AV 20th June 2020

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

20 - 26 JUNE 2020 - VOL 51 ISSUE 7

RACISM CONTRIBUTES TO BAME DEATHS

Britain’s Indian community slams ‘Black Lives Matter’ protesters for vandalism SEE PAGE - 9

Nepal House approves new map; untenable, says India SEE PAGE - 25

Priyanka Mehta & Rupanjana Dutta A new study has found that racism and social inequality have contributed to the increased risk of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities (BAME) contracting and dying from Covid-19. On Tuesday 16th June, Public Health England (PHE) finally released a complete report confirming that disproportionately higher number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals died of Coronavirus. The complete report was released as Asian Voice went to press and after it emerged that some pages were missing from the original review published last week.

Besides highlighting that ‘structural racism and social inequality’ were primary factors for higher BAME deaths, the new report also

incorporates recommendations from the PHE about measures that ethnic minorities must take to prevent themselves during the pandemic.

The stakeholders pointed to racism and discrimination experienced by communities and more specifically by BAME key workers as a root cause affecting health, and exposure risk and disease progression risk.

It said, “Racial discrimination affects people’s life chances and the stress associated with being discriminated against based on race/ethnicity affects mental and physical health.

Issues of stigma with Covid-19 were identified as negatively impacting health seeking behaviours. Fear of diagnosis and “Once infected, many of the preexisting health conditions that increase the risk of having severe infection are more common in death from Covid-19 was identified as neg-

atively impacting how BAME groups took up opportunities to get tested and their likelihood of presenting early for treatment and care. For many BAME groups lack of trust of NHS services and health care treatment resulted in their reluctance to seek care on a timely basis, and late presentation with disease.”

The British Medical Association (BMA) has been asking the government why higher number of BAME NHS staff died of coronavirus.

Commenting on the new report, Chaand Nagpaul, Council chair of the BMA said, “It is important that we now move forward and deliver those changes [the recommendations provided in the new report] because that would be the fair and right thing to do. More than 90% of the doctors who had died during the pandemic were from BAME backgrounds.

Continued on page 4

Sushant Singh cremated in presence of family, close friends SEE PAGE - 26

20 Indian soldiers killed in border clash with Chinese troops SEE PAGE - 26

2 UK

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AsianVoiceNewsweekly

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20 - 26 June 2020

with Keith Vaz

Shaun Bailey will not be replaced as Tory mayoral candidate

Nandita Brahmbhatt Nandita Brahmbhatt was born in Leicester in a joint, close-knit family. She grew up with a great deal of cultural exposure, travelled frequently with parents and younger sister. When her parents were away for work, her grandparents, uncles’ aunts & cousins cared for them with so much love and gave them a sense of belonging.

She completed her BSc in Biomedical Science at Kings College London and began a career in Medical Sales for various large Pharmaceutical Companies including GlaxoSmithKline and Astra Zeneca. Shortly after completing her degree she got married and moved to London with her husband, two children and his parents.

Nandita now manages her family business Indigo Restaurant, which provides pure vegetarian food and catering. It is business she is very passionate about and has a goal to develop much further.

1

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

Leicester, this is where I was born and raised and also spend most of my time working. Although I love London, somehow the warmth of the community in Leicester is what I love the most.

2

What are your proudest achievements?

To have catered in some of the most highend venues for high profile clients across the country accomplishing complex setups to a high standard.

3

7

My family - how they have managed to uphold values, culture, keeping the family together through thick and thin and support each other.

4

What has been biggest obstacle in your career?

Trying to keep up with the rate of change in technology and implementing its use as effectively as possible in our business.

5

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

My father - he has always been and is still my biggest influence on date in my career.

His work ethic, way of building and maintaining relationships, and his resilience when dealing with setbacks. He has always had the courage to bounce back and never gives up in the face of adversity.

What is the best aspect about your current role?

Serving and interacting with customers. I

And the worst?

There is not really anything I do not enjoy about my work, at times the hours are long, and irregular. But working with a great team and towards something you feel passionate about always helps.

8

What inspires you?

6

am definitely a people person and meeting our regular customers and building relationships with new ones is definitely the highlight of my day. I truly feel very lucky to be able to do this.

What are your long-term goals?

Strive to develop a business and build a legacy that provides exciting job opportunities within the community, brings people together and serves with love and passion.

9

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

I would focus on education as children are the future of this country. I would provide children with more exposure to life skills and technological advancement.

10

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

Mahatma Gandhi - he took one principle "Non-Violence" from the Shrimad Bhagavat Gita and changed the course of history with it. I would love to understand how he was able to stand by this principle through all the adversity he faced and inspire people to stand up with him.

On Thursday 11th June, a senior Tory dismissed rumours of attempts in replacing Shaun Bailey as the Conservative candidate in the delayed London mayoral election. Bailey, a former youth worker was pitted against Labour’s Sadiq Khan two years ago but has apparently lost support of some Tory donors, who would like to see another candidate gearing for the race next year.

According to the Financial Times, some senior figures wanted an alternative popular face, such as ex-chancellor Sajid Javid to stand against the current Mayor of London Sadiq Khan especially considering the parallels in their heritage and culture.

According to the Local Government Association (LGA), many are struggling to survive during this crisis without any safety net and access to basic needs. Now the councils have asked for the temporary suspension of the “No Recourse to Public Funds” (NRPF) clause as people who have this status attached to their visas have been approaching them for emergency and financial assistance considering they have lost their jobs. NRPF

was introduced in 2012 under the hostile environment policy introduced by then home secretary Theresa May to prevent immigrants from taking away “British jobs” and draining Britain’s resources.

These immigrants are granted with the right to work in the UK but cannot access most benefits if they were unemployed.

Considering the lockdown, many businesses have shut down or downsized meaning that these immigrants have either lost their jobs or are on an indefinite furlough scheme. Thus, with no income or bare minimum salary they are struggling to feed their families and pay rent. Many face losing their homes after the temporary restrictions on evictions are

lifted. Hundreds of thousands of these migrant workers were employed into the restaurant and hotel industry and have struggled to pay rents since losing their jobs.

Although landlords are prevented from evicting tenants during lockdown, many who have informal tenancies have lost their homes.

Homelessness charities have already warned of the rise in the homeless migrant workers with the “NRPF” status But the LGA believes that a suspension of the NRPF condition would allow people to claim welfare benefits, which could stave off homelessness.

Since March charities all over the country have been helping to feed families designated with this immigration

Nadhim Zahawi

Dismissing such connotations, business minister Nadhim described Bailey as a "phenomenal candidate" on LBC radio. He said, "Rubbish story. Sajid Javid is staying in parliament. Sajid has a great contribution to make to parliament. Shaun Bailey is our candidate. He's a phenomenal candidate, phenomenal campaigner and someone who really understands that black lives really do matter.”

A YouGov poll in March this year, showed Sadiq Khan had a clear lead on 49 per cent, and Shaun Bailey trailing behind with 24 per cent of the vote. Others in the mayoral race include Siobhan Benita from the Liberal Democrats while Rory Stewart resigned from the race a few weeks ago.

Elections for the Mayor of London are delayed until May 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tories defend Patel in racism debate On Thursday, 11th June, Conservative MPs defended Home Secretary Priti Patel after 30 Labour MPs from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds had accused Patel of trying to generalise different kinds of racism faced by BAME communities by “using” her own experience of racism.

Senior Tory MPs including health secretary Matt Hancock and home secretary Sajid Javid have supported Patel after reading the letter where Labour MPs accused Patel of gaslighting the racism debate in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests in the UK. Addressing the daily Downing Street coronavirus briefing, Hancock said, “Priti Patel was not wrong to talk of her personal experiences of racism. I have seen this letter, and I abhor this divisive identity politics that’s being levelled against

Councils urge government to allow immigrants access to public funds On Friday 12th June, local authorities urged the government to suspend certain clauses of the controversial hostile environment policy especially during the coronavirus pandemic to help immigrants.

Shaun Bailey

status. Councils have also been given special dispensation to house homeless migrants with this immigration status for the duration of the pandemic, but there is no longer-term provision especially as the prime minister has warned of further job cuts. David Renard, the LGA’s housing spokesman, said: “Councils have been doing everything they can to support all groups facing homelessness. Councils are now planning their next steps in supporting people to move on from emergency accommodation. A temporary removal of the NRPF condition would reduce public health risks and pressures on homelessness services by enabling vulnerable people to access welfare benefits.”

(L-R) Priti Patel and Sajid Javid

Priti Patel. I am incredibly proud to be part of the most diverse government in history.” Former chancellor Sajid Javid and the first ever British Pakistani MP to have been appointed the chancellor of ex-chequer in the UK has also called the letter “utterly misguided and irresponsible”. He tweeted, “Imagine listening to an ethnic-minority woman’s history of suffering racist abuse - and then deciding that you’d rather condemn the victim than her abusers,” he tweeted.

Labour MPs including Diane Abbott and Clive Lewis had expressed their “dismay” after Patel said

that she “would not take lectures from the other side of the house” while stating her own experience of being called a “Paki” when she was a child.

Later, in the strongly worded letter, Labour MPs told Patel that they were disappointed “at the way you used your heritage and experiences of racism to gaslight the very real racism faced by black people and communities across the UK”.The letter was coordinated by the shadow community cohesion minister, Naz Shah. Others Asian MPs who signed included Tulip Siddiq, Seema Malhotra, and Rosena Allin-Khan.

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COMMENTS

3

20 - 26 June 2020

Mr Johnson needs to choose his words carefully On Tuesday Britons were at a ‘happy high’, as a cheap steroid viz. Dexamethasone was discovered to be the first life-saving treatment in the Covid-19 pandemic, described by scientists as ‘a major breakthrough’. It raised hopes for the survival of thousands of the most seriously ill. Researchers said the drug was responsible for the survival of one in eight of the sickest patients, mainly those who were on ventilators, in the recovery trial.

At the same time, Public Health England published a delayed report that was allegedly held back in fear of further outbreaks of Black Lives Matter protests across the country.

The study revealed that structural racism and social conditions led to the BAME community disproportionately affected and dying from Covid-19.

An analysis of survival among confirmed Covid-19 cases showed that, after accounting for the effect of sex, age, deprivation and region, people of Bangladeshi ethnicity had around twice the risk of death when compared to people of White British ethnicity. People of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Other Asian, Caribbean and Other Black ethnicity had between 10 and 50% higher risk of death when compared to White British.

The report actually represented how multiculturalism and diversity have failed in Britain. The Black Lives Matter protests have led to ethnic communities attacking each other. Very similar to the riots that engulfed London during Mark Duggan’s killing in 2011, that led to several rioters vandalising shops and properties across the city. Incidentally Boris Johnson was London’s Mayor then.

This review that was published on Tuesday was meant to be a part of the initial report, published on 2 June. Mr Johnson’s government faced huge criticism for holding back such crucial information, possibly in fear of repercussions.

He however carefully released it along with a major good news, to outweigh the importance of its ‘crucial’ and shameful findings.

Mr Johnson whose ex-wife was half-Indian, has always been considered as a friend of the community, especially the British Hindus. He responded to the global wave of Black Lives Matter protests by announcing that a government commission will look into the racial inequalities. He said that a ‘cross-governmental commission’ would look into discrimination against BAME community in education, health and the criminal justice system.

But then, he provoked people by saying he wanted to end ‘the sense of victimisation’. Some said, his words were taken out of context. But he then went ahead and did further damages by appointing Munira Mirza to look into race inequality.

Nitin Sawney tweeted explaining how the appointment pretty much led to the defeat of the purpose of this inquiry.

He wrote, “An ‘inquiry’ into racial equality led by Munira Mirza, who pretty much dismisses all claims of racial inequality, appointed by a prime minister renowned for racist comments, is a Trojan horse designed to gaslight people of colour into believing we imagined the whole thing. He also seemed to be completely in denial of the importance of free school meal till major backlashes and criticism.”

Mr Johnson as a Prime Minister has seen many hurdlesfrom delivering Brexit, to an election, break out of coronavirus to race riots. What surprises the BAME community still is how he has been incapable of fathoming the deep hurt the community is suffering from. As Lord Simon Wooley of Operation Black Vote says, the prime Minister’s choice of word is an ‘unnecessary distraction’ and it will be seen as unhelpful in the immediate present.

Mental well-being is not a privilege Men are strong, practical and level-headed. This is the ideology that both sons and daughters grow up with especially if you are from an Asian family. From the pre-historic age, men are idolised as the head of the family, business and the empire. Mainstream media or literature have hardly ever glorified a “weak” yet a deservedly meritorious man. On the flip side, a man however unqualified he is will be saluted on a pedestal for the show of his strength. Simply put, man and weak are oxymorons in any society. But the concepts are further parochial within the Asian community.

He who is not strong is either an alcoholic, gambler, or a ‘characterless’ astray who could not look after his and his family’s well-being. And we as a society are complicit for his self-isolation bubble where his mental health continues to denigrate. We either mock him for seeking assistance from anonymous therapy sessions or become awkward and formal upon knowing of his challenges.

Celebrity actors, singers, chefs who died of suicide have perhaps best underlined this toxic yet a cyclic pattern. Avicii, Anthony Bourdain and now Sushant Singh Rajput; their untimely deaths have been a wake-up call for us but only for a day. The conversation around mental health, depression, and anxiety among other issues trend on social media until the hashtags no longer bring in the likes and re-tweets. It is a slow death and eventually, the skeletons of mental health discussions are found in coming-of-age movies like The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The voids created by the

absence of an empathetic society are left for charities and Samaritans to fill in.

Mental health is a taboo within the Asian community.

Within the mainstream media it is equalised to exaggerated emotion unless of course, it is a clinically diagnosed suffering. Most corporates have never understood why an employee may need a day off for not feeling well mentally unless it is a physical illness as attributed by a GP’s certificate. The “professional burn-out” work ethic has ingrained this idea in us that no matter your headspace, the show must go on.

Research has highlighted time and again that millennials and Generation Z are at higher stakes of suffering through depression than other adults. N number of reasons explain this trend- from the shift in the technological and cultural trends to changing lifestyles of broken families, divorced couples and self-partnered singles. Throw in physical or emotional abuse over long periods and psychologists struggle to bring a person back from self-esteem issues or suicidal thoughts.

Regardless of the reasons for the increasing number of people reporting mental illnesses, we cannot rely only on psychologists to cure us. It perhaps needs to start with the mothers who can comfort their sons and tell them it is okay for you to cry. It needs to facilitate women like Belinda Parmar who are pushing for empathy in businesses. Mental health discussions and therapy should not be a privilege but a necessity.

De-escalating border row with Nepal India-Nepal relationship has hit a new low after Kathmandu's lower house of parliament unanimously approved a constitutional amendment bill to guarantee legal status for an updated political map of the country. The new map accommodates the country’s national emblem approximately 400 sq km of disputed territory with India on the Uttarakhand border. The amendment brings the relationship between the two countries to an impasse, making it much more challenging to reach a mutually acceptable solution. Political leadership in both countries must strive to find a way out and restore a semblance of normalcy to a unique relationship in the South Asian context.

The immediate trigger for the constitutional amendment in Nepal is the inauguration of a road last month by India's defence minister Rajnath Singh that leads to the Chinese border at Lipulekh pass. India is in effective control of that region. A triangular piece of territory between Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura is the bone of contention. Nepal bases its claim on the 1816 treaty between the East India Company and Nepal which used the Kali river to demarcate Nepal’s western border. The current dispute is about the source of the river and the attendant border. It’s noteworthy here that the maps of both countries, including Nepali maps, showed the disputed territory to be under Indian control.

The 2015 blockade in Nepal, which Kathmandu perceived

to have had Indian support, has vitiated the atmosphere between India and Nepal. Moreover, the global wave of populist nationalism appears to have reached Nepal as well, prompting its polity to take such a radical step from which it is difficult to envisage stepping back. The move comes at a time when Nepal’s prime minister KP Sharma Oli was facing criticism over domestic performance. The escalatory position on the border dispute with India diverts public attention in Nepal and contributed to clashes at the border between Nepal’s police and Indians, one of whom died.

India and Nepal have a porous border which allows for free movement of people. In addition, the Gurkhas have for long been recruited in the Indian army. China looms in the background. It earlier recognised India’s position on the issue. Yet, the ongoing India-China faceoff may have catalysed the escalatory policy pursued by Nepal’s government.

India and Nepal have much at stake and need to find a way to de-escalate. To resolve this dispute, what is needed is calm environment. That should be the immediate aim. It would be in the advantage of Nepal if the dispute is settled at the earliest as it depends on India for its various needs. India has rejected Nepal's move, saying it was not 'tenable' and amounts to an artificial enlargement of its claims and also violates the understanding that talks should sort out the boundary issues.

Non-violence is absolute commitment to the way of love. Love is not emotional bash; it is not empty sentimentalism. It is the active outpouring of one’s whole being into the being of another - Martin Luther King Jr

Alpesh Patel

Why Black Lives Matter to This Paper’s Readers Look at any measure of success of Indians in the UK or US and you will see generally income and education levels higher than for all communities including white, time and again.

Look at the same data for Black, however you slice and dice it, and it does not follow. Yet if there is one community with which we probably reach out the least it is the black community.

Think about it. They’re not in your children’s posh schools or Oxbridge or in your pharmacies and legal offices or accountancy practices are they? I know they are not because I see the statistics.

Of course we meet other Indians. We reach out to Dharmic faiths – Sikhs especially. We reach out to the Jewish faith. But colour?

Southall Black Sisters may be an exception based on ethnic origin and gender and crossing boundaries.

I am not preaching – many came from Uganda and Kenya and I cannot tell them they do not work with communities of different origins. And how can you if they are not in work places. My colleagues in Government, it so happens are black. But they’re the exception.

In this age of pledges – what are we to do?

Well, I’ve become used to saying we will ensure in events and prominence we have women well represented – but let’s not forget other ethnic groups.

I work in finance. Private equity and hedge funds and with Civil Servants, having been a barrister. Yes – you got it – all massively under represented pro rata. Why does it matter?

Because it is injustice. And to a Hindu, let alone a human (ask my two year old son) an injustice is intolerable and in our DNA to fight.

Yes we are phenomenal at all we have achieved with our work ethic and culture and blessed with all we have. But reaching out across networks as we did at TiE – the entrepreneur mentoring organisation or we do in the Civil Service or through my old Oxford College are all essential to break down barriers.

And I do not patronise. A black man was President of America before an Indian – for all our abilities – well we got PM of Ireland and CEO Microsoft I guess. But there is more for all to do. As a Hindu – it is my Dharmic duty to fight injustice. It’s how I show to myself I am Hindu – not alone by the Ganesh in my garden or the puja my grandmother taught me.

Rituals are important – but living and practicing is equally so.

Anyway, as I say, I am not a Hindu, merely trying to be one. This is one way I can be.

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20 - 26 June 2020

RACISM CONTRIBUTES TO BAME DEATHS Continued from page 1 “Doctors from these communities were also three times as likely to say they had felt pressured to work without adequate PPE.” The government has been dodging questions about institutional racism now prevalent within the NHS. In the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter protests, the question has become more pronounced. Yet, Health Secretary Matt Hancock is quick to insist that the UK has one of the “most diverse cabinet” in history under Boris Johnson with names such as Rishi Sunak and Priti Patel securing top cabinet positions. In his interview to Sophy Ridge, he said, “We’ve a whole series of people from a black and minority ethnic background... the two cabinets I’ve sat in... listens to a diversity of views and it’s diversity of thought that is the really important thing.”

Mirza appointed for the formation of racial inequalities commission On the contrary, however, Downing Street has appointed Munira Mirza, for the formation of commission the assessing racial inequalities. Mirza has previously questioned if at all there was any form of institutional racism in the UK. It is now, believed that Trevor Phillips can be recruited as part of the commis- Munira Mirza sion. Former chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, Phillips had previously referred to Muslims as being a “nation within a nation”.

But the first report published by the PHE had already noted that “historic racism and poorer experiences of healthcare or at work” meant BAME people were susceptible to seeking adequate care from the NHS. The report had also underlined that members of the BAME community were sceptical of visiting the hospitals for fear of deportation. This is a similar concern echoed for the implementation of the contact-tracing track and trace program which can violate privacy and data sharing regulations.

Commenting on the new report, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Christine Jardine said, “It is appalling that the Conservatives’ discriminatory Hostile Environment policies and their refusal to suspend the ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ rule are preventing migrants and other BAME people from accessing the healthcare they need during this pandemic.

“If the Government is serious about tackling racial injustice, the Home Secretary must end the Hostile Environment and give migrants access to Universal Credit during this crisis.”

New recommendations for the BAME community Now, the new report recommends the following: 1. Mandatory collection of ethnicity data at death certification, and ensure that data are readily available to local health and care partners to inform actions to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on BAME communities.

2. Support community participatory research to understand the social, cultural, structural, econom-

ic, religious, and commercial determinants of Covid-19 in BAME communities, and to design programmes to reduce risk and improve health outcomes.

3. Improve access, experiences

by BAME communities including: regular equity audits; use of health impact assessments; good representation of BAME communities among staff at all levels 4. Accelerate the development of culturally competent occupational risk assessment tools that can be employed in a variety of occupational settings and used to reduce the risk of employee’s exposure to and acquisition of Covid-19 especially for key workers working with a large cross section of the general public or in contact with those infected with Covid-19.

5. Fund, develop and implement culturally competent Covid-19 education and prevention campaigns, working in partnership with local BAME and faith communities to reinforce individual and household risk reduction strategies, reinforce messages on early identification, testing and diagnosis; and prepare communities to take full advantage of interincluding ventions contact tracing, antibody testing and ultimately vaccine availability.

6.

Accelerate efforts to target culturally competent health promotion and disease prevention programmes for non-communicable diseases promoting healthy weight, physical activity, smoking cessation, mental wellbeing and effective management of chronic conditions including diabetes, hypertension and asthma.

7. Ensure that Covid-19 recovery strategies actively reduce inequalities caused by the wider determinants of health to create long term sustainable change.

Commenting on these recommendations, Professor Raj Bhopal, an emeritus professor of public health, from the Usher Institute, at Edinburgh University, told BBC News: "We need to have cultural sensitive message, but if you look at our press briefings, it is not culturally sensitive. No message is ever given out in any language other than English. The message does not reflect the diversity of this country.

“Get better workplace risk assessment for minorities, specially assessed PPEs, training how to use them and minorities often are the front face of our society. Everyone needs workplace assessment but priority is BAME community at the moment.”

Report is ‘a whitewash’ Barring clause 4 however, most of these recommendations have already been in place and are required to be implemented within the health administration. Speaking to the Asian Voice, Dr Ramesh Mehta, National Chairman of BAPIO, said, “This report is again a whitewash of the facts. BAPIO had conducted a survey of healthcare workers in early stages around mid-April.

We discovered that ethnicity itself is an independent factor Dr Ramesh Mehta

besides comorbidities or other talk about the effect of Covid-19 on social status. This paper is not menchildren, especially from the BAME tioning that. community.”

“Second, 70-80% of frontline “Official data from Great healthcare workers are of BAME Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) origin, while only 35% are NHS has pointed out that 87% of chilstaff, the paper also ignores dren treated for that fact. this syndrome “Third, the bullying and are BAME, harassment of healthcare though children workers, forced to work in the themselves as a frontline without proper PPE, risk of transhas also not been mentioned! mission is very “BAPIO has been raising low, only 52% these issues for a while. We when compared have written to every single to an adult.”

Trusts that BAME healthcare Dr Prabhu Rajendran However, workers should have proper an open letter risk assessments. It has still not by the UK paediatricians about the being carried out. Still proper PPEs return of children to schools said, are not available. It is very unfortu“As paediatricians we are increasnate that ‘spade is not called spade’ ingly concerned by the continued and BAME frontline workers espeabsence of millions of children cially BAME staff are thrown in the from schools. This interruption is war without proper equipment.” without precedent and risks scarChildren are not addressed ring the life chances of a generation of young people. Clinically, most The report however, fails to young people have been spared the make any observations around the worst effects of Covid-19 but the long-term and sustained impact of health and social impact will be coronavirus on children from severe. The brunt of the impact of BAME backgrounds.

Covid-19 is and will continue to be As part of the initial response to borne by children and families who the pandemic the statements have the fewest resources and need released from ’The Royal College of the most support. The attainment Paediatrics and Child Health’ said gap was significant long before the that most children and teenagers do pandemic. not become seriously ill with “Children from disadvantaged Covid-19. But now with the dynambackgrounds are twice as likely to ic experience and knowledge docleave school without national qualtors are seeing a very small number ifications in English and maths of patients with an unusual condicompared with better off peers. Left tion which seems to be linked to the unchecked, Covid-19 will exacervirus. This syndrome is very rare, bate existing problems and deepen and most children will not be seristructural social and health ously affected. In April, however inequalities. School is about much doctors in the UK reported cases of more than learning. It is a vital serious illness in around twenty point of contact for public health young patients, some of whom services, safeguarding and other needed to be treated in intensive initiatives. This includes access to care. mental health supThe children had port, vaccinations, serious inflammation special therapies, throughout their body. free school meals, Inflammation is a norphysical activity and mal response of the early years services body’s immune system that help children to fight infection. But get the best start in sometimes the immune life. For many chilsystem can go into overdren and their famidrive and begin to lies, these intervenattack the whole body Dr Chaand Nagpaul tions are the differand if this happens, it is ence between surviving and thrivimportant to have a heightened ing. In their absence our already awareness so that these children frayed safety net cannot function, can receive urgent medical attenand we risk failing a generation. “ tion.

We recognise the efforts of Doctors are concerned of the school leaders, local authorities, disease heterogeneity and in severe teachers and other professionals, cases of PIMS the inflammation who have worked tirelessly to facilspreads to the blood vessels (vasitate learning for our children and culitis), particularly those around young people. They deserve decithe heart. If untreated, the inflamsive leadership from the top of govmation can cause tissue damage, ernment. We note that plans have multi-organ failure or even death. been published for children to Some of the symptoms of PIMS can begin returning to school in overlap with other rare conditions, Scotland and Wales. such as Kawasaki disease and Toxic We call on the UK Shock Syndrome. Some people have government and the referred to the condition as Northern Ireland ‘Kawasaki-like disease’. Like PIMS, Executive to urgently complications from Kawasaki can publish clear plans cause damage to the heart. for getting children Kawasaki tends to affect children back to school; and under five whereas PIMS seems to for all UK governaffect all ages, but mostly ments to deliver older children and recovery plans for Prof Raj Bhopal teenagers.

Dr Prabhu Rajendran, children and young people. Without such action, the an NHS Paediatrician effects of Covid-19 will linger far speaking to Asian Voice beyond the pandemic itself and will newspaper said, “It is limit the life chances of children unfortunate that the and young people for years to recent PHE report, come.” Dr Rajendran added, “The Impact of COVID-19 on debate about the reopening of BAME groups does not

schools has become polarised. We all agree that children and young people have a right to a schoolbased education. It is equally right that teachers and parents feel reassured and have confidence in official guidance. We won’t have a clear answer to many questions for some time, and it is impossible to choose a date that does not involve a serious conversation about balancing priorities and mitigating risks. There is little doubt that the balance of risks for children and young people is that a return to is in their best school interests. Getting back to school is particularly important for those children and young people we class as vulnerable. Whether reopening schools presents a risk to adults and the broader population R number is much more uncertain, although there are very encouraging signs from other European countries that have begun to open schools. We regret the division and polarisation on this issue, the road ahead is a long one with many difficult choices and questions ahead. It is vital that we work together to build trust and find consensus.

“The UK Government has advice on ‘shielding’ during the Covid-19 outbreak, to protect those ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ at very high risk of severe illness from coming into contact with the virus.

This definition applies to a small number of children, and they will most certainly be known to specialist children’s services. The majority of children with conditions including asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and kidney disease do not need to continue to shield and can return to school as it reopens. “There are a group of children who are known to specialist services (in secondary and tertiary care) for their underlying condition where it will be important to have a discussion between the clinician, the child and their family to determine the right course of action. Such conversation will need to weigh up the clinical risk for that child on balance with the consequences of the child missing out on attending school. The vast majority of children who don’t require shielding will benefit from returning to school. This includes children who are ordinarily under the care of their GP.” Government’s U-turn on free school meals The government has been insisting for the re-opening of the schools. But at the same time, it was reluctant on the continuation of the free meals scheme in the schools. In her column in Huffington Post, Tulip Siddiq, wrote, “Food insecurity has doubled in this pandemic, and we know that more than 200,000 children have skipped meals that their parents couldn’t afford to pay for. I dread to think about the fact that this is only going to get worse over summer as the full economic impact of Covid-19 starts to bite.”

Later Boris Johnson announced a humiliating U-turn over free school meals for the poorest families over the summer with a new £120m voucher scheme after pressure from footballer Marcus Rashford. All the above only shows that the UK continues to have a racism problem.

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NHS doctors promote 'World Indian Bengali restaurant Meat Free Week' to encourage joins London Mayor’s Pay It Forward initiative healthy diet From June 15 to 21, diners across the world have been challenged to take up a plant-based diet, for at least a week. Identified as ‘World Meat Free Week’, the seven days are intended to prompt people into thinking about the economic and environmental effects of all the meat they consume.

Dr Nitu Bajekal

With coronavirus and its consequences, NHS professionals are worried that post Covid-19, it will be business as usual and there has never been a more crucially important time to increase our understanding of our food choices and their impact on our health. UK medical training simply does not reflect the vital role nutrition plays in our health and wellbeing. UK doctors receive just 20 hours’ nutrition training in five years.

On 28 May, over 200 NHS doctors signed an open letter to the UK government urging promotion of plantbased diets. In the letter they said, “We, NHS doctors and staff, are writing to urge NHS leaders and the Government to pass bold post-Covid-19 legislation to allow for rapid, nationwide changes to the obesogenic and unsustainable food environment in which we currently live. This environment has added to the UK’s Covid-19 pandemic death toll.

“As healthcare professionals we are concerned that business will restart as usual after the pandemic. It is not acceptable that the NHS is collapsing under the burden of chronic diseases, the majority of which could be prevented and treated by

addressing diet and lifestyle factors. We are willing to take on the task of shifting the NHS focus from a reactive healthcare system to one that promotes health and prevents chronic illness.

However, this action needs to be fully embraced by NHS leaders and the Government, who should now place the nation’s longterm health at the centre of their policy.”

They have also proposed 6-point solutions, that includes ban on junk food advertising, further taxation and cessation of subsidies for junk food, fast food or soft drink producers as well as industrial animal farming among others.

Dr Nitu Bajekal MD FRCOG, Women’s Health Expert, Lifestyle Medicine Physician and Founder of Women for Women’s Health told Asian Voice, “Research shows if you are South Asian, you are more likely to develop heart disease than white Europeans and more likely to carry weight around your middle, increasing your risk of Type 2 diabetes. A plant-based diet has been shown to add not just years to our lives but those years tend to be lived out much healthier.

Health span and not just life span.

Father’s Day during Covid-19 With Coronavirus infections slowing down in the UK, though people remain more careful, families around the country are preparing to celebrate Father’s Day on 21 June.

Honouring and celebrating important fathers and male family members has been a long tradition for many families.

This year, most spent Mother’s Day and Eid using virtual tools, though Britons are hoping to be able to spend Father’s Day with their elderly parents in an open space or park, if not in their own garden. But none of them will perhaps be able to give their dads the hug they’d like to on this Father’s Day. However not everybody is so lucky. There have been many who have lost their dads to coronavirus this year and Sunday will bring back memories of the lives lost in this pandemic.

Holding On Letting Go, a charity recently published a blog which shared some tips from their Programme Manager Debbie McSwiney on how to cope with Father’s Day before it arrives, and also on the day. It talked about communication, doing something your dad liked to do, listening to his favourite music, watching a film, making something that he liked- to remember your father, if he is no longer with you. While ‘facetiming’ remains the top gift, other ideas include a BBQ, kayaking, drive-in movie, to help father enjoy his day.

“Adopting an antiinflammatory whole food plant-based diet (WFPB) helps with both short term and long-term health. Focus on eating a plant strong diet, full of colourful micronutrient and antioxidant rich vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils, sweet potatoes and minimally processed whole grains. Add some nuts and seeds and plenty of immunity boosting herbs and spices, with water as the drink of choice. This way of eating is rich in fibre, helping to promote healthy gut bacteria which in turn reduces lifestyle diseases, such as heart disease and cancer, as well as dementia, through complex mechanisms.

“Avoid a diet high in trans fats, salt, oils, and sugar, which are found in junk and ultra-processed foods (biscuits/cakes/fried foods) as they promote inflammation.

“Avoid saturated fats found almost exclusively in animal products (eggs, dairy, fish, chicken, and red meat), which along with the hormones, insulin growth factor, pesticides, and antibiotics, promote oxidative stress and inflammation in the body, the basis of chronic ill health. (The less processed a food is, the better it is for you. Adding in exercise, avoiding smoking and alcohol, and maintaining normal body weight all can help us to be healthy).

“Fibre rich whole plant foods can be more affordable and sustainable. My advice is to shop in bulk and in season. The diet that is kindest to our bodies turns out to be the kindest to animals and our planet.”

The restaurant is urging supporters to help them stay afloat by buying services in advance based on a promise to deliver in the future Small businesses are facing enormous challenges whilst playing an important part in the fight against coronavirus. Many have had to close their doors in recent weeks and are struggling with cashflow.

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has launched the Pay It Forward London initiative with Crowdfunder, through which businesses can offer customers the option to buy goods & services in advance based on a promise to deliver in the future, helping to secure trade through this difficult time.

This means people can book and look forward to future activities, from curry in Harrow, to pints in Peckham and haircuts in Shoreditch, while supporting their favourite small businesses to stay afloat.

Pay It Forward London is part of a wider package of help the Mayor is offering to small businesses, including the London Growth Hub which is delivering tailored one-to-one advisory sessions with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the outbreak.

Over 700 businesses across the country have collectively raised over £1.5 million with the help of over 32,000 supporters who have paid it forward. The platform is open to businesses based in London who have been impacted by the Covid-19 restrictions.

Bangladesh Caterer’s Association UK Ltd seeks VAT reduction to 5% The Bangladesh Caterer’s Association UK Ltd has written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak to reduce the value-added tax (VAT) for the British Curry restaurant industry from the current and steep 20% to a far more realistic 5% for at least one year.

In a letter signed by M A Munim, President and Mitu Choudhury Secretary General, of BCA, wrote, “This will allow us to recoup the devastating losses caused by the lockdown and social distancing introduced by the government to combat the coronavirus. The hospitality trade has been among the worst-hit of all sectors of the economy by the restrictions that were imposed in March to help prevent the virus spreading.

“The hospitality sector is Britain's fifth biggest industry and the British curry industry has until this Covid-19 pandemic began, annually contributed approximately £4.2 billion to the economy. It

will be tough for us to continue contributing to Britain’s economy, unless we have this support that we are requesting. Please throw us this lifeline! We are an industry on its knees. “Globally the world is heading towards a second recession and this VAT relief will not only help our sector but will be a boost to the whole of the hospitality sector and to all small British businesses who are struggling. “We represent about 12,000 curry houses and we know from our members, that some of them will not be able to reopen when the time comes, which will further leave our high streets beleaguered, local communities poorer and unemployment higher. Especially, as a sector we employ up to 100,000 workers.

“What we are asking for is possible as Germany has already reduced its VAT for its hospitality industry from 19% to 7%. A cut in VAT rates makes business sense, it will help to restart our economy and importantly will encourage us all to start spending again.”

“I urge customers to buy Posto Vouchers now to enjoy Posto food once we are back open. There are 7 types of Vouchers that you can choose from, like having a small family meal or weekly home-food or even your first home party with friends to celebrate. We have created bespoke deals keeping all of you in mind.

We know many of you are waiting eagerly for ‘Bonding over Posto food’ with friends and family once the lockdown ends. So Please contribute and pre-pay for the same.

“This PayPritha Mukherjee it-forward scheme is back by the of the slowing economy Mayor of London. These and the effects of the vouchers will be valid for 6 extended closure due to months – 1 year. As a lot of Covid-19. As we went to you live far, no hurry you press, they managed to will get plenty time to raise around £7000 redeem these. through 60 supporters, “These funds will help with a target to collect at us pay bills, support our least £25,000 in a month’s suppliers and staff and mittime. igate the revenue gap. A Posto, which is currentpart of the funds will also ly the only remaining be used to work with local Indian Bengali restaurant community-based organiin London, serving Kolkata sations to support them food, has previously recover from Covid-19 crienjoyed welcoming guests sis. During lockdown we from all corners of the UK have volunteered to cook as well as world, including meals for NHS Staff and Paris, Germany, Italy, key workers. We have also South Africa, US and volunteered and raised Dubai. London Eater chose £1000 plus by donating our Posto to be one of the Top skills for Amphan Bengal 15 London Restaurants earcyclone relief. We want to lier this year. continue working with the Speaking to Asian community especially Voice, Pritha said, “We look elderly, vulnerable people forward to reopening once and young students. the restrictions are lifted.

“Please contribute and We want to be the place share with friends across where you will come for a the globe, as this is an interconversation over curry, to national platform, so that meet friends after the lockwe can welcome you back down drink piping hot tea soon. I want to thank you with crunchy veg chops. from the bottom of my We now more than ever, heart for all your support. need your support to tide We shall win it all togethover the crisis. Once we er!” reopen, given the current To buy a voucher or scenario and required safesupport Posto, see: ty procedures, we will be https://www.crowdfunfacing reduced revenue like der.co.uk/posto-indianall restaurants while costs bistro will increase.

Members of the public can also ‘nominate’ their local businesses and encourage them to sign up.

Restaurant serving Indian Bengali food joins the platform Pritha Mukherjee, the chef and founder of Posto, an Indian Bengali restaurant in Rayners Lane has joined the platform to raise funds so that her business could withstand the blow

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PRODUCED IN ASSOCIA ATI A TION WITH UK G

A NURSE AND D UNIVE E ERS LECTURER HELPING H G NHS TEST AND TR RA ACE CE CORO ONAV AVIRUS S

Rupanjana Dutta Josie Hitchen, an NHS nurse from North East England, England was on a career break, in Bali, training to be a yoga instructor. But when the pandemic hit, she returned to England. She responded to the fast-tracking route on the NHS Proffessi essionals (a company owned by DoH and the leading provider of managed flexible worker services to the NHS) website and went back to her local hospital in Middlesbrough as a nurse.

Soon NHS Proffeessionals emailed her about openings for contact tracers for for NHS T Test est and T Trace. race. She applied and started training immediately. It involved understanding Covid-19, familiarising with data protection and other procedures used in tracing.

J i now jjuggles Josie l b between nursing and her contact tracing role. As her husband is awa w y, alone with children,

Rohitt Sago Sagoo

SYMPTO OMS CHECKLIIS IST ST Hiigh tem mperature

A new, con ntin or or epi

Lo oss or ch sen orr t

Staayy home. Call 1119, Book a test at nhs.uk/corona k//coronaavvirus u she likes the flexibility of shift work.

Explaining herr role, Josie said, “Y You ou log l g on to various systems an nd are assigned g cases. Theen you y

run the record of th he patient to get their data an nd p prepar p e yourself. Next, yo ou call them, explain who yyou are, where you’re callingg from,

2

3

1 Got symptoms?

Stay home. Book a test.

Tested positive?

Isolate for for at least 7 dayys.

No one in your household should leavve home if any one person has symptoms.

Alerted by NHS Test and Trace?

Isolate ffor or 14 dayys if you’ve been in contact with someone who has tested positive.

NHS T Te est & Trace Your questions answ Yo wer ered...

Q

Do I have to tell the contact tracers who I’ve been in contact with?

Yes, Y es, you’ll be asked who you live and work with, and who you’ve been in contact with during leisure activities.

Q

Will it be anonymous, or will people know you’re the one who infected them?

The NHS Test and T Trace race service will only tell people they’ve been in contact with someone who’s tested positive for for the virus, but won’t share your name and details. All infformati ormation is held in strict confidence.

Q

How will you make sure people are isolating while w waiting aiting for their test results?

Most people havve been complying with social distancing, so the Government is confident the public will play their part in reducing the spread of the virus. But if they find that people are not isolating, they could issue fines.

Q

If I’ve had a positive test and no-one has called me within 24 hours, who do I call?

The service aims to make contact via email, text or landline within 24 hours of receiving the test result, so stay at home for for seven dayys and make sure your household isolates for for 14.

Q

If I’m told to self s issola olate, can I get a tesstt?

Only order a test if you develop symptoms, and if not continue to isolate for for 14 days. y

Q

Can I go out again if I get a negative test result?

No – you must complete your two-week isolation.

Q

Will antibody test results be part of the system?

The WHO doesn’t have v evidence to suggest you’re immune if you’ve had the virus, so even if you’ve had an antibody test you’d still need to isolate for 14 days y if

contacted.

Q

What about people I might have come into contact with on public trransp ansport?

Wear a mask on public transport and maintain a two-metre distance.

“Contact” is defined as spending more than 15 minutes within two metres of someone with Covid-19.

Q

How will contact tracing work if I have no phone or computer?

You Y ou do need an email address and phone number to get a test, but if you don’t haave ve one you can use a trusted friend or family member’s.

Q

Will I be asked to isolate more than

once?

You Y ou might do if you’ve been in recent close contact with someone who’s tested positive for for the virus. The best way ay to avvoid being asked to isolate is to ffo ollow social distancing rules.

what contact tracing will do, how it can help preveent the spread of the virus and nd ask if they’re they re be happy to proceed. oceed ” She then takes them through a questio onnaire on a government website, w including asking for for details such as where theyy have v been, who has been in the house with them and dw where they haave ve worked. work People can fill in the questio onnaire themselves, but not everyone has a smartt p phone or is comffortab ortable do oing it unassisted. The avveraage call lasts about 45 minutes.

Though Josie has come across people who did not want to alwayys cooperate, perate, most people are glad to take tak part.

Rohit Sagoo has been a nurse in London for for 22 years. He is the founder founder of British Sikh Nurses and has a full-time job as a lecturer in Children’s Nursing at the City University. After applying ffor or the rrole as a contact tracer, Rohit had to undergo 16 hours of training and complete several modules to qualify. He now works in a 4-8-hour shift for for

ole. ohit is provided p with a f people tested o coron or naavirus. ld d Asian V Voi oice, is actually quite mooth prrocess. system runs uns on diff fferent platfforms and reequires following o up w with paatients to asccertain if they th y ha h ve come in contact t with anyone, since testing positive. There Ther is a form form with around d ten questi estions that I fill in while w speaking to them. Thee questi questio ons can vary depending on people’s vary peop answers.”

Rohit, who also speaks Hindi and Punjabi besides English, added, added “II ha h ven’t come across aanyone requiring an explanation in a language other than En nglish.

But I am sure that iff I get Asian patients my language nguage skills could be useful.””

NHS T Tes est and T Trraace is the service in England. Please se check che uthority with your health authority or deta details. for Please visit nhs.uk//cor coroonavirus to find out how to geet a test. t.

8 UK

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Our Ageing Population – How we can tackle it together Yatin Dawada (President, Lohana Community North London) & Chandubhai Rughani (Chairman, Lohana Social Club – Senior Mens) For quite some time, many members of the Lohana Communityand indeed the wider British Indian community – have felt that despite the tremendous progress we have made in establishing ourselves in the UK, we have been unable to address issues closer to home, namely our growing, ageing population.

People in the UK and in the British Indian Community are living longer than ever before and therefore it presents many challenges which many community members are concerned that we are inadequately prepared for.

To help us face this challenge within the Lohana Community, Chandubhai Rughani (Chairman of the Lohana Social Centre) and I commissioned Lord Dolar Popat to investigate what steps we can take as a community to equip ourselves to cater for our elderly members. Whilst this report was commissioned before the Covid-19 outbreak earlier this year, the pandemic highlighted the urgency of better serving our ageing population and strengthened our determination to act fast. Covid-19 brought to light our weaknesses which have been overlooked and exposed many of the issues we have failed to address such as loneliness, vulnerability, dealing with ill health and keeping up with modern technology – which became essential to stay in touch with loved ones during the lockdown.

Lord Popat has left no stone unturned in compiling this report which took over a year to compose, after taking evidence from over 120 individuals and organisations including the Jewish and Ismaili communities.

The report is titled “An Ageing Population in the Lohana Community” and was published last week and as a community we will be posting this report to every Lohana family in the UK, as well Lohana Mahajans across the

Subhash V Thakrar

Chandubhai Rughani

world.

The report has been well researched and provides a series of key recommendations for members to consider. The aim of the report is not to impose or dictate to the community – but instead to initiate a discussion about how we can work together to address the implications of an ageing population. The release of the report has had an overwhelming response. It has been heartening to see how much interest the report as drawn, particularly on issues such as loneliness which we have been too afraid or shy to talk about.

Research collected by the report shows that people aged 65 and over are a rapidly large group. By 2040, the number of people aged 65 and over will have increased by over 40%.

Conditions like dementia will be up by 80% in just 10 years time.

The extensive report covers a number of important topics including, attitudes to ageing, pressures on medical care, gender inequality, financial and succession planning and strengthening intergenerational links.

Lord Popat notes in his report that “entering a discussion on an ageing population is to enter a minefield which all too easily deteriorates into an unattractive combination of finger wagging preaching on one hand and the denial of any challenges on the other.”

Nevertheless, Covid-19 has provided us all with an opportunity to act now and to ensure that we are better prepared.

However, the most important point to note is that the challenges of an ageing population is not unique to the Lohana

Yatin Dawada

Community – but to all British Indian communities. Most of the recommendations are relevant to most communities. I therefore hope that we can all travel on this journey together of addressing ageing together and we invite other community leaders to join this initiative.

The Lohana Community will host a special meeting once it is safe to do so for their members in the UK to discuss the recommendations and implications of this report. Key recommendations range from providing training for elderly people on new technology such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and even WhatsApp, to creating a hotline for lonely people and setting up community based care and retirement centres. Recommendations such as training for elderly and creating loneliness helpline, we have already started discussion with the view to implement them. We hope this will be an stepping stone to opening up the debate on ageing with other communities too. In the meantime, if anyone wishes to have a hard copy of this report to read or if community leaders are interested in sending out this report to their members please email – ageing@lcnl.org. Arrangements can then be made to post out copies to you. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Lord Popat for taking the time to compile this report, which will act as a key milestone not just for our community – but the wider British Indian community on how we can better prepare ourselves to cater for our ageing population. It captures very interesting findings and I thoroughly recommend you read it.

Luxury retailer apologizes and removes Hindu gods from swim-shorts London headquartered MatchesFashion has apologized and removed swim shorts carrying images of Hindu deities; following protests organised by the Hindus.

In an email to Rajan Zed, who spearheaded the protest, Paul Watson, Menswear Head of Communications of MatchesFashion, wrote, “We have removed the item from the site and furthermore we have circulated your email directly to our buying team to make them aware of such sensitivities moving forward. We trust this meets with your approval and apologise for any offence caused. This was not intentional.”

Rajan Zed, who is President of

Recognising the Lohana community for its bereavement services

Universal Society of Hinduism, thanked MatchesFashion for understanding the concerns of Hindu community, which thought images of Hindu deities on such a product was insensitive.

Rajan Zed suggested that MatchesFashion and other com-

panies should send their senior executives for training in religious and cultural sensitivity so that they had an understanding of the feelings of customers and communities when introducing new products or launching advertising campaigns.

Zed had said that many Hindu deities displayed on these shorts were highly revered in Hinduism and were meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to adorn one’s thighs, hips, groin, buttocks, genitals and pelvis. Inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or icons or concepts or symbols for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees. Objectionable Swim Shorts were priced at $273.

Unless some of us have experienced a death of a close one during the Covid19, you will not have quite appreciated the outstanding selfless contribution and support that various community organisations have given to the bereaved.

I am sure there are various other support services, but the support provided by the Lohana Community North London (LCNL) has been truly outstanding. North London has been the epicentre of the Corona crises in the UK and our Asians have had their disproportionately higher share of deaths.

The LCNL is amongst the fewer organisations that has a dedicated bereavement service led by Shri Vinubhai Kotecha and ably supported

by Natubhai Nathwani, Rameshbhai Devani, Jayantibhai Raithatha, Girishbhai and others. Vinubhai’s dedication to the service of the community has been felt in the Lohana Community and also in the wider society when he was conferred with public honour of BEM by the Queen.

When I asked him on what has been his experience during this heavy death time in the community, he said that in normal times , he would be conducting about 2 bereavement engagements per week.

These would include either public prayers or conducting last rights on the day of the funeral. His recent experience has been 6 such engagements per day! This is a massive jump. Of course, these engagements were somewhat eased by the use and support of the the digitisation process.

And all this is totally free and with complete humility!

Again, the LCNL digital team members, Amit Karia, Amit Chandarana and 11 others have done a sterling job in supporting Vinubhai and his team and of course under able guidance from the LCNL President, Yatinbhai Dawda. This was in addition to wider community communication ranging from linking community to volunteers for shopping, health and wellbeing guidance, business support and on line entertainment. Its good to see young people lending their special skills for the benefit of community.

In this period, Vinubhai and his team have sent out nearly 600,000 bereavement notices to the community database of over 3000 further extending to 1500 in Leicester and over 1000 in other parts of the UK. There have been numerous funerals that have taken place without any presence of the family or conducting the last rites of the departed soul. This is where this team has done an outstanding job. They have stood shoulder to shoulder with the grieving family and helped them with digitised public prayers, remotely conducting the last rights using a white cloth and the photo of the departed. This involves a dedicated puja after the departed soul to pray for his or her journey ahead. Ghee is applied on the forehead and there are five pinds (a mixed dumpling representing the 5 elements) that are placed in the coffin. Where the coffin could not be opened, the funeral directors were requested to apply the ghee when preparing the body. The white cloth with all puja samagri is then taken to the crematorium and placed on the coffin when it is placed in the incinerator.

Such adopted procedures were not followed casually but properly developed after consultations with dedicated knowledgeable Brahmins and Hindu scholars. Vinubhai recalls a strong feeling of families really appreciating this service and getting that final closure during a very difficult time having lost their close one.

There have been some benefactors from the community who have also helped. It is noteworthy that V B & Sons and Nita Cash & Carry have provided full package of the required puja items free of charge to bereaved families. One family has also given a commitment to the bereavement team to provide whatever financial support the families might need to cover the cost of the funeral.

There have been some funeral directors who have seen this as a great season of opportunity and either hiked up charges or brought in extra charges. Others have actually done the right thing of cutting their costs to reflect reduced costs of not taking the coffins to the homes. Typical funeral can cost between £2000 to £3000!

I must also mention the dedicated service of the Jalaram Mandir of Greenford who, lead by Acharya Palkeshbai , have been conducting public bhajans dedicated to the departed soul. I know the Mandir also did provide free prasadi to the bereaved families and relatives on the day of the funeral.

Looking at the future, Vinubhai , who is a devotee of Hanumanji but follows the Jain principles, believes that all members of the community should read the Gitaji as it teaches a lot about life and death. It will be up to the families but the benefit of digitised pujas, bhajans and funerals will be there to stay in addition to physical meetings. Indeed digitisation has helped many more people from around the world to join in the prayers for the departed soul.

After all when death has occurred the family must dedicate themselves for 13 days to pray for the departed soul.

Subhash V Thakrar, Past Chair of London Chamber of Commerce Founder Chairman , Charity Clarity Fellow of Royal Society of Arts

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Britain’s Indian community slams ‘Black Lives Matter’ protesters for vandalism Keith Vaz: 'Trying to remove Gandhi's statue is an insult to the British Indian community' Britain’s Indian community has slammed the violent protesters in the name of Black Lives Matter, which resulted into vandalism of an Indian restaurant in Ealing Road, Wembley.

Meera’s Village, a pure vegetarian restaurant, based in London’s Wembley area, was left ransacked, including theft of kitchen goods.

They also allegedly scribbled racist comments on the wall that have infuriated the community. The restaurant owner has been contacted by Asian Voice for a comment.

On Saturday there were more than 1000 men from far-right groups, including English Defence League (EDL), Britain First and Football Lads Association started gathering in Parliament Square and clashed with police who cordoned off the White Hall area. There were 15 injuries and more than 100 arrests.

Shouting abuse, throwing bottles and beer cans, the far-right hooligans tried to attack Black Lives Matter protesters, but police formed a thin line between the groups and pushed them out of the square after a 20-minute brawl in all directions.

The far-right groups started fresh clashes with police in and around Parliament Square later on, some group also tried to reach back in Trafalgar Square.

On the other hand, a petition to remove a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Leicester has received nearly 5,000 signatures. The online petition accuses the Indian independence campaigner of being "a fascist, racist and sexual predator".

Last year, students from Manchester called for a similar statue of Gandhi to be removed because of his alleged ‘well-documented anti-Black racism’, which was rejected.

Former MP Keith Vaz stands up to anti-Gandhi petitions Keith Vaz, the former

Vandalism at Meera’s Village

MP for Leicester East and who is the UK’s longest serving Indian origin MP, and who was elected to Parliament 33 years ago has called on the organisers of a petition attempting to remove the a statue of Mahatma Gandhi from the Belgrave Road, Leicester to withdraw their petition or face it being referred to the police for inciting racial hatred.

Mr Vaz was present when the statue was unveiled 11 years ago by the then Home Secretary Alan Johnson whom he had invited to perform the cer-

Lord Meghnad Desai

emony with a major religious leader from India.

The statue was paid for by public subscription, no taxpayers money was involved.

He said trying to remove the statue from the road was insult not just to the British Indian community but to all those who drew inspiration and strength from Gandhi. He said he was prepared to defend the statue himself if anyone tried to remove it.

Keith Vaz told Asian Voice, “This is a dreadful petition that seeks to divide

Keith Vaz and other members of the Indian community forming a human chain to protect Gandhi statue in Leicester

communities in Leicester and in the country. Those behind it know full well the consequences of what they are asking for. Gandhi’s statues in Leicester and London are an inspiration for peace, harmony and non-violence. He was one of the greatest peacemakers in history. If this is not withdrawn, I will certainly refer it to the police to consider whether it incites racial hatred. We have come a long way in 33 years on racial equality but clearly there is a long way to go.

If there is any attempt to remove it, I will be there to defend it personally.”

Responding to a campaign to remove Leicester’s statue of Mahatma Gandhi, Claudia Webbe, Member of Parliament for Leicester East, said, “I stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests here in Leicester and across the UK. I will continue to support all those across the world who are safely and peacefully protesting systems of racist oppression.

“I believe that the calls to take down the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Leicester are a distraction from this crucial movement.

“I recognise that, like many people of his era, Gandhi said and did some questionable things in his life. Yet Gandhi was part of creating a historical antiimperialist movement in the same way that Martin Luther King created a ground-breaking civil rights movement. His form of peaceful protest, like Black Lives Matter today, was a powerful force for change.

“In my view, the difference between a statue of Gandhi and statues of slavers such as Edward Colston, is that there is no reasonable debate that Colston – who derived his wealth from the murderous slave trade – is a morally defensible figure to be memorialised. The same cannot be said for Gandhi, who remains a hero to many of Leicester’s Asian community and to millions

across the world.”

The Gandhi statue in the Parliament Square also had to be covered up to save it from racist graffitis.

Lord Meghnad Desai, Chairman, Gandhi Memorial Statue Trust, who was a a pioneer behind the installation of this statue, added, "It is a pity and a shame that the Gandhi statue in Parliament Square is to be covered up ahead of the BLM rally.

Gandhi has nothing to hide.He is a pioneer of the struggle against imperialism and racism who inspired Dr. Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela."

Lord Clive is not ‘of India’ The row about statues is however now reached Whitehall, with leading figures calling for the removal of Lord Clive ‘of India’ statue from outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, “Robert Clive is just as bad as Edward Colston,” Lord Adonis told Evening Standard, while writer Afua Hirsch said: “He is not “of India”, he plun-

dered it.”

Clive was an 18th-century soldier who laid the foundations for the later British Raj, though he himself worked for the East India Company. A statue of him was erected by in 1916.

Debate on ‘Statues and Heritage in today’s context’ Sourav Niyogi, of Bengal President

Sourav Niyogi

Heritage Foundation told this newsweekly, "Ignoring past history - be it that of slavery or of colonialism can be damaging not only from a race relations or cul-

tural perspective but also from an economic perspective especially in a post Brexit world. Honouring famous people through statues in public areas and education of history are mutually exclusive areas but very important culturally. The reasons to honour publicly should be carefully considered. Statues of personalities not worthy of honour any more can always find a place in museums. They will serve the purpose of education of history in the context of their time and age, in addition to understanding of architectural sculpture.

"However, how do you determine democratically, which statues are relevant today - more often than not there are no easy answers. Historical characters are complex personalities. To delve deeper, we at Bengal Heritage Foundation are planning a discussion on ‘Statues and Heritage in today’s context’ in mid July as part of our ‘The Think Tank : A Bengal Heritage Conversation’ series.

10 READERS VOICE

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Furlough and its disadvantages Furloughs are a mandatory time off from work, a scheme launched by the UK government in wake of possible layoffs due to shutdown economy during coronavirus pandemic. The intention behind the scheme is good, but its side effects or disadvantages cannot be ignored. Instances of its misuse have already surfaced. The situation reminds me of forced exodus of Asians from Uganda. I was one of the migrants. The UK government provided us shelter in the refugee camps. We were welcomed in this country and told to enjoy benefits by being a part of this nation. From food to other basic necessities of refugees, all were taken care of by the government. We were also provided with subscription of `Gujarat Samachar' newspaper.

The UK Government took care of us like family members. Still, we wanted to leave the refugee camp and start a financially independent life. Even those who were affluent, owners of factories and businesses in Uganda did not hesitate to take up even small jobs. For the same reason, whenever there is mention of migrants, the case of Asian migrants from Uganda has always been appreciated.

Today several thousand people, with no other choice in hand, have taken up the benefit of the furlough scheme.

Though there is nothing wrong in doing so, but do not let your talent rot in the process. Because, in the end, you will have to rely on your skills. This is the time to plan a new career and when opportunity knocks, grab the offers even at a lower scale, if need be, in your old companies.

Do not forget that this too shall pass.

Avinash Raghvji London

Black Lives Matter The current year 2020, up till now, is undoubtedly proving to be the most unpleasant year in recent history.

Covid-19 has claimed innumerable lives globally and we all live with constant threat and terror that any of us can also might be a victim of this pandemic any time, thus taking all mandatory precautions. Every day we just helplessly watch the mounting figures of corona affected patients and condole the death of masses that could not survive. 'Black Lives Matter' movement has brought on surface a centuries old problem of racial discrimination.

Though every country has legally abolished inequality based on caste, colour, creed etc. yet to uproot this menace from the minds and behaviour of people at large is a daunting task that is still unfinished. The death of George Floyd in the US has sparked worldwide protests and calls to dismantle all symbols of human slavery, abuse and imperialism.

Additionally, when the whole world is struggling to come to terms with the above-mentioned daunting issues, the Bollywood industry in India, has lost 6 distinguished and glorious stalwarts in these first 6 months of the current year. Irrfan Khan (actor), Rishi Kapoor (actor, director), Wajid (music director), Yogesh Gaur (lyricist), Basu Chatterjee (writer, director) and now Sushant Singh Rajput (actor). These are the prominent names of artists who have left us for their heavenly abode as we mourn their sad and untimely demise.

Let us hope and pray that the remaining 6 months of 2020 give us enough strength to overcome these adversities & heal the scars left by these painful happenings.

Bharat Shah Harrow

Cancellation of summer exams The cancellation of summer exams due to Covid-19 has placed teachers in the position of judge and jury. In other words, they are being expected to grade and rank their pupils, based upon their own assessment, using evidence such as coursework which is not available for all pupils.

Our teachers have been amazing in the support they’ve given to pupils remotely in recent months. However, this system of assessment carries issues. For example, there is much research to suggest that human beings are prone to unconscious bias. As Professor Elliot Major of the University of Exeter recently told the Education Select Committee, ‘The worry is that unintentionally teachers will underestimate the academic potential of poorer pupils, potentially those from black backgrounds and potentially boys.’

In April, I wrote to the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, to express my own misgivings about his department’s proposals for an ‘awarded grades’ system. This letter has not yet been answered.Evidence from Government and academic studies suggests that an over-reliance on predicted grades and a school’s previous levels of attainment when calculating final outcomes, could disproportionately damage the prospects of disadvantaged pupils- particularly those from BAME and working-class backgrounds. The Department for Education and Ofqual must now take urgent action to prevent the potentially unfair and unintended consequences of this new awarding system, if it is not robustly administered.

Jennette Arnold OBE AM London Assembly Member for Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest

Throwing mud at the sun!

I was flabbergasted and at pain to read in Leicestershire local news that petition launched to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s statue from Belgrave’s Golden Mile, received under 6000 signatures in support. The petition is now closed, and Council will discuss the issue, give their verdict in due course, according to people’s wishes.

As local opinion poll in the area is in favour of retaining the statue, it is unlikely that Labour Council will agree to the removal. While, in a democracy, it is right of every citizen to launch such a petition, express their opinion without fear or favour. But to ostracize him, call Gandhiji every name, every crime, some of which are unprintable, is unfair to put it mildly and nullifies object of the petition. He may not be blameless but certainly he was not sinner either!

No human being is saint, from birth to death. We all have committed minor indiscretion at one time or another, Gandhiji was no exception. That is why we say, “Those who have committed no crime should cast first stone!”

Gandhiji was magnanimous even in death. No wonder he is revered all over the world. Some of the most influential figures of 20th Century describe him as saint, an inspiration to fight for justice, equality and freedom using nonviolence as the main weapon and that include Nelson Mandela, Bishop Tutu, Martin Luther King, Julius Nyerere and many more.

Bhupendra M Gandhi

By Email

Celebrating Father's Day Father’s Day is usually celebrated on the third Sunday in the month of June. It is celebrated to honour and respect fathers.

The dates may vary slightly in other countries.On this day, people buy gifts for their fathers or treat them to special things like a dinner at a fancy restaurant or sponsor a vacation abroad, etc.Father’s Day was first observed on July 5, 1908, by Dr. Robert Webb of West Virginia at the Central Methodist Church of Fairmont. Later, a Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd thought of having a similar celebration for her father in 1909 while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in church.

Her father, Henry Jackson Smart, had raised her up after her mother died young.He had made a lot of sacrifices for her sake and she saw him as a brave, selfless and affectionate man. Wanting to let her father know how special he was to her, she organised a tribute for her father on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington. Her father was born in June.

After many years, Father’s Day became an official holiday. Actually, many people were amused by the idea of a Father’s Day though they seemed to have no issue with Mother’s Day. It was even a target of sarcasm, satire and parody.Local newspapers made fun of it. It might even have disappeared from the national calendar. A bill was passed in 1913, recognising the day. Finally, in 1924, President Calvin announced that the third Sunday in June would be celebrated as Father’s Day.People buy roses on Father’s Day, a red one for fathers who are alive and a white one for their deceased fathers.

Though such days are largely symbolic, many people who have received much affection and support from their parents are enthusiastic about celebrating such days. Like Mother’s Day, it has also become much commercialised.Today, Father’s Day is celebrated around the world every year in order to recognise the contribution of a father in the growth and development of his children’s life. The day is all about celebrating and expressing the gratitude and love towards our father.

Jubel D'Cruz, Mumbai, India

Quarantine for people The decision of Priti Patel for 14-day quarantine for people coming to the UK is perfectly justifiable (AV 13-19th June 2020). There will be some people who will criticise the decision and will try to underestimate the real danger of Covid19. The government is trying to avoid or minimize the adverse impact of the second wave, if any. The second wave has already started in China (as reported by the BBC on 13 June 2020).

Even the government is helping new arrivals in finding accommodation at their cost for self-isolation. The airline industry is trying to blame the government for the so-called decline in air travel. When the advice from the government of different countries is “essential travel” only, naturally people will restrict movement within or outside the country. So, it is a general decline in air travel due to the pandemic.

Essentially the government is giving priority to the wellbeing of people and the NHS by giving plenty of incentives to almost all the industries to survive in this difficult situation and be prepared for a quick bounce back. It is a moral responsibility of each individual and the duty of each commercial organisation to follow the guidance issued by the government. Advisory notes issued by the government is based on the research and analysis from the data at that time.

Hitesh Hingu London

Kapil’s Khichadi Not Black Enough!

Kapil Dudakia When I was growing up in the North West in the 60s, I was called a paki, a nigger, a wog, a black bastard, sambo, golliwog, grease ball and much more. Let me assure you, the white racists did not care what shade of colour I was, we were ALL the same! I was beaten up time and again by gangs of white youths at school (it was called paki bashing) and by skinheads in the street. I faced discrimination at every corner, from education to employment, from going to the corner shop to going on holiday to Blackpool. But all this pain and suffering is not allowed by the modern-day Labour MPs. The only life experience they will accept is if you are black. We witnessed the most diabolical attack on Priti Patel this week by Naz Shah (Lab MP) and her ‘Asian’ Labour MP colleagues. In one letter they exposed their inherent prejudice. A prejudice that reflected their corrupt ideology, bankrupt morality and their sense of openly discriminating between the life experience of People of Colour (PoC) purely by how black they are. Yes, it transpires that if you are not black enough, then your life experience of racism is not worthy of note by the Labour Party.

I commend Priti Patel for not bending a knee to these racists. The disgrace goes all the way to the top of Labour, directly to their leader Keir Starmer. He has so far refused to condemn this discriminatory letter. This is the new leader of the Labour Party that wants to rid itself of structural racism, yet within months of taking office he has exhibited the very opposite. Readers should also note, people like Virendra Sharma MP, Tan Dhesi MP, Valerie Vaz MP, Seema Malhotra MP and Preet Kaur Gill MP also signed this letter. Asian Labour MPs have now become little more than puppets to their white woke masters. They have effectively gone on their knees and undermined the life experiences of thousands of PoC. Next time any organisation thinks about inviting such people to their events, maybe they should consider what message they are sending out? And if you are one of those deluded souls who voted for such people who so openly reject you, do look in the mirror and be ashamed.

Even the great Mahatma Gandhi was not black enough for many of these alt-left ‘protesters’. This week we had a petition to remove his statue in Leicester. Imagine, the inspiration for Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela attacked by the left with baseless slurs and racist diatribe.

These two giants of the black community and humanity who did not discriminate by colour, would have been horrified with what these protesters have done in their name.

I wrote the articles titled, ‘The Madness of Woke’ and ‘The Enslaved Mind’, as each day passes, we witness the reality before us. PoC are all in danger of being used by the anarchist that thrive on alt-left politics. In the old days, it was divide and rule. It seems today it’s more akin to divide and destroy. Our nation has come a long way from the 60s.

We allow these extremists to destroy that progress at our peril. In the end, only we the PoC will suffer.

“I’ve had enough of someone else’s propaganda… I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”― Malcolm X

Are we all untouchables?

Presently, almost all of the humanity is observing the social distancing. This practice is dictated by science for containing the spread of a highly contagious virus. It seems, we all have become untouchables.

The ancient Sanatan culture has been vilified and demonised by the western cultures for being based on science. We all have heard of the untouchable section of the population in India. That phenomena originated thousands of years ago for the same reason as we are observing social distancing today.Only, the folks who were working with dead animals and similar activities which may involve risk of spread of diseases to the rest of the population were considered untouchables and were asked to observe social distancing. Of course, the aberration which happened later on to apply the same social distancing to their progeny was wrong and it is rightly prohibited by the Indian Government. There are many aspects of the Sanatan culture which are based on science which the other cultures have difficulty to understand as they are based on faith.

Narsi Patel New Malden

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

Please keep contributing as always.

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

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20 - 26 June ne 2020 20

PRODUCED D IN P PAR AR RTNERSHIP TNERSHIP WITH UK GOVERNMENT

UK EN NCOURA AG GED E TO BUY UY SEASONAL NAL LOCAL PR RO ODUCE C We can all do our bit We to support our ffood ood industry, be it eating vegetables that are currentllyy in season, tr ying new recipes, or taking on a summer jjob at a farm. The UK Government is encouraging those who are fit and health hyy to apply ffor or seasonal job opportunities in farms this summerr,, doing their bit to ffeed eed the nation.

Rupanjana Dutta The UK’s food food and drink industry are a global success storyy, worth more than £31 billion to the economy and employing over 450,000 people.

With pubs, restaurants and hotels currentlyy closed, large quantities of local seasonal vegetables are at risk of going to waste. Vegetab Vegetables that are in-season includes asparagus, cucumbers, mushrooms, salad leaves, courgette, spinach, tomatoes, radishes, beetroot and others.

Vegetab egetables are a great source of vitamins, minerals and fibre, and are an

important imp rt nt part p rt off a heal h lth th hyy, balanced diet. Eatingg plenty of vegetables helps k keep eep us health hyy and may red duce the risk of disease and d some cancers.

Home cooks acrross the country can share recipes

using #SeasonalVeg Veg on o social media.

For families, there are lots of varieties of vegetables to choose from. Even if you’ve got a picky eater on your hands, you’re bound to find something tasty your child will like.

You can find a hand dyy list of seasonal vegetables at www. vegpo ow wer er.org.uk k//seasonallvveg

Scott Watson, radish grower at G’s Growers in Feltwell, Norfolk

Supporttin ng g local food food Scott Wa Watson is a radish gro ow wer at a G G’’ss Growers in Feltwell, Norffo olk. He has been gro ow wing radish for for G’s for f ov over 15 yeaars. Below is his inter view with Asian Voice, where wheere he spoke about supporting local food, food, types of in-season fruits and vegetables and heal alth benefi fits of eating them.

Q

What types of fruit and veg are in-season now?

The UK outdoor salads season is now well under waayy with lettuce, spring onions and radishes all b i being h vested har t d on UK farms. Our radish harvest started at the end of April and we have now been supplying UK grown radishes ffor or over a month.

The fine weather has meant that we have v seen strong demand at the start of the season. Radishes alwayys sell well when the sun is out and people get going with BBQs, which drives increased salad consumption as main meals.

Q

What are your favourite in-season fruits and vegetables?

Radishes of course.

However, it’s also great to enjoy UK asparagus.

Q

Why is it imporrtant to eat in-season for the industry?

We supply radishess from our farms in Norf N fo olk between April throu ugh to O t b . It is October i a fast-gr f t growing salad crop so if th here is heightened demand d, we havve the capability to o grow more quite quickly. During the summer it only takes a month to grow from m seed to harvest, which iss much shorter than most other salad and vegetable crrops.

Q

What are the health benefits of eating seasonal fruit and veg?

With the challengges of lockdown, it is more important than ever tthat we try to eat a healthy baalanced diet and ensure we are at least trying to get our 5 portions of fruit and veg per day. Snacking on radishes ishes is

a healthy choice as they are a source of Vitamin C and if you eat a third of a standard 240g pack it counts as one of your five a day. Snacking on radishes is a really low calorie and fulfilling alternative to snacking on a bag of crisps or other unhealthy processed ffoods. oods.

Q

Where can people look to source fruit and veg locally?

Currently the majority of our sales go through the major UK supermarkets, where we you can typically buy our radishes in 240g bags at circa 55p per bag. This works out at 18p per 80g portion - really great value!

However, we also supply radishes to the box schemes ffor or inclusion in their stir-fry recipes and also expect to see more of our radishes on the fruit and veg markets as they start to re-open.

Q

How can people support the indus dustry further?

Radishes are still a relatively niche vegetable butt are really great value and make ffor or a great healthy snack ck, so we would just encourage urage everyone to give British radishes a go this summer mmer and think about them as an alternative healthy ssnack that’s not just beloveed of Peter Rabbit!! Also, it’d be great if people wh ho are cooking with radishes es or other seasonal vegetab tables shared it on social media using the hash shtag #SeasonalV Veg. eg.

For more inffo oo on the #SeasonalV lV Veg eg campaign, mpaign, visit www.vegpow ower e .co.uk k// seasonal nallvveg For more ex xciting citing in infffo o and fun facts about radishes adishes visit www.lo . veradish.co. h.co.uk

12 MEDIA WATCH

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SCRUTATOR’S Bachchan charters 3 flights to take migrant workers to UP Besides Sonu Sood, megastar Amitabh Bachchan has also been doing his bit for those in need of help during the lockdown. Over the past two months, the veteran actor has been distributing food kits among the needy in Mumbai.

Recently, he arranged the transport of over 200 people stuck in the city. Now, it has been reported that Bachchan chartered three flights to take over 500 migrant workers to their hometown Varanasi. A source said, "Everything is being done with utmost discretion as Bachchanji doesn't want it to be publicised. He was moved by the plight of the migrant workers and decided to help them. According to another report, in the coming days, the actor will also arrange air tickets for those headed to West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and other states. Earlier, Bachchan had also arranged for 10 buses to help migrants reach their native places in Uttar Pradesh, the state that the actor hails from. In addition to this, since the coronavirus lockdown, he has also supported the families of 1,00,000 daily wage workers belonging to the All India Film Employees Confederation by sponsoring their monthly ration. (Agency) MP pips Punjab as India’s top wheat procurer

Passes must for entry and exit from Rajasthan

Punjab, the traditional food bowl, has lost its crown as the top wheat procurer to Madhya Pradesh, where purchase from farmers is nearly 67% higher than its own estimate, suggesting largescale government intervention to bail out farmers hit by unseasonal rains and absence of private players, along with diversion of grains from neighbouring states.

So, against the initial estimate of

Rajasthan has imposed regulations on the movement of people and vehicles across the state borders. Chief minister Ashok Gehlot said that nobody can enter the state without an NOC from a competent authority, while those heading out of the state must get a pass issued either from the district collector or an authorized government officer.

The order is not applicable for

8 million tonnes, the state has so far procured around 12.8 million tonnes, a tad higher than Punjab’s 12.71 million tonnes. It is expected to close this season with another 2,00,000 tonnes, officials said.

Officials said that apart from MP, another 2-3,00,000 tonnes are expected from Rajasthan, which has also surpassed its estimate, while Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, which have been below par, will chip in with another 300,000 tonnes or so. This means the stock of grains with FCI will be around 96 to 97 million tonnes with 80.7 million tonnes already in godowns and the remaining being in the form of custom mill rice in the pipeline. By July 1, stocks are estimated to be around 92 to -93 million tonnes, more than twice the buffer norm of 41.2 million tonnes. (The Times of India)

intra-state movement. Rajasthan shares borders with Punjab, Haryana, NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

The order released by director general of police (law and order) M L Lather directed police officers concerned to create check-posts at all inter-state borders. “Passes for exiting the state will be granted to only those facing an emergency situation like hospitalisation in another state or to attend funeral of a family member,” the order said. During a high-level review meeting on Covid-19, Gehlot said that many who were found to be Covid positive had tested negative before they travelled out. The move has been taken after a spike in number of cases, especially among migrants and in rural areas. During the meeting, Gehlot informed that state recorded 2,500 cases between June 1 and June 10,

the first 10-day period when the state came out of the lockdown.

“The regulation is required so that our three months of hard work does not go waste,” said Gehlot.

(The Times of India) Delhi agrees to implement LG’s order on hospitals Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said his government will implement the "Centre's decision" and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's order overturning the decision on reservation of state-run and private hospitals in the national capital for Delhiites as "this is not the time for disagreement and arguments." Addressing an online media briefing, he said his government has "unprecedented challenges" ahead as data shows that Covid -19 cases will rapidly increase in Delhi in the coming days. Delhi will need 150,000 beds in healthcare facilities by July 31 once people start coming to the city for treatment from other states, Kejriwal said, asserting that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation will make an "honest effort" to provide medical treatment to all. The chief minister said of the 150,000 beds, it is estimated that 80,000 will be required for Delhiites, adding that the calculation is based on numbers that show 50 per cent of the beds in hospitals in the national capital were occupied by those from other states before the coronavirus pandemic. (Agency) Drop FIRs lodged against migrant workers: SC

suggested that the Centre and state governments should drop FIRs lodged against migrant workers for violations of lockdown guidelines and said having lost their means of livelihood, they were anxious to avail of whatever mode of transport, including walking and cycling, to reach home. The SC asked state governments to identify all stranded migrant workers who wanted to return home and send them to their native places by trains or buses in the next 15 days.

It asked the Centre to provide Shramik Special trains, in addition to 171 already requested on specified dates, within 24 hours of requisitioning, as promised earlier by solicitor general Tushar Mehta.

(Agency) Gujarat planning to withdraw nonserious offences The Gujarat government is planning to withdraw criminal charges registered against nonserious offences during lockdown period. If you have been booked by the police for morning walk or taking your dog for a walk during the lockdown, in all likelihood, the charges against you will be dropped soon. A mammoth 175,000 cases which include ‘non-serious’ offences have been registered by the police during the lockdown. A majority of these have been registered using drones. The home department has opined that apart

from serious offences committed during the lockdown like attack on Covid warriors like police, health staff and others, violation of quarantine and deliberately endangering life of others during epidemic and the like, other petty cases could be withdrawn.

However, as the ongoing partial lockdown will continue till June 30, these cases could be withdrawn only after the month ends, sources said. In case the central government decides to extend the partial lockdown beyond June 30, the matter will be considered after the partial lockdown ends. (The Times of India) Ex-goalkeeper among two killed in Assam OIL blaze

The Supreme Court has

A former nationallevel footballer from Assam was among two firefighters killed while fighting the oil well inferno in Tinsukia district of Assam that raged for two consecutive days last week, triggering a mass exodus from

villages in the vicinity. Durlav Gogoi (35), a goalkeeper who had represented Assam in junior national tournaments and later played for Oil India Ltd's senior team, and his colleague Tikheswar Gohain (55) had been reported missing when the Baghjan oil well erupted in flames after continuously spewing clouds of gas for two weeks. A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team found their bodies in a nearby pond. "We lost two of our men today. As of now, we are listing the cause of death as drowning for lack of forensic evidence. Suffocation is a possibility, too, because of the gas around," an official said. "We suspect the two firefighters jumped into the pond to escape the flames. Several nearby water bodies have caught fire due to condensates flowing out of the oil well," Tinsukia SP Shiladitya Chetia said. (The Times of India) IIT-Madras retains its top position IIT-Madras retained its top position in the overall category among educational institutions in India with IISc, Bangalore and IIT Delhi bagging the second and third spots respectively in the National Institutional Ranking Framework 2020 announced by

the HRD ministry. The top three universities in the annual rankings are IISc Bangalore, Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Delhi University’s Miranda House continues to top the list in the overall category of colleges for the fourth consecutive year. In all, 12 DU colleges feature in top 20 with Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College occupying the second slot. Seven IITs are among the top 10 higher education institutions in the country. In the medical category, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi remains on top, followed by Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh. IIM-Ahmedabad has been ranked as the top BSchool in the country, followed

by IIM Bangalore and Calcutta.

In the overall category, the top six institutions retained their positions while IIT-Guwahati moved up by two positions to be ranked 7th this year. The new entry into the top 20 is IIT-Hyderabad. (Agency)

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22-year-old cooks at the temple and Five-step exercise to review fundraises for the vulnerable A 22-year-old boy has raised over £1000 and has been cooking meals at the Slough Temple to support the NHS staff and vulnerable from the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic.

Neil Shonchhatra of Major Estates Harrow has been assisted in conducting these charitable acts despite suffering from his own vulnerabilities. Sustaining a knee injury owing to a torn ligament means that his mother has been driving Neil around during cycles of cooking hot meals, their distribution and fundraising money for the NHS. Neil initially started this drive after gathering that his friend Shivani Patel was in need of food at the King’s

Neil Shonchhatra (second from right) with members of the NHS donating essential supplies

College Hospital. He began collecting money from within their office where he raised nearly a £1000. Other colleagues later stepped up to the mantle and supported him with further donations

in providing for over 3000 pieces of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for different NHS Hospitals.

They were able to donate PPE to hospitals inundated with cases of Covid-19 such

as the Northwick Park, Royal Brompton, Luton, St Marks Hospital, Sheppard's Bush Medical Centre, Sheet Street Medical Centre, Bridgewater Surgery among others. Over the upcoming weeks he has proposed donating 600 pieces of PPE to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel and Kings College Hospital in Denmark Hill which will be distributed amongst their Trusts as well.

Besides monetary help, Neil has also been successful in providing hot meals to these hospitals with aid from Pizza Hut, bottled water and snacks and warm beverages.

Additionally, he has been regularly visiting the Slough Temple to cook for the and NHS.

MPs brace for a rise in Islamophobia as Mosques re-open On Monday 15th June, as places of worship gradually re-opened, MPs flagged up their concerns about a potential rise in Islamophobic attacks against the Muslim community.

These concerns follow after some far-right-media reports accused and alleged the Muslim community of breaking lockdown and gathering at Mosques during Ramadan.

Speaking against that propagandist movement, Afzal Khan, vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Muslims stated that he had received dozens of racist emails during Ramadan and Eid about Muslims increasing the transmission of coronavirus on social media. He said, “It’s true that a large number of people do participate [at mosques]. But they understand the risk. They are complying with [the rules] and there is no evidence to show that they are not and yet the narrative from the far right is the opposite.”

Bearing these concerns in mind the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has produced an updated guideline for the safe and gradual reopening of the mosques for congregational prayers in consultation with regional and national Muslim associations in the past few weeks.

This guidance provides mosque leaders and Imams with a checklist of issues to consider before reopening and essential measures to put in place to minimise the risk of the spread of infection. It includes a template risk assessment, advice on maintaining social distancing within the mosque, measures to take if an attendee develops symptoms of coro-

Afzal Khan

navirus and communicating plans to the local community. Harun Khan, Secretary General of the MCB said, “The UK Government has announced that in England, places of worship can reopen for ‘individual worship’. While this may be suitable for church buildings, it is evident that imple-

Tan Dhesi

menting this for most mosques is considerably challenging and impractical.

We recommend that it is more useful for mosque leaders to invest their time and efforts into preparing for safely resuming congregational prayers from as early as 4 July, with time frames in Scotland and

Wales to be announced.”

Other MPs like Yasmin Qureshi one of the first female Muslim MPs, Tan Singh Dhesi MP and Wes Streeting MP both vicechairs of the APPG for British Muslims, also raised similar concerns around Islamophobic attacks.

Streeting is calling on police to consider increasing security at mosques in their operational plans as lockdown eases across the UK. Meanwhile, Tan Dhesi said, “Communal elements are more common in certain faiths but there have been certain elements of the far right saying this is how the coronavirus is spreading.

This is a dangerous narrative we need to call out.”

Nation gathers virtually to remember Grenfell fire victims On Sunday 14th June, prime minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer commemorated the third anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire Sadiq Khan tragedy, where 72 people died in the west London residential block.

“Grenfell for Humanity”, was held virtually in regulation pened and working to make with the social distancing sure it never happens again,” norms owing to the coronhe said. avirus pandemic. In his However, Labour Party video message, Johnson said, estimates that over 50,000 “While those affected by people were still living in Grenfell are not able to residential construct gather in person, all of us in wrapped in similar this country are with you in flammable cladding that is spirit. We can all remember believed to be responsible where we were three years for the Grenfell fire tragedy. ago today when we saw this “Three years on and, tragedy unfolding on our unbelievably, tonight people screens and across the will go to bed in unsafe London skyline. As a nation, homes. Three years on and we are still dealing with the there has been little justice consequences of what hap-

or accountability.

Three years on their campaign continues. I support Grenfell United. We can all learn from their strength and determination,” said Starmer in his message.

The then prime minister Theresa May also tweeted that Parliament, “must do all we can” to help the survivors and that their loved ones must not be forgotten”. Meanwhile, accolading the work of the Grenfell United pressure group, in a written statement, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan stated, “While struggling with their own personal grief and recovery, they have continued to campaign for building safety and are demanding change to keep others safe in their homes.”

your financial behaviour Rohit Vadhwana This is an unprecedented time. Only a few living humans have seen such a situation in their lifetimes. People are losing lives and jobs, both with little notice. In such a time of crisis, if you have lost a job or incurred losses in business, it is the right time to do a review of your financial behaviour. It is important to do a small survey of your financial situation, to look at your wisdom. A five-step exercise to increase your financial prudence will be useful.

1. Examine your Expenditure: What is your monthly and annual expenditure? Examine the major areas where your money has gone in last five years. Where did you spend most of the money? Were they on household requirement? Education for children or medical bills?

Were they on buying and maintaining luxuries, like a costly car or beautiful furniture? Also, examine your total expenditures under such categories as compulsory and optional.

2. Identify your Assets: During your career, you must have acquired some assets. It may be in the form of real estate, i.e. land, house, investment in property, etc. or may be in the form of liquid assets like cash, gold or bank deposits. If you have a good amount of asset created, it will be useful during any hard time. Remember, assets are yours and you can use it for job loss and financial emergency.

3. Get rid of black holes: A black hole has a very strong gravity that no particle can escape from it. If you have certain products which are sucking your money regularly, they are black holes. So it is better to get rid of black holes. You might have monthly subscriptions for various entertainment platforms. Do you need all of them? You might be paying for a gym, a coach, or any other regular services. If you have not been using them to justify the expenditure, this is the time to get rid of such black holes.

4. Declutter demanding products: Some products you have bought demand maintenance and service regularly.

If you do not need those products, declutter them. If you have three cars in the family but one can suffice, now is the time to declutter and reduce parking, road tax and insurance expenditure. Remember, anything in your possession has a maintenance cost. Even an extra shirt will cost you for dry cleaning. An extra piece of furniture requires cleaning and polishing. There might be other such products, which are not useful in any manner, or you can live without them. So, if you do not need, declutter them.

5. Strengthen your Saving: While I was young, we had a small piggy bank at home. I would put savings from my pocket money. At the end of the year, we would open the piggy bank and count my savings. An insignificant amount in my saving didn't matter to the family, but it gave a sense of accomplishment to me. Siblings would boast amongst themselves about their piggy bank possession. This was a more childlike game. But I realise the habit of saving some portion of our earning is very important. So be determined to strengthen your savings in the future. This five-step exercise will surely make us financially prudent and sound.

Our unnecessary expenditure will reduce and will make us shock-proof to a certain extent.

(Expressed opinion is personal)

Akshay Patra Foundation serves over 100,000 vegan meals to the vulnerable during coronavirus The Akshaya Patra Foundation UK is providing food assistance to support children, the elderly, the vulnerable as the UK gradually phases out of the coronavirus lockdown. Since the lockdown began in the UK on March 23rd, a little over 100,000 meals have been served by the foundation along with its affiliate partners Food For All. Bhawani Singh Shekhawat, CEO at TAPF UK said, “The Akshaya Patra Foundation is committed to ensuring that we provide a solution to hunger and improved nutrition with

speed and at scale. We are also executing Holiday Hunger projects in the Greater London area and are preparing to serve over 30,000 meals during the coming school holidays. We are immensely grateful to all our partners and supporters who help us to make this possible.”

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TLIGHT

Meditative musicality meets rhythmic rap in Vidhu’s unique performance style. This was evident throughout our chat with her organically poised sentences that sang as they flowed: “You’ve got to win people’s hearts before you can their minds,” she told us. Going by the stage name ‘BananaSharma’, Vidhu is an established performance poet at the helm of the exploding world of spoken word.

Having performed at many a poetry festival and a variety of literary events, including AWomen Festival and Rifco Theatre’s British Asian Festival, Dishoom’s Dinerama and on a special invite at Oxford University, she has brought her hard-hitting, socially conscious work to the poetic arts scene across the world. “Being able to travel and authentically connect with people

ordering of wider society in its destructiveness: “Is one child being abused not one child too many?/ Depleting human dignity/ Choose compassion over pride.” She stated: “Asking the audience a question, rather than stating an opinion, keeps me open-minded and curious – especially when it comes to exploring more nuanced ideas like spirituality as a solution for social issues.”

This has great contemporary relevance in the wake of polarised politics and insurgent cultural angst such as the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements. “Sometimes something that we think will bring us closer in the beginning isn’t what might be the case in the long-term. Maybe we need to go through a degree of social inequality to have a greater spectrum of equality later on. There will always be conflict and tension but also opportunity for

has been a major highlight,” she stated.

“I have taken poetry to South Africa, to India, to the Netherlands – it’s been great to be able to meet so many people whom I ordinarily wouldn’t, and through the deeper medium of art too.

Poetry has allowed me to break the ice in so many areas of life and make unique connections along the way.”

The concept of connection is central to Vidhu’s poetry, who told us that “I have felt the most successful when I’ve had someone tell me they feel differently towards something or that they’ve been inspired to do something because of my work. I’d be an awful famous person, I really would. I very much enjoy being in amongst the action, another cog in the machine”. The blithe lyricist elaborated on the particular interpersonal impetus informing her work: “I didn’t realise people felt represented by my work until quite some time into performing. I like to tell the micro stories that reshape the existing narrative: this could be about people or communities, or more abstract concepts like sustainability and altruism.”

Indeed, this is clear in such poems as Women of My Life in which Vidhu explores the tension between modern and traditional ideas of femininity: ‘All I know is it’s the most sensitive, women, who live the most connected”.

In another, Provide, she questions the underlying contempt and egotistical

incredible resolution and peace. We just have to decide how we’ll harness them.” Indeed, the basic laws of the natural universe show themselves reflected in candid emotional truth.

“It’s always come more naturally to me to engage in balanced thinking to identify the opportunities that can help us move forward.”

And so, a frontrunner in h e r poignantly express i v e medium, Vidhu at o n c e demonstrates the importance of keeping a friendly vulnerability at the same time as being able to precisely articulate pain: this is what creates effective action for change: “Performance art is increasingly becoming a form of activism – people use it to show their alliance with a particular cause. Spoken word has proven so effective for this, but I think it is important to remember the personal stories that first characterised the medium – and communicating this immediate, intimate energy as well. It is what I try to preserve in my work.

Whether it is a social message or an individual thought, performance poetry ultimately harnesses a variety of feelings.” It is the interacting balance of every life force that results in a truly stabilised world: not the dominant assertion of one glorified point of view over another.

and rhythm and honest social commentary. Can you tell us a bit more about this? Yes, although I don’t think I necessarily fit the stereotype, the genre has been a massive influence. I grew up listening to people who had seen completely different things to me, yet were ultimately seeking out something beyond themselves which I resonated with. It made me more culturally aware and introspective. I’m a massive [J] Cole head, I spent many an evening absorbing the life and experiences of Immortal Technique, and closer to home, in the UK rap scene, I studied the likes of Wretch 32 and George the Poet. It’s bonkers to me that I now work in such close proximity to George as a Content and Strategy Manager on his team - it comes back to following your nose without looking up.

You are also a marketing specialist and content strategist: do you think you will continue to grow your performance poetry? Yes, I always find it coming back to me. I really admire artists who painstakingly craft their verse into masterpieces over time, but for me, it’s painstakingly organic. It’s taken me a long time to be at peace with the fact that my work may be a little infrequent, but what I produce is always true.

Yes, it is important to be as relaxed as you are focussed as a writer isn’t it?

Yes, but all artists have to reconcile their approach. You can’t be too possessive; what might mean one thing to me can mean something completely different to another person. One of my personal mentors Rajiv Chandegra has engrained in me the idea that it is better for something to be imperfect but complete, than incomplete and perfect. This has been a great source of motivation and encouragement to me over the years.

W: www.bananasharma.com

Banana Sharma: On Performance Poetry

"Maybe we need to go through a degree of social inequality to have a greater spectrum of equality later on. There will always be conflict and tension but also opportunity for incredible resolution and peace"

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What first got you into performance poetry?

My family have always encouraged me towards the arts. My brother Sumit introduced me to rap music at an early age. My mum sent me to creative writing classes which really helped me articulate my ideas. My papa would often turn the radio off in the car and say: “Vidhu, why don’t you present the show?” I truly believe that what you seek is seeking you, so when I kept being presented with opportunities to pursue different forms of creative arts, I just followed my nose and didn’t look up to overthink.

A lot of art is driven by emotions that started when we were young: you definitely seem propelled by human closeness?

Yes, actually, in terms of performance, there was so much warmth in the spoken word scene. This really drew me in. MCs, music, raw emotions, people who genuinely had the time of day to listen and their own vulnerabilities to share. There’s nothing like a good poetry night in the City.

In terms of your style, your performance poetry is some of the closest to rap out there: the highly synced rhyme

Sunetra Senior

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Cllr Ketan Sheth Cllr Ketan Sheth Chair, Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee Brent Council

Yoga happens beyond the mat Yoga is rapidly becoming popular as a community-based approach to improving health and wellbeing by overcoming isolation or loneliness. And that’s a good thing.

Especially when we consider that researchers say loneliness and social isolation are the root cause of many underlying health problems. And sadly, social isolation is on the rise.So let me explain why I think yoga is so important and the benefits it can offer us all to improve our health and mental wellbeing in our modern society.

I know that many of us feel that yoga can offer activities and experiences, which are healthy for mind and body. And, that yoga also gets involved with others, which is often crucial for our wellbeing. For some, yoga can offer opportunities for informal drop-in and social interactions combined with more structured programmes of activity, or “recreational therapy”.

The World Health Organisation, who initiated the International Day of Yoga, has recognised that the level of empowerment, choice, influence and control we have over our lives has a significant impact on all those factors, and on our physical and mental wellbeing. It is said that promoting self-management may help us improve our mental and physical health and take more control over our lives. The success of our community relies, I think, in large part on the trust we all place in our communities and the knowledge that our community will be there should we need the support. So, as we as a community take steps out of the devastating impact of Covid-19, we need to examine both the practical ways that community-led yoga can operate given the great demand for support services with ever decreasing resources. I also think we need to make the commitment to working in partnership to increase local knowledge of yoga’s pivotal role in the social prescribing matrix. We also need to understand the links between community-led yoga, social prescribing and our resilience. Just as we all accept the need for the government to provide a right to healthcare, to a decent education or to social security, we should argue for access to community-based recreational therapies as part of our progressive social prescription. Recreation therapy is a type of therapy that uses engaging activities, such as yoga, to enhance a person’s physical and mental abilities, resilience, and overall wellness being. This type of therapy may benefit people of all ages with recovering, coping, coming to terms with where and how they live.

I would like to say as well that everyone can do yoga.Yoga, as we know, requires no equipment, no specific skills or physical abilities, and can be practiced by anyone, in any condition, in any location. Yoga allows us into people’s lives for moments of grace while we are all on our mats - we can feel connected to the other people in the room, regardless of our lived experiences, and the external conditions that separate us from each other.

Also, yoga practice does not have to be so serious! We can laugh and talk to each other, expect the unexpected, and to go with the flow!

So, let me end by saying that in the 1940s the social reformer William Beveridge developed the welfare state to tackle what he called the “five giant evils” of his time – squalor, ignorance, want, idleness, and disease. They certainly were evils of that time. I think that today in 2020 in the 21st century we should say that loneliness and isolation are increasingly becoming another great evil. But on this International Day of Yoga 2020, let’s remember we have this important practice which can help to tackle that modern evil which can affect us all.

Birmingham MPs issue cross-party joint statement in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protest In light of the Black Lives Matter protests in the UK, Birmingham MPs have put out a joint statement in solidarity with the black community in Birmingham. The letter has been signed by MPs including Preet Kaur Gill, Liam Byrne, Andrew Mitchell, Shabana Mahmood, Jack Dromey, Jess Philips, Khalid Mahmood, Steve McCabe, Tahir Ali and Gary Sandbrook.

The letter notes, "Recent events have shone a spotlight on the many structural injustices sadly still present in society today. Injustices manifested by the many daily discriminations faced by black people and those from other ethnic minorities.As Members of Parliament representing constituencies in one of the most diverse cities in the UK, we know that it is only through listening to those affected by structural injustices that we can begin to understand what needs to change to heal our communities."

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“I was too gay to be Muslim. I was too Muslim to be gay:” A dutiful boy explores double marginalisation of BAME LGBTQ+ community A criminal barrister has penned a coming of age memoir about growing up queer in a strict Muslim Shia household.

Mohsin Ziadi in his book ‘A dutiful boy’ chronicles his struggles of accepting his identity being raised in a devout family.

Born to immigrant parents from Pakistan, Mohsin’s anecdotes urge debates and open conversations between the multiple generations in Asian families as young children find and adapt themselves in a modern Britain.

He worked his way up from a failing inner city school replete with gang violence to being the first student from his school to read law at the Oxford and gradually University, become a criminal barrister at one of the top chambers in the country. The book follows Mohsin in his journey of navigating through the hoops of isolation at a time when his mother struggled to understand the complexity of his choices. His conversations with his mother

Mohsin Zaidi

about his identity and his love for his partner is a guide to many in the Asian community who struggle to “come out” to their parents for the fear of prejudice and stigma attached to homosexuality. This is perhaps, best highlighted by how high-street pharmacist Shrien Dewani was forced into living a “double life”

British Asian artist explores Brown feminism in her latest book

Jaspreet Kaur

An award-winning spoken word artist has announced her debut book ‘Brown Girl Like Me’. In her latest book, Jaspreet Kaur explores and chronicles the struggles of being Brown, British and a feminist.

The book is believed to raise questions and start the debate about how one can be a brown feminist without rejecting their own culture and Asian roots. It also aims to highlight that Asian girls form the second highest group of students in the UK but they are not proportionally represented in wider institutions. Kaur said, “I always wished that there was a guidebook on how to deal with growing up brown, female, marginalised and opinionated. But there was no blueprint at the time. This book will be a letter to my younger self and to every brown girl fighting to grasp our own narrative of history and identity. It will explore and challenge existing narratives in a way that has not been done before.”

Within the poetic circles, Jaspreet is often recognised as ‘Behind The Netra’. She is a frequent face on the BBC and ‘Sunday Morning Live’. An ambassador for The Girls Network and Time to Change, she has worked with the United Nations on their ‘He for She’ campaign.In her book, Jaspreet weaves together a myriad of voices with each chapter chronicling personal anecdotes alongside one-to-one interviews around brown feminism. Her book is slated for publication in Autumn 2021 by Bluebird.

being married to Anni Dewani and during her 2010 murder case, it was revealed that he had kept his bisexuality hidden from his family. Underpinning these core concepts however is the lesser debated intersectionality between class and race which Mohsin is quick to identify through his father’s experience of working as a taxi driver. While he makes peace with a need for social validation, he also deals with social isolation after his mother emotionally distances herself from him.

Part of the struggle for Muslim men and women to come out can perhaps be attributed to being caught in the crosshairs of religious and theological debates. The long-standing protests by Muslims parents out of the Parkview Primary School in Birmingham will be a pivotal chapter in the history of sex education and its dissemination in schools while respecting faiths and cultures. Over the years, there have been many representing and demanding equal rights for this community most renowned being Khakan Qureshi. Yet, he is quick to dismiss himself from being glorified as the torchbearer of the Asian LGBT+ community. In his recent interview with The Sunday Times, he said, “I’m no expert on theology. I do think that faith is a very individual thing. I mean, ultimately, I’m not in the business of telling people how to practise. What I can say is that I was born and raised Muslim, I still identify as Muslim, and I was also born gay.”

Boxer Amir Khan teams up with Barnardo’s for an exclusive video call Boxing world-champion Amir Khan, comedian John Bishop and BAFTA-nominee Jason Isaacs have teamed up with children’s charity Barnardo’s for the ‘Fifteen Minutes with Fame’ to raise money for the Covid 19 aftermath.

As part of the draw, winners can discuss how to pull punches with world-champion boxer Amir Khan on an exclusive video call.

They can chat with comedian John Bishop, while Harry Potter fans can test their wizarding knowledge with a quiz from Lucuis Malfoy himself, BAFTA-nominee Jason Isaacs.

These celebrities are the latest Barnardo’s ambas- Boxer Amir Khan sadors and supporters who are offering members of the public the chance to win a 15-minute video call with them to raise money for Barnardo’s Covid 19 appeal. Bigger names are expected to join the list.

Each entry costs £5 and proceeds go to the Barnardo’s emergency appeal, to help the charity continue its vital work supporting vulnerable families across the UK during these very challenging times. Amir Khan said, “As a long-time Barnardo’s ambassador, I want to do anything I can to make sure that this incredible charity can continue to support vulnerable children all over the UK.

Barnardo’s Chief Executive Javed Khan said, “The vulnerable children Barnardo’s supports need us now more than ever. We’re working round the clock to adapt our vital services, so we can continue to help children and families - whether face to face, on the phone or through an App. “But we cannot do this alone, and with our shops closed and major events cancelled, we’re more reliant than ever on the generosity of our friends and supporters, as well as the British public. The funds raised will help make sure we can support vulnerable children through this crisis.”

in brief ZOOM WEBINAR DISCUSSION ON SATYAJIT RAY MOVIE TO FUNDRAISE FOR AMPHAN HIT BENGAL On Sunday 21st June, the South Asian Solidarity Group in association with the Bong Film Club are hosting a zoom webinar discussion on Satyajit Ray’s movie ‘Ghare Baire’. The movie is adapted from the novel of the same title authored by Rabindranath Tagore in 1916 ('The Home and the World'). Both the book and the movie explore the contradictions in the rise of the Swadeshi movement in response to the 1905 colonial partition of Bengal and its communalisation. And this perhaps, is the most poignant time to recall history especially as debates around racism and colonialism gather momentum.

But this fundraising drive is also organised in the aftermath of the devastation Bengal has suffered since cyclone Amphan struck the East Indian state in mid-May. The Bengali diaspora across the world have stepped up their efforts in re-building Bengal at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in farmers and daily wage earners losing their livelihoods. They have relied primarily on local relief drives of such nature and all proceeds from this discussion will go directly to aid the vulnerable.

The discussion will draw on the expertise of Professor Tanika Sarkar and Dr. Karen Gabriel. For more details about the webinar, you can contact the South Asian Solidarity Group on their website.

PUSHING FOR DIVERSE CHARACTERS IN CHILDRENS’ COLOURING BOOKS British Asian authors are pushing for diverse characters to be included in childrens’ colouring books and other literature in an attempt to educate children about multiculturalism and integration.

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) authors have been trying to incorporate characters from multi-ethnic and immigrant backgrounds in their illustrations. Such efforts are a conscious decision so that children grow up with a better understanding of racial structures and class systems that exist in society. Authors like Rashmi Sirdeshpande, Konnie Huq and Zanib Milan have realised that most of the elementary literature is “white-washed” with barely any references to members from other countries and backgrounds.Now, their books such as How to change the world, Cookie the Most Annoying Girl in the World and Planet Omar are hoping to change the narrative about ethnic minorities especially as the protests against the unfortunate murder of George Flyod continue to rock the UK. But in this process writers of colour have pointed to several hindrances that they have to surpass in being commissioned. The biggest struggle perhaps is that characters of colour are rarely accepted as the protagonist. Recent books sometimes still depict characters of colour as “sidekicks” who support and affirm the white main character. Other times, the “diversity” in a book appears in the background only. Also publishing like any other industry is driven by a demand-supply market. If books aren’t selling, then publishers often attribute the need for “whiter characters” owing to a lack of audience.

Therefore, many justify that they do not need to publish more books with characters of colour.

AUTHOR ALLEGES SUNDAY TIMES OF RACISM On Sunday 14th June, Afua Hirsch alleged The Sunday Times of racism. Hirsch tweeted a screenshot of the publication’s review of her book Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging. She was supported by writer Nikesh Shukla who has previously chronicled his struggles in being a writer of colour. She wrote, “#Racism is when @TheTimes reviews your book saying a love of (black) music shows you have “no real hinterland”, your interest in Africa shows you’re never travelled in Europe and simply assumes, because you are black, you have an “obsession with weed”. The paper has never apologised.”Recently many authors have taken to social media to indicate how they have been lumped into one BAME category even as the discrimination an individual from different minority groups face are different.

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Asian donors with Covid-19 convalescent plasma can save lives On June 16th, an early analysis by the NHS indicates that Asian people who have recovered from Covid-19 are more likely to have the antibody-rich convalescent plasma which can save lives.

Asian donors, are now supporting NHS Blood and (NHSBT) Transplant’s appeal for more people to donate plasma to help people infected with Covid-19.

Currently, NHSBT is collecting convalescent plasma for a major coronavirus treatment trial and if the trial is successful, it will be widely used in hospitals. The antibody rich plasma of people who have recovered from Covid-19 can be transfused in people who are struggling to develop their own immune response. Bhairavi Sampat, an infection prevention and control nurse specialist who works at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, recently recovered from coronavirus and donated convalescent plasma at Tooting donor centre

cent plasma donors were almost twice as likely to have high antibody levels as white donors. 63% of Asian donors met the threshold, compared to 36% of white donors. These results are from donations made by 592 people between 21 April and May 11.

Commenting on these observations, Prof Dave Roberts, NHS Blood and Bhairavi Sampat Transplant Associate Medical Director for in south London. She said, Blood Donation said, “I was very nervous “These are early results about donating but it was from a relatively small numactually easier than I expectber of donors but the results ed. I think there needs to be are statistically significant. more openness in the Asian Our donors so far from community. There’s still Asian backgrounds were some stigma around the more likely to have the plasvirus, a lot of people ma which could save lives wouldn’t even sat they had than white donors. “We are had the virus. It’s a simple not yet sure why this is the procedure. You can help case. The indications from people who are less fortuour work so far, and past nate.” studies, is that the more seriRecent figures have ously ill people become, the showed the Asian convales-

more antibodies they made.

A Public Health England report suggested people from Asian communities who have Covid-19 have a higher risk of becoming seriously ill.

“We can reassure people that convalescent donation is safe and easy. Your body quickly replaces the antibodies you donate. By donating convalescent plasma, you could save lives.”

Convalescent plasma is being collected at NHSBT’s 23 donor centres around the country including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Luton and Leeds, as well as in pop-up donor centres.

Convalescent plasma donation takes about 45 minutes, during which time you can sit back and relax.

Your body usually replaces the plasma you’ve donated in 24-48 hours and you can get on with your normal day after donating. Your body quickly replaces the antibodies and people can donate plasma as often as every two weeks.

Autistic child makes TikTok videos for caring after old A 12-year-old girl has spent time during the lockdown looking at TikTok videos and has been making packages for elderly care-home residents with help from her mum.

Marium Ahmad has autism and fighting chronic fatigue and likes staying in at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

As part of her project Awetisome.life, Marium fundraises, and has put together care packages. She donates gifts to autistic children, as well as to elderly care-home residents.

Autism can affect people's social interactions. Defining her condition in an interview with the BBC Asian Network, she said,"Autism is basically a condition where there are some things that you don't like. It can be sensory stuff, like noises or lights, it can be anything. Some things just trigger you and you don't like them. It makes me anxious.”

According to the National Autistic Society there are 700,000 autistic people in the UK. There is no definite data indicating the percentage of Autistic children from BAME backgrounds. A spokesperson for the organisation said, "If you're autistic, small changes and unexpected events can trigger intense anxiety. So the scale and pace of change over the past three months has been incredibly hard.

"Now we've started easing the lockdown and adjusting to the new rules, different anxieties will be creeping in.

Marium’s mum Zainab, has been home-schooling her for the length of the lockdown. But she says that it has made her worse. "With Marium's autism and chronic fatigue, rest is good... but she's out of practice in facing the world with outings... so it's literally [going to be] like teaching her how to ride a bike from scratch."

They both say the sense of community that comes with getting involved with volunteering opportunities locally in Wimbledon, south London, has been a big positive of lockdown.

Jo Johnson proposes four-year Opinion polls suggest Keir student visa to save universities Starmer has the highest rating since Tony Blair A new report has urged the government to double its post-study work visa offer to four years in a bid to save the British universities from collapsing due to coronavirus.

This move can potentially result in a near doubling of Indian students choosing UK universities by 2024.

The report — “Universities Open to the World: How to put the bounce back in Global Britain” — prepared by former UK universities minister Jo Johnson for the Policy Institute at King’s College London and the Harvard Kennedy School, warned that an anticipated 50-75 per cent drop in international students due to the pandemic would expose “real vulnerabilities” in the country’s higher education sector. Jo Johnson in a statement said, “For students in India,

An Ipsos MORI survey revealed that, barely two months after becoming the new Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer has matched the early performance of Tony Blair, the man who went on to become a triple general election winner.

this offer would be a total game changer. It would be sensational for the ability of our universities to go and market British higher education in India. The increase that I am proposing to the post-study work visa will be of particular appeal to students from India, who are very sensitive to whether or not they have an ability to stay on in the country after

they graduate to put to use the skills they have acquired in higher education and earn a bit of money to help them pay the pretty considerable fees that our universities charge them.”

Under the current rules, the UK is set to open up a new “Graduate” visa route, commonly referred to as a poststudy visa, for the 2020-21 intake to UK universities.

Sir Starmer has not only outscored immediate predecessors Jeremy Corbyn and Ed Miliband, but also surpassed the net score of David Cameron former Prime Minister leaving behind former Tory leaders William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard.

The poll shows that the margin between the two leading national parties has narrowed, with Conservatives on 43 per cent (down nine points since March), Labour on 38

UK witnesses a sharp increase in Job Centre reliance On Tuesday 16th June, the UK Government reported that the number of people out of work and claiming work-related benefits jumped 23% to 2.8 million with coronavirus crisis forcing thousands of businesses to close.

The latest figures for May noted that the number of jobcentre claimants increased from 1.24 million in March illustrating a sharp 126% increase since the beginning of the lockdown.

Minister for Employment

Mims Davies MP said, “Today’s figures are starting to show the impact of Covid-19 on our economy, but our furlough scheme, grants, loans and tax cuts have protected thousands of businesses and millions of jobs, setting us up for recovery.

“Already our nationwide network of Work Coaches have moved in to support jobseekers across sectors and match them with employers who are recruiting. By responding to the needs of communities across the UK

they will be at the heart of our revival and renewal, helping people find new roles and move forward with their lives.”

According to the ONS, Job vacancies also fell to their lowest level on record and inflation-adjusted pay fell in real terms for the first time in April since January 2018.

However, the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.9% in April, illustrating the cushioning effect of the government’s furlough scheme, which has protected

more than 9m jobs. A steep rise in unemployment was averted in March and April after the government introduced a series of grants and subsidies, including the coronavirus job-retention scheme.

In a statement to The Guardian, Tej Parikh, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said employers were expected to begin making thousands more people redundant as the furlough scheme was phased out between August and October.

(up eight) and the Liberal Democrats on 10 (up one).

The survey reveals the public are deeply divided over the Government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.

Another interesting find of the poll is that Chancellor Rishi Sunak gets the highest

Cabinet score for handling the pandemic, with 60 per cent favourable (up 19) and 14 per cent unfavourable (up one). Even 54 per cent of Labour supporters think he has done well, following cash help for furloughed workers and struggling firms.

Gaitri Kumar appointed new Indian High Commissioner to the UK Indian diplomat Gaitri Kumar has been appointed as India’s new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and will be succeeding Her Excellency Mrs Ruchi Ghanshyam.

The 1986-batch Indian Foreign Service Officer is currently serving as Indian Ambassador to Belgium, Gaitri Kumar with Donald Tusk Luxembourg and the European Union. In a career of over 30 years, she has served in Indian missions in Paris, Kathmandu, Lisbon and Geneva as well as been Joint Secretary in the Americas division at the Ministry of External Affairs headquarters in Delhi.

Her appointment to the high-profile post comes at a time India is looking at further expanding ties with the UK after it came out of the powerful European Union.

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Dear Financial Voice Reader, Alpesh Patel Financial literacy is the silver bullet for social mobility. I write to you from Mayfair. Look at a Monopoly board.

Mayfair and Park Lane - 100 years later remain affluent and Old Kent Road - pretty much is not (I've been, and seen it too).

It takes even longer and should not to equalise human disparity in social mobility. At school, I didn’t fear the rich kids would beat me in the exams - they didn’t and wouldn’t. Their bellies were full. I feared the hungry kids, the poorer ones, like me. They wanted to win.

That’s the injustice. Lack of opportunity of choice.

Make your children financially literate. Teach them about savings and compounding and tax-free savings like Government bonds and ISA and even shares.

One financial website said they will do the following and I can do no better than repeat, edited, their words: Improve financial literacy within Black communities.

Statistics show that financial literacy is not equal across all races and ethnicities, which means we need to take a more targeted approach to enact change. In the coming weeks, we will launch a series of articles around specific financial challenges facing Black people to help them navigate those challenges. We’ll also be actively seeking organizations with the mission of improving financial literacy in Black communities that we can partner with to amplify their impact, with details that we’ll share here as we know more.

Improve awareness of the importance of diversity in companies.

We will encourage other companies to focus on diversity and inclusion by holding them accountable, as we hold ourselves accountable. We will highlight where companies, particularly financial product and service companies, stand on anti-racism, diversity, and social responsibility through our existing reviews, profiles, and analysis so that our readers can make educated purchasing and investing decisions.

We as a community must not sit on our laurels. We have done much. But our children must not merely inherit wealth, they must earn and build it and the answer remains financial literacy. Our community has suffered huge injustices and is a role model for fighting its way out with little resource, but I fear is in too many silos – as communities often become.

I grew up in Armley, Leeds. To London I am on outsider. I fear as an outside observer of London the pockets of wealth in my community tends to congregate. As someone who has live in St John’s Wood, Kensington and Westminster, I am not saying all communities do not congregate – but it is easy to be in a bubble unaware from whence we came. I live in Chiswick now – but wait – it counts as the London Borough of Hounslow and the socio-economic profile of Hounslow is ‘my kinda people’.

Not meaning to be patronizing – but hedge fund managers as much as anyone need to get out of Mayfair. We all need to get back to Armley is what I am saying.

Or as the cool kids said two decades ago – ‘keep it real’.

EasyJet resumes flying with Covid-19 measures in place EasyJet aircraft took to the skies for the first time since March 30 on Monday, as the British carrier resumed a small number of mainly domestic flights after weeks of lockdown.

Passengers, who under easyJet’s new rules must wear face masks, boarded the airline’s first flight from London’s Gatwick airport to Glasgow. Chief Executive Johan Lundgren said the airline was “super excited” to restart flights.

He said measures to protect passengers had been agreed with regulators. “It’s absolutely safe to fly,” he added. The airline is starting with a minimal service, flying mainly routes within Britain to cities including Edinburgh and Belfast. It is also resuming some domestic and international routes from France, Switzerland, Italy and Portugal.

While borders across Europe are being opened, a hopedfor travel recovery in easyJet’s home market of Britain has been put at risk by a 14-day quarantine rule for arrivals.

EasyJet, alongside rivals British Airways and Ryanair, started legal action against the quarantine policy to try to have it overturned.Lundgren said Britain introduced quarantine as the rest of Europe was removing restrictions. “We don’t see that it makes any sense from a public health point of view,” he said, adding that it was having a “very dampening effect” on new bookings into the UK.The airline is planning to ramp up services as the summer progresses and by August has said it will be flying about three-quarters of routes but at a much lower frequency than last year. Capacity will be at about 30% of usual in the busy July to September season, easyJet said.

Bigger rival Ryanair plans to be flying 40% of capacity by July.

Chancellor visits one of thousands of shops before its reopening Nearly 7,000 high streets reawakened on Monday as non-essential retail were allowed as part of the government’s plan to gradually and safely reopen the economy. Non-essential retail employs 1.3 million people and provides £46.6 bn to UK economy every year.

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak visited a Waterstones in London to see some of the measures they’ve put in place to ensure they are ready to welcome customers again. They were able to reopen thanks to the ongoing efforts of people across the country to meet the Five Tests set out by the Prime Minister.

Waterstones is one of the many shops reopened their doors again and followed the Covid-19 secure guidelines, such as limiting

are nearly 7,000 high streets across the country, each providing a valuable service to their community.

They will be vital in helping kickstart the economy as we recover Chancellor Rishi Sunak visiting a Waterstones from the virus.” the number of customers The retail sector employs allowed inside and frequentmore people than any other ly cleaning objects and sursector in the UK and more faces. Waterstones have than 10 million people live installed sneeze guards and within 200 metres of a high sanitiser stations, and street. browsed books will be 90% of shoppers plan to removed and quarantined. return to high streets Chancellor Rishi Sunak A new research conductsaid: “From Monday, shops ed by social media manageselling books, clothes, and ment platform, Maybe, has electronics are able to open found that 90% of confor business for the first sumers plan to return to time in more than two their high streets following months, as part of our plan the reopening of the shops to gradually and safely on Monday. The survey, reopen the economy. There which had 2,000 respon-

dents, revealed that while around 47% of shoppers are nervous about shopping, 43% say that they will shop as often as they did preCovid-19 and 7.5% will embrace retailers and shop more than they did before the pandemic struck.

On the other hand, more than a third (35%) plan to shop online more than they did pre-lockdown.

Polly Barnfield, the CEO of Maybe, commented: “Britain’s retailers should feel confident that despite the on-going concerns surrounding Covid, the vast majority of shoppers are ready to get back to high streets and start spending again. Equally, retailers should be aware of what consumers expect from them to make their shopping experience as reassuring and as safe as possible.

Reuben brothers fund new Oxford college with £80mn donation David and Simon Reuben, India-born, London-raised brothers who built a fortune partly from metals trading in the “Wild East” of the former Soviet Union in the 1990s, have donated £80 million to Oxford to open its 39th college for graduates.

The opening of the college is subject to confirmation by the university’s governing Congregation body later this month.Reuben College, which was provisionally named Parks College after its establishment was formally approved in 2019, will be interdisciplinary and focus on applied research in subjects such as environmental change, artificial intelligence and cellular life.

It has already recruited 29 academic staff, or fel-

to get too big to not disrupt their sense of community. We had a demand for graduate places from students and faculty that couldn’t be met.”The Reuben family did not study at David and Simon Reuben Oxford but began lows, headed by Lionel donating to the university a Tarassenko, an engineer, decade ago via their foundaand will have an initial tion by giving scholarships intake in the 2021 academic for students from lower year of 100 graduates, buildincome backgrounds, and ing to several hundred stu£17mn of their new bequest dents and at least 50 fellows will endow that previous in the next few years.It will programme. be located just north of the Oxford’s largest donacity centre on the Radcliffe tion in recent history was science library site, which is £150mn given last year by being refurbished.

Stephen Schwarzman, the Louise Richardson, co-founder of Blackstone, Oxford’s vice-chancellor, the world's largest private said: “We’re absolutely equity firm, to support a thrilled. Colleges don’t want new building to bring

together the humanities faculties in one place, plus an institute focused on the ethical questions around artificial intelligence.

The last college to be created after a bequest was the all-graduate Kellogg College, previously known as Rewley House. It was established in 1990 and renamed two years later after its original benefactor, the US-based W K Kellogg Foundation.The 2020 Sunday Times rich list named the Reuben brothers as the second richest people in Britain with a fortune of £16bn, just behind James Dyson, and jointly with Sri and Gopi Hinduja. They rank just ahead of Len Blavatnik, who also made much of his money in Russia and has endowed Oxford’s school of government.

Wealthy in UK pay less tax than official headline rates, study finds A detailed study of HM Revenue & Customs says that wealthy Britons pay much less tax on earnings than official headline rates due to discrepancies in the system, amounting to £20 bn in lost revenue to the exchequer. The study looks into the tax rates paid by individuals who received more than £100,000 a year in taxable income, including capital gains.

The study by academics at Warwick university and the London School of Economics used data from 40mn self-assessment returns, which found a big mismatch between the statu-

tory headline tax rates and the reality of what wealthier people paid. A substantial minority of the UK’s richest individuals were found to have paid tax much lower than others with similar remuneration, and lower even than people on modest incomes.

“If most rich people paid tax at the headline rates on earnings, we would see effective average tax rates rising with remuneration. But instead among the UK’s richest individuals, we find a very different pattern,” said Arun Advani, assistant professor at the University of Warwick, and Andy Summers, assistant professor at the LSE’s

International Inequalities Institute, who wrote the report.

People earning more than £2mn face a headline rate of 47 per cent but the study found on average they were paying tax at 40 per cent, representing a saving of £140,000. A similar pattern emerged when the researchers included taxable gains as well as income and led them to conclude that above £250,000 the personal tax system becomes “regressive.” Someone with both taxable income and gains worth £10m annually paid an effective tax rate of just 21 per cent, the study found, below the rate that would be

paid by a person on median earnings of £30,000. There was also a great deal of variation in the actual rate of tax paid on earnings by wealthy people with similar incomes.

A quarter of those with income above £4mn paid just 31 per cent; the same effective average tax rate as someone earning £70,000.

The authors stressed that individual taxpayers should not be blamed for the discrepancies, which are primarily due to the different way income and gains are taxed rather than avoidance schemes or bad behaviour.

Deductions available from various tax reliefs also have a big impact on tax paid.

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India’s forex reserves hit half-trillion mark India's forex reserves rose by $8.2 billion during the week ended June 5 to cross the half-a-trillion-dollar mark for the first time. Forex reserves rose to $501.7 billion from $493.5 billion a week earlier. The increase was due to an $8.4-billion jump in foreign currency assets to $463 billion. Of the other components of the reserves, the value of gold declined by $329 million to $3.2 billion, and reserve position in the International Monetary Fund rose by $832 million to $4.2 billion.

Bankers attributed the increase in reserves to dollar inflows arising out of deleveraging by Indian corporates.

Reliance Industries has been selling large chunks of its holding in

Jio Platforms to global investors and has received a commitment of £9.78 billion.

Bharati Telecom too raised $1 billion selling stake through a block deal. GSK sold $3.3 billion in Unilever.

Bankers say that large deals, even the ones in local markets, end up drawing foreign investor interest.

“The RBI has been buying dollars since governor Shaktikanta Das

took charge in 2018. With forex reserves, the more you have, the less the need to sell.

The forex market knows that the RBI can easily sell $50 to ward off billion speculative attacks,” said Bank of America Securities India economist Indranil Sen Gupta. He added that as a result, forex markets have avoided testing the rupee even as other currencies like Brazil, South Africa, Turkey,

and Indonesia have come under pressure.

But banks say that high reserves does not mean that all is well on the external front. “The dollar bond yield on Indian credit is still higher than pre-Covid level.

Yields have come down of late because of easing dollar liquidity, but they are still away from pre-Covid levels.

The reason for the underperformance is how the macros are stacking up, plus uncertainty in respect of the infection and associated costs,” said DBS head (treasury) Ashhish Vaidya.

“The positive is that there is a larger coverage of imports, which makes India less vulnerable. The corporate deleveraging also reduces the overall risk in the corporate sector,” said Vaidya.

Franklin Templeton ordered to suspend liquidation vote The California-based fund manager Franklin Templeton has been forced to halt plans to wind up six of its Indian funds after Gujarat High Court intervened to suspend the procedure amid allegations that the US firm mismanaged the assets.

The fund manager sparked panic in Indian capital markets in April when it announced it would freeze and close six funds that had invested in lowerrated debt in search of higher yields.The move, which trapped about $3bn of customers’ funds, prompted outrage from some investors who argued that the asset manager had put their money in peril through excessively risky lending practices, and should have sought their approval before

shutting the funds.

Franklin Templeton had planned to allow investors to start voting on winding up the funds, asking 300,000 unit-holders whether the liquidation should be managed by the funds’ trustees or a third party, Deloitte.But the Gujarat High Court ruled that the vote could not go ahead until an audit of the six funds was made public.

Justice Gita Gopi ordered that “the unit-holders would not be having the opportunity of informed decision making” until they had seen the report on

Economic contraction possible, admits govt The government admitted for the first time that India could see an economic contraction during the current financial year, although chief economic adviser (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian built in a caveat that activity in the second half of the fiscal held the key. Subramanian, who had projected 1.5-2% growth at the start of the lockdown in early April, on the assumption that there would be a Vshaped recovery, told reporters that things remained uncertain. Since April, most global agencies as well as the RBI have forecast a fall in India’s GDP this year due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “... what is uncertain though (is) whether the recovery will happen in the second half of the year or will it happen next year and therefore the actual growth will depend critically on when the recovery happens. If recovery does not happen this year, the economy will basically have a decline in output this year.

the alleged mismanagement.

The process would be stayed until “the forensic audit report comes in public domain,” she wrote. The judge was responding to Franklin Templeton’s appeal against an earlier decision to delay the process last week.

A spokesperson for Franklin Templeton said the company would halt the winding-up process, but planned to appeal the order.

The company denied allegations that it has mismanaged the funds.“We continue to follow due process, both in making investment decisions and in the winding up of these schemes,” the spokesperson said. “We have acted in the best interest of our investors and in accordance with all

regulations.” The asset management giant has previously said that suspending redemptions and winding up the funds was necessary to protect investors’ money after the coronavirus pandemic drained liquidity in the country’s debt markets. also said that investors had been warned of the risks inherent in such funds.However, some investors worry that Franklin Templeton’s decision to wind up the funds means they will lose substantial portions of their investments. The turmoil added to strain on India’s already weakened financial system, prompting heightened outflows across mutual funds as panicked investors in other funds sought to protect their assets.

India's June exports show signs of improvement After steep double-digit declines for three months, India’s exports are estimated to have declined by just 0.8% during the first week of June due to a spike in the value of shipments to several Asian countries, led by China, amid indications of a pick-up in economic activity.

Although the initial signs of improvement may be on account of bunching of shipments, there are other indicators, such as a jump in the number of e-way bills for goods transported within the country, which point to more manufacturing and services activity as the economy recovers from the lockdown.

Against a daily average of 13,00,000 e-way bills in March, the number rose to 14,40,000 last week, which is around 70% of the February average. The government is, however, more surprised with the improvement in exports, which were estimated at $5 billion during the

first week of June. During May, exports are estimated to have declined by around 36% to $19 billion, after a 60% drop in April.

In the initial days of June, petroleum product exports to China and Singapore were cited as one of the reasons for the improvement with fuel shipments estimated to have jumped nearly 90% to $717 million in the first week of June.

Export of iron ore, probably to China, soared nearly three-and-a-half times to $100 million. In value terms, it was pharmaceuticals and chemicals that were bigger with export of the two product categories estimated to have gone up around 17% to over $400 million each. The imports have declined by a massive 47% to $4.9 billion – leaving the country with a marginal trade surplus of around $125 million. The fall was led by crude oil, whose shipments fell 65% to $788 million and gold, down 94% to $51million.

All the right angles

Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

Currently, we are about to close a commercial deal for about £650K. The property consists of a shop and uppers. The great thing about the deal is there is already money coming in at a reasonable yield from day one.

This takes the pressure off the time taken to get your ducks aligned in terms of planning and other things. It also means we should be able to obtain reasonable finance on the deal, thereby avoiding the need and pressure of expensive bridging costs.

The property is a freehold, and in a popular part of North West London. There are two ways to obtain planning consent, one is through permitted development which is through legislation laid down by central government, and the other is through local planning. Our current focus is to go for deals which are driven by the permitted development (PD) rights and not the latter.

The deal should not be dependent on planning permission. This is a nice cherry to have on the pie. This deal has potential for both angles.

The accommodation above the commercial premises, looks ill utilised; it’s currently a large flat. Here, the property could be converted to a six bedroom HMO which will be granted under PD rights.

The commercial could then be converted in part to residential, this would double the value for each square foot; we can create an increase in value simply by changing its utility. We would leave the front part as commercial premises much smaller in size. In the fluctuating commercial property world this should be the safest to let out.

Both of these can be done under PD. This means there is certainty in the deal.

Simply by converting the upstairs into an HMO we should be able to double the rental income.

Once these two permissions have been obtained within the statutory 56 day period, we will then go for the full planning gains to be had on this property. There appears to be ample development potential to add to this deal.

The point to note on this deal is the deal works simply reliant on the PD rights. The full planning angle is just the cream on the cake. It will enhance the deal manifold, but the deal will stand firm on its own without this addition.

This is a very important point, as we have done deals reliant purely on full planning, and this can take as long as a length of string.

In investment it is better to have certainty, both in terms of time and the ability to obtain the change of use. This deal has both.

We will need to engage with a planning consultant to decide, given the overall strategy, which steps should be taken and in what order.

You don’t often get deals with this many angles at this price.

SBI moves NCLT to recover Anil Ambani’s personal guarantee State Bank of India (SBI) has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), seeking to recover loans disbursed to the Anil Ambani-led group of companies from a personal guarantee given

by Anil Ambani. The bank has filed two applications under section 95 (1) to nominate a resolution Anil Ambani professional for insolvency resolution process of personal guarantor - Ambani. The cause list on the NCLT New Delhi principal bench website has two cases by SBI for urgent hearing.

Section 95(1) allows a creditor to apply either by himself or jointly with other creditors, or through a resolution professional, to the court for initiating the insolvency resolution process. The application has been filed even as lenders have approved bids for the group’s telecom companies.According to banking sources, the action by SBI appears to be aimed at staking their claim on personal assets before international creditors get them. Last month, a UK court had directed Ambani to pay nearly $717 million to three Chinese banks pursuing recovery of funds owed to them. The matter pertained to a guarantee extended by him to a corporate loan availed by Reliance Communications in 2012 as part of refinancing. Ambani had, however, denied executing any personal guarantee in favour of the Chinese lender ICBC. Sources said that the guarantee was in the range of £120 to 130 million. A spokesperson for Ambani said, “The matter relates to a corporate loan availed by Reliance Communications Limited (RCom) and Reliance Infratel Limited (RITL) and is not a personal loan of Ambani.”

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Pak court indicts Hafiz Saeed's four close aides

Pak army tightens grip again as Imran’s popularity wanes

LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan indicted four top leaders of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and close aides of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed in a terror financing case. The court indicted Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Yayha Aziz and Abdul Salam in one of the cases registered against them on terror financing charges.

All the four accused, however, pleaded 'not guilty' and chose to contest the trial.

The court adjourned the proceedings, with direction to the prosecution to present witnesses against the suspects. The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police had registered 23 FIRs against 70year-old Saeed and his accomplices on the charges of terror financing in different cities of the province.

Saeed, a UN designated terrorist whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty on, was arrested on July 17, 2019 and is lodged at the high-security Kot Lakhpat jail.

Saeed-led JuD is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans.

The US named Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice. He was listed as a terrorist under the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008.

In February, Lahore's anti-terrorism court sentenced Saeed and his close aide Zafar Iqbal to five and a half years each and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 in each case. A total of 11 years sentence will run concurrently.

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The generals are back in control in Pakistan - unofficially at least. There’s now more than a dozen former and current military officials in prominent government roles, such as running the state-owned air carrier, the power regulator and the National Institute of Health, which is leading the country’s pandemic response.

Three of those appointments happened in the last two months.

The military’s heightened profile comes as Prime Minister Imran Khan sees his influence and popularity dwindle due to a slowing economy, high consumer prices and corruption investigations involving his close aides. Analysts have long seen army support as critical for Khan’s party, which holds 46% of seats in parliament, to hold together a government that relies on several smaller coalition partners to stay afloat.

In some ways, this is nothing new: The military is Pakistan’s most powerful institution and has directly ruled the country for large parts of its seven-decade history. Yet it’s a far cry from the “New Pakistan” Khan promised when he took office back in 2018.

“By appointing an increasing number of current and retired military officials in key positions, the government is ceding what little space civilians had in developing and executing policy in the country,” Uzair Younus, non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said. “The military’s overt and covert role in governance continues to grow.” Many in Pakistan can see the shift during government virus briefings on state television, in which uniformed current army officers are seen assisting the government’s pandemic response. Retired lieutenant general Asim Saleem Bajwa is now Khan’s com-

Imran Khan

munication adviser and also oversees the implementation of about $60 billion in Pakistan investments as part of China’s Beltand-Road Initiative.

At least 12 army loyalists in the cabinet also took part in dictator-turned-President Pervez Musharraf’s administration, which ended in 2008. That includes Interior Minister Ijaz Shah and Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Khan’s finance adviser.

The greater military involvement even has the support of civilian government advisers such as Zaigham Rizvi, member of Naya Pakistan Housing Program taskforce in charge of running Khan’s main economic project of building low-cost houses. Two army officers were appointed to the body last month. “There was a feeling that if we give the majority leadership to the army, the army has a good system,” said Rizvi, who worked at World Bank for 10 years as a housing expert. “They get things done.”

Pakistan’s army declined to comment.

Nadeem Afzal Chan, a spokesman for Khan, wasn’t immediately available, while Information Minister Syed Shibli Faraz didn’t respond to a request for a comment.

Shielding people from Covid, running economic activities a 'war': Bangla PM D H A K A : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that shielding the people from the coronavirus and maintaining normal economic activities in the Sheikh Hasina country simultaneously is like a 'war', a day after the deadly disease seems to have contributed to the death of a minister.

Hasina told Parliament that her government will take effective measures so that people do not die of starvation and their lives and livelihoods are not affected, the Dhaka Tribune reported. She said that keeping away people from getting infected with coronavirus and running the wheels of the economy simultaneously is a 'war'.

“We have also taken steps so that economic activities could continue running, we have been able to place a budget, this is a kind of war,' she was quoted as saying. “We have decided to bring the worst-hit areas by coronavirus under lockdown aimed at checking its further spread,” she said.

She said that her government is trying its best to make people understand the urgency of maintaining health codes to stem the spread of the virus. 'The world is now under the grip of the panic of death. This is very strange. We've never seen this kind of situation in the past,' she said.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Religious Affairs Sheikh Abdullah, who died of 'heart attack' last week, had contracted the virus, a report in the bdnews24.com said.

in brief PAK PROFESSOR ARRESTED OVER BLASPHEMY CHARGES A senior professor of a university in Pakistan's Sindh province was arrested over blasphemy charges. Professor Sajid Soomro of the Shah Abdul Latif University in Sindh’s Khairpur area was arrested from his house. “We have been told he has been arrested for blasphemy on a complaint lodged by the state,” said Advocate Fayaz Khamisani, Soomro’s friend and Khairpur Bar Association joint secretary. Soomro is also an activist and a writer and known for his books on Sindhi-Mohajir unity. Condemning Soomro’s arrest and the charges against him, activists, writers and members of civil society have demanded that the Sindh government initiate an inquiry into the registration for such a case against a university teacher.

PAK ARMY CHIEF MAKES UNANNOUNCED VISIT TO KABUL Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa made an unannounced visit to Kabul last week to discuss the Afghan peace process with the Afghan leaders. The Pakistan Embassy in Kabul on its official Twitter account released a picture of General Bajwa meeting with President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace. The army chief was accompanied by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed and Pakistan's newly appointed special envoy on Afghanistan, Muhammad Sadiq. No details were provided by the army’s media wing of the meeting, which took place two days after US special Afghan envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with General Bajwa and the ISI chief in Islamabad.

PAK COURT DROPS DEATH SENTENCE FOR JUVENILE CASE A Pakistani court commuted the death sentence for a defendant who has spent the last 18 years on death row for a crime he was convicted of committing when he was a juvenile, a local advocacy group said. The Lahore High Court reduced Mohammad Iqbal's sentence to life in prison. “This is a landmark judgment that could set a precedent for future cases pertaining to juvenile offenders in Pakistan,” said Ali Haider Habib, a spokesman with Justice Project Pakistan. Iqbal was found guilty of murder and robbery committed when he was just 17.

He has been in jail since 1999 when an antiterrorism court sentenced him to death, and on death row since March 2002. Several human rights groups and United Nations special rapporteurs sent a letter to Pakistan's government in March seeking leniency, asking that Iqbal's death sentence be commuted.

INTRA-AFGHAN DIALOGUE IN DOHA Afghan government and the Islamist Taliban group have agreed that Doha will be the venue for the first meeting in their peace talks, both sides said. The talks, known as the intra-Afghan dialogue, will be the first highlevel meeting between the two sides after years of fighting. No date has been announced for the meeting, but it is expected to take place after the two sides settle differences on the release by the Afghan government of 5,000 Taliban prisoners, which could be as soon as the end of next week. "The first intra-Afghan meeting will happen in Doha," Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said, adding that the Islamist group was ready to hold intra-Afghan talks within a week of the release of 5,000 prisoners. The Afghan government has released 3,000 Taliban prisoners so far under an agreement signed between the United States and the insurgent group in February.

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My way is not the only way Meenal Sachdev and Mira Manek

sit side by side. Visualise a small Dalit girl (unfortunately the caste system still exists today in India), excluded from schools, communities and families, being called by Bapu at an event in his home town to come and perform Aarti in front of hundreds of guests.

Like Gandhiji and some of the great leaders of India, Morari Bapu has loved all, served all and accepted all.

Amidst fires of disease, religion and colour, let us unite through truth love and compassion. It is time to spread love, not hate.

Entering the new world united Our world has entered an alternate reality, a new reality. A physical disease had united the world against a common cause, and now another deeply entrenched disease of colour and religion has arisen, one which has divided us again. Yet, at a time of revolution and at the doorstep of change, we can gain awareness, we can change, we can step into the new world with education, empathy and oneness. Differences and disagreements, if handled with care, add colour to humanity, allow our minds to expand and pave way for higher thinking and change.

Swami Vivekananda once said, "The moment I have realised God

faith again. As our knowledge increases, it is meant to enlighten us, not turn us against each other.

Incredibly, we are living in an age where we have culture at our fingertips; we are connected to anyone and everyone through social media, we can be a part of the movement and we can voice our change.

Social media is a powerful tool.

Yet, simultaneously, anger can be spurred, hatred spread and messages misunderstood – quicker than ever before.

In this intense time of change, the likes of Instagram have become our window to the outside world, a window to activism, and is also in many ways shaping our thoughts Morari Bapu with the Dalai Lama in Mahuva, Gujarat and opinions. If there ever was a sitting in the temple of every human time to stay grounded, to remember body, the moment I stand in rever- our truths and to adhere to our prinence before every human being and ciples, it is now. see God in him - that moment I am Today we are bombarded with free from bondage, everything that information wherever we turn. We binds vanishes, and I am free." This are incessantly receiving, processing echoes the words of all spiritual and and distilling this information, news, religious masters. knowledge and opinions from all Those with a voice, those in directions and it is important to know positions of leadership, must pave difference between them all and the way for change to happen, and remain grounded in our own set of this change needs to happen with beliefs and values. compassion. As Dalai Lama said, “Compassion is the radicalism of Morari Bapu our time.” And Morari Bapu’s A humble, gentle looking man whole philosophy and indeed reli- with a beard and wearing simple khadi gion is Truth Love and clothes – holding a mala, first came to Compassion. the UK in the 1970s from India. Over the years, his trips to the UK became a Knowledge and Information reason for Gujaratis and Hindus all At times of change and despair, over the UK to come together for 9 people look to religion and spiritual- days and listen to his recitals of the ity, people find hope in their own Ramcaritmanas (Ramayan). Using this

script as the basis of his lectures, he instilled pride in our roots and religion but he also taught that at the essence of our religion is love and acceptance. That we must respect all other paths that lead to God. That we can feel the essence of spirituality in a mosque, a church, a gurudwara, a temple and even within ourselves. In fact, leaders of and people from other faiths, including Sikhs, Muslims, Jews and Christians, have visited and sat amongst the audience during many of Bapu’s recitals in the UK, India and all over the world.

Religion can come with rules and boundaries, religion can tie us down.

Yet Bapu speaks of finding freedom in religion. This is what spoke to and attracted hundreds of thousands of his devotees in the UK and across the world. His humility has touched everyone, he has never claimed to be a Guru or a saint and has never said his way is the only way.

Truth Love and Compassion are his sole mantra. These three pillars have been woven into the beautiful tapestry of spirituality. Morari Bapu has shown by his actions, not just his words, that equality should exist

Pursuit of Peace, Love and Harmony ParamahansaYogananda, one of the great spiritual Saints of India and author of Autobiography Of A Yogi, said“May we work for the creation of a United World in which every nation will be a useful part, guided by God through man’s enlightened conscience. In our hearts we can all learn to be free from hate and selfishness.

Let us pray for harmony among the nations, that they march hand in hand through the gate of a fair new civilization.’ In the year 2020, there is a call to action but also a call to introspect. Let us,every step of the way, ask ourselves – does this lie in truth, am I acting with love, do I speak with compassion. This is the only reminder we need to ensure that our actions, our judgements, our thoughts and our speech are in harmony with the truth that we know.

Our thoughts are powerful. Love creates more love, hate creates more hate. The law of attraction is at play in all of life. Focusing our energy on what we desire, what we want more of, what we want to manifest – energy flows in that direction. We want unity and harmony. We want religions and communities to coexist with respect and empathy. We must stand at this juncture and act with responsibility. Our questioning must be to achieve better and not worse.

Our enlightenment and progress must serve others and not come at

Bapu’s Ram Katha in Vatican City

between all. He has invited the transgender community, often excluded, to join in as equals. He has dedicated an entire recital to the sex workers’ communities. He has invited Muslims to

the cost of trampling on their beliefs.

That is not progress or victory.

Finally, we must realise that in the fall of others, we too fall and when others rise, so shall we.

22 WORLD

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20 - 26 June 2020

50th anniversary of first Swaminarayan Mandir in the West LONDON: In 1970, His Holiness Yogiji Maharaj and a group of 12 swamis arrived in the UK. It was the first time that swamis of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya were visiting this country. During their one-and-half-month stay, Yogiji Maharaj inaugurated a mandir in Islington, north London - the first ever Swaminarayan mandir in the western hemisphere – and also visited many parts of the UK to fulfil the wishes of devotees.

A grand celebration to commemorate this historic occasion was webcast to many thousands across the world on Sunday, 14 June 2020. It was exactly 50 years to the day since the opening of the mandir in Islington, which took place on Sunday, 14 June 1970.

This momentous journey was presented through a documentary-style production of rare video footage, photographs, letters and audio records as well as eyewitness accounts from senior devotees, swamis, His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj and His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj.

A ceremonial arti was performed to the original murtis inaugurated at Islington Mandir at precisely 12.22pm – marking the exact time of the first arti at that mandir 50 years ago. An annakut (a devotional offering of food) was also offered to the deities in the various shrines.

The afternoon programme charted the development of satsang activities in the UK. Yogiji Maharaj arrived in London from Uganda on 23 May 1970. His visit

Yogvivek Swami performs arti of original murtis of Islington Mandir 50 years on - 14 June 2020

to the UK generated interest and curiosity from the local press and public. News of his visit was covered by the BBC and the Sunday Times. Clippings and excerpts of this coverage were shared during the programme.

Yogiji Maharaj’s determined enthusiasm to share his message of spirituality, virtuous living and selfless service led to an unrelenting travel schedule across England. He visited Leicester, Banbury, Loughborough, Luton, Kent as well as several areas of London meeting and inspiring devotes, well-wishers and guests.

Mahant Swami Maharaj also sent video blessings specially for the occasion. He drew upon Yogiji Maharaj’s unfathomable vision and encouraged everyone to continue his ethos of service with unity and togetherness – values close to Yogiji Maharaj’s heart. The grand celebrations were brought to a close with the

evening arti and a concluding prayer offered to Yogiji Maharaj to pay tribute to his selfless service and compassion, and heartfelt pledges to imbibe his wishes and teachings in one’s life.

Families had marked these celebrations throughout the day with a host of festivities at their homes, including preparing freshly made sweet dishes as a devotional offering in their ghar The unforgettable programme rekindled golden memories of those present in 1970, and those who were not present became part of the unique and historic occasion.

Shilpa Patel, one of the thousands who watched the webcast, said, “It’s very rare to watch a historic documentary and feel as if you were really there. What a truly wonderful programme. My whole family were captivated and learned so much about the history of satsang and the legacy that Yogiji Maharaj created for Hindus and the many migrant Indians from East Africa.”

First Sikh woman to graduate from US Military Academy WASHINGTON: The United States Military Academy at West Point will make history this week when it graduates the first Sikh woman to successfully complete the path to a four-year degree.

Second Lt. Anmol Narang, is a secondgeneration immigrant born and raised in Roswell, Georgia. She did a year of undergraduate study at the Georgia Institute of Technology before transferring to West Point, where she will Second Lt. Anmol Narang graduate on this week with a degree in nuclear engineering. She hopes to pursue a career in air defense systems.

"I am excited and honored to be fulfilling my dream of graduating from West Point,” Lt. Narang said in a news release from the Sikh Coalition, a nonprofit based in New York that works to protect the constitutional right to practice faith without fear.

Uday Dholakia appointed as vice president of Air Passenger Association of India in UK Sudhakara Reddy, the founder and national president of the Air Passenger Association of India (APAI) announced the appointment of Uday Dholakia, as vice president of APAI in the United Kingdom. “APAI is

India’s premier industry platform that encourages the open discussion of opinions and grievances regarding India’s civil aviation industry,” said Reddy.

“We believe in action, collaborative and dialogue to

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help India’s civil aviation industry become a significant Global player. We create solution driven agenda between the various spheres of the air travel industry as well as to support and raise awareness about passengers’ rights.”

Uday Dholakia said, “as a British citizen with umbilical connections with India, especiallywith Uday Dholakia aviation, I am deeply UK, especially its Insolvency humbled and privileged to take Panel haveundertaken on this role at the behest of exemplary work in support of Sudhakaraji Reddy and the passengers under the ATOL board of APAI. In the UK, I have regime said Reddy. tried to marry consumer Uday Dholakia has made an trustand advocacy with the outstanding contribution to the interests of the business regulatory framework in theUK, community and regulators, and his contribution to this and increasinglypolicy makers in my support for Indian carriers over regulatory commitments, several decades has beenwell enhancing UK’s soft power recognised”. influenceinternationally”.

“In welcoming Uday on “The United Kingdom is a board of APAI, I very much hope significant destination for that he will bridge the sharing Indians and British Indians. ofbest practice in passenger Directly, orvia hubs or on route protection between the UK and to North America. This traffic India.

Further enhancing also supports code share into APAI’soffering and reach for domesticmarkets in India. The Indian Passengers,” confirmed Civil Aviation Authority in the Reddy.

in brief LANKA FURTHER RELAXES COVID-19 CURFEW Sri Lanka announced further relaxation of the curfew, imposed as part of the Covid-19 lockdown, from this week. Sri Lanka has so far recorded 1,880 coronavirus cases, 11 deaths due to the disease and 1,196 recoveries. The curfew, currently in force from 11 pm to 4 am daily, will be relaxed and enforced for only four hours from midnight to 4 am daily, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office said. Sri Lanka has been under a continuous lockdown since March 20, a week after the first local victim of the pandemic was reported. Initially, a nationwide blanket curfew was imposed but it was later eased for about two-thirds of the country. The government had ordered partial opening of offices and businesses mid-May. From early June, the restrictions were further relaxed with public transport being allowed.

MYSTERY BEHIND EXSWEDISH PM'S KILLING SOLVED A Swedish prosecutor closed the case of the assassination of former PM Olof Palme after 34 years, accusing a graphic designer who died two decades ago of the country’s most notorious unsolved crime. Palme, who led Sweden’s Social Democrats for decades and served two periods as PM was shot dead in Stockholm in 1986 after a visit to the cinema with his wife and son. Prosecutor Krister Petersson, who has led an investigation since 2017, said the killer was Stig Engstrom, a suspect long known to Swedes as “Skandia man” after the company where he worked, with offices near the scene of the shooting.

“Because the person is dead, I cannot bring charges against him and have decided to close the investigation,” Petersson said.

TWITTER DELETES 1,70,000 ACCOUNTS TIED TO CHINA GROUP Twitter said it removed more than 1,70,000 accounts tied to a Beijing-backed influence operation that deceptively spread messages favourable to the Chinese government, including some about the coronavirus. The company suspended a core network of 23,750 highly active accounts, as well as a larger network of about 1,50,000 “amplifier” accounts used to boost the core accounts’ content. Twitter said the Chinese network had links to an earlier state-backed operation dismantled last year by Twitter, Facebook and Google’s YouTube. The new operation focused heavily on Hong Kong, but also promoted messages about the coronavirus pandemic, exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui and Taiwan, the researchers said.

BEIJING SHUTS MARKETS AFTER NEW COVID-19 CASES Beijing shut six major wholesale food markets and delayed plans for some students to return to school after China's capital reported new coronavirus infections for a second day running. The new cases involved two men working at a meat research centre who had recently visited the markets, state media said. It was not immediately clear how they were infected.

The coronavirus is believed by many to have emerged at a seafood market in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, in December. Both the newly infected men had had no contact with people from Hubei or travellers from overseas in the last 14 days, state media said, though one man was briefly in Qingdao city in the eastern province of Shandong.

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INDIA

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

20 - 26 June 2020

in brief MHA ALLOWS OCIS, FOREIGNERS WITH INDIAN TIES TO ENTER COUNTRY India's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) eased more visa restrictions and allowed the entry of certain category of foreigners and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI). Foreign students with at least one Indian parent, foreign minor children with an Indian parent either an Indian citizen or OCI, dependent family members of foreign diplomats, service staff accredited to foreign diplomatic missions and consular offices have been allowed to enter India, as per the new order.

The MHA has said that these people will have to “obtain a fresh visa of appropriate category” and added that these foreign nationals will not be “permitted to travel to India on the strength of any electronic visa obtained earlier.” In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the government had suspended visas of all foreigners on 11 March.

However, on 22 May, the government allowed permitted four categories of OCI cardholders to enter India. These categories included: Minors born to Indians abroad holding OCI; OCI cardholders who want to come to India due to family emergencies; Couples, one of whom holds an OCI and one an Indian citizen, with a permanent residence in India; University students who are OCI cardholders and whose parents are Indian citizens living in India; International travel continues to remain banned as India is still grappling with a high number of coronavirus cases.

NRI FROM BHARUCH SHOT AT IN SA TOWN A native of Bharuch, settled in South Africa, was shot at by some unidentified robbers in Venda town close to Zimbabwe border. The victim Imran Bashir Lalsaa, originally from Devla village of Jambusar taluka, works in a super market store in the town. His close relative Salim Patel, who also lives in Venda, said that Imran was going home after work along with his three colleagues when the robbers intercepted their car and flashed a gun. “After being robbed of cash, Imran tried to flee from the spot and one of the robbers shot him in his leg. Despite being injured, Imran kept running and hence survived. The robbers released his three colleagues after looting them too. Imran has been admitted to a hospital in Venda and his condition is stable,” said Patel.

BHARUCH TEEN FALLS INTO NIAGARA RIVER, MISSING A 19-year-old boy from Bharuch slipped into the Niagara River where he had gone for hiking with his three friends on June 8. Samir Siraj Nabipurwala, a resident of Sherpura village in Bharuch district, had gone to Canada for higher studies in the medical field about 18 months ago. He was studying in the second year at the Brock University in Ontario and living in St Catharines. According to the Niagara regional police and the Niagara Parks police, the incident took place on June 8 at about 7.15 pm. “Investigation revealed that four males had gone for a hike and stopped to take photos on a rock. One of the males, slipped off the rock causing him to fall into the Niagara River. The area of the river the male fell into is very fast flowing with a strong current,” Niagara Regional Police Service said on its official website.

While the Niagara police have not disclosed the identity, a close relative of Samit, Idris Kasuji said: “Samir went to Niagara River with his classmates to celebrate the birthday of one of his friends on June 8. He climbed up the rock to click a photo and slipped into the Niagara River.” All the units of the Niagara response teams including police, fire department, coast guard, Erie -County Sheriff’s office, search and rescue helicopters were pressed into service to locate the whereabouts of the teen.

India’s fight against Covid-19 effective, PM Modi tells CMs Prime Minister Narendra Modi held discussions with Chief Ministers and Lt Governors of 21 states and union territories on Tuesday on ways to check the spread of novel coronavirus as thousands of fresh cases are being reported daily.

The Prime Minister claimed that the impact of coronavirus in India is not as worse as in several other parts of the world. The death rate is also low as compared to most other nations, he added.

Modi also said that the fight against Covid-19 is a fine example of cooperative federalism in which the Centre and the states are working together to contain the spread of the deadly virus. In his opening remarks at a meeting with chief ministers and Lt Governors, he said the economy is showing signs of improvement and encouraging us to move

Narendra Modi

ahead.

He said as the economy opens up, people should not down their guard to protect themselves and their loved ones from the virus. It is unimaginable to move out without a mask, Modi said urging people to follow social distancing norms.

He also said any death due to the virus is tragic. The two-day virtual meet comes as the country witnesses an unabated spike in coronavirus cases. India regis-

tered over 10,000 Covid 19 cases for the fifth day in a row pushing the tally to 3,43,091 on Tuesday, while the death toll rose to 9,900 with 380 new fatalities. Chief ministers of Punjab, Kerala, Goa, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and those of the northeastern states among others are taking part in the meet. LGs and administrators of some union territories are also attending Tuesday's brainstorming session.

On Wednesday, Modi will interact with Chief Ministers of 15 states and the LG of Jammu and Kashmir. These are the states where coronavirus cases are on a much higher side and include Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka, Gujarat, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Based on suggestions made

by the states, under "Unlock 1" several relaxations were made for public and businesses to ensure that economic activities hit by the lockdown gather momentum. But this has given rise to fear that it may trigger an increase in new cases. Modi had on Saturday reviewed the steps being taken to contain the pandemic in areas with high case load and the road map for effective management of the situation.

Death toll nearing 10,000 India registered over 10,000 new Covid -19 cases for the fifth day in a row pushing the number of infections to 3,43,091 while the death toll rose to 9,900 with 380 new fatalities. Tuesday is the eighty-fourth day of India’s nationwide lockdown, meant to curb the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat have reported the highest number of cases.

Pak agencies ‘abduct’ two Indian mission staffers Two staff of the Indian high commission in Islamabad were “abducted” by Pakistani agencies while out on official work in the Indian mission’s car on Monday morning.

After they were interrogated for several hours, reports emerged from Islamabad claiming they had been arrested for a road accident by the police.

The two non-diplomatic staff (names withheld) were finally released in the evening but not before Pakistani authorities claimed to have seized Pakistani Rs 10,000 in fake currency from them. Indian authorities denied that the two men were carrying any fake currency and expressed apprehension that they were held for hours on trumped-up charges only to manufacture a case for declaring them persona non grata (PNG). The Indian staff also had injury marks on their bodies, sources said.

Official sources here didn't rule out the possibility of Pakistan declaring the two Indian staff as PNG for allegedly carrying fake currency on them. Pakistani agencies have been looking to enforce reciprocity, as a source said, after India detained two Pakistani officials on May 31 for espionage and expelled them the next day.

Pakistan’s ISI had subjected Indian officials to aggressive tailing and intimidation since May 31 and India had registered a formal protest accusing Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention and the 1992 bilateral Code of Conduct for diplomats.

The Indian high commission got the two staff medically examined in the night to ascertain if they received any serious injury during the questioning, which lasted for almost 12 hours. Pakistani media reports claimed that the two were roughed up by a mob which caught them fleeing from the accident spot. The government had earlier expressed fear that Indian staff could be detained on false charges and tortured. There were conflicting reports in Pakistani media about how the accident occurred.

The Indian mission quickly took up the matter with Pakistan’s foreign office in the morning and, later in the day, the MEA called in Pakistan’s charge d'affaires Syed Haider Shah and sought release of the Indian officials and return of their car.

The government also asked him to ensure the two officials were not harassed or

interrogated.All Indian staff in Islamabad, and their counterparts here, are generally covered by diplomatic immunity and it’s waived off only in cases of heinous crime.

“Pakistan’s charge d'affaires was summoned to the ministry of external affairs and demarched on the reported arrest of two officials of the high commission of India in Islamabad as reported in the

Pakistani media,” an official source said.

The demarche also said the responsibility for the safety and security of the diplomatic personnel concerned lay squarely with Pakistani authorities.

“Pakistan was asked to return the two officials along with the official car to the high commission immediately,” the source said.

The Ugandan Asian: A Report Asians were expelled from Uganda 48 years ago. Many came to Britain empty handed, worked hard and now are being praised for their grand success. In the last few weeks, the British government has opened its doors for 3 million or more people from Hong Kong. The British Royalty, Political and Public Life Leaders and the Media, all have supported this initiative recollecting the sterling contribution of the Ugandan Asians.

Why ?

1. Who are the Ugandan Asians ?

2. How did they reach Uganda in the 19th Century ?

3. Their manifold contribution to the development of Uganda ?

4. Why and who expelled them from Uganda ?

5. How did they come to the UK and faced various challenges ?

The Ugandan Asian’s contribution is remarkable. Our upcoming special publication on Ugandan Asians will attempt to answer all these and more. We need your help on various information and profiles. Today Ugandan Asians are amongst Britain's outstanding politicians, businessmen and women, professionals, art and cultural professionals and in many other walks of life.

You might know some of them and will know about many more from this publication.

On 4th August, 1972, dictator Idi Amin announced expulsion of all Ugandan Asians within 90 days. Our children, grandchildren and others need to know the agony, pain, hardship, challenges and successes of their forefathers and mothers and realise what they have gone through during the forced deportation and subsequent settlement in the UK and other countries.

This Special publication will be a source of research and reference forever about the trial and triumphs of the Ugandan Asians.

Your participation is very important, needed and welcome. We would like nominations / recommendations for the Editorial Board, Advisory Panel and Ambassadors for this unique project.

Publisher/ Editor: CB Patel (cb.patel@abplgroup.com) Managing Editor: Kokilaben Patel (kokila.patel@abplgroup.com) Consulting Editor: Jyotsnaben Shah (jyotsna.shah@abplgroup.com) Correspondence: Shrijit Rajan (shrijit.rajan@abplgroup.com) We also seek your participation and support with information of individuals and businesses of such entrepreneurs and achievers. Sponsorship, advertisement and advertorials are welcome but not mandatory. Uganda became independent on 9th October, 1962. The release of this special tribute to Uganda and the Ugandan Asian to coincide with the anniversary of a unique country which is also known as the Jewel of Africa.

24 INDIA

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SOUTH INDIA

in brief

Chennai to impose total lockdown from June 19-30 CHENNAI: With Chennai and its suburbs continuing to witness a surge in Covid-19 cases, Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Monday declared that these areas will revert to lockdown phase without relaxations now in force from June 19 to 30.

Two Sundays during the 12day period shall just be short of curfew with permission only for milk supply and medical services, he announced. In essence, the gradual easing of a string of curbs, including relaxations seen during the unlock 1.0 phase (lockdown 5.0), starting with the first week of June would cease to exist for Chennai and many nearby areas for 12 days.

P a l a n i s w a m i ’ s announcement came after DMK President M K Stalin, in a virtual press conference, demanded to know when the government will come out with an action plan to flatten the virus curve, especially

K Palaniswami

in Chennai.

The Chief Minister also announced another round of cash relief of Rs 1,000 to rice ration card holders and unorganised sector workers in Chennai and a string of other nearby areas in Chengelpet, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts. Ration card holders and workers with several state welfare boards have already received Rs 1,000 cash assistance. After a meeting with an expert panel and amid rising coronavirus cases here,

Palaniswami said the lockdown will be applicable in Chennai and several other localities in adjoining T i r u v a l l u r , Chengelpet and Kancheepuram districts.

Of the 1,843 new infections on Monay, Chennai accounted for 1,257 and the count of positive cases in the state capital touched 33,244.

Adjoining districts like Chengelpet (3,005 cases till date) has also been witnessing a steady increase in the number of cases.

200 Covid deaths ‘missing’ from official toll The Tamil Nadu government has ordered for a Covid-19 death audit amid several allegations over the credibility of the government’s official coronavirus death count in Chennai. This decision was taken after it came to the

government's notice that “not less than” 200 deaths suspected to be linked to the coronavirus failed to be registered to the official toll of the state.

The estimate is based on a “preliminary assessment” of the Chennai Corporation’s records, a senior health official said. The state had reported 349 deaths till Friday due to coronavirus, including 260 within Chennai city only. According to officials, the “mismatch” is on a “procedural lapse” since there was no procedure of reporting fatalities recorded in the Chennai corporation’s registry to the government on a day-today basis. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Beela Rajesh disagreed with the allegations that the state government hid the number of Covid-19 deaths to report a lesser toll and said, “A ninemember reconciliation committee to streamline Covid19 deaths data will look into all such cases”.

PUNJAB

Punjab cops rapped for using ‘offensive’ term for African national CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Police have been caught in a racism row. Amidst worldwide demonstrations against racism and racial discrimination, the police was found using a “highly offensive” word for an African national in its final investigation report filed before a trial court.

Rapping the police for its “terrible thinking” and bringing “shame to India and hatred for the country”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court asserted the “pernicious practice” was socially unacceptable, “but what can one expect from an uneducated and insensitive constabulary”.

Asking the state DirectorGeneral of Police to intervene,

Justice Rajiv Narain Raina asked him to consider and notify instructions, asking the police force never to use offensive terms in case papers. They should simply be referred to by the country of their origin, Justice Raina added.

“The investigating officers and the police officials that

record FIRs be immediately sensitised and warned on the issue by ensuring that no person should be looked down upon on the basis of the colour of his/her skin,” Justice Raina asserted.

Apparently referring to a cricketer’s allegations of racism during India stint, Justice Raina added: “For many centuries we have been slaves. Freedom does not lend its wings to our countrymen to fly anywhere they wish and in any manner they like and abuse foreigners on the street calling them kaala”.

The order has its genesis in a regular bail plea filed in a drugs case by Amarjit Singh. Justice Raina asserted he was appalled to find the term while referring to an African national in the challan papers. “This is a highly offensive word across the globe and no one has any business to use it and much less the police....

The police appear to have assumed that every black is a drug peddler and should be treated as such,” Justice Raina added.

He added that they deserved dignity and respect as visitors or students while temporarily living in India, which took pride in having people of all skin colours ranging from white to black and aboriginal.

WEST BENGAL

Mamata rejects Shah's allegations, denies making 'Corona Express' remark KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee categorically denied referring to 'Shramik Special' trains, ferrying stranded migrant labourers back home, as "Corona Express" – an allegation made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently.

Instead, the Trinamool Congress chief insisted that it was the people who gave that name to crammed-to-capacity trains.

“I haven’t said ‘Corona Express’, my statement was misinterpreted. I had said people were saying so. What I meant was these migrant labourers were sent violating the social distancing norms. Why stuff

Amit Shah and Mamata Banerjee

people in a single train? The train that was supposed to carry 1,200 people are carrying 2,0002,500 people,” she said.

The Trinamool Congress supremo continued by saying, “The frequency of the trains should have been increased instead of stuffing them in a

single train.

T h e migrants who are returning from five high-risk states are being kept in institutional quarantine.

We have increased our testing numbers.

Yes, our numbers will increase, there’s nothing to worry but it will help us detect more people.”

Her comments came a day after Amit Shah, while addressing a virtual rally for West Bengal, accused Banerjee of "insulting" migrant workers

returning to the state on Shramik Special trains by calling the trains 'Corona Express', and asserted that migrant workers will ensure the "exit" of her government in the 2021 assembly polls.

"More than 11,00,000 migrants have returned to Bengal. I never called the migrant special trains 'Corona Express'," she told reporters.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal Chief Minister also announced two shifts for government employees and closure of schools in July as well. The Chief Minister said that government staff will work in two shifts from 9.30 am to 2.30 pm and 12 noon to 5.50 pm.

DMK MLA DIES OF COVID-19 IN CHENNAI J Anbazhagan, Tamil Nadu MLA and one of the DMK's most prominent faces in the state, died in Chennai after battling coronavirus for over a week. Anbazhagan, 61, was admitted to hospital on June 2 over "severe acute respiratory distress" and had tested positive for Covid-19. He was placed on ventilator support a day when his breathing trouble worsened. His cardiac function dropped and a chronic kidney disease also contributed to his critical condition. The MLA had also been on medication for years after a liver transplant. In a statement, the private hospital said: "The Covid- 19 pneumonia rapidly deteriorated in spite of full medical support and he succumbed to his illness. Anbazhagan, a threetime MLA, is the first prominent political leader to fall victim of coronavirus in Tamil Nadu.

POPULAR TV ACTORS END LIFE Popular television actors and siblings, Sreedhar and Jaya Kalyani were found dead at their residence in Chennai. Allegedly, they committed suicide. Apparently, the duo's neighbours sensed a foul smell emanating from their building and alerted the police. Their body was recovered in a decomposed state. As per reports, both actors were going through a financial crisis due to the current shutdown of the television industry, owing to the Covid -19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown, and therefore decided to end their lives. The bodies were sent for postmortem. For now, the probe is on and the police are yet to find out the reason behind the actors' suicide. Two other Indian TV actors, Preksha Mehta and Manmeet Grewal, died of suicide last month. They were also reportedly depressed due to lack of work during the lockdown period. Even though shoots of TV shows and films have resumed in parts of the country, there is still a scarcity of work in both the industries.

STICK TO LOCKDOWN RULES, PUNJAB CM URGES PEOPLE Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh expressed disappointment that many residents were not adhering to face mask and social distancing norms, and cautioned all of them to stick to norms lest Punjab may go Maharasthra, Delhi and Gujarat way as far as spread of Covid-19 was concerned. Expressing disgust during his #AskCaptain initiative on Facebook Live, Amarinder said one day, 4,600 people were challaned for not wearing masks, and 160 for spitting in public and 20-25 for not observing social distancing. “Why don’t you follow the rules? We had to lift the curfew as we cannot keep people inside for so long. But be responsible. Wear masks and ensure social distancing. I am not saying this. The doctors are telling you to do that. Do not let Punjab go down the other states way. We have managed it well so far,” he said.

LOCKDOWN IN BENGAL EXTENDED TILL JUNE 30 The West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced the extension of Covid-19 induced lockdown in the state till June 30. The lockdown in Bengal was scheduled to end on June 15, but it has now been extended by another 15 days. Earlier, only 10 people have been allowed to attend social programmes such as marriage or funeral ceremonies; which has now been revised to 25 people. The Bengal government had also eased shutdown curbs in the state from June 1, and had allowed all religious places, and jute, tea, constructions sector to resume full-fledged activities. Shopping malls, restaurants and other establishments also re-opened in the state after a gap of twomonths; whereas government offices resumed with 100 per cent turnout from June 8.

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

Dalmia: A Romantic Industrialist closed to Jinnah • To a Sikh schoolgirl he proposed over a public address system!

• On his release from two year Jail term RK married his sixth wife ohammad Ali Jinnah was about to leave for Karachi on 7 August 1947 to take over as first Governor General of Pakistan on 14 August. He was to dispose of his 10, Aurangzeb Road bungalow at New Delhi. His industrialist friend Ram Krishna Dalmia, popularly known as RK, bought it paying Rs.10 lakh. Destiny of India and Pakistan was decided by the three key leaders of British India who stayed nearby: Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 17 York Road (renamed as Motilal Nehru Road), Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on 1-2 Aurangzeb Road (renamed as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Road) and M.A. Jinnah on 10 Aurangzeb Road. Incidentally, Dalmia never stayed at the bungalow he bought from Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan but it was turned into the head office for the anti-cow-slaughter movement, a cause that RK strongly propagated!

M

against cow slaughter, RK aspired to have for instance, was control over the finance headquartered in the ministry and used his house he bought from Times of India, which he an old friend, one M.A. bought over, to attack Jinnah. His public Prime Minister Nehru. profile was smeared Unfortunately, he landed when he was jailed for a himself in Tihar Jail financial swindle. following the maiden According to her, RK speech on 6 December married the first of his 1955 by Nehru’s silent wives, Narbada, as an backbencher son-in-law adolescent.

Narbada Feroze Gandhi in Lok became his sexual slave, Sabha where he exposed and his cruelty the insurance scam of extended to beatings at Bharat Insurance night, while keeping her Company owned by the swathed in veils during Dalmia-Jain group which the day, till she died of had misappropriated consumption a few Rs.22,00,000.

Shashi years later.

Bhushan, a friend of Apparently, RK was Feroze and a former heartbroken, and spent Member of Parliament, in R K Dalmia with M A Jinnah the rest of his life in his book “Feroze Gandhi: search of other Narbadas to bed; the Political Biography” gives description of unlucky ones, so it appeared, would share the Mundada and Dalmia scams Feroze his name, and his shame, forever. Durga, Gandhi exposed leading to the his second wife, bore him a daughter, but resignation of T.T. Krishnamachari, the as a chronic patient, could not provide finance minister and a close friend of him the conjugal companionship he Nehru. Following inquiry Dalmia was devoted himself to. A glimpsed ‘Narbada’ sentenced to two year jail and was sent to in an ashram he proposed to spurned his Tihar Jail. Shashi Bhushan writes that advances, one of few who would not fall Dalmia hardly stayed in the jail as he for either his wiles or his wealth, saying bribed the doctor by gifting a car and she would rather marry a dog. Hurt by the spent most of his time in the hospital. rejection, RK found himself proposing Immediately, after his released RK foolishly over a public address system to a married his sixth wife.

Sikh schoolgirl he had only just glimpsed.

Dalmia’s own daughter and a Strangely, his proposal was accepted by celebrated writer Neelima Dalmia Adhar her ecstatic father, and Pritam Takhat has written RK’s biography titled “Father Singh became his third wife. But she, Dearest: Life and Time of RK Dalmia”. unlike the others, was unlikely to toe his Adhar has written “The Secret Diary of orthodox regimen, and like her stale Kasturba” also. Ashok Malik writes about lipstick, he had her wiped out of his life by Neelima’s book on her father: “Father settling a large alimony and dispatching Dalmia does not come across as an her to a life outside India. He was to agreeable sort. He married six times, his marry three more times, wooing each money and odd charisma drawing a series bride with the promise that she would be of confident, young women into a the last addition to his harem, insisting on lifetime of insecurity, servitude and respect for the second and aging wife extended family intrigue. Dalmia also Durga, and keeping them in separate, fathered 18 children. To most of them he palatial homes in Lutyen’s Delhi, with was more occasional visitor than parent. even the children forbidden to meet, or To all of them he passed on "an envirostudy in the same schools. The battle of genetic dysfunction". Writing about him the wives - and consequently the children was, for Adhar, a "form of cleansing, even - now took a new turn. According to this empowerment". Her relationship with account, he accused one of sleeping with her father remains a strange one. He died her aide, monitored their phone calls, paid in 1975 but in many ways, she says, she servants to carry gossip back to him, used understands him better now. Dalmia was his purse-strings to buy loyalty, a sort of Marwari Next Column threatened, subjugated and hustler, a gambler Wealthy J.R.D.Tata’s whiplashed them into who made killing after killing on the obedience, even as they simplicity silver market and monitored his affections for this then graduated to the status of family, or that, which manifested in even industrialist. greater suspicion and ugliness. Adhar has RK funded the Congress-owned, at written her father’s biography 25 years different times, National Herald and The after his death in 1975. Adhar states: "My Times of India. Post-1947, he became a interest is only human behaviour. My trenchant critic of Nehru, seeing him, father may come across as hateful, yet he rather immoderately, as a rival. Dalmia was free spirited... And even negative was typically untypical. His campaign feelings can be very alluring."

Nepal House approves new map; untenable, says India India rejected Nepal’s constitutional amendment to change its map on the national emblem to include Indian territories, saying it was not “tenable”, amounts to an artificial enlargement of its claims and also violates the understanding that talks should sort out boundary issues.

In a strongly-worded statement after Nepal’s lower house unanimously passed the constitutional amendment, the MEA spokesperson said, “This artificial enlargement of claims is not based on historical fact or evidence and is not tenable. It is also violative of our current understanding to hold talks on outstanding boundary issues." For the second time in five years, the IndiaNepal relationship is in a serious crisis with the Left unity K P Sharma Oli government steering a constitutional amendment to Schedule 3 to "update" the national emblem by incorporating Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani in Nepal’s map. Saying India has already clarified its position, India told Nepal it would refuse to hold boundary talks after the passage of this amendment.

Nepal’s foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali tweeted, “The House of Representatives unanimously adopted the Constitution Amendment Bill, paving the way for accommodating the updated political-administrative map in the national emblem.”

Map move comes after inauguration of Lipulekh road The Indian government has maintained a studied silence on the issue after MEA stated last week that India would not accept unilateral changes in Nepal’s map. In fact, this week, the government emphasised the “close and civilisational” ties between the two countries. Earlier, the Indian army chief, Gen M M Naravane avoided any implied reference to a foreign power in the situation, saying, “We have a very strong relationship with Nepal. We have geographical, cultural, historical, religious linkages. We have very strong people to people connect. Our relation with them has always been strong and will remain strong in the future.”

On the face of it, the Oli government took its present stand following the inauguration of the road to Lipulekh by India. But a couple of weeks ago Gen Naravane said Nepal was raising issues on Kalapani at “someone else’s behest”.

There was unhappiness in the Nepal’s armed forces,who have generally kept a low profile on the growing dispute,with Gen Naravane's statement.

In the past few days, sources say there has been some consternation in Nepal regarding India’s continued silence on the issue. India has refused to hold talks with Nepal while the Oli government pushed through the constitutional amendment. “We will not talk with a sword over our heads,” sources here said.

The unfortunate reality, according to government sources, is that India believes Nepal’s PM wants to fundamentally transform ties with India and this might be in alignment with his proximity to China that has worked actively to save his government against dissent within its ranks.

Added to this is his Communist politics blends better with China, allowing him to use their deeper pockets to offset Indian influence as well as be a bargaining chip with India. The Modi government has made much of the Hindu-ness of Nepal being a natural “fit” with India. Neither Oli nor the younger generation Nepali actually see it in this light.

The India-Nepal bilateral ties came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8. Nepal reacted sharply to the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through Nepalese territory. India rejected the claim asserting that the road lies completely within its territory.

Nepal last month released the revised political and administrative map of the country laying claim over the strategically key areas, more than six months after India published a new map in November 2019. India had then sternly asked Nepal not to resort to any "artificial enlargement" of territorial claims.

India to send tri-services team for Russian parade In a first, an Indian military contingent, comprising members of all three services, will march through Moscow’s Red Square on June 24. The participation was restricted to the Indian Army in 2015, the only time Indian forces joined the parade.

The Russian parade is held every year on Victory Day (May 9), which marks the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, but has been delayed this year due to the novel coronavirus.

PM Narendra Modi had been invited as a special guest for the May 9 event this year. With Modi unlikely to attend the event, the government is hoping to make up for his absence by sending a tri-service contingent to take part in the parade which showcases Russia’s military might.

A tri-service contingent comprising about 75-80 will leave for Moscow on June 19. President Vladimir Putin had invited Modi for the Victory Day celebrations during their meeting in Vladivostok last year. Russia, in fact, has invited several others heads of state and government for the parade as the event

this year marks the 75th anniversary of the “Victory over Nazism”. Diplomatic sources said while details were still being worked out, the parade, depending upon the time available, was likely to include a mention of the contribution made by Indian soldiers in the Great Patriotic War. Despite Russia’s deep military and political ties with China, and its own relations with the US, India continues to look at Moscow as a key partner. There has been enough political signalling to that effect recently, apart from the commitment to upgrade defence cooperation with Russia, including to jointly develop military equipment.

Earlier this month, the day Modi spoke to US President Donald Trump about the Sino-Indian border standoff, foreign secretary Harsh Shringla also held a meeting with Russian ambassador Nikolay Kudashev and briefed him on the issue. In February this year, while the Trump visit was still on, India allowed two Crimean leaders, both proscribed by the US, to visit India.

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20 Indian soldiers killed in border clash with Chinese troops In the worst flare-up on the Line of Actual Control in more than five decades, 20 Indian Army personnel, including the commanding officer of 16 Bihar, were killed Monday night in violent clashes with Chinese troops in the Galwan valley of Ladakh where disengagement of troops on either side was underway.

The Army said there were casualties on both sides. Beijing was silent on PLA losses.

This unprecedented and dangerous turn to the deescalation efforts on the LAC set the lines working in the two capitals. On the ground, Division Commanders met to defuse the situation.

In New Delhi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, briefed by the Army and the military brass earlier in the day, went to the Prime Minister’s residence for a late night meeting where they were said to have been joined by Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The Army’s initial statement on Tuesday afternoon said an officer and two soldiers were killed, but late at night a second statement confirmed the loss of 20 lives on the Indian

side.

“Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area where they had earlier clashed on the night of 15/16 June 2020.

Seventeen Indian troops who were critically injured in the line of duty at the standoff location and to sub-zero exposed temperatures in the highaltitude terrain have succumbed to their injuries, taking the total that were killed in action to 20. Indian Army is firmly committed to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation,” the Army said in the statement.

Army sources identified the officer killed in the line of duty as Colonel B Santosh Babu, CO of 16 Bihar. The first confirmation of the incident came in the afternoon when the Army said: “During the deescalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place

on Monday night with casualties on both sides.”

“The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers,” it said, adding that “senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation.”

Rajnath Singh was briefed by the Army at a meeting also attended by Jaishankar, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Army chief General MM Naravane, Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.

China’s state-run Global Times, quoting the Foreign Ministry, said there had been “serious physical clashes”. In another tweet later, it

quoted the Chinese military spokesperson mentioning “severe clashes and casualties”.

Decoding LAC Conflict This is the first time in the last 45 years that Indian or Chinese troops have been killed on the LAC. In 1975, an Indian patrol was ambushed by the Chinese in Arunachal Pradesh. Prior to that, there was a violent showdown in Nathu La in Sikkim in 1967 in which 88 Indian soldiers and over 300 Chinese soldiers were killed.

The Monday night incident, according to officers, took place in the area between the LAC and junction of Galwan and Shyok rivers to the west.

Talks between the two sides on disengagement in the

Galwan valley area were held at Patrolling Point (PP) 14 which lies close to where the LAC crosses the Galwan river. Officers said that, as part of de-escalation, the two sides had agreed to create a ‘buffer zone’ – a noman’s land – between the LAC and the junction of Galwan and Shyok rivers.

The Indian side was supposed to stay to the west of the river junction and the Chinese to the east of the LAC - to prevent faceoffs. An argument, officers said, started over the position of Chinese soldiers who had started erecting a new post on the southern bank of Galwan river in this ‘buffer When the zone’.

Commanding Officer of 16 Bihar and his troops insisted that the Chinese remove the post, the situation quickly escalated, leading to physical violence. The Chinese side, officers said, used sticks, clubs, bats, bamboos with nails during the fight and the Indian side too retaliated.

In the fight, some soldiers either fell or were pushed into the river, officers said. Some bodies were recovered from the river while others had signs of being brutalised. A few soldiers died of

hypothermia.

Some Indian soldiers were initially held captive by the Chinese but were released after the Major General level meeting. Some of them had serious injuries, officers said. Following the incident, tensions ran high at all other locations on the LAC and troops from both sides were moved forward and deployed along the LAC. Officers also said that the Chinese were trying to make an ingress in the Depsang plains where they were said to have built a road – an earlier attempt in Depsang in 2013 was resolved after 21 days.

Galwan is the site where the current disengagement process has begun. Last Saturday, General Naravane told reporters that both sides were disengaging in a phased manner, and it had started from the Galwan region.

“We have started from the north, from the area of the Galwan river, where a lot of disengagement has happened… I would not like to use the word retreated in any context. There is no retreat. The correct word would be disengagement, and both sides are disengaging in a phased manner,” he said.

Sushant Singh cremated in presence of family, close friends Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was cremated at the Pawan Hans crematorium in Mumbai on Monday in the presence of family members and close friends from the film and TV industry. Sushant was found hanging in his Bandra apartment on Sunday. He was 34.

The actor's body reached the crematorium in Vile Parle from Cooper Hospital around 4.15 pm.

Though it poured heavily, friends joined the actor's final journey. Casting director Mukesh Chhabra, who helmed Rajput's upcoming "Dil Bechara", was among the first ones to arrive at the venue along with actor Kriti Sanon. Sanon worked with Rajput in 2017's "Raabta". Sushant's friend Rhea Chakraborty also attended the cremation after visiting the hospital. The actor's "Chhichhore" co-stars Shraddha Kapoor and Varun Sharma, along with filmmaker Abhishek Kapoor, who directed him in his big screen debut "Kai Po Che!" and "Kedarnath", were also present.

They were joined by others from the film fraternity, including producer Ekta Kapoor, actors Vivek Oberoi, Randeep Hooda, Prateik Babbar and singer Udit Narayan. According to a source, only close family members and select friends from the industry were allowed to go inside the crematorium in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sushant found hanging Sushant was found hanging at his Mumbai residence on Sunday.

Sushant, who made the storybook transition from Patna boy to television and then the starry lights of the Hindi film industry, was the youngest of five siblings and is survived by his father and four sisters. "His body was found hanging at his Bandra residence.

We are investigating," said Manoj Sharma, additional commissioner of police, Western Region. An accidental death report will be registered on the basis of preliminary information, sources from the Bandra Police said. No note was found from the spot, they said.

Police sources also said they did not find any foul play in their initial investigation. A medical report about the cause of death is awaited, the police said. Sushant's last screen appearance was Nitesh Tiwari's 2019 film "Chhichhore", where he played the role of a father who conveys a message of hope and affirmation to his son who has attempted to kill himself.

Last Insta post was dedicated to mom Sushant’s last social media post, dedicated to his late mother who died in 2002 when he was a young teen, was on June 3. "Blurred past evaporating from teardrops.

Unending dreams carving an arc of smile. And a fleeting life, negotiating between the two," he wrote on Instagram, with a black and white photograph of his mother.

Sushant's sudden death comes days after his former manager, 28year-old Disha Salian, ended her

Sushant Singh Rajput

life by jumping from a high rise building on June 9. "It's such devastating news. My deepest condolences to Disha's family and friends. May your soul rest in peace," he had said, mourning her death.

As news of the tragic death spread and condolences poured in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described him as a bright young actor gone too soon. "He excelled on TV and in films. His rise in the world of entertainment inspired many and he leaves behind several memorable performances.

Shocked by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family and fans. Om Shanti," the prime minister said on Twitter.

Engineering student An engineering student, Sushant left his course at the Delhi Technological University (then Delhi College of Engineering) in the early 2000s to enroll in

choreographer Shiamak Davar's dance classes and later joined acting guru Barry John's classes. He also performed as a background dancer in the song "Dhoom again" with Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the 2006 film "Dhoom 2".

But it was the small screen that gave the "outsider" his breakout role as the mild-mannered Manav in the Ekta Kapoorproduced soap opera 'Pavitra Rishtaâ' in 2009. He left the show in 2011and two years later made his film debut with 'Kai Po Che!'.

What drove Rajput to suicide?

The the news of Sushant's suicide sent shockwaves across India. The fact that one so young and so seemingly successful could have been struggling with such serious mental demons indeed painted a tragic scenario. However, within the film industry, most were aware of Sushant’s deteriorating mental health. He had been going through severe personal and professional travails in the last couple of years. The news of his erratic, reckless behaviour was making regular splashes in the gossip columns.

Many of Sushant’s staff members had reportedly left him due to his temper tantrums. It was apparent to almost everybody in his social and professional circles that he was in need of help, but no one made an attempt to sit down with

Sushant and tried to clear cobwebs from his head.

There is also little doubt that there was a sustained, systematic campaign within the industry in the last couple of years to isolate Sushant. He had rubbed a couple of big production houses the wrong way and had had altercations with a few fellow actors. Such clashes of interest and egos are par for the course in the cut-throat industry, but since Sushant was an outsider - and because he didn't have the solid backing of any powerful Godfather or a lobby - he became an easy target.

Hardly had any movies Despite giving moderate hits regularly, he hardly had any big movies in his kitty. He was relentlessly humiliated, snubbed and isolated within the industry despite proving his acting finesse and Box Office sustainability.

Stories about his arrogance, abrasiveness and debauched lifestyle were selectively leaked to the media to tarnish his profesional and public reputation.

The underlying objective was to create such a monstrous perception about him that prominent producers and directors hesitate in working with him.

In Bollywood, it isn't just about box-office battles, but also about public image as well. Burnishing your public reputation and chipping away at rivals' image isn't uncommon. Sushant was made to believe he was unwanted, unprofessional and unsuccessful.

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Biopharma major AstraZeneca ties up with Pune's SII to produce vaccine British-Swedish pharmaceutical major AstraZeneca has tied up with Punebased Serum Institute of India (SII), along with other world-wide vaccine manufacturers, to produce the vaccine currently under trial at the University of Oxford. The university said, “Our vaccine work is progressing quickly.”

Oxford recently announced the start of a Phase II/III trial of the vaccine in about 10,000 adult volunteers with other late-stage trials due to begin in multiple countries.

The agreements include a $750 million pact with the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations founded by the Bill and

Melinda Gates Foundation and vaccine alliance Gavi, to support the manufacturing, procurement, and distribution of 300 million doses of the vaccine.

Delivery is expected to begin by the end of the year.

“In addition, the uni-

versity and industry partnership reached a licensing agreement with SII to supply one billion doses for low-and-middle-income countries, with a commitment to provide 400 million before the end of 2020”, Oxford said. SII chief executive officer, Adar

Poonawalla, said, “Serum Institute of India is delighted to partner with AstraZeneca in bringing this vaccine to India as well as low-and-middle-income countries”.

He added, “Over the past 50 years SII has built significant capability in vaccine manufacturing and supply globally. We will work closely with AstraZeneca to ensure fair and equitable distribution of the vaccine in these countries.” AstraZeneca is building a number of supply chains in parallel across the world to support global access at no profit during the pandemic and has so far secured manufacturing capacity for two billion doses of the vaccine.

Covid-19 affects nervous system, causes neurological complications, study reveals Latest research indicates headaches, loss of sense, smell and taste, and seizures can be neurological symptoms of Covid-19.

The review research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, says that SARS-CoV-2 patients have been complaining of headache, stroke, and impairment of consciousness. The virus is believed to hit the central nervous system of the body.

Research by the British Rhinological Society suggests that Covid-19 can lead to a loss of smell and taste.

The researchers cited an

earlier research published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and claimed that the neurological symptoms reported in 49 of the study's 58 patients, included confusion and brain damage or encephalopathy.

It is also believed that the virus impacts white blood cells in the body too.

Based on studies of MERSCoV and SARS-CoV-1, scientists said the novel coronavirus may enter the nervous system by several routes, including via junction of infected neurons and via the olfactory nerves connecting the nose and the brain, involved in producing the sense of smell.

The virus spreads in the body by impacting the inner walls of the blood vessels. These blood vessels also reach the brain by infecting immune cells called leukocytes.

The most common neurological complaints in Covid-19 are the loss of sense of smell and taste, headache, stroke, impairment of consciousness, seizure, and brain damage.

CDC posts Covid- Lockdown, self-quarantine 19 safety tips could put kids at risk of obesity The ongoing Covid19 outbreak has halted life as we know it, freezing normal rituals of childhood and adolescence.

With communities and businesses opening, people are looking for ways to resume daily activities, yet, stay as safe as possible.

While there is no way to ensure zero risk of infection, it is important to understand potential risks and how to adopt different types of prevention measures to protect yourself and to help reduce the spread of Covid-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted a fresh set of guidelines, along with a second set for organising and attending big gatherings such as concerts, sporting events, protests and political rallies. Dr Jay Butler of the CDC, however, clarified that the guidelines are “not intended to endorse any particular type of event.” He said the staging and attendance of such events should be in accordance with what local health officials are advising, based on how much the coronavirus is spreading in a particular community.

Children around the world were stuck at home, playing video games, watching more television, and a lot of just sitting around.

A brand new observational study recently published in the journal Obesity, revealed that lockdowns could be putting kids at higher risk for becoming overweight or obese.

The study analysed 41 children with obesity under lockdown in Verona, Italy, during March and April. Their activities had previously been monitored last year, prior to the pandemic. The children were already enrolled in a treatment program for obesity, regularly filling out behavioural questionnaires designed to tease out how they were faring

related to known obesity risk factors.

The subjects, compared with last year, were eating an additional meal each day and sleeping an extra half hour daily. They were spending five more hours than usual in front of screens, and eating significantly more junk food and red meat.

Professor of education at the University of Buffalo, and co-author of the study, Myles Faith, said, “Along came Covid-19 unexpectedly, and it really turned lifestyles upside down for many, many families.”

Cutting just 300 calories from your diet could benefit your heart

A new study reveals one of the tricks for cardiovascular health could be cutting just 300 calories from your daily diet. Participants in the study published in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, were on a calorie restriction diet lowered their blood pressure and levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol, and saw a 24 per cent drop in concentrations of triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood.

Dr William Kraus, distinguished professor at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, said a reduction of 300 calories daily refers to the average cutback in calories obtained by the study participants. He said, “Exercise and diet are the two most profound and easily implemented interventions we have in our environment that can reduce our cardiovascular risks. There aren't five drugs on the market when combined that could approach what we saw in this study from moderate calorie restriction.”

Kraus said, “This trial went on for two years, so some participants were able to maintain the restrictions and others were not as successful.” In each group, the researchers closely monitored each adult's cholesterol levels, blood pressure and triglycerides concentrations over a two-year period. Those factors can influence your risk of heart disease. Levels of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol decreased significantly after one year, in the calorie restriction group.

The researchers also found that, in the calorie restriction group, the lowering of blood pressure was evident as early as six months, reached statistical significance by one year and persisted for the duration of the study.

US surgeons perform double lung transplant on Covid-19 patient A young American female with lungs ravaged by Covid-19 just got a second lease at life, after surgeons at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital performed a transplant.

Performed last week, the surgery went well, and the patient is currently recuperating. Chief of Thoracic Surgery and Surgical Director at Northwestern, Dr Ankit Bharat later addressed a press conference.

He said, “The patient is in stable condition and improving every day. While she still has a long road ahead of her, I'm extremely hopeful that she's going to make a full recovery. She told me this one sentence. She said, 'Doc, thank you for not giving up on me.' If she didn't get the transplant, she would not be alive.” The hospital said it believes this is the first time such an operation on a Covid-19 patient has been performed successfully in the US, and that it offers new hope for patients with extensive lung damage from coronavirus infection.

A press release from the hospital said the patient, a Hispanic woman in her 20s “was the sickest person in the Covid ICU – and possibly the entire hospital”. “There were so many times, day and night, our team had to react quickly to help her oxygenation and support her other organs to make sure they were healthy enough to support a transplant if and when the opportunity came. One of the most exciting times was when the first coronavirus test came back negative and we had the first sign she may have cleared the virus to become eligible for a life-saving transplant.”

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Advice for young adults from the Recipe best around the world Hariyali Sabudana Young adults, fresh out of college, their career set to soar, have probably at some point of time been privy to a lot of advices – not necessarily even good ones to be honest. Be it “follow your passion”, or “be true to yourself”, these advices do nothing more than make one roll their eyes.

However, we have compiled a short list from some of the best in the world.

Warren Buffett: Humility and Restraint

Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett in a 2010 interview said the best advice he ever received was from one of the board-ofdirectors of his company.

He said, “Never forget Warren, you can tell a guy

to go to hell tomorrow – you don't give up the right.

So just keep your mouth shut today, and see if you feel the same way tomorrow.”

Richard Branson: Move on Founder and Chairman of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson had once said in an interview, “The

amount of time people waste dwelling on failures, rather than putting that energy into another project always amazes me.

I have fun running all the Virgin businesses. So a setback is never a bad experience, just a learning curve.”

J.K. Rowling: Embrace failure Author of the bestselling children’s book series 'Harry Potter', J.K. Rowling knows a lot about

Looking to travel internationally this Summer?

These countries are reopening to tourists With the coronavirus pandemic slowing down in certain areas, some countries have begun easing their travel restrictions. As the summer walks in, and brings with it, official vacation season we all have the same question in mind.

Where can I go?

Below listed are regions looking to reopen. However, make sure to check with your embassy or tourism department before you go booking your next vacation.

The Caribbean Re-opening in mid-June and July Jamaica will begin welcoming international travellers on June 15, while Bermuda and the Bahamas open on July 1.

Turks and Caicos is reopening on July 22.

Europe Starting June 15, Greece is open to visitors from the EU, China, Japan, Israel, New Zealand, and several other countries that have their coronavirus outbreaks under control.

Italy is also slowly opening its doors.

On June 3, it began allowing in tourists from the EU, the United Kingdom, and Monaco. Germany and France will follow suit on June 15. Spain will start loosening restrictions in July. Last week, Austria opened all of its borders, except with Italy.

Asia Japan is considering letting in tourists from Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand in the upcoming months.

failure. Before she went on to become one of the wealthiest women in the world, she was a single

mom living off welfare in the UK. In a TV show, Rowling had said, “I don't think we talk about failure enough.

It would've really helped to have someone who had had a measure of success come say to me, 'You will fail. That's inevitable. It's what you do with it.”

Bill Gates: Keep things simple

Microsoft co-founder and chairman, Bill Gates has always been vocal about his admiration for Warren Buffett, and his ability to keep things simple. He once said, “I've gotten a lot of great advice from Warren. I'd say one of the most interesting is how he keeps things simple.”

Arianna Huffington: Don't work too hard President and editorin-chief of The Huffington

Khichdi FOR SOAKING: 1 cup sabudana, ¾ cup water FOR MASALA PASTE: handful coriander, 1 inch ginger, 1 chilli OTHER INGREDIENTS: ¼ cup peanuts, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt FOR TEMPERING ½ tbsp ghee / clarified butter, 2 tbsp peanuts, 1 tsp cumin/jeera, few curry leaves ,½ potato / aloo, boiled & cubed, 2 tsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp coriander, finely chopped

Post, Arianna Huffington revealed in a LinkedIn post last year that she's often asked if young people pursuing their dreams should bend backwards?

“This couldn't be less true.

And for far too long, we have been operating under a collective delusion that burning out is the necessary price for achieving success.”

10 Beauty Shortcuts To Help You Look Put-Together

Whether you're rolling out of bed just in time for your Zoom meeting or getting ready to FaceTime some friends, we have a handful of shortcuts to help you look your best without going full glam.

Prep your skin with a moisturizer to keep your skin healthy and hydrated Wear tinted moisturizer if you don't feel like wearing foundation Use a refreshing eye cream or eye mask to help brighten and depuff your eyes Brighten your face by just dabbing some concealer under your eyes, on the bridge of your nose, and anywhere you want a little more coverage.

Swipe some mascara onto your lashes to extend the size of your eyes Moisturize your lips with some tinted lip balm to give them a touch of color on screen Fill your brows lightly with a pencil to add some pigment Strategically apply highlighter to the high points of your face to brighten and give it some more dimension on screen.

Dust a little blush on your cheeks to give your face some warmth.

SOAKING SABUDANA: firstly, take 1 cup sabudana in a large bowl. Add enough water, rub and rinse for 3 times or until water run clean.

Further, add ¾ cup water and soak for 6 hours. Do not add any extra water as it is enough for soaking without turning sabudana mushy.

In a pan dry roast ¼ cup peanuts on low flame. Roast until peanuts separate skin. Peel off the skin and blend to a coarse powder. Add peanut powder over soaked sabudana along with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar. Combine well making sure everything is well combined. Peanut powder helps to absorb excess moisture from sabudana. Keep aside.

In a small blender take handful of coriander, 1 inch ginger and 1 chilli. Blend to a coarse paste without adding any water.

Keep aside.

HARIYALI SABUDANA KHICHDI: Firstly, in a large kadai heat ½ tbsp ghee and roast 2 tbsp peanuts until it turns crunchy. Now add 1 tsp cumin, few curry leaves and splutter tempering. Add ½ potato and roast for a minute. Also, add the prepared coriander masala paste and saute for a minute. Add in soaked sabudana and mix gently combining well. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until sabudana turns translucent. Finally, add 2 tsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp coriander and enjoy hariyali sabudana khichdi.

Vegetable Idli 3 tsp oil, 1 tsp mustard, 1 tsp chana dal, ½ tsp cumin/jeera, 1 tsp urad dal, pinch hing / asafoetida, few curry leaves, 2 chilli, finely chopped, 1 inch ginger, finely chopped, 5 cashew / kaju, chopped, ½ carrot, finely chopped, ½ capsicum, finely chopped, 2 tbsp sweet corn, 5 beans, chopped, 2 tbsp peas / matar, ¼ tsp turmeric, 1 tsp salt, 1 cup rava / semolina / suji, coarse ¾ cup curd / yogurt, ½ cup water, 2 tbsp coriander, chopped, ½ tsp eno fruit salt, oil for greasing Firstly, heat 3 tsp oil and splutter 1 tsp mustard, 1 tsp chana dal, ½ tsp cumin, 1 tsp urad dal, pinch hing and few curry leaves. Add 2 chilli, 1 inch ginger and 5 cashew. Saute until golden brown.

Now add ½ carrot, ½ capsicum, 2 tbsp sweet corn, 5 beans and 2 tbsp peas. Saute for 2 minutes or vegetables shrink slightly. Further add ¼ tsp turmeric and 1 tsp salt. Saute slightly. Now add 1 cup rava and roast on low flame.

Rava turns aromatic after 5-7 minutes. Cool the rava mixture and transfer to the bowl. Furthermore, add ¾ cup curd and mix well. Now add ½ cup water and mix well forming a smooth batter.

Rest for 20 minutes or until the rava absorbs water. Mix well and add water as required, to form an idli batter consistency batter. Grease the idli plate with oil. Just before steaming add a ½ tsp eno fruit saland mix well till it turns frothy. Alternatively, add a pinch of baking soda. Pour the batter immediately into the idli plate. Do not rest the batter.

Steam the vegetable idli for 15 minutes on medium flame.

Finally, serve instant vegetable idli with coconut chutney and sambar.

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Anushka kickstarts #JusticeForAnimals campaign Actor Anushka Sharma has launched a digital campaign demanding amendment of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. #JusticeForAnimals comes days after a pregnant elephant died of eating cracker-stuffed pineapple in Kerala.

Talking about the incident and the lack of empathy towards animals, she said, “I was absolutely appalled and aghast at what happened when I read the news, I couldn't understand how such a cruel act could have been carried out.”

She added, “It makes me really sad that humans can do this! We are supposed to be apparently the most evolved species and we are supposed to be the protector of nature and all these voiceless beings and we are not doing that. I think when we

have stricter laws and there is accountability.” She has urged all authorities to recognise the growing cruelty against animals and immediately amend the law.

“Right now you can get away after being cruel to an animal by paying 50 rupees - you pay and you are out! There has to be stricter laws and people has to understand the importance of this only then will we move towards being a civilised planet,” Anushka said. “I really wish we have stricter laws against animal cruelty and they are exercised and executed in a way that there is fear in people. They shouldn’t be able to think that they can do something like this so easily and can get away with it by paying a small fine.”

Ananya, Shanaya collectively raise the temperature with new pictures

Anurag Kashyap: Karan Johar called me a psychopath Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap recently opened up about some of the most embarrassing moments of his life. In an interview with a media source, he divulged details of his fight with Karan Johar, and the pranks he played on director Mukul Anand.

“Karan Johar gave an interview calling me a psychopath. Till then we had not met. I called him a fat kid, who still thinks he is in school,” he said. He also revealed details on how he tricked Mukul Anand. “There was a time when Mukul Anand was making Trimurti (1995). I wanted to work with him as an assistant. I would call his house landline. Every call was a rupee gone. And he was always busy. Third time I said, ‘Subhash Ghai bol raha hoon.

Unko bolna kal se set pe aane ki zarurat nahin hai [This is producer Subhash Ghai, tell him not to show up on the sets from tomorrow],’ and hung up,” he said.

On the work front, Kashyap has had two releases during the almost three-monthlong lockdown.

Abhishek gets nostalgic about working with mom for first time

Ananya Pandey, and BFF Shanaya Kapoor posed for a brand new set of Instagram pictures, and we have to say, WOWZAAA! Ananya shared a couple pictures, with a caption that read, “We'll be best friends forever... because you already know too much. #Throwback #ShaniCake #Soulmate.”

While the pictures are way above our pay grade, we noticed a third member of the girl gang missing.

However, while Shah Rukh Khan's middle child Suhana may be missing from the pictures, she sure managed to

pop out in the comment section. She wrote, “Wow you really got that caption back”, along with a couple heart emojis. The trio have been best friends since they were toddlers and frequently appear on each other's social media.

While Ananya has already made her movie debut, both Suhana and Shanaya are in the fray. Shanaya assisted on the upcoming 'Gunjan Saxena' biopic featuring her cousin Janhvi Kapoor, and Suhana is currently completing her education at New York University.

Actor Abhishek Bachchan took a walk down memory lane over the weekend, sharing a brand new set of anecdotes as part of his #RoadTo20 series. AB Jr., who will complete 20 years in the industry by end of June, called the year full of first experiences.

He wrote, “#RoadTo20. Year – 2002. A year of many firsts!!! But the top would be getting to be part of a film with my mother. 'Desh', was a Bengali film she was acting in.” Elaborating how he ended up doing a cameo in the movie during a trip to Kolkata, he wrote, “I was in Kolkata for a function when she called me and asked me to visit her. She was shooting near Siliguri in West Bengal. I did.

And ended up doing a small cameo as her on-screen son.”

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When Priyanka was yelled at on set for not getting her steps right We all know Priyanka Chopra as a fabulous, Boss Woman with each foot in Bollywood, and Hollywood. We all love her for not only her skills as an actor, but her vivaciousness and the sheer confidence with which she takes up on any challenge thrown her way. However, a video that resurfaced online recently shows her in a completely new light. PeeCee can be heard opening up about her inexperience and being yelled at on sets.

In the video, Priyanka says she was once scolded while shooting for a romantic song with Akshay Kumar in South Africa. “That was one of the first songs I shot and there were multiple things I had to achieve at that point.

Once the 40th-something take had happened and I didn’t get it right… I remember Raju Khan was the choreographer, he is Saroj (Khan) ji’s son. He threw his mic down and said, ‘Just because you’re Miss World, you think you can become an actress? Go learn how to dance and then come back and perform,’” she said.

However, Akshay's wife Twinkle Khanna went into labour during that point and brought Pri a chance to prepare herself better as the schedule was cut short and the team came back to India. “I remember going to Pandit Veeru Krishnan’s class and started learning kathak. I did about six hours every single day and then when I went back, for the next schedule, I knew so much

by Vallisa Chauhan

'Bend It Like Beckham' Jess and Jules come from very different backgrounds but both have a love for football.

When the finals of their match falls on the same day as Jess’s sister’s wedding what will the girls do?.

more,” she said.

Since then, Priyanka has come a long way, winning a number of accolades, including the National Award, and multiple Filmfare Awards.

Kangana cuts sister Rangoli's hair at home; gives new twist to 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' Actress turned hair stylist, Kangana Ranaut is one of the latest Bollywood celebs to help a family member get a hair cut. Ranaut's sister and manager Rangoli Chandel shared pictures of getting her hair cut at home by none other, than the 'Manikarnika' actress.

She wrote in an Instagram post, “Needed a haircut desperately, I usually get my hair cut and colour done in Mumbai but my young - gun - murgan ever ready for anything and everything came to my rescue as usual...what you all think of my new hair cut.” She shared photos featuring Kangana in a white kurta pyjama, tending to Rangoli's hair,

while she sits in a chair next to her, her locks spread on the floor.

Rangoli's new look features her in a short bob, a drastic change as compared to her previously long hair.

Both the sisters are currently with

their family in Manali, where Kangana has arrived just before the lockdown kicked in. They have been very active on social media, sharing multiple videos including the latest featuring her playing the piano.

Arjun Kapoor goes ga-ga over Ranveer's 'mermaid-coloured patloon' We all are familiar with the amazing bromance that goes on between actors Arjun Kapoor, and Ranveer Singh. Their friendly banter online amuses many, including us.

Ranveer shared a picture of himself by a washing machine on Friday, as part of a paid campaign with a detergent brand. A perfectly normal post, Arjun still couldn't resist pulling his leg, and commented that he is in love with the “mermaid colour patloon”. Both the actors have worked together in films like 'Gunday', and 'Finding Fanny'. They were also together for the 'All India Bakchod Knockout' in 2015. Arjun has also expressed interest in doing more movies with his friend. He had said, “I would love to do 'Hera Pheri' with Ranveer and Paresh Rawal. Similarly, 'Main Khiladi Tu Anari' is another film that I would love to remake with him.”

Genre: Romantic Comedy Sports Film Duration: 112 minutes

Jess is from a Punjabi background and her parents do not think she should play football. She sneaks out to play with her friends in the park and one day Jules notices her playing and says she should join the local girls team headed by coach Joe. Jess tries out for the team and is accepted. She starts playing for the team and she and Jules together are doing really well until her father finds out and tells her she is not allowed to play anymore.

Jess then carries on sneaking out to play with the team and even manages to go away for a trip abroad with the team. Jules catch’s Jess kissing Joe who Jules also had a crush on and so the two girls argue and stop talking. At the same time Jess’s father finds out that she lied to go away with the team and he bans her from playing. Jess throws herself into helping her sister plan her big day. As the big day approaches Jess finds out that there is a scout coming to the final but it is on the day of her sister’s wedding.

Jess’s father finds out about the match at the wedding and not wanting to see his daughter unhappy he agrees to let her go to the second half of the match. Once Jess arrives the team are not in the best position but in the end they win thanks to her free kick.

The scout that was at the match offers a scholarship to Jess and Jules to attend a university in California.

Jess’s best friend Tony pretends he wants to marry Jess and says that his only stipulation is she is allowed to study wherever she wants. Not wanting to lie to her parents any longer Jess tells them the truth and they allow her to study abroad.

Although an older film 'Bend it Like Beckham' really does have that feel good factor that will keep you entertained during this lockdown.

You can get in touch with Vallisa: djvallisa@gmail.com

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Keerthy Suresh in Amazon Prime's brand new crime thriller 'Penguin' The brand new trailer of Keerthy Suresh's 'Penguin' appears to be a gripping thriller tracking the story of a pregnant mother on a desperate hunt to save her son from his kidnapper.

Released last week, 'Penguin' gave us short glimpses into the psychological thriller.

The trailer features Keerthy crossing paths with the

kidnapper, who appears to be the titular 'Penguin'. Dressed in black, he wears a Charlie Chaplin mask and carries a yellow umbrella at all times.

Produced by Karthik Subburaj, the movie marks the directorial debut of Eshavar Karthic.

'Penguin' is set to make a world premiere on Amazon Prime, on June 19.

Prabhas plants saplings as part of Chiranjeevi Sarja's untimely death rocks the Green India Challenge Kannada film industry

Actor Prabhas has taken up the Green India Challenge and planted saplings in his backyard.

The actor took to Facebook to share the pictures after he planted the saplings along with TRS Rajya Sabha member J Santosh Kumar. The photos went viral on social media, as does everything else with Prabhas. On the work front, the actor currently has two projects in his kitty, including one with director Radha Krishna Kumar, featuring Pooja Hegde as the leading lady. Tentatively titled 'Jaan', it will feature Prabhas as a palm reader. The other project is with 'Mahanati' director Nag Ashwin.

Prithviraj goes cleanshaven after months, wife Supriya rejoices Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran, who recently ended his 14-day quarantine after returning from Jordan last month, has finally shaved his beard off, much to wife Supriya's delight.

After growing a long beard for months for his upcoming Malayalam film 'Aadujeevitham', Prithviraj's new look became an instant hit on the internet.

Supriya posted a selfie with her husband, revealing the new look. She captioned the post, “Gym body with no thaadi!

Finally! #ThaadikaranisChikna #GuessWhoShaved AfterMonths”. Prithviraj was stranded in Jordan for over months, and only returned on May 22, along with 58 crew members of upcoming Malayalam movie 'Aadujeevitham'.

Based on the critically-acclaimed eponymous 2008 novel about an abused migrant worker in Saudi Arabia, 'Aadujeevitham' is one of the most anticipated films of the year. The movie features the actor in the titular role of Najeeb Muhammad, an Indian emigrant who goes missing in Saudi, and Amala Paul.

Popular Kannada actor Chiranjeevi Sarja breathed his last in a private hospital in Bengaluru, at the young age of 39. He had reportedly complained of breathlessness and severe chest pain and consulted a doctor. Later he was rushed to a hospital in an unresponsive state last week, where doctors unsuccessfully tried to revive him.

His last rites were performed near Bengaluru. Kannada actors Yash, Shiva Rajkumar and Kiccha Sudeep were seen paying their last

respects. Chiranjeevi is survived by his pregnant wife and actress Meghana Raj. His cousin Suraj shared a photo on his Instagram and wrote, “Still can't digest the fact that he is left us and this being last post. Will miss you a lot brother. Just no words to explain.”

Chiranjeevi forayed into films in 2009, with 'Vayuputra'. He had appeared in a number of films such as 'Chirru', 'Ram-Leela', 'Whistle', and 'Amma I Love You'. His last release, 'Shivarjuna', opened in theatres in March this year.

20:30: BARRISTER BABU

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21:00: BALIKA VADHU - LAMHE

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PYAAR KE

SATURDAY 20TH JUNE

22:00: BIGG BOSS (SEASON 13)

SATURDAY 20TH JUNE

11:00: MAHAKALI

14:30: MAHABHARAT

17:00: DHARAM THI GUJARATI

18:30: INDIA UNLIMITED

19:00: NAAGIN (SEASON 4)

20:00: JHANSI KI RANI

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MON 22ND JUNE FRI 26TH JUNE 2020

21:00: MAHABHARAT 22:00: BOSS

SUNDAY 21ST JUNE

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11:00:

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16:30: SIRF 30 MINUTES

14:30:

MAHABHARAT

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19:00: CHOTI SARDAARNI 20:00: JHANSI KI RANI

11:30:

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PAKDAM PAKDAI DESI BEAT RESET

NAAGIN (SEASON 4) JHANSI KI RANI MAHABHARAT SPECIAL 26

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19:00: MERE HUMRAHI

19:30: OM NAMAH SHIVAY

19:00: FEET UP WITH THE STARS (SEASON 2)

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Former England star Vikram Solanki appointed as Surrey's new head coach Rajasthan-born Vikram Solanki became the first cricketer of Asian heritage to take charge of a county team when he was named the new Surrey head coach. Solanki, an elegant batsman who made the last of his 54 white-ball appearances for England in 2007, has been part of Surrey's backroom staff since 2016 and takes the top job following the departure from the Oval of Australian Michael Di Venuto.

The move was welcomed by the National Asian Cricket Council (NACC), who promote the interests of Britain's vast South Asian network and have formed close ties with the ECB. But they have also called for the game at age-group levels to examine its approach to recruiting coaches from outside the white mainstream. 'We're delighted for Vikram, who fully deserves the role,' NACC chairman Gulfraz Riaz said.

'It's pleasing for everyone in

Vikram Solanki

the South Asian cricket community that we can get significant people into important positions in the game, and we hope it inspires South Asian coaches in their coaching journeys. We've made great strides in recent years with the help of the ECB. 'But we'd still like to see more British Asian ex-pros given an opportunity to get into coaching at county agegroup levels, as that is where they can add value and make a real difference, as well as develop their coaching skills.'

The NACC, of which Solanki

is an ambassador, acknowledge the growing number of Asian faces in other coaching positions.

Min Patel heads up Kent's talent pathway, Kadeer Ali is in charge of Worcestershire's 2nd XI, Jigar Naik works at the Leicestershire academy, and former England seamer Ajmal Shahzad runs MCC's Young Cricketers programme.

Last October, the highly regarded Mo Bobat was appointed in the influential role of ECB performance director, which involves working closely with England coach Chris Silverwood and national selector Ed Smith. Solanki himself is understood to be reluctant for his ethnicity to overshadow his ascent to one of the most prestigious posts in English cricket.

But his appointment comes amid growing calls

for more Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) cricketers to take up influential roles within the game. And the ECB have admitted they have to 'work harder' following the absence last year of a single BAME candidate from the final round of interviews for the England women's head coaching position - in contravention of the sport's own version of the Rooney Rule. The job went to Australia's Lisa Keightley.

A board spokesperson said: 'We have followed the guidance for all recent men's coach appointments, but we struggled for applicants in the England women's coach role, despite an active search and outreach programme.

'We had one BAME applicant but we did not take them through to the final interview stage. We do acknowledge this conflicts with our commitment and we must work harder to seek candidates from diverse backgrounds in our processes.'

West Indies’ Kemar Roach warns Jofra Archer West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach has warned England fast bowler Jofra Archer not to expect a warm welcome from the players he snubbed in order to represent England.

Barbados-born Archer is eligible to play for England because his father was born there and the paceman made his debut for England last year.

His decision to reject the West Indies did not go down well and fellow Barbadian Roach says Archer is unlikely to be given a friendly reception in the forthcoming Test series between the sides.

It will be the first time Archer, who featured for the West Indies Under-19s before moving to England in 2016, has faced the country of his birth in Test cricket.

“Jofra made his decision and he’s done a fantastic job for England so far but there will be no friendships during

this series,” Roach said at a press conference. “It’s all about winning and playing hard cricket. We will devise a plan for our batsmen to counter him and I’m looking forward to that battle. I saw him as a youngster in domestic cricket back home in Barbados and always thought he was talented. He has come over here and shown what he can do and I want to wish him all the best

in his career. But you will definitely see if we have any words for him on the field when that comes around.”

The West Indies are currently quarantining in Manchester as they prepare for the start of the three-Test series in July. When the action gets underway behind closed doors, the West Indies will be looking to emulate last year’s 2-1 Test series victory against England in the Caribbean.

That success was inspired by a fierce West Indies pace attack that left England shellshocked.

Roach took five wickets as England were bowled out for 77 in the first Test and the 31year-old believes they can take the fight to the hosts again.

“It’s different conditions to the Caribbean and the ball will do a bit more here but I don’t think our mode of attack will change much,” Roach said. “We saw what happened in the Caribbean and that’s pretty fresh in our minds and if we can get stuck into the batsmen we will have a great chance of defeating England. We have always had a history of fast bowling and we just needed the pitches to bowl on which our curators have given us. Our bowlers have done a tremendous job over the last couple of years and if we continue to work hard there are some great things ahead of us.”

in brief MCC REBELS SEEKING TO OUST ITS CHAIRMAN A decision by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) to allow people to jump the waiting list has led to an attempt to oust the club’s chairman. Members angry with the way the club is being run are pressing for a vote of confidence in Gerald Corbett, who has been chairman since 2015.The dissenting MCC members are confident they will get enough support to force a special meeting and even say they will win when it comes to a vote. The committee has proposed selling 350 life memberships for several thousand pounds each, with the option of rising to £85,000 or more, to raise funds for the development of Lord’s.

There are 12,000 people on the waiting list and the only way to jump the queue is to become a playing member or be awarded an honorary life membership, reserved for distinguished former players, royalty and those who had made a contribution to the sport.

Opponents of the proposal believe it would be unfair to people on the waiting list to see others get in ahead of them simply because they have money. The club has dismissed the opposition as an attempt by a tiny minority to thwart modernisation plans at a time when it is trying to plan for the return of cricket after the pandemic. However, Chris Waterman, one of the dissenters, said that an opposition group had more than 200 members. They need 180 signatures in order to force a special general meeting. He said Corbett’s performance as chairman had been “hopeless”, adding: “MCC has no support among the ordinary members, because it is run by a geriatric chumocracy.”

Corbett said: “But we did it before - in 1996 - and I don’t recall any sense of moral iniquity . . . I think that is better than saddling the club with debt.”

STREETS IN MELBOURNE NAMED AFTER SACHIN, KOHLI AND KAPIL A new housing estate being developed on Rockbank suburb of Melbourne will have streets named after Indian cricket greats including Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev and Virat Kohli. The estate, developed by Accolade Estate, is luring buyers with a “Tendulkar Drive”, “Kohli Crescent” and “Dev Terrace.” The estate has also named streets after other international cricketers such as “Waugh Street”, “Miandad Street”, “Ambrose Street”, “Sobers Drive”, “Kallis Way”, “Hadlee Street” and “Akram Way“. The Rockbank suburb, which falls under Melton Council, has been a popular suburb among home buyers from the Indian community. According to Elissa Hayes of Resi venture, the developer of the estate, “the response from the Indian community has been exceptionally good and high ever since the launch of the H&L packages.” Street names are usually submitted by developers and approved by the city council if they meet Office of Geographic Names guidelines. Resi Ventures director Khurram Saeed said there were 60 names submitted to the council for approval including a street named after the great Don Bradman but the body refused it as there was already a street named after him in Melbourne. “We didn’t get Kumar Sangakara, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni and a few others as council knocked them back for one reason or another,” he said. “We did get Tendulkar and Kohli over the line with the council.

Kohli is one of my favourite batsmen of the current era and I named the most expensive street after him, overlooking the future wetlands,” Khurram added.

Refugee boy, 9, moving towards chess stardom “I want to be a grandmaster by the age of 11 or 12,” said 9year-old Tanitoluwa Adewumi, the youngest child of a family of refugees who fled Nigeria three years ago after they were targeted by the jihadist group Boko Haram. Landing in New York City just over two years ago, Tanitoluwa began learning to play chess. Last year he won the New York State chess championship in his age division, lugging the trophy to the homeless

shelter in Manhattan where the family were living at the time.

The child refugee had triumphed over children from New York’s most elite private schools, players with lengthy records and private tutors. Since then the family have found a home, a memoir telling their story was published last month and the studio Paramount and the comedian Trevor Noah, host of The Daily

Tanitoluwa Adewumi

Show, have announced plans to shoot a film.

Tanitoluwa’s chess ranking continues to improve at a remarkable rate. He is now ranked third

among players his age and is on track for first place. “I want to be the youngest grandmaster in the world,” he said. Neither of his parents know how to play chess, his father Kayode said. “He was introduced to it at his school,” said Adewumi, 43. “He dedicated his time to it.”

In Nigeria, Adewumi had a printing company. In December of 2016 four men arrived at his shop in Abuja and handed him a thumb

drive, asking him to print 25,000 copies of the poster it contained. When he opened the drive, the poster was a message from Boko Haram, declaring “No to western education” and “Kill all Christians”.

Adewumi, a Christian, told the men his printers had broken. They did not appear to believe him: in the weeks that followed, while he was away on business, men with guns showed up at his house and threatened his

wife, Oluwatoyin. As the threats escalated, the family fled to the United States in 2017. In New York they stayed at a shelter in Lower Manhattan and Tanitoluwa enrolled in a local primary school, which had a chess club. Shawn Martinez, who taught there and became Tanitoluwa’s coach, said he was struck by how fast the boy picked it up. “He has an incredible memory and he’s very interested in what he’s learning,” he said.