AV 20th February 2021

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE The Union Budget 2021 brings promises for NRIs SEE PAGE - 18

Indian American named Deputy National Security adviser

R

SEE PAGE - 20

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

20 - 26 FEBRUARY 2021 - VOL 49 ISSUE 41

EXCLUSIVE

“BETTER LATE THAN NEVER” Hoteliers caution that businessmen should travel “sparingly”, disagree that quarantine hotels can be new Covid-19 hotspots and believe that the new system will help them in recuperating with the economic fallout of the pandemic

inside: Helping the helpers SEE PAGE - 8

Dr Hari Shukla: Ethnic minorities depend on the right leadership SEE PAGE - 13

India, China start disengagement in Pangong Tso

Priyanka Mehta

The government has mandated that the UK residents returning from coronavirus hotspots should quarantine in hotels for 10 days. The "red list” of coronavirus hotspots enlists 33 countries including Tanzania and South Africa where new Covid-19 variants have been detected in large numbers and incoming passengers are required to pay for the cost of their own accommodation. While some hoteliers have cautioned that the facility should be used “sparingly” by businessmen and those in dire need of travelling. Others explain that these measures will be key in curbing rising infection numbers and in some cases also partly help the collapsed hospitality industry to recuperate from the economic aftershock of the pandemic.

Continued on page 6

India and China last week kicked off initial disengagement in the Pangong Tso area of eastern Ladakh - the first easing after a prolonged military confrontation - by pulling back some tanks, howitzers and armoured vehicles. This will be followed by withdrawal of rival frontline troops from the ‘friction points’ if the phased deescalation plan does not derail like it did after the Galwan Valley clashes in June last year. The Chinese defence ministry announced the “synchronised and organised disengagement” from the north and south banks of Pangong Tso in accordance with the “consensus reached” in the ninth round of the corps commanderlevel talks on January 24.

Continued on page 26

2 UK

AsianVoiceNews

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20 - 26 February 2021

with Keith Vaz

MP reportedly breached Code of Conduct

Roshni Thakrar Roshni Thakrar was born in Kent and moved to North London during her teenage years. She went on to read Law at City University and then pursued her Legal Practice Course at BPP in Holborn.

She has worked for many international companies and law firms and now works in-house for a FTSE 100 company as a solicitor. However, beyond law, Roshni's normal diary is filled with spiritual satsangs and sewa to the community. In the Summer of 2020, she launched her own podcast, Prim Rose Light on Spotify, to inspire and cultivate a conscious community through a fusion of Eastern philosophy and Western ways. Each podcast delves into a different topic, from global issues such as climate change and the fast fashion industry to personal development such as the mind, body and soul connection and the impact of social media on our everyday lives.

1

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

I love exploring India, experiencing its rich and colourful culture and connecting back to my roots. However, for me, home is where the heart is and being a born and bred Londoner, having my nearest and dearest around me means that London will always be home.

What are your proudest achievements?

2

I’ve grown up with a desire to make a difference and have been part of the Communications Team at my local ISKSON Temple for the last 15 years, hosting media and VIPs. I’m also Secretary of the Young Lohana Society and have organising several events but the most impactful for me where the two hugely successful careers fairs for young people aged 13-25.

What inspires you?

3

In addition to personal development, which is huge source of inspiration, I’m always inspired by stories where people from humble beginnings or adversity have really made something of themselves. I’m a big fan of Warren Buffett’s concept, the inner scorecard, and strive to be kind to everyone.

What has been biggest obstacle in your career?

Qualifying as a solicitor has been the biggest challenge and the path was far from easy. I made hundreds of applications and it was bittersweet when I finally secured my training contract as it was outside of London, meaning that I had to leave my family and life I had built.

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

My dear mother, who is my guiding light, biggest cheerleader and best friend.

When you are building a career - a lot of people buy in to you as a credible professional and person, whether that is a friend reading over an application or putting you in touch with people they may be able to help or even employers, giving you a chance so I also give thanks to all that have helped me on my journey thus far.

4

5

6 What is the best aspect about your current role?

I’ve just started my new role as an inhouse solicitor at a FTSE 100 company, but I certainly feel fortunate to work for a company whose values so closely match my own. For example, the Chairman has made it his personal ambition to ensure that environmental, social and governance issues are at the forefront of the company's agenda in 2021.

7 And the worst?

Whilst law is a rewarding and intellectual discipline and vocation, it can also be a challenging, highly competitive profession to get into and qualify. In addition, once qualified, the demands and expectations of both clients and firms can be immense.

The profession is getting better to focus on mental health and well-being but for as long as these pressures and high chargeable targets exist, striking a work-life balance will always be tricky.

What are your long-term goals?

8

The focus on climate-related disasters is increasing and I feel a sense of duty to use my voice to raise awareness through my podcasts, work and sewa. I want to play my part in helping make the world habitable for humans as well as wildlife. I am also hugely passionate about education and youth empowerment as the future of tomorrow.

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

I think a much stronger focus on practical life skills such as coding, AI, investing, cooking, how to change a tyre on a car, interpersonal skills, meditation and cultivating a spiritual practice you can call your own, would be hugely beneficial in equipping young people to be wholesome leaders of tomorrow in what is already a dramatically changing world.

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

Ruth Bader Ginsburg - I applaud all that she stood for as a staunch advocate for gender equality and champion of justice.

9

10

Guinness World Records holder urges community to ignore conspiracy theories around vaccine A Leicester based 71-yearold grandad and holder of 68 Guinness World Records is urging the community to "ignore fake news and conspiracy theories" and get the Covid-19 jab when offered it.

Serial world record breaker Manjit Singh recently attending hospital to receive the coronavirus vaccine himself with the hopes of leading by example.

A hero to his many fans

around the world as the Leicester Ironman, he is renowned for feats ranging from pulling an empty double decker bus over 55 feet with his teeth; using his ears to lift 85 kg, and hauling a Vulcan bomber for 15.24 cm with a harness around his body.

Manjit, who arrived to the UK from India back in 1977, spoke with LeicestershireLive, "I've heard some of the rumours

myself and can't believe what I'm hearing to be honest.

“When I told people that I'd had the vaccine some of them told me I was crazy and should have waited until everyone else had had it first to make sure it was safe. I also posted something on my Facebook page and had some ridiculous replies.

"Some people are just so silly. One person sent me a link to an article about how

On 15th February, it was reported that Leicester East MP was allegedly in breach of the MPs’ Code of Conduct after she reportedly failed to declare payments that she had received for continuing her work as a councillor in London.

MPs’ income, beyond their £82,000 salaries, must be recorded within 28 days on their register of interests. But, an investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone has found she did not do this with eight sets of allowances she received from Islington Borough Council last year, Leicester Mercury reported.

According to the newsweekly, she receives £876.56 a month in allowances from the Council but from December she stopped registering the payments until she was informed of the investigation. Ms Webbe has been suspended by the Labour Party pending a trial on a harassment charge.

Ms Stone’ report and findings which have been

Claudia Webbe

published on the House of Commons website, noted, “Ms Webbe has acknowledged and apologised for her breach of the rules, and committed to take appropriate steps to avoid a recurrence. I consider this breach to be at the less serious end of the spectrum.”

In her explanation to Ms Stone she reportedly said, "I was unaware that I was in breach of the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament. As a new Member of Parliament, I failed to fully understand the requirement in respect of registering Members’ Financial Interests and had wrongly assumed this was an annual requirement and further had not understood

that no exceptions exist.

“Notwithstanding the public health emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic, I accept that I should have registered sooner remuneration received between January and August 2020. Further, by the time of the national lockdown I had not yet appointed anything close to a full complement of staff consequently my own workload was huge and I was working seven days a week with less than 4 hours’ sleep a day and still learning all the rules and workings of parliament."

Ms Webbe has previously told LeicestershireLive she had intended to step down fully from Islington council in May 2020 when elections were planned. However, they were cancelled because of the pandemic.

She has asked the registrar to record the monthly Islington allowances until around May, when elections are planned, or sooner if a by-election is called.

Leicester Museum awarded for welcoming refugees Leicester Museum and Art Gallery has become one of only five museums in the UK to win an award for welcoming people who arrive in the city seeking refuge. The museum, in New Walk, has won a prestigious Museum of Sanctuary award for the work it does in welcoming people of all backgrounds who have arrived in Leicester fleeing violence or persecution.

The award has been granted by the national charity City of Sanctuary UK, which works to promote the UK as a welcoming place of safety for all. It recognises the commitment the city council’s museums and galleries service has made to ensuring access to the city’s museums for everyone who lives

in Leicester, including new arrivals, asylum seekers and refugees.

In a statement, Deputy city mayor for culture Cllr Piara Singh Clair said, “We have worked closely with many local organisations that help refugees and asylum seekers, delivering a wide range of projects to celebrate their contribution to Leicester and challenge myths. “Our museums are National Portfolio Organisations, which means we receive Arts Council England funding.

This assists with our ongoing ‘Welcoming Museums’ project, and allows us to work with local people to create exhibitions such as ‘Sanctuary Birds’, where refugees, asylum seekers and members of Leicester City of Sanctuary created

Cllr Piara Singh Clair

artwork representing birds flying to freedom.

“It also helps us to stage an annual programme of events for Refugee Week, co-produced by our local refugee and asylum seeker communities. These initiatives support our wider aim of increasing the diversity of museum audiences in Leicester.”

City of Sanctuary UK supports a network of groups in villages, towns, cities and regions across the UK to engage in practical activity and advocacy which helps to welcome people seeking sanctuary.

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20 - 26 February 2021

Is 'dishy Rishi’ ready to face new challenges?

Enoch Powell, the author of Rivers of Blood in his wildest imagination would have never thought of a Britain with an Indianorigin Chancellor. After Sajid Javid’s short stint at No 11, came India’s most adored son-in-law, Rishi Sunak.

For those who do not know, even after a year of his ‘dishy’ omnipresence, Rishi Sunak is married to India’s billionaire businessman N R Naraya Murthy and author Sudha Murthy’s daughter Akshata. When Rishi Sunak looks back at his first year as the Chancellor, we are sure that he has every reason to feel satisfied with how things have gone.

Though it is difficult to explain how this exclusive poll works, Ipsos MORI has revealed, 56 percent of Britons are satisfied with the new Chancellor’s performance. 26 percent are dissatisfied, and 17 percent don’t know. This surprisingly includes 87 percent of Conservative voters and some 40 per cent of Labour voters, says The Times.

These numbers are of course good in comparison to his predecessors. In September 2020, according to the Ipsos MORI Political Monitor series, Mr Sunak received the highest satisfaction rating since Chancellor Denis Healey in April 1978 and Chancellor Gordon Brown in 2002.

Most of the ratings of course comes from how he handled the Covid-19 situation. But even among the Tory MPs, 44 of them voted for Mr Sunak as the “most impressive Parliamentarian” of any party at the moment. The Prime Minister of course did not break a double-digit figure.

So simply put, Mr Sunak has every reason to feel chuffed with himself. But this is just the beginning of a very hard and arduous journey and only time will tell us about his tenacity to strive as well as survive. The coming one year is undoubtedly

going to be harder for Mr Sunak and straining on his reputation.

And he may just trip and fall as fast as he has grown. So the upcoming Budget on 3 March will have to be his best shot- to chart the country’s path out of this catastrophic effect of the pandemic and to keep his popularity as it is.

It will be Mr Sunak's second Budget, after he scrambled to put together a last-minute statement in March 2020, only weeks into his new job.More than £280 billion has been spent on the coronavirus response according to the National Audit Office. To fix that Mr Sunak is possibly raising taxes before 2024 elections and reduce spending. The Tory party does not agree on the need to reduce spending, let alone where the burden ought to fall.

Even Mr Sunak’s cut to international aid irked former Prime Minister Theresa May, who criticised him in a Daily Mail op-ed.

UK's economy shrank in 2020 at its fastest rate since the 1920s, with GDP dropping by 9.8%, according to the Office for National Statistics, as reported by the Daily Mirror.

Despite furlough and other financial supports, in 2020, more than 1.7 million people have lost jobs, with over 800,000 fewer employees on company payrolls since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Chancellor faces a bigger challenge this year, as he tries to find ways to boost the battered economy and save jobs after lockdowns forced closures of thousands of businesses. But is the Chancellor afraid that he will fail to manoeuvre the uphill task?

Those close to him are sure that he’s neither afraid of the challenge ahead nor of dropping approval ratings. Moreover, with the Indian ‘jugaad’ strategy or genes (an innovative fix and an improvised solution born from ingenuity and cleverness)- it is unusual for Mr Sunak to fail. But let time tell.

Vaccine passports highlight inequalities The Tory government has been going back and forth on the possibility of issuing Covid-19 vaccine passports. Some ministers in the Tory government believe this is the opportunity for the tourism and travel industry to bounce back in allegiance with coronavirus safety guidelines. Others ruled out plans for such passports – with vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi calling them “discriminatory”. Yet, if foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, is to be believed then the documents were reportedly “under consideration”. But crucially, what one must understand is that this is not a domestic affair but a process which will test international alliances and border force co-operations.

Over 50 countries have given more than 68m jabs. That is not much of a dent in the global population of more than 7bn, but it begs the question if people who have been vaccinated should be permitted to move around more freely. To allow this, those who have been vaccinated need to be able to prove it.

This has resulted in a consequent discussion about whether certificates of immunity—or vaccination passports—should be introduced. Some tourism-dependent countries, such as the Seychelles, have already opened to people who have received a covid-19 jab while the UK unveiled the “quarantine hotels” system to prevent coronavirus variants coming in from Africa. Some think it is a quick route back to normal life. Being vaccinated means you will be unlikely to suffer from severe Covid-19 disease that might require hospitalisation abroad. On the flip side, such passports will be given to people who are vaccinated and presumed to have immunity and the ability to do things that others cannot. Given that the vaccine rollout is based on a priority system, some people will be vaccinated before others. Others who choose not to get vaccinated despite being offered the vaccine may also lose out on opportunities. There is an added danger of

stigmatising individuals who lack certification, with some worrying that it will be unfair and divisive.

Sweden and Denmark, two Nordic countries are already in the process of designing digital passports. Both said the certificates would be designed to enable citizens to travel aboard, but also hinted they could potentially be used to check whether someone was vaccinated if they were attending something like a sports or cultural event. While this may contribute to the overall growth of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry, there is much skepticism around the success rate. The Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) has stressed that the impact of vaccines on reducing transmission is not yet known and current vaccine availability is too limited, urging countries to refrain from imposing such requirements.

The newly introduced quarantine hotel system is a rather more cautious alternate where the British government has already secured nearly 5,000 rooms with 16 hotels. Some of these hotels are founded by Indian-origin entrepreneurs including billionaires Surinder Arora and Jasminder Singh. While these hoteliers have spoken about how the new system should have been introduced much earlier, they have also stressed that it will enable their business to recover albeit marginally from the economic aftershocks of Covid-19. Travellers entering the UK are already required to complete a passenger locator form, and those lying about where they have been can lead to up to 10 years in prison.

Alternatively, they can also be fined £10,000 for failing to declare they had travelled from a “red list” of 33 countries including Tanzania and South Africa. Reportedly another 50,000 rooms on standby should there be a need. This system will in a way set the success story for all future policies around the revival of the travel and tourism industry.

India enhancing defence preparedness India is enhancing its defence preparedness not only to safeguard its border along China and Pakistan but also to attain selfreliance in production of weapons. China represents a global challenge to its neighbours. After its dispute with India, there is tension between Nepal and China after Beijing claims rights over some territory belonging to Nepal. US President Joe Biden said that China under Xi Jinping is a danger to the world. After sustained talks, there is a breakthrough in the nine month long India-China border standoff and both sides began disengagement in eastern Ladakh’s Pangong Tso area by pulling back some tanks, howitzers and armoured vehicles. The two sides reach an agreement for disengagement on the north and south banks of Pangong, with the Chinese side withdrawing its troops to their positions east of Finger 8 and Indian soldiers pulling back to their Dhan Singh Thapa post between Finger 2 and 3. It will be recalled both the countries have agreed disengagement process last year but was disrupted by the Galwan valley clashes in June where 20 Indian soldiers were killed. India needs to be extremely cautious here. Even if the current round of disengagement from friction points goes off well, there is no guarantee that Beijing won't mobilise the 50,000 troops it has deployed across the LAC. Being stared down by Delhi is unlikely to have gone down well with Beijing, which regards India as an inferior power. There could be external factors at play here, such as the growing momentum of the Quad grouping or the Biden administration sticking to the previous Trump administration’s charges of China being guilty of human rights violations and bullying its neighbours. The fundamental issues remain: the LAC is undemarcated, India-China strategic rivalry is out in the open, Beijing’s support for Islamabad has never been stronger. Hence, Delhi must remain on guard. The North-Eastern states and even

West Bengal is very close to Chinese border and India should always keep a hawk's eye on Chinese moves along Indian's border states. India should also to be vigilant against the enemy within.

China is a country with deep pockets. There will some individuals who are trying to curry favour with China by selling India's secrets to China. So India should always be wary of such individuals. There are also spies who honey-trap high officials to collect important information about India.

India cannot remain dependent on other countries for its defence requirements and is now aiming to attain self-reliance in arms production by encouraging its manufacture in the country itself. The Modi government is trying to bring down its defence imports by at least $ 2 billion by 2022. India's defence minister Rajnath Singh said the aerospace sector has an important role to play, if India has to reach its targets of domestic defence production of $ 25 billion and exports of $ 5 billion by 2025. Between 2016 and 2019, as many as 138 proposals worth over $ 37 billion for domestic manufacturing have been approved, Singh said. He said that the indigenously developed Tejas was better than its foreign equivalents on several parameters and also comparatively cheaper. India is also taking a crucial step for its £12 billion project to produce future nuclear-powered submarines. Last week Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally handed over the indigenous battle tank Arjun Mark 1A to the Indian Army as part of this renewed focus on achieving self-reliance in the defence sector.

The Cabinet also decided to award HAL £4.8 billion contract to supply 83 LCA (light combat aircraft) MK-1A jets to the Indian Air Force. India is now conducting its largest-ever naval combat exercise, with warships, submarines, fighter jets, maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters, to test the Navy’s operational preparedness in the wider Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

We generate fears while we sit. We overcome them by action. – Dr. Henry Link

Alpesh Patel

The Politics of Unity So many Indian celebrities touched me, so to speak, when they came out to speak up for India. To repulse outside maligners such as Rihanna.

As an investor, I know LVMH (Luis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) shut down Rihanna's brand, and the LVMH share price hit an all-time high as they ditched the expensive brand mistake, which was a cost drag on profits. It seems it is not only the people of India who do not want Rihanna.

You know who I mean by Rihanna? You probably hum her songs Masi all the time, you know like this one, "Come here rude boy/Boy can you get it up/Come here rude boy/Boy is you big enough/Take it, take it Baby,/Baby take it, take it/Love me, love me” Yes, she will not be troubling the Nobel Committee for Literature, or Economics for that matter.

But wait, the title of my piece is about unification. As the Indian influencers such as Amitabh Bachchaan said. They know India's special history proof nowhere else copied in the world that so many large diverse, often diametrically opposed faiths can co-exist the large part in harmony.

No union is perfect - not the great United States or the United Kingdom. And not India. None is perfect.

According to Statista, "The history of agriculture in India dates back to the Indus Valley civilization era and even before that in some parts of southern India. The agriculture sector is one of the most important industries in the Indian economy, which means it is also a huge employer. Approximately 60 percent of the Indian population works in the industry, contributing about 18 percent to India's GDP. This share decreases gradually with each year, with development in other areas of the country's economy." Consider that if agriculture is not economically more robust, then India is weaker. Consider Reliance already gets 80% of fruit and veg directly from farmers anyway.

Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. Remember when Unions ruled the UK, and the 3 day week? Sorry, you cannot have the largest ever Democratic mandate, based on a manifesto to reform agriculture, stopped by 0.001% or so of the population. As for those with agendas - more farmers are Hindu - and anything to harm farmers would harm India as a nation - so much for Hindu Nationalists. There has never been an economic reform which all political parties have agreed to in any democracy - not in the UK or the US or India.

Unanimity is not what is the measure.

There are those who think they are more important than everyone else. It doesn't work like that.

Look at the Republicans in America.

The poll tax riots were at least when people were going to be taxed more. But simply trying to give people more money is not a reason to protest. And in case you're wondering - happy people don't protest, which is why all the other farmers don't. The French farmers are protesting again. That's fine. In every democracy, the opposition opposes every single reform. In the UK a bunch of people don't want to take the vaccine -sometimes fake news and fear override science. That's the norm too.

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20 - 26 February 2021

MP awarded for Help Veer Now campaign New Technology helps identify those at high risk

On 11th February, Conservative MP for Harrow East was awarded for his continuous support to the Help Veer Campaign.

Bob Blackman received the Anthony Nolan Political Supporter of the Year award at the Anthony Nolan awards for his support in the campaign of the four-year-old Veer Gudhka with a rare genetic disorder.

Veer Gudhka from Harrow suffered a rare and life changing illness called Fanconi Anaemia. The condition means that his bone marrow produces less blood cells, which leads to tiredness, the body more exposed to infections, and a high likelihood of developing a deadly blood cancer.

Mr Blackman promoted Veer’s case after an online meeting with his family and the Conservative Friends of India to discuss how stem cell registration for black, Asian and minority ethnic

Bob Blackman

(BAME) groups could be improved.

Currently only 60 per cent of stem cell transplant recipients receive the best match, with someone of a BAME background having a 20 per cent chance of a match.

In his address, he said, “I was pleased to learn how easy it is to join a stem cell register, it’s simply a matter of swabbing the inside of your cheek at home, and putting the swab pack in the post! If someone is found to be a lifesaving match, over 90 per cent of peo-

ple donate their stem cells in much the same way as giving blood, without an operation. You just lie on a bed for up to five hours whilst stem cells are collected and red blood cells are then put back into your blood stream.

“Anthony Nolan is one of the UK’s stem cell registries and they told me that 95 potential lifesavers joined their register from Harrow East in the last year, with a total of 1,693 people now registered.

If you would like to become a donor, people aged 16 to 30 and in good health can join the Anthony Nolan stem cell register online at http://www.anthonynolan.org/helpvee rnow Anyone between the ages of 17-55 and in general good health can also become a potential blood stem cell donor through the DKMS at http://www.dkms.org.uk/veer

Ofcom fines Khalsa TV for violence and terror references On Friday 12th February, Ofcom fined Khalsa Television Ltd. or KTV with £50,000 for broadcasting a music video and a discussion programme that was allegedly an indirect call for British Sikhs to commit violence and also contained a terror reference. Ofcom’s order appears after its findings dating back to February and November 2019.

It has demanded that KTV not repeat the music video or the discussion programme found in breach of its rules. The decision notes, “Ofcom has imposed financial penalties of £20,000 and £30,000 on Khalsa Television Limited in relation to its service KTV for failing to comply with our broadcasting rules. The £20,000 pounds penalty relates to a music video. The £30,000 pounds penalty

relates to a discussion programme.”

Ofcom found that the programme provided a platform for several guests to express views which amounted to “indirect calls to action and were likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder”.

It further noted, “Ofcom also found that it included a reference to the proscribed terrorist organisation the Babbar Khalsa, and which in our view could be taken as legitimising it and normalising its aims and actions in the eyes of viewers.”

In July 4, 7 and 9 in 2018, KTV broadcast a music video for a song called Bagga and Shera. Following its investigation, Ofcom found that the music video was an “indirect call to action for Sikhs living in the U.K. to

commit violence, up to and including murder”.

It appeared to be seeking to influence viewers by conveying a message to them or otherwise influencing their minds without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred, which Ofcom found was in breach of its rules of the broadcast.

The discussion programme in question was aired live on March 30, 2019, as Panthak Masle. The music video in question contained an image of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which Ofcom noted “emphasised the video’s narrative of

advocating violent action against the Indian state”.

The discussion programme, being broadcast in Punjabi, meant Ofcom had to commission an English translation. It said that KTV was notified about the investigation and did not initially raise accuracy issues but later did, resulting in a second translation. It concluded that KTV failed to ensure that material which was “potentially highly offensive to viewers” was justified by the context and therefore in breach of its code. KTV describes itself as a channel airing a range of cultural, educational and entertaining programmes for audiences of all ages. It says it prides itself in being “completely independent, impartial and honest”.

New technology has been introduced in England to help clinicians identify for the first time, a new group of people who may be at high risk from Covid-19. Over 800,000 adults will now be prioritised to receive a vaccine as part of the current vaccination cohorts.

The technology analyses a combination of risk factors based on medical records, to assess whether somebody may be more vulnerable than was previously understood, helping clinicians provide vaccination more quickly to them and ensuring patients can benefit from additional advice and support. The research, commissioned by England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and funded by the National Institute of Health Research, found there are several health and personal factors, such as age, ethnicity and BMI, as well as certain medical conditions and treatments, which, when combined, could mean someone is at a higher risk from Covid-19.

The University of Oxford turned their research into a risk prediction model called QCovid®, which has been independently validated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and is thought to be the only COVID-19 risk prediction model in the world to meet the highest standards of evidence and assurance.

NHS Digital used the University of Oxford’s model to develop a population risk assessment. The risk assessment uses the model to predict on a population basis whether adults with a combination of risk factors may be at more serious risk from COVID-19, enabling them to be flagged to clinicians for priority access to vaccination, alongside appropriate advice and support. These individuals will be added to the Shielded Patient List on a precautionary basis and to enable rapid vaccination.

The research to develop and validate the model is published in the British Medical Journal along with the underlying model for transparency. Additional code underpinning the QCovid® model will be made available openly by the University of Oxford within a month. As our scientific understanding of the virus develops, we can update the model. Up to 1.7 million patients have been identified.

Those within this group who are over 70 will have already been invited for vaccination and 820,000 adults between 19 and 69 years will now be prioritised for a vaccination.

The patients identified through the risk assessment will be sent a letter from NHS England in the coming days explaining that their risk factors may help identify them as high clinical risk and that they are included within the support and advice for the clinically extremely vulnerable. They will be invited to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible if they haven’t already had the jab, and will be given advice on precautionary measures, including shielding where this is current advice. Their GPs are also being notified.

MCB demands UN to halt forced cremations in Sri Lanka The Muslim Council of Britain has urged the United Nations to halt forced cremations of Muslims in Sri Lanka. MCB has submitted a complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) given the Sri Lankan government’s ongoing policy on forced cremations.

Zara Mohammed, the

Secretary General of the MCB said, “We are very concerned that the Sri Lankan government has ignored its own committee’s advice, which allows for the safe burial of the deceased. The Sri Lankan Government policy is unprecedented; no other state has carried out such unjust and discriminatory measures. We very

much hope that the Sri Lankan government will change its policy in line with the World Health Organisation advice.”

Tayab Ali, Partner at Bindmans LLP who represents the MCB and the Applicants said, “The forced cremations of Muslim bodies in Sri Lanka are a serious violation of the religious

freedom of a minority group. It is a violation of international law to delay returning a family member’s body for burial in a timely way unless there is good reason to do so. In this case the Sri Lankan authorities have departed from the WHO’s recommendation for the safe management of a dead body during the coronavirus

Birmingham Council announces financial grants for Taxi drivers Birmingham City Council has announced dispersion of financial grants to eligible taxi drivers of private hire and hackney carriage vehicles.

The Council has received funding by the government under the Additional Restriction Grants Scheme to support businesses that continue to be significantly impacted by the government restrictions, but who do not qualify for the Local Restrictions Support Grant Schemes. As part of this funding, a one -off payment of £1,000 will be provided for Birmingham taxi drivers, who continue to be significantly impacted by government.

In a statement, Councillor Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council has said, "We know that the last 12 months have been incredibly difficult for Birmingham taxi drivers, who have seen their trade seriously affected by the Coronavirus restrictions. Many drivers and their families are struggling to make ends meet because footfall in the city has been low since last March.

“I urge drivers who live in Birmingham and hold a licence registered by Birmingham City Council to come forward and make use of this support. And please tell others who may be eligible. We want to do every-

thing we can to help our residents and businesses and will continue lobbying Government for further funding so that we can support groups across out city that have been so heavily impacted by the lockdowns."

The scheme will go live on 15th February 2021. Around 6,600 drivers are expected to be eligible for the grant.

In order to be eligible for the grant, drivers must be a resident within Birmingham and hold a licence registered by Birmingham City Council and have been significantly impacted by government restrictions.

pandemic without any justification. Our clients were already suffering from the distress of losing a family member to Covid. It is truly heartless for the Sri Lankan government to add to that distress by unnecessarily forcing the bodies of loved ones to be cremated.”

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“BETTER LATE THAN NEVER” Continued from page 1 Surinder Arora, Founder and Chairman of the Arora Group, exclusively told Asian Voice, “Sadly, the government brought this system too late.Ideally, we should have had this in place last year the way Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia among others did. Better late than never.”

There are five airports in England at which red list arrivals can land, with the vast majority coming to London Heathrow besides Gatwick, Birmingham and London City airports. The government has secured nearly 5,000 rooms with 16 hotels for the latest measures and reportedly has another 50,000 rooms on standby should there be a need. Arora Group’s Heathrow Renaissance Hotel is one of the 16 hotels with 710 bedrooms being used as a quarantine facility.

Deep sanitisation of rooms and laundry after 72 hours Expressing his disagreement with the view that these quarantine hotels could be the next Covid-19 hotspots in the UK, Mr Arora said, “The government has secured all the 710 bedrooms at our Renaissance Hotel as it is conscious of not mixing up passengers with other guests.

“I don’t agree that quarantine hotels will necessarily be the next Covid-19 hotspots. It all boils down to how one operates and maintains their premises in allegiance with the health and hygiene standards as established

by Public Health England (PHE).

Our priority is to look after our guests and staff.

“Thus, our management team had come up with a checklist of over 250 duties that must be carried out while servicing our guests, ensuring the safety of our staff and suppliers. For example, under normal conditions, the laundry sheets would be dispatched to the laundry rooms on a daily basis. Whereas now, we

Rami Ranger

would leave the room empty for 72 hours and then go about the process of deep cleaning and sanitisation. The laundry items are also stored in a separate bag for 72 hours before they are sent away to the laundry company.

This ensures the safety of our suppliers as well.”

Discussing the mishaps of such a system being followed in other countries such as Australia, he further noted, “In Australia, some hotels had a problem with a centralised air conditioning system. Our air conditioning system is not inter-connected and hence, there is no concern about transmission and air going from one room to another.”

High quarantine cost not ideal for holidaymakers and families Travellers entering the UK are required to complete a passenger locator form, and lying about where they have been can lead to up to 10 years in prison.

Alternatively, they can also be fined £10,000 for failing to declare they had travelled from a “red list” country.

The government previously also announced that travellers in quarantine hotels in England face an additional bill of up to £1,200 if they test positive for coronavirus during their stay. A positive result from the first test will extend a traveller’s stay by two nights at a cost of £304. If the second test returns a positive reading, the guest must remain in their room for an additional eight nights and pay £1,216.

Guests are allowed to leave after

Surinder Arora

11 nights if they receive negative results from tests taken on day two and day eight of their isolation. Currently, these travellers have to pre-book and pay £1,750 to spend 10 days in governmentsanctioned hotels. The cost covers the hotel stay, transport and testing.

Lord Rami Ranger CBE, Chairman and Founder of Sun Mark has cautioned that the facility should be used sparingly.He said, “These hotels should be used by business people and not by holidaymakers. There is no such thing as 100% safety or security. Therefore, this system is ideal for business people who have to travel for important meetings and who can quarantine and work from these hotels while in isolation upon their arrivals. Also, you must exercise extreme caution considering you are sharing common spaces including the restaurants, bars or other such open spaces.

“I would however, not recommend families with children to travel thinking that this system is in place. Everyone should use this government facility sparingly.”

Tourism and hospitality industry to make marginal gains Besides, Heathrow Renaissance Hotel, other hotels include Radisson Blue Edwardian Hotel near Heathrow Airport and Taj Hotels in Central London.

Taj at St. James' Court is offering a "Stay Safe With Us" package starting from £799 (VAT

inclusive) for 5 nights* for one person. At Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites and Residences, luxury quarantine packages commence from £ 1,395 (VAT inclusive) for 5 nights* and family packages starting from £2,475 (VAT inclusive) for 5 nights*. The government’s new facility might help some hoteliers in recuperating from the economic loss incurred due to months’ long national lockdown.

Mr Arora believes that the hospitality industry would be the last to recover from the pandemic. Headded, “The travel and tourism industry is on its knees.

It brings in more than 10% of our GDP in the UK and employees millions of peoples. In my personal view, the airlines, hotels, bars, pubs and clubs would be the last to recover from the economic losses of the pandemic.

There will be massive casualties once the government support has been taken away.

“Any business is welcome and helpful. But I would much rather that we actually open up for normal business where all the hotels and leisure companies can benefit altogether. In my view the UK government has excelled in its vaccination drive, perhaps, achieving its targets better than any other country in comparison. We have vaccinated more than 15 million people equivalent to a third of our adult population.”

So far, 170 cases of the South African Covid-19 variant have been found in the UK. Scientists are concerned that a new mutation detected in the strain may prove resistant to available vaccines. Labour has called on the government to extend hotel quarantining to those returning to the UK from all countries, not just the areas on the "red list".

But the Tory Government has described the plan as "implausible", arguing it would mean putting around 20,000 people in hotels every day.

KPMG appoints first Asian female leader For the first time in its 150-year history in the UK, KPMG has appointed two women as the company’s chair following the resignation of former chairman and senior partner Bill Michael.

While Bina Mehta has been appointed as the acting Chairwoman, Mary O’Connor, who is head of clients and markets will take over Michael’s responsibilities as senior partner.

Bill Michael announced that he was stepping down as chair last week after his comments were leaked out which included telling staff to “stop moaning” about long working hours during the pandemic.

Bina has over 20 years of experience in the international merger & acquisition and restructuring in the UK, USA and Canada acting for private equity houses, lenders and corporates.

She is a Client Lead Partner, working with clients in the business services sector, large private and listed international clients, and manages some of KPMG’s key strategic relationships.

A strong advocate of diversity

return to the UK leading complex restructuring situations across Europe before moving to Canada to lead their cash and working capital practice. Bina is a member of DIT’s Strategic Trade Advisory Group and the Professional Services Trade

Advisory Group.

Bina is also a member of the Council for Investing in Female Entrepreneurs which is co-sponsored by HM Treasury and BEIS and an Honorary Fellow in Entrepreneurship at Cambridge Judge Business School.

Bina Mehta

and inclusivity, in the recent past Bina has firm in stating that KPMG’s approach was based around “accountability, inclusive leadership and equal opportunity. I’m really proud of how far we’ve evolved, and we’ve got some way to go, and it’s all about speed now.”

Having qualified as a Chartered Accountant in the UK, Bina worked in India to support the establishment of KPMG India before returning to the Corporate Finance practice in the UK where led a sector team.

She was subsequently seconded to the US to develop the Corporate Finance business with a focus on technology transactions.

Bina joined the Restructuring team on her

Human rights groups boycott Prevent A coalition of human rights and community groups are reportedly boycotting the government’s review of the anti-radicalisation programme Prevent in protest at the appointment of William Shawcross as its chair. The appointment of Shawcrosss, was met with criticism over previous remarks that he had made about Islam.

In a joint statement, 17 groups with interests in human rights and communities, including Liberty,

Amnesty International and Runnymede Trust, said the appointment of Shawcross showed the review was there to “simply rubberstamp” the controversial and divisive strategy, and they would not contribute to the exercise. There have been calls for an independent review of Prevent for years, by critics who say it fosters discrimination against people of Muslim faith or background and inhibits legitimate expression.

in brief BLACKBURN MAYOR STEPS DOWN

Iftakhar Hussain

The mayor of Blackburn stepped down and offered his “deepest apologies” after being fined £200 for breaching coronavirus restrictions. On Saturday, Iftakhar Hussain was caught by police at a house in Blackburn after a member of the public called to report a wedding.

Hussain, a Labour councillor for the Bastwell area of Blackburn, which has had one of the highest coronavirus infection rates in the UK, has apologised for what he said was a “momentary lapse of judgment”.

Offering his resignation, he said, “Given recent events, I have taken the decision to step down from my position as the mayor of Blackburn with Darwen with immediate effect. I believe this is the right thing to do and I no longer believe I can continue to serve as mayor to the best of my ability.

“I do not want to make any excuses; I regret the momentary lapse of judgment – I should have known better and I accept full responsibility for my actions. Being appointed as the mayor of Blackburn with Darwen during these difficult and unprecedented times has been challenging, but it has been a great honour to have served the residents of this great borough. It was a proud moment for me and my family.

“I want to give my deepest apologies over any breaking of restrictions. I hope my actions will serve as a reminder to the people of Blackburn with Darwen of the importance of following the Covid-19 guidelines as it remains a real and serious threat.”

STUDY NOTES LESSER BAME NHS STAFF TOOK THE COVID-19 VACCINE A latest study co-authored by Professor Kamlesh Khunti has revealed that lower proportions of black and Asian staff at a hospital trust have come forward to receive a Covid-19 vaccine.

According to the study 70.9 per cent of white staff at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust had received the jab, compared with 58.5 per cent of South Asian staff and 36.8 per cent of black staff. The study was conducted during 9 December to 3 February and called for urgent action to prevent the disparities caused by the pandemic from being allowed to widen further. The trust, where 36 per cent of staff are from minority ethnic backgrounds, has been running vaccination hubs for staff at each of its three hospital sites.

The report said that 12,278 staff from a total of 19,044 had come forward to have a jab since it was offered in mid-December.The analysis further revealed much lower take-up among Pakistani and Bangladeshi healthcare staff (43.2 per cent) than the Indian cohort (60.3 per cent), the BBC reported. The study also noted a lower take-up among staff under 30. Staff in this age range made up 18.7 per cent of the vaccinated group compared with 31.7 per cent in the group who had not come forward for a jab.

“These findings give significant cause for concern, as ethnic minority groups (especially those working in healthcare) are at higher risk of infection with coronavirus and adverse outcome from Covid-19, yet are not taking up this critical preventative intervention,” the report said.

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School supports students’ mental and physical well-being A third of UK parents are considering homeschooling their children even after schools reopen, new research has revealed, with young parents the most likely to continue.

The study, conducted by home education provider, Oxford Home Schooling, found that 30% of the nation’s parents are thinking of home-schooling permanently. This figure rises to 36% among parents aged between 25 and 34, which is more than any other age group. This is partly because, despite the challenges, many families are enjoying the home-schooling experience. More than two in five (43%) parents say that they like teaching their children.

Dads are enjoying home-schooling more than mums, with almost half (48%) of male parents reflecting on the experience positively, compared to 38% of women.

The survey also suggests, around the country, Londoners are savouring the experi-

London in the grip of coronavirus

ence the most, with 55% of parents in the capital saying they are enjoying home-schooling.

Belfast is a close second, at 54%. In contrast, just 15% of parents in Edinburgh say they like teaching their children - the lowest rate of any city in the UK. Speaking to Asian Voice, Renia Ganguly’s mother Mohua thinks otherwise. “We are all going through a tough phase, trying hard to strike that work-life balance and homeschooling has just added to the agony for many parents across the globe. Even though the children manifested adaptability, there was no other time in our lifetime than this, where we experienced Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory ‘survival of the fittest’ most.”

Renia's dad Raja and mum both are IT consultants and have experienced the impact of long hours in front of the computer. But in this situation, King Edwards VI High School for Girls in Birmingham has provided that extended support to the students' wellbeing during lockdown which gave parents

Nitin Mehta London is one of the great cities of the world. It is a vibrant city that never sleeps. London is colourful. You will find almost all the nationalities of the world living in London. In the summer there are huge music festivals in many parks and you will see cricketers in their white clothes playing in parks and school grounds. The annual fiesta of the international tournament of Tennis in Wimbledon almost defines summer in London.

Packed with tourists the Oxford Street and Regent Street overflow with people. The hotels, restaurants and a huge number of businesses do a roaring trade. For the Indian community summer is the wedding season with guests numbering from 500 to 1000 and more.

After the summer the weather slowly moves towards winter. In the bitter cold the world-famous football teams like Liverpool and Manchester clash on the playing fields. The fans fill up the stadiums in their thousands in spite of the freezing weather. A win for their favourite team makes them delirious with joy. If it snows the landscape changes and families enjoy the fun that goes with it. Then there is the Christmas festival and the lights go up in London’s famous streets. Frenzied shopping takes place and then on the Christmas day for once Londoner's take a break. In the extreme cold it is exhilarating to sit by the fireside or with the central heating on and eat hot roasted Chestnuts!

All this has changed with the arrival of Coronavirus.

Within one year the virus has changed the city dramatically.

People have had to lock themselves up in homes. As a consequence, trains and buses are running empty, hotels and restaurants are closing down, businesses are folding up and tens of thousands of people have lost jobs. People are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Families are struggling and living standards are falling. More and more people work from home and the arrival of Zoom has fundamentally changed the work culture. City businesses relying on commuters coming to work may close and the huge office blocks may remain unoccupied. The city centre might become completely deserted with boarded shops and empty buildings.

Children's education is taking a hit. University students are in a free fall and worried about their future prospects.

Loneliness and mental issues are impacting millions of people. This vibrant city has come to a halt. The virus mutations are making things worse. Thousands of people are dying every day in London and in the country as a whole. At first the virus seemed fatal for the elderly but now people as young as 30 are dying. 'Our neighbour has died, our relative has died', that is all we are hearing. Hospitals are overflowing with patients. Doctors, nurses, care workers, ambulance drivers and thousands of others in the background are working day and night to help save virus victims. In the midst of a calamity they are a ray of hope. It is said that an oil lamp is very bright before it burns out and it is the darkest before dawn. We hope and pray that London and other towns and cities as well as in all of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the dark night will be over soon. We await a new dawn to bring back hope and normality to our lives.

From now onwards mankind will have to make one very, very important change. We will have to cease our violence towards the animal kingdom and make peace with it. From brutal violence towards animals we will have to change by dealing with them with unreserved compassion and friendship. We will have to stop seeing animals as a product to consume. Mankind will have to abandon meat eating and adopt a plant-based diet. This change is needed urgently. We should not wait for another virus to hit us.

that extra peace of mind. “Renia's screen time has increased tremendously over the past year and her physical activities decreased.

After her mental health, this is our second biggest worry as parents.

“The school organised various wellbeing seminars and obtained parental feedback through surveys and open evenings. The school supported the children to strive, through continuous process improvement and adaptability. It was in one of these surveys, where I emphasised the importance of physical activities during lockdown and like marking their work, there should be a yardstick for measuring the physical activities as well.

“I am sure that I am not the only anxious parent who requested inclusion of more physical activities in a day. The survey took place around the end of January and in early February we got an email from school stating that a PE care package was on its way. To our surprise, the delivery of the kit followed soon.

The box contains gifts like a tennis ball, a skipping rope, a stress ball, card for origami

Raja, Mohua and Renia

and wool to use for finger crocheting. All boxes contain instructions or support guidance for use. The school intends to set girls some challenges and running competitions (with prizes), hoping to engage them in some fun activities. Renia is very excited about the kit and can't wait to use them.”

Renia, who is in Year 7 has shown amazing adaptability and resilience even under the strenuous situation both in her academics and extracurricular activities. She thinks music and meditation are the only things that keeps her going.

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HELPING THE HELPERS

C

harities are in dire straits. The coronavirus-induced national lockdown has meant that practically all the revenue streams from charity shops and fundraising events have dried up. Yet, the third sector organisations who are essentially the cornerstone of well-being for the lesser privileged, have carried the weight of the pandemic; helping others to survive even as their own survival remains at stake.

Pardadi Educational Society (PPES), UK supports its parent organisation in India for the education and economic empowerment of girls and women in rural India.

Formally known as BETI- Bring Education to India, PPES is a British charity was tasked with re-structuring all its operations.

Schools transformed to Covid-19 isolation centres Discussing the impact of Covid-19 Anima Aggarwal, PardadaPardadi Educational Society UK said, “At PardadaPardadi Educational Society (PPES), the impact of the pandemic was brutal, the school had to close, the mass return of Anima Aggarwal, migrant workers Pardada Pardadi from the cities added to food short- Educational Society UK ages, and educating and empowering girls and women took on new challenges.

“PPES’ resources were reorganised to cope. The School was transformed into a Covid-19 isolation centre for local government workers, migrant workers were offered jobs, food and health rations were distributed, and more money was allocated to support Self-help groups. Education was transformed with the provision of tablets to enable online classes, buses were converted to mobile classrooms and teaching staff distributed workbooks every fortnight."

Re-structuring operations and maximising virtual support In August last year, a survey by the Small International Development Charities Network (SIDCN) highlighted that nearly half of the UK’s small charities working with the world’s poorest people expected to close Nick Sankey Director within the next 12 months due to lack Fundraising, Pratham UK of financial support.

It further noted that despite a spike in demand for their services, 15% of the charities will be forced to shut their doors within the next six months, and 45% within a year.

While smaller overseas charities are suffering a triple whammy being barred from applying the UK government coronavirus community support fund, other charities

were quick to maximise support on virtual platforms. Nick Sankey is the Director of Fundraising for Pratham UK. Commenting on their team’s response to the pandemic, he said, “The response of the Pratham team in India to the pandemic has been phenomenal. We delivered home learning activities through SMS and WhatsApp messages in 12 languages three times a week. Over 200 NGOs and 14 state governments shared them, so each message reached over 1,000,000 children. For those currently homeschooling we have educational content in Indian languages at www.prathamopenschool.org.

“Sadly our biggest fundraising event, the autumn gala, was cancelled and won’t happen this year. Instead, we’ve had virtual salons with Ravi Shastri and Ranbir Kapoor amongst the speakers as we find new ways to stay in touch with our supporters.”

Overseas charities at a near standstill In April last year following massive campaigning, the Chancellor was coerced to announce £750m of extra funding for frontline charities across the UK. The government allocated £360m directly to Lord Raj Loomba CBE charities providing key services and supporting vulnerable people during the Covid-19 crisis. Another £370m for deployed for small- and medium-sized charities that are providing services such as delivering food, essential medicines and providing financial advice. Despite the additional support, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) predicted that the charity sector would lose £3.7bn of income over the year. There is no particular data set that analyses the number of charities that have now closed down or on the brink of permanent closure. But even those who have scrimped on their resources to stay afloat during the pandemic have spoken about the struggles of supporting the vulnerable.

“Since Covid-19 pandemic started last year and as we all know it has been a terrible and challenging time like no other time in my life. Worldwide, there have been millions of fatalities which, sadly, still increasing. Every country has suffered an economic downturn which, undoubtedly, will affect us and our future generations. The pandemic has its effect on several business sectors, including aviation, tourism, hospitality, entertainment and many others.

Charitable organisations are no exception. Charities mostly depend on donations, fundraising events or grants from grant-giving bodies.

“Unfortunately, there are now few and far donors; fund-raising events are

not possible due to lockdowns and government restrictions, and grant-giving bodies have their own limitations. For instance, the UK government has reduced its international development commitment from 0.07% to 0.05% in relation to its GDP. “Over the last year, the Loomba Foundation is more or less at a standstill.

Our activity is probably 10-20 % of what we would have done normally to support widows and their children in India. It’s very sad because whilst our capacity has diminished due to the pandemic, our beneficiaries need more support,” said Lord Raj Loomba CBE.

Combatting financial and health complications In the meantime, some charities are tasked with a dual crisis of a financial crunch as well as minimising health complications in patients arising out of delayed treatment and diagnosis. Last Tony Matharu Cancer year Research UK warned that a shortfall of donations would set back progress on fighting the disease. The organisation said it expected to lose up to a quarter of its fundraising income about £120m in the following year.

Tony Matharu, Vice-President, Oracle Cancer Trust said, “Head and neck cancer is the most common form of cancer in India.

UK rates of diagnosis have increased by 33% since the 1990s yet currently, mainstream research funding directed towards it is less than 2%, proportionally 50% less than breast cancer. And when the pandemic hit Oracle Cancer Trust had just increased our scientific programme to meet this growing need.

“Cancer doesn’t stop for Covid-19 and the crisis has hugely impacted patients and the charity. Early diagnosis and treatment are vital for survival, yet these delays mean clinics are still quiet and thousands of cancer patients are missing.

“Oracle Cancer Trust exists to ensure more people survive head and neck cancer and is raising awareness of early symptoms to encourage people to seek help sooner together. And they’re working with a team of leading experts researching groundbreaking science including immunology and even utilising viruses in developing new treatments to destroy cancer cells.

Lockdowns have damaged fundraising plans, yet Oracle are working hard to recover the losses from 2020.”

To help, visit https://oraclecancertrust.org/cancer-doesnt-stop-in-a-pandemic

Working with the forgotten Armed Forces Community

Ahead of his budget, the chancellor is trying to strike a balance between supporting the young who have been left dangling on furlough or found themselves unemployed and the elderly who primarily depend on social services. In the process, however, some charities believe that disabled ex-armed forces personnel are being let down by the welfare system. Many are experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), high levels of anxiety and

other mental health conditions brought on by the struggle to access social security benefits. Royal British Legion (RBL) has been actively helping the Armed Forces Community in navigating through all these issues.

A spokesperson for said, “Since the pandemic began, our work has become more vital than ever as we support people from all generations of the Armed Forces Community facing new hardships due to Covid-19. We have seen a greater demand for support from our Benefits, Debt and Money Advice Service, which provides expert financial help and advice. There has also been increased demand for our outreach teams who support people struggling with complex needs such as unemployment, substance abuse and housing issues.

Overseas cases have also risen by around 35%, as the Legion supports veterans and their families who have been impacted by the pandemic across the globe.

“As a result of Covid-19 we have made changes to some elements of our service provision. For example, our Admiral Nurses service has been adapted to enable us to continue supporting those in need whilst complying with new social distancing measures. Admiral Nurses is a specialist service delivered by the Legion in partnership with Dementia UK to support carers of those living with dementia. Before the pandemic, the service was available regionally on a face-toface basis.

“However, following the Coronavirus outbreak, the Legion expanded this service to be available UK-wide via telephone or video call, as well as launching a range of online tools designed to offer support to carers. We have also seen an increase in the number of people using our Telephone Buddies scheme which has made thousands of calls to support housebound and vulnerable ex-service personnel experiencing loneliness and isolation.”

Helping survivors of domestic abuse But there are also few success stories to celebrate. Aanchal Women’s Aid through The Jasmine Project has been helping women experiencing domestic abuse. The Jasmine Project is run with the support of the National Lottery Community Fund and 2020 Tampon Tax Community Fund. It helps survivors regain confidence and rebuild their lives through Dedicated caseworkers offering emotional and practical support, online community check-in, Parenting workshops run by Key Child Support Officer, for families who have experienced domestic abuse among others.

Aanchal, founded by SuBhuhi MBE, has particular expertise in Asian family culture, and Aanchal’s staff and volunteers have direct experience of South Asian cultures. They understand the cultural pressures on these communities and, as well as English, they speak Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, and Gujarati.

In a statement, Sudarshan Bhuhi MBE, CEO, Aanchal Women’s Aid, said, “It is already clear that Jasmine is one of the best programmes we have delivered. By giving service users more time and support, and moving from crisis management to community-based empowerment, Jasmine is changing lives. Women are learning, we are learning, and we’re sharing that learning back into the community.”

Following nearly a year of lockdown, charity shops are expecting a boom in their business when they are allowed to reopen as lockdown restrictions ease. Children’s charity Barnardo’s is reportedly losing £8,000 a month from its 665 shops. But if the analysis of Robin Osterley of the Charity Retail Association is to be believed then these charity shops will witness a surge in donations. Ultimately, it all depends on how the government eases ahead with the “Unlock Britain” strategy.

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in brief ISSA BROTHERS RAISE £2.75 BN TO SECURE ASDA Billionaire Issa Brothers have raised a record £2.75 billion’s worth of junk bond sales to secure ownership of Asda.

This comes after reports that EG Group had borrowed £3.5 billion to complete the deal. By raising money through selling the bonds, the brothers hope to finance their £6.8 billion purchase of Asda while only injecting a relatively small amount of their own funds, however they have also said that they plan to invest a total of £1 billion in their new business over the coming years.

EG Group has agreed to acquire certain assets of Asda, comprising its petrol filling stations, car washes and ancillary land (the “Forecourt Business”) for a headline enterprise value of £750m.

EG Group is expected to announce its Q4 and full year 2020 trading results on Thursday February 25, 2021.

Alok Sharma meets PM Modi in his first visit as COP President On Monday, 15th February, President of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) met with the Indian Prime Minister to discuss UK-India cooperation on climate change agenda and upcoming COP26.

In his first visit to Asia as COP president, Mr Sharma welcomed India’s significant progress on climate action and clean energy transition. He highlighted PM Modi’s global leadership in setting up the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), the latter of which the UK is proud to co-chair.

The Rt Hon. Alok Sharma MP, COP26 President-Designate said, “When it comes to climate action, India is a key partner and a global leader. Together we can make change happen - delivering real progress on reducing emissions and building global commitments. The UK and India are already a joint

Alok Sharma and Prime Minister Narendra Modi

force for good against climate change, and we look forward to strengthening this partnership in the run up to COP26 and beyond.”

In his meetings with business, Mr Sharma is further expected to highlight the huge opportunities in the low carbon economy, celebrate existing commitments to achieve net zero emissions and encourage

influential businesses to promote the growing movement of corporate climate action throughout their sector and supply chain.

After a year of virtual meetings, the in-person visit signals a step-change in momentum to COP26 preparations, and reinforces Mr Sharma’s ambition to run an inclusive negotiating process that incorporates the views of all countries.

High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis CMG said, “Alok Sharma’s visit is the latest step in protecting our planet by making COP26 a success and will further develop the UK-India climate partnership on clean and resilient development. Hearing from the Indian government first hand, as well as civil society and business will be essential in informing the approach of the UK Presidency as we work towards a comprehensive, ambitious and balanced outcome at COP26.

OakNorth reportedly hit with defaults worth £100m On Monday, 15th February 15th the Financial Times reported that a SoftBank-backed lender had been hit with nearly £100m in defaults.

Co-Founded by Indian-origin entrepreneur Rishi Khosla, OakNorth, has reportedly incurred these defaults primarily as a result of soured loans to property developers. It was founded in September 2015 by Rishi Khosla and co-founder Joel Perlman after they sold their previous venture, which outsourced investment bank research to India, to the cred-

it ratings giant Moody’s. The bank issues loans of up to £50m to businesses and property developers in the UK while also licensing its credit software to lenders in other countries. It has a sizeable back office in India that includes credit analysts.

The bank was previously belied to eschew traditional forms of collateral, but today the vast majority of its lending is secured against fixed assets including property.

According to analysis by the Financial Times, the defaults are

largely made from just 10 borrowers with many following the coronavirus pandemic. But the paper examines that OakNorth’s biggest default to date was on £41m lent to a luxury property developer that went bust in 2019.

Rishi Khosla, the bank’s cofounder and chief executive, acknowledged that, at times, its default rates have been higher than some other UK speciality lenders but said OakNorth had fully recovered its debts on four of its 10 defaulted loans and expected recoveries of more than 90 per

JLR to go electric, committed to keep all three plants On Monday 15th February, Jaguar Land Rover announced plans to become an “allelectric luxury brand” by 2025. The car marker unveiled a new ‘Reimagine’ strategy that paves the way for a complete electric vehicle range by 2025 and ambitious plans to become a net zero carbon business by 2039.

But JLR bosses insist they are committed to keeping all three of the firm’s British plants open. The car maker, owned by India's Tata Motors, said the Jaguar brand will lead the way with a complete electric vehicle range by 2025.

Land Rover’s first electric vehicle is due to arrive by 2024 and will form the initial step into a six-strong model lineup.

In a statement, Thierry Bollore, who took over as chief executive in September, said, “Jaguar Land Rover is unique in the global automotive industry. Designers of peerless models, an unrivalled understanding of the future luxury needs of its customers, emotionally rich brand equity, a spirit of Britishness and unrivalled access to leading global players in technology and sustainability within the wider Tata Group.

“We are harnessing those ingredients today to reimagine the business, the two brands and the customer experience of tomorrow. The Reimagine strategy allows us to enhance and celebrate that uniqueness like never before.

“Together, we can design

an even more sustainable and positive impact on the world around us.”

JLR said it will spend around £2.5bn annually on electrification technologies and development of linked vehicle services. The firm said it was also investing in developing hydrogen fuel cells in anticipation of a future change to shift to power vehicles. The carmaker said it will have prototypes using hydrogen fuel cells on Britain's roads within the next year as part of a long-term investment plan.

Rishi Khosla

cent on the remaining six.

In his statement to the Financial Times, he said that 10 defaults over more than five years and around £5bn of lending “isn’t bad going”, adding: “I would argue that you probably couldn’t find a benchmark anywhere in financial services lending which actually compares against that.”

OakNorth said it continued to lend against “varied collateral” and to businesses without material tangible assets. The bank ended 2020 with an outstanding loan book of £3.5bn.

10 READERS' VOICE

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Cladding scandal

Unhappy farmers at Delhi’s borders

Last week, the Government unveiled a new £3.5 billion fund to tackle the cladding scandal, but it will still leave a significant number of our capital’s beleaguered leaseholders in the lurch.

Any new funding aimed at protecting Londoners living in unsafe homes should be welcomed. But Ministers are all too aware of the scale of this crisis. They also know that whilst the £3.5 billion figure might grab headlines, it simply won’t be enough to replace dangerous cladding in buildings in London- let alone across the rest of the country. It is also bitterly unfair that only loans will be offered to leaseholders living in low to medium-rise buildings, rather than direct grants to cover remediation costs.Leaseholders impacted by the cladding crisis are already facing financial hardship. They should not be saddled with yet more debt after paying for exorbitant waking watch fire patrols on top of their insurance bills, service charges and their mortgages.

Ministers need to go back to the drawing board on this, and the right way forward is for the Government to commit to foot the bill for remediation works in smaller buildings.

Jennette Arnold OBE AM London Assembly Member for the North East

An article by Mrs. Ruchi Ghanashyam “Unhappy Farmers at Delhi’s Borders” in AV dated 13-19 Feb 2021 is interesting as well as informative. The Farm Bills have been passed in the parliament by a democratically elected government. The bills will help the agriculture sector in modernising and giving a boost to production by using the latest information technology and modern means of production, storage and transportation. As mentioned in the article the farmers will have options of selling their produce to private sector by removing agents and brokers. They will have better money and freedom to sell the products at a better price. They are not going to lose their land or livelihood because of these laws. In fact, they will be better off by the proposed laws.

It seems some people, including a few celebrities having very little knowledge about India and its agricultural sector, have been adding fuel to the fire to remain in limelight and create unnecessary controversy. Protesting farmers might be getting support from other countries who do not want India to prosper economically and remain dependent on them.

I think, a majority of farmers of India are positive about the changes but some farmers from Punjab, Haryana and a part of UP are creating issues because of their financial powers they have gained over years. There is no reason for them to protest once it has been put on halt by the Supreme Court for 18 months to give more time to ponder over the issues.

Demonstrations in Delhi and some pictures of 26th January have not only tarnished the image of India but also, in long run might harm farmers’ interests having genuine issues.

Hitesh Hingu London

Air pollution, the silent killer?

Problem with air pollution is world-wide. So, no one should be surprised that Britain has one of the highest pollution related deathrate in the world. There are various reasons but the main one is that we are a small island nation with highest density population in Europe, just overtaking Netherland and only third in the world, behind Japan and Bangladesh, ignoring small nations like Singapore, Vatican, Monaco and their likes.

England is the most densely populated part of Britain, with cities like London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester overflowing with humanity. As the car ownership here is one of the best in the world, some two to three cars per family, indeed every adult family member has his or her own car, that invites pollution and car pollution is one of worse pollution, a killer pollution affecting millions, especially children with under-developed lungs and elderly people.

No wonder we suffer from asthma and related lung disease, one of the highest rates in Europe. Add to this our holier than though politicians for whom charity begins and ends overseas, ignoring the interest of our people, wasting billions in overseas aid while our NHS and transport suffer from under investment, resulting in unenviable infra-structure no better than developing countries. Yet we call ourselves the fifth biggest economy in the world, enjoying an enviable lifestyle!

Our cities are compact, people living only few meters away from one of the busiest highways and motorways in Europe, thus people breathing fume-filled air that is detrimental for the health of our younger generation. Even schools, nurseries and hospitals suffer from such pollution unheard of in Western nations! So often children are not allowed to play in school playgrounds. Lorries and other vehicles thunder-by only few meters away from school playing fields.

It is time we elect politicians who care for our country, our people and our welfare, first and foremost before Mother Terrassa to the rest of the world!

Bhupendra M. Gandhi London

What we may have not talked about Covid-19 in all seriousness It’s almost unbelievable that we have completed a year of being in the pandemic. So many lives lost, saved, cured, and so many, still fighting! By now we all have read so much about the virus and its symptoms that we’re all almost mini encyclopaedias of Covid, irrespective of the fact whether we’ve got it ourselves or not.

What we or as a society in general haven’t paid attention to or not addressed enough, is the temporary amnesia, loss of smell and taste. Many Covid survivors are still waiting to recollect why those 10-14 or even seven days were so long, what happened, or was it one long day spread over a week or more in serious cases. People have blurred memories of those days.

Many who had Covid in say August, still await a full recovery to get their sense of smell and taste back.

Everyone’s doing their best, one day at a time. What we as a community can do, is support them, support survivors who are trying to fight the after-effects of the disease. Have we checked on our women? If you haven’t, please do! They could be suffering in silence with Covid induced Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) or even fungal infections that keep relapsing. More than the ones coping with the side effects, we as families and friends need to be patient. If someone you know has become slow, forgetful or is constantly tired, help them and support them.

Suman Seth Manchester

All hail the community Your front-page story on ‘Students Cry For Help’ in last week’s issue was very well researched and put together. I congratulate the South Asian community and the journalists of Asian Voice who pursued the story and spoke to so many people who were helping those who suffered from financial hardships during the lockdown in the UK. Good job on also including NISAU’s 7-point recommendation to the Universities UK in the story!

I appreciate you also reporting that “Many have come together to feed the international students, who otherwise have had no recourse to public funds or hardship funds through universities. While their parents in India or elsewhere pay fee in advance or in instalments but for day to day running expenses, they are usually earned by students through parttime jobs, as they don’t have huge savings” Not all Indian students who come abroad come from affluent families. Glad you reported that, especially as we see what’s happening in India with farmers.

It is heartening to see that our community, from temples to mosques, brethren from all communities and charities have helped children who’ve come to the UK with dreams in their eyes from our home countries.

It is a matter of extreme pride that the community service happened via contributions from the community, without the help of the government which perhaps did not pay any heed to our young children and leaders of the future.

It’s a shame to know that universities bombarded students with rude reminders to pay tuition fees when many of them were barely managing to eat two meals a day.

As a proud British Indian, I quote Gandhi: “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”

Salil Guha UK

Women supporting women is beautiful Of late, there have been many stories on social media where women have supported women throughout the pandemic.

From Women’s Equality Party’s efforts to support women in the UK - whether it was about home-schooling or writing letters to mayors for supporting migrant women, to women running threads of job opportunities on Twitter especially for female candidates, is beautiful!

As we approach International Women’s Day 2021, news galore is obviously brimming with stories on women, but it’d be a refreshing change to read, watch and know that women are celebrated throughout the year for everything they do. In the last one year, the world saw the first female vice president and woman of colour in the White House in Kamala Harris.

Priyanca Radhakrishnan became New Zealand's first-ever Indian-origin minister. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was the first and only woman till now to have presented the Union Budget after she took over the finance portfolio following the resignation of Morarji Desai as finance minister.

This year, Nirmala Sitharaman became the first woman in many years to present the Union Budget 2021 in the Indian parliament.

Oscar Award Winning producer Guneet Monga along with Ekta Kapoor and Tahira Kashyap Khurrana have kickstarted Indian Women Rising to support an endeavour to bring forth the unseen & unheard stories in the most democratic way - of, by & for women!

Women are unstoppable after they realise that they deserve better. It’s 2021, and we are witnessing historic times!

Monika New Delhi

Kapil s

KHICHADI Follow me on Twitter: @kk_OEG Tilling the Nation Kapil Dudakia Indian agriculture acts of 2020, often referred to as the Farm Bills, were passed into law towards the end of last year. What became clear was that certain national and international agents saw this as a huge opportunity to use the Sikh community to spearhead their narrative of breaking India, and establish Khalistan, a terrorist state that extremists have conspired for decades.

This international conspiracy was exposed a few weeks back when the puppet of the wokes, Greta Thunberg, in her zeal to grab attention released in error a master plan showing step-by-step instructions on how the anti-India forces could undermine the nation. We witnessed ignorant celebs like Rihana who felt a sudden need to tweet anti-India sentiments. People are saying she was paid $2.5m, now why does that not surprise me!

The violent agitation orchestrated by these extremists was meant to create a 1984 type situation in India’s capital.

The Khalistanis needed images and videos that their international white woke masters could use to trumpet their anti-India rhetoric. We saw the so called ‘peaceful protesters’ running around with swords attacking the Police. In any other country they would have been shot on the spot! However, under the guidance of the ever-calm PM Modi, restraint was exercised to the astonishment of the extremists and their plan fell apart.

Interestingly, 95% of farmers in India did not protest.

The vast majority were on the land tilling away and making a living. So who were these protesters? They were led by very wealthy entities who are part of cartels that have exploited the ordinary farmers for decades. The new laws are a start to remedy this mess of decades and give India and its farmers a new hope for the future. A future that was free from exploitation by vested interests.

India has made it clear, anyone conspiring to undermine the nation will be challenged, legally. The likes of Yogendra Yadav, Rihanna, Greta Thunberg, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Captain Amarinder Singh, Mamata Banerjee, the Thackerays, Pawar and many others have suddenly all gone quiet. The fiasco of the farmers’ protest now stands discredited.

Today, I think it’s fair to say PM Modi knows better.

Many were aghast at Centre’s inaction as masses gathered on Delhi’s borders. At that point many felt PM Modi had been checkmated. That this was now the beginning of the end of the Modi era.

Think about it: The anti-India forces had planned it to be Modi vs innocent protesting farmers. Today it has become India vs Khalistanis. He knows the pulse of the nation, that is why he keeps winning elections.

Here in the UK we witnessed Labour MPs like Tanmanjit Singh Dhesi who jumped at the opportunity to attack India again. He and his Labour colleagues have a track record of their anti-India rhetoric. The attacks on India will continue. Indians in India, and across the world need to understand why. After more than 1400 years, India is beginning to find its roots of Bharat Varsh. The confidence of the nation on the global stage is increasing, and with that, international partners are lining up to do business and seek favour. Whilst China gave us the killer COVID virus, India is now supplying the life saving vaccine.

PM Modi is farmer in chief, he is tilling the nation and fights Dharma Yuddha using multiple strategies. He still needs to sharpen a few of these up in readiness of more attacks. No one can defeat India, only Indians from within can do that. So beware the sepoys, for they linger to serve their foreign masters.

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a significant day in the Catholic Church year beginning a period of forty days of prayer, fasting and charity. At services, people traditionally are marked with ashes of burnt palm branches as a sign of their recognition of their human frailty as well as sinfulness and need for repentance in their lifelong journey of conversion. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting within the Catholic Church for those between the ages of 18 and 59. They may eat only one full meal and two other meals consisting of substantially less food. There should be no food taken between meals. Anyone whose health is threatened by fasting is exempted from the fast. Catholics age 14 and older also abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all Fridays during Lent. This year, Ash Wednesday falls on February 17.

Jubel D'Cruz, Mumbai, India

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Survey to examine lives of 17,000 religious minorities A new survey will examine the lives of 17,000 ethnic and religious minority people to highlight the issues they have faced during the coronavirus pandemic. The Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS) will document the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on people from ethnic and religious minority groups in Britain.

It will ask participants about employment, finance, education, economic wellbeing, health, housing, policing, identity and experiences of discrimination and racism.

The project is led by the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) with researchers from the Universities of Manchester, St Andrews and Sussex, and will run until May 2021. EVENS is being conducted by Ipsos MORI and has been translated into 13 languages.

It aims to transform the policy landscape, inform work and campaigns for racial justice, and create a data legacy by providing robust evidence on a comprehensive range of issues facing ethnic and religious minority people during the pandemic. Dr Laia Becares, Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Science at the University’s School of Education and Social Work, is

the project’s main researcher shaping the content of the questionnaire.

The 30-minute survey will target the full range of ethnic and religious minority groups, including Gypsy, Traveller and Roma people and Jewish communities, across England, Scotland and Wales.

Several organisations will help to recruit participants, including the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), Migrants’ Rights Network, and the Race Equality Foundation.

Home Secretary opposed to taking the knee as an antiracism protest Home Secretary has labelled the Black Lives Matter demonstrations "dreadful" and opposed to taking the knee as an antiracism protest.

Priti Patel criticised last summer’s protests which saw historical statues torn down and defaced "as not the right way at all".

In her interview with the LBC radio she said, "Last summer was quite a moment with all the protests that we saw taking place. We saw policing as well coming under a great deal of pressure through some of the protest.

"I don't support protest and I also did not support the protests that were associated. Those protests were dreadful.

Asked if she would take a knee, Ms Patel said, "No, I would not. I would not have at the time either. There are other ways in which people can express their opinions. Protesting in the way in which people did last summer was not the right way at all. We saw statues being brought down."

UK’s only Indian Bengali restaurant starts nationwide delivery to beat the pandemic blues UK’s only Indian Bengali restaurant Posto, has launched its nationwide delivery to beat the Coronavirus blues, especially for the homesick Bengalis.

Posto’s journey started with founder Pritha Mukherjee’s first supper club at her small flat in north-west London. She soon started a home cooked tiffin and catering services called ‘Kolkata Kitchen’ that swiftly evolved to a sit-down restaurant called Posto.

The word Posto in Bengali means ‘poppy seeds’an important ingredient in traditional Bengali cuisine.

In Italian, Posto means ‘meeting place’ and the restaurant in leafy suburbs of London with Kolkata-like

ambience soon gained its dedicated clientele. But then the pandemic hit.

Speaking to Asian Voice, Pritha said, “Last one year has probably been the toughest time for restaurants.

Constant closures and tough restrictions made it difficult and challenging. But we soon launched our ‘Stay-at-Home Meal Box’ with free delivery to people who were self-isolating with Covid.

“Posto also launched special meal boxes to celebrate different key occasions and festivals. While these were a huge success and managed to satisfy the local Bengalis, it still wasn’t enough as hundreds lived away from London and with travel bans had no access to

their comfort food.

“Being the only Indian Bengali restaurant in the UK, we wanted to ensure that anyone who loves Kolkata food can get it ‘on demand’ no matter where they live in the UK. And this gave birth to the idea of Posto@Home.”

On 15 February, Posto started 6 type of exclusive ‘meal boxes’, freshly cooked, packed, sealed, chilled and delivered straight to your home, no matter where you live in the UK. “We are very excited to announce this initiative,” added Pritha. “We hope to deliver everywhere in the UK. Hurry and place your order through our website www.postolondon.com”.

Ofcom acts against KTV Ruchi Ghanashyam Khalsa Television Limited (KTV Ltd) has been fined £50,000 by Ofcom for broadcasting an incendiary and objectionable music video glorifying violence and advocating violent acts against the Indian state. KTV is a television channel broadcasting to the Sikh community in the United Kingdom. It’s license is held by Khalsa Television Limited.

Ofcom is the media regulatory body of the UK that sets standards for broadcast content and ensures compliance with UK’s standards and requirements.

According to Ofcom, the music video included a man wearing a hoodie with the image of two AK-47 rifles and an inscription in Gurmukhi script that read: “Peace will come via the bullet”. It included slogans glorifying Khalistan, and inscriptions promising a bloody fight for it. A drawing depicting the assassination of General Vaidya, a caricature image of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with blood dripping from her mouth with a derogatory caption in English to the accompaniment of incendiary lyrics and flames superimposed over the image of the Red Fort in Delhi – a symbol of the Indian state, were some of the reprehensible images in the video. Ofcom was of the view that these images and text reinforced the music video’s narrative advocating violent action against the Indian state, and glorifying those who carry it out.

The complaint that Ofcom received was about a programme that featured two “suspected criminals” whose actions were “glorified”. The programme comprised a music video which included lyrics in Punjabi with some Gurmukhi and English script. Ofcom obtained an English translation of the Punjabi and Gurmukhi lyrics and text.

It gave the Licensee (KTV) an opportunity to comment on the accuracy of the translation. According to Ofcom, KTV did not raise any accuracy issues, and says that it, therefore, relied on its translation for the purposes of the investigation. Again, on 5 December 2018, Ofcom sent its Preliminary View to KTV, which did not provide any representation. On 24 January 2019, Ofcom informed KTV that they would proceed with

their decision in the absence of any representations from it.

Ofcom said it took into account the audience’s and broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression set out in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”), but that it must seek an appropriate balance between ensuring members of the public are adequately protected and the right to freedom of expression and freedom of thought and conscience. While acknowledging the right of people to make programmes on highly controversial political issues, Ofcom recalled that content likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder must not be included in television or radio services. In this case, Ofcom said that the music video included dramatised scenes played by two male actors who appeared to be getting ready to carry out assassinations in the UK. These scenes were juxtaposed with images of real people who have been convicted or charged with having carried out murders for political reasons.

Ofcom was of the view that the video was an indirect call to action for Sikhs living in the UK to commit violence, including murder, against people who did not support the creation of Khalistan. KTV was also fined £30,000 for broadcasting a live discussion programme in 2019, containing statements by spiritual and community leaders amounting to implicit threats of violence towards a Sikh radio presenter resident in New Zealand. Ofcom also found the programme had the potential of legitimising the aims and actions of a proscribed terrorist organisation.

The action taken by Ofcom is a step in the right direction. We are moving into a world where social media is increasingly being weaponized by negative forces for their propaganda purposes. It is more and more difficult for free societies to balance the rights of freedom of expression and speech with the misuse of this tool of modern technology that enables instant outreach to the four corners of the world with relative anonymity. Greater vigilance over entities known for pushing violence and crime is essential.

Swift and stern action, including banning or cancellation of licenses of offenders would serve as a deterrent. It is also a responsibility of citizens to take up cudgels against those who seem to believe that violence and crime can be pursued or advocated with impunity.

12 MEDIA WATCH

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SCRUTATOR’S Lioness checks into 4-star hotel!

A lioness has recently decided to check into a four-star hotel near Junagadh railway station and left the city's population on tenterhooks. The lioness spent some 12-15 minutes in the city before ending her jaunt with brief hotel visit.

Thanks to constant barking by street dogs, people were informed about the presence of a lion in their neighbourhood. Meanwhile, CCTVs across the city captured the wild cat strolling in the streets, inspecting the hotel premises and residential societies. It was spotted jumping walls, finding its way through parked cars and walking on the roads unmindful of the vehicles plying close by. The same lioness was also captured in CCTV cameras of residential societies. The movement of big cats near Bhavnath Taleti is a common occurrence, but the sudden foraying of the lioness into the urban areas created a sensation among the people. Deputy conservator of forest, Junagadh, Sunil Berwal said, “It appears that the lioness actually lost its way and reached the city area. Such trips happen generally during night time.” (The Times of India) Doctor opens 'One Rupee' clinic in Odisha

Shankar Ramchandani, an assistant professor in the department of medicine at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), has opened a 'One Rupee' clinic at Burla in the Sambalpur district of Orissa. Ramchandani said that the patients have to pay just one rupee for treatment. It was a long standing desire to provide free treatment to the poor and underprivileged after duty hours, the doctor said. "I joined VIMSAR as a senior resident and senior residents are not allowed to do private practice. Hence, I could not start the ''One-Rupee'' clinic. But I was promoted as assistant professor recently and as an assistant professor, I am allowed to do private practice after my duty hours and hence, I have started the clinic in a rented house now", said the 38-year-old doctor. Asked why he charges one rupee, Ramchandani said "I charge one rupee from the poor and underprivileged people as I don't want them to feel that they are availing the service free of cost. They should also think that they have paid some money for their treatment." (Agency) Ram Temple trust gets £100 mn in less than 30days The Ram temple trust’s coffers are brimming with £100

million in less than 30 days since the nationwide funds-raising drive was launched by Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Makar Sankranti last month. “Bank accounts of Sriram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in three nationalised banks have a current

balance of more than £100 million,” trust secretary Champat Rai said. The trust members attribute the successful crowdfunding campaign to the overwhelming support from all communities across India for construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. At least 150,000 small groups of VHP functionaries have fanned out across the country and are going door to door to raise funds. “We received funds from residents of remote villages of the country. Thirtyseven VHP cadre have been deputed to deposit donations in banks and we are getting full cooperation from banks for depositing cheques and cash.

People of all communities are supporting the funds-raising campaign that was launched on January15,” said Rai. (Agency) Canine soldiers to sniff out Covid Canine soldiers are normally trained to detect explosives,

track terrorists and rescue disaster victims. But now, two Army dogs have also been trained to sniff out another kind of trouble - the Covid-19 virus.

Casper, a two-year-old Cocker Spaniel, and Jaya, a one-year-old ‘sight hound’ who belongs to the indigenous breed Chippiparai, can detect Covid positive cases from urine or sweat samples. Mani, another Chippiparai, though currently under training too appears to be well on its way towards mastering the task. It’s as swift in responding to its trainer’s commands as Casper and Jaya are. The samples are placed inside cardboard boxes or containers and all three pooches are trained to sit beside the one where they can detect the presence of the virus. How do they do so? For this, the Army has relied on their acute sense of smell to sniff out specific biomarkers emanating from the urine and sweat samples of those

with Covid-19. Casper and Jaya, who began their training in September last year, have detected till now 22 Covid positive cases from among the 3,800 samples they have sniffed thus far, said an officer. (Agency) Tree saves life of excavator operator Vikram Chauhan, 49, an excavator operator, never thought of conserving the nature while cutting mountain or ploughing land. Now he has a different outlook after nature in the form of a tree came to his rescue during the Rishiganga flash flood. Chauhan says that nature has both the power to save or kill. Dr Sanjay Chaudhury, who is treating Chauhan at a local hospital, said, “Nature saved him. First that tree and then the hot water spring treatment for his body that actually revived him. He is showing improvement.” Still in severe pain due to injuries to his head and ear, Chauhan recalled the events preceding his hospitalization. He said it was “an encounter with death. I was at work as usual and had filled my excavator with sand from the riverbed on that Sunday morning.

Suddenly, icy-cold water came gushing down and all of us who were there at the site were swept away. I hit a tree and held it tightly, very tightly. For the next 30 minutes I was clinging on it. Then help arrived.

Some villagers from Raini spotted and rescued me. I was shivering due to the freezing cold water. They put me in a hot spring nearby to revive me,” Chauhan, one of the few survivors at Rishiganga hydel power project, said. (Agency) Cops foil attack bid on Pulwama anniversary Jammu and Kashmir police foiled what could probably have caused a repeat of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack by nabbing a man, operating on the instructions of Pakistan’s AlBadr-Tanzeem terror outfit, from a bus station with an improvised explosive device (IED) weighing about 6.5 kg. The operative Sohail Bashir Shah, 21, a resident of Newa in Pulwama and a former nursing student at a college in Chandigarh, was arrested on February 14. Jammu zone IGP Mukesh Singh said

Sohail was arrested after they received specific inputs that terror groups were planning an attack on the anniversary of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. The IGP added, “The arrested person revealed that he was given 3-4 targets to place the IED, including the Raghunath temple, bus stand, railway station and the jewellers’ market in Jammu.

After placing the IED, he was supposed to fly to Srinagar, where he was to be received by a person named Athar Shakeel Khan, who is a high-ranking overground worker (OGW) of AlBadr-Tanzeem.” The IGP said a person named Qazi Waseem was also lifted from Chandigarh as he was aware of the matter while a person named Abid Nabi was detained for questioning. Police also recovered 15 small IEDs and six pistols along with ammunition from Samba.

(Agency)

blending with the rock and easily mistaken by laymen for prehistoric rock art, they found imprints of the Dickinsonia, believed to be one of the key links between the early, simple organisms and the explosion of life in the Cambrian Period, about 541 million years ago.

(Agency)

World’s oldest animal’s fossil found near Bhopal Researchers believe they have found the first ever fossil in India of a Dickinsonia - the Earth’s

Groom sets example for a simple marriage Millions are being spent during a fat Indian weddings.

Months go into planning for a lavish wedding and splurging money; be it designer clothes and jewellery, multi-cuisine catering for hundreds of guests and the venue among other things. But an electronics trader from Savarkundla in Amreli, who is currently settled in Mumbai, broke the norms of conventional weddings to have a frugal one back in his village and that too with just 50 guests. Being the only child, parents of Faizal Sama had dreamt of a grand and elaborate ceremony and were looking forward to host the entire village. But Sama had

'oldest animal', dating back 570 million years - on the roof of what’s called the ‘Auditorium Cave’ at Bhimbetka, a Unesco site about 40 km from Bhopal. The find has been published in the February edition of Gondwana Research, an international journal. Dickinsonia fossils have shown they could exceed four feet in length but the one found in Bhimbetka is17 inches long.

Like the awe-inspiring rock shelters themselves, this fossil was discovered by chance. Two experts from Geological Survey of India (GSI) were on a sightseeing tour of Bhimbetka ahead of the 36th International Geological Congress, which was scheduled for March 2020 but was postponed twice due to the pandemic, when they spotted the leaf-like impression. Eleven feet above the ground, almost

different things in mind. At a time when any groom would want a designer suit at his wedding, Sama chose a pair of white lehenga and kurta which cost just Rs 150. In fact, his entire wedding expense was not more than Rs 52,000. “A lot of unwanted traditions have now become part of wedding which cost a fortune. My parents too wanted it for me but I stood firm on my decision,” said Sama. Sama did not even have a photographer or a videographer to capture his once-in-a-lifetime moments.

Although the new govt guidelines allow 200 people at a wedding, Sama insisted that not more than 50 people should be invited. By doing away with unwanted ceremonies and saving his parents’ money, Sama has set an example for youth of his village.

(The Times of India)

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Can’t wait to see my friends and family again Claire Coutinho MP for East Surrey and PPS at HM Treasury It was announced this week that over 13mn people have been vaccinated against coronavirus - following an incredibly tough year, this remarkable national effort should bring us some relief. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, taking us ever closer to our end goal of beating coronavirus and getting back to normality.

With all the world’s top scientific and medical communities working on coronavirus vaccines, the speed of development has been impressive, and will be game changing, especially for the most vulnerable in society.

And now the NHS and thousands of volunteers are matching the pace of vaccine development by delivering a near seamless roll-out, working incredibly hard to make sure we get people vaccinated as quickly as possible.

With the support of Asian communities across the UK, this army of specially trained healthcare professionals and volunteers are setting up vaccination clinics in community centres and places of worship. This has enabled us to expand our capacity to deliver lifesaving jabs locally in environments where people, especially the vulnerable and elderly, feel comfortable and safe.

The Home Secretary Priti Patel visited Neasden Temple last week to see a large-scale testing and vaccination operation in action. It is truly inspiring to see communities coming together and playing their part in the vaccine roll-out.

At my end, I have seen just how hard volunteers, health officials and medics are working locally across East Surrey.

We’ve moved through the most vulnerable categories at speed, meaning over 70s are now being asked to get in touch with GPs to book their appointments directly. This is something I would urge everyone to do as soon as possible, particularly those from Asian communities given the higher reported mortality rates.

It is important though to remember that speed has not replaced safety at any point in the development or roll out of Covid vaccines. All vaccines must undergo rigorous trials and testing in order to be approved for use across the UK, and the rest of the world. Even those doses already approved for use by the MHRA are kept under constant review, and with 13m+ people now vaccinated in the UK, the evidence of safety is further strengthening.

As someone who is in a lower risk category, I still have some time to wait before I’m called to get the jab, but I am very much looking forward to that day, and the peace of mind it will bring. In the meantime, I am doing all I can to ensure and encourage my constituents to take the opportunity to receive theirs as soon as it comes, in order to protect themselves and those around them. My mum's a GP and she has been vaccinated, and so have other much-loved relatives who have been eligible.

However, the spread of false information is rife, particularly amongst some ethnic minority communities. That is why it is important now, more so than ever, to check and verify your sources. I have heard many stories of people being targeted through social media and WhatsApp videos touting dangerous and false messages about coronavirus and the vaccine.

If these messages are spread widely, the whole vaccination programme could be adversely impacted, and more importantly lives will be lost needlessly.

That is why if you do have questions it is vital you follow the NHS and government guidance, contact your GP or a healthcare professional - they will always have the most up-to-date information and can address any concerns you have.

Doing this will ensure that as we continue to roll out the vaccine, everyone will have access to the correct advice they need to dispel false information, get vaccinated and stay safe.

I know that being in lockdown has been tough to take for everybody. But the route out of lockdown restrictions is now firmly in our sights. If we hold tight and get our vaccination when we're called, we can look forward to the day when we can live our normal lives again. I for one can’t wait to see my friends and family and make up for this lost time.

‘Ethnic minorities depend on the right leadership’ Dr Hari Shukla urges British Asians to get vaccinated and advices leaders to be more vigilant and responsible Rupanjana Dutta Race relation hero Dr Hari Shukla is a serial recipient of Queen’s Honours and a familiar face among the Northerners.

The 87-year-old father-of-four and grandfather-of-nine has dedicated most of his life to the Tyne and Wear Racial Equality Council and on 8 December 2020, became the first Asian to receive coronavirus vaccine, along with wife Ranjan.

Dr Shukla went to school in Kampala and got his Teacher’s Certificate in Kenya. He then got his Certificate of Education at Exeter University and later returned to Kenya to teach. He was offered his first job in race relation at Scunthorpe before moving to Newcastle in 1974, where he got the job of Director of the Tyne and Wear Racial Equality Council later.

He has been awarded an MBE, OBE and a CBE for his work in race relations and his efforts to bring communities together. He has told his story of childhood, education and work in a book called ‘The Art of Giving’.

Fast forward to 2021 and Dr Shukla is still trying to help the community by fighting misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine. In an exclusive interview, he told this newsweekly, that leadership plays a vital role in today's Britain, in order to encourage Asians come forward and be vaccinated.

AV: Dr Shukla, you have been the first Asian man to be vaccinated in the UK along with your wife. What is your message for the community?

Since 8 December, people have been ringing us to find out about side effects. We had our second jab on 20 January 2021. We have no side effects at all. The hospital keeps ringing to check on us too.

There are 12,000 Hindus in the North East and Cumbria and the same number of Sikhs and many Chinese elderlies. I am the honorary Chair of North East Chinese population. We have been campaigning about the positives of vaccination and nobody has objected to it.

In our area people listen to those with medical knowledge and ignore false information. Of course, there is still a lot of work to do. People who feel a little trepidation towards the vaccinewe are still trying to convince them as they should not miss this opportunity.

AV: How important is the leadership to vaccinate the community?

There is the fear of unknown among us. Members of the ethnic minority communities depend on the right leadership. Whatever a leader says they will do because they trust them. Leaders have contact with local authorities, but ordinary people do not have that.

It is important to listen to the scientists, medical health professionals about safety. If people don’t take this vaccine, there will be a domino effect in the community.

I have worked in the North East for 45 years with all communities. There are 140 nationalities including Indians.

I have helped them right from the beginning to resettle here and they trust me. I have told them if I had any doubts, I would not have taken this vaccine myself. Though I have retired, people still take my advice into consideration.

We must remember that we need to be very careful about what we say. I keep giving my own example to people.

I keep ringing people and reminding them- particularly encourage elderlies, especially those who do not understand the system, to go and vaccinate themselves. This is the only way to fight this virus.

AV: Do you think language barrier could be deterring vaccine intake?

Elderly people in the Chinese and Asian communities often don’t speak English. They need help and rely on the advice they get from the people they know about the importance of this vaccination. Those who have no idea at all, they frighten others with wrong information. So, those advising must be very careful.

AV: Do you think institutional racism is leading to biases or distrust?

In some areas racism still exist and people take advantage of the situation, mislead and frighten people giving wrong information. We need to listen to those who are sincere and help people.

AV: You have seen Britain’s race-relation evolve. Do you think there has been a real progress?

In Newcastle, there was a lot of racial prejudice in the 1970s and 80s.

Dr Hari Shukla with wife Ranjan

When I started my work in 1974, multicultural society was regarded as a problem. I had to help people one by one to explain that everyone has a role to play and are a part of the community. The first three years were very hard, and people told me on my face, ‘we don’t need race-relations here, you go home’.

But that changed after decades of working with the universities, police, councils and the health service.

Just before I retired, I invited 100 companies and asked if they would like to support race equality. Not only they supported it, but they also encouraged others. Employment and equality have improved in our area. Every school has multi-faith programmes educating students.

There might be individual problems here and there. But that isn’t a community problem.

People from our community have also made tremendous contributions and others respect them. But race relation work needs to continue on a daily basis in order to motivate people and acknowledge everyone’s efforts. It is a complicated area, and we need to be patient.

While we should welcome the newcomers with open arms, they must realise that they are in Britain because they wanted to be here and not because they were forced to come here. They must not sit isolated but come forward, be responsible and get involved in the community. Once they start playing their role in the community, others will also realise that immigrants are here to add to the fabric of the society and live with dignity.

AV: Do you think immigrants still need to integrate better?

It is a two-way process. We need to support the immigrants to get accustomed to our way of life here, but it is also important for them to be willing to learn the new norms. We need to hold their hands, but at the same time they also need to let go of their fear of non-acceptance and build their confidence.

London Mayor discloses his salary The Mayor of London will have earned more than £700,000 in the last five years, it has emerged today, as his rivals were challenged to disclose their own financial affairs.

Sadiq Khan published a summary of his tax returns since 2016, which showed that he had no outside earnings and has paid more than £230,000 in income tax and National Insurance in his first four years in office. His earnings increased from £130,112 in 2016-17 to £152,734 in 2019-20.

His salary is currently £137,461 after he voluntarily decided to take a 10 per cent pay cut last summer amid

Sadiq Khan

fears the City Hall was facing a near£500 million hole in its finances as a result of Covid-19.

Mr Khan’s tax returns, which have been verified by his accountant, show that he paid £53,730 in income tax and £7,019 in National Insurance in 2019/20, giving him take-home pay of £91,985. As part of his cost-cutting at City Hall, he also froze the salaries of his 10 deputy mayors and five most senior aides.

His share of council tax bills are due to rise by 9.5 per cent, equating to £31.59 on benchmark band-D bills, from April.

14 WOMEN'S VOICE

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‘Don't allow your inner-critic stop you from moving forward’ Shefali Saxena Advita Patel is the Managing Director of CommsRebel, an internal communication and employee experience consultancy based in Manchester, U.K. She's also the co-founder of A Leader Like Me, a global membership programme which helps underrepresented women of colour succeed further in their career. She is a chartered PR practitioner, a Board Director and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

In 2020 she was named on the Northern Asian Top 100 powerlist and on the top 101 list for Inspiring Workplaces as one of the global influencers for employee experience. In an interview with Asian Voice, Advita spoke about women in leadership roles, imposter syndrome and the MeToo movement.

What is your current assessment of women in leadership roles, especially women of colour?

It's not brilliant. There are pockets of good examples, but

Advita Patel

overall, we're still not seeing any significant traction, especially with women of colour in leadership roles. It's one of the reasons why my co-founder and I launched A Leader Like Me. What would your advice be to women who have the ambition and perseverance to grab leadership roles, especially when they compete with men?

Don't allow your inner-critic stop you from moving forward, put your hand up for opportunities and don't wait to be asked.

Women tend to wait until they hit 100% of the job description or until someone tells them that they are good enough to apply

for promotions, most men don't.

With rising MeToo stories around the globe, how do you think women working independently, or in a corporate job can protect themselves and also be able to report any kind of sensitive issue?

If you work for an organisation, you need to report it immediately, especially if you've told the person they are behaving inappropriately and they haven't stopped. If you work independently, I suggest you join a professional membership as they often have support lines in place.

However, ultimately no one should ever be made to feel uncomfortable, so if this is happening and you don't feel safe, you need to report it via the police. I also recommend you check out the great work by https://www.cultureshift.co.uk/.

How can women cope with imposter syndrome both in personal and professional spaces?

I want to make clear that there's a difference between

feeling like an imposter and not feeling confident. Imposter syndrome is when you feel like a fraud and you think that one day you're going to be 'found out'.

High achievers normally experience this.

There are various reasons for feeling this way, some of it from childhood, and sometimes it can happen due to the environments that we work in. For women and women of colour, we can often experience it because we feel like we don't belong in certain spaces. This can trigger some fraudulent feelings because we don't see people who look like us and we question how we 'made it' when so many others haven't.

To help you believe in your worth and not feel like a fraud, I always recommend people to have a 'hype' or an achievements folder on their phone. Fill this folder with great feedback you've received, things that bring you strength, photos and so on. When you feel you are not good enough or don't belong, look through it as it will help.

Create a vision board Mamta Saha has earned her stellar track record as inhouse L&D lead and independent consultant with over 15 years of immersion in multiple global matrix commercially-focused businesses and bespoke consultancies.

Mamta is a Business and media psychologist with regular contributions on the BBC and Sky News for her views on life stories, the Asian community, diversity, including gender roles equality, the invisible barriers that stop people from getting ahead, professional development, and politics. She is a British Indian, is based in London and Dubai, and has three children.

We spoke to Mamta about the South Asian community and her latest TedTalk.

Please speak about your TedTalk. How is it related to the South Asian community?

TedTalk is related to the South Asian community, because often we have the can do attitude that just keeps going. Stopping, and being reflective, and pausing and also just taking stalks of how we are doing is considered luxury and a weakness sometimes. So, the ability to be able to stop and reflect and look at what did go right and what could be better, and also to look at those thoughts and face them, is a very powerful thing. It’s a gift that we can give

ourselves. South Asians are connected as a community, which means it’s not about “I”, it’s about “we” and my talk is very much focused on the “I”. But in a way it’s not selfish, it’s selfcare, it’s emotional. It’s focused on emotional hygiene. If we want to be stronger, for the collective, we need to start at home, with ourselves.

What are your thoughts on imposter syndrome? Many South Asians may not even know about it.

Imposter syndrome is our inner voice that tells us that we don’t deserve the things that we are getting, if they are good things. We can often doubt ourselves that we don’t deserve it, or this must be a mistake, or one day they’ll find out that I’m no good. It comes down to lack of self believe and lack of self love, self care and recognition. We really must celebrate our successes as a community and individuals so that we can avoid any sort of negativity about our success.

What is it that we as a community need to nurture our mental health in a time when there's so much work and societal pressure?

I think it’s really important that we focus on mediation, yoga and writing. We need to deepen our emotional vitality and be mindful and appreciate things in our

life as opposed to rushing through things and people that exist around us. Go out for a walk in nature, appreciate the Mamta Saha smell, the freshness, the flowers, the colours, and really be present to all the greatness. This will help us to nurture our mental health and not be in a rat race, where there isn’t even a rat race.

Please give some tips to our young readers who may or may not know how to cope during a pandemic and are about to step into the real world which is going to be way more competitive than it used to be before the pandemic.

Build mental resilience so that you’re less likely to be threatened and realise our own potential. Write down your strengths and read them. Create a vision board.

Look at it everyday and revise it. Know that your future is in your hands. Don’t underestimate the value of relationships.

Think about the company you keep. Are they aligned with your values? The company we keep will be reflected in the work that we do.

in brief WOMEN’S EQUALITY PARTY WRITES AN OPEN LETTER TO MANCHESTER MAYOR The Women’s Equality Party has written an open letter to Manchester City Mayor Andy Burnham as the domestic abuse rates continue to spiral and many migrant women face that abuse alone. The letter read, “Greater Manchester is facing two pandemics, the COVID virus and the violence it exacerbates. In the last year domestic abuse rates have spiralled, and despite Government rhetoric, many migrant women have been left to face that abuse alone. “ The WEP also added that they are asking to ensure that migrant women in Greater Manchester can get: Safe accommodation, £50 allowance per week, plus extra for children, Access to wrap-around specialist support and Legal advice and representation. This is their attempt to send a message to the Government and to defy their inhumane Hostile Environment policies by ensuring that the most marginalised women are given the sanctuary and support to rebuild their lives.

BRITISH COUNCIL SCHOLARSHIPS FOR MALAYSIAN WOMEN The British Council is giving out postgraduate scholarships to Malaysian women in association with three leading universities in the UK. the universities are University of Glasgow, Liverpool John Moores University and University of Stirling.

It is aimed to benefit Southeast Asian women from STEM (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) backgrounds. Applications for the British Council Scholarships for Women in STEM are open until March 2021 (exact dates vary) and candidates are required to apply directly to their university of interest.

SINGLES AWARENESS DAY

Did you know? February 15 is celebrated as Singles Awareness Day (or Singles Appreciation Day) every year. It is said that the day serves as a complement to Valentine's Day for people who are single, and not married or in a romantic relationship.

Singles Awareness Day reminds us that there's nothing wrong with being single.

The women of Bridgerton

There are many lenses with which one can view Producer Shonda Rimes’ Netflix drama Bridgerton. But, what could be worrying, or rather discomforting for many women watching the show, is the stereotypical portrayal of all female characters.

In a time when viewers are glued to OTT

platforms, and as a subculture, they tend to practice what they watch, we try to decode a few stereotypes from the show for our readers.

Women of colour Bridgerton attempts to blur the divide between the white and the people of colour. However, what cannot go unnoticed, is the character sketches of the women of colour in the show. Marina Thompson is a female character among the dozens of white ladies, who is mysteriously expecting a baby without a wedlock in the show. She’s shown in a pitiful light, mostly locked inside a room, threatened for having consensual sex with a solider and punished by being paraded in a shabby street where

the poor make a living by doing substandard jobs. The life or background of Lady Danbury (who takes care of the Duke of Hastings) is never explored in a larger than life period drama.

The fat lady - the gossip monger (Spoiler alert) Bridgerton doesn’t spare its white women too. If you’ve remotely studied mass communication or journalism, you’d be able to identify Lady Whistledown, town’s scandalous newsletter writer in the first episode.

She wears yellow (a colour associated with yellow journalism), she’s pleasantly plum (fat being the stereotype) and has an inquisitive personality, which may or may not be harmful after-all.

The gift of virginity Bridgerton glorifies the idea of virginity

in the 1800s. But we have to remember, the people watching it are in 2021. Daphne, the female lead is caught in the act with the Duke, who obliges to marry her out of sheer societal pressure (even though they mutually love each other). The most unfortunate part is the consummation of their marriage, where an innocent and ill informed Daphne doesn’t know the anatomy of the act. The Duke (quite innocently) informs her in the middle of the act that “this will hurt a bit”, and she obliges. Meanwhile, the men continue to visit brothels, keep multiple relationships in the town. The women live in the bubble of protecting their virginity until marriage.

If you’ve watched the show and have more perspective and opinion on the show, do tweet to us @AsianVoiceNews.

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in brief SAIRA KHAN NO LONGER A PRACTICING MUSLIM

TLIGHT

(Exclusive)

Jassa Ahluwalia #BothNotHalf Saira Khan

Former Loose Women panellist Saira Khan has revealed that she is no longer a practising Muslim in an admission she described as a “huge relief”.

The 50-year-old TV personality in her interview with the Mirror stated that she felt that acknowledging this fact was “the last taboo to overcome before I could live my best, most happy and fulfilled life”.

Born in Derbyshire to Pakistani immigrant parents who were Muslims, she said that the “spiritual aspects” of her parents’ faith shaped her beliefs. She said she hoped she would no longer cause hurt to those who do follow Islam, by her admission that she does not live by its rules.

She said, “My family mean the world to me, so I’ve pretended to be someone I’m not to make them happy. But the trouble is, when you live a lie you only hurt yourself.

“Saying I’m Muslim and then having a boyfriend behind closed doors, wearing clothes that go against the Muslim dress code, having a cheeky drink and living a non-Muslim life only brings guilt, selfloathing, loneliness and a feeling of being caged. I know that one of the reasons I have been so angry and unhappy in my life is because of the many contradictions I’ve had to live with.”

Khan said she felt that milestones, including marrying her husband Steve in 2005 and adopting a child, had “always been tinged with shame and guilt” due to the rules of the Islamic faith. She also confessed to fearing the death threats that have greeted women making similar admissions, but felt she had to reveal her truth.

CHANCELLOR WANTED TO BE A JEDI

Rishi Sunak

On his one-year anniversary as Chancellor, Rishi Sunak took to social media platforms to share a rare picture of him as a child.

On Instagram, Sunak shared a childhood snap comparing it with an image of himself now with the caption, reading: “How it started, how it’s going.”

The school picture shows a young Rishi Sunak in a school uniform, complete with a blazer and matching cap. In the post, he wrote, “Growing up I never thought I would be in this job (mainly because I wanted to be a Jedi). “I’m honoured that on this day last year the PM asked me to serve as Chancellor. It has been incredibly tough but thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way”.

Sunetra Senior This is a time of not simply questioning, but further reshaping known grand narratives to deeply remedy the autocratic system that at once preserves them. The overlapping hierarchies of race, class and gender are being increasingly deconstructed as the product of one overarching dogma: that of the traditional colonial West. Such fierce intersectional activity shows the explosion of a two-pronged modern movement whereby social dissent is being passionately vocalised to catalyse the fundamental equality desired on an institutional, global scale.

Indeed, promisingly, already there has been disruption to the harmful legacy of the establishment. This is evident in the enormity of collaborative support for #BlackLivesMatter which impacted the election of the Democrats in the US recently, and the precedence of the #MeToo movement which brought high-profile perpetrators of misconduct urgently to justice.

This reflects the sincere resolve of a new generation in departing from the absolutist norm. However, also emerging is an open attentiveness which truly signals the dissolution of the severe paradigm that characterises an orthodox past. Rising to the fore in 2020, following his playful campaigning post on social media, Jassa emerges as one such trailblazer.

A rising actor and now public influencer, the young talent questioned the default of categorising people simply according to national identity, encouraging society to celebrate mixed subjectivity broadly instead. This he announced in the succinct hashtag: #BothNotHalf. Being both English and Punjabi, Jassa had struggled to be acknowledged as a complete individual, representing the conflict of many trapped in that liminal personal space.

“Polarisation is about simplification,” he told us: “while nuance gives us the opportunity to recognise what is universal…” Jassa eloquently unpacks this thought in his TEDx talk which he also recently gave, following the trending of his modern terminology. The presentation is called: ‘Both Not Half: How language shapes identity’.

He explains on stage: “I was a ‘white’ baby with a strong Indian regional accent; a bhangra-dancing white man, or, ‘Gora’ at weddings (…) I had this burning desire to find a home but I had no idea where to look.

My first breakthrough came when I discovered that national identities were an invention of the 1800s: as cities began to develop, national identities emerged to fill the void left by the breakdown of traditional communities. I realised national identities were not some essential truth, but rather a construct: one I didn’t need.”

Being a “vegan-dabbling millennial,” to aptly use Jassa’s own expression then, he one day “decided to include a meat substitute with dahl,” calmly wondering how a member of the older Indian generation such as his grandad might react. That was it: after uploading the dish in the form of a comedic video, along with the educative motto, #BothNotHalf, the sentiment went viral. “It was the first time I had expressed my Punjabi identity in public”, and also, as an

adult. Indeed, Jassa confronts the very core of racial classification in his TEDx talk to rightly identify emotional complexity as the ultimate social reality. “Both not half is a non-binary approach to life. It’s not a label – it’s an idea. One that has always existed. It’s a rejection of easy distinction. No matter our backgrounds, whether it is our gender,

sexuality, ethnicity or social class, we are each whole. Our constituent parts cannot be separated.” He importantly adds that even the idea of “mixed-race has a very particular definition: one that excludes me and countless others. When you agree to be half, you are never enough.” Indeed, identifying as British-Asian can still cause an existential feeling of being placeless. One is never considered ‘truly’ Indian or ‘ever really’ British.

“The idea of mixed-race is also problematic as a linguistic hangover of scientific racism, carrying fears of race mixing,” Jassa continues. “I prefer to think of myself as mixedheritage and belonging to the human race.”

As an actor, the articulate performer received his first big break playing the lead role, Rocky, on the BBC’s quirky coming-ofage series, Some Girls (2014). He later starred alongside iconic Irish actor, Cillian Murphy, on the period British crime-drama, Peaky Blinders, which Jassa describes as a highlight of his career: “I was a huge fan long before I stepped on set, and to have scenes with all the Shelby brothers was an awesome day at the office! It was a challenge to remember I had to act when I had my first scene with Cillian Murphy and not just watch him dazzle.” However, the actor emphasised that his “TEDx talk was a real high point. Sharing ‘Both Not Half’ unlocked something in me. It's guiding me in almost everything I do now. This is just the beginning!” Indeed, Jassa is currently writing a tv series with his sister to newly explore diverse identity and drive accurate representation in the media. “The script is about contemporary mixed identity. I'd love to see that get made as soon as possible!” He elaborated: “Beyond that, I think history is full of fascinating narratives that have yet to be unearthed. Particularly in connection to India. Stories about our colonial past that help explain our multicultural present. I'm really encouraged by the fact that William Dalrymple's The Anarchy is in the early stages of being turned into a Netflix series, and that Kim Wagner's Amritsar 1919 has been optioned for film.”

Thus, echoing the zeitgeist, Jassa’s revolution is a perceptual yet powerful one:

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“sheer understanding can change our sense of self for the better. This is why I promote a language of inclusion. This is at the heart of #BothNotHalf. We should not focus on what makes us different, but rather how multifaceted each person is.” Indeed, this is to reclaim individuality as progressive: a psychological shift that graciously makes people everywhere feel accommodated as opposed to the painful undercutting of some to inflate superiority in others. Jassa concludes in his TEDx talk: “#BothNotHalf is an attempt to push back; to take back control. Power structures love labels; they facilitate division and ultimately control.

They allow people to whip up tales of us and them but we can rewrite language, recognising it as fluid. #BothNotHalf is a rewiring of our minds. Instead of seeing divergence, we begin to notice assortment around us. So much is defined by what it isn’t as opposed to what it is.” Speaking to us, he added: “It’s

not just about the words either, but also who’s using them”. In this way, Jassa ultimately champions a simple depth which is the nature of human evolution. Defined by both our basic physicality and cerebral height, it seems we are paradoxically destined to expand inwardly out. In terms of the nation state, this means recalibrating the connotation of physical boundaries.

This is not to completely reject them, but rather mentally liberatingly revise. Instead of limiting ourselves to the reductive superficiality of material markers that once accompanied a rampant time of growing industry, we should now work to understand each other profoundly, reflecting the more developed state of our technologically interconnected world.

Jassa stated: “the key is in the detail: very specific language in the mainstream can be extremely helpful, like talking about South Asians, instead of lumping everyone together as Asian, or anonymising all ethnic minorities with an acronym like BAME.” In his TEDx talk, he refers to Punjabi as his golden compass, alluding to acclaimed fantasy writer Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy to poetically emphasise his own narrative: “the novels conclude with the protagonist, Lyra, losing her intuitive ability to read a magical compass, but her knowledge will be better because it will henceforth be (a product of similarly significant) conscious understanding. My heritage began to require study. What felt so innate now demanded research. I’d been shown the way beyond nostalgia. I looked at history; music and art, expanding my vocab, finding a meaningful way of spending time with my grandad. He’d correct me and inevitably digress into anecdotes. When he passed away in 2017, I didn’t feel loss. Rather the chance to carry a flame.” Finally, Jassa’s intimate experience is a metaphor for wider social development. We can value the raw predicator of the past while continuing to cultivate consciousness in the present. In doing this, we preserve the colour of culture while organically shedding the militancy of geo-politics. To acknowledge each other as people across generations is to holistically reimagine the world. In focussing on the inner landscape, we assuage the territorialisation persistent outside. Everybody their own architect, we can forge a robustly cosmopolitan infrastructure. Ascending beyond separate struggles - women’s rights, racial oppression and class warfare - the future is in the emancipation of the spirit.

T: @OfficialJassa W: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= SP0bAQ8J6C0&ab_channel=TEDx Talks

18 FINANCE - UK

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Dear Financial Voice Reader, Alpesh Patel What a week. I am still reeling. From current and recent University graduates wanting remote work experience to people in their 30s-60s wanting to understand their pension and why when the US markets are at all-time highs, their pension has barely moved.

Twelve thousand new followers came from TikTok the online video platform. They were predominantly university students. I am doing 60-second educational finance videos there and answering their questions.

It quickly occurred the demand globally for financial education is overwhelming. So I scaled up my own remote internship/work experience at my asset management company. You now get, for free, instant messages of the research from my desk to yours or your cellphone.

Plus the same materials I use to train my staff. One who has gone on to be Global Head of Marketing for Citibank.

Another went on to manage $10billion at Newton Asset Management. Incidentally, both happened to be women leveling up the gender inequality in my industry. A third went on to do her MBA and is establishing her own fund now with which I am helping.

The main gap in financial education is getting real experience. Of course, there is no sitting at a desk in an office. But the world doesn't want seat warmers. And to all those asking me 'which degree' - it's about your skills and you showing you are genuinely interested.

The workplace wants people who learn the skills needed, whether excel or discount cashflow calculations. With the internet, there is no excuse for not knowing what CVs of people working at top firms look like, the skills needed, and the online educational tools, including mine, to get them. I now also give a certificate of completion and you can mention it in your CV. It is remote, free, and gives you practical exercises and real-world experience. If you're interested in remote work experience then go to www.campaignforamillion.com .

At the other end I had people concerned about their pensions. I educate people so they are better armed to speak to their advisors. With many earning tens of thousands more after the education, I am beyond words happy to the extent we started recording interviews - www.alpeshpatelreviews.com.

The main problems I discovered are people don't know what to buy in their pension, how to choose, why their advisor chose the funds he did, why he kept the losing ones, how come other stocks he did not pick shot up, and why he seems fixated on UK stocks alone, when global stocks including large safe profitable US companies have risen 100%.

Their frustration is merited.

Raab asks trade to take '10-year-view' to overcome Brexit woes Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab believes effects of potential losses in UK trade with the EU because of Brexit can be surmounted by multiple opportunities in developing and new markets. In a recent interview with the BBC, Raab urged people to take a “10-year view” of the current troubles. When asked about warnings issued by several firms stating bureaucracy and duties would make them go out of business, or relocate to the EU, Raab blamed Brussels for “imposing” obstacles to trade.

Several firms have said their current position is untenable, since the end of the Brexit transition period in January.

Raab said the government was “doing a huge amount to support them, with advice and guidance, particularly intermediaries dealing with things like custom declarations. We have always been clear that there are changes that come with exiting the transition period, and what we're trying to do is support business as best we can to manage those.”

He said such disruption should be seen in a broader context. “You can always take individual cases, and I know they matter. But overall we're in an exceptional position to grasp the opportunities of a global Britain. I think if you take a 10year view, as well as looking at the short-term risk, which is right to do, actually the growth opportunities in the future are going to come from emerging and developing economies around the world.”

When asked if UK businesses should accept less trade with the EU, and shift their focus on areas like Asia, Raab said, “I wouldn't put it quite in those terms, but it's certainly right to say that we want to bank, if you like, the baseline of our European trade, it's very important to us, and they are obviously our neighbours. But, if you look at the opportunities for growth in the future for UK companies... the growth economies are going to come from the Indo-Pacific region.”

The Union Budget 2021 brings promises for NRIs Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s growth oriented Budget 2021 has not just appeased the corporate sector and capital markets, but also brought happy times for Indians who are settled abroad.

Speaking to Asian Voice on the Union Budget 2021, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank UK PLC., Loknath Mishra said, “The budget is growth oriented and sets the country on a clear path to become a 5 trillion dollar economy in the medium term. There are multiple initiatives for NRIs, MNCs, FPIs and foreign funds from the UK to partner this growth.”

Here are a few salient points for the NRIs in the 2021 budget: One Person Companies (OPC) Until now, only Indians staying in India could enjoy the legal status of a company

and have the same access to capital. One had to stay in the country for over 182 days to set up an OPC. The Union Budget 2021 proposes relaxations in the previous rule, and the limit for an Indian to stay in India in order to open an OPC is now only 120 days instead of 182 days. This comes as a breather for young entrepreneurs, startup founders who’ll be able to do business with more ease and boost the IT sector in particular.

Elimination of double tax NRIs have been paying double taxes in India post their return to India after retirement on their income earned in foreign lands.

Sometimes they are not able to encash the taxes they paid overseas due to mis-mtach of taxation periods. The Union Budget 2021 promises to eliminate double taxation of retirement funds.

Tax benefits on real estate The budget also extends

tax benefits to affordable housing. “The additional deduction of Rs 150,000 for interest on home loans under Sec 80EEA is now available on loans taken till 31 March 2022. This deduction is over and above the deduction of Rs 200,000 for interest under Section 24.

Given that home loan rates have fallen to less than 7%, this additional deduction presents a golden opportunity for NRIs to invest in real estate in the home

country,” says a report. Over and above the new and promising proposals for NRIs in the Union Budget 2021, some pain points still continue to persist. Some of them include the TDS rules, wherein NRIs spend about 15% on short term gains from stocks and equity funds and sometimes even higher to benefit from debt funds, gold and real estate.

On bank deposits, NRIs have been shelling up to 30% TDS so far.

Latest lockdown hits 50% more selfemployed in UK A report published by a British think-tank reveals the number of selfemployed people who have stopped working during the current lockdown is 50 per cent higher than the number without work during the first lockdown.

A study by the Resolution Foundation shows around 700,000 have stopped working entirely during the current restrictions, featuring an upward trend from last May's 460,000.

Hairdressers, cleaners and people who became self-employed before the pandemic hit are among those who failed to

get government support.

The study shows a steep plunge in the number of actively working selfemployed people than official figures suggest. There is a lot of pressure on Chancellor Rishi Sunak, ahead of next month's budget. Sunak is expected to report the largest peacetime public spending deficit.

Several MPs have lobbied the Treasury to provide more support for the worst affected, whom previous studies have shown are also mostly young and low-paid workers.

Economist at Resolution Foundation, Hannah

Slaughter said the government should extend the eligibility criteria for support to help those who are missing out, and offset the cost by clawing back money from workers who received grants during 2020 “well in excess of the losses they've incurred during the pandemic.” The thin-ktank said 41 per cent of self-employed workers have experienced a fall in earnings of 25 per cent or more during the current lockdown. The report said, “This is only slightly lower than the proportion of workers who experienced a severe income shock in the first national lockdown in

May.” Last week's figures revealed that Britain narrowly avoided a double dip recession, showing economic growth in the final quarter of 2020. However, the modest expansion of 1 per cent between October and December failed to prevent the UK's national income falling by 9.8 per cent over the year – the worst annual rate since the Great Frost of 1709. Sunak is expected to extend most support for businesses and households, even though he has been a bit resistant on widening the scope of his rescue programme for self-employed people.

UK airlines in deep trouble, industry warns of job losses The British airlines industry is one of the worstaffected industries by Covid-19. In a recent cry for help, British cargo, charter and leasing airlines say they are losing contracts and business to EU rivals as the Brexit deal failed to give them a level playing field.

The carriers said they are severely disadvantaged under the new post-Brexit regime because the rules and practices Britain has unilaterally adopted allows greater freedom and flexibility for EU-owned airlines to fly in the UK than UK carriers have in Europe.

British carriers now require permits to fly ad hoc flights between the UK and mainland Europe, something which EU air-

lines have been able to obtain faster than British rivals. Small UK airlines are feeling that heat, with their firms warning that Brexit discrepancies could close their shop for good. Five carriers, Titan Airways, Jota Aviation, Loganair, CargoLogicAir and Air Tanker are all set to join forces with a campaign to save UK aviation jobs, which will demand reciprocal rights for UK airlines.

In a report by The Guardian, Alistair Wilson, managing director of Titan, said the detail of the deal meant UK carriers faced greater restrictions providing aircraft and crew for other airlines, known as wet-leasing. “This is an area of business many UK carriers and UK aviation

jobs rely on. We lost a contract we had operated for the past 12 months requiring a UK-based aircraft and crew to fly cargo between the UK and Germany. The airline was forced to wetlease from an EU carrier, even though the contract required UK-based aircraft, crew and engineers. This is EU law still presiding over

business based in the UK.” Wilson said the group did not want to see restricted trade, or cancellation of flights. However, unless market access was reciprocal, “hundreds of UK aviation jobs, many of which the government has spent the last year supporting through furlough, will be lost to the continent.”

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Four PSU banks shortlisted for privatisation The Modi government has shortlisted four mid-sized state-run banks for privatisation, under a new push to sell state assets and shore up government revenues, government sources said. Privatisation of the banking sector, which is dominated by state-run behemoths with hundreds of thousands of employees, is politically risky because it could put jobs at risk but Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration aims to make a start with secondtier banks.

The four banks on the shortlist are Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and the Central Bank of India, two officials said. Two of those banks will be selected for sale in the 2021/2022 financial year which begins in April, the officials said.

The shortlist has not previously been reported.

The government is considering mid-sized to small banks for its first round of privatisation to test the waters. In the coming years it could also look at some of the country's bigger banks, the officials said.

The government, however, will continue to hold a majority stake in India's largest lender State Bank of India, which is seen as a 'strategic bank' for implementing initiatives such as expanding rural credit.

A finance ministry spokesman declined to comment on the matter.

India's deepest economic contraction on record caused by the pandemic is driving the push for bolder reforms, economists say.

Modi's office initially

wanted four banks to be put up for sale in the coming fiscal year, but officials have advised caution resistance fearing from unions representing the employees.

Bank of India has a workforce of about 50,000 and Central Bank of India has 33,000 staff, while Indian Overseas Bank employs 26,000 and Bank of Maharashtra has about 13,000 employees, according to estimates from bank unions.

Bank of Maharashtra's smaller workforce could make it easier to privatise and therefore potentially one of the first to be sold, the sources said.

On Monday workers started a two-day strike opposing the government's

move to privatise banks and sell stakes in insurance and other companies. The actual privatisation process may take 5-6 months to start, one of the government sources said.

"Factors like number of employees, pressure of the trade unions and political repercussions would impact a final decision," the source said, noting that the privatisation of a particular bank could be subject to change at the last moment due to these factors.

PM Modi bats for bigger pvt role in economy Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for a bigger role for the private sector in the economy, saying that slandering private enterprise was tantamount to distrusting the potential of youth and suspecting their intent.

“Wealth creators are also important for the country, only then wealth can be distributed.

How can wealth reach the poor, how can jobs be created?” the PM asked in a full-throated advocacy for expanding the role of the private sector in the economy.

“If the public sector is important, so is the participation of private enterprise. Should members of the IAS alone be tasked

The remark came against the backdrop of the bold push for privatisation of PSUs in the budget and the allegations that the government planned to hand over to private Narendra Modi PSUs players of its choice. with everything? We have How can we exclude private entrusted the IAS with sector, asks Modi. If the running fertiliser factories budget marked the and chemical enterprises? jettisoning of the timidity Then, they are supposed to the political class has fly planes as well. What type historically displayed about of capability have we the widely acknowledged acquired by handing over need to dispose of resourcethe country to babus. Babus guzzling and perenially belong to us and so do the loss-making public sector youth.

The more units, the PM's remarks opportunity we give to our during the debate on the youth, the more he will motion of thanks to the benefit,” Modi said.

President’s address marked

Amazon challenges lifting of stay on Future-RIL deal Amazon has approached the Supreme Court to block the Kishore Biyani led Future Group’s deal with Reliance Industries (RIL).

Amazon has challenged the Delhi high court’s February 8 order which lifted a previous order that had temporarily stayed the deal. “The impugned interim common order passed by the honourable high court is illegal, and arbitrary apart from being without jurisdiction.

Therefore, the same is liable to be set aside on this ground alone,” Amazon’s plea in the SC, said.

Amazon’s plan to quickly escalate the legal fight to the SC indicates the global e-tailer’s urge to stop the £2.47 billion Future-RIL deal from moving any further. “The greater the progress made towards the completion of the impugned transaction, the harder it will be to unravel it. Over time, the interests of additional third parties may also become entwined with the impugned transaction and be subsequently compromised,” the application in SC read.

Amazon added if the deal is allowed to progress, it will cause “irreparable harm” to the company. A spokesperson of Amazon India declined to comment on approaching the SC. Amazon had first moved the HC to enforce the emergency order from the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) that had temporarily stayed the deal.

a full-scale embrace and unabashed celebration of private enterprise.

PM Narendra Modi took the accusations and suspicions head on. "How can we exclude the private sector? There may have been a time when governments slandered the private sector. The world has changed now, society and the country today have got the capability. How can we declare all of them dishonest? Doing so would have fetched votes in the past, but the world has changed now. Everybody has got potential and they all should get the opportunity. We should not declare them dishonest.

This culture is not going to work now," he said.

Location, location

Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

Over the weekend I went to see a shop and uppers in a location that is considered set to rise. The journey took about an hour, but one has to follow the money. Being nearby is not on the criteria for a good investment.

The shop used to be a dry cleaner. Spookily, we have recently bought a shop and uppers for a client where the commercial was a dry cleaner, and the property I saw after that purchase was also a dry cleaner!

This block is very interesting, and is only 5 minutes’ walk from the station. There is access to the flats from a side entrance, which is an important point to bear in mind when looking at these types of properties.

The aim would be to convert the empty commercial into residential under permitted development, the rear access fits in nicely with this plan. We would leave a small commercial space to the front, this is the most valuable portion of a street facing commercial unit; Zone A they call it, which is defined as the first 20 ft depth into the property. The prices half in the next section and so on as one goes deeper into the unit. The other interesting point to note is when the rateable value is below £12,000 the premises does not attract any business rates whatsoever. It’s a wonder how businesses survive between paying just their rent and business rates even during the best of times.

This premises will tick all these boxes and therefore be attractive to a business such as a hairdresser, nail saloon, coffee shop etc. I would envisage a non retail, service orientated tenant taking this unit up.

There is a large lump of poor quality accommodation upstairs, which needs a sprucing up. The property consists of 2,500 sq. ft., half commercial and the other half residential. Stage 1 would be to convert the majority of the commercial into residential under permitted development.

Thereafter to pull the building upwards to get another floor, everyone else seems to have done it so why not us. And then also to extend backwards. The latter two will need to be done under planning, though this does not look contentious, as neighbouring buildings have done the same.

The price for this property is circa £725K; cheap for a freehold commercial building. We explored the building next door with a view of acquiring it. It’s a single story unit, which looks like it unsurprisingly hasn’t been occupied for a while. A little research revealed the property was bought for £250K in 2017 and the lender used for the purchase looks like an expensive commercial lender. It can almost certainly be assumed the rent is not currently being paid, and therefore perhaps the owner is struggling to the pay the mortgage. Buying next door would help to tidy up the development, but it’s not essential, just ‘a nice to have’.

We have started the process to approach the owner with a view of making an offer. Meanwhile, we will match this property with a client who is ready to purchase.

India's retail inflation lowest in the 16-months, industrial SEBI FINES NSE, TWO EX-MDS output recovers by 1% India's retail inflation slowed to a16-month low in January on the back of cooling of some food items, while industrial output growth clawed back into positive territory in December, bringing some cheer for an economy battling a record slump due to the impact of the deadly pandemic.

Recently, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed retail inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, eased to 4.1% in January, slower than the 4.6% recorded in the previous month. It has moderated sharply from the 7.6% posted in the year-ago period. Rural inflation was at 3.2% in January, while in urban areas it was higher at 5.1%. Inflation in the food

and beverages segment slowed to almost one-anda-half year low of 2.7%, while vegetable prices fell 15.8% year-on year during the month. But prices of some protein items continued to be in double digits. Meat and fish prices rose an annual 12.5% in January, while egg prices were up 12.9% and oils and fats at 19.7%.

Inflation for fuel components rose to10month high of 3.9% in January compared with 3% in the previous month and 3.7% in January last year.

Some economists said the lower retail inflation price may help reinforce the central bank’s accommodative monetary policy stance although a cut in interest rates is not seen for now.

FOR CO-LO SCAM

India's market regulator Sebi has fined the NSE £100,000 and two of its former MDs - Ravi Narain and Chitra Ramakrishna - Rs 25,00,000 each for omissions and commissions in the now infamous colocation (co-lo) scam. This scam had taken place at the bourse between 2012 and 2014. The Sebi fined the three for their roles in the scam, which favoured some select stock brokers to get the NSE’s trading data ahead of others, and profited from it. The NSE, Narain and Ramakrishna have to pay the fine within 45 days from the date of the Sebi order. In April 2019, Sebi had ordered the NSE to disgorge £62.5 million as a penalty, the fund being the exchange’s profit from co-lo services. Through this service, the NSE had allowed brokers to place their trading servers close to the stock exchange’s main server.

TESLA TO SET UP EV PLANT IN KARNATAKA Electric car giant Tesla will set up its first manufacturing unit in Karnataka, the state’s chief minister B S Yediyurappa said. The company owned by Elon Musk had registered in the name of Tesla India Motors and Energy at an address on Lavelle Road in Bengaluru. The registration was done on January 8. Tesla is known to be doing R&D in association with at least one of the auto engineering companies in Bengaluru. Industry department officials said there is no concrete development yet on the manufacturing unit.

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Junta extends Suu Kyi’s detention amid protests YANGON: Security forces in Myanmar pointed guns toward anti-coup protesters and attacked them with sticks, seeking to quell the large-scale demonstrations calling for the military junta that seized power earlier this month to reinstate the elected government. More than 1,000 protesters rallied in front of the Myanmar Economic Bank in Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, when at least 10 trucks full of soldiers and police arrived and immediately started firing slingshots toward the protesters, according to a photographer who witnessed the events.

The soldiers and police then attacked the protesters with sticks, and police could be seen aiming long guns into the air amid sounds that resembled gunfire. Local media reported that rubber bullets were also fired into the crowd, and that a few people were injured. Police were also seen pointing guns toward the protesters.

Earlier on Monday, Myanmar’s military leaders extended their detention of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose remand was set to expire and whose freedom is a

key demand of the crowds of people continuing to protest the February 1 coup. Suu Kyi will now be remanded until February 17, when she will likely appear in court by video conference, according to Khin Maung Zaw, a lawyer asked by Suu Kyi’s party to represent her.

Economic pressure A growing number of governments are curbing diplomatic ties with Myanmar and increasing economic pressure on its military over the coup recently that erased the fragile democratic progress in the longoppressed Southeast Asian nation. US President Joe Biden said he was issuing an executive order that will prevent Myanmar’s generals from accessing US$ 1 billion in assets

in the United States, and promised more measures.

The US was among many Western governments that lifted most sanctions in the past decade to encourage democratic transition as Myanmar’s military rulers were taking gradual steps toward civilian rule - changes that proved temporary with the ousting of the elected government and detentions of Suu Kyi and others.

One of the strongest reactions came from New Zealand, which has suspended all military and high-level political contact with the country and pledged to block any aid that could go to its military government or benefit its leaders. It also placed a travel ban on Myanmar’s new military rulers.

In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said European foreign ministers will meet Feb 22 to review the 27nation bloc’s relations with Myanmar and explore ways to increase economic pressure. Its options could include sanctions

targeting individuals and businesses owned by Myanmar’s military as well as cuts in development assistance.

UN calls for Suu Kyi’s release The United Nations human rights investigator for Myanmar urged the UN Security Council to consider imposing sanctions and arms embargoes as a UN rights body adopted a resolution calling for Suu Kyi’s release.

Special rapporteur Thomas Andrews cited “growing reports and photographic evidence” that Myanmar security forces had used live ammunition against protesters. “UNSC resolutions dealing with similar situations have mandated sanctions,” Andrews told the Council. “All of these options should be on the table.”

The 47-member forum met at the request of Britain and the European Union to consider a resolution calling for the release of Suu Kyi, and for UN monitors to be allowed to visit. It was adopted unanimously, although Myanmar, Russia and China envoys said they “disassociated” themselves from the resolution.

In Myanmar, three people were wounded when police fired rubber bullets at protesters.

40 pc rise in Africa Covid-19 deaths over past month PRETORIA: Africa has seen a 40% increase in Covid-19 deaths over the past month compared to the previous 30 days, and is now approaching the 100,000 mark. The spike in deaths comes as some countries begin to receive their first vaccines, but are faced with growing skepticism among the population over the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.

“The increasing deaths from Covid-19 we are seeing are tragic, but are also disturbing warning signs that health workers and health systems in Africa are dangerously overstretched. This grim milestone must refocus everyone on stamping out the

virus,” says Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa. Earlier this week, South Africa announced that it will pause the roll-out of

the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine because of a study indicating that the vaccine is less effective in preventing mild and moderate infection with the 501Y.V2 variant that is dominant in the

country. But in February, the WHO strategic advisory group of experts on immunisation, also known as a SAGE had recommended that countries use the Astrazeneca vaccine for priority groups even if variants are present in a country, while further research is conducted.

Africa's overall fatality rates were lower than those elsewhere in the world during the first stage of the pandemic. But now the alarms are on and the Africa CDC has warned about rising fatality rates in the continent, saying that of the 55 countries they monitor, 20 are now reporting fatality rates above the current global average of 2.2%.

Indian American named Deputy National Security adviser NEW YORK: President Joe Biden has named Indian American economist Daleep Singh as Deputy National Security Adviser and Deputy National Economic Council Director of his administration.

He will step down from his present role as head of markets group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in mid February. “Daleep brought his dedication to public service and leadership skills to the New York Fed and had a meaningful impact during his tenure,” John C. Williams, president and chief executive officer of the New York Fed, said in a statement.

“Over the past year, Daleep has played a critical leadership role in the emergency facilities the Fed launched in response to Covid-19,” Williams added. “I’m thrilled that he will continue to leverage his knowledge and expertise in support of economic policy at this important

time.” Singh, whose great grand-uncle Dalip Singh Saund was the first Indian American and Asian American elected to serve in the US Congress, joined the New York Fed in February 2020. As head of the markets group, he focused on bringing together policy, strategy, analysis and operational effectiveness. He also served as a member of the executive committee, the NY Fed said in a statement.

Previously, the 45-year-old Singh was senior partner and chief US economist at SPX Capital, a global investment firm. He also worked at the US Department of the Treasury from 2011 to 2017, serving as acting assistant secretary for financial markets and deputy assistant secretary for international affairs during President Barack Obama administration, helping to shape the Treasury Department’s crisis response to

Ukraine, Russia, Greece and Puerto Rico.

Singh also directed the Treasury Department’s markets room, which provided real-time and thematic analysis for senior officials. Prior to his tenure at the Treasury Department, Singh worked for Goldman Sachs from 2003 to 2007 and again from Daleep Singh 2008 to 2011. He was and NEC Director Brian Deese. also a partner at Element Born in Olney, Maryland Capital Management from and raised in Raleigh, North 2007 to 2008. Singh is a former Carolina, Singh holds a bacheadjunct senior fellow at the lor's degree from Duke Center for New American University in economics and Security and the Atlantic Council. He was also an adjunct public policy and a master of professor of geoeconomics at business administration/master Johns Hopkins School of of public administration from Advanced International the Massachusetts Institute of Studies. In his new role, Singh Technology and Harvard will report to both National University, with a focus on Security Adviser Jake Sullivan international economics.

in brief INDIAN ORIGIN UN STAFFER TO CONTEST SECY-GEN POST An Indian origin employee at the UN has announced her candidacy to be its next Secretary-General, the first person to throw her hat in the ring against incumbent Antonio Guterres, who is seeking a second five-year term beginning 2022 as chief of the organisation. Arora Akanksha, 34, working as an audit coordinator for the UN Development Programme, launched her campaign #AroraForSG this month. “For 75 years, the UN has not fulfilled its promise to the world refugees haven’t been protected, humanitarian aid has been minimal... We deserve a UN that leads progress,” she says in a campaign video posted online.

INDIAN'S TWITTER ACCOUNT SUSPENDED Shiva Ayyadurai, an Indian American Republican US Senate candidate in Massachusetts, has had his Twitter account suspended by the social media giant.

According to reports, the Belmont resident and self-proclaimed creator of the email had his profile @va_shiva suspended for a violation of Twitter rules, his profile page read.

His entire timeline of tweets and photos are gone, the reports noted. Twitter did not specify why his account was suspended.

Ayyadurai, who ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate in 2018 and again in 2020, said he believes it is because he tweeted about Secretary of State William Galvin and Michelle Tassinari, the state's director of elections.

EBOLA KILLS THREE PEOPLE IN GUINEA At least three people have died from Ebola in Guinea and five others have tested positive in the first possible resurgence of the disease since the outbreak in 2013. They fell ill with diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding, some of them contracted the disease after attending a burial in the southeastern region of Nzerekore. The head of Guinea's health agency, Sakoba Keïta, said the country was in the midst of an Ebola "epidemic situation". "There were a total of seven cases, including three deaths. Of the seven, four were men and three were women. Three were isolated, one in Conakry and two in Nzérékoré," he said. "Some people who took part in the funeral began, a few days later, to experience diarrhea, vomiting, bleeding and fever."

QUAKE HITS FUKUSHIMA BUT NO TSUNAMI RISK An earthquake shook a broad area across eastern Japan last week, with its epicentre off the coast of Fukushima, near where three nuclear reactors melted down after a quake and tsunami 10 years ago. The Japanese weather service reported the quake’s magnitude as 7.1 but said there was no danger of a tsunami. The earthquake triggered widespread blackouts.

There were no irregularities at the Fukushima and Daini nuclear power plants, or at the Kahiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant.

SAUDI WOMAN ACTIVIST FREED AFTER NEARLY 3 YEARS IN JAIL Saudi authorities last week released prominent women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul after nearly three years in detention, her family said, as the kingdom comes under renewed US pressure over its human rights record. Hathloul, 31, was arrested in May 2018 with about a dozen other women activists just weeks before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on female drivers, a reform they had long campaigned for, triggering a torrent of international criticism.

The release of the activist, who is still under probation and is barred from leaving Saudi Arabia, sparked euphoria among her siblings who had launched a vigorous campaign overseas for her freedom in a major embarrassment for the kingdom's rulers.

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in brief DRAGHI SWORN IN AS ITALY’S PM Ending weeks of political crisis, Mario Draghi, the man credited with largely saving the euro currency, formally took the helm as Italy’s premier, after crafting a government that balances economic experts and other technocrats with career politicians from across the spectrum to guide the pandemicdevastated nation toward recovery. All but one of Italy’s major parties have rallied to his side. Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, must immediately set to work on plans for how to spend over €200 billion in EU funds aimed at rebuilding the recession-bound economy. His mostquoted words so far have been those uttered in 2012 when the euro-zone risked collapsing in a crisis of confidence and he vowed the ECB would do “whatever it takes” to rescue the euro.

ROBERT F KENNEDY BARRED FROM INSTA Instagram took down the account of Robert F Kennedy Jr, the political scion and prominent anti-vaccine activist, over false information related to the coronavirus. “We removed this account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” Facebook, which owns Instagram, said. Kennedy, the son of the former senator and US attorney general Robert F Kennedy and nephew of assassinated US president John F Kennedy, worked for decades as an environmental lawyer but is now better known as an antivaccine crusader. Kennedy, who had 800,000 followers, on Instagram has argued that it is safer to contract Covid-19 than to be inoculated against it.

RUSSIA WARNS EU OVER NAVALNY ISSUE Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned that his country is ready for a break in ties with the European Union if the bloc imposes sanctions that damage Russia’s economy. “We’re ready for that,” Lavrov told Solovyev Live YouTube channel. “If we see again, as has happened many times before that curbs are imposed that pose risks for our economy, including in the most sensitive areas.” He added: “We don’t want to isolate ourselves from peaceful life but we have to be ready. If you want peace you have to prepare for war.” The EU is working on a proposal to sanction Russia over the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, according to two people familiar with the talks.

CHINA PROBE ENTERS MARS’ ORBIT A Chinese spacecraft entered Mars orbit last week on a mission to land a rover and collect data on underground water and possible signs of ancient life, state media said. “China’s probe Tianwen-1 entered the orbit around Mars after a seven-month voyage,” Xinhua reported. The orbiter-rover combo became the second spacecraft in two days to reach the planet after UAE’s probe “Amal”.

HACKER TRIED TO POISON DRINKING WATER IN US CITY A person hacked into the system controlling the water treatment plant of a Florida city of 15,000 and tried to taint the water supply. The hacker breached the system using a remote access programme shared by plant workers. He increased the amount of sodium hydroxide, also called lye, from 100 parts per million to 11,100 parts per million, police said. Lye, found in drain cleaners, is used to treat water acidity. A supervisor saw a mouse moving across the computer screen and intervened.

Canada becomes a seedbed for Khalistanis OTTAWA: The resignation of Canadian Cabinet Minister Navdeep Singh Bains, who enjoys close connections with the Khalistani elements, has once again set-off the debate on Canada’s appeasement politics to foster Khalistani extremism.

Observers of the Canadian politics have pointed out that Bains was promoted by the Khalistanis into the Canadian politics with the craving to get the support from the Canadian institutions.

His father has also been associated with Khalistani movement and is allegedly involved in radicalising the Canadian youth.

The father-son duo has also exploited the institutional structure of the places of worship to make profits by bringing in illegal immigrants from India in the guise of religious preachers.

However, the case of this Canadian leader is not a unique one. Rather, there is a long list of Khalistan sympathisers in Canadian politics. A battery of prominent Canadian politicians are not only Khalistan sympathisers, rather, have themselves

contributed to the anti-India Khalistani activities.

New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh has been publicly refusing to condemn acts of violence by the Khalistanis. He has not only kept mum over extremist activities and refrained from denouncing Khalistanis, rather, he also triggered controversy after his close connections with Canadian rapper Chani Natt were revealed - an individual who was promoting the campaign for Khalistan by justifying violence through his songs.

The current Defence Minister of Canada, Harjit Singh Sajjan, is also believed to be connected to Khalistani elements and have been tacitly supporting their radical activities.

Interestingly, the leader at the top echelon of the Canadian democracy is also a precedencesetter in promoting the Khalistani terrorism. Shocking the counter-terrorism advocates, Justin Trudeau pressurized the Canadian administration to omit a reference to the

Khalistani terrorists from the annual security report in 2018, wherein it was mentioned as one of the top five security concerns for Canada. Besides appeasing the radical elements and setting a felonious precedence, the decision was also a step towards subverting the democratic principles of Canada.

Canadian media reports highlight that the same set of Khalistanis have been clicked with the Canadian leaders as well as the Pakistani diplomats and Pakistani intelligence oper-

atives. According to local sources, Khalistanis as well as anti-India Pakistanis collectively meet Asghar Ali Golo, Pakistan's Consul General in Toronto, who convenes meetings of both the groups to launch protests in front of Indian diplomatic offices and coordinate strategies to fund extremist activities in Punjab. He was also pictured in a frame with Khalistani flag in the background and banners supporting the referendum indeed a move to extend support with the Khalistani fringes.

Nikki Haley breaking ties with Trump WASHINGTON: As Donald Trump faces his second impeachment for inciting a violent attack on the US Capitol, his former allies are one by one coming forward to distance themselves from him. Senator Mitch McConnell said that the mob was “fed lies” and “provoked” by the former president; Mike Pence is also reportedly done with Trump, although he hasn’t publicly condemned him.

Senator Lindsey Graham announced that “enough is enough,” (Only days later, he seemed to forget he said this) The latest to denounce Trump is Nikki Haley, his friend and former US Ambassador to the United Nations.

“We need to acknowledge he let us down,” Haley told Politico.

“He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that ever happen again.” But, just like Graham’s empty assertions and Pence’s very bare minimum decision to ultimately support the idea of democracy, these

Nikki Haley

comments mean nothing from someone who spent years supporting, abetting, and defending Trump - that is, defending Trump right until her relationship with him no longer benefits her.

In the interview, Haley criticized Trump’s decision to scapegoat Pence for refusing to try to overturn the election results.

Trump’s comments led some of the January 6 rioters to directly target and threaten the former Vice President as they stormed the Capitol. As the building was

under siege, Trump tweeted that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.” According to video footage unveiled this week, Trump knew that “When I tell you I'm angry, it's an understatement,” Haley said. “Mike has been nothing but loyal to that man. He's been nothing but a good friend of that man... I am so disappointed in the fact that [despite] the loyalty and friendship he had with Mike Pence, that he would do that to him.

Like, I'm disgusted by it.”

It has been over two years since Haley stepped down from her ambassadorial position, but unlike some of her former colleagues, she left on positive terms with Trump. She told Politico that she considered him a friend. (“Friend is a loose term,” she said, when asked if she still sees him as one.) Shortly before resigning, she wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that she sometimes disagrees with the Trump Administration but “enthusiastically” supports “most of its decisions and the direction it is taking the country.”

Haley didn’t directly validate Trump’s unfounded claims of voter fraud, but days after the election, she thanked him for his leadership on Twitter. “He and the American people deserve transparency and fairness as the votes are counted,” she wrote. “The law must be followed. We have to keep the faith that the truth will prevail.” Since then, Haley has taken a lukewarm approach to Trump’s conspiracy theory about the “stolen” election.

Kamala Harris dissolves PAC, donates money to charity WASHINGTON: US Vice President Kamala Harris last month, in the lead up to her Jan 20 inauguration, dissolved her political fundraising committees, with intentions to give the leftover funds to charities throughout California. The amount left in the accounts are far less than the tens of millions Harris raised as a candidate, most of which was spent on her unsuccessful run for president, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.

But her decision to close the accounts also leaves Harris with no active fundraising PACs of her own - a signal to those who question whether her focus will be on a 2024 presidential campaign of her own

rather than a President Joe Biden re-election, the report said.

Harris will donate the roughly $60,000 left in the accounts of her Senate campaign committee and a separate political action committee to three charities. The Indian American intends to close her presidential campaign committee as well, but cannot do so until a complaint filed against it with the Federal Election Commission is resolved, the report said.

The California Democrat is distributing $20,000 to each of the three charities she selected, according to her transition staff. She picked organizations that have been especially valu-

Kamala Harris

able amid the pandemic, her staff said in the report. In the Bay Area, Harris, an East Bay native, will donate to Bananas, a resource to help families

access child care. The organization serves families and providers in Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, Piedmont, Emeryville and Alameda.

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Unions plan panchayat level pan-India meets to garner support Farmers’ unions opposed to the farm laws may try to replicate panchayat-level gathering of western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in other parts of the country in coming days even as they wait for a signal for talks from the government on any fresh proposal to end the current stalemate.

Aiming to take their movement pan India, the unions will formally announce their future plans after reaching a consensus in the meeting of their joint protest platform and highest decision-making body, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM).

Though the final details will be announced after the meeting, the broad contours of their fourpronged strategy includes panchayat level mobilisation in different states (beyond PunjabHaryana-western UP), more ‘chakka jams’ (road blockades) at regular intervals, allowing free passage to vehicles at toll plazas and boycott of products of two corporates (Ambani-Adani).

Under the strategy, farmer leaders will move out from protest sites

around Delhi to different states in coming days for mobilisation where they will use Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks of ‘andolanjeevi’ (professional protesters) and ‘parijeevi’ (parasites) to garner support not only among farmers but also among industrial workers, unemployed youths and others with the help of trade unions. They will, during mobilisation, use the word ‘corporatejeevi’ (one who survives on corporates) for the ruling party leaders.

“We will decide and announce our future course of action with consensus

after the SKM meeting. It would be a collective decision on how to take the farmers’ movement forward,” said Hannan Mollah, leader of left parties-linked All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and former Lok Sabha MP. Asked how the current deadlock will end, Mollah, one of the working group members who attended talks with the government, said, “We are ready for talks government provided creates a conducive atmosphere for it and comes out with a fresh proposal beyond what it had proposed earlier

People worldwide pay homage to their fathers with Asian Voice After the spectacular success of our virtual programme “Sanskarvahini – Charani Loksahitya” Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar in association with Brighton Gujarati Cultural Society organised another virtual event – ‘Pitruvandana’ on Sunday 14 February 2021. More than 850 people participated in the event. Maya Deepak and Nilesh Vyas from Ahmedabad, India presented songs and hyms.

Dhirubhai and Gujarat Samachar’s Managing Editor, Kokila Patel welcomed the guests and audience.

Shri Nandkumarji, Director of Bhartiya Vidhya Bhavan congratulated the Publisher/Editor of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, CB Patel for the extraordinary arrangements.

He said parents guide us at every step of life and help us in building an inspiring future. There is a beautiful prayer, “Pitrudevo Bhava, Matrudevo Bhava” which means we consider Father and Mother as our Gods. He further added that every year we should perform pay homage to our late fathers through various rituals.

Recalling memories of 11 May 1983, CB said when former Home Secretary of UK Dr. Nandkumar visited our office for an event; Manubhai

Madhvani, Shantubhai Ruparel, Khodidasbhai and Shantibhai Dhamecha also attended the same. During that time, my mother Kamlaben saw the spark and spirit of Dhamecha Brothers and told me to nurture strong relations with them.

Khodidasbhai was a prominent and generous philanthropist who donated to many charitable causes, particularly those focusing on education, religion and social welfare.

CB thanked all the subscribers of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar and the wellwishers who supported us with advertisements.

Pradeepbhai, the Director of Dhamecha Group and son of Late Shri Khodidasbhai said, "Today is one of the most important day of our life as it is the first death anniversary of our father. There is so much love amongst all our family members.”

Other guests included Pujya Deviprasadji Mahant of Anandbava Ashram, Jamnagar and Kantaben Prabhakant Patel from Uganda who participated at the event. Viewers spanning from the UK, Uganda, India, America and Canada joined this Khodidas Dhamecha virtual celebration.

(January 20 & 22).”

Referring to agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s proposal of putting implementation of farm laws on hold for 18 months, Mollah said, “We were expecting the Prime Minister to offer something more during his speech in Rajya Sabha. Instead of doing that he sought to insult farmers by his remarks of ‘andolanjeevi’ and ‘parjeevi’. How can you expect any meaningful discussion in such an atmosphere?”

The last round of talks between farmer leaders and government were held on

January 22 when the unions rejected the offer to put implementation of farm laws on hold for 18 months and continued to insist on repeal of the legislations which were enacted last year to give farmers freedom to sell their produce outside stateregulated ‘mandis’ (agri markets) and encourage contract farming under protected legal framework.

Besides seeking repeal of farm laws, farmers’ unions have also been demanding legal guarantee to purchase all crops at minimum support price (MSP).

Deep Sidhu, named in RDay riots case, held The special cell of Delhi Police last week arrested Deep Sidhu, a Punjabi actoractivist and a key player in the Red Fort riots during the Republic Day tractor rally.

Sidhu was nabbed from near a dhaba in Haryana’s Karnal while he was waiting to take a getaway vehicle. He was brought to the capital and sent to seven days in police custody. He is currently being interrogated by cops who are trying to unravel the conspiracy behind the riots and the whereabouts of Sidhu’s associate, gangster Lakha Sidhana.

PM Modi to visit southern states, Bengal more frequently Prime minister Narendra Modi is planning to visit the southern states, West Bengal and Assam more frequently to garner more support for BJP in these parts of the country. Till now BJP is more of a north Indian entity. But, Modi wants to change that perception.

He has visited Kerala and Tamil Nadu last week. He inaugurated a slew of projects including the extension of Chennai Metro Rail Phase 1 and a Discovery Campus for IIT Madras. He also launched five projects in Kerala that would energise the growth projectory of the country. Assembly elections will be held in Tamil Nadu and Keala in the next few months.

During the budget, the central government announced special projects for poll-bound states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Assam. Modi is not thinking of any political dividend now, but he is eyeing the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Since the farmers agitation has antagonised some farmers from the BJP, Modi is trying to garner more MPs from the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to compensate the possible loss. He is also concentrating on West Bengal and Assam.

At present there is no BJP MP from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The BJP's support base is also negligible in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Andhra and Telengana. BJP has the support of 18 MPs in West Bengal after the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Now Modi is aiming to increase the tally there.

During his visit to Kerala, the Prime Minister assured the Indian diaspora in Gulf countries that his government is committed for their welfare. Many of the Gulf countries responded positively to call for the release of Indians who were imprisoned in the jails, he said. Modi said he had the opportunity to interact with the Indian diaspora in the Gulf countries during his visit to UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.

Around 50,00,000 people were brought back to the country under the Vande Bharath programme and a large number of them were Keralites, he said.

Modi said the centre has earmarked funds in the annual budget for several development projects including the second phase of the Kochi metro rail project. In Chennai, Modi spoke about the support to displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka, and the Tamil fishermen captured by Sri Lanka.

Hope fades as 6 bodies found in Tapovan tunnel More than a week after almost non-stop rescue operations began to search for more than 30 people stranded inside the head race tunnel (HRT) at the NTPC hydropower plant site in Tapovan, rescue teams for the first time found six bodies inside the 1.6 km long slush filled tunnel. The discovery deflated the hopes of the families of the trapped workers who have been praying for a miracle.

"The bodies were recovered 125 metres inside the tunnel. Our team is continuing clearing the slush in order to go deeper inside," said Vivek Pandey, spokesperson, ITBP. Rescue agencies had estimated that the stranded persons would be at a point 180m into the tunnel. Till Sunday night, the rescue teams had reached 140m inside, sources said. During the day,14 bodies were recovered from different parts of flash-flood ravaged Chamoli, taking the total toll to 52, while 152 people are still reported missing, Chamoli’s district disaster management officer Nandkumar Joshi said.

The marathon rescue work involves personnel drawn from the ITBP, NDRF,

SDRF and Indian Army. Even as clearing operations in the main tunnel continue, drilling is still on at the auxiliary silt flushing tunnel in an attempt to reach the tunnel from that end, the sources added. Besides the six bodies found in the tunnel, seven were recovered near Raini village and one body was found from Rudraprayag.

Rescue ops at tunnel hit as river level rises Earlier, rescue operations at the Tapovan hydel project site hit a wall - first, when the new plan to dig straight down to an underground tunnel and reach the 34 trapped workers didn’t work and later when waters of the Dhauliganga river started swelling again.

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20 - 26 February 2021

Call for reformed MULTILATERALISM AT THE UN Diplomat Asoke Mukerji Over the years, India’s position at the United Nations has become more prominent. In the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address at UNGA last year,Ambassador Asoke Kumar Mukerji explores the country’s demands for a much-awaited reform of the global body, which will lead to sustainable world peace, security and development A photograph from September 2019, in which India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi can be seen speaking at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in New York, USA. This year, due to the ongoing global pandemic, the 75th UN General Assembly session was organised virtually and like other heads of delegations, PM Modi made his address during the General Debate of the UNGA session through a pre-recorded video message ndia’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi reasserted the country’s commitment to the United Nations (UN) during the 75th anniversary commemorative events of the world body held last year. Three major themes resonated in his repeated calls for “reformed multilateralism”. These were the urgent need to complete the process of democratisation of decision-making in the UN Security Council (UNSC); the positioning of development issues at the forefront of the work of the UN; and transforming the functioning of the UN into a multistakeholder body to enable it to respond effectively to the challenges it faces.

The call for “reformed multilateralism” has become an integral part of India’s foreign policy, seeking to maximise the country’s participation in the multilateral system to accelerate its transformation into one of the major powers of the 21st century. India has contributed significantly to creating the

I

A screengrab of PM Modi’s recorded video speech for the virtual UNGA session, held between September 15 and 30, 2020

contemporary multilateral system. A century ago, over 1.3 million Indian soldiers volunteered to serve in the victorious Allied armies that secured victory in the First World War, enabling India to sign the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and become a founder-member of the League of Nations. Over 2.5 million Indian soldiers volunteered to fight with the Allied armies during the Second World War, enabling India to sign the 1942 Washington “Declaration by United Nations” and subsequently the UN Charter in June 1945 in

The first UNGA virtual session Every September, member states have met in the legendary General Assembly Hall at the UN headquarters in New York for the annual session and its highly visible general debate. The modalities of the 75th session were very different. This year, because of the pandemic, world leaders stayed away and shared pre-recorded videos of their speeches to be broadcast.

The hall, however, was not empty, as the videos were introduced by a representative of each country, who was physically present

San Francisco. As a country with one- sixth of the world’s population and a thriving democracy, India is a major stakeholder in a functional multilateral system.

Following his call for a multilateral approach to achieve sustainable peace and prosperity at the High-Level meeting of the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on July 17, 2020, Prime Minister Modi made a strong pitch for reformed multilateralism “that reflects today’s realities, gives voice to all the stakeholders, addresses contemporary challenges, and focuses on human welfare” at the UN’s 75th anniversary summit on September 21, 2020. The Prime Minister’s speech at the general debate of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on September 26, 2020, provided the contours of India’s vision of “reformed multilateralism”.

At the core of this vision is India’s belief that UN member-states “cannot fight today’s challenges with outdated structures. Without

During his speech, the Prime Minister recalled that India has contributed over 240,000 troops in more than 50 UN missions, with Indian soldiers suffering the maximum number of casualties among UN peacekeepers. (Right) A contingent of the Indian Army that is a part of the UN peacekeeping forces

comprehensive reforms, the UN faces a crisis of confidence.” The only UN structure that obstructs the democratic principle of taking decisions by consensus or majority voting is the UNSC, where the veto powers of its five self-selected permanent members overrides democratic decision-making.

The Prime Minister castigated the UNSC for failing to prevent conflicts, including civil wars, and terrorist attacks resulting in the deaths of many ordinary human beings, including hundreds of thousands of children.

Millions of people uprooted by conflicts have become refugees. He said that this has happened despite the significant contributions made by many UN memberstates to the UNSC to help maintain peace and security. The Prime Minister recalled that India has contributed over 240,000 troops in more than 50 UN missions, with India’s brave soldiers suffering the maximum number of casualties among UN peacekeepers.

In June 2020, India obtained 184 out of 193 votes in the UNGA to be elected to a twoyear term in the UNSC for 2021-22. This marked the eighth time since 1949 that over two-thirds of the UNGA has endorsed India’s

credentials to be elected to the UNSC. The Prime Minister pointed out that “the people of India have been waiting for a long time for the completion of the reforms of the United Nations”. He asked: “Today, the people of India are concerned whether this reformprocess will ever reach its logical conclusion.

For how long will India be kept out of the decision-making structures of the United Nations?”

In his remarks at the 75th anniversary summit, the Prime Minister referred to the “far-reaching” declaration adopted by world leaders and cautioned that unless the UN was comprehensively reformed, the vision of the declaration “in preventing conflict, in ensuring development, in addressing climate change, in reducing inequalities, and in leveraging digital technologies” would remain unfulfilled.

India’s call for reformed multilateralism focuses on the inter- linkage between peace, security, and development. An ineffective UNSC jeopardises India’s national efforts to achieve Agenda 2030’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The relevance of this observation for the work of the UN in the decade ahead was illustrated by the Prime Minister’s reference to some of India’s major development initiatives implemented since 2015. Showing how the UN member-states can “reformperform- transform”, the Prime Minister listed the The United “transformational changes” in Nations India over the past five years that had enabled hundreds of headquarters in millions of people to enter the New York City with flags of formal financial sector, become member free from open defecation, and nations get access to free healthcare services. The empowerment of women through promotion of entrepreneurship and leadership, access to micro-financing and paid maternity leave were integral to India’s non-discriminatory development policies. India was “one of the leaders in digital transactions”, PM Modi said, and the policy of “Self- Reliant India” would become a force multiplier of the global economy after the current Covid-19 pandemic is over.

The Prime Minister committed India to “sharing experiences of our development” as a practical way to implement the principle of international cooperation on which multilateralism depends. This included a commitment to build on the supply of essential medicines by India to more than 150 countries to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic by leveraging India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity to “help all humanity”.

Based on its experience of implementing the SDGs, India advocated “a multistakeholder ground-based” approach to achieve the global goals. This required engaging “state and local governments, civil society, communities and people.” India’s

Indian Army’s contribution to the UN Peacekeeping Force The Indian Army is the largest troop contributor to United Nations Peacekeeping Missions, which maintain stability and negotiate peace settlement in turbulent regions of the world.

• 240,000 Indians have served in 50 of the 71 UN peacekeeping missions established around the world since 1948 • India has a long tradition of sending women on UN peacekeeping missions • In 2007, India became the first country to deploy an all-women contingent to a UN peacekeeping mission • Indian peacekeepers have served in some of the most physically demanding and harshest environments, including South Sudan • More than 160 Indian peacekeepers have paid the ultimate price in service to global peace, losing their lives serving under the UN flag Source: https://news.un.org/en/gallery/541602

international experience in implementing various global initiatives for a holistic approach to peace, security and development had similarly been sustained by a multistakeholder approach.

“IN ITS JOURNEY TOWARDS PROGRESS, INDIA WANTS TO LEARN FROM THE WORLD AS WELL AS SHARE ITS OWN EXPERIENCES WITH THE WORLD” Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India

The UN has already adopted a multistakeholder approach for its activities under the Tunis Agenda to respond to the emerging digital order, and Agenda 2030 to achieve the SDGs. The call for “reformed multilateralism” based on democratic decision- making, prioritising development, and including all stakeholders comes at a critical time for India’s foreign policy. India’s role as an elected nonpermanent member of the UNSC and the incoming Chair of the G20 during 2021-2022 provides a window of opportunity for the A file photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing UNGA for the first time on September 27, 2014, where he made his historic and successful proposal for the UN to declare June 21 every year as the International Day of Yoga.

This illustrates a multiple stakeholder approach to reform multilateralism

country to play a leadership role to reform and transform the UN. India was set to become an elected member of the United Nations Security Council for a two-year term, starting from January 2021.

PM Modi said that the country “will not hesitate to raise voice against the enemies of humanity, human race and human values” PM Modi’s virtual address at

UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2020

PM Modi made a 22-MINUTe long speech in Hindi.

“For how long will India be kept out of the decision- making structures of the United Nations? A country, which is the largest democracy of the world...How long would a country have to wait particularly when the changes happening in that country affect a large part of the world?”

“Even during these very difficult times of a raging pandemic, the pharma industry of India has sent essential medicines to more than 150 countries.

India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanityin fighting this crisis.”

“If century changes and we don’t, then strength to bring changes becomes weak. If we assess the last 75 years of the United Nations, we see several achievements. But...there are also several instances that point to a serious need for introspection for the United Nations.”

“

REFORM IN THE RESPONSES, IN THE PROCESSES, IN THE CHARACTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR

”

Diplomat Asoke Mukerji was India’s AMBassador and PERManent Representative to the United Nations in New York (2013-2015)

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SOUTH INDIA

PM Modi launches £600 mn projects in Kerala Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday unveiled a £600 million petrochemical complex in Kerala's Kochi and Ro-Ro vessels of inland waterways at Willingdon Islands, asserting these projects would energise India's growth trajectory and tourism. On a brief visit to Kerala which is likely to hold elections in April-May, the Prime Minister also inaugurated the Cochin Port Trust's International Cruise Terminal and Cochin Shipyard's Vigyana Sagar, a campus for Marine Engineering Training Institute.

At a function, he laid the foundation stone of Cochin Port Trust's South Coal Berth and said these projects covered a wide range of sectors and will boost India's growth. Referring to Bharat Petroleum's Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project (PDPP) located close to its Kochi Refinery that will produce Acrylic Acid, Oxo-Alcohol and Acrylates, which are

predominantly imported, at present, he said it would save considerable foreign exchange every year.

Besides, a wide range of industries would benefit, and employment opportunities will be generated, he said. The two new roll-on/roll-off vessels, set up between Bolgatty and Willingdon Island on National Waterway-3, will have the capacity to carry six 20-feet trucks, three 20-feet trailer trucks, three 40-feet trailer trucks and 30 passengers each.

The service, operated by Inland Waterways Authority, will benefit trade as a result of reduced transportation cost and transit time, and will also lead to reduced congestion on the roads of Kochi, it was stated.

Governor Arif Kerala Mohammad Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Mansukh L Mandaviya and V Muraleedharan attended the event held at Ambalamedu near Kochi. Vijayan said that the centre and state government are

working together on several development projects in the state. "This is a happy occasion for us Keralites. A handful of projects are coming to life in our state today. While some are being dedicated to the nation, the foundation stone is being laid for others. Both state and central government are Narendra Modi working together in all these projects," he said.

(DRDO) Combat Vehicles PM hands over Arjun Battle Research and Development Tank to Army Establishment in Chennai. In a Prime Minister during his high-level meeting, the Defence visit to Tamil Nadu, handed Ministry had recently cleared over the indigenously the induction of 118 Arjun Mark developed Arjun Main Battle 1A tanks into the Indian Army, Tank (Mark 1A) tanks to Army costing around £840 million.

Chief General MM Naravane in The Prime Minister also Chennai. PM Modi arrived in launched a 9-km-long stretch of Chennai to launch various the Chennai Metro Rail, along government programmes in with two other railway projects Tamil Nadu, where assembly and laid the foundation stone of election will be held this year.

Discovery Campus of IIT, PM Modi accepted a salute Madras that is expected to cost by the state-of-the-art tank, £100 million. Later, he laid the indigenously designed, foundation stone for the developed, and manufactured renovation and modernisation by the Defence Research and of the grand Anaicut Canal.

Development Organisation's

PUNJAB

71% turnout in Punjab civic polls, clashes at many places CHANDIGARH: Clashes were reported from various parts of Punjab as the state witnessed a turnout of 71.39 per cent in local body polls held on Sunday.

While a BJP candidate in Sangrur alleged that his and his wife’s votes were cast by someone else, in Jalalabad, SAD workers alleged that the voting list had no pictures of voters, which could lead to bogus voting. In Muktsar, SAD workers were accused of attacking the Congress candidate while in Hoshiarpur, a BJP leader’s vehicle was allegedly attacked by unidentified people. Complaints also came from Bathinda, Abohar as well as Punjab’s 117 Urban local bodies (ULBs).

Farmers also staged protests outside some polling booths.

In Majha, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) local leader Manbir Singh was admitted in hospital with

bullet injury in leg in Patti. He alleged that Congress members attempted to capture the booth and he was shot at as he objected to the same. Manbir said, “There was heavy police security deployed when I was attacked by Congress workers in ward number 7 of Patti as I tried to stop fake voting and booth capturing.”

Clashes also errupted in ward no. 4 of Bhikhiwind of Tarn Taran between SAD and Congress workers. However, no one was injured. Suresh Bhatia, former BJP district president and Ex Improvement Trust chairman sustained the head injuries in a clash with Congress workers in ward no 40. He claimed that despite complaint to police, Congress workers were not prevented by police from trying to capture the booth.

A minor scuffle, Congress worker Harminder Singh alias Sandy said that his turban was allegedly removed. Another clash between Congress and SAD was witnessed in Fatehgarh Churian in ward 22. Police also restored to mild lathicharge to control the situation. In Pathankot, BJP state president Ashwani Sharma staged a dharna and alleged that BJP workers were attacked in election violence. SAD leader Dr DS Cheema accused the Congress of blatantly misusing government machinery to “capture” booths and unleashing violence on the Opposition to intimidate voters. “No concrete steps were taken to ensure free and fair elections. Akali supporters were attacked with sharp weapons at several places,”

he claimed. The counting will be held on February 17.

Elections were held in 117 urban local bodies (ULBs) including eight municipal corporations, 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats of Punjab. Bypolls were held in four wards. In 2015, elections were held in 123 municipal councils with 69 per cent of consolidated voting. This time, 9,222 candidates are in the fray, of which 2,832 are independents.

Mansa recorded the maximum turnout of 82.99 per cent, followed by Bathinda at 79 per cent, while Sangrur witnessed a turnout of 77.39 per cent.

Mohali witnessed the lowest turnout at 60.08% per cent.

WEST BENGAL

Mamata will say Jai Shri Ram before polls are over: Amit Shah KOLKATA: The coming assembly elections in Bengal will be a fight between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "development model" and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's "destruction model", Union minister Amit Shah said at a rally in north Bengal's Cooch Behar.

Bengal is the biggest prize the BJP is hoping to draw in the coming round of assembly elections. Shah has set the state party a target of 200 of the state's 294 seats.

Shah also cited the "Jai Shri Ram slogan issue" that has been a flashpoint in the state since January. "If Jai Shri Ram is not chanted in India, will it be raised in Pakistan?" Shah said. "Mamata Banerjee gets angry at ''Jai Shri Ram'' slogan, (but) she will

Amit Shah

herself begin chanting it by the time assembly polls are over," he added. At a programme attended by the Prime Minister in January, Mamata Banerjee - known to get upset at "Jai Shri Ram slogans" which have become a battle cry for the BJP in the state - had refused to continue with her speech after some people from back rows shouted the slogan.

PM Modi who had maintained

silence on the issue, referred to it last week.

"Bengal loves football. So let me speak in that language.

Trinamool has made many fouls, one after the other. The foul of misgovernance, attacks on opposition leaders, theft of money... The people of Bengal are watching. Bengal will soon show Trinamool the Ram card," the Prime Minister said at a function in Haldia.

Hitting out at Mamata's government on the issue of development, Shah said PM Modi's government works for "jan kalyan" (public welfare).

Mamata works for "bhatija kalyan" - welfare of her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, he added in a reference to one of the hot button issues that is said to have

propelled a chunk of Trinamool leaders towards the BJP. "TMC goons cannot stall the BJP's march to power in West Bengal. No 'Mai ka Laal' (anyone at all) can stop the BJP in Bengal," Shah added.

BJP will form next govt Meanwhile, BJP's West Bengal President Dilip Ghosh has asserted that change will happen and the BJP shall come to power in the state after the elections, challenging Chief Minister Mamata ahead of the assembly election. Addressing a public meeting at Harirajpur in West Midnapore during `Paribartan Yatra` from Keshpur to Ghatal, Dilip Ghosh said, "Yes, `Khela hobe, khela hobe` and `paribortan hobe` (will play, will play, and will change)."

in brief 20 KILLED IN TAMIL NADU FIREWORKS UNIT BLAST At least 20 people were killed when a blast took place at a fireworks factory at Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu. Sources said that two more victims with 90 per cent burn injuries are in a critical condition. Officials said that a combination of excess workforce along with illegal sub-leasing had contributed to the worst cracker mishap in nearly a decade. While one of the leaseholders has been arrested by the police, five others, including the factory owner, are still on the run. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu revenue secretary K Phanindra Reddy asked Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) to have the Centre bring an amendment to the Explosives Act that could prevent such tragedies in the future.

"With the industry expanding each year, chances of such accidents and potential disasters are also increasing.

AIADMK TONES DOWN ON SASIKALA Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK seems to be toning down its aggressive stance against former boss VK Sasikala. Ever since her release from jail a few days ago, her protegesturned-baiters have largely stayed silent on her. This may reflect a re-calibration of the party's stance in the run up to the state assembly polls, given that she continues to enjoy political heft among key sections of Tamil Nadu voters. Yet, it is also increasingly apparent that her nephew and legislator, TTV Dhinakaran, is on the firing line. Her return, three months before the state goes to polls, was marked by a visible show of power, with hundreds gathered to welcome her return both in Bengaluru and in Tamil Nadu. She flaunted the AIADMK flag on her car despite opposition by the ruling party, even as she called for a united fight.

FIR AGAINST YUVRAJ OVER CASTEIST REMARKS The Haryana Police filed an FIR against former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh over his alleged casteist remarks against Yuzvendra Chahal during an Instagram chat last year, officials said. It was during one of the instagram live sessions with Indian Vice-captain Rohit Sharma when Yuvraj made the offensive comment about Chahal. Yuvraj later apologised for the remarks. The FIR had been filed based on a complaint by lawyer Rajat Kalsan, Hansi Suprintendent of Police said. She said the case was lodged under various provisions of IPC and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Kalsan had alleged that Yuvraj's comment had hurt the sentiments of the Dalit community, stating that a large number of people had watched the video on social media. The lawyer had also complained to Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, who had ordered the Haryana DGP to take action in the matter. Expressing regret over the comments, Yuvraj had tweeted, “I understand that while I was having a conversation with my friends, I was misunderstood, which was unwarranted.

TMC MP TRIVEDI QUITS ON RS FLOOR In yet another setback to Trinamool Congress ahead of the Bengal assembly elections, former Union minister Dinesh Trivedi resigned from the Rajya Sabha, saying he was "feeling stifled" and his "conscience" told him to resign as MP and "go and work for the people of Bengal and India". Trivedi’s resignation came in a dramatic fashion in the Upper House after the time allotted to Trinamool Congress to respond to the Union budget. He parroted several lines that BJP leaders have been using to describe Trinamool, including the charge that the party is being "run by corporates", indicating that he is headed out of Trinamool and towards BJP. Soon after announcing his resignation on the floor of the House, he handed in his papers to Rajya Sabha chairman and Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu.

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20 - 26 February 2021

Why Maharashtra was not able to check rapid Covid-19 spread Maharashtra is among the richest and most developed states of India on most parameters, including healthcare. Still, it failed to contain spread of Covid-19.

How did it happen?

Maharashtra accounts for one-third of all-India Covid-19 cases. Mumbai alone has a share of about 20 per cent of all Covid-19 cases

in India. Officials attribute more Covid-19 cases to higher testing, critic to lapses by authorities. India had its first coronavirus case in January when three students returned home in Kerala from Chinese Covid19 epicentre Wuhan. Then there was a hiatus.

India detected its first regular novel coronavirus

cases on March 2 in Delhi and Hyderabad. Maharashtra got its first cases on March 9 in Pune. A couple had returned from UAE, already battling with Covid-19. As on May 14 morning, India had a tally of coronavirus cases in excess of 78,000. Maharashtra accounted for one-third at almost 26,000. Maharashtra had crossed 1,000-mark on

Indian Navy’s largest war game Tropex continues in Indian Ocean To test the Navy’s operational preparedness in the wider Indian Ocean Region (IOR), India is now conducting its largest-ever naval combat exercise, with warships, submarines, fighter jets, maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters.

The mammoth Tropex, or the ‘theatre level operational readiness exercise’ that is held biennially, has brought India's western and eastern fleets together to validate the Navy’s “offensive-defence capabilities” towards safeguarding national interests in the maritime domain and promoting peace and stability in the IOR, said sources.

The exercise, which also includes units from the Army, IAF and Coast Guard, will culminate in the third week of February.

“Tropex is being progressed over distinct phases that also test the Navy's transition from peacetime to hostilities,” said a source. In the first phase, the Navy had conducted coastal defence exercise ‘Sea Vigil’ along the entire coastline and island territories on January 12-13. “It was aimed to validate the country’s coastal defence setup, which was entirely revamped after the 26/11 terror attacks at Mumbai,” a navy officer said.

Sea Vigil was followed by a large-scale tri-service joint amphibious exercise called “Amphex-21”, which was conducted in the Andaman and Nicobar islands from

January 21 to 25. “It was aimed at validating India’s capabilities to safeguard the territorial integrity of its island territories and enhance operational synergy and joint war fighting capabilities among the three Services,” he said.

And now, major combat drills are being conducted under Tropex, which include “multiple on-target ordinance deliveries” including missiles, torpedoes and rockets being fired from frontline warships, aircraft and submarines. This demonstration of the Navy’s lethal firepower reaffirms the capability to carry out long range maritime strikes in the IOR. This is central to meeting operational challenges and ensuring safe seas and secure coasts,” said the officer. “Tropex puts to test the Navy’s concept of operations in various conflict scenarios, hones its war fighting skills, bolsters its role towards maritime security in the wider IOR,” he added.

April 7, roughly after one month of detecting the first Covid-19 case.

In another one month, Maharashtra was nearing 18,000 cases on May 7 with 694 deaths. Maharashtra has consistently reported over 1,000 new coronavirus cases every day over the last 10 days and deaths more than any other state. Mumbai with around 15,750 novel coronavirus cases accounts for about 20 per cent of all India Covid-19 positive numbers. Fatality rate in Maharastra and particularly Mumbai has been unusually high.

At 1,000-mark, Covid-19 mortality rate for Maharashtra was over 6 per cent compared to all-India fatality of 3 per cent. It has come down significantly in the range of 3.75 per cent now compared to the national Covid-19 mortality rate of around 3.25 per cent.

Coming down of fatality rate in Maharashtra is a good sign but it gets squared off from recent reports suggesting an unusually high positivity rate in coronavirus testing in its biggest hotspot, Mumbai. Some reports said the positivity rate in Mumbai has gone up to 33

per cent.The question that is often asked why Maharashtra and Mumbai failed to contain spread of coronavirus infection. Some point out to the fate of the US to dismiss the question.

However, in the hindsight, the authorities - both at the state and national levels miscalculated the risk posed by novel coronavirus pandemic. Everybody knew Covid-19 was a disease of foreign origin and could spread through human-tohuman transmission. In simpler words, only a human could bring that disease to India or Maharashtra. Over 42,000 international travellers land in Mumbai every day. The first few cases had come to Maharashtra from UAE. Yet, screening of passengers coming from UAE or some other coronavirus-hit countries did not begin till the third week of March, only days before India halted flight operations on March 22.

The disease was

rampaging in many countries - the US, the UK and of the Gulf region - in February and early March.

Mumbai waited for more than a week to begin thermal screening. Another reason is cited for Maharashtra's seemingly inept handling of Covid-19 spread - the political inexperience of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The political opponents of Uddhav Thackeray charged that he failed to act in time and was more concerned about saving his chief ministerial post in the view of deferred election to Maharashtra Legislative Council. There is, however, another explanation to why Maharashtra and Mumbai have so high Covid-19 numbers. Ministers or BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) members have routinely linked it to, what they call, their more rigorous contact tracing and widescale testing for coronavirus infection.

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20 - 26 February 2021

Biden, Modi pledge cooperation in dealing with China US President Joe Biden spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to strengthen their nations' partnership at a moment when both countries face strained relations with China. India is in the midst of a 9month long military standoff with China along their disputed border in eastern Ladakh. Tens of thousands of soldiers are facing each other at friction points in the region in subzero temperatures. At the same time, Biden is determined to depart from former President Donald Trump's hot-and-cold relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump alternately courted and cajoled Beijing, pressing for a major trade agreement while downplaying China's efforts to squelch pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.

Trump also initially assured Americans that China had the coronavirus “very well under control” before later blaming the Chinese government — often using xenophobic language — for being responsible for the worst public health crisis in the US in more than a century.

The White House said in a statement that Biden and Modi “agreed to continuing close cooperation to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific" and added that the leaders “resolved that the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld" in Myanmar, days after a military coup in the southeast Asian nation.

As a senator, Biden was an important advocate of the 2008 civil nuclear deal between the countries. The 2008 nuclear accord paved the way for the supply of US high-tech equipment that India wanted along with the technology. The accord ended India’s isolation after it conducted nuclear tests in 1998 and refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The United States is also supporting India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a move that has been blocked by China. Modi wrote on Twitter that he wished Biden success as he launches his administration.

Trudeau assured help Meanwhile, PM Modi during his talks

Joe Biden and Narendra Modi

with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau assured that India would do its best to facilitate supplies of Covid-19 vaccines sought by Canada. Trudeau, who made a telephone call to the prime minister, said that if the world managed to conquer Covid19, it would be significantly because of India's tremendous pharmaceutical capacity and Modi's leadership in sharing this capacity with the world, according to a Prime Minister's Office (PMO) statement.

During the call, Trudeau informed Modi about Canada's requirements of Covid-19 vaccines from India. Prime Minister Modi assured that India would do its best to support Canada's vaccination efforts, just as it had done for many other countries already. “Was happy to receive a call from my friend Justin Trudeau. Assured him that India would do its best to facilitate supplies of Covid vaccines sought by Canada," Modi said in a tweet. We also agreed to continue collaborating on other important issues like Climate Change and the global economic recovery," he said.

The two leaders also reiterated the common perspective shared by India and Canada on many important geo-political issues. They agreed to continue the close collaboration between both countries in fighting global challenges like Climate Change and the economic impacts of the pandemic, the PMO said. The leaders looked forward to meeting each other in various important international discussions later this year, and continuing their talks on all issues of mutual interest, it said.

Celebrated writer Ved Mehta is no more Celebrated writer Ved Mehta passed away at the age of 86 in New York on January 9. He was born in 1934 in Lahore, Pakistan, and lost his vision at the age of four. He was sent to study in a school for the blind in Bombay, followed by another one in Arkansas, US. Mehta was a staff writer for ‘The New Yorker’ magazine for 33 years. In an interview, Mehta had stated that writing was partially a result of his loneliness. In his life, Mehta wrote several books most notable among them were his personal essays and was considered to be quite a luminary. Mehta authored 27 books, and was a member of the British Royal Society of Literature. He also taught writing at numerous colleges and universities. Some of his famous books are: 'Daddyji' (1972) - This book is a biographical portrait of Mehta’s father Amolak Ram Mehta, a distinguished Indian public-health officer. 'Mahatma Gandhi and His Apostles' (1976) - This book is one of the great portraits of Mahatma Gandhi. 'Portrait of India' (1970) - Portrait of India presents Mehta’s impressions of his native land - his first-hand report on India’s villages and cities, its religions, politics and wars, its poets, philosophers, maharajas, and priests. 'Face to Face: An Autobiography' (1957) - Mehta’s first book is his autobiography. He describes his lonely and turbulent childhood in India, acceptance to the Arkansas School for the Blind, the way his life changed after that, leading to degrees at Oxford and Harvard Universities and a fruitful writing career. 'Fly and the Fly-Bottle: Encounters with British Intellectuals' (1962) - This book is a collection of Mehta’s revealing conversations with some of the 20th century’s most important philosophers: Isaiah Berlin, Gilbert Ryle, and Elizabeth Anscombe. 'A Family Affair: India Under Three Prime Ministers' (1982) -The book recounts the political history of India since independence.

Mehta holds that India, although the world’s most populous parliamentary democracy, remains a feudal society, organised around principles of caste and family.

With teary eyes, PM Modi bids adieu to Azad in Rajya Sabha Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned extremely emotional while bidding farewell to Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad in Rajya Sabha last week, saying the senior Congress leader kept interests of the nation and the House in mind besides his own party.

The PM’s fulsome praise, wondering how a successor will fit his shoes, and a salute by way of acknowledging the former Jammu and Kashmir CM, saw Azad fold his hands in thanks and respond in an equally emotional vein.

The gracious exchange, a complete rarity in a polarised polity, held the House spell-bound as the two leaders spoke their mind.

As he became tearyeyed reminiscing about his close association with the veteran MP, Modi said he would not allow Azad to retire (nirvit nahin hone doonga), noting that his political legacy and human qualities will be hard to match and replace. The remarks came as Modi spoke during farewell for four MPs from J&K. Modi said as chief ministers of Gujarat and J&K, he and Azad used to talk to each other regularly.

Breaking down several times, the PM recalled that after terrorists killed some Gujarati tourists by lobbying a grenade on their bus in J&K, Azad was the first one to call him about the horrific attack and remained in touch till the bodies were airlifted to Gujarat.

Azad ’s eyes too welled

Narendra Modi

up in the middle of his speech as he recalled the horror on the faces during his visit to the Srinagar airport. “O God, what have you done? How do I face these children and widows?

They had come here for tourism and I am sending them back with the bodies of their parents and loved ones,” Azad recalled having said at the time as the children clung to his legs in grief.

He underlined that he had not even cried loudly after his parents’ demise as he did when three of his mentors – Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi – suffered unnatural deaths.

Members cutting across party lines showered praise on Azad, while also bidding adieu to Shamsher Singh Manhas (BJP) and Nazir Ahmad Laway and Mir Mohammad Fayaz of PDP, whose terms in the Upper House ended.

Recalling the terror incident, the PM said of Azad, “He could not stop crying, he talked like a family member. Power comes and goes but only a few know how to handle it.

Therefore like a friend, I respect him (Azad) on the basis of the things he has done over these years,” said Modi, wiping away his tears. Azad referred to the memory of the May 2006 terror incident targeting Gujarati tourists – a usual tactic by terrorists to register their presence when a change of durbar took place – to pray for an end to militancy in J&K. “Thousands of our security forces, paramilitary and police personnel as well as many civilians have died in crossfiring. Thousands of our daughters and mothers have been widowed, the parents of some may have been militants but what is the fault of the children? If militancy ends, the youths and widows will get jobs and can lead a normal life.

For this, both the government and the opposition must together work on a solution to restore normalcy in Kashmir,” he said, prompting members across party lines, including the PM and home minister Amit Shah, to thump their desks.

India, China start disengagement in Pangong Tso Continued From poge 1 India keeps close watch India is keeping a close watch on the mutual disengagement underway, tallying it with the phased pullback specified in the written agreement inked between the two countries. “The disengagement on both sides of Pangong Tso is progressing well so far… it is slightly ahead of schedule in some positions. The effort is to complete this Phase-I of disengagement by February 20,” a senior official said.

India insisted on a written pact for the Pangong Tso disengagement, which was approved by the country’s high-powered China Study Group just before the actual pullback kicked off on February 10, due to the continuing trust deficit with China. “The formal agreement details the exact steps each side will take for complete Phase-I disengagement. Each step is being verified both physically on the ground as well as through electronic surveillance through drones, including quadcopters, and satellites,” the official said.

Within 48 hours of completing the Pangong Tso disengagement, India and China will hold the tenth round of corps commander-level talks to focus on the strategically-located Depsang Plains as well as the continuing ‘friction points’ like Gogra and

Hot Springs. “Patrolling Points 15 and 17 at Hot Springs and Gogra are unlikely to pose a major problem. They are relatively less soldiers in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation there. But Depsang, where the two sides have amassed infantry brigades and tank regiments, will be quite tricky,” another officer said. The initial steps are positive on both the north and south banks of Pangong Tso, with some simultaneous mutual pullback taking place smoothly. But it will be a very long haul in the sequential disengagement, de-escalation and de-induction process, with the progress being monitored and verified at every stage,” a top Indian source said.

Indian troops continue to hold their tactically-advantageous positions on the ridge line in the Chushul sector, stretching from Thakung to Gurung Hill, Spanggur Gap, Magar Hill, Mukhpari, Rezang La and Reqin La (Rechin mountain pass), which they occupied on August 28-30, sources said.

India to raise Depsang in next meet India will raise the issue of the strategically-located Depsang area in Ladakh with China in the next round of corps commander-level talks, amid some concerns that it may have squandered its major bargaining leverage by agreeing to vacate the Kailash range heights for just the Pangong Tso disengagement pact.

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Obesity contributed to more deaths in England, Scotland than smoking A new research published in the open-access journal BMC Public Health suggests that obesity and excess body fat may have contributed to more deaths in England and Scotland than smoking since 2014.

Between 2003 and 2017, the percentage of deaths attributable to smoking is calculated to have decreased from 23.1 per cent to 19.4 per cent while deaths attributable to obesity and excess body fat are calculated to have increased from 17.9 to 23.1 per cent. It is estimated that deaths attributable to obesity and excess body fat overtook those attributable to smoking in 2014.

Corresponding author, Jill Pell at the University of Glasgow, said, “For several decades smoking has been a major target of public health interventions as it is a leading cause of avoidable deaths. As a result, the prevalence of smoking has fallen in the United Kingdom. At the same time

the prevalence of obesity has increased. Our research indicates that, since 2014, obesity and excess body fat may have contributed to more deaths in England and Scotland than smoking.”

To examine changes in the prevalence of smoking, obesity and excess body fat in adults, the authors analysed data collected between 2003 and 2017 as part of the Health Surveys for England and Scottish Health Surveys, on 192, 239 adults across England and Scotland, who were 50 years old on average. Participants reported whether they had ever regularly smoked and their height and weight were measured by trained interviewers or nurses. The researchers combined their data with estimates of the risk of dying from smoking or obesity and excess body fat, to calculate the number of deaths that could be attributed to smoking and obesity and excess body fat.

The analysis also suggests that gender influ-

enced the contributions of smoking, obesity, and excess body fat to estimated deaths. Obesity and excess body fat may have accounted for 5.2 per cent more deaths in 2017 than smoking in men, compared to 2.2 per cent more deaths in women. Estimated deaths due to obesity and excess body fat are thought to have increased by 25.9 per cent for women and 31 per cent for men between 2003 and 2017, while deaths due to smoking are thought to have decreased by 18.1 per cent for women and 14.9

per cent for men.

Pell said, “The increase in estimated deaths due to obesity and excess body fat is likely to be due to their contributions to cancer and cardiovascular disease. Our findings suggest that the public health and policy interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence of smoking have been successful and that national strategies to address obesity and excess body fat, particularly focusing on middle-aged and older age groups and men, should be a public health priority.”

Here's why you should include pears in your diet when expecting Expectant mothers usually have a lot going on for them, from the changes in their body to the imminent changes in their life. Their primary responsibility is to consume a healthy diet and generally be more mindful of what they eat. British organisation Apples and Pears teamed up with leading nutritionist Lily Soutter to explain why pears are one of the best foods to consume during pregnancy.

Pears are also an excellent source of dietary fibre with just one pear providing 20 per cent of our daily fibre requirement. Fibre is crucial for digestive health, which is often sluggish during pregnancy. Getting enough fibre in a pregnancy diet aids the functioning of the digestive system, to help ease constipation.

Soutter explains, “Pears are low in calories and have high nutritional value, which is essential for the development of a healthy pregnancy. The regular peak in births in late

September indicates the biggest pregnancy boom is at the start of the year, making it a perfect season to enjoy more pears.” She adds, “Pears are a tasty way for expectant mothers to consume vital nutrients such as potassium, folate, vitamin C and vitamin K, all of which alongside a nourishing diet, contribute to our daily requirements. Pears also provide an array of antioxidants which lie within the skin. It's important to enjoy the skin of a pear as well as the flesh as peeling the skin has been shown to result in a 25 per cent loss of these beneficial plant chemicals.”

Pears are also a great fruit to try in the early stages of weaning, when introducing your baby to solids. It's important to peel the pear for a young baby, and if it's ripe enough, you can also steam it for a few minutes to soften the fruit. Executive Chair of

British Apples and Pears, Ali Capper says, “Britain has the perfect climate to grow delicious pears, which are readily available in supermarkets across the UK, all year round. There has never been a more important time to incorporate healthy foods into our diets, and this is especially important for pregnant women who need to closely monitor the foods they consume for their own health and for their baby's.”

Importance of mindfulness and meditation for your child’s mental and emotional well-being Taking care of your child’s mental and emotional well-being is more important than ever. The Covid19 pandemic has caused tremendously challenging and worrying times for children.

Studies show that negative emotions can have a huge impact on a child’s future. Childhood stress in particular can take years off an individual’s life.

Mina Om Shah, an early year's teacher with a diploma in Mindfulness for Children says, “This can be avoided through the correct practise of mindfulness and meditation.”

Inspired by Black Lotus and her meditation and educational experiences, Mina Om practises mindful activities daily with her students and is passionate about introducing mindfulness to children of all ages. She believes it is the best tool for children to stay calm and focused and has seen positive results in her classroom.

Speaking to Asian Voice, Mina Om said, “Children need to have a daily routine. Unfortunately, with the current situation, their regular school routine no longer exists, even though many schools have set up a timetable for virtual teaching, ensuring children are dressed in their uniforms and registering their attendance in the mornings and afternoons, it’s not enough.

Whilst in lockdown my students tell me they miss their friends and teachers, they miss the classroom. And it’s not difficult to see that many are going through an emotional time.

The restrictions can trigger frustration and anger.

Some children will not know how to deal with being indoors for the most part of their day, especially since the second wave has arrived in the winter months, making it less desirable to enjoy the outdoors, and children are now more likely to be behind a screen for longer periods of time which dulls the mind.”

Some benefits of mindfulness and meditation for children: • Better focus – Children can pay better attention in class • Calmer – Less stress and less anxiety in the mind and body • More awareness – Of the body, emotions, and thoughts.

Having this awareness, helps a child to become aware of any destructive patterns and they can be stopped before they escalate.

• Improves Memory – An obvious advantage for any child in education The difference between meditation and mindfulness for children: Meditation, although it seems similar, differs from mindfulness. With mindfulness children are required to focus on the present moment, for example to focus on a task, or on their immediate environment, whereas in meditation, the child is in a still posture and more focused on clearing the mind of stray thoughts by yoking their attention to their breath or some gentle music or using their imagination to visualise something that makes them feel happy.

Mina Om advises that children start every morning with meditation and practice it daily. She said, “As meditation techniques can be varied, it is best to keep it simple for children and to start with one minute per session and (Part 1 of 2) build up the duration gradually.”

Coffee consumption may reduce heart failure risk Don't regret your morning cup of Joe. It may just be the perfect thing for your heart. A new study circulated by the American Heart Association suggests that drinking one or more cups of caffeinated coffee may reduce heart failure risks. The study, however, found that drinking decaffeinated coffee did not have the same benefit and may be associated with an increased risk for heart failure.

There is, however, not enough clear evidence yet to recommend increasing coffee consumption to decrease the risk of heart diseases with the same strength and certainty as stopping smoking, losing weight or exercising.

David P. Kao, M.D., senior author of the study, assistant professor of cardiology and medical

director at the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Colorado, said, “While smoking, age, and high blood pressure are among the most well-known heart disease risk factors, unidentified risk factors for heart disease remain.”

Linda Van Horn, Ph.D., R.D., professor and Chief of the Department of Preventive Medicine's Nutrition Division at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and member of the American Heart Association's Nutrition Committee, said, “The risks and benefits of drinking coffee have been topics of ongoing scientific interest due to the popularity and frequency of consumption

worldwide.”

Researchers categorized consumption as 0 cups per day, 1 cup, 2 cups, and 3 cups per day. Coffee consumption was self-reported across the three studies and no standard unit of the measure was available. In all three studies, people who reported drinking one or more cups of caffeinated coffee had an associated decreased long-term heart failure risk.

In the Framingham Heart and the Cardiovascular Health studies, the risk of heart failure over the course of decades decreased by 5 to 12 per cent cup per day of coffee, compared with no coffee consumption. In the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, the risk of heart failure did not change between 0 to 1 cup per day of cof-

fee, however, it was about 30 per cent lower in people who drank at least 2 cups a day.

The first study revealed drinking decaffeinated coffee appeared to have a opposite effect on heart failure risk, significantly increasing the risk of heart failure. In the second study, there was no increase or decrease in risk of heart failure associated with drinking decaffeinated coffee. On further examination, researchers found caffeine consumption from any source appeared to be associated with decreased heart failure risk, and caffeine was at least part of the reason for the apparent benefit from drinking more coffee. Kao said, “The association between caffeine and heart failure risk reduction was surprising. Coffee and caffeine are

often considered by the general population to be “bad” for the heart because people associate them with palpitations, high blood pressure, etc. The consistent relationship between increasing caffeine consumption and decreasing heart failure risk turns that assumption on its head.” The bottom line is, enjoy coffee in moderation as part of an overall heart-healthy dietary pattern that meets recommendations for fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and products low in sodium, saturated fat and added sugars.

28 ART & CULTURE

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Book Review “The Khan”

by Saima Mir

“‘You brown girls are hard work,’ he told her, ‘but your smell alone is worth it,” Saima Mir writes in the first few pages of her book, leaving you triggered, at unease, with a parle of thoughts, imagination and a sense of being in the same room as the characters.

About the author Saima Mir is a British Pakistani journalist who grew up in Bradford. She has written for The Times, the Guardian and Independent. Her essay for It's Not About The Burqa (Picador) appeared in the Guardian and received over 250,000 hits online in two days. Saima has also contributed to the anthology The Best, Most Awful Job: Twenty Mothers Talk Honestly About Motherhood. Saima lives in London.

Synopsis ‘Be twice as good as men and four times as good as white men.’ Jia Khan has always lived like this. A successful lawyer, her London life is a long way from the grubby Northern streets she knew as a child, where her father headed up the Pakistani community and ran the local organised crime syndicate. Often his Jirga rule – the old way – was violent and bloody, but it was always justice of a kind.

But now her father, Akbar Khan, has been murdered and Jia must return to take his place. In the past, the police relied on him

to maintain the fragile order of the streets. But a power struggle has broken out amongst the various communities and now, nobody is safe. Justice needs to be restored, and Jia is about to discover that justice always comes at a cost.

Why should you read it?

The Khan is an intense book, definitely relevant to the contemporary world where women still struggle to hold positions of power, combat racist and sexual attacks and climb the ladder while holding the front at home as conventional homemakers. Saima’s writing is impeccably visual and teleports you to the scene, the world, the time that she’s describing. As a reader, it’ll give you a sense of belonging, an unnerving yet photographic feel of standing in the street and watching the drama unfold, or being in a prayer room. Mir’s choice of vocabulary comes as a breather in times when every writing is a slave of English language. Mir breaks that glass ceiling and uses a bit of Urdu and Punjabi at some places to give you a sense of belonging, a sense of community. If you enjoy a good Agatha Christie thriller, you’ll enjoy Mir’s venture into the world of Jia Khan.

Published by One World Publications, the book is available on Amazon and Waterstones.

‘Artists are society's disruptors’ Shefali Saxena Dawinder Bansal is an award-winning British artist and producer who unearths hidden stories that are personal, yet universal to amaze, entertain, inspire and educate people in society. She has a track record of creating successful stage shows & immersive art installations by weaving cultural heritage & contemporary stories into her work. Dawinder also was responsible for developing and producing Southbank Centre’s largest South Asian festival, ‘Alchemy’ for the Black Country region.

Here are a few excerpts from her exclusive interview with Asian Voice.

We're in 2021, yet we continue to talk of racism, homophobia and class prejudice.

Why do you think we as a society have not been able to correct our mindset?

It was for this very reason that I based We Found Love In The 80s in the decade of the 1980s. Having grown up as a child in the 80s, I saw things through a child's lense and I was also protected from the reality of the world by my parents. This is the very question I wanted us all to stop and think about. Difference can be delebratory and if we are open and curious about asking the right questions and importantly listening then perhaps it might challenge our own prejudices. Every generation has its own struggles and it's up to activist artists like me - who remind people, through the vehicle of art that we need to understand what happened in the past so that we can live a better future while celebrating our differences. After all, wouldn't the world be a boring place if we were all the same?

Please tell us more about the We Found Love in The 80s projects. How will it be of interest to the Asian community?

This project is a multiart form project that celebrates the diversity of Britain through love stories who fell in love in the 80s.

It was launched at a time of the Black Lives Matters protests and I felt people had become very angry and separated.

We feature couples who are Asian - one who had a traditional arranged marriage and they talk openly about going to marriage counselling after their children left home. Dawinder Bansal Another Asian couple talked about being in an inter-caste relationship and how people they knew were disowned for marrying outside of their own caste in the 80s. We also have an inter-racial Asian and White couple who are queer and highlight the need to keep their relationship a secret at a time when Margaret Thatcher brought Section 28 into the govermnet legislation.

What according to you, is the future of women in colour (especially as artists) post the pandemic?

I have to say, I really dislike the term Women of Colour, mainly because as a second generation Asian woman, we have had to fight to be recognised for our

Covid compliant Drive Thru Durgapuja this year it will be on virtual platform Facebook and YouTube live because of Covid pandemic where people from all over the world will offer ‘ Pushpanjali’ virtually."

Dr Arpita Ray Trustee and Cultural Secretary said, "We are also celebrating Bhasa Dibosh on the same day with linguistic unity in diversity as a respect to language martyrs in Dhaka and the day is

BHF CELEBRATES ‘RAY – BEHIND THE SCENES’ Bengali Heritage Foundation of London On 6th February 2021, organised the fourth chapter of THINK TANK series which was on legendary Bengali film director Satyajit Ray, whose centenary is being celebrated in 2021.

This centennial celebration was hosted by Bengal Heritage Foundation in partnership with the High Commission of India, Nehru Centre, British Council and Kolkata Literary Meet. The event of the Series ‘RAY – Behind the Scenes’ brought out rare insights on Ray’s persona through his day to day interactions with his Actors, Musicians and Directors. Present in the webinar was Mani Shankar Mukherjee (Writer, novelist, essayist, researcher), Mamata Shankar (Actor, Danseuse, National Award winner) , Siddhartha Chatterjee (Actor, Entrepreneur), Purnima Datta (Producer, Distributor) and Tapan Kumar (Media Professional). The moderators for the event were Dr. Debanjan Chakrabarti, Director, British Council, East and Northeast India, and Suman Ghosh, Professor Film Studies, Bath Spa University.

Dr Debanjan Chakrabarti , Director. British Council East and Northeast India said, "As India and UK look forward to forming a new partnership in the 21st century, and as we prepare to celebrate 75 years of India together, British Council is delighted to celebrate the achievements of a man who epitomised the "living bridge" that connects our two countries - Satyajit Ray - on his 100th birth anniversary." Rohit Vadhwana, First Secretary, High Commission of India, London summed up the event with his reflection on Ray stating that he was one of the greatest men in India in filmmaking. His depiction of human emotion is as contemporary as ever, best in the art. Rohit also added that “The connection he has gifted us through his lens and camera will continue to bind us together for centuries to come.”

PIONEER DESIGNER AND BHANGRA EVANGELIST HARDIP SINGH DHANJAL PASSES AWAY individual identities, which are richer and more complex than the colour of my skin.

After the pandemic - I'd like to think that people begin to appreciate how important art and creativity is in our daily lives. It's kept us entertained and sane during a time of separation, isolation and loneliness. Once lockdown eases and life returns to normal - I hope that people remember the vital role of art and our well being and therefore, the need for artists to make work and create will put them in a stronger position. Artists are society's disruptors, thinkers, makers, doers and by creating art after the pandemic is over will be essential in healing our communities, hearts and minds.

Essex Indians to celebrate Basant Panchmi and International Language Day Essex Indians ( EI) Registered Charity 1186579 is organising Basant panchami coupled with International Language Day on 21st Feb 2021.

Sharing details with Asian Voice, Dr Anirban Mandal, Trustee and General Secretary of EI said, “We are celebrating Saraswati Pujo and Basant Panchami for the last 11 years to rejuvenate the Indian cultural and festive diaspora in the UK. Following the success of

in brief

recognised by UNESCO as international mother tongue day."

As a head teacher of Maitreya Bengali Club she also congratulated 2 students Arya and Manan who achieved A* (9) in Bengali GCSE. The event will be graced by Hon’ble Mayor of Chelmsford and Basildon and Dr Bashabi Fraser honoured with CBE in 2021.

Pioneer designer Hardip Singh Dhanjal, who cemented the imagery surrounding bhangra’s emergence as a popular dance music for Asians in 1980s in the UK has passed away following a cardiac arrest. He was 60.

Born in Nairobi, he was the second of five children of Ram Singh Dhanjal, a carpenter, and his wife, Joginder. Hardip did his schooling at Featherstone high school, in Southall, then Hounslow College and Ealing College.

Dhanjal was famous for his innovative album sleeves for labels like Mighty M and MR Records, and bands such as DCS, as well as flyers for the daytime raves that flourished in Southall, west London, and Handsworth, Birmingham, his friend Hardial Singh Rai wrote in an obituary for Hardip in The Guardian.

In the late 1970s, Hardip Dhanjal joined the anti-racist Southall Youth Movement. In Hardip’s obituary, Rai shared the life history of Dhanjal. He talked about his monthly magazine ‘Apna Beat’ which Dhanjal started in 1992 to cover Asian youth subculture where he explored bhangra as a political identity for British South Asians.

“A poster by Hardip Singh Dhanjal for the One Nation comedy night at Watermans Art Centre, London,” Rai wrote.

Hardip had a master’s degree from Brunel University and his thesis was titled ‘In Bhangra We Trust’. “Hardip and I were working to stage a musical production of his thesis at the time of his death,” Rai wrote in The Guardian.

Hardip is survived by his wife Jessie (nee Virdee), whom he married in 1989, and two daughters, Isher and Bishan.

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Sara's funny post from operating table Actress Sara Ali Khan is one of the funnier Khans in Bollywood, and her Instagram bears testimony to it. In a funny post from the operating table last week, the actress gave us an update on her wisdom teeth removal.

Slightly groggy from anaesthesia, Sara said, ““Namaste darshako. Sorry, main itne achche se baat nahi bol paa rahi hoon. Mujhe humare har sentence mein hasee aa rahi hai. Dr Shetty humare saath hai. Woh humare gyaani daanto ka...udghaatan bolne wali thi (Hello, viewers. Sorry, I am not able to speak very well and giggling at every sentence. Dr Shetty is with me. He is going to, I was going to say ‘inaugurate’ my wisdom teeth), but I don't think that is correct. That means launch, right? What is extraction?”

After a quick prompting from her dentist, she said, “Ukhaadne wale hai. (He is going to uproot it). That is the plan for the day. I had some food with mom for her birthday dinner but I think she is gonna make...” She loses consciousness due to the anaesthesia and the camera cuts off. But wait! There is more. The video cuts to Sara after the extraction, and she says. “Namaste

How Prateik Babbar makes a comeback from drug, alcohol In a recent interview, actor Prateik Babbar has spoken about making a comeback in the industry after a long struggle with drug and alcohol dependency. He said he wanted to get his life back in order because he wanted to make his late mother, actress Smita Patil proud. He talked about getting sober, and trying to reestablish himself in the industry by offering to work for free.

He wrote, “What saved me from drowning mentally and emotionally, and I say saved, because I thought everything was over for

darshako. Humara surgery ho gaya. Sab kushal mangal.

(Hello viewers. My surgery is over. It went well.)”

The post received several positive comments, with many of her fans calling her a “natural”. On the work front, Sara's digital debut with Varun Dhawan, 'Coolie No 1' became the most-watched Christmas release on Amazon Prime Video in 2020. She will be seen next in Aanand L Rai's 'Atrangi Re' alongside Akshay Kumar and Dhanush.

Emraan Hashmi turns villain for Salman's next Actor Emraan Hashmi has reportedly been roped in to play the antagonist in the third instalment of superstar Salman Khan-led 'Tiger' franchise. The action-thriller, backed by YRF, features Khan and Katrina Kaif as spy agents. According to a source close to the film's production, “Emraan will be playing the villain in the third part of 'Tiger' franchise.”

The movie will mark the first collaboration between Hashmi, Kaif, and Salman. This will also be Hashmi's first time working on a YRF production. The 2012's 'Ek Tha Tiger', the first movie in the franchise, followed the story of an Indian spy code-named Tiger, who falls in love with a Pakistani spy during an investigation. The sequel, 2017's 'Tiger Zinda Hai', saw Tiger and Zoya go on a mission to save a group of hostages held by a militant terrorist organisation in Iraq. The movie was said to be inspired from the 2014 abduction of Indian nurses by ISIL. The first part was helmed by Kabir Khan, while the second by Ali Abbas Zafar. The third instalment will be directed by Maneesh Sharma.

On the work front, Hashmi also has Sanjay Gupta's 'Mumbai Saga', and 'Chehre' alongside Amitabh Bachchan.

Siddhant Chaturvedi on working with Deepika: I was quite nervous

me and my career was done with, was the love and passion for the arts.”

He said the road to recovery was “rocky”. “It must have been 2016-17, when I went clean of alcohol and drugs for a few months in a row. I could think with clear head. That's when I started missing my work. It was something I needed for my soul and that is when I started picking up different kinds of roles.”

He added, “I rebooted myself with plays and short films. I did things for no money at all, at times. I did things for free for people to just remember that I exist and I haven't left the stage yet.” The actor said that he feels he owes it to his mother to succeed. Prateik said, “Yes, I do feel a sense of responsibility to live up to my mother's legacy.

People may see that as a burden, but I will not call it that. If it's seen as a weight on my shoulders, I'd say it's one that I am proud of.”

On the work front, Prateik made a comeback with high profile films such as 'Baaghi 2', 'Mulk', and 'Chhichhore'. He has Akshay Kumar-starrer 'Bachchan Pandey' and Madhur Bhandarkar's 'India Lockdown' in the pipeline as well.

One of the budding actors of Bollywood, Siddhant Chaturvedi, has a lot on his plate these days. The actor has been shooting for his upcoming Shakun Batra film with co-stars Deepika Padukone and Ananya Panday.

Siddhant, in a recent interview, revealed he was nervous

about sharing the screen with Padukone.

Calling her a simple person, Siddhant said, “Deepika is extremely talented. She is one of our senior actresses and the prettiest, and yes, I was quite nervous to share the screen space with her.

I was wondering how it would go before the shoot commenced, but it went off really well. She is extremely simple and we got along well.” He also mentioned the relaxed atmosphere on set and them having dinner together after shoot.

Photos of the movie shoot in Mumbai and Alibaug have landed on the internet. On the work front, Siddhanth has an interesting lineup of films. He has 'Bunty Aur Bubli 2' with Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, and Sharvari. He is also currently shooting for 'Phone Bhoot' with Katrina Kaif and Ishaan Khatter.

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Parineeti says rivalry between heroines is an 'industry-created' myth Parineeti Chopra is currently gearing up for the release of 'The Girl on the Train', a multi-heroine film also featuring Aditi Rao Hydari and Kirthi Kulhari.

The actress in an interview, said.

“This thing of women, actresses especially, not really getting along and being insecure... Actually, it is a lot industry-created and trade-created. I have had amazing experiences. 'Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl' had four girls, 'Shuddh Desi Romance' had two girls, 'Golmaal Again' had me and Tabu ma'am.”

She added, “I have worked in

Genre: Television Period Drama Duration: 1 Season, 8 Episodes Streaming on: Netflix

various places where so many women and 'heroines' were together. The discussion was always like, 'Oh, do ladkiyaan (two girls)?” I am like, “Yeah but also teen ladke (three boys). Why don't we talk about the boys?'

Competition is between artists, it is not male or female.” Parineeti added that her own experiences have been the “exact opposite” of popular belief.

Directed by Ribhu Dasgupta, 'The Girl on the Train' is a remake of the 2016 Hollywood film of the same name, which is based on Paula Hawkins' bestselling novel.

Bridgerton The Bridgertons are a wealthy family part of the ton’s in the Regency era in the UK where the girls make their debutante, being presented at court.

Priyanka talks past relationships in memoir 'Unfinished' Actor Priyanka Chopra is in the headlines for a lot of reasons; her recently released memoir being one of them. In her book, 'Unfinished', Priyanka has written about her previous relationships without naming names. The actor wrote that she would eventually feel like she'd lost herself towards the end of a relationship.

Written by Priyanka during last year's lockdown, 'Unfinished' released earlier last week.

The actor wrote about her romantic relationships in her 20s and 30s. She wrote, “I'd get involved with a wonderful man and we'd have a lovely time, usually for a period for years. By the end of the relationship, though, I'd

have lost myself somehow. I'd be exhausted, discouraged and disappointed and I didn't know how I'd gotten to such an unhappy place.”

She also mentioned a particular break-up, she was particularly gutted as it coincided with the start of the second season of her television show 'Quantico', and at a time when she was still reeling from the death of her father. “When I wasn't feeling numb, I felt lonely, sad, and isolated. No one understood what was going on inside me, because I didn't tell anyone.”

After a whirlwind romance, Priyanka tied the knot with Nick Jonas at the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur in 2018.

Rajiv Kapoor passes away, brother Randhir says he is all alone now The entire Bollywood industry mourned the loss of Rajiv Kapoor who passed away at 58 earlier last week.

Member of the the Indian film industry's first family, the Kapoors, Rajiv was best known for his role in 'Ram Teri Ganga Maili', starring in a string of unsuccessful films later. He was in the works to make his acting comeback after several years with Ashutosh Gowariker's production 'Toolsidas Junior'.

His elder brother, veteran actor and father to Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Karisma Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor expressed his grief at having lost several family members in quick succession.

Speaking in an interview, he said, “I am left alone in this house. Rajiv was a very gentle and extremely jovial person. It is so tough to believe that he is gone. He had no medical history. His health was simply fine; he had no major problems whatsoever.”

He also spoke about the personal toll that losing three of his siblings in

The series revolves around the Bridgerton family, which consists of the viscountess Bridgerton, her four sons and four daughters. As her husband has passed away her eldest son Anthony is now the Viscount and therefore the head of the family. This comes with a huge importance, but Anthony is in love with a opera singer and this would be frowned upon.

Anthony’s sister Daphne is making her debut at court this year and whilst in search of a suitable husband she meets the Duke, one of London’s most eligible bachelors.

The younger Bridgerton’s also get caught into a number of scandal’s, Benedict Bridgerton starts an affair

the span of year that has taken on him.

Randhir said, “I don't know what's happening. I was equally close to Rishi and Rajiv. I have lost four people from my family. My mother Krishna Kapoor (Oct 2018), eldest sister Ritu (Jan 2020), Rishi,

and now Rajiv. These four were my central core, with whom I did most of my talking.” The family opted for a small puja for Rajiv, instead of a traditional “chautha” due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

with the local dress maker and Colin Bridgerton falls in love with a girl who is actually pregnant and trying to hide this from the ton so she is not outcasted.

Younger sister Eloise is in search of the centre of all commotion, Lady Whistledown, currently no-one is aware of who Lady Whsitledown is and the Queen is intrigued to find out. Lady Whistledown is behind the highs and lows of the ton’s by writing about what goes on during the events and surrounding this time. She manages to cause a stir every time her newsletter is released.

Although only one season in Bridgerton has caused a massive stir, everyone is watching what they call a mix of Gossip Girl and Downtown Abbey. It is one of those programme’s where once you start it you end up binge watching as you want more and more and more.

The series itself is very racy and but it mixes humour and drama all into one. You are left wondering what will happen in the second season and how much more could the Bridgerton family face. Unlike other period drama’s this one actually accepts different races and does not frown upon racially integrated families. With the national lockdown still in place this is just what we need to bring some good TV back to the screens.

Watch Bridgerton which is now streaming on Netflix and add to the 82 million households that have already watched the programme and are constantly talking about it.

You can get in touch with Vallisa: djvallisa@gmail.com

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Rana Daggubati on marrying Miheeka Bajaj, felt like the best time Actor Rana Daggubati married girlfriend Miheeka Bajaj in August 8 last year, amid the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With a downsized guest list of just 30 people, the actor has no regrets and said he would not have wanted his wedding any other way. In a recent interview with Filmfare, the actor opened up about his parents' response to his decision to tie the knot during the pandemic.

“In fact, I felt it was the best time to get married. Obviously, there were a lot of people who I couldn't invite but the whole thing felt extremely personal and nice. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.” The actor said his parents were not bothered at all. “They were extremely happy. The fact that I was getting

married alone was enough motivation for them,” he said.

Describing his married life as “great”, the actor said, “You get a feeling of being balanced, settled. The bond you share is a great source of calm as well as energy.

It's fun, I'm definitely enjoying myself.”

Rana and Miheeka had an intimate wedding in Hyderabad attended by Telugu stars including Ram Charan, Allu Arjun, Naga Chaitanya, and Samantha Akkineni.

On the work front, Rana will be seen next in Prabhu Solomon's trilingual which will be released in theatres on March 8 as 'Haathi Mere Saathi' in Hindi, 'Kaadan' in Tamil, and 'Aaranya' in Telugu.

Always wanted to work Ram Charan joins hands with with Nayanthara, filmmaker Shankar Sethupathi: Samantha Actress Samantha Akkineni shared a new poster of her upcoming Tamil film 'Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kadhal'.

The poster features her, and fellow actress Nayanthara with their back turned towards the camera. The actress expressed excitement on being able to work with Nayan, and actor Vijay Sethupathi.

In a post on Instagram, the 'Super Deluxe' actor wrote, “I've always wanted to work with the fierce #Nayantara and the mighty @actorvijaysethupathi.. So I can't tell you how much of a ball I am having working with the both of them together #kaathuvaakularendukaadhal.”

She said the film is “going to be a riot.”

Samantha also added, “Midway through the shoot and I can safely say this one is going to be a riot.

Vignesh, you rocking this part.”

Samantha found a sleuth of praises from the writer and director of the

Actor Ram Charan has announced his maiden collaboration with filmmaker Shankar; an upcoming project to be released in five Indian languages. He tweeted, “Excited to be part of Shankar sir's cinematic brilliance produced by Raju garu and Shirish garu.”

Currently busy with SS Rajamouli's 'RRR' and his father's 'Acharya', Ram is expected to commence work on his project with Shankar later this year.

Meanwhile, Shankar is currently

film, Vignesh Shivan.

He shared the poster and wrote, “First time I didn’t get too possessive about my thangam #nayanthara pairing up with someone.@samantharuthprabhuo ffl you are awesome .. we are having so much fun hosting you in this party…way to go. Looking forward to only amazing & memorable moments :)) #goodvibes #positivevibes.”

The team has wrapped up the second schedule of the film.

Touted to be a romantic drama, 'Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kadhal' will mark Samantha's maiden project with Nayanthara and Sethupathi.

Suriya tests positive for Covid-19 standing by my side.”

Suriya's friend and frequent collaborator Rajsekar Pandian also took to Twitter to pass off concerns over the actor's health. He wrote, “Dear Brothers and Sisters Anna's fine and nothing to worry @Suriya_offl.”

Suriya was last seen in 'Soorarai Pottru', which was released on Amazon Prime Video in November last year.

Tamil superstar Suriya has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The actor took to Twitter to share the news.

He tweeted, “I am undergoing treatment for Covid-19 and am better now. Let us all realise that life hasn't returned to normalcy yet.

We also cannot be filled with fear and let life come to a standstill. We still need to be careful and safe. Lots of love and gratitude to the dedicated doctors and medical staff

21:00 PINJARA KHUBSOORTI KA

21:30 BAWARA DIL

TV Listing

22:00 NAMAK ISSK KA

SATURDAY 20 FEB

18:30 DESI BEAT RESET

19:00 ISHQ MEIN MARJAWAN 2

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 22 FEB FRI 26 FEB 2021 14:30 KASAM 16:00 THE GREAT INDIAN GLOBAL KITCHEN 16:30 BIGG BOSS (SEASON 14) WEEKEND KA VAAR 19:00 ISHQ MEIN MARJAWAN 2 19:30 CHOTI SARDAARNI 20:00 SHAKTI 20:30 MOLKKI

working on his Kamal Haasanstarrer 'Indian 2'. The shoot of 'Indian 2' came to a standstill after a freak accident involving a crane on the sets. The accident left three technicians dead.

The shoot was cancelled indefinitely and it is rumoured that Haasan will only resume work on the film after completing work on his upcoming Tamil gangster thriller 'Vikram'. Meanwhile, Ram recently wrapped up work on Rajamouli's upcoming magnum opus 'RRR'.

19:30 CHOTI SARDAARNI

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SUNDAY 21 FEB

16:30 BIGG BOSS (SEASON 14) WEEKEND KA VAAR

18:00 CHOTI SARDARNI

20:00 NAAGIN (SEASON 5) 21:00 BEST OF DESI BEAT 21:30 DANCE DEEWANE 3

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 22 FEB FRI 26 FEB 2021 8:30 BHARADWAJ BAHUEIN 15:00 NRI HAADSA 16:00 SILSILA BADALTE RISHTON KA 16:30 THE RASOI SHOW 17:30 CHHUTA CHHEDA 18:00 TUM KAUN PIYA 18:30 DIL KA RISHTA 19:00 BIGG BOSS (SEASON 14)-FINALE 21:00 BALIKA VADHU - LAMHE PYAAR KE SATURDAY 20 FEB 11:00 DESI BEAT SEASON 2

15:00 NRI HAADSA 16:00 SILSILA BADALTE RISHTON KA 16:30 THE RASOI SHOW 17:30 DESI BEAT SEASON 3 18:00 KHATRA KHATRA KHATRA 19:00 BIGG BOSS (SEASON 14) 19:00 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20:00 DIL SE DIL TAK 20:30 BARRISTER BABU 21:00 BALIKA VADHU SUNDAY 21 FEB 11:00 DESI BEAT SEASON 2 15:00 NRI HAADSA 16:00 SILSILA BADALTE RISHTON KA 16:30 THE RASOI SHOW 17:30 DESI BEAT SEASON 3 18:00 KHATRA KHATRA KHATRA 19:00 BIGG BOSS (SEASON 14) 19:00 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20:00 DIL SE DIL TAK 20:30 BARRISTER BABU 21:00 BALIKA VADHU

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India thrash England by 317 runs to level series India thrashed England by 317 runs on Day 4 of the second Test match, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The hosts levelled the four-match series 11, after losing the first Test match in the same venue.

Chasing a target of 482 runs, England were bowled out for 164 in the second innings on a turning track. The hosts began Day 4 on a strong note, taking quick wickets with the visiting batting order crumbling against Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel.

All-rounder Moeen Ali was the top performer for England, scoring a T20-like knock (43 off 18 balls). India's bowling department cruised past England, with Axar Patel registering his maiden fivewicket haul in his debut Test

match. Meanwhile, Ashwin took three wickets, and Kuldeep Yadav registered two dismissals.

Both sides face each other again in the third Test match, which starts from February 24, and the visitors will be aiming to bounce to winning ways. back Meanwhile, the home side will be hoping to take the lead in the series.

Local hero Ashwin took eight wickets in the match and scored a sensational century on a tricky pitch as India wrapped the game in four days. Rohit Sharma, with his seventh Test century, and Axar Patel, with a maiden five-wicket haul on debut, were other key contributors for the home side as they dominated the visitors throughout the game.

England began Day 4 at 53/3,

in brief KOHLI EQUALS DHONI'S TEST WIN RECORD IN INDIA

chasing an improbable 482, and Ashwin made immediate impact as he bamboozled Dan Lawrence with his first delivery of the day as Rishabh Pant completed a neat stumping. Ben Stokes joined England captain Joe Root to put up some resistance for the visitors, but it was Ashwin again who broke the partnership as he had Stokes caught at slip.

Ollie Pope was soon to follow, as he miscued a sweep off Axar Patel to Ishant Sharma at mid-wicket. Kuldeep Yadav picked up his first wicket of the match as Ben Foakes also got out trying to sweep. Axar Patel struck soon after to claim Root's wicket for the second time in the match and claimed his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests when he trapped Olly Stone legbefore.

Moeen Ali had a late flourish, smashing 43 off 18 deliveries before Kuldeep Yadav had him stumped to wrap up the game for India. Earlier, Rohit Sharma's 161 along with half-centuries from Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant helped India score 329 after captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat. Ashwin took five as England were bowled out for 134 on Day 2. Ashwin then hit his fifth Test century, while Kohli scored a superb 62 as the hosts then left England needing a miracle to win. With the win, India have moved up to second in the World Test Championship table.

The action now shifts to Ahmedabad, where the final two Tests of the series will be held the first of which will be a Pink Ball Test.

Ben Stokes signature more expensive than Kohli A recent research from Cricket Bet India has reported that Ben Stokes’ signature is more expensive than Virat Kohli. The report said, “The average price of signed memorabilia from 105 cricketers around the world to work out the most valuable player signature according to data from some of the world's leading memorabilia sites.

The report claimed that Ben Stokes’ autograph is worth £2,357, which is 79% more than Virat Kohli. Ben Stokes has the most expensive signature in world cricket, with fans paying an average of £2,357.13 per item signed by the England allrounder on leading cricket memorabilia sites, according to a new study. Kohli has the third most expensive signature in world cricket behind Stokes and Sir Donald Bradman. India is the most expensive for all player

Ben Stokes and Virat Kohli

signatures on average.

This new study analyses 430 individually signed items by 105 cricketers to work out most valuable signatures. “It costs more to get a signed item by Stokes, of which there are seven in total, than any other cricketer in the history of the game, with Sir Donald Bradman the second most expensive and Virat Kohli's signature also priced at more than £1,000 on average,”

Morgan to lead 16-member squad for T20I series England have named a 16-member squad for the upcoming five-match T20 international series against India, to be played in Ahmedabad in March. Limited overs captain Eoin Morgan will lead a side full of T20 specialists. "The touring party will depart Chennai on 26 February and will play five T20 internationals in Ahmedabad," ECB said on its website.

Apart from Morgan, all-rounder Ben Stokes, experienced wicket-keeper batsmen Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow and top order batsman Dawid Malan comprise a strong line-up. Jofra Archer, the Curran brothers (Sam and Tom), Adil Rashid and Mark Wood are expected to lead the bowling artillery. England have also named two reserve players. England T20I squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) (captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Reece Topley (Surrey), Mark Wood (Durham).

Reserves: Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Matt Parkinson (Lancashire).

the report said.

The most expensive item available comes at a whopping cost of £14,999.99 for a signed match shirt worn by Stokes, while the cheapest by comparison is a £99.99 signed picture. Kohli is followed by MS Dhoni at the fourth position with £899.99 per signature for five items, Sachin Tendulkar at fifth position with an average of £866.49 per signature for eight

items and Shikhar Dhawan at the sixth position £574.99 per signature for two items. While the most common item signed

by Ben Stokes and Dhoni is display, Kohli's and Dhawan's most popular item is a shirt, and an autobiography for Tendulkar. KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane are also on the list. Overall, probably due to their fanatical support, India are the most expensive team in the world with 79 items available in total at an average of £311.19 per piece, while Pakistan have 12 items online at the lowest price of £83.99 on average. India skipper Kohli is the biggest global star in the world game today and has a huge following in his home country. Like Stokes, he has seven items available to purchase, the most expensive of which is a signed helmet at £2,499.99.

Bhavnagar lad in India Asia Cup team A 26-year-old basketball player from a small village in Bhavnagar district has made it to the Indian team. This team is in Bahrain to play Asia Cup qualifier matches.

Shaktisinh Gohil, president, Gujarat Basketball Association, had spotted the 6 feet 9 inch tall Vivek Goti from Rupavati village of Mahuva town while he was working in his father’s farm after clearing his Grade 12. As per Goti, “When Gohil saw me in 2013, he told me that my height and body were most suitable for basketball and invited me to join the coaching academy in Bhavnagar. He also helped me in getting accommodation while I was in training.”

The real spark came in 2014 when Goti’s team won the Khel Mahakumbh Trophy. “I was highly motivated by the win. I started practicing for 8 hours

daily.” Goti has now completed his Bachelor in Arts and joined Indian Navy in sports quota. He has been posted at Lonavala with the Indian Navy. He was selected for the National camp starting December in Bengaluru where 20 players were invited from all over the country. At the end of the camp, the final 12 players were selected for the India team and Goti among the selected. He is the only player from Gujarat in the team right now. One of the best performances of Goti was during a recent national tournament when he as a centre forward scored 30 points against Chennai. As per Gohil, “A Serbian coach had said that Got’s body is similar to a Serbian player which helps him in the game.” India will be playing two matches against Iraq and Lebanon during the February 10-23 tour.

Virat Kohli became the joint most successful India captain in Tests at home, equalling MS Dhoni's record of 21 wins. Kohli has captained the team in India in 28 Tests, with just two losses and five draws. Dhoni, on the other hand, had 21 wins after leading the team in 30 Tests at home with three losses and six draws. Kohli reached the milestone after India outclassed England by a whopping 317 runs in the second Test in Chennai, levelling the four-match series at 1-1. The Indian captain will have the chance of going past his predecessor in a little over a week, with India taking on England in the third Test at the new Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, starting February 24. In total, Kohli has captained India in 58 Tests with 34 wins, 14 losses and 10 draws. The 32-year-old is well ahead of Dhoni's win percentage as skipper. Dhoni led the side in 60 Tests with 27 victories, 18 losses and 15 draws to his name.

THIEVES STEAL RICKY PONTING'S CAR Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has been targeted by thieves last week, according to a report. The incident occurred when thieves entered his home and managed to steal Ponting's car, which was parked in the driveway. Large police operations were carried out thereafter to track the car. The car was finally found in Melbourne’s Camberwell area, before it was spotted dangerously driven through the city. Thereafter, two men were spotted fleeing and managed to evade the police. The police are still on the search for the suspects. Meanwhile, Cricket Australia launched the trailer of a documentary 'The Record' which depicts Australian women's team journey at the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup where they defeated India in a pulsating final to emerge as champions.

WEST INDIES SWEEP BANGLA TEST SERIES 2-0 Rahkeem Cornwall took centre stage as spinners picked up all 10 wickets in the West Indies’s 17-run victory over Bangladesh in the second and final Test last week to complete a series whitewash. Cornwall took 4-105 while Kraigg Brathwaite (3-25) and Jomel Warrican (3-47) grabbed the remaining wickets as Bangladesh were bowled out for 213 on the fourth day. Mehidy Hasan hit two sixes and three fours late in the day to add drama after the hosts lost their ninth wicket but the West Indies kept their cool to deny them a comefrom-behind win.

INDIA FINISH WITH 23 MEDALS Teenaged high jumpers Praveen Kumar and Nishad Kumar produced their personal best efforts to take a gold each and set new Asian records as the curtains came down on the 12th Fazza International World Para Athletics Grand Prix. Praveen’s and Nishad’s gold medal winning efforts were the high points for India who also had three silver and a bronze earlier, to end their campaign at the championships with 23 medals.

PAKISTAN BEAT SA TO WIN T20I SERIES Pakistan beat South Africa by four wickets in the third and final Twenty20 international in Lahore on Sunday, taking the threematch series 2-1. Chasing a target of 165 to win, Pakistan romped home in 18.4 overs after David Miller had blasted an unbeaten 85 off 45 balls to lift South Africa to 164-8 in 20 overs.