by bereaved family members with the youngest marcher aged eight years old.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “This year more than ever, we are reminded of the huge debt of gratitude we owe those who lay down their lives to protect their country.

As we fall silent together on Remembrance Sunday, we will honour the memories of the men and women we have lost and pay tribute to the brave soldiers of Ukraine as they continue their fight for freedom.”

The Royal British Legion’s Director of Remembrance, Philippa Rawlinson said: “As we come together on Remembrance Sunday, we pay tribute to Her Late Majesty The Queen, The Royal British Legion’s Patron of 70 years and longest serving Commanderin-Chief of the British military. Her Late Majesty was dedicated to duty and epitomised the service and commitment shown by our Armed Forces community, thousands of who will march past the Cenotaph where she laid her wreath each year. Her Late Majesty’s deep bond with the military lives on with His Majesty The King and The Royal Family. Similar

India’s role in the War was significant - over 1.3 million Indian servicemen fought in theatres across Europe, the Middle East and East Africa, making the Indian contribution one of the largest in the Commonwealth and the most widespread. India also contributed over $20 billion in today’s money to the war effort, including 3.7 million tonnes of supplies and 170,000 animals.

Squadron Leader Rana Chhinna, Secretary and Editor Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research of USI institute said: “It is a matter of great pride that the very significant Indian contribution to the war that changed the course of modern history is finally getting the recognition that it so richly deserves. The Indian soldier deserves an acknowledgement of his contribution, and a commemoration of his sacrifice, making clear his central place in history.

Our joint commemorative efforts with the United Kingdom

A new Sikh War Memorial to honour in the UK was unveiled in Leicester in the form of a bronze statue on Remembrance Day. It is important to note that Sikhs made up more than 20 per cent of the British Indian Army during WWI. The statue at Victoria Park is created by artist Taranjit Singh on a granite plinth. It has been commissioned by the Sikh Troops War Memorial Committee and paid for by donations from Sikh congregations, the wider public and city council community ward funding.

are an act of Remembrance and Commemoration that highlights both our shared values, and our shared heritage.”

Defence Advisor to the British High Commission, Mark Goldsack, said: “Remembrance is our opportunity as a society to recognise the sacrifice made by all soldiers, on all our behalves, irrespective of their backgrounds. It is not about the politics of the conflict, it is about honouring the self-sacrifice of those who paid the ultimate price.

This is the culmination of a substantial four-year project to recognise and highlight India’s contribution to World War One. The High Commission has been working in association with the United Service Institution of India to arrange these events to mark the centenary of the Armistice.

As part of the commemorations, USI have chosen the marigold as a symbol of remembrance for India - selected for its prolific nature within India and its colour, saffron, which represents sacrifice.”

Waterproof and tearproof, the Nitnem Gutka (Sikh Daily Prayers) is designed to be used in modern tactical environments. Nitnem translates to Daily Routine, and the collection of Sikh meditations will allow Sikh personnel to practice their faith at 3 different times of the day, wherever they are and in any conditions.

There is a long tradition of Sikhs carrying their religious text with them into conflict. In World Wars 1 and 2, Sikhs made up 20% of the British Indian Army. Over 120,000 Sikhs died and many more were injured from the trenches in France to the Jungles of Burma, and records from the time show Sikh troops with their prayer books in the deserts of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Maj

13-year-old Yogesh joined the Royal Air Force 1454 cadet squadron in February. A street parade was held from St Ann’s shopping centre to Harrow Civic Centre where the Remembrance Day service was held.

Hardy Sikh prayer book revived after 100 years to help personnel practice faith in the field

Daljinder Singh Virdee, who led the project, said: “I was inspired to undertake this initiative when I saw old images of Sikh soldiers conducting their prayers in uniform. It has been a two-year journey to get to this point but makes all the efforts worthwhile knowing that Sikhs in UK Defence no matter where they serve across the world in whatever conditions can connect to their faith and find spiritual support through this Nitnem Gutka, for generations to come”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak lays a wreath at the Cenotaph in London.

High Commission of India in London represented by Defence Adviser, Brigadier Vikramjit Singh Gill, paid homage at the Remembrance Service organised by the Mayor of London and London Assembly at City Hall, London on 11 November 2022

For Armistice Day, swamis, devotees, and volunteers took a moment of silence to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

Cllr Ameet Jogia MBE along with Bob Blackman MP and others at The Harrow Civic Centre marking Remembrance Day.

Maternal mortality rises by nearly 20% in UK

MBRRACE Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care, a report has found that the number of women dying in p re gn a ncy or shor tl y a ft er givin g birth in the UK has risen sharply, w ith evidence of wide nin g he alth inequalities

It also found that 229 women died during pregnancy or up to six weeks after in 2018 20, a 19% increase on previous years once Covid deaths were excluded It also detailed the care of 289 women who had died up to a year after pregnancy in the same period

According to the report, women living in the most deprived areas were more than twice as likely to die as those in the most affluent parts of the UK, the report found, a disparity that has significantly increased Prof Marian Knight, of the University of Oxford, said “The really very clear pattern, which has been getting worse over the last few years, is that many of the women who die have multiple disadvantages

“Maternal mortality rates are a barome ter of health systems,” she added “This, for me, is a barometer of our health system in its widest sense ”

She also explained that tthnicity linked disparities remain stark, but have narrowed slightly since the previous report “The dis parity between black women and white women has not got worse, despite all of the pandemic challenges,” said Knight “That

has to be regarded positively, but the mater nal mortality of black women is still 3 7 times that of white women ”

The Royal College of Midwives said the increase in maternal deaths was “ a tragic indication of a lack of government invest ment in maternity services”

“Any rise in maternal deaths, however small, is deeply worrying and we are moving backward not forward,” Gill Walton, the chief executive of the RCM, said “Governments must focus efforts on the crucial areas where women are being let down and not getting the care they deserve and should expect We have overstretched midwives and maternity services that have been trying to do too much, with too little, for far too long This should be a time of great joy for women and families, but tragi cally for some, it is a time of heartbreak ”

Partnership to support vulnerable women in Dorset

A project which will help vulnerable women in Dorset has come one step closer to realisation

Dorset Council has appointed BCHA, a charitable housing associa tion based in the south west, to lead the Pause Programme Pause is a nationally evaluated programme which works with women who have experienced, or are at risk of, repeated pregnancies that result in their children needing to be removed from their care

The programme aims to give women the opportunity to pause and take control of their lives, breaking a destructive cycle that causes both them and their children deep trauma It supports them to develop new skills and responses that can help them create a more positive future

Councillor Andrew Parry, Portfolio Holder for Children, Education, Skills and Early Help, said: ‘No one wants to see chil dren being taken away from their mother, far from it, we do all we can to support fam ilies to stay together

‘We’ve seen the results of the Pause Programme from other areas and it is clear it works so I am hopeful that it will help to keep Dorset children with their mothers in future, which will also help improve out comes for those children ’

Children who are removed into care are more likely to experience outcomes poorer than their peers including:

poorer educational results; higher rates of criminality;

sexual/criminal exploitation; substance misuse; suicide; poor mental health; become parents at a younger age and repeat the cycles of children into care

The Pause Programme is delivered in local areas by Pause Practices, which are partnerships with local authorities or vol untary sector organisations and are sup ported by the Pause national team A stan dard Pause Practice supports up to 24 women at one time

Toby Mallowan, Head of Homelessness, Health & Wellbeing BCHA, said: ‘BCHA is very excited to have been awarded the Pause Project for Dorset We are committed to supporting communities across Dorset and this project helps us focus on mothers who have experienced, and are living with, trauma ’

Badenoch pushes muscular approach to global trade on first DC visit

Trade S ecret ary Kemi B adeno ch M P visi te d W ashin gto n D C o n 1 4 November to promote UK US t rade and en co u ra ge wes t ern a ll ies to do m o re together to future proof the gl o bal e co no my agains t shocks

On her first visit to DC in the role, she made a speech at the free market think tank Cato Institute, telling US political figures that now is the time for allies to face down pro tectionism and promote strong trading alliances to challenge the increasing threat of authoritarian states

She said the UK and US will work together to future proof their economies by shaping the global rules of trade, pro moting more diverse, resilient supply chains, investing in cutting edge technolo gy that will support jobs of the future, and protecting our long term energy security

The US is the UK’s largest trading part ner, and every day more than one million people get up and go to work for British companies in America, and almost 1 5 mil lion people do the same for American com panies in the UK

Kemi Badenoch used the meetings on the Hill with senior representatives of both parties to make the case for boosting our transatlantic trade relationship even fur ther in the years ahead

Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch MP said: “The US and UK share the same val

ues freedom and free trade and the result is a partner ship more important than any other in the world

“I’m in DC to boost our trading relationship further and work with allies on criti cally important issues like strengthening supply chains, protecting our long term energy security and creating jobs in industries of the future

Both the UK and the US know we can not have security at home without security abroad, and we need to make the global economy resilient to future shocks Now is the time to roll up our sleeves and show how muscular liberalism and free trade are a force for good in the world ”

She also spoke at a US Chamber of Commerce roundtable event with key US businesses to promote the UK’s low tax, high talent, business friendly environment and highly innovative economy

Badenoch also discussed how trade policy can break down barriers for women as business owners, entrepreneurs, and consumers at the Washington Post Global Women’s Summit, at which Hillary Clinton is also set to appear

The visit follows a series of successful transatlantic trade talks between the UK and US which have delivered the removal of harmful 232 tariffs on UK steel, an end to the 25 year ban on British lamb, and the suspension of harmful 25% tariffs on UK products like Scotch Whisky

Leicestershire Police reaches its highest number of female officers

The proportion of women serving as police officers in Leicestershire has reached its highest level* fol lowing a huge recruitment pro gramme

Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews said 852 of the 2,335 police officers currently employed by Leicestershire Police are female 36 5 per cent of the total number of officers

The percentage of female offi cers has grown significantly since

time the national recruitment pro gramme closes

Mr Matthews said: “This is a fan tastic achievement and I am really proud of the force for continuing to meet its ambitions to recruit a fair and representative workforce

2019 when the Government’s Uplift Programme was first announced, increasing from 580 officers (30 7 per cent) to the cur rent figure of 852

In total, 297 extra police officers have been recruited through the scheme, well ahead of the target date set for the end of March 2023 The force is aiming to increase female representation to 37 2 per cent by the

Out of the frying pan into the fire

Impact of the cost of living crisis on black and minoritised survivors of domestic abuse

Set up in 1979, Roshni Birmingham is a charity supporting Black and Minoritised women and children affected by domestic abuse including Forced Marriage & Honour Based Abuse

The conference focuses on giving sur vivors a platform to share their concerns on stage as well as sharing the results of the

recent survey carried out Surwat Sohail, CEO of Roshni Birmingham stated: “The title of the con ference resonates with so many survivors Some have described feeling compelled by circumstances to return back home They feel they came out of the frying pan but if they go back they will be thrown into the

fire with the perpetrator knowing that they have nowhere to go Others said they were thrown into the frying pan by the pandemic and forced into the fire through the impli cations of the cost of living crisis The sur vey carried out with domestic abuse sur vivors points to a huge crisis for the domes tic abuse sector that requires urgent action

“Ensuring our police officers fair ly reflect the communities they serve is very important to me I know the Chief Constable and senior leaders are working equally hard to increase diversi ty within the force with new support strate gies and innovative recruitment processes to attract candidates from our ethnic minority communities

“The uplift in officers on the streets is good news for everyone living in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Our new officers are already making their presence felt across our neighbourhoods and I am looking for ward to welcoming the remaining recruits over the next few months ”

The Uplift drive, which aims to recruit 20,000 police officers on the nation’s streets by March 2023, has already brought an addi tional 15,343 police officers to England and Wales since 2019

Nationally, there are more female police officers than since records began with more than 50,000 women across the 43 polices forces in England and Wales

Of those hired since April 2020, 42 5 per cent have been women

Roopa Kotecha: Cassio Road Dental Practice

Sunetra Senior

Cassio Road Dental Practice is the very defini tion of modern healthcare The Practice max imally makes use of the digital ecosphere to deliver the best available quality service Business Development Lead and Adminstrator, Roopa, elabo rated on this: “ a prominent feature of our website, for example, is regular updated content This ranges from patients' reviews, communications about the latest treatments and success stories, to newsletters and cu rrent affairs, relevant dental news and anything directly related to the practice itself We believe in keeping customers connected as well as providing excellent care ” Indeed, the practice has recently won an award for best den ta l web si t e at t he Pre st ig iou s Pri va te Dentistry Awards in London The physical busi ness, which is based in Watford, is impressively digitally integrated to create an enhanced salu brious whole The practice itself offers several specialist treatments such as complex crown and bridgework, periodontal treatment, aes the ti c t rea tme nt i n cl u di ng whi t e fi l li ng s, veneers and tooth whitening, dental implants, orthodontic treatment, and teeth whitening in general “We even have our own means of pro duction, investing in ou r own mill on site, which means we can design and manufacture restorations for the complex crown work and sometimes the entire process can be completed in a day which is beneficial and saves time for both the prac tice and patient ” Another contemporary treatment adver tised on the site is Invisalign which is “minimally invasive and contrasts to the traditionally clunky fixed braces Gen Y may remember growing up ” In short, the cutting edge surgery provides an unrivalled accessibility which newly enhances the industry This is definitely evident in the thor ough level of customer care ***

Finally, not only do Cassio Road Dental revamp the dental image, but also the epitome of current professionalism What has been a highlight moment?

The communal coffee morning initiative we ’ ve organ ised to raise money for MacMillan Cancer and winning the best website as well as being short listed as finalists for the upcoming dentistry awards at the end of November We’ve also had so many positive reviews from customers, which are each a valued achievement Just being able to enjoy success led by authentic investment is a great blessing How did you find navigating bu siness du ring the time of lockdown?

King celebrates 74th birthday as Ranger of Windsor Great Park

F ollowi n g i n hi s father the Duke of E di nbu r gh’s f oot steps, King Charles has become Ranger of Wi nds or Gr eat Park

On Charles’ 74th birthday, the news was announced and a new pho tograph of the monarch leaning in contemplation against an ancient oak tree was released to mark the occasion

Philip was the Park’s longest serving Ranger, and the appointment of his eldest son comes 70 years after the duke took on the post in 1952, holding it for 69 years until his death in 2021

The duke was very active in overseeing the parkland and was fundamental to its upkeep, from designing gar dens to introducing red deer

in 1979

The King as the new Ranger and a passionate gardener will offer oversight and guidance to the deputy ranger and his team in the day to day stewardship of one of the country’s oldest landed estates Paul Sedgwick, The Crown Estate’s managing director, rural and deputy ranger of Windsor Great Park, said: “We are hon oured to have His Majesty as Ranger of Windsor Great Park, continuing a long tra dition of the Sovereign and members of the Royal Family holding this role ”

Big Ben’s iconic bongs return

Aft er fi ve y ear s of res tor ati on wor k, The Great Bell of the Gre at C lock at the Pala c e of Westminster, known to all as “Big Ben,” retu rned t o regu lar service

To mark the beginning of the two minute silence, Big Ben struck 11 times at 11:00 on Remembrance Sunday

It will announce the hour with the big bell and every quarter hour by chim ing the notes G sharp, F

sharp, E and B

The British government announced an 80 million pound ($94 million) mainte nance and restoration pro ject in 2017, the biggest ever refurbishment of the iconic timepiece

Two in five Leicester residents did not born in the UK

“The customer does not have to delay or compromise on feeling better and receiving appropriate care We want people to have proper solutions as efficiently as possible and in a warm manner too Our unique approach is that we do have several channels which facilitate this We always tell you exactly what can be done, even if the issue may be severe However, we also work with you to follow the rec ommended path including costs, ideas and timelines so that superior treatments can be delivered in a supportive environment and customers do not have to be afraid ” Indeed, regarding gum disease which is increasingly preva lent in the UK, Cassio Road Dental promises that: “dental and hygiene teams can collectively provide you with treat ment through a multi faceted approach ” Roopa empha sised the generally friendly, collaborative and functional approach of the dental practice, challenging the sometimes stereotyped idea of dentistry as rough, intimidating or cold “We understand that people want to feel confident how we look and the way that affects us was clear during lock down when many of us had to suddenly appear on camera!” It seems Roopa, Neil and their expert team value the cus tomer’s comfort and happiness as integral to their personal wellbeing, truly appreciating how the little, or rather, enam elled, things matter!

“A significant part of our practising presence also entails raising social awareness, ” Roopa told us “We make many public health announcements to pre vent and reduce the risks of disease e g , November is

Of course, it was difficult, and the surgery was closed for 3 months However, we kept operating with phone and video calls and did allow for emergency appointments The logis tics of upholding a safe but effective service were tough, but our perseverance and determi nation to serve our community allowed us to prevail Our staff have even continued to wear masks as recently as a few months ago to ensure overall social wellbeing of our patients and staff at all times Complete PPE during the initial waves of the pandemic was crucial

New fig ures h ave revealed that nearly half of people liv ing in L eices ter were not born in the UK Along with thi s, i n th e last 1 0 years, there has also been a marked increase in the number of people from ov erseas calling the wider county their home

Last year, new data from the National Census which was conducted revealed the changing demographics of the area Compared to 10 years ago, it showed that two in five people living in Leicester, around 41 1 per cent, were

not born in the UK Meanwhile, the 2011 cen sus showed how much it has risen since, with figures back then indicating that just 33 6 per cent of people living in Leicester were not born in the UK

The National Census data breaks down every part of the county and discloses sizable increases in each area over the past 10 years The biggest increase outside of the city is Oadby and Wigston where 19 4 per cent of its residents were not born in the UK

Art, drama and languages might shut off from state schools

That they are just out to get your money and want to charge you extortionate fees If you saw some of the work that went into many of these complex cases, it’s completely justified Sometimes people are frustrated with the NHS, with whom we also work, but often they are doing their best within the confines of the budget It’s a much larger organ isation and so the constraints are immense with it W: https://www cassioroaddental co uk/ F: https://www facebook com/search/top?q=cassio%20road %20dental%20practice

State school st udents wil l not be abl e to take u p sub jec t s in cl u d ing G erm an , F renc h, a rt , dra ma and design technology as heads say they are being forced into cutting expensive and l ess po pu l ar l e sso n s t o

address crippling deficits

By the next school year, the vast majority of

English state schools expect to be in the red, pushed under by enor mous energy bills and an unfunded pay rise for teachers

Thousands of schools are now planning to make teachers and teaching assistants redundant or cut their hours

Mouth Cancer Awareness Month and we have shared on our social media many useful tips on how to identify this in its early stages Please see our FB page for more details At the end of the day, we want to be able to reach as many peo ple as possible and connect them to our heartfelt work ”

What’s a misconception about dentists which simply is not true?

ROOPA KOTECHA

“The customer does not have to delay or compromise on feeling better and receiving appropriate care"

Indian cinema is successful enough to be able to be taken to Broadway

Shefali Saxena

Celebrated music composer duo Sali m Sulaiman Merchant has reimagined the songs from the original 1982 hit Disco Dancer

The y ar e work in g wi th Saregama on their current pro d u ct ion , Di s c o D an ce r: The Musical In an exclu sive Q&A with Asian V oice, they spoke about musicals

What makes musicals still so relevant?

Salim: Well, the fact that India is always making every second film is a musical, that every film is almost a musical, they got bought, they all have song and dance, it is very rele vant to have, musical on Broadway or investment And the way the screenplay, and the story is all weaved around the music, or vice versa, it makes things very simple to actually put this you know, these stories and these this piece of music and lyrics and choreography, onstage life

Asmusic composers, what kind of responsibility rests on you, when it comes to reimagining classics like Disco Dancer?

Sulaiman: The most impor tant thing is to keep the origi nality of the music intact because the songs are so popu lar And they're being heard all over the world, not just in India, you have to make sure that you try and keep the authenticity of the songs alive Besides that, it's also very important to be able to have these songs around the theatre, and theatrical produc tion So you have to be able to give space for the actors to breathe You have to give them a little time to recuperate from the dancing and change of cos tume So there are a lot of dif ferent elements that go into a theatrical production But most important thing is to keep the authenticity of the songs alive because that is something you know, people have heard this

Chishti Sahib's inspirational tour of Britain

Imtiaz Patel Varediawala, VVUK Bolton

D r M atau ddi n S ali m udd in Ch ish ti Sah eb, a you ng m an, thinker, scholar, social reformer, and pantheist who lit up the love of Sufism from India to the w o rld Palej th rone bearers Tour to Britain was very suc cessful and inspiring Sahib is associated with Sufi tradition and nobility which is more than 1220 years old That is why we get a glimpse of sim plicity, ability, renunciation, goodwill, service and redemp tion of humanity in his life at such a young age

During the trip to Britain, Dr Chishti Saheb met his mil lions of followers, but along with that also visited Britain's mainstream leaders, thinkers, and social, educational and multi faith institutions and talked, dialogued, and preached about the values of global broth erhood, communal unity, non violence, equality, social and educational empowerment This impressed many English thinkers, mainstream leaders and academicians

During the trip to Britain, Dr Chishti Saheb visited Eden School, Olive School, Al Hikma Batli Community Centre, Vohra Voice UK (WUK) etc and drew attention to discussions and planning of cultural, social, and educational empowerment During his visit to Britain, he met Sue Smith, Janet Grant, Iqbalbhai Master, Dr Adam Tankarvi, Dilavarbhai Dashanwala, Mustakbhai Dashanwala, Usmanbhai Keswanwala, Mehek Tankarvi Sahib, Imtiaz Patel Varediawala, Habibbhai Bhuta, Farooqbhai Ughradar, Daudbhai Fojdar, Inayatbhai Gani, Iqbalbhai Dhoriwala, Councilor Rabia Jiva, Youth Counselor Shafibhai Patel and other dignitaries Abdulbhai Babar Valanwala was instrumental in arranging all these visits and activities

He also held positive and concrete talks in London, Leicester, Bolton, Blackburn, Preston, Manchester, and Batli cities on how to connect our young generation in Britain with our culture heritage sacraments, and values and how to encourage young people in our social religious political cultural educational activities to create responsible leadership for the next generation

He has a high class educa tional institution near HHMC Educational Campus Palej It was also deliberated on linking it with educational institutions in Britain to bring greater edu cational benefits to our society

Chishti Sahib said that 'Indians living in Britain, espe cially the Gujarati community, have a heritage of very high, excellent and good values of India and Britain We should all work together to implement the values of world brotherhood, respect for all religions, peace, love, harmony and spirituality and be ideal citizens and propa gate these values Britain is a very idealistic and policy driven country Here we should take advantage of all opportunities and make every effort for the progress of Britain and India '

During his visit to the VV UK office, he said, “With unity, cooperation, love, harmony, empowerment we will all be able to move forward on the path of progress An alert individual, an alert active society, educational activities and spiritual pursuits society can benefit all ' For more details about the organisation visit website www vahoravoice co uk contact: + 44 7853 159044 or vvukltd@aol com

song a zillion times people have heard these songs a zillion times And you don't want to take that joy away from them

Do you think India has made enough musicals?

Salim: I think India has made you know enough too There is obviously an appetite for more movies because there are so many films and so many stories that can be told on stage and on, you know, as a musical I feel we've done well in the last decade, but we could do much better

that can be converted into a musical And hopefully, we should be doing some of those in the next few years

National Unity Day by Sanskruti Centre in London

Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence has organised National Unity Day (Rashtriya Ekta Divas) celebrations on Monday, 31 October at the Nehru Centre, London

Aditya

Chopra recently took DDLJ to Broadway What does that mean for Indian cinema?

Sulaiman: Well, it just means that Indian cinema is successful enough to be able to be taken to Broadway And we would love to see more films being converted into Broadway material And we have so many different stories to tell and so many big firms with great songs

What

are your favourite musicals across the globe?

Salim: My all time favourite is Phantom of the Opera It has a lot of drama It has a lot of incredible music and choreogra phy I love wicked I really like it a lot I liked Chicago a lot There are so many more I just like my fair lady was was fantastic I loved Starlight Express, espe cially because the entire musical is on rollerskates and it's really fabulous

Jaipur Literature Festival

2023 set to celebrate the diversity of languages & translations

Literature is a reflection of a society, its people, and their cultures Over the last fifteen yea rs, the J aipur Li te rature Fes ti va l h as e vo lve d as a n inclusive platform that repre se n ts th e di ve rs ity o f lan guages and celebrates trans late d w ork s of lite ra ture Tran slation allows differen t cultures to connect, interact, and enrich one another In the 2023 edition of the literary ex tra va gan z a, the J ai pur Literature Festival will feature some of the most renowned trans lators from ac ross the globe The Festival is set to run from 19th 23rd January, 2023 at Hotel Clarks, Amer, Jaipur

t o r a n d c o l u m n i s t M i n i K r i s h n a n ; P a d m a b h u s h a n awardee Mridul Kirti; music, d i p l o m a t & I n d i a ’ s A m b a s s a d o r t o U A E a n d

The exuberant cultural program on the occasion perfectly demonstrated the palette of the diversity of India Fourteen performers from various professional and linguistic backgrounds presented on the occasion Director of The Nehru Centre Amish Tripathi rendered opening words h i g h l i g h t i n g t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f b e i n g united and curtailing the enemy within Dance presentation Ekta Ki Awaaz has

The third list of speakers, announced today, has some of the most critically acclaimed writers The list includes the a w a r d w i n n i n g P o r t u g u e s e writer Ana Filomena Amaral; eminent journalist, writer and t r a n s l a t o r A r u n a v a S i n h a ; Sahitya Akademi award win n e r A r u n a C h a k r a v a r t i ; author Bibek Debroy; Italian writer Giorgio Montefoschi; leading bi lingual editor Mani R a o ; w r i t e r a n d t r a n s l a t o r Manisha Chaudhry; transla

Egypt Navdeep Suri; publish

aptly included a variety of art forms from different regions of India underscoring the oneness and the heterogeneity at the s a m e t i m e P r e s e n t e r s i n t h i s d a n c e i n c l u d e d A n a n y a V i l i n a , A n u j a Tirumalasetty, Arya Arun, Harsha Rani, Lakshmi Pillai, Manju Sunil, Mona Jethwa Patel, Dr Pritha Dasmahapatra, Reema V i r d e e , S o u n d a r y a G o k u l n a t h a n d S r e y a s h i D e b R o y M i l e S u r M e r a Tumhaara song was melodiously present ed by Hindustani Vocal singer Irawati Mulmule Odissi dance by Dr Pritha D a s m a h a p a t r a , K a t h a k b y P r i y a Kushwaha and Bharatanatyam by Arya Arun were enthralling and refreshing Deputy Director of The Nehru Centre Sanjay Sharma felicitated all the artists T h e v o t e o f t h a n k s w a s r e n d e r e d b y Ragasudha Vinjamuri, Founder Trustee of Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence, w h o h a s a l s o c o n c e p t u a l i s e d , c h o r e ographed, and anchored the event

world's ‘greatest literary show’ will also fea ture an impressive line up of award win ning poets, including the recipient of the SAARC Literature Award for contribution to contemporary South Asian Poetry in 2013 Abhay K; novelist, literary journalist, and translator, Anupama Raju; Estonian poet Doris Kareva, and recipient of the English PEN Translates Award Ko Ko Thett

ma scholar Yatindra Mishra The 16th edition of the

The previously announced list of speak ers includes renowned authors and transla tors such as Daisy Rockwell, Anamika, Anu Singh Choudhary, Navtej Sarna, Jerry Pinto, Rana Safvi, and Tiffany Tsao

er and translator Oscar Pujol; l e a d i n g a n d m u l t i l i n g u a l scholar in the fields of transla t i o n , l a n g u a g e p o l i t i c s a n d i d e n t i t y R i t a K o t h a r i ; c o n temporary Indian writer and artist Saaz Aggarwal; author Saskya Jain; feminist writer and publisher Urvashi Butalia; author Vineet Gill; and cele brated poet, music and cine

Ana Filomena Amaral

Aruna Chakravarti

Arunava Sinha

Odisha Tourism participates in the World Travel Market (WTM) London 2022

A delegation of Odisha Tourism l e d by Ho n ’ bl e T o u rism M inister Aswini Kumar Patra, a nd Chi ef S e cret a ry S u re sh C han dra M aha pat ra participated in the World Travel M arket (WTM) being held in London, United Kingdom The 3 day event scheduled from 7 9 No vember 2022 which was held at the ExCel in London saw t he participation of more than 2500 E xhibitors from mo re than 100 countries The Odisha Tourism stand at WTM 2022 is garnering rave reviews with its focus on p ro mo t i ng ec o t o u ris m, handic raft s and han dl o om o f t he state on the global platform In the inaugural session on 0 7 t h N o v e m b e r 2 0 2 2 , t h e I n c r e d i b l e I n d i a S t a n d w a s inaugurated in the presence o f T o u r i s m M i n i s t e r o f

Odisha Aswini Kumar Patra, T o u r i s m M i n i s t e r o f P u d u c h e r r y K L a x m i n a r a y a n a n , T o u r i s m Minister of Tamil Nadu Dr M M a t h i v e n t h a n , C h i e f S e c r e t a r y O d i s h a S u r e s h C h a n d r a M a h a p a t r a , Secretary Ministry of Tourism A r v i n d S i n g h , H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r o f I n d i a H E V i k r a m D o r a i s w a m i a n d D i r e c t o r O d i s h a T o u r i s m S a c h i n R a m c h a n d r a J a d h a v , among others Speaking on the o c c a s i o n , T o u r i s m M i n i s t e r Aswini Kumar Patra said “It is a matter of great pride to see the

s i o n a r y l e a d e r s

v

b r a n d O d i s h a o n t h e

stage, and this will help in promoting the world class tourism infrastructure of O d i s h a i n t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l level ”

Considered to be among the b i g g e s t t r a v e l s h o w s i n t h e world, the World Travel Market (WTM) London will provide the

state with a perfect platform for n e t w o r k i n g a n d b u s i n e s s o p p o r t u n i t i e s w i t h t o p n o t c h exhibitors from all parts of the globe marking their presence in the event Owing to the COVID pandemic, the WTM was last held in 2019 Being organized after a gap of 3 years, there is huge enthusiasm among the e x h i b i t o r s t o p r o m o t e t h e m s e l v e s a t t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l l e v e l t h r o u g h WTM The event will provide t h e s t a t e w i t h n e w o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o b u i l d r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h n e w p a r t n e r s a n d w i l l h e l p i n s o u r c i n g n e w i d e a s a n d learnings on current trends in t o u r i s m a n d t r a v e l T h e participation of Odisha Tourism i n W T M 2 0 2 2 h a s g a r n e r e d p o s i t i v e f e e d b a c k a m o n g t h e Tourism & Travel fraternity of I n d i a o w i n g t o i t s e f f o r t s towards pitching Odisha as a leading tourism destination in t h e c o u n t r y w i t h i t s n i c h e tourism products

British officials may visit India next month for FTA talks

Reportedly, British officials are likely to visit India in December with the aim of concluding talks on a free t rad e agr eem ent (F TA) between the two cou ntries in about four months This n ews has b ee n repor ted a ft er t wo In di an government sources shared the possibility of an India visit, right after the nations missed their initial timeline that was supposed to be met on D iw ali l as t mon th R u mou rs s u rr ou n di ng Indian PM Narendra Modi’s visit to London on Diwali w ere d oin g rou nds However, in a twist of fate, t he t hen PM Li z Tru s s r esi gned a nd Ri shi Su nak

and UK, the two countries aim to double bilateral trade by 2030

"It will take 3 4 months o f s t e a d y n e g o t i a t i o n s t o c o m p l e t e t h i s a g r e e m e n t , with broad understanding over issues such as mobility and short term work visas to the UK," the official was quoted by Reuters

It is believed that the FTA will be cemented by the e n d o f M a r c h 2 0 2 3 T h e official sources revealed that 14 chapters out of the 26 chapters of the trade deal have been finalised

Britain

IX Investor Trader Show, London

It is undoubtedly a worrying time fi nancially for all these days with the economy in recess ion, ris ing in f la ti on an d an en er gy cr i s is pushing up the bills

The stock markets are volatile and the pound has lost value against the US dollar and Euro recently too

These swings in the stock and currency markets are music to the ears of ‘DIY investors and traders’ h o w e v e r , w h o k n o w h o w t o anticipate a movement in prices and manage their risk to earn a profit

So, if you would like to join their ranks and learn how they do it, p e r h a p s y o u s h o u l d g e t y o u r s e l f a l o n g t o t h e I X I n v e s t o r T r a d e r Show which takes place in central London on Friday, 25th November

This one day event, supported by Asian Voice, has been organised specifically to help ordinary people learn how to become DIY stock market investors and traders

The full day event is held at the luxurious Grand Connaught Rooms and is free to attend if you take advantage of the pre registration ‘Early Bird’ offer, otherwise tickets on the door are £25

At the event you can choose to a t t e n d s e m i n a r s p r e s e n t e d b y expert investors, including famous names such as Alpesh Patel O B E ( p i c t u r e d ) , o r e v e n s o m e m o r e i n t e n s i v e m a s t e r c l a s s s e s s i o n s w h e r e t h e i n s t r u c t o r s h e l p y o u

develop a plan and a strategy for starting your own trading journey

Plan your day in advance by downloading your free copy of the S m a r t T r a d e r s ’ M a g a z i n e w h i c h incorporates the show guide and l i s t i n g s o f s p e a k e r s a t www ixinvestorshow com

You can also access the seminars o n l i n e a t t h e ‘ I X V i r t u a l S h o w ’ available through the website

IX Investor Trader Show will be held on Friday, 25th November 2022 at the Grand Connaught Rooms, London, from 9am to 5 30pm Search IX Investor Show or visit www ixinvestorshow com for tickets

Inside Indian wedding shop Nim's Boutique

With an aim to bring Indian we ddi ng s hoppi ng t o t he high street, an independent clothing boutique has just open ed i n L ei ce s ter c it y c en tre Ni m' s Bou ti q u e, which was formerly based in Narborough Road, relocated to Mark et Stre et on Saturday, November 12

T h e s h o p s e l l s e v e r y t h i n g f r o m w o m e n ’ s w e d d i n g c l o t h i n g , p a r t y w e a r , s h o e s , b a g s a n d jewellery, as well as gifting products such as Indian sari b a g s , m o n e y w a l l e t s t o b a n g l e b o x e s A l t h o u g h

Nim's Boutique doesn't sell bridal clothing, customers can buy bridal jewellery

T h e b r a i n c h i l d b e h i n d t h e b r a n d i s N i m m i Goswami She started the business in 2015 from her living room

I n i t i a l l y , s h e s t a r t e d jewellery selling to friends a n d f a m i l y a n d a f t e r s i x m o n t h s , h e r c u s t o m e r numbers grew significantly Nimmi began to sell Indian clothing

S e e i n g t h e b u s i n e s s flourish, Nimmi decided to launch a website and open

u p a s h o p i n L e i c e s t e r ' s Upperton Road In 2016, this first shop opened and then t w o y e a r s l a t e r , N i m ' s Boutique moved to a larger store on Narborough Road

Around this time, Nimmi also opened a London store for one year

N i m ' s B o u t i q u e h a s b a g g e d a w a r d s a l o n g t h e w a y i n c l u d i n g S m a l l Business of the Year at the 2019 British Indian Awards a n d A s i a n C l o t h i n g B o u t i q u e o f t h e Y e a r a t B r i t a i n ’ s A s i a n W e d d i n g Awards in 2019

M e a n w h i l e , W e s t M i d l a n d s M a y o r A n d y Street is currently in India on a trade visit, where he has b e e n h a v i n g a v a r i e d experience From meeting s p o r t s s t a r s t o B o l l y w o o d stars and working on future trade deals, he’s been doing it all in the whirlwind trip His visit will include trips to

e a n d i n v e s t m e n t T h e U K h a s been trying to forge a free trade agreement with India and the fifth round of talks concluded in July 2022

b i l a t e r a l t r a

Mayor Street also visited the Bombay Stock Exchange

A s i a ’ s o l d e s t s t o c k exchange on November 9 d u r i n g h i s M u m b a i t r i p Mumbai, the capital of the w e s t e r n s t a t e o f Maharashtra, is also called the financial capital of India It is also home to one of the biggest film industries in the world Bollywood

“ S w a p p e d t h e W e s t Midlands drum for a gong in Mumbai this morning It was a n h o n o u r t o o p e n t h e Bombay Stock Exchange Asia’s oldest stock exchange

a l o n g s i d e C l l r I a n B r o o k f i e l d , ” h e s a i d i n a tweet

Ethnic minorities have progressed in education but not in pay and careers

Mos t m in ori ty ethn ic groups in the UK have made re mar kab le prog res s i n ed u ca ti ona l ac hi eve men t b u t “ c le ar evi de nc e ” of di sc rimi nati on rema ins i n the i r pay an d c are ers , ac c ordi n g to a st ud y published by the Institute for F iscal Studies

T h e I F S r e p o r t f o u n d t h a t m o s t o f t h e l a r g e s t m i n o r i t y e t h n i c g r o u p s obtain English and maths exam results at least as good o r b e t t e r t h a n t h o s e a c h i e v e d b y w h i t e B r i t i s h students in England, and are

m o r e l i k e l y t h a n w h i t e t e e n a g e r s t o g o o n t o u n i v e r s i t y B u t t h a t educational success “has not yet translated into better, or even equal, success when it c o m e s t o e a r n i n g s ” , according to the IFS, with f e w e r m i n o r i t y e t h n i c students admitted into the m o s t p r e s t i g i o u s u n i v e r s i t i e s o r o b t a i n i n g d e g r e e r e s u l t s a s g o o d a s their white counterparts

The report is part of the I F S ’ s D e a t o n r e v i e w o f i n e q u a l i t i e s i n t h e 2 1 s t c e n t u r y I t c o m e s a s t h e

T r a d e s U n i o n C o n g r e s s warns that the number of a d u l t s t a k i n g e d u c a t i o n c o u r s e s h a s p l u m m e t e d , e s p e c i a l l y a m o n g l e a r n e r s from poor backgrounds or living in the most deprived areas The TUC said that since 2016 the number of adults taking courses from the most deprived parts of B r i t a i n h a s f a l l e n f r o m 705,000 to 447,000 Adult education funding has been slashed by 40% since 2010, w i t h f e e s i n t r o d u c e d f o r adults wanting to gain new qualifications

Alpesh Patel OBE, renowned industry figure, media personality, and one of the several expert investors who will be presenting at the seminar

Why now is the perfect time to learn to trade

Odisha Flag flying high in WTM 2 0 2 2 T o u r i s m i n O d i s h a i s achieving new heights under the

i

h i p o f t h e H o n ’ b l e C h i e f M i n i s t e r o f O d i s h a S h r i N a v e e n P a t n a i k T h e p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f O d i s h a Tourism in WTM London 2022 h a s e n s u r e d t h e p r e s e n c e o f

international

took over as the first Indian origin British Asian PM of

M u m b a i , D e l h i , C h e n n a i a n d H y d e r a b a d t o b o o s t

d

WestMidlands Mayor Andy Street at Charminar Hyderabad

BA unveils new uniform policy to make staff bold, proud

T h e Bri ti s h Ai rw ays wi ll allow its male cabin crew and pilots “ wear a touch of m ascara ” and lipstick The airline wrote to all employ ees this week unveiling an u p date d uni f or m p o li cy , w hi ch encou rages staff to “be bold, be proud, be your self” at work

Male crew and pilots also will be allowed to paint their nails and were told that false eyelashes could help to add volume, although the airline is keen that crew do not go overboard Strict hairstyle rules have been eased, with male staff per mitted to have longer hair and to wear it in a bun All staff, regardless of gender can now carry a handbag

The policy review by BA comes weeks after Virgin Atlantic said it was making its uniforms gender neutral and was introducing pro noun badges for staff and customers Virgin said it would allow its crew, pilots and ground staff to choose whether to wear a skirt or trousers regardless of their gender so staff could “ express their true identity” Crew will be able to pick which outfit they wear to

work, “ no matter their gen der, gender identity or gen der expression”

Virgin was one of the first airlines to relax rules on make up in 2019 and in May it became the first big carrier to allow staff to display tat toos BA said it would keep its ban on visible tattoos and would retain female specific uniforms A source said the changes were part of a grad ual updating of the uniform policy, which has included allowing staff to wear more rings and to use a wider palette of nail varnish colours

Last year, BA said it had dropped the “ladies and gen tlemen” prefix in its onboard announcements in an attempt to make “all cus tomers feel welcome” A spokesman for BA said: “We are proud of all of our col leagues at British Airways and are committed to an inclusive working environ ment We have worked with our people to create updated guidelines for grooming, beauty and accessories, allowing our colleagues to bring the best, most authen tic version of themselves to work ”

Chancellor Hunt hints at hiking taxes

Ch a nce l l or Je re my Hu nt has warned that there are going to be "very difficult d ecisions" in ne xt we ek' s f isca l statement but insist ed the UK was "resilient"

Hunt has claimed the government's new eco nomic plans will help keep any recession "as short and shallow as possible" as he compared himself to Scrooge ahead of Thursday's Budget plans The Chancellor said there would be no surprises in the latest fiscal plans after his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng plunged the UK markets into chaos follow ing a wave of shock announcements in his late September 'mini Budget' The Chancellor is expected to announce a wave of pub lic spending cuts and tax rises as he attempts to fill an estimated £55bn black hole in the UK's finances But he insisted there would not be any major giveaways in the upcoming statement, adding: "I think it's fair to say this is going to be the

first rabbit free budget for very many years

I m sorry to disappoint you but, no, this is not going to be a time for rab bits, I'm afraid " And com paring himself to the tight fisted Dickensian protago nist, Hunt insisted he was willing to be "Scrooge who is going to do things that make sure Christmas is never cancelled" Responding to the warn ings, Hunt insisted he would attempt to ensure any recession was as "short as possible", but accepted household finances were likely to be impacted as he said everyone would be asked to make "sacrifices"

"We're all going to be paying a bit more tax, I m afraid, he said We were able to help businesses through the furlough scheme and we've been able to help people with their energy bills this winter, and we'll be able to do so next winter because we've been responsible with public finances

2-year recession expected as UK economy starts to shrink

Th e U K ec ono my s hrank between July and September as the country heads into what is expected to be the longest recession on record

The economy contract ed by 0 2% during the three months as soaring prices hit businesses and households A country is in recession when its economy shrinks for two three month periods in a row The UK is expected to be in one by the end of the year The Bank of England has forecast a "very challeng ing" two year recession

A recession has been widely expected in the UK due to the prices of goods such as food, fuel and ener gy soaring, which is down to several factors, including the war in Ukraine Higher prices for goods has led to many households facing hardship and cutting back on spending, which has started to drag on the econ omy When a country is in recession, it's a sign that its economy is doing badly

During recessions, com panies typically make less

Britain's public services need £43 bn additional funding

Rishi Sunak’s government has been warned that Britain’s creaking public services will require at least £43 bn a year in additional fu nding just to “stand still” amid the fallou t from soaring inflation

The Trades Union Congress said next week’s autumn statement needed to protect both public services and work ers ’ pay from the highest rates of inflation since the early 1980s to avoid a further collapse in the quality of support for health, social care, education, justice, and the environment

Drawing on research from the New Economics Foundation think tank, it said chancellor Jeremy Hunt would need to provide £43bn a year in today’s prices by 2024 25 to ensure adequate protection for public services after years of cuts With inflation at 10 1%, the highest level since 1982, it warned there was now a significant shortfall in the spending firepower of each government department com pared to the funding settlements they were given in 2021 when Sunak was chancellor

“The economic crisis of 2022 means public services bud gets are now worth far less due to higher prices,” the TUC and NEF said in a report, while warning Sunak that he had told parliament that world class public services were “the people’s priority”

According to the report, health and social care is facing the biggest shortfall in funding after the inflationary burst, with the health service facing a gap of £15 7 bn a year by 2024 25 against the 2021 spending review commitment Education will face a £7 1 bn shortfall compared to its spend ing review settlement, while there are also shortfalls for the justice department, as well as environment, food and rural affairs Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, said public services had been left short staffed and overwhelmed after more than a decade of austerity A Treasury spokesper son said restoring economic stability and confidence that the UK is a country that pays its way was the government’s “number one priority”

money and the number of unemployed people rises Youngsters find it harder to get their first job This means the government receives less money in tax to use on public services such as health and education The Bank of England expects the UK recession to be the longest since records began in the 1920s and said unemployment will almost double Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he would try to make any recession "shal

lower and quicker" than predicted But he has warned of "eye watering" decisions needed on public spending and taxation to restore confidence and economic stability" Hunt said he was "under no illu sion that there is a tough road ahead" He is set to unveil his tax and spending plans next week in the Autumn statement, which comes as households are being squeezed by the worst cost of living crisis since the 1950s

House prices fall on rising mortgage costs

House prices in Britain fell for t he fir st t ime i n 28 months in October and rising mortgage costs threatened to put further pressure on the pr ope r ty ma r k et , a s urv e y showe d Th e R oy al Ins ti tu ti on of Ch ar t e re d Surveyors (RICS), which mea sures the difference between the percentage of surveyors re po rt in g pr ice r ise s an d those seeing a fall, tumbled to 2 in October from +30 in September October s figure was the first negative number following 28 positive month ly readings, indicating t ha t national house price growth was "grinding to a halt", RICS said

A measure of expecta tions for house prices in 12 months' time slumped to 42 from 18 The survey showed enquiries from new buyers fell for the sixth month run ning and buyer demand was negative across the country for the second month in a row Mortgage rates have surged in recent months, gathering speed after former prime minister Liz Truss's "mini budget" roiled finan cial markets Banks briefly

PAC chair accuses DWP for benefits fraud

“could encourage a complacent atti tude toward unprecedented and unac ceptable levels of benefit fraud” and mean people “ come to see committing benefit fraud as normal”

withdrew hundreds of mort gage products While economists expect that a recent settling down in finan cial markets could provide some relief, it might be pre mature to assume lending rates will fall, Rubinsohn added

The average time to com plete home sales increased to almost 18 weeks, up from around 16 weeks a year ago The lettings market picked up in October as tenant demand rose with more peo ple looking to rent But ten ants face additional concerns: survey respondents expected rents to rise by around 4% in the coming 12 months

A separate survey showed consumer confidence which is closely linked to the health of the housing market fell for the third month in a row in October Confidence fell by 3 points to 94 7, the lowest since April 2020, early in the coronavirus pandemic, and the fourth lowest score since records started a decade ago, polling firm YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research said

Retailer Joules faces closure risking

1,600 jobs

DWP’s 2021 22 accounts, released in July, showed the department had overpaid a record £8 5 bn in benefits, excluding state pension The depart ment estimates £6 5 bn of that overpay ment was due to fraud PAC's report on fraud and error in the benefits system said overpayments were “unacceptably high” DWP has attributed the record levels of overpayments to the relax ation of fraud and error controls during the Covid 19 pandemic and an increase in fraud in society But Dame Meg Hillier, chair of PAC, accused the department of passing the buck “DWP is blaming everything from the pan demic to ills in wider society for unprecedented and wholly unaccept able levels of fraud in the benefits sys tem,” she said PAC said the depart ment's narrative about fraud in society

DWP also needs to strike the right balance between being robust in tack ling fraud and ensuring claimants are treated fairly, the MPs said The com mittee pointed out that the department has assumed all claims from Universal Credit where claimants choose “not to engage ” with the department's fraud and error measurement exercises were fraudulent, but that DWP also admit ted that it has no statistically signifi cant information to support this view

PAC also criticised high levels of underpayments in the state pension system 237,000 pensioners have been underpaid a total of £1 5 bn in the last 37 years, the department has estimated Work to fix this is behind schedule, delayed by a year to the end of 2024 PAC said the department’s efforts are “too slow to meaningfully put things right”, and “too little, too late for many affected pensioners”

About 1,600 jobs cou ld be at risk with clothing grou p Joules set to become the latest victim of the tough times hitting t he re tai l se ctor The Lei ce st ers hi re based company, which has 132 shops, said it i ntended to appoint administrators after failing to secure emergency invest ment Joules said last week that recent sales had been weaker than expected

Many retailers have been struggling as consumers cut spending in the face of the soaring cost of living Last week, fur niture retailer Made com fell into admin istration, leading to hundreds of job loss es, with High Street giant Next buying Made's brand name, website and intellec tual property

Next had been in talks with Joules during the summer over taking a stake in the company, but these discussions ended in September Joules was founded by Tom Joule, and started out selling clothes at country shows in 1989

Joule said in a statement: "Today is a deeply disappointing day for Joules, and a sad day for me personally "

The D e p ar t me n t fo r Wo rk a n d Pensions needs to "get a grip" on record levels of fraud and e rror in t he benefits system and take responsibility for tack lin g t he "e y e w at e r i ng " su ms, th e Pub li c A cco un t s C omm it t e e h as warned

India to become third-largest economy by 2027: Morgan Stanley

India is on track to surpass J apan a nd Ger man y to be come the thi rd l arge s t economy in the world by 2027 and to have the third la rges t s toc k ma rke t by 2030, with key investments in technology and energy, says Ridham Desai, Morgan Stan le y ’ s C hi ef E qu i ty Strategist for India

In a world that is currently starved of growth, the opportunity set in India must be on global investors’ radar,” says Chetan Ahya, Morgan Stanley’s Chief Asia Economist “India will be one of only three economies in the world that can generate more than $400

billion annual economic output growth from 2023 onward, and this will rise to more than $500 billion after 2028 ”

India is likewise well positioned to become the global factory, as corporate

bn

In di a 's g r oss di r ec t t ax

collections rose almost 30 7% to over £105 b illion in the fin a n cia l y e a r u p t o Novembe r 10, with the mop up so far rea ching 61% of Budget e stimates The latest numb ers released by CBDT in di ca t e d t ha t t he gr o wt h ra t e in gr o ss coll ec t ion s, which has modera ted to 24%, ha s pic ke d u p a ga in The financial year began with a 40% jump in June and had slowed to 30% in the fiscal year up to September 17

Net collections, which is after refunds, rose 25 7% to over £81 billion, with refund

payment between April and November 10, 2022 estimated to have grown over 61% to more than £18 billion

In gross terms, so far this year, personal income tax has grown by almost 41%, while corporation tax collections are 22% higher After adjusting for refunds, the net growth in corporation tax collections is pegged at 24 5%, while personal income tax is estimated to have gone up by 27% (including securities transaction tax), CBDT said in a statement

tax cuts, investment incentives, and infrastructure spending encourage capital investments in manufacturing

“Multinationals are now buoyant about the

prospects of investing in India, and the government is helping their cause by investing in infrastructure as well as supplying land for building factories,” says Upasana Chachra, Chief India Economist

India began laying the foundation for a more digital economy more than a decade ago with the launch of a national identification program called Aadhaar The system creates biometric IDs to establish proof of residence and has been instrumental in digitizing financial transactions, among other benefits

Blinkered Vision India's

Goldman promotes 8 Indians to highest level

Gol dman Sac hs ha s promote d 80 empl oyee s globally as partners There are eight Indians in total, wi th Siv as u br ama ni an Ba laj i , the c o he ad of eng in ee ri ng in B enga lu r u and the global co head of data lake engineering, based in India in the Bengaluru office

He is in charge of the data lake platform on a worldwide scale Balaji spent 14 years building low latency trading platforms for international equities markets prior to taking on his current position India is

home to about 35% of Goldman Sachs' global engineering footprint

Partner is the highest level attainable at Goldman Sachs and partners are made every two years Partners represent approximately 1% of the 47,000 employees globally Promotions are effective January next year This year, over 29% of promotions are of women (27% in 2020), 24% of promotions are Asian (7% in 2020) The India office represents the second largest site for the firm outside of New York

Adani and RIL bid for bankrupt Future Retail

Companies led by Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani have entered into the race to buy Future Retail, which is hea vily in de b ted Apr il M oon Retail Private, a joint v e n tu re b e tw e en A d an i A ir po rt Ho ld in g s a n d Flemingo Group, R eliance R etail Ventures, as well as 13 other firms have submitted e x pr e ssion s of in t er e st (EOIs) for Future Retail

The Future Group's flagship retail division,

Future Retail, formerly the nation's second largest retailer, had a deadline for EOI submissions earlier this month

It was dragged into bankruptcy proceedings by banks after it defaulted on loans and its lenders rejected a $3 4 billion sale of its assets to market leader Reliance Industries amid a legal challenge by Amazon The US e commerce giant has accused Future of

violating certain contracts by dealing with Reliance

Other entities that have submitted EOIs include Shalimar Corporation, Nalwa Steel & Power, United Biotech, WHSmith Travel, Capri Global Holdings

In August, 33 lenders collectively submitted loan claims totaling approximately $2 6 billion as part of the ongoing insolvency process Bank of

India and State Bank of India are among the biggest lenders Due to a lack of interest, Future Retail's RP had to extend the deadline for submitting EOIs, which had been set for October 20

The final list of entities that have submitted the EOIs will be issued on November 20, following which they will be asked to submit a resolution plan by December 15

LIC’s Q2 profit rises to record £1.6 bn

The gover nme nt t hrou gh t he Sp ec if i ed

Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) has said that it will sell its 1 6% stake in Axis Bank At cu rrent market price of Rs 87 4, the stake is worth £444 3 million

The first person to promote Axis Bank (formerly UTI Bank) is SUUTI According to the bank, the sale will be carried out through the offer for sale procedure Only non retail investors will be permitted to submit bids on the first day of the sale A week after private equity investor Bain Capital sold a 0 5 per cent share for £148 7

million, the government made an offer for sale

For FY23, the centre has set a disinvestment target of £6 5 bn After the government bailed out the mutual funds' flagship US 64 scheme, the SUUTI was established in 2002 to oversee the liquidation of the core investments made by the former Unit Trust of India

LIC has reported a record net profit of £1 59 billion for the September quarter, over 10 times the £1 43 3 million profit in the year ago pe rio d T he corporat ion had recorded a net pro fi t o f £6 8 2 million in the June quart er LIC re po rt ed a 1 0% increase in net investment inc o m e t o £8 41 bil l i o n O th er i nc o me ro s e multifold to £679 5 million from £4 5 million in the previous year

Shares of LIC closed at Rs 628 on Friday last up 1 2% over its previous close At current prices, LIC is valued at £39 7 billion, down sharply from the £60

billion valuation during its initial public offering (IPO) The results were declared after market hours Unlike most businesses, the stock market valuation for a life insurance company is a reflection of the value of new business and the embedded value These value of new business gives an indication of the corporation’s future earnings from the policies that it has issued during the quarter The embedded value varies according to the value of assets and how much it is in excess of future liabilities

There was a lot in a recent auction guided for abou t £35 0K, in No rt h West L o ndo n F ro m pre vio u s experience, when a property in a highly concentrated Indian location comes up, with a dangling carrot of a low guide price and it too at beginning o f the auction, this has been by design; set to bring the herds in and pump the price up to double or treble of the guide

Therefore, we dismissed the opportunity as a waste of effort The last property we geared up to bid on was a development opportunity, near Harrow & Wealdstone station, which was guided at £200K, and ended up selling for £375K, which makes no sense as the neighbouring property was on the market for £650K, and the build cost was £350K

The only possible explanation I can think of was either someone wanted to keep their builders busy or they had a lot of spare cash to dispense with

I never thought to actively track the property as it was dismissed as a set up A cursory glance only yesterday showed the property went for around £550K A colleague who owns several properties around the locality and even owns an estate agency across the road was of the same opinion He too was shocked when I shared the news He mentioned he knows someone who has a similar block valued recently at £725K, which sounds about right for this property This represents a discount of 25% Normally one doesn’t get a discount at this level in this location for a plain vanilla building

This shows that although experience brings benefits, it can also serve to cloud and blinker vision

Had I not had the ‘benefit’ of hindsight, and had gone into this deal wearing rose tinted glasses excited at the opportunity, perhaps there would have been a different outcome

The fact it was allowed to go for this price, also means the reserve had to have been set a lot lower than it was worth

The building consisted of a commercial on the ground floor with a four bedroom maisonette on the two upper floors

An argument can be made that the added issue is the commercial borrowing rates have increased and therefore the expected yield needs to be higher to justify the investment, namely around 7 8%

However I believe there is still a lot of money floating around in the market, including both cash buyers and still relatively cheap residential borrowing rates, for this not to be the overriding reason

I expect there to be a turn in the market after January, where deals will become more common place, this will continue throughout 2023

Serentica Renewables, which is backed by Anil Agrawal, will receive $400

It is not yet known how much stake KKR will buy in the company Pratik Agarwal, director of Serentica Renewables, stated that, “This transaction is amongst the largest industrial decarbonisation investments in India to date and carries forward the global decarbonisation agenda which is centre stage at COP27 ”

Agrawal also added that out of the $400 million investment, $100 million will go towards “growth capital”, while the rest will be invested in the project Standard Chartered Bank was the sole financial advisor to Serentica for the deal KKR has invested almost over $15 billion globally in renewable resources like wind and solar energy, totalling an operational power generation capacity of 23 GW as of 31 December 2021

Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

million from the international investment firm KKR The US based company wants to establish a new energy platform with Serentica to offer clean energy options an d s u pport t he de ca rb oni s ati on of l arge i ndu s tr ia l platforms

Anil Agrawal

Afghan supreme leader orders full implementation of Sharia law

KAB UL: Afghanistan’s supreme leader has ordered j udges to fully enforce aspects of Islamic law that i nc lu de pu bl ic executions, stonings, floggings and the amputation of limbs for thi eve s, the Ta li b an ’ s chi e f spokesperson said

Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that the “obligatory” command by Haibatullah Akhundzada came after the secretive leader met with a group of judges Akhundzada, who has not been filmed or photographed in public since the Taliban returned to power in August last year, rules by decree from Kandahar, the movement’s

birthplace and spiritual heartland

The Taliban promised a softer version of the harsh rule that characterised their first stint in power, from 1996 2001, but have gradually clamped down on rights and freedoms Hudud refers to offences for

which, under Islamic law, certain types of punishment are mandated, while it translates as “retaliation in kind” effectively an eye for an eye Hudud crimes include adultery and falsely accusing someone of it drinking alcohol, theft, kidnapping and highway robbery, apostasy and rebellion On several occasions the Taliban have also displayed in public the bodies of kidnappers who they said were killed in shootouts

Rahima Popalzai, a legal and political analyst, said the edict could be an attempt by the

Taliban to harden a reputation they may feel has softened since their return to power The hard won rights of women in particular have evaporated in the past 15 months, and they are increasingly being squeezed out of public life

Most female government workers have lost their jobs, or are being paid a pittance to stay at home, while women are also barred from travelling without a male relative and must cover up with a burqa or hijab when outside the home In the past week, the Taliban also banned women from entering parks, funfairs, gyms and public baths

Imran no longer blames US for his ouster as PM

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has signalled his readiness to mend ties with the United States after repeatedly accusing Washington of cons pi ri ng to remove hi m from power in April

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s over, it’s behind me The Pakistan I want to lead must have good relationships with everyone, especially the United States,” he said in an interview

While he expressed a will ingness to work with the US if he is re elected and said he wants a “dignified” relationship with the US, the 70 year old also criticised Pakistan’s relationship with the US “Our relationship with the US has been as of a master servant relationship, or a master slave relationship, and

we ’ ve been used like a hired gun But for that I blame my own governments more than the US,” he said

Commenting on Khan’s remarks, a US State Department spokesperson said that the United States values its “long standing cooperation with Pakistan and has always viewed a prosperous and democratic Pakistan as critical” to US inter ests

“We will not let propaganda, misinformation, and disinfor mation get in the way of any bilateral relationship, including our valued bilateral partnership with Pakistan,” the spokesper son said Khan was removed as prime minister in April following a vote of no confidence in parlia

Lanka budget lays down plans to clinch IMF deal; markets not enthused

COLOM BO: The crisis hit Sri Lankan econom y can turn around by the end of 2023 if budget policies, which are not limited to the International Monetary Fund's recommenda tions, are followed, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on M onday

IMF recommendations have only been looked at to sta bilise the economy, Wickremesinghe, who is also the coun try's finance minister, told parliament, delivering the first annual budget since he took office in July The budget includ ed measures aimed at reducing the government's deficit as Colombo seeks to secure an IMF bailout package to help the country recover from its worst financial crisis in decades

Soaring inflation, a weakening currency and low foreign exchange reserves have left the island of 22 million people struggling to pay for imports of essentials such as food, fuel and medicine Mass unrest forced the previous president and prime minister out of power, and the country remains vul nerable to political instability as fears of a global recession have added to the problems for an economy that suffered a catastrophic contraction

Wickremesinghe laid down several medium term targets for the government: increasing international trade as a per centage of GDP by more than 100%, annual growth of $3 bil lion from new exports over the next 10 years as well as attracting $3 billion in foreign direct investment over the same period

He also said the government planned to reduce debt to less than 100% of GDP over the medium term and achieve economic growth of around 7 8% "With a lot of taxes already implemented, on the revenue side the budget primarily seems to be aiming towards tax administrations, reducing the leakages and broadbasing the tax net," said Trisha Peries, head of research at CAL Group Sri Lanka's international bonds showed little impact from the latest announcements Some issues gained as much as 1 6 cents in the dollar, but this was broadly in line with wider market moves and the coun try's dollar bonds are still bid at deeply distressed levels of 23 25 cents, according to Tradeweb

ment, which he has since blamed on a US led foreign con spiracy that also involved Pakistan’s powerful military establishment and his political rivals He has never provided any evidence to back his allega tions Islamabad and Washington have denied the charges

The gloves are off

On November 3, Khan was shot and wounded in the leg in Wazirabad city, in the eastern province of Punjab, while lead ing a protest march on the capi tal to demand early elections The current National Assembly’s term ends in October 2023

The long march, which began on October 28 from Lahore, resumed after the

shooting, and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) party is on its way to Islamabad While he is unable to physically attend, he addresses his supporters every evening

Shortly after being injured in the firing, Khan said that early elections were the only way to restore political stability and warned of growing economic upheaval if they aren ’t held soon His popularity has often surged because of his anti Washington rhetoric, but Khan’s walking back the US conspiracy theory was inevitable, said ana lyst Mosharraf Zaidi from the Tabadlab think tank in Islamabad It was not the first time that Khan used a populist trope “he knows to be untrue to excite his base”, Zaidi said

in brief

9 INDIANS KILLED IN MALDIVES FIRE

Authorities in the capital of the Maldives said that a major fire that started in the garage below a small apartment building housing foreign workers killed 10 people, nine of whom were Indians The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), which was active on site with an emergency response team, said that they recovered bodies included nine Indians and one Bangladeshi national “Authorities are currently investigating the scene of incidence, and attempting to scan the area for possible further casualties," the MNDF said In New Delhi External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that local authorities are engaged in identifying the dead bodies

6 KILLED AS POWERFUL QUAKE JOLTS NEPAL

At least six people were killed and five others were injured in a 6 3 magnitude earthquake struck the Himalayan region close to Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand along the Nepal border last week Strong tremors were felt across north India and parts of Nepal in the early hours of Thursday The National Centre for Seismology (NCS) stated that the epicentre of the 6 3 magnitude earthquake was in Doti, Nepal, about 90 km east southeast of Pithoragarh Bhola Bhatta the acting chief at the District Police Office in Nepal s Doti, stated that all the six victims were killed by the debris of the houses damaged during the earthquake The tremors were felt in Delhi and the surrounding areas of Ghaziabad and Gurugram and even in Lucknow jolting people out of their sleep

6 DIE IN MID AIR COLLISION OF 2 PLANES AT US AIR SHOW

D haka : Ban gla des h an d t he I MF rea ched a preli min ary a greemen t under which the global lender will provide a $4 5 billion su pport pack age to stabilise its economy and pro tect the vulnerable people

The IMF agreement came months after discussions between the global lender and Bangladesh officials Bangladesh is the third South Asian nation after Sri Lanka and Pakistan to secure a bailout package from the IMF to tide over the sharp rise in food and energy prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the global inflation due to the Russia Ukraine war

The amount will be disbursed in seven instalments till December 2026 The first instalment of $447 48 million will be cleared in February next year, while the loan's interest rate would depend on the market rate at the time of maturity, Finance Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal said after the signing of the agreement in Dhaka

Finance ministry officials calcu lated the interest rate to be around 2 2% "We are getting the loan just the way we wanted The International Monetary Fund will lend us a total of $4 5 billion," Kamal said

The deal is subject to approval by the IMF's executive board, which is expected within weeks Meanwhile, the IMF in a statement said it has "reached a staff level agreement” with Bangladesh to "preserve

macroeconomic stability and sup port strong, inclusive, and green growth, while protecting the vulner able"

Rahul Anand, who led a visiting IMF delegation to Bangladesh, said the Ukraine war has interrupted the country's robust economic recovery from the pandemic, leading to a sharp widening of the current account deficit, rapid decline of for eign exchange reserves, rising infla tion and slowing growth

"Even as Bangladesh tackles these immediate challenges, addressing long standing structural issues remains critical, including threats to macroeconomic stability from climate change,” he said Anand said it is important for Bangladesh to build on past success es and address structural issues to accelerate growth, attract private investment, enhance productivity, and build climate resilience to suc cessfully graduate from Least Developed Country status and achieve middle income status by 2031

The dwindling foreign reserves and inflation minimised Bangladesh’s capacity to import suf ficient fossil fuels, prices of which soared because of the Russia Ukraine war The situation forced the government to close diesel plants, leave some gas run power plants idle and enforce a power rationing system through electricity cuts for long hours

Six people were killed when a pair of World War II era planes collided in mid air at a show in Texas and crashed to the ground in a ball of fire, authorities said “According to our Dallas county medical examiner, there are a total of 6 fatalities over Dallas air show incident ” Dallas county judge Clay Jenkins said The accident involved a Boeing B 17 Flying Fortress and a smaller Bell P 63 Kingcobra Dallas mayor Eric Johnson called the incident a terrible tragedy adding that videos of accident are heartbreaking After the collision, the planes appeared to break apart into several large pieces before crashing to the ground and exploding in a ball of fire The scattered debris across the airport grounds as well as on a strip mall and a nearby highway, which was closed for hours

EXPLOSION IN ISTANBUL KILLS 6

An explosion on Sunday shook a bustling pedestrian thoroughfare in Istanbul, killing at least six people and leaving 53 wounded, the provincial governor said The governor, Ali Yerlikaya did not specify the cause of the blast The blast hit Istiklal Avenue, one of the city’s busiest areas for shopping, tourism and transit A football game scheduled for Sunday evening nearby may have brought even more people than usual to the area Videos showed an orange fireball rising from the street and crowds of people panicking and rushing to flee the area Other videos showed a number of wounded people on the ground some of them covered in blood and not moving A TV reporter at the scene said he had seen at least five people wounded but walking and at least four others lying on the ground

IMF agrees $4.5 bn loan for Bangladesh to combat economic crisis

in brief 5 Indian-Americans elected to US House of Representatives

IRAN HYPERSONIC MISSILE CLAIM RAISES CONCERNS

An Iranian general claimed that the Islamic republic had developed a hypersonic missile capable of penetrating all defence systems, raising concerns from the UN nuclear watchdog Hypersonic missiles can also deliver nuclear weapons “This hypersonic ballistic missile was developed to counter air defence shields,” General Amirali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps aerospace unit said “It’ll be able to breach all the systems of anti missile defence ” he said adding that he believed it would take decades before a system capable of intercepting it is developed The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Gross expressed concerns about the announcement We see these announcements increase the attention, increase the concerns

MAN ON EXTREMIST LIST STABS POLICE OFFICER

Belgian authorities said that a lone assailant who killed one police officer and wounded another in a stabbing attack had been on a list of potential extremists The suspect, who had served six years in prison for common law crimes, had gone to a police station to express hatred for them, but couldn’t be arrested before he launched his stabbing attack on two police officers “The man was on the list of OCAD,” said Eric Van Der Sypt, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office Brussels prosecutor spokeswoman Sarah Durant said the suspect had made “unhinged remarks” during a discussion with officers hours before the attack

QATAR AND ISRAEL TO OPERATE SPECIAL FLIGHTS FOR

WC

Direct charter flights will operate between Israel and Qatar which do not have formal diplomatic ties, during the upcoming World Cup in Doha, Fifa said, facilitating attendance by eligible Israeli and Palestinian fans Soccer s world governing body said it brokered the deal that would allow holders of match tickets and a valid Hayya fan ID on flights from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv to Doha's Hamad International during the one month event “With this deal, Israelis and Palestinians will be able to fly together and enjoy football together,” Fifa president Gianni Infantino said in the statement The statement did not specify which Palestinians, who live in the Israeli occupied West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip this might apply to

MURDER SUSPECT ON RUN FOR 29 YEARS IN CHINA HELD

Police in southern China have arrested a murder suspect who became a millionaire during 29 years on the run, Chinese media reported The suspect, surnamed Xiong, was wanted for the fatal stabbing of another man during a dispute in 1993, the Beijing Youth Daily reported Police from Xiangyang city in central China’s Hubei province travelled more than 1 200 km to the city of Huizhou in Guangdong province to make the arrest They led him out of his residence where his elderly mother also lived by posing as anti pandemic workers according to the video report In the decades after his alleged crime Xiong transformed from an ordinary worker to a millionaire boss living in a luxury flat the report said, without revealing how he amassed his fortune

W A S H I N G T O N : F i v e I n di an Am er i c an lawmakers from th e ruling Democrat P arty, in c lu di n g R a j a K ri s h n am o o r th i , R o Kh anna, P rami la Jayapal and Ami Bera, have been elected to the US Ho use of Rep resentatives, wh ile several others were elected i n state legislatures, in o ne of the mo st p olarised mi dterm elections in the country

I n d i a n A m e r i c a n e n t r e p r e n e u r t u r n e d p o l i t i c i a n a n d D e m o c r a t S h r i T h a n e d a r b e c a m e t h e f i r s t I n d i a n

American to win the Congressional elec tions from Michigan, pipping Republican candidate Martell Bivings Thanedar, 67, currently represents the third district in the Michigan House

In the eighth Congressional District of Illinois, Raja Krishnamoorthi, 49, was re elected for the fourth consecutive term by a c o m f o r t a b l e m a r g i n H e d e f e a t e d h i s

Republican opponent Chris Dargis In Silicon Valley, Indian American Ro

K h a n n a , 4 6 , d e f e a t e d h i s c o m p a t r i o t

Republican opponent Ritesh Tandon in the 17th Congressional District of California C h e n n a i b o r n C o n g r e s s w o m a n Pramila Jayapal, the only Indian American w o m a n l a w m a k e r i n t h e H o u s e o f Representatives, defeated her GOP rival, C l i f f M o o n i n t h e 7 t h C o n g r e s s i o n a l District of Washington State Bera, 57, is the longest serving Indian American in the Congress He has been representing California's 7th Congressional D i s t r i c t s i n c e 2 0 1 3 B e r a h a s d e f e a t e d R e p u b l i c a n T a m i k a H a m i l t o n Krishnamoorthi, Khanna, Jayapal and Bera were members of the previous House Indian Americans candidates picked up seats in State legislatures also

In Maryland, Aruna Miller scripted his tory by becoming the first Indian American politician to win the race of Lieutenant Governor Miller, 58, a former delegate to t h e M a r y l a n d H o u s e , w a s o n t h e

BAPS Swami addresses G20 religion forum in Indonesia

B A L I : M a h am a h o p ad h y ay Bh a d res h d a s Swami, one of th e world ’ s leading Ind ian philosophers, was invited to represent BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS ) as a trad i tional scholar of Hinduism at the inaug ural G20 Religion F orum or ‘R20’ hosted in Bali, Ind onesia, on Nov ember 2 and 3

The invitation was testament to BAPS’s worldwide commitment to fostering gen uine dialogue, mutual understanding and w i d e r c o l l a b o r a t i o n a m o n g d i v e r s e f a i t h communities, and coincided with the cen tennial anniversary year of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, who was a life long advocate of global religious harmony Bhadreshdas Swami had been invited by the organisers as one of the key speakers to address the audience of over 400 esteemed delegates from around the world During his address, he paid tribute to Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s message of interfaith harmony from the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit in New York City in 2000

No

NU S A DU A ( IND ONE SI A ) : President Joe Bid en objected to C h ina’s “ co erci ve and i nc rea si n g ly a g g re s si v e a ct i o ns ” t ow ard Taiwan during his first in person meeting on Monday with P resident X i Jinping , as the lead ers of the two su perpowers aim ed to “ manage ” d ifferences betw een their nations as they comp ete for g lo bal influence

T h e h i g h l i g h t o f B i d e n ’ s s e v e n d a y , round the world trip to Asia, the nearly three hour sit down came at a critical junc ture for the two countries amid increasing economic and security tensions Speaking at a news conference afterward, Biden said that when it comes to China the US would “compete vigorously, but I’m not looking for conflict ” He added: “I absolutely believe there need not be a new Cold War” with the rising Asian power

Biden reiterated US support for its long standing “One China” policy, which recog nises the government in Beijing while allow ing for informal relations and defence ties with Taipei, and its posture of “strategic ambiguity” over whether it would respond militarily if the island were attacked He also said that despite China’s recent saber rat tling, he does not believe “there’s any immi nent attempt on the part of China to invade Taiwan ” Xi, according to the Chinese gov ernment’s account of the meeting, “stressed that the Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China US relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China US relations ”

I n s p e a k i n g a b o u t f o s t e r i n g p e a c e f u l conflict resolution and global religious har mony, Bhadreshdas Swami drew upon the universal timeless wisdom of the Vedas, U p a n i s h a d s , B h a g a v a d G i t a , B h a g w a n Swaminarayan and various schools of classi cal Indian thought He concluded with the driving message of His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj: “In the spirit of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ ‘The whole world is one family’ let us reach out to extend the circle of global harmony ”

T w o o t h e r s p e a k e r s f r o m I n d i a a l s o spoke eloquently about religious harmony Swami Govinda Dev Giri Maharaj, Treasurer of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, and Swami Mitranand Saraswati, Director of the All India Chinmaya Yuva Kendra

Indian charged in $8 mn Covid relief fraud scheme in US

N EW YOR K: An Indian national in the US faces a maximum pe nal ty of 20 ye ars in prison if conv icted in a n $8 mill ion Covid 19 re lief fraud scheme, according to court docu me n t s A b his he k K ri shn a n, 40 , h a s b e e n charged by a feder al gra nd jury in Newar k, New Jer sey , for fraudule ntly obtaining mil l i on s o f d ol l a r s i n P a y c he c k P r ot e c t io n Program (PPP) l oans g uar ante ed by the Smal l B usin ess Ad min istr a tio n (S BA ) und e r t he C or o n a v i r us A i d, R e l i e f, a n d E co n om ic Secur it y (CARES) Act

K r i s h n a n , w h o p r e v i o u s l y r e s i d e d i n Wake County, North Carolina, is charged with two counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, and two counts of aggra vated identity theft After returning to India, K r i s h n a n a l l e g e d l y s u b m i t t e d n u m e r o u s fraudulent PPP loan applications to federally insured banks, including on behalf of pur ported companies that were not registered business entities

The fraudulent PPP loan applications allegedly included false statements about the companies, employees and payroll expenses, as well as falsified tax filings As part of the fraud scheme, Krishnan allegedly used the name of another person without that per son ’ s authority He allegedly submitted at least 17 PPP loan applications seeking over $8 2 million and received more than $3 3 mil lion in loan proceeds A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after con sidering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors

Lieutenant Governor ticket along with Wes Moore the Democratic Governor elect H o w e v e r , I n d i a n A m e r i c a n S a n d e e p S r i v a s t a v a l o s t f r o m T e x a s ' s t h i r d

Congressional district to Keith Self, the for mer Colin County judge

The emergence of a large number of young Indian American candidates reflects the growing desire of this small ethnic community comprising just one per cent of the US population of 331 9 million

The midterm elections will have a sig nificant impact on the direction of the nation, as well as the fate of the person and the party in power in the White House Currently, Democrats are in the majority d u e t o t h e t i e b r e a k i n g p o w e r o f Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, who serves ex officio as the president of the Senate The outcome will influence the playing field for the 2024 presidential cam paign, and especially the odds of Donald Trump running again

Democrats retain Senate control as House hangs in balance

W ASH IN GT O N: Th e Democra tic Par ty h as reta ined control o f the US S enate, wi nning two close contests in Ari zona and Ne va da to go up 50 49, wit h one se at (Geo rgia ) g oing into a runoff e lecti on i n D ecember because no candi dat e could h it t he 50 % v ote requi red unde r sta te laws

W i t h t h e v i ce p r e si d e nt h a v i ng a t i e bre aker vote , Democra ts ha ve once ag ai n e dg ed out Republi ca ns who were t ippe d by pollste rs to win both the Se na te and t he 4 3 5 me mb e r H o u se W i nn i ng G e o r g i a would , a di st inct possi bili ty now, would be t he icing on the cake, f ree ing v ice presi d ent Kama la Ha rris from babysitti ng t he S enate

F o r t h a t m a t t e r , e v e n t h e H o u s e r e s u l t s r e m a i n o n k n i f e ’ s e d g e w i t h Republicans struggling to reach the 218 majority mark With results in 20 seats, mostly from the Democrat leaning west coast still due, the GOP is leading 211 204 It is now expected to win only a very nar row majority, possible of only one or two seats rather than the 25 50 seat lead it was projected to take There is still a small pos sibility Democrats can retain an equally thin majority in the House where they had a five seat advantage The shock results, one of the best in mid term elections, by a party in control of the White House, has completely changed the political dynam ics in America Bloodletting and circular fire has erupted in the Republican with t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t G O P u n l o a d i n g o n Donald Trump for blowing the chance to win, and Trump Republicans gunning for the legislative leadership who they say did not bring energy to the campaign

A v i s i b l y h a p p y P r e s i d e n t B i d e n tweeted, “Tuesday was a good day for America and a good day for democracy and a strong night for Democrats ” He hoped the party would win the Georgia seat because “the bigger the number, the better”

Democrats also captured numerous state legislatures and governorships riding on liberal voter anxiety over the direction Trump’s MAGA forces were taking the country Some mainstream Republicans are now looking to Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who won second term against a Democrat challenger in a swing state, to t a k e o n t h e f o r m e r p r e s i d e n t f o r t h e W h i t e H o u s e r u n i n 2 0 2 4 T r u m p

Republicans, and Trump himself, have promised to wreak havoc if that were to happen

Cold War with China, Biden says after meeting Xi

6 convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case walk free

The si x remaining life term c on vi c ts i n t he Ra j i v Gandhi assassi nation case were all released from four j a il s i n Ta mi l N ad u on Saturday, a day after the Supreme Court mandated their release "forthwith "

Nalini returned from her long parole, presented herself at the women ’ s prison in Vellore and was formally released 15 minutes earlier She held on to her husband Sriharan’s hand, extended from inside a police vehicle in Vellore, and jogged beside the van She had been waiting at the gate and broke down on seeing him walk free

All the four Sri Lankan nationals Murugan, alias Sriharan, Santhan, Robert Payas and Jayakumar were driven to the special camp for foreign nationals at Kottapattu, near the central prison in Tiruchi, by an escort vehicle

Sriharan and Santhan were released from Vellore central prison About 135km away, Robert Payas and his brother in law and co convict Jayakumar stepped out of Puzhal prison Arputhammal, the mother of A G Perarivalan, who was the first to be released by the Supreme Court on May 18 this year, was present at

the jail gate along with 50 Naam Tamilar Kathi cadres to receive the two Ravichandran, who was out on parole since November 2021, was the last to complete his release formalities

Supporting the plea of the convicts, the DMK led Tamil Nadu government contended that the state cabinet had recommended remission of sentences of seven convicts to the governor under Article 161 (power to grant pardon, remission), which is binding on him It also referred to the May 18 verdict (release of 1st convict A G Perarivalam), which held that the governor's decision to refer their remission plea to the President despite a recommendation by the TN cabinet was without any constitutional backing and “ was inimical to the

scheme of our Constitution"

Later, Congress said the Supreme Court’s premature release of the six convicts is bad in law, “totally unacceptable, completely erroneous ” , and not in consonance with the spirit of India Congress MP and senior Supreme Court advocate Abhishek Singhvi remarked that former PM’s assassination is an “institutional matter” on which the party even disagreed with the personal views of former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra the former PM’s wife and children and clarified that the Congress never agreed with the Gandhi family’s view because “the sovereignty, integrity and identity of the nation is involved in a Prime Minister's assassination ”

'Gentle revolutionary' Ela Bhatt helped women out of poverty

P olice a rrive d in 1989 to disperse a women's sit in The Ahmedabad municipal administration wanted the d e mo nst ra t o rs o f f t he streets, which would ha ve p u t t h ei r l iv e li ho od s in jeopardy because they w ere street sellers The officers, however, did not anticipate a little union representative who pleaded for two hours before finally giving in

The policemen had come up against India’s “gentle revolutionary” An activist who championed collective power, Ela Ramesh Bhatt, affectionately called Elaben, died earlier this month

Born to a well off family in Gujarat in 1933,

Ela’s early life was steeped in India’s freedom struggle against British colonialism She attended school and college in Surat, before studying law in Ahmedabad She later married fellow student leader Ramesh Bhatt Ela joined the Textile Labour Association’s legal team soon after university and began battling for textile labourers

Ela discovered that the majority of workers were not unionised and did not have regular wages or protection from exploitation, particularly female workers Ela founded the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), India s first

working women's movement, in 1972 with the goal of changing this

Ela knew finance was critical to eradicating poverty Loan sharks preyed on self employed workers, without bank accounts or health insurance, whenever they suffered mishaps from crop ruining storms to injuries So in 1974, SEWA started a women ’ s bank

“Poor women are economically active,” the microfinancing pioneer argued, and “should not be considered unbankable” Ela insisted on putting money in their hands rather than their husbands’ She argued that women were more

Can’t club us with big polluters, says India

India with the help of other de vel opi ng c ou nt ri es thw art ed an a tte mpt by de vel oped c ou nt ri es to focus on all top 20 current CO2 emitters for additional mitigation actions, instead of ju s t t he bi g hi s tor ic al pol lu te rs (ri c h na ti ons ), du ring the first week of the UN climate talks (COP27) The cru cial second week of ne goti a ti on i n volvi n g ministers began on Monday

The developed world, during the meeting on the mitigation work programme (MWP) last week, sought to bring on board all top 20 emitters, including India and China, to discuss intense emission cuts The MWP is focused on collectively slashing emissions by nearly half by 2030 from 2010 levels,which is considered necessary if the climate goal of keeping warming within 1 5 degree

Celsius by the end of the century is to be met The developing countries, however, pushed back against the introduction of these terms in the MWP India is learnt to have objected to the focus on all top 20 emitters India had the backing of Brazil and the like minded developing countries (LMDC) grouping

The move assumes significance as there are a number of developing countries among the current top 20 emitters with no historical obligations to reduce their emissions Including all top 20 for intensive mitigation action means putting India, Indonesia, Iran and other developing countries on a par with big historical emitters such as the USA, the EU nations, Russia, Japan, UK and others whose cumulative emissions are

much higher than India

In the list of top 20 current emitters, India figures at the fourth position in terms of fossil CO2 emissions in 2021 China was the top current emitter with 11 5 billion tonnes of CO2 emission last year followed by the US (5 billion tonnes), EU 27 (2 8 billion tonnes) and India (2 7 billion tonnes)

Though the developed countries may again try to bring the focus of mitigation on all top emitters while discussing the text of the COP27, it is clear that India would continue to oppose it, reminding the world that its contribution to the historical stock that is causing global warming is just about 4% while it has 17% of the world’s population India’s per capita emission is merely a third of the global average

China has not reduced its forces on LAC: Army chief

India s army chief General Manoj Pande described the s i tu at ion on t he Chi ne se b order as " st abl e b u t unpredictable," adding that the Pe ople' s Li be rat ion Army (PLA) has not scaled

back its forces along the LAC n or sl owed down i nf ra st ru c tu re development for better troop com mu ni c ati on and mobility

responsible and effective with money; the loan recovery rates for SEWA, which were well over 90%, confirmed her claim Later, in 1979, she became a founder member of the international microlending network Women's World Banking She served as chancellor of a university founded by Gandhi embodied Gandhian simplicity, with her severe middle parting and khadi cotton saris

Speaking at a gathering, the Army chief also cautioned against China's deceit and double talk “We all know what the Chinese say and what they do is quite different It is also a part of deception, or their nature or their character We perhaps need to focus on their actions rather than what is there in their written texts or scripts or their articulation Then we will not go wrong, ” he said

India is holding discussions at the political, diplomatic, and military levels to end the ongoing military conflict in eastern Ladakh after the PLA launched several well coordinated incursions into the region in April May 2020

“Because of these talks, we have been able to find resolution for five of the seven friction points We are now looking for a date

for the 17th round of corps commander level talks It is for the remaining two friction points that we are attempting to find a resolution,” Gen Pande said However, China has not yet demonstrated any willingness to engage in troop disengagement at the two significant strategically important Charding Ninglung Nallah (CNN) track junction in Demchok and the Depsang Plains If a general de escalation occurs, it will require the two nations to withdraw their over 50,000 soldiers each who have been deployed in advance with heavy weaponry along the eastern Ladakh frontier for the past 30 months

G20 presidency reflects world’s confidence in India, says PM Modi

Pr i me Mi ni st er Na ren dra M odi un ve il ed t he log o, t heme , a nd web s

The PM stated that while each gathering of a significant bloc like the G20 has its own diplomatic and geopolitical significance, India's hosting of it has considerably greater significance “India sees it as a new responsibility and as a

measure of the international community’s rising confidence in it Today, there is tremendous curiosity across the globe about India which is now being analysed in a new context People are studying our current achievements while expressing optimism about our future,” said Modi

Modi said Indian philosophy of monism (Advaita) reflects the belief in the essential unity of all

living beings “This school of thought can provide a way out of the conflicts and dilemmas which are rife in the contemporary world The choice of logo and the theme represents India’s effort to promote to reinforce the Buddha’s message of peace and Gandhian resistance to violence,” he said

He emphasised that the lotus emblem represents optimism in a time of crisis and instability in the world,

referring to the G20 logo, which was chosen based on submissions from the public Modi said G20 is a group that comprises two third of the world’s population “And India is now going to lead and chair this G20 group You can see what a significant potential the nation had during the "Amrit Kal" of Independence Every Indian should be proud of it, he remarked

Manoj Pande

Ela Bhatt

Rishi Sunak & Narendra Modi

Gujarat Elections: 1,362 file nomination for Phase 1

As many as 1,362 candidates have filed the nominations for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly polls in 89 seats, state election offi cials said Among notable candidates who have filed their nomination for the fi rs t phas e are Gu j arat Chi ef Mi ni s te r an d Bha ra ti ya J an ata Par ty’s CM ca ndi da te Bhupendra Patel and Aam Aadmi Party’s chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi

The elections for 89 out of the total 182 seats will be held on December 1 Nominations have been filed for the first phase by candidates in Kutch, Surendranagar, Morbi, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Botad, Narmada, Bharuch, Surat, Tapi, Dangs, Navsari and Valsad districts, under Saurashtra Kutch and south Gujarat regions

Besides, 95 candidates have also filed the nomination forms for the second phase of elections to be held in 93 seats on December

5 The last dates for the withdraw al of candidature for the first and second phases are November 17 and 21, respectively

Winnability is BJP's criteria

The BJP changed all four can didates in Rajkot and replaced 12

of the 15 announced for Ahmedabad Of the total 46 urban seats, the BJP had won 40 in 2017, when its total tally stood at 99 The party introduced new faces for 21 of the 39 urban seats

Quota warrior Hardik Patel will make his political debut from Viramgam on the BJP ticket His contemporary and OBC rights activist Alpesh Thakor will contest

India, Asean pledge peace and stability in Indo-Pacific

India and Asean in a joint st atement r eaffir med t he significance of pr eserving and advancing peace, sta b il it y, m ar it im e safet y, freedom of navigation, and overflight, as well as their commitment to peacefully resolving disputes in accor danc e wit h in ter nat io nal law

They called for estab lishing a comprehensive strategic partnership and enhancing cooperation against terrorism as Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar addressed the 19th Asean India Summit

in Phnom Penh

According to the joint statement, the Asean states valued India's support for Asean's central role in the developing regional archi tecture and its ongoing contribution to regional peace, security, and pros perity as well as Asean inte gration and the Asean com munity building process The previously agreed upon "informal meeting" of the defence ministers of India and Asean is also anticipated to happen soon

Additionally, India and

Asean decided to strength en their collaboration in the fight against terrorism and transnational crimes, such as cybercrime, human and drug trafficking, inter national economic crimes, and money laundering Additionally, they demand ed increased collaboration in military medicine Dhankhar and Cambodian PM Hun Sen held discussions on ways to further enhance bilateral ties, including in areas like human resources, de min ing and development pro jects

Jaishankar defends India's rising import of oil from Russia

I ndi a's f ore ign min is ter S Jaishankar strongly defend ed India's rising oil imports from Ru ssia, claiming that e ne rgy re la ti ons wi th M osc ow ha ve ben ef i ted I n di a a nd that i t was i n India's best interests to con tinu e the pu rchases

Asked about the Western pressure on India to limit trade ties with Russia, after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Jaishankar stated that India's “funda mental obligation” is to ensure that the Indian con sumer has the best possible access, on the most advanta geous terms, to internation al markets

The energy markets are under pressure We have a fundamental responsibility to make sure that Indian consumers have the best possible access, on the most favourable terms, to foreign markets as the third largest consumer of oil and gas in the world a customer with a relatively low level of income In that respect, we have quite honestly seen that the India Russia rela tionship has worked to our advantage If it works to my advantage, I would like to

keep that going,” said Jaishankar after his meeting with Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, as he emphasised the importance of India’s “time tested” relationship with Russia

Jaishankar's comments also came ahead of Janet Yellen, the US Treasury

Secretary, who is expected to visit India later this week and ask for support for a price ceiling on Russian oil India now purchases oil at a reduced price from Russia and has not yet expressed any support for the suggest ed cap Lavrov stated Russia will work to increase India's energy imports, and there are promising opportunities for energy cooperation, including the supply of hydrocarbons to India The two sides also explored combined manufacturing of contemporary weaponry and methods for settling trade payments in national currencies

from Gandhinagar (south) Nineteen or 12% of the 160 names declared are that of Congress turncoats The party has given tickets to 14 women Congress declares 142 candidates

The Congress has declared 142 candidates so far Gandhinagar North MLA C J Chavda has been shifted to the Vijapur seat, while former Union minister Tushar Chaudhary has been named as can didate from the Khedbrahma seat

Sangramsinh Rathwa, son of former Union minister Naran Rathwa has been fielded from the ST reserved Chhota Udepur seat Leader of opposition Sukhram Rathva has been repeated from the ST reserved Jetpur seat

Jignesh Mevani, who won the 2017 assembly election as an inde pendent with Congress support, has been named as candidate from the SC reserved Vadgam con

stituency and former BJP MLA Balkrishna Patel has been named candidate from the Dabhoi seat and more Muslims lose tickets

Muslims, who make up 9% of Gujarat's population, have never enjoyed proportionate representa tion in the legislative body With "winnability" cited as the primary criterion by both main political parties, Muslim representation in the state assembly has steadily decreased

There are six Muslims among the 140 candidates the Congress has so far put forward, but there are none among the 166 candi dates the BJP has put forward In this election, the Congress' minor ity wing has requested 11 tickets for Muslims However, it had been 27 years since Muslim candidates received more than 10 Congress tickets

India, France to conduct patrol mission in Indian Ocean Region

India and France are no w prepared to conduct a coor d ina ted m ari tim e su rv eil lance mission in the south ern I ndi an O cean Reg i on (IOR) as part of their strong strategic partnership, even as their air force leaders partic i pated i n th e ong o ing "Garuda" air combat exercise by flying fighter aircraft in Jodhpur

Officials said a P 8I long range maritime patrol air craft of the Indian Navy has touched down at the strategi cally located La Réunion, a French overseas island east of Madagascar and southwest of Mauritius, for coordinated surveillance and ocean map ping operations with the French Navy “to further

enhance maritime domain awareness, security and safe ty in the southern IOR” This becomes important with China, which has the world’s largest Navy with 355 war ships and submarines, active ly scouting for logistical facil ities in the IOR after estab lishing its first overseas base at Djibouti on the Horn of Africa in 2017

Concurrently, in the ongoing seventh edition of the bilateral Garuda exercise at Jodhpur, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari flew in a twin seat Rafale jet, while French Air and Space Force (FASF) chief General Stéphane Mille undertook a sortie in a Sukhoi 30MKI ACM Chaudhari said

that there is growing inter operability between IAF and FASF, with the Garuda exer cise providing a “ unique opportunity” for both to learn from each other and imbibe best practices during operations

India has made military logistics pacts with France and other countries like the US, Japan, Australia, South Korea and Singapore to improve its strategic reach in IOR to counter China’s expanding footprint in the region These pacts are inked by India enable organised military forces to share logis tics to support each other’s warships and aircraft as part of the overall defence coop eration

India-made drug shows promise in treating Covid heart damage

A re s ea rc h c ond uc te d o n fruit flies and mice revealed that a medication created by the Defence Research and Development Organization (D R D O) m ay be ab le to r epa i r t he he ar t d am ag e brought on by a protein i n the SARS CoV 2 virus

According to the researchers from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, US, identified how a specific protein in SARSCoV 2, the virus responsible for Covid 19, damages heart tissue The

harmful effects of that pro tein on the heart were then reversed using the medica tion known as 2DG

Developed by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories in col laboration with DRDO, 2DG is an oral drug The

India's first privately manufactured rocket set for suborbital launch

Skyroot Aerospace CEO and co founder Pawan Kumar Chandana said: “Vikram S is a single stage suborbital test rocket that will be powered by India’s first carbon fibre built solid fuel engine It is being launched to test the technologies in the Vikram series of space vehicles we have developed ” The Vikram S rocket has received technical launch clearance from space regulator IN SPACe

“The three payloads include one for an international non profit space

research lab that wants to launch its educational payload built by students of their country The remaining two payloads are from India, including one for Indian aerospace startup Space Kidz India,” said Chandana Buoyed by the upcoming launch, Space Kidz India tweeted: “Congratulations @SkyrootA, we're thrilled and very happy to have our payloads flying aboard this historic mission, making a significant milestone in the commer cial space sector of the country ”

S A R S C o V 2 virus depends upon glycolysis or breakdown of glucose for energy

The drug hinders the pro cess of glycolysis and prevents the growth of the virus The study stated that for at least a year fol lowing infection, patients with Covid have a much increased chance of experi encing heart muscle inflam mation, irregular heart rhythms, blood clots, stroke, heart attacks, and heart failure compared to those who have not been exposed to the virus

The scientists, who are from the University of Maryland, then used a drug to reverse the toxic effects of the SARS CoV 2 virus protein on the heart As per the study, the 2DG has not been approved by the US food and drug administra tion to treat the disease, it’s currently in clinical trials for treatment of Covid in India

S Jaishankar

Kerala seeks to remove governor as chancellor Teach medicine in Tamil: Shah urges TN govt

TH I R U VA N A NT H A P UR A M: The CPI(M) led government in Kerala sent its ordinance to remove the Governor f rom t he pos t of C ha nce llor of un iv er sit ies in t he sta t e, t o t he Ra j B ha va n for a ppr ov al, d ay s aft e r t he cabinet had taken a decision in this connection

Raj Bhavan sources confirmed that the ordinance to replace the Governor as Chancellor of varsities and appoint eminent academicians in that role, has reached its office for the assent of Arif Mohammed Khan

However, it is unlikely for the Governor to promulgate the ordinance soon as the tussle between him and the state government over the issue is yet to die down, sources added The Pinarayi Vijayan headed government had decided to come out with the ordinance, a move opposed by both the Congress and BJP

The opposition parties have alleged that the cabinet decision was aimed at turning universities in Kerala into "Communist centres" Meanwhile, ministers P Rajeeve and V Sivankutty expressed hope that the Governor would promulgate the ordinance without any delay When journalists pointed out the Governor's recent

reported statement that he would send the ordinance to the President, Law Minister P Rajeeve said he does not think that a person upholding a constitutional post would say so without even seeing the document VC's appointment quashed

The Kerala high court, meanwhile, quashed the appointment of Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos) vice chancellor K Riji John, holding that UGC regulations were flouted because a single name was recommended instead of the stipulation that a list of several names be given to the chancellor to choose from

A division bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly held the 2018 UGC rules cannot be overruled and the search cum selection committee had violated the regulations too The governor had recently sought the resignation of 11 vice chancellors in the state, including the Kufos VC, for UGC rules violations and the court order came as a setback to the government that had been opposing him BJP and Congress welcomed the order, while CPM said it would take appropriate steps after legally examining it

After spate of killings, Punjab cracks down on guns, gaana

Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala was gunned down in May this year while Amritsar Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri and sacrilege accused Dera follower Pardeep Singh were killed within a span of a week this month The communication sent by principal secretary of the home department Anurag Verma to officiating DGP Gaurav Yadav, all police commissioners and SSPs said that CM Bhagwant Mann had ordered that no new firearm licence should be issued for the next three months unless the police officer concerned is personally satisfied that it is “ necessary due to some unusual circumstances”

The government has also decided to enforce a complete ban on public display of firearms, even on social media, as well as songs glorifying weapons or violence Police have also been directed to enforce a complete ban on carrying and demonstration of weapons in public gatherings, places of worship, wedding parties and other such events Police have been told to carry out random checking in different areas in the coming days

The state government has also made it clear that an FIR should be registered and action taken against those who make hate speech against any community Verma has intimated all police officers that it will be their personal responsibility to strictly implement these orders The AAP government in Punjab came under attack from the opposition over the deteriorating law and order situation, especially after the daylight murder of Moose Wala on May 29

CHENNAI: Union home minister Amit Shah urged the Tamil Nadu government to introduce Tamil as the medium of instruction for medical and other technical courses, saying it would help students understand their lessons better

Several states had already moved to offer medical and technical education in their native languages and Tamil Nadu should follow suit, Shah said This would also help students pursue research in Tamil

Speaking at the platinum jubilee celebrations of India Cements Ltd here, Shah said preserving and promoting Tamil was the nation’s responsibility as it was one of the oldest languages He pointed out that only about 50 people had enrolled for some technical courses in Tamil now though more than 1,300 seats had been allotted and asked the state government to promote it as the medium of instruction

Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had given top priority for the development and progress ofTamil Nadu The Prime Minister had given more opportunities to Tamil Nadu for ushering in big investments in the defence industrial corridor project in Trichy, Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem, Hosur and Chennai, he said

Elaborating on the priority to Tamil Nadu, Shah said that between 2009 and 2014,under the UPA government, Tamil Nadu received £6 2 billion as tax devolution In the last five years, the figure had grown by 91% to £12 billion “Under grants in aid, TN received £3 5 billion under UPA and this increased by 171% to £9 1 billion under the Modi government,” Shah said

Sacrilege-accused Dera man shot dead in his Punjab shop

Dera Sacha

URA

was facing sacrilege cases, in his shop at Kotkapura in Faridkot

Punjab and injured his gunman and neighbour Pardeep Singh (45) was an accused in a case of theft of a bir (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in June 2015 and also in a case linked to torn pages of the Sikh holy book being found scattered at Bargari in Faridkot in October 2015 He was out on bail and had three security guards assigned to him So far, seven Dera followers have been killed followinga slew of sacrilege cases in Punjab, in the last seven years Two of the seven were killed in the canteen of a Dera branch itself In most of these cases, assailants on motorcycles committed the crimes Also Pardeep’s killing is the second in Punjab in a week when a protectee has been eliminated in police presence Shiv Sena (Taksali) functionary Sudhir Suri was killed when he was accompanied by his security detail in Amritsar on November 4

In the instant case, the assailants, who seemed to be in their twenties, came on three bikes and parked in front of Pardeep’s milk dairy cum grocery shop on Hari Naur Road of Kotkapura around 7am when he was cleaning the shop after opening it One of them entered the shop while the other four stood guard

As the youth who entered the shop ran out after shooting Pardeep dead, his accomplices fired at one of the Dera man's gunmen and a person from a neighbouring shop, who was reading a newspaper and was witness to the crime The attackers then escaped, leaving behind one bike with a Haryana registration number The Dera man, his gunman Hakam Singh and the neighbouring shop owner were taken to a hospital where the former was declared dead

Bengal minister sparks row with remarks on President

steps

at a meeting in Nandigram that went viral and triggered social media outrage

Trinamool Congress distanced itself from Giri’s statement, calling “ such misogyny unacceptable”, while opposition BJP hit the streets across the state and demanded his resignation CPM too condemned Giri’s remarks

BJP’s Bishnupur MP Saumitra Khan lodged a complaint with the national commission for women, prompting it to ask Giri to tender “ an unconditional apology” for his comments The commission asked the director general of police to initiate a probe into the comments and take appropriate

At a meeting in Nandigram, Giri started off protesting against state assembly opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari’s frequent jibes about his looks and suddenly shifted to Murmu: “He says I am ugly How beautiful are you? We don’t judge anyone by their appearance, we respect the office of the President But how does our President look?”

Giri then turned back his attention to Adhikari and his family: “He calls me a half pants minister If I am a half pants minister, then what was your father, an underwear minister? I don’t have any minister above me in my department But your father had ” Giri, 62, is not new to controversies and he has been a virulent critic of the Adhikari clan even when family patriarch Sisir Adhikari called the shots in East Midnapore

Locked in a bitter turf battle with

Adhikari, the TMC minister later blamed his “momentary lapse of judgement” on his “ anger due to repeated attacks” about his looks by Adhikari “I respect the Constitution, I am loyal to it I have complete faith in it I also have deepest respect for the chair of the President, who is the head of the Constitution But, over the past few days and months, I have been subjected to ridicule, humiliation and abuse by Adhikari I am old and I was angry Whatever I said was said in anger , which was a momentary lapse of judgement,” Giri said

“I too am a minister and have taken oath under the Constitution Isn’t attacking me also disrespecting the Constitution?” TMC dissociated itself from Giri’s remarks, saying it “ neither supported nor took responsibility” for such comments

BOMMAI URGES STAFF TO WORK AN EXTRA HOUR

A day after announcing the constitution of the 7th Pay Commission for revision of salaries and pension of state government employees Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai requested the employees to work for an extra hour in appreciation of the government s gesture In reply to felicitations offered by the Karnataka State Government Employees Association on forming the pay panel, Bommai said: “I do not expect anything in return You demonstrate your appreciation by working an extra hour at all levels ” The CM said that government employees must work with dedication and efficiency to serve the people, especially the poorer sections “We have to build a strong and prosperous Karnataka The state should contribute $1 trillion towards the country’s goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy ” he said He said the BJP government would implement the Pay Commission report as the party is confident of returning to office

COIMBATORE

BLAST

CASE: NIA SEARCHES ACROSS TN, KERALA

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at 43 locations across eight districts of Tamil Nadu and one location in Kerala, in the case relating to a car bomb blast that took place in the vicinity of a temple in Coimbatore on October 23 The searches were carried out across Chennai, Coimbatore, Thiruvallur, Thiruppur, Nilgiris, Chengalpatu, Kanchipuram and Nagapattinam districts of Tamil Nadu and Palakkad district of Kerala Preliminary investigation into the blast in an explosives laden car in front of Kottai Eswaran temple has revealed that a deceased accused, Jamesha Mubeen, after taking oath of allegiance to IS was planning to “carry out suicide attacks and cause extensive damage to symbols and monuments of a particular religious faith and with the intention to strike terror among a particular section of community ” the NIA said During the searches NIA teams seized digital devices and incriminating documents from the houses of suspects in the case

79% VOTING IN HARYANA PANCHAYAT POLLS

Nearly 80 per cent polling was recorded in the second phase panchayat elections in nine districts of Haryana on Saturday The polling was held for the post of 2,683 sarpanches and 25,655 panches in 57 blocks of Ambala Charkhi Dadri Gurugram Karnal Kurukshetra Rewari Rohtak Sirsa and Sonipat districts In Karnal there was a report of two rival groups clashing at Fatehgarh village in Nissing block and three persons sustained injuries in the incident Police reached the spot and brought the situation under control In Ambala, there was a scuffle between two groups in village Jansua after one of the groups objected to casting of vote by a person One person sustained injuries in the scuffle and he was admitted to the civil hospital in Ambala City Police said they were investigating the matter In Rohtak, there was a report of a brawl between two warring groups in Gharauthi village There was another report of a scuffle between two groups at Kasauli village in Rewari district There were 48 67,132 eligible

voters in the second phase polling, the officials said

CH AN D I G A R H : Un der fi re f rom pe ople and oppos it ion par ti es following the recent killings in the state, the Punjab government sought a review of all arms licences within three months It also banned public d is pla y of fi re arms , i n cl ud in g on soc ia l m edi a, a s well as s ongs “ promoting gun culture and violence”

KOTKAP

: Five men on motorbikes killed a

Sauda follower, who

district of

NANDI GRAM/KOLKATA: Bengal prisons minister Akhil Giri was forced to apologise within hours of making boorish and misogynistic remarks about President Droupadi Murmu’s looks

Basavaraj Bommai

World has to return to path of ceasefire: PM Modi at G20 summit

Pri me Mi ni s ter N are ndr a Modi on Tu esda y, in his address at the G20 summit in Indonesia's Bali, said the world has to find a way to return to the path of cease fi re an d d ipl omac y i n Ukr ai ne PM Mod i a ls o underlined the global chal lenges of the Ukraine con fl ic t, c li mat e c ha nge an d Covid pandemic and their im pac t on g lob al s u ppl y chai ns Today, wor ld has greater expectations from G 20 , re le van ce of ou r group has become more sig nificant, he said

In his intervention, underlined the criticality of resilient supply chains for food, fertilisers & energy, and the need for affordable finance for smooth energy transition for the Global South The prime minister's statement on the Ukraine crisis at the summit is sig nificant as India will assume the presidency of the pow erful grouping from the current chair Indonesia on December 1 amid the war in

Ukraine

PM Modi underlines global challenges and their impact on supply chains He said there is a crisis of essentials and essential goods all over world Global supply chains are in ruins The challenges for poor citizens of every coun try is more severe Everyday life was already a struggle for them," PM Modi said PM Modi also spoke of war in Ukraine and invoked the horrors of World War 2 The prime minister stressed ceasefire and diplomacy for peace in Ukraine "I have repeatedly said that we have

to find a way to return to the path of ceasefire and diplomacy in Ukraine Over the past century, the Second World War wreaked havoc in the world After that, the leaders of that time made a serious effort to take the path of peace Now it's our turn The onus of creating a new world order for the post Covid period lies on our shoul ders," he said

The prime minister also said that the world should not hesitate to acknowledge that multilateral institu tions like the UN have been unsuccessful in addressing

global challenges "Need of hour is to show concrete and collective resolve to ensure peace, harmony and security in world I am con fident that when G20 meets in land of Buddha and Gandhi next year, we will all agree to convey strong mes sage of peace to world," he said

Pointing out that India's energy security is important for global growth as it is world's fastest growing economy, PM Modi said, "We must not promote any restrictions on the supply of energy and stability in the energy market should be ensured "

Reiterating India's com mitment to clean energy and the environment, PM Modi said by 2030, half of India's electricity will be generated from renewable sources “Time bound and affordable finance and sus tainable supply of technolo gy to developing nations are essential for inclusive ener gy transition," he said

Justice Chandrachud takes oath as 50th Chief Justice of India

The s enior mos t Supreme C ou rt j u dg e J u s ti ce D Y Chandrachud was sworn in as India's 50th Chief Justice H e was sw orn i n by President Draupadi Murmu during a brief ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan

The swearing in cere mony was attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, outgoing CJI UU Lalit, sitting and former judges of the Supreme Court, union ministers, senior lawyers and various other dignitaries from the field of law and politics Justice Chandrachud

succeeds Justice UU Lalit who retired on November 8 after a 74 day stint Justice Lalit had suggested Justice Chandrachud's name as his successor last month

Born on November 11, 1959, he was appointed as a Supreme Court judge on May 13, 2016, Justice Chandrachud will have a two year tenure as the CJI His father Justice YV Chandrachud was the 16th CJI from 1978 85

Justice Chandrachud, who is regarded as a liberal and progressive jurist, has participated in a number of important Supreme Court

Ready for simultaneous polls but final call with legislatures: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Ku mar stated that the Election Commission of India (ECI) was "administratively" prepared to hold concurrent elec tions as part of the "one nation, one election sys tem," but the legislatures would have the final say Lok Sabha and assembly elections, Kumar said, “There are undoubtedly many logistics involved, but the legislators will have to make this decision The choice to hold the state assembly and parliamentary elections simultaneously is not within the purview of the ECI We have told the government, though, that we can administer simultaneous elections ” Kumar, who was in Pune for the launch of the national level special summary revision of electoral rolls, said, “Urban apathy in metros is a major con cern and this needs to be addressed through public participation ”The CEC stated that while on the one hand, efforts will be made to ensure an inclusive electoral roll, ongoing year round efforts will be required by the election officials with input from the public to ensure that people participate in elections and exercise their right to vote He said that to ensure an error free electoral roll, all duplicate entries will be deleted after due checks and verifica tion by the local authorities

At 75.6%, Himachal Pradesh logs record voter turnout

rulings, including those concerning the Ayodhya land dispute, the right to privacy, adul tery, and abortion He earlier served as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court from October 31, 2013 and judge of the Bombay High Court from March 29, 2000 until his appointment as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court Justice Chandrachud was designated as a senior advocate by the Bombay High Court in June 1998 and

became an Additional Solicitor General the same year till his appointment as a judge He practised law at the Supreme Court and the

Sena MP Raut praises Fadnavis, says he will soon meet Modi, Shah

Firebrand Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut struck a conciliatory tone by singling out deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for praise and expressing a desire to meet him soon, just one day after being freed on bail in a money laundering case The deputy chief m i ni ste r o f M a ha ras ht ra, no t Eknath Shinde, is in ch arge of running the state, according to Sena's chief spokesm an Raut said such political vendetta as he had experienced was unheard of, but he bore no grudges against anyone and would not blame central agencies for it The Rajya Sabha MP announced that he would visit to Delhi to meet with Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to inform them of the difficulties he has encountered while imprisoned for the past 100 days His remarks appeared at odds with those of Uddhav Thackeray, the leader of his party, who pesisted in claim

ing that central agencies were puppets in the hands of the gov ernment and did its bidding

Raut said, “A new govern ment has been formed in the state It’s made some good deci sions we will not oppose (deci sions) for opposition’s sake What is right for the people, the state as well as the country should always be welcomed Devendra Fadnavis has taken some good decisions I used to read this in the newspa pers when I was in jail ” He specifically referred to the deci sions to provide housing to the poor and rights to the elderly “I will meet Fadnavis in the next 2 4 days I think the deputy CM is running the affairs of the state ”

When Raut went to the Thackeray family home, he met Uddhav and Aaditya Thackeray, the Sena party's leader Later, the Sena MP was scheduled to go to Sharad Pawar s home in Silver Oak Raut expressed his happi ness at rejoining his family

be higher

From Shimla to the icy heights of Spiti, people across Himachal Pradesh had voted on Saturday to elect a new state government According to data available with state poll author ities on Sunday, 76 8 per cent of the total female electorate and 72 4 per cent male electorate exercised their franchise The third gender poll percentage was 68 4 per cent

Notably, the BJP ran a campaign focused on the female vot ers due to their impressive turnout history in the hill state Citing reports received at state headquarters, the approximate poll percentage in the state stands at 75 6 per cent, state chief electoral officer Maneesh Garg said in a statement

He said the poll percentage recorded through electronic voting machines was 74 6 per cent

"Besides this, one per cent of postal ballots had been received already, taking the overall turnout to 75 6 per cent till now and nearly two per cent postal ballots are yet to be received," the statement said

The highest polling percentage of 85 25 per cent was reported from the Doon assembly constituency and the lowest percentage of 62 53 per cent was in Shimla assembly seat at the end of the poll In this assembly polls, the state election depart ment had laid a lot of focus on 11 constituencies with low voter turnout in 2017 polls, the statement noted BJP eyes history, Congress comeback

The elections are a crucial test for the BJP which is hoping to buck the 40 year trend of the state voting out the ruling party The BJP, which has already retained all the four states that went to polls earlier this year, a victory in Himachal would only consolidate its position as a dominant political force

For Congress, wresting Himachal Pradesh from the BJP is a matter of survival The Congress has lost in nine states over two years including West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Puducherry in 2021 and Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur this year Currently, it is in power on its own in just Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan

UK HC rejects Nirav Modi's plea against deportation to India

The dismissal of Modi’s appeal against the decision of the lower court and the UK home secretary to extradite him marks an extraordinary fall from grace for a man once dubbed the Diamond King in India Nirav Modi was once worth $1 8 bil lion and frequently spotted mingling with India's elite and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood while holding a bottle of champagne Modi currently has few options To avoid extradition, he must now apply to get a point of law of public importance certified by the high court and then apply for leave to appeal in the Supreme Court in London within 14 days

If the high court does not grant certification, then his only hope is a Rule 39 injunction from the European Court of Human Rights “To get that he has to prove a real and immi nent risk to his health,” said Ben Keith, extradition barrister at 5 St Andrews Hill Since March 20 2019, he has been languish ing in Wandsworth prison in London fighting extradition to India to face charges of defrauding Punjab National Bank of over £700 million, of laundering the proceeds of that fraud, and of redeploying employees from his company, Firestar Diamond, as dummy directors to front shadow companies in Dubai and Hong Kong

Since Nirav was profoundly depressed and in danger of committing suicide, he had argued that extraditing him would be oppressive or unfair This was the same defence Shrien Dewani and Julian Assange had used to avoid extradition to South Africa and the US, respectively The verdicts in both cases were overturned on appeal

Himachal Pradesh witnessed a record voter turnout at 75 6% in the assembly elections last week, surpassing the previous record of 75 57% registered in 2017 The final fig ure is expected to

Bombay High Court and was a visiting Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law at Mumbai University

DY Chandrachud

Two high court judges in the administrative court in London dismissed the appeal made by fugitive Indian diamantaire Nirav Modi against his extradition to India to face charges of fraud, money laundering, tampering with evidence, and influ encing witnesses

BAPS to organise grand birth centenary celebrations of Pramukhswami Maharaj

'Our good is in the good of others and our happiness is in the happiness of others' was the motto of Param Pujya Pramukhswami Maharaj Keeping that m o tto i n m i nd, th e birth centenary celebrations of Pramukhswami Maharaj will be held as a month long festival from 15th December It will be organised in a vast area of 600 acres The planning is executed by more than 1,100 saints and more than 70,000 v olu nteers h av e been contri bu ted in th is occasion

This celebration will bring together religion, rituals, culture, and harmony, making it akin to a mini Kumbh for Gujarat These are the words of Aksharvatsal Swami, Senior Saint of BAPS Swaminarayan Institute

The centenary festival of Santvibhuti Brahmasvarup Pramukhswami Maharaj, who made unique contributions in the field of public service, cultural dissemination and spirituality, will be celebrated from 15 December 2022 to 15 January 2023 at Ahmedabad Elaborating about this international level planning, he added that the month long event will truly be a festival of spiritual inspiration

Invitation to 15 heads of nations: PM Modi likely t o inaugur ate

President Draupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhard and Prime Minister Narendra Modi besides heads of 15 nations have been invited to attend this grand event The festival is likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Of course, no official announcement has been made about this

Pramukhswami Maharaj is a source of inspiration

Aksharvatsal Swami said that the inspiration of this festival is Pramukhswami Maharaj, who is the spiritual successor of Brahmaswarup Pramukhswami Maharaj Mahant Swami Maharaj is the epitome of the saintly splendour of Sanatan Dharma, clothed in the dignity of humility, piety, and devotion despite being at the pinnacle of spirituality A representation of saints' and volunteers' unwavering self sacrifice

Pramukhswami Maharaj Nagar will be a symbol of this consciousness that he instilled in the volunteers from the saints Since the planning of this huge celebration was undertaken a year ago, the Mohotsav (festival) will be completed with the incomparable contribution of hundreds of saints and thousands of volunteers

More than 1,100 well educated saints and a total of more than 70,000 volunteers who have dedicated their lives to the selfless love of Pramukhswami Maharaj will serve day and night for the festival These volunteers, devotees and saints with various educational and social roles from different provinces have provided a unique example of service dedication

The

• Artistic entrances

Seven artistic cultural gateways have been constructed to enter Pramukhswami Maharaj Nagar This gateway will be adorned with the great Jyotirdhara saints of Indian culture The other six gateways are also excellent examples of craftsmanship Each entrance with a length of 116 feet and a height of 38 feet will give an overview of the unique personality of Pramukhswami Maharaj

As soon as you enter the town, a 30 feet tall golden statue of Pramukhswami Maharaj will be installed on a 15 feet high pedestal in the middle of a large circle The life story of Pramukhswami Maharaj will be displayed in a circle around the statue

• Incredible Journey to Akshardham Mahamandir

A 67 feet tall replica of the magnificent Akshardham Temple built by Pramukhswami Maharaj has been built in the middle of Pramukhswami Maharaj Nagar in Delhi Here the pilgrims will get the satisfaction of completing a holy pilgrimage by seeing and praying to various forms of God

• Insp irational exhibition rooms

There will be a unique presentation of five exhibitions on both sides of the Madhya Marg of Pramukhswami Maharaj Nagar

Visitors will be inspired by the exciting presentation of moral and spiritual values, family peace, de addiction and national service

• A Balnagari for children

The Balnagari (a city for children) has been created for children in 'Pramukhswami Maharaj Nagar' in 17 acres, where children will get the inspiration for rituals, education and service Through the three chapters of Balnagari, children will be inspired by their parents' unending generosity and respect for everyone, learn the value of courage and prayer, and develop their own sense of self worth through stories

• Art skills will blossom talent show

At the festival grounds, a talent show will be organised to showcase kids' and teens' talents Children and young women will demonstrate individual and choral, classical and easy music, instrumental music, yoga demonstrations, and diverse cultural

dances to inspire everyone with their artistic talent

•

Mahila Utkarsh Mandapam

There will be internal programmes and conferences for the uplift of women during the whole month Many women dignitaries from India and abroad will grace the programmes presented by women, ladies and girls

•

Yajnapurush Sabhagriha

A huge Yajnapurush Sabhagriha has been set up in the city, where programmes will be hosted with inspiring, contemplative discourses, devotional music and other heart touching presentations by national and international saints, speakers, dignitaries etc

• Light and Sound Show

More than 300 children youths will present messages of family unity, service, and philanthropy through colorful presentations at the festival venue Spiritual and service activities like Vedic Yagna Kutir, Akhand Bhajan Kutir, Blood Donation Yagna, etc will also be held

•

Jyoti Udyan (Glow Garden)

A unique thematic park Jyoti Udhan (Glow Garden) has been created around the Akshardham temple at the center of the festival site, whose colorful design will delight everyone Here different types of flowers, animals, and birds will give the eternal message of astrological formations, teachings, culture and scriptures

• A colorful flower bed

The whole world today is concerned about the environment and talking about the preservation of trees Pramukhswami Maharaj organized various public awareness campaigns from tree plantations to protect the environment In preparation for this, a nursery has been prepared in three acres of land Flowers from Assam to Maharashtra to Gujarat and different regions of India are planted here

•

Prayagatirth of Sarvadharma harmony

‘Religion is something that spreads mutual love By giving this unique definition of religion, Pramukhswami Maharaj, who continuously strives for the awareness of all religions and respect in the society, has respected the faith and tradition of every religion As a pillar of Sanatan Hinduism, he has interacted with Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Christian, Jewish, Muslim or other religious traditions and luminaries of many countries

Pramukhswami Maharaj Nagar a 'Cultural Wonderland'

town will be a 'cultural wonderland' with many inspiring creations Cultural events ranging from national and international level seminars will be held there If we look at the attractions of this town

(L R) Apurvamuni Swami, Aksharvatsaldas Swami, Gyaneshwardas Swami Vivek jivan das Swami and Gyanvatsal Swami addressing press conference in Ahmedabad

The 67 foot tall replica of the famous Akshardham Temple constructed by Pramukhswami Maharaj in Delhi Volunteers at the Pramukhswami Maharaj Nagar

Alzheimer’s disease can be diagnosed before patients experience symptoms

A n ew s tu dy l ed by Lu n d University in Sweden su ggest that people suffering from Alzheimer’s dis ease can be identifi ed before they experience any symptoms and it’s also possible to predict who will deteriorate within the next few years The study is timely in light of the recent development of new drugs for the disease

There are two proteins linked to Alzheimer’s beta amyloid, which forms plaques in the brain, and tau, which at a later stage accumulates inside brain cells Elevated levels of these proteins in combination with cognitive impairment have previously formed the basis for diagnosing Alzheimer’s

"Changes occur in the brain between 10 and 20 years before the patient experiences any clear symptoms It is only when tau begins to spread that the nerve

cells die and the person in question experiences the first cognitive problems This is why Alzheimer's is so difficult to diagnose in its early stages", explains Oskar Hansson, senior physician in neu rology at Skane University Hospital and professor at Lund University

He has now led a large interna tional research study that was car ried out with 1,325 participants

from Sweden, the US, the Netherlands and Australia The par ticipants did not have any cognitive impairment at the beginning of the study By using PET scans, the presence of tau and amyloid in the participants' brains could be visualized The people in whom the two proteins were discovered were found to be at a 20 40 times higher risk of developing the dis ease at follow up a few years later compared to the participants who had no biological changes "When both beta amyloid and tau are present in the brain, it can no longer be considered a risk fac tor, but rather a diagnosis A pathologist who examines samples

from a brain like this, would imme diately diagnose the patient with Alzheimer's", says Rik Ossenkoppele, who is the first author of the study and is a senior researcher at Lund University and Amsterdam University Medical Center

He explains that Alzheimer's researchers belong to two schools of thought on one hand, those who believe that Alzheimer's dis ease cannot be diagnosed until cognitive impairment begins There is also the group that he himself and his colleagues belong to who say that a diagnosis can be based purely on biology and what you can see in the brain

"You can, for example, com pare our results to prostate can cer If you perform a biopsy and find cancer cells, the diagnosis will be cancer, even if the person in question has not yet developed

Long-term Covid symptoms can worsen with time

Medicine led a study that f ound that a dult pati ents with “major life stressors”, present in more than 50 per cent of those followed, were at least twice as likely to s t rug gl e w i th d ep re ss i on , b r ai n f og , fa ti g ue, s l ee p problems, and other long term Covid 19 symptoms

Published online in the Journal of the Neurological Sciences (JNS), the analysis also confirmed the contri bution of traditional factors to greater long Covid risk as shown by past studies, older age, disability level to start with, and a more severe ini tial case of Covid 19

"Our study is unique in that it explores the impact of life stressors along with demographic trends and neurological events as pre dictors of long term cogni tive and functional disabili ties that affected the quality of life in a large population," says lead study author

Jennifer A Frontera, MD, professor in the Department of Neurology at NYU Langone Health "Therapies that lessen the trauma of the most stress inducing life events need to be a central part of treatment for long COVID, with more research needed to validate the best approaches ”

The research used stan dard telephone survey tools in the field the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), the Barthel Index, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (t MoCA), and the NIH/PROMIS Neurological

Quality Of Life (NeuroQoL) batteries to measure the level of daily function, clear thinking (cognition), anxi ety, depression, fatigue and sleep quality The team attempted follow up with each of the 790 patients six months and a year after COVID 19 hospitalization within NYU Langone Health between March 10, 2020 and May 20, 2020

Of these surviving patients, 451(57%) complet ed 6 month and/or 12 month follow ups, 17% died between discharge and 12 month follow ups and 51%

reported significant life stressors at 12 months

In analyses that com pared factors against each other for their contribution to worse outcomes, life stressors including financial insecurity, food insecurity, death of close contact, and new disability were the strongest independent pre dictors of prolonged COVID 19 symptoms These same stressors also best predicted worse func tional status, depression, fatigue, sleep scores, and reduced ability to partici pate in activities of daily liv ing such as feeding, dress ing, and bathing

Gender was also a con tributor, as past studies have found that women are more susceptible in general too, for instance, autoimmune diseases that could have an impact on outcomes Additionally, undiagnosed mood disorders may have been unmasked by pandem ic related stressors

Practice these Yoga asanas to keep yourself energised

As seasons change, it is com mon to experience lethargy, l ow e ner gy, st i ff mu s c les and painfu l joints but it is also true that du ring this s eason, the body’s natural stamina and strength is at its highest peak Hence, incor por ati n g si mpl e he alt hy Yoga practices in daily life w il l boos t im mu ni ty an d e ne rgy, u pli f t m ood , an d provide strength to the body to defend against seasonal i llness es and other health problems

With the onset of win ter, one may anticipate the normal congested chest, sore throat, runny nose, heated eyes, dry skin, and body aches, it is wonderful nonetheless Unfortunately,

the onset of a new season might have even more nega tive effects With the body’s internal clock thrown for a toss, it results in sleepless ness, indigestion, weight gain, depression, and cardio vascular or coronary prob lems

You can practice some of the top winter yoga prac tices to help you out this year

• Nauli: The immune

system is strength ened, the metabolism is stimulated, and the blood pressure is con trolled, thus keeping diabetes at bay

• Kapalbhati: This asana is great for clearing mucus and stale air throughout the cold season

• Bhastrika: By causing the diaphragm to move, it raises body temperature

• Surya Namaskar: It promotes mental clarity, physical control, energy har mony, and increased mind fulness

• Setu Bandhasana: This asana is excellent for sooth ing and elevating emotions and melting belly fat

• Paschimotanasana: Older people enjoy it a lot because it doesn't involve a lot of movement and relieves back discomfort

• Ushtrasana: It aids in maintaining respiration and building muscles

Practicing Surya namaskar and basic warm up yoga asanas are the best ways to keep the body warm, strong and active Pranayam can also be incorporated into the routine to overcome various breathing issues, colds, coughs, viral fever, and congestion in the chest, and for optimal functioning of the nose, ear, throat, and respiratory system, and to improve blood circulation, deep breathing exercises

Carbs,

symptoms", says Rik Ossenkoppele

Recently, positive results have emerged in clinical trials of a new drug against Alzheimer's, Lecanemab, which has been eval uated in Alzheimer's patients Based on this, the study from Lund University is particularly interesting, say the researchers:

"If we can diagnose the disease before cognitive challenges appear, we may eventually be able to use the drug to slow down the disease at a very early stage In combination with physical activi ty and good nutrition, one would then have a greater chance of pre venting or slowing future cogni tive impairment However, more research is needed before treat ment can be recommended for people who have not yet devel oped memory loss,” concludes Oskar Hansson

diets may impact oral health

sugary

In a study, the UB led team investigated whether carbo hydrates, sucrose, or table sugar were associated with the diversity and composition of oral bacteria in a sample of 1,204 postmenopausal women

from the Women’s Health Initiative

It is the first study to examine carbohydrate intake and the subgingival microbiome in a sample of exclusively post menopausal women The study was unique because the sam ples were taken from subgingival plaque, which occurs under the gums, rather than salivary bacteria "This is important because the oral bacteria involved in periodontal disease are primarily residing in the subgingival plaque," said study first author Amy Millen, PhD, associate professor of epidemiolo gy and environmental health in UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions

"Looking at measures of salivary bacteria might not tell us how oral bacteria relate to periodontal disease because we are not looking in the right environment within the mouth," she added

We examined these bacteria in relation to usual carbohy drate consumption in postmenopausal women across a wide variety of carbohydrate types: total carbohydrate intake, fiber intake, disaccharide intake, to simple sugar intake," Millen said "No other study had examined the oral bacteria in rela tion to such a broad array of carbohydrate types in one cohort We also looked at associations with glycemic load, which is not well studied in relation to the oral microbiome ”

"As more studies are conducted looking at the oral microbiome using similar sequencing techniques and pro gression or development of periodontal disease over time, we might begin to make better inferences about how diet relates to the oral microbiome and periodontal disease," Millen said

R e s ea rc he rs f rom N YU G r os sm a n Sc hool of

A new study on postmenopausal women has found links between widely consumed foods and the diversity and com position of oral bacteria Scientists from the University at Buffalo have shown how eating certain types of foods impacts the oral microbiome of postmenopausal women They found that h igher intake of sugary and high glycemic load foods like doughnuts and other baked goods, regular soft drinks, bread and non fat yogurts may influence poor oral health and per haps, systemic health outcomes in older wom en due to the influence these foods have on the oral microbiome

using data

Sonam says she is breastfeeding son 'pretty easily'

Harsh Varrdhan calls Twitter user a 'nobody'

Kapoor and Anand Ahuja welcomed their son Vayu Kapoor Ahuja on August 20 this year In an interview during her last trimester, Sonam opened up about her pregnancy journey She took to Instagram Stories to share details of her delivery and also her post natal journey since his birth The actor said she had a “quick birth”, and has been “breastfeeding easily ” The new mom also shared her steps to ensure she had no stretch marks

Sonam

Sonam also gave details of the products she has been using as a new mother The actor started by saying, “I have been now getting a lot of questions on my pre natal, pregnancy and post natal (journey) I will do my best to answer and do stories on everything and add it to my highlights (on Instagram) ” She then spoke about taking steps for a “natural delivery” with as “little intervention” as possible She wrote, “My pre natal journey was quite different I was very sure I wanted to have as natural a journey as I could that would lead to a natural delivery with as little intervention as possible For that I decided to take help of “gentle birth method” with Dr Gowra Mother She had written a lovely book called Gentle Birth Method that explains how to deal with the prenatal journey ” Speaking further about her doctor, Sonam wrote, “She was a practicing obgyn (obstetrician gynecologist) in London’s NHS and was disillusioned by the crude and detached way mothers were dealt with So, she tried to find a gentler and kinder method She uses a lot of Ayurvedic practices, creative healing and homeopathy I’ve followed her blindly I’ve had a natural birth thanks to all her teachings and I’m breastfeeding pretty easily ”

The actor further shared her steps during her pregnancy that ensured she did not get stretch marks Sonam wrote, “Besides the linea nigra, I don’t have any stretch marks at all I've used a combination of these two products (which she shared a picture of) three times a day on my whole trunk area up to my thighs I also drank collagen, had vitamin C and a lot of protein ”

Sonam further spoke about pigmentation in women, especially South Asian women, face during pregnancy, and said using sunscreen with SPF was the ‘best way ’ to minimise it The actor further said that gums and teeth ‘get super sensitive’ during pregnancy, and she had to visit the dentist twice when she was carrying her son Sharing her tips to avoid dental issues, Sonam said, “I do oil pulling every morning to promote oral hygiene I make a combination of sesame oil, coconut oil, and olive oil ”

Jaya Bachchan recalls 'embarrassing' period experience during shoots

Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan’s granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda is out with another episode of her podcast ‘What the Hell Navya’ In the latest episode dropped over the weekend and was titled ‘Biology: Blessed But Biased’, she had a candid conversation with her mother Shweta Bachchan and her grandmother Jaya about periods and reproduction She also asked them questions about their first period experience.

When asked about her first period, Jaya said, “Yes, of course I remember I used to have a lot of difficulty during working ” She talked about her struggles changing pads on set “cIt was terrible (having periods during shoot) When we used to do outdoor shoots, we had no (vanity) vans, we had to change behind bushes It is crazy There were not even enough toilets, you had to go on a field or a mountain top It was awkward, it was embarrassing,” said Jaya Jaya further said as she apologised for

getting too ‘ graphic’, “You would carry plastic bags so that you could discard a pad, and put it in the plastic, keep them (pads) in a basket, take them home, and then get rid of them Can you imagine sitting down with about four sanitary towels (at a time)? It was uncomfortable When I was small, we used

sanitary towels but then you didn’t have the kind of sanitary towels that you have today (that) you just stick on You had to make a belt with two ends as towels only had loops, to tie tape to it It was really bad ”

Shweta Bachchan also recalled her experience with periods during her early days She said, “At that time I liked to lie on the bed, eat chocolate and be alone”

Sharing the podcast on YouTube, Navya wrote, “Life as a woman never settles for us We're constantly governed by phases, going through cycles of good and bad moods, with countless things to stress about, and a million precautions to take while being strong and smiling It begins with periods, followed by pregnancy, then menopause, governed by an unkind biological clock that often pits us against unfair deadlines In this episode, our hosts talk about their period stories, navigating a masculine design of society and logistics, sex education, the awkward and the embarrassing, and much more ”

Rajkummar Rao reveals he was set to play lead in ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ initially

ActorHarsh Varrdhan Kapoor is not one to be fazed by online trolls. He recently schooled a Twitter user, who criticised his opinion on the Chelsea football team and said that he “should stick to acting ” It all started with a post talking about the team It read, “Everything that could go wrong this season has gone wrong We look like a shadow of the great team we were So poor all season and especially last few games ”

Harsh replied, "Great when? Had a good run in the UCL with a favourable draw with Kante Reece James and Thiago Silva outperforming Defended well and hit teams on the break that lead to the fan base thinking that group of players were better than they actually were " Another Twitter user replied to Harsh, "Man thinks Kante and James outperformed and isn’t a great player There’s reason why you never succeeded as an actor You should stick to acting mate "

Rajkummar

Rao had a small but pivotal part to play in the cult classic ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ Shamshad Alam's character played a small role in the film that barely got him noticed However, the actor recently revealed that he was initially supposed to play one of the leads when he was first approached for the film

Released within months of each other in 2012, ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ is a two part film directed by Anurag Kashyap The films starred Manoj Bajpai, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Richa Chaddha, Huma Qureshi, and Piyush Mishra in lead roles It also featured actors in small roles including Rao, Jaideep Ahlawat, Pankaj Tripathi, Vineet Kumar Singh, Reema Sen, Jameel Khan Vipin Sharma and Zeishan Quadri

In a video shared by Netflix India, Rajkummar was interviewed by comedian Zakir Khan and they spoke about the movie among other things Rajkummar said, “After watching 'LSD ‘(Love Se Aur Dhokha), Anurag sir called me and said I am making a film and come and meet

me So when I met him, there was just a story, rather than a story's structure And at that time, the film he narrated was Faisal Khan (Nawazuddin) vs Shamshad Alam (Rajkummar) Nawaz and I went to Wasseypur and I had a small tape recorder, which I used to record people there ”

Eventually, Anurag told Rajkummar that he was beginning to write the formal script for the film “After writing finished 3 4 months later,” Rajkummar recalled, “Anurag sir met me again and told me that my role had become much shorter But I said no worries sir He asked me would you still do it and I said of course I am getting a chance to work with you And I am glad I did actually ”

However, Rajkummar’s small role in ‘Wasseypur’ did get him noticed by one person Hansal Mehta cast him in ‘Shahid’ based on that, which fetched Rajkummar his National Award From there on, the actor saw commercial success as well in films like ‘Kai Po Che’, ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’, and ‘Stree’ His latest film ‘Monica, O My Darling’ was released on Netflix on Friday

Harsh responded, "What I meant is they’re very good players and played a 9/10 every game in that run no need to get salty and personalise it and attack me but then again my last few films were all loved and you ’ re a nobody on Twitter that no one will ever know or care about good day ”

On the work front, Harsh was last seen in ‘Thar’, a neo Western action thriller film written and directed by Raj Singh Chaudhary It also stars Anil Kapoor and Fatima Sana Shaikh The film was released on Netflix in May with mixed positive reviews from critics and decent responses from the audience

Harsh made his Bollywood debut with director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's film ‘Mirzya’ in 2016 opposite Saiyami Kher The film failed to impress the audience at the box office His second film, 'Bhavesh Joshi Superhero’ was directed by Vikramaditya Motwane and released in 2018 Harsh was also a part of Vikramaditya Motwane's Netflix film 'AK vs AK’ In 2021, he appeared in one of the Netflix show ‘Ray' episodes

Akshay wants to 'lower his price' to reduce cost of movie outing

Actor Akshay Kumar has become one of the first Bollywood stars to address the high cost of movie outings in India Speaking at an event, he admitted that the film industry needs to “dismantle” the existing system and “start all over again” if it wants to win the audience back He emphasized the need to lower the cost of movie outings and said he would also want to lower his fees for that

Bipasha, Karan welcome girl child

Kareena parties in London with her crew

While speaking about Hindi films and why they have not been working at the box office in the last year or so, Akshay talked about what the industry is doing wrong He said, “What is happening, as per me, is that things have changed The audience wants something different This is what we should think and try to give them that It is our fault not the audience fault that they are not coming ”

He added, “We have to give them what they want That is what we have to rethink We have to dismantle what we have made and start all over again Think what kind of cinema they would want to see I want to start completely differently And that is what I have started doing also What has happened during the pandemic is that their choices have changed rapidly ”

He then addressed what the industry can do to bring down the cost of the movie outing “There are so many other things that need to be done and not just by the actors but the producers and theatres as well I’ll tell you I want to bring down my prices by 30 40% Theatres need to understand that it’s recession time also The audience has a limited amount of money to spend on entertainment You cannot be spending so much on it Everything has to change,” he said, adding, “And it’s not just the theatres We have to work on the cost of actors, the cost of making the film Everything needs to be addressed ”

Actors

Bipasha Bass and Karan Singh Grover became proud parents to their baby girl Devi Basu Singh Grover on November 12. The actors shared their baby announcement through an Instagram post, garnering multiple wishes from B town, including Malaika Arora and Dia Mirza

Bipasha and Karan shared a picture of their daughter’s feet and revealed her name and date of birth They wrote in their baby announcement note, “The physical manifestation of our love and blessings of Ma is here now and she is divine ” Actor Sonam Kapoor reacted in the comment section “Congratulations darling Bipasha, what a lovely name ” Actor Shilpa Shetty wrote, “Yaaayyyyy congratulations to you and the family, Bipasha and Karan ” Singer Sophie Choudry wrote, “Best, best, best news ever!! So thrilled for you guys!!!!! God bless your little angel ”

Malaika took to Instagram Stories to share a sweet note on the arrival of the daughter Sharing a collage of the couple’s photo and the baby announcement, Malaika wrote, “Welcome little Devi ” The reality TV judge added a bunch of evil eye amulet emojis, and further wrote, “Congratulations my darling Bipasha and Karan ” Earlier Dia, too, had taken to Instagram Stories and wrote tagging Bipasha and Karan, “Devi Basu Grover, I love you so much! Can’t wait to meet you All our blessings ” The actor added a heart and tiger emoji to her note

Karan and Bipasha tied the knot on April 30, 2016 They had fallen in love on the sets of their 2015 film ‘Alone’ Recently, Bipasha revealed that she was on bed rest Sharing a picture of herself tucked in bed, the actor had written on Instagram, “Bedrest ain’t fun when you have so much work to do before baby arrives Telling myself to just chill just chill ”

Shah Rukh pays Rs 680,000 in customs duty at Mumbai airport

ActorShah Rukh Khan and five of his team members were st d t th General Aviation (GA) of Mumbai’s Chhatrap Shivaji International Airport early Saturda after they landed from Sharjah in a charter flight They were stopped by the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs department after som dutiable goods were discovered in their baggage.

In the baggage actor and his team iWatch worth aroun six other empty cases of high end watches were found, said a senior customs officer The officer added that the total value of the dutiable items was Rs 178,600 Shah Rukh’s representative and his bodyguard Ravi Shankar Singh asked to come to the T2 terminal of Mumbai airport to pay customs duty He paid Rs 680,000, which is 38 5 per cent of the value of the goods It was a duty, not a penalty, clarified the senior customs official Meanwhile, the actor and his team members were allowed to go

There is no red channel or green channel at the private terminal of Mumbai airport, hence there is no option available for

declaring dutiable goods, added the officer Th f it i difficult to ascertain if his team had any n of evading duty, no penalty was osed by the customs partment

Shah Rukh was onoured with the Global Icon of Cinema and Cultural Narrative award last week as he attended he 41st edition of the harjah International ok Fair (SIBF) 2022 xpo Centre in the d Arab Emirates aking to Twitter, the e of Sharjah Book a video on how the Bollywood actor had ‘inspired the audience’ with his speech Shah Rukh was seen arriving at the event amid cheers from screaming fans "He spoke about the fact that the world, and events such as the SIBF, are the cornerstones on which bridges that connect the cultures of the world will be built," the caption read

On the work front, Shah Rukh will soon be seen with Deepika Padukone and John Abraham in ‘Pathaan’ The action film will be released in January 2023 The actor also has ‘Dunki' with Taapsee Pannu in the pipeline, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, and ‘Jawan’ by Atlee, co starring Nayanthara

She has been sharing glimpses of her shoot in London and also how she’s making the most of her time in the city ahead of Christmas Kareena took to Instagram Stories to share a selfie of herself with her team, including celebrity makeup artist Mickey Contractor, who is working with the actor on her upcoming film She wrote, “With my mains ”

Naina Sawhney, who works with Kareena, also took to Instagram to post a picture from the night She wrote in the caption, “With my fav ” She added the hashtag ‘London vibes’ and a bunch of heart emojis to her caption Naina and Mickey were seen on either side of Kareena as they posed in front of a fireplace and with some glasses filled with drinks A fan commented on the photo, “All of you are looking nice ” Another one wrote, “Festive cheers ”

Recently, Kareena was joined by actor sister Karisma Kapoor in London In a series of pictures they shared on Instagram, Kareena and Karisma were seen getting ready, shopping, and touring London Along with the pictures that were taken from different places in London, Kareena wrote in the caption, “What sisters do when they have the day together Pose, makeup, shop, repeat Girls just wanna (want to) have fun ” Kareena has also been sharing pictures she has been taking with her son Jeh as they spend time together in London on her days off from work

Kareena’s new film ‘The Crew’, co starring Tabu and Kriti Sanon was announced recently The film is backed by film producer and stylist Rhea Kapoor and producer Ekta Kapoor The makers and cast of 'The Crew' shared the announcement on November 8 on their respective Instagram handles The shooting is scheduled to begin in February next year

Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan recently shared a selfie with her team as they partied together in London On the trip, the actor is joined by her son Jehangir Ali Khan, lovingly called Jeh. Bebo looked happy in the pictures as she let her hair down during her latest outing. She is currently in the city to film Hansal Mehta’s next, a thriller, where she plays a detective.

Chinmayi slams Sathish’s comments on Dharsha and Sunny Leone

Telugu producers urge theatres not to give preference to dubbed films

Sripada criticised actor Sathish for his statement on Dharsha Gupta’s dress at a recent event. Sathish was present at the audio launch of Dharsha and Sunny Leone’s new Tamil film ‘Oh My Ghost’. In a video shared by Chinmayi from the event, he is heard saying, “Sunny Leone has come from Mumbai for the event and look at the way she’s dressed (in saree) But look at the other woman (Dharsha), who is from Coimbatore, and look what she’s wearing ”

Chinmayi

While Sunny wore a pink blouse with a green saree, Dharsha was seen in a blue blouse with a matching skirt for the event in Chennai

The statement quickly came under the microscope, prompting Sathish to later clarify at the event that he made the state ment on a lighter note and that he was only appreciating Sunny for adapting to south Indian culture and turning up in a

saree at the event in Chennai Ho his comment was not appreciat Chinmayi

Chinmayi questioned Sathish fo ing judgment on Dharsha’s outfit at lic event She tweeted, “I mean to a point at a woman and ask for mass ling of a crowd by a man on a woma doesn’t dress according to culture will this behaviour from men stop? I funny ”

‘Oh My Ghost’ is an upcoming movie that stars Sunny Leone, D Gupta, Yogi Babu, Ramesh Tilak, S and GP Muthu in key roles The audio launch took place recen Chennai and was attended by th Sunny, who especially travelled f launch from Mumbai, was one event's main highlights Fans shared and photos on social media of the from the event

TV Listing

17:00 BHAKT GORA KUMBHAR (O)

17:30 RASOI SHOW (O)

18:00 RASOI SHOW (O)

18:30 SURI (O)

19:00 JODE REJO RAAJ (O)

19:30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU (O)

20:00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI (O)

SS Rajamouli confirms ‘RRR 2’ Filmmaker

SS Rajamouli has confirmed ‘RRR 2’ is in the works, also sharing that his father V Vijayendra Prasad is on the story ‘RRR’ was recently released in Japan and has become the third highest grossing Indian film in the country ‘RRR’ marked the return of SS Rajamouli as a director after the success of his ‘Baahubali’ films

Film producers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have urged exhibitors to prefer Telugu films over dubbed releases during festivals like Dussehra and Sankranti In a release shared by the Telugu Film Producers Council, the body has said that only “Telugu straight films” should be given preference by theatres during festivals The Pongal Sankranti weekend in 2023 sees two big Tamil films ‘Varisu’ and ‘Thunivu’ releases, worrying fans about their fate.

A press release shared by the Telugu Film Producers Council read, “Keeping in view the increased cost of production of Telugu films, the welfare of producers and to save the Telugu film industry, the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce has in its meet ing passed a resolution that ‘Only Telugu straight Films should be given preference during the festivals of Sankaranthi and Dassera’ ”

MON 21 NOV FRI 25 NOV 2022

6:00 DIKRI CHALI SASAREIA

9:00 SHUBH PRABHAT

9:30 SUR PRABHAT

10:00 DESHI BEATS

17:00 BHAKT GORA KUMBHAR (O)

17:30 RASOI SHOW (O)

18:00 RASOI SHOW (O)

18:30 SURI (O)

19:00 JODE REJO RAAJ (O)

19:30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU (O)

20:00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI (O)

20:30 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU (O)

21:00 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM (O)

21:30 GEETA (O)

22:00 MARI LADKI RE (O)

SATURDAY 26 NOV 2022

6:00 BABA RAMDEV

9:00 SHUBH PRABHAT

9:30 SUR PRABHAT

10:00 DESHI BEATS

20:30 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU (O) 21:00 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM (O)

21:30 GEETA (O)

22:00 MARI LADKI RE (O)

SUNDAY 27 NOV 2022

6:00 RASOI SHOW ®

7:00 GEETA ®

8:30 MARI LADKI RE ®

10:00 BHAKT GORA KUMBHAR ®

12:00 HALO AAPNA MALAK MAA 15:00 MARI LADKI RE ®

17:00 RASOI SHOW ®

18:00 RASOI SHOW ®

19:00 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU ®

19:30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU ® 20:00 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU ®

20:30 RASHI RIKSHAWALI ®

21:00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI ®

21:30 RASHI RIKSHAWALI ®

22:00 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU ®

SATURDAY 26 NOV 2022

16:30 RASOI SHOW DESI FLAVOURS

17:30 BALIKA VADHU

19:00 DESI BEAT

19:30 BHAGYA KA LIKHA

It is a fictional story based on the lives of two Telugu freedom fighters, Alluri Seetharama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Jr NTR) The film collect ed over £110 million worldwide According to a media report, Rajamouli recently said at an event in Chicago, “My father is story writ er for all my films We discussed a bit about ‘RRR 2 ’ and he’s working on the story ” The movie may have lost out to ‘Chhello Show’ as India’s official entry for Oscars 2023 but the team has submitted the film to the Academy for consideration in all categories including Best Picture, Best Director (SS Rajamouli), Best Actor (Jr NTR and Ram Charan), Best Supporting Actor (Ajay Devgn), Best Supporting Actress (Alia Bhatt) and more

A note read on the official Instagram page of ‘RRR', "#RRRForOscars We are honoured that RRR's overwhelming success represented Indian Cinema on the global stage by creating milestones at the world wide box office and uniting film buffs worldwide by transcending linguistic & cul tural barriers

The release refers to a decision taken by the body in 2019 and re emphasises it quot ing a statement from film producer Dil Raju “In this connection, Sri Dil Raju has categor ically informed through media in the year 2019 stating that how can we give theatres to dubbed Telugu movies during the festivals and therefore the first preference shall be given to straight Telugu movies for screen ing in theatres and the remaining will be given to dubbed Telugu movies during festi vals,” the release further reads

The statement concludes with a request from the body to film exhibitors in the Telugu states “Therefore, the Telugu Film Producers Council requests the exhibitors to invariably implement this decision: ‘Only Telugu straight Films should be given pref erence during the festivals and the remain ing period may be given to dubbed Telugu movies’ ”

The Sankranti Pongal weekend in January is the first big festival in the state now The crowded weekend sees three Telugu releases in ‘Agent' starring Akhil

Vijay Deverakonda reveals his back is fixed after a rehab stint

Actor Vijay Deverakonda, who was last seen in Puri Jagannadh’s Hingi Telugu bilingual action thriller ‘Liger’, took to his Instagram Story to reveal that his back is almost fixed after eight months of rehabilitation. While he didn’t reveal what had happened, he said that the beast within him is ready to be unleashed.

MON 21 NOV FRI 25 NOV 2022

16:30 RASOI SHOW DESI FLAVOURS 17:30 SWARAN GHAR 18:00 BALIKA VADHU SEASON 1 19:00 DESI BEATS 19:30 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20:00 SWARAN GHAR

20:30 KAWACH MAMTA KA

21:00 AJNABI BANE HUMSAFAR 21:30 SASURAL SIMAR KA 2 22:00 NAAGIN SEASON 1

20:00 COMEDY NIGHTS WITH KAPIL

21:30 SASURAL SIMAR KA 2

22:00 VISH YA AMRIT SITAARA SUNDAY 27 NOV 2022

16:30 RASOI SHOW DESI FLAVOURS 17:30 BALIKA VADHU

19:00 THE KHATRA KHATRA SHOW 22:00 COMEDY NIGHT WITH KAPIL 22:00 VISH YA AMRIT SITAARA

We're grateful to each & every one who loved our film and cheered us over the past few months You made this journey possible We applied to The Academy for Oscars con sideration in the general category We wish our RRR family the best and thank them from the bottom of our hearts for making this possible Here's to continuing to win hearts and entertain audiences worldwide ”

‘RRR’ is also among 25 feature films and 20 non feature films which will be screened during the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) The festival is scheduled to take place in Goa from November 20 to November 28, 2022

The actor apparently hurt his back while shooting for ‘Liger’, where he was seen play ing a mixed martial arts fighter with a stut ter His post read, “The back is almost fixed after 8 months of rehab The beast is dying to come out Has been kept caged too long now Go hard and outwork everyone my loves ”

On the work front, Vijay will soon join back the sets of his upcoming Telugu romantic drama ‘Kushi’, which co stars Samantha Ruth Prabhu It marks their sec ond collaboration Also, Vijay is all set to team up with ‘Jersey’ fame Gowtam Tinnanuri for a new project However, an official announcement regarding the same is yet to be made

Pakistan bans its Oscar entry over 'highly objectionable material’

Pakistaniauthorities have banned filmmaker Saim Sadiq’s critically acclaimed film ‘Joyland’ alleging that it contains “highly objectionable material.” The move comes months after a certificate was issued clearing the movie for public viewing This is the country’s official entry for the 2023 Academy Awards and has been acclaimed worldwide in film festivals

The movie was supposed to release in theatres across the country on November 18 The film follows a patriarchal family craving for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line The family’s youngest son, the protagonist secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for a trans woman ‘Joyland’ features Santa Saeed, Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gilani, Rasti Farooq, Salmaan Peerzada, and Sohail Sameer

It was granted the certificate for screening by the government on August 17 However, objections were recently raised over its contents The protests and concerns led to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting banning the movie to avoid a backlash from conservative elements of the country

In its notification of November 11, the ministry said, “Written complaints were received that the film contains highly objectionable material which does not conform with the social values

and moral standards of our society and is clearly repugnant to the norms of ‘decency and morality’ as laid down in Section 9 of the Motion Picture Ordinance, 1979 ” Religious hardliners in the country have criticised the film, calling it ‘against Islam’ Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, the only senator of hardline Jamaat e Islami in the Pakistan Senate, tweeted, “Pakistan is an Islamic country and no law, ideology or activity can be allowed against ” However, many actors and social media users have criticised the ban as well In a Twitter thread, actor Sarwat Gilani slammed the Pakistani authorities for caving into pressure from ‘ some malicious people’ She wrote, “Shameful that a Pakistani film made by 200 Pakistanis over 6 years that got standing ovations from Toronto to Cairo to Cannes is being hindered in its own country Don’t take away this moment of pride and joy from our people! No one ’ s forcing anyone to watch it! So don’t force anyone to not watch it either! Pakistani viewers are smart enough to know what they want to watch or not Let Pakistanis decide! Don’t insult their intelligence and our hard work!”

Earlier this year, ‘Joyland’ became the first Pakistani film to be screened at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize and Queer Palm award The film was also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Busan International Film Festival

Chadha to star in an ritish production

Actor

Richa Chadha is all set to foray back into the global cinema and has signed a project that will be helmed by a British director Chadha will play the lead in the Indo British production and the shoot is scheduled to begin in January in London

She said, “I’m excited to partner with creative brains from the UK who want to tell different stories and look at the immigrant experience from a new lens I’ve read the script and decided to go ahead with it The story is interesting and I really liked my character ” The 35 year old adds, “I have wanted to work outside of India, but I never pursued it actively till the opportunity presented itself and I could not say no I’m happy to work in all languages and industries, not just in the West, but in India as well ”

This is not the actress’s first western collaboration She has worked in the Indo American production ‘Love Sonia’ On the work front, Chadha is currently juggling the shoot of filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s web series ‘Heera Mandi’, and her maiden production ‘Girls Will be Girls’

India’s diversity continues to amaze me: Jon Landau

Hollywood film producer Jon Landau says he finds India’s culture and diversity astonishing and is looking forward to releasing his upcoming venture ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ in the country in six languages. Directed by celebrated filmmaker James Cameron, the film is scheduled to be released in India on December 16 in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam

Excited and humbled: Ali Fazal on next Hollywood outing

Landau expressed his love for India in a Twitter post and launched the Kannada trailer of the much anticipated sci fi movie “Namaste India! I see you Your diversity continues to amaze me I am so excited for you to experience #AvatarTheWayOfWater in 6 languages English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada Let’s celebrate the return to Pandora on 16th Dec,” he wrote

Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, the movie tells the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ will be released by 20th Century Studios in India

The sequel features Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, and Kate Winslet

Ali

Fazal is all set to feature in his next Hollywood project, and from what we hear, he is looking forward to it To be directed by two time Oscar winning director Bill Guttentag, ‘Afghan Dreamers’ is the true story of a program that was started by Afghan tech entrepreneur Roya Mahboob in 2017 as a way to help young women develop their skills in the field of science and technology, despite a heavily patriarchal society.

In a media statement, Fazal expressed his excitement to work with Guttentag, who has won the Academy Award for his short films ‘You Don’t Have to Die’ and ‘Twin Towers’

“Excited and humbled to be sharing notes and being directed by Bill who has an impeccable body of work ‘Afghan Dreamers’ is a very important story to be told and I’m happy to be part of its cinematic retelling,” the actor said Fazal has featured in international titles such as ‘Furious 7 ’ , 'Victoria and Abdul’, ‘Death on the Nile’, and the upcoming ‘Kandahar’

Actor Nikohl Boosheri, known for the series ‘The Bold Type’, will be essaying the role of Roya Mahboob in the film Details regarding Fazal’s role are kept under wraps Shoot for ‘Afghan Dreamers’ recently commenced in Morocco and it will be a 50 days schedule with the majority of the film being shot across Morocco and Budapest

The film is being produced by Guttentag, Laura Overdeck, and Samudrika Arora

in brief England beat Pakistan, win T20 World Cup

England have beaten Pakistan by five wickets to win the T20 World Cup Needing 138 to win the ti tl e f or a s e con d ti me , England wobbled in the chase du e to s ome hos ti le f as t bowling by Pakistan bu t Ben Stokes hit a half century to take the side home on Su nday in Melbourne

Thirty years after losing the 50 over ODI World Cup final to Pakistan at the same venue, England turned the tables on the South Asian side with brilliant death bowling and Stokes’s heroics With all rounder Sam Curran recording a miserly 3 12, Pakistan collapsed in the final overs to finish on a below par 137 for eight after being sent in to bat by England captain Jos Buttler

The heavy rain forecast never hit the MCG as England, led by the unflappable Stokes, reeled in the total with six balls to spare Curran was named player of the match and player

of the tournament

Sealing their second T20 World Cup, England are now the first nation to hold both global white ball trophies, having won the 50 over World Cup on home soil in 2019 Earlier, England produced disciplined and economical bowling to stymie the 2009 champions, with Shan Masood’s 38 being the top score

India's T20 team set for overhau l

There are a few veterans in Indian team and they have been told that their T20I career is as

good as over There were too many players in their mid 30s in this tournament Dinesh Karthik, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami made the cut this year The bigger step would be to phase out big names like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli That opens up quite a few places in the T20I set up Hardik Pandya is the hot favourite for the top job If Rohit and Virat sit out with Karthik not being considered anymore, the likes Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson could get the chance KL Rahul would need to rediscover his T20 batting form soon to hold on to his place It will be interesting to see if Rishabh Pant goes up the batting order Ishan Kishan has been India’s preferred T20

opener in the absence of Rohit and Rahul If the team management feels Prithvi Shaw has gathered himself off the field, he could be considered too Samson is likely to be groomed to play the finisher’s role as Karthik was supposed to do here

While much of the scrutiny has been on the batting’s conservative approach, the bowling combination too could be in for a major shakeup Jasprit Bumrah’s absence due to injury was majorly felt in Australia But with the pacer struggling to sustain high octane cricket due to a dodgy back, Bumrah may have to give up one format It’s likely that India will persist with Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj and Umran Malik Expect Washington Sundar to play a major role in the future Bhuvneshwar has dropped off the list of contenders for the ODI World Cup

Four women boxers win Asian gold medals for India

na Borgohai n wi ped out t he b a d me mor i es of h av i ng been dumped out of the World C ha mpi o ns hi ps an d Birmingham CWG in the early stages of the competition while Saweety Boora made it a hat trick of medals as the Indian women boxers reigned supreme a t the A si a n Cha mpi on shi ps They won an impressive four gold medals to conclude their c a mp ai gn i n th e c on ti n en ta l meet with seven podium place finishes i n Amman last week

Lovlina, Saweety, Parveen Hooda and Alfiya Pathan won titles in their respective weight divisions to produce one of the finest shows by Indian boxers at the Asian meet

This was the third best performance by the country’s women boxers at the

championships in terms of winning gold India had won seven gold medals in 2005 and five in 2003 Minakshi (52kg) had to settle for a silver after she went down 1 4 against former Youth World championships bronze medallist, Japan’s Kinoshita Rinka, in the final Parveen opened India’s gold medal account with a facile 5 0 win over Japan’s Kito Mai in her 63kg category final The Indian, who had won bronze at the Istanbul Worlds, unleashed a flurry of punches and multiple right hooks on her opponent to leave her gasping for breath

The Rohtak born boxer was impressive with her open guard and straight jabs during her maiden outing at the Asian level

Tokyo Olympics bronze

Mary Kom, Sindhu, Narang in IOA’s 10-member body

medallist Lovlina, who was competing for the first time in the 75kg category, outclassed Uzbekistan’s Ruzmetova Sokhiba with a similar 5 0 scoreline, showcasing strength, athleticism and a resolute defence Her combination punches and precise foot movement inside the ring ran Sokhiba out of ideas

Such was Lovlina’s dominance that her Uzbek opponent, a 2021 Asian silver medallist, was given a standing count by the referee The victory brought redemption to the Assamese boxer, who had copped criticism for her listless show at the Istanbul Worlds and Birmingham CWG Lovlina has moved up from her original 69kg to 75kg division as her former weight class doesn’t

feature in the Paris Olympics programme

For Saweety, it was a hat trick of Asian medals after she thrashed Kazakhstan’s Gulsaya Yerzhan 5 0 in the 81kg class final to end her seven year long wait for the gold medal She had won silver in 2015 and bronze in 2021 The former World championships silver medallist was in no mood to settle for another second place finish this time round and came out all guns blazing in demolishing the defence of Yerzhan

In the +81kg category, Alfiya up against local favourite Islam Husaili handed the country its fourth gold from the tournament after her opponent was disqualified by the judges towards the end of the first round

SINDHU PULLS OUT OF BWF WORLD TOUR FINALS

Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu has withdrawn from the season ending BWF World Tour Finals as she is yet to fully recover from a stress fracture on her left ankle Sindhu had sustained the injury on way to her title winning run at the Commonwealth Games in August

The BWF World Tour Finals will be held in Guangzhou, China from December 14 "Her doctor advised her to take some more time so that she recovers completely ahead of the new season She has discussed about the pros and cons but with so much restrictions in Guangzhou and also keeping new season in mind, she has taken this decision," Sindhu's father PV Ramana said

IPL AUCTION IN KOCHI ON DEC 23

The Indian Premier League mini auction for the next season is to be held in Kochi on December 23 The one change in the rule is that apart from what’s remaining in the franchises’ purse, each team will get an additional £500,000 to spend The total budget per franchise is expected to be raised from £9 million to 9 5 million

SAVITA TO LEAD TEAM FOR FIH WOMEN’S NATIONS CUP

Hockey India named the 20 member Indian women’s hockey team for the forthcoming FIH Women s Nations Cup India are grouped in Pool B along with Canada Japan and South Africa Savita Punia has been named the captain for the tournament Team: Savita (aptain), Bichu Devi Kharibam, Deep Grace Ekka (vice captain) Gurjit Kaur, Nikki Pradhan, Udita, Ishika Chaudhary, Nisha Salima Tete, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Monika, Neha, Sonika Jyoti, Navjot Kaur, Vandana Katariya, Lalremsiami, Navneet Kaur, Sangita Kumari and Beauty Dungdung

ENGLAND PLAYERS TRUST SECURITY ADVICE ON PAK TOUR, SAYS STOKES

The first step towards ringing in a wholesome change in the functioning of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was taken on Monday when a 10 member athletes commission was elected without any voting under the watch of returning officer Umesh Sinha, who will also be presiding over the national Olympic committee’s elections on December 10

Many sportspersons thought that Monday’s elections for the athletes commission would mark the start of their administrative journey, apart from focusing on their respective playing careers But, for that to happen, a fair and impartial voting, which forms the backbone of the country’s democratic values, needed to take place

As things stood, out of the 42 names of sportspersons received from the electoral college, 32 of them withdrew their candidature in a sudden change of heart, which paved the way for remaining 10 to be elected unopposed without any contest It’s been learnt that a Sunday dinner meeting at the residence of a union minister cleared the path for their unchallenged election

The athletes commission will now have five time world champion MC Mary Kom (boxing), two time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu (badminton), Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu (weightlifting), London Games bronze winner Gagan Narang (shooting), multiple time Asian Games and CWG medallist Achanta Sharath Kamal (table tennis), former India’s women ’ s team captain Rani Rampal (hockey), Olympian Bhavani Devi (fencing), Bajrang Lal (rower), O P Karhana (shot putter) and Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan (luge)

There were clear instructions in the election notification that for the voting to happen in a physical mode and to be elected to the athletes commission, a sportsperson nominated would have to be present in person at the venue But, as Sinha put out, “there’s always a glitch which is possible” Mirabai and Bhavani were allowed to join the meeting online and were subsequently elected

Table tennis star Sharath Kamal to get Khel Ratna on Nov 30

Rechristened

of Youth Affairs and Sports every year

This year, Sharath Kamal, the Commonwealth Games 2022 table tennis champion, will be the sole recipient of the Khel Ratna

The national sports awards selection committee has also recommended 25 sportspersons for this year ’ s Arjuna Awards Badminton players Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy, world champion boxer Nikhat Zareen, boxer Amit Panghal, triple jumper Eldhose Paul and steeplechaser Avinash Sable are all on the list

India cricket team captain Rohit Sharma’s childhood mentor Dinesh Lad has been nominated for Dronacharya Award, honouring notable coaches, in the lifetime category Wrestler Bajrang Punia’s coach Sujit Mann, boxing coach Mohammad Ali Qamar, archery coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja and rifle coach Suma Shirur (para shooting) have been nominated for the Dronacharya Award in the regular category

All awardees will be feted by the President of India at a specially organised function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan

England Test captain Ben Stokes said last week’s attack on former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was a “shock” but that the squad trusts the advice of security chief Reg Dickason ahead of next month’s three Test series in the country

KABADDI COACH HOPEFUL OF WINNING GOLD

AT ASIAN GAMES

Ashan Kumar is one of the most celebrated kabaddi coaches in India and he believes India will win gold at next year s Asian Games in China “We have a lot of good kabaddi players in our country and I have full belief that we will win gold at the Asian Games ” he said

SECOND GOLD FOR INDIA; SINGHRAJ GETS 2024 PARALYMPICS QUOTA

Double Paralympic medallist Singhraj Adhana secured a quota for India at the 2024 Paris Paralympics after signing off at the fourth place in the P1 men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 event at the Para Shooting World Championships in Al Ain UAE Also Singhraj was part of the Indian team which included Manish Narwal and Nihal Singh that bagged its second gold medal in the ongoing championships in the team event of the P1 Men s 10m Air Pistol SH1

Lovli

Table tennis ace Sharath Kamal will be presented with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award for 2022 by India’s President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on November 30

to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna from Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award last year, the Khel Ratna is the country’s highest sporting honour The Khel Ratna and other National Sports Awards, including the Arjuna Award, are given out by India's Ministry