AV 22nd August 2020

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

inside: Labour leader eager to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi SEE PAGE - 15 R

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

22 - 28 AUGUST 2020 - VOL 49 ISSUE 17

STUDENTS' POWER PREVAILS

South Asians encouraged to lose weight to cut Covid-19 risk SEE PAGE - 17

Ladakh has shown the capability of Indian soldiers: PM Modi SEE PAGE - 26

INDIAN AMERICANS REJOICE KAMLA HARRIS’ VICE-PRESIDENT BID

Yaqoub Imran and others protesting at Godiva Square, Coventry

Priyanka Mehta and Shefali Saxena On Tuesday 18th August, as we went to press, Gavin Williamson continued to preside as the UK’s Education Secretary despite widespread protests demanding his resignation after the Government’s chaos in its handling of the Alevels results. Students’ protests were successful in pressurising the government to scrap the Ofqual algorithm. But government’s U-turn to now accepting Centre Assessed Grades (CAGs) still doesn’t help all students to study the course they had initially been offered as seats in universities have already been filled up.

Academics believe that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students might once again be languishing behind.

Frustrated with the back and forth but welcoming the government’s apology Priyanka Virdi says, “No student should have received a U for an exam that they had not taken in the first place. Gavin Williamson should have trusted our teachers and given students their CAGs to

begin with because teachers know and can best assess their students’ ability instead of an algorithm. It is a disrespect to the sincerity and dedication of our teachers to assume that they would exercise bias or inaccuracy whilst grading.

“The government’s U-turn was definitely needed but it may be too late as some courses have already been filled up. My parents and family were quite supportive surrounding the situation as they know now that my current grades do not reflect my ability or hard work and dedication. But it is just frustrating that the government and Ofqual had five months to sort this out and yet, they put us through such an unnecessary five days of emotional turmoil and stress.”

Continued on page 6

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, has named Kamala Harris, who is of mixed Indian and Black heritage, as his pick for Vice-President in what was described as “historic” and “seismic” by Democrats, including many ecstatic Indian Americas, and non-partisan observers. Harris was not a surprise pick as she had been on everyone’s shortlist of Biden’s choices, which at some stage had 11 names. In recent days the former vice-president had been focussed on three - Harris, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Congresswoman Karen Baas. Some days ago, Biden may have tipped his hand inadvertently when notes he held during a press interaction showed several checkmarks against her name.

Continued on page 26

2 UK

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

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22 - 28 August 2020

with Keith Vaz

Rita Chandarana Rita Chandarana was born in Leicester and went to Loughborouh High School l for Girls where she completed her GCSE’s and A levels. She graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 1996. After graduating Rita took various marketing roles including working for Kodak, Acco Rexel, Waterford Stuart Crystal, Philips and then finally Merry Hill Shopping Centre. She took the bold step to start her own Events business over 16 years ago, with the knowledge that her passion for live events and her attitude of giving her best would deliver success.

Eventologists, Event Trees, Funky Event Hire have a reputation of delivering awesome events beyond the expectations of the original brief and being a business that brands truly want to work with.

Working with venues, agencies and clients, they have a 5 Star reputation for delivering successful events for some of the top world-wide brands such as Google, Santander, Barclays, Next, Samsung, Dunelm and many more.

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

I have done lots of travelling in the Far East and I truly love every country I've visited.

There is so much to see and do so I never feel I have seen enough though! I feel so at home in this region. I love the culture and the way of life though I sometimes have to question some politics - but don't you have to everywhere in the world? My latest trip was to Singapore and if there was any place I would love to move to, I would say it would be here. I love the food, the people, and the way of life. It’s such a peaceful place and where I feel so energetic and connected at the same time. It would be an awesome country to work as it’s so dynamic at the same time!

What are your proudest achievements?

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For me, running ethical and kind businesses has been the most important achievement. I made a conscious decision that I wanted to create businesses that allowed me to thrive and be successful without negatively impacting the lives of my staff, suppliers, and customers. It’s the only way to do business these days and for me and it always feels good when you are working with a good value set that allows you to sleep at night. We look after our team’s wellbeing and health as well as our own whilst running 4 Events businesses which is an industry known to be stressful and challenging.

What inspires you?

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Whether its friends, family, or people I work with, I always admire people who have a great deal of integrity and humanity and people who are honest with themselves and others. One of the biggest lessons my parents have taught me is to be honourable and never forget the kindness shown by others to me especially in times of adversity. Anyone can be kind to you during good times, but during those tough moments, those who hold your hand are the ones you need to keep hold of. They have also taught me how to be resilient in times of adversity and this life lesson is probably one that is most useful anyone who could pivot in the face of adversity wins my vote!

What has been biggest obstacle in your career?

I come from a corporate background, but nothing prepared me for the challenges and lessons I've learnt running a business. I've overcome so much adversity in 15 years of running my own business from operating during a recession, juggling finances, managing people who don't like change and managing myself through this. Business has a massive personal impact on your life but it makes you strong - not much scares me these days. I just learn how to adapt as my situation adapts. The curse of going through so much adversity, has been my biggest blessing especially during COVID when all of my businesses haven't been able to trade!

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

There’s actually not one single person who I can say has been my influence because I admire different people for different qualities. Managers, Parents, Books and Inspirational leaders have inspired me to be able to manage anything that gets thrown at me. I still have a lot to gain and learn, the journey is not over but I am eternally grateful to anyone who has helped me to develop over the years.

What is the best aspect about your current role?

Being an Events Professional is so varied and fun. No one day is the same – it’s fast paced, changeable, exciting and exhilarating and certainly challenges the grey matter! It doesn’t even feel like a job – it’s what I love to do. I work with some incredible people who are my friends and family at work, and they make me smile every day. I am very lucky to have such a great role.

And the worst?

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Meghani announces his resignation from “anti-Indian” Labour party after 20 years A lawyer and ex-Labour councillor who has been part of the Labour Party for 20 years announced his resignation from the party on the Indian Independence Day. On Saturday 15th August, Sundip Meghani resigned from the party blaming “increased antiIndian, antisemitic, and anti-worker sentiment of recent years.” In his resignation letter Sundip Meghani - a lead investigator at the Independent Office For Police Conduct – he expressed deep regret over his decision to quit the party which had been like "a surrogate family" to him.

Accusing “self-proclaimed Socialist Labour MPs” of “playing racist power games and identity politics, whilst professing to care about the public good”, he wrote, “I am choosing to mark the occasion by leaving an organisation I know to be institutionally racist and anti-Indian. Also, I can no longer support a party that acts against the interests of working people, and is consistently embarrassed by Britain’s values and traditions.

“As a British Indian, I

am proud of both facets of my identity. My Indian heritage, rooted in Gujarati culture and Hindu values; and my sense of Britishness, growing up in white working class areas of Leicester, before representing outer estates in local government.

Both these communities no longer matter to the modern Labour Party.

“It is a sad indictment I should have to outline my background to reference the party’s bigotry and intolerance. But having lost its principles and all sense of direction, identity politics is the only language Labour now understands.”

Meghani had been a Leicester city councillor for Beaumont Leys for four years up until 2015, a trade union branch leader, and a Leicester Police Authority member. But reports indi-

cate that he was left infuriated when his application to stand as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Leicester East in last December’s General Election was not even answered by party officials.

Weeks earlier Leicester East constituency Labour party (CLP) chairman John Thomas also announced he was quitting the party. In his resignation letter, Mr Meghani stated that Labour's "descent, from meritocracy to mediocrity, and its growing irrelevance to the lives of ordinary people, runs parallel with its increased anti-Indian, antisemitic and anti-worker sentiment of recent years.

Despite the election of Sir Keir Starmer, a respectable man who is not a deluded Marxist, I have seen no evidence that sensible values will be restored; and that socialism, as an oppressive totalitarian ideology, will be ditched forever.”

Mr Meghani, a former President of Leicestershire Junior Lawyers, announced on Twitter that he intended to shortly publish more detail of his “experiences of anti-Indian bigotry and racial abuse in Labour over the last four years.”

There is not a worst – I wouldn’t be doing this if there was a worst. Every job has elements that they do not enjoy but that’s life.

You should not be doing anything that you hate so much that it makes you miserable!

What are your long-term goals?

Restrictions continue on household gatherings in West Yorkshire, East Lancashire and Leicester

There is so many things I would like to get involved in especially projects and ventures that help me give back and serve. I would love to demonstrate that businesses can thrive and shine whilst looking after the wellbeing of others. Working with people that inspire, teach, and challenge me every day is important, and I am grateful for some incredible people I've met recently!

As for work, I never want to deliver mediocre that is a promise I made when I started working as a graduate. I will continue work on projects and businesses that I can be totally proud of having given 100% of my best at it. Being the best version of myself is what I strive for every day.

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

Many inspirational leaders in the world during COVID have shown a different style of leadership that is compassionate, kind, and honest. Many of these leaders have been women, who have shown the world that there is a different way to do politics which gains more support and following. If I was prime minster - I would go and learn from these great leaders and change the way we run our country which would perhaps make the nation feel more re-assured that I am running the country for the greater good of the country rather some other ulterior motive.

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

My days would be spent with Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs – we would keep busy learning new things including about ourselves and exploring new ideas that could transform our world for future generations.

Restrictions will remain in place on gatherings in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, East Lancashire and Leicester as the government continues to work with local leaders in Blackburn with Darwen, Oldham and Pendle to address high or rising cases of Covid-19, the Department of Health and Social Care announced.

The second lockdown measures were announced two weeks ago to urgently tackle an increase in Covid19 cases in these areas.

Casinos, skating rinks, bowling alleys, exhibition halls, conference centres and indoor play areas will not be permitted to open in these areas and shielding will also continue for individuals in Blackburn with Darwen, and Leicester City.

The latest evidence does not show a decrease in the number of cases per 100,000 people in the area, and the Health Secretary, in collaboration with local leaders, has agreed that the rules must remain in place at present.

This will help protect local residents, and allow more time for the changes to have an effect, cutting transmission among households. The latest data also shows a continued rise in cases in Oldham and Pendle while

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numbers remain high in Blackburn with Darwen.

Minister for Health Edward Argar said, “We will review the measures again next week as part of our ongoing surveillance and monitoring of the latest data.

“It is essential we all remain vigilant, and I urge everyone in these areas to continue to follow the rules wash your hands regularly, follow social distancing, get yourself a free test as soon as you get any symptoms, and isolate if NHS Test and Trace tells you to.”

As part of ensuring a proportionate yet robust

response to the virus, where possible the government will remove individual areas from these measures while maintaining or even strengthening measures in others as necessary – just as has been done in other areas where local measures have been brought in, such as Leicestershire. The latest data for Leicester shows that infection rates have declined owing to the efforts of the local area, so a further review is being carried out and an update will be given shortly. In the meantime, the current restrictions will remain in place.

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22 - 28 August 2020

Labour’s last chance to win Indian hearts back The British Indians historically have been Labour party supporters. Till even 2017, 50 per cent of the 1.5 million of the British Indian population, voted for the Labour party. But recently their take on Kashmir, the former leader Jeremy Corbyn’s antiNarendra Modi stance, pushed the party further away from the diaspora.

Historically it is believed that Labour party’s movement gave India its independence. There was genuine anti-imperialism in the early movement of the party, just as there was anti-war feeling, and both may have helped India to get its freedom.

However, in an article about ‘British Labour party and Indian Nationalism 1907-1947’, University of New England’s Howard Brasted and Carl Bridge wrote that Mahatma Gandhi and Lala Lajpat Rai did not believe that British workers could be truly friendly with India as their economic welfare depended on the maintenance of the empire. In fact, Lala Lajpat Rai also dismissed British socialism and declared Labour MPs to be simply ‘Tories in disguise’ and believed the party’s anti-imperialism was superficial.

Fast forward to 1990s. The party campaigned for scholarships to be extended to foreign students and started Diwali celebration in Trafalgar square. Labour party was the hope for Indian refugees arriving from East Africa in 1960s, as the Tories stood hostile. But many of those who grew up in council houses, aided by a Labour government, grew up to become Tory supporters and party members, as the Labour moved away from the core sentiment in British Indians- their pride in ‘mother India’.

With declining political participations and disappearing

donors from Indian background, the party aligned towards Pakistani sentiments, despite bodies like Labour Friends of India trying to forge a better relationship with the diaspora since 1999. The final nail in the coffin was when the party’s anti-India campaigners started a motion against India’s decision to scrap Article 370, and indirectly that led to vandalism of India House on 15 August 2019. Jeremy Corbyn was not seen anywhere condemning this action.

Keir Starmer as the leader of the party, has ignited lights of hope. He has distanced the party from anti-India sentiments and declared ‘Kashmir’ as an internal matter of the Government of India.

In a virtual meeting with the Indian Journalists’ Association, Rajesh Agrawal, Deputy Mayor of London for Business and one of the Chairs of the Labour Friends of India, highlighted how Sir Starmer would like to visit India and meet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He and his colleague Darren Jones MP, another Chair for the LFIN emphasised how the party policies are different from conference policies and put forward party’s half-Indian Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy’s thoughts on a better relationship with India.

Labour party’s Indian friends are trying. But politics is a game of broken promises. Sentiments are often just used to win votes. But Britain’s jilted but observant Indian community is waiting. They are hopeful that Sir Starmer and leaders like Rajesh Agrawal would right the wrong that had been done to them. It is the last chance Labour party would ever have to win back its Indian friends, and they better not lose it this time.

Kamala Harris TRUMPS politics of identity?

She will be the first female vice president, the first Black vice president and the first Asian American vice president IF Democrats defeat Trump. As far as boxes are concerned, Kamala Harris is ticking all of them. To the extent that perhaps, American historians may immortalize her as the female Don Quixote on the mission of decolonising America.

Her female contemporaries are excited for the "new phase" in American politics where "immigrant" women will no longer be asked to "go back home". Parents are perhaps, relieved to know that they can vote for a vice president who does not approve of ICE agents ripping apart families at border crossings on the dictats of a broken immigration system.

Teachers would look forward to the whopping $13,500 pay increase in their annual salary that Harris had first proposed when she had thrown her hat in the presidential race last year.

Americans may feel a modicum of safety considering her desire for the introduction of the executive actions if Congress did not pass gun control legislation in the first 100 days of her presidency. This would be a significant overhaul in the otherwise unregulated weapons industry. It can potentially result in revoked licenses or prosecutions in her determination of a more stringent regulation on the gun manufacturers. The former Attorney General of California has seconded the legacy of Obamacare. She has plans to support Biden with his Medicare policy at a time when America has recorded the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in proportion to its population. Biden is proposing to allow Americans between the ages of 60 and 64 the option of buying into Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly. And on the economic front, while she has not released concrete plans for jobs generation, Harris appears to be

promising a magic employment tree for the 3 million people who have lost permanent employment due to the pandemic.

As far as her domestic policies are concerned, the left-off centre ideologist appears to be practically winning through the presidency.

But while Harris and her love for “idlis” may have won hearts in Chennai, her political stance on Kashmir has unsettled policymakers in New Delhi. When India had passed the Citizenship Amendment Act, five Indian-American lawmakers - all Democrats including Raja Krishnamoorthy, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Ami Bera and Kamala Harris echoed their opposition.

Harris had even stood in solidarity with Jayapal after India’s External affairs minister S. Jaishankar refused to meet Jayapal during his visit to America. Pramila Jayapal, had pushed a resolution in December urging India to end the restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian foreign secretary had concluded that Jayapal’s understanding of the situation was “unfair”. But Harris did not stop there. In her presidential bid, while commenting on Kashmir she had said, “We have to remind the Kashmiris that they are not alone in the world. We are keeping a track on the situation.”

Contemporary history has recorded that there is a significant population buying first-row tickets to Trump-Modi bromance. In a post-Covid world, US-India bilateral ties would be crucial in ascertaining China’s global index especially considering the on-going US-China trade war. Will Harris neutralise her vocal opposition to the policies of the Indian government and will the domino effect be seen on Biden’s foreign policy framework? The answers to these questions can only be determined if America decides to elect its first female, Black and Asian vice president.

Dhoni bows out from international stage Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the former Indian cricket captain, left the international stage after representing the country for 16 long years. True to the way he played his cricket, Dhoni served up yet another surprise by announcing his retirement from international cricket with a cryptic message on Instagram.

Having witnessed from close quarters several high-profile departures, most of them delayed, Dhoni knew the pitfalls of over-staying in the dressing room. In Indian cricket, your reputation and past records can only ensure the opening applause that lasts till the time you walk down the pavilion stairs and reach the crease.

The moment the famously fickle subcontinent cricket fans spot vulnerability, they pounce. Late in his career, questions were being asked about Dhoni’s role in the team. However, till his last game, the erstwhile finisher remained the team’s harbinger of hope. The man who preferred to be on the fringes of most team celebrations – Dhoni left the stage on his own terms. Win, lose or on the edge of retirement, he never lost his poise or perspective and never be a controversial figure.

If Sachin Tendulkar’s rise to stardom represented aspirational India in the post-1991 liberalisation era, Dhoni’s rise represented a small-town revolution in Indian cricket that came in liberalisation’s wake. Before him it was still players from the big cricketing states and cities that dominated the game. Hailing from Jharkhand, Dhoni broke that mould and brought with him an unorthodox yet effective style. In that sense, Dhoni’s reign oversaw a transition in Indian cricket

where the focus firmly shifted from classical style to substance, from trying to win to making winning an art form.

In the Indian dressing room, Dhoni, with his tennis-ball circuit borrowed helicopter shots, was the average player.

Blame it on the tenacity and that chip on the shoulders of selfmade small-towners, Dhoni didn’t mimic the greats. He had respect but he wasn’t in awe of seniors. Dhoni has been a master of reading games. His intuitive on-field leadership that often saw him make canny decisions flowed as much from his unassuming personality as his brilliant cricketing brain. As the only Indian captain to win all three ICC trophies, Dhoni’s resumé speaks for itself. And his winning six in the 2011 World Cup final will be cherished for generations to come.

While his contemporaries - Harbhajan, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Sehwag - settled in comfortable coteries, Dhoni kept a distance from the team’s several power centres. Later when he went on to be the captain, he would have his own trusted aides. Dhoni was a born leader, he believed in tight groups, but he was no groupie. So what next for Dhoni? Known to keep the world at arm’s length, he doesn’t show his emotions or reveal his plans. In these times of trending opinions and popular twitter stands, he doesn’t believe in public pontification.

He is a one-of-kind celebrity who is an influencer without being the slave of social media. Settled in a farm outside Ranchi, he is a consummate recluse. Who knows, the next step of the natural-born leader and influencer could take him closer to public service - the grandest sport.

Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.

– Mary Kay Ash

Alpesh Patel

The Crazies on Social Media I’ve been on social media since the earliest ‘bulletin boards’ chat rooms around 1995. Looking at Twitter you don’t half have a bunch of halfwits with half-baked ideas. I worry for the planet. Let me narrow down to UK-India related things, given we just had Indian Independence, VJ Day, Janmasthami and inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

So, I can categorise the crazies like these: • The Pakistanis who hate India. A small minority of keyboard warriors who lob missives not missiles. We do not wish to sow division, but it’s there. No point trying to have them rethink their tweets by pointing out calmly, they walk on sacred soil, the soil of their ancestors is Indian soil. They need to respect their (Indian) heritage.

• The victims, the oppressed. This bunch from a faraway land will tell you how oppressed they are, in, ummm, Canada, by not being in India, but if they were, they would be oppressed due to faith. Of course as a lawyer, I would point out they have no ‘locus’ or standing as they are Canadian nations or some such like. But the weight of oppression they may feel, leads them to want statehood in India just to be sure they are not oppressed. And to protect their freedom of religion which they deny they have, they want to make sure their little piece of India is a theocracy. Honestly, I wonder if some of these people have mirrors or read what they write. We can’t be on the same planet.

• You have the Hindu-bashers. These come in two flavours. Hindus and Miscellaneous.

Miscellaneous usually like to talk about cows, idols. They’re obsessed with Hinduism. In fact, they spend so much time thinking about it, they may as well be Hindu. Then there are the Hindu flavour Hindu-bashers. These on social media will point out India is now a Nazi regime. I can’t follow their reasoning beyond this point.

So how to unify, reason, avoid hatred, and bring all together in a common understanding.

Here are some rules. Control yourself, do not give in to temptation to unleash your worse self: Do not swap religious insults. Honestly, they know they come from perfection. No point arguing with them they do not.

Do point out rule of law is more important than religion, that is how the West ended sectarian religious conflict. And in case they reply with ‘justice’ before law, point out that those seeking justice, must by legal principle come with ‘clean hands’ and not blood on their hands.

Do not bother mentioning extremisms or terror sponsoring. They will retort they are being terrorised by your tweet.

Of course the easiest thing you can do is, wish them peace and love, try to find common ground, test your patience and then block them.

Editor: CB Patel Asian Voice is published by Asian Business Publications Ltd Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW. Tel: 020 7749 4080 • Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com Website: www.abplgroup.com INDIA OFFICE Bureau Chief: Nilesh Parmar (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt. Ltd. 207 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad-380 015. Tel: +91 79 2646 5960 Email: gs_ahd@abplgroup.com © Asian Business Publications

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22 - 28 August 2020

Don’t be scared – get yourself seen Contact your GP or Pharmacist for help and advice Priyanka Mehta Community pharmacies can play a vital role in tracking and tracing the spread of Covid-19 infection this year as the government unfurls the biggest flu vaccination drive in a bid to prevent a second wave of coronavirus in the UK. Professor Dr Mahendra G. Patel, University of Bradford and leading member of the pharmacy profession notes that community pharmacists have built key interpersonal relationships among communities including the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community. With the added advantage of many being wellversed in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu, and more closely aligned to the local cultures, Professor Patel believes that these pharmacists can be the government’s next messengers in ensuring that those vulnerable to coronavirus, especially within the BAME community, are regularly updated with the latest public health guidance around the virus.

Community pharmacists are the backbone of NHS Speaking exclusively to Asian Voice he said, “Community pharmacists are pivotal to health service in the UK and as we have witnessed so clearly during this pandemic. They have also been integral to the success of the flu vaccination drives for several years now.

Many are open every day of the week and are often accessible at hours even when the GPs are closed. For years they have helped in relieving some of the unnecessary burdens and pressures imposed on the NHS and its hospitals especially the A&E departments during the winter.

“This year they will have a big-

Until recently, among those ger role to play as both the seasonal who qualified for a free flu vaccine winter flu and coronavirus come were people aged 65 and over, together and present similar symppregnant women, primary school toms. Besides giving flu vaccinachildren, and people with certain tions, community pharmacists are medical conditions who would be ideally positioned to reach out to vulnerable to contracting Covid-19 the different communities in difif they caught the flu. The free flu ferent areas. They don’t just provaccination offer has now been vide information on health and or extended to include those aged medicine-related issues to one over 50 to 64. In addition, individfamily member but are often conuals who are on the shielded nected to multiple generations of patient list, in wake of the coronthe family, and that is especially avirus pandemic, and members of important within BAME families. their household, will all be invited Questions such as “Where should I for a free flu vaccine. Children in go to get tested for the corontheir first year of secondary school avirus? Why and when should I get will also now be eligible for the free tested?” have simple answers that offer. can be delivered in bite size pieces Seeking medical help and advice or even pictorial representations should not be ignored for fear of by community pharmacists to contracting the virus avoid any information overload or potential misunderstanding. This According to Professor Patel, is especially helpful to the BAME communities are more elderly and living on likely to fall victim to “I their own.”

Covid-19 because of am growingly Nearly a month their higher prevaconcerned about any ago Health lence of underlying pre-existing and or long Secretary Matt conditions such as term health conditions that diabetes, cardiovasH a n c o c k people in the community announced cular disease, obesiplans to vaccimay ignore this year owing ty and in some nate more than cases sedentary to fears of them 30 million people lifetstyles. It is crucontracting during this flu seacial for them to be coronavirus.” son – around double encouraged to keep on those that were vaccitop of their health. nated last year. According to For example, under normal data collated by the circumstances people would not Pharmaceutical Services usually hesitate to contact their Negotiating Committee, commupharmacist, GP or visit their local nity pharmacies in England delivhospital, if they witnessed blood ered 1,524,753 vaccines in 2019-20. appearing in their urine, or had This figure is likely to increase in been feeling dizzy and light-head2020-21 especially as the governed for some time, or even running ment recently confirmed that out of their medicines. I frequently community pharmacies in hear people in the community Scotland will be able to provide brushing these symptoms under NHS flu vaccinations for the first the carpet, stating that it is not time this year. causing them any immediate pain

Government secures early access to 90 million doses of two more Covid-19 vaccine candidates On Friday 14th August, the government announced that it had secured early access to 90 million doses of two promising vaccine candidates.

Support and infrastructure will be provided to Novavax in running a Phase 3 clinical trial in the UK, with plans to manufacture their vaccine in the UK with FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies.

The government will also co-fund a global clinical trial with the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson and Johnson securing 30 million doses from them. It will establish how effective their vaccine could be in providing longterm immunity against Covid-19.

This means that the UK has now secured access to six different vaccine candidates as part of the government’s strategy to build a portfolio of promising new vaccines should any be found to be safe and effective. As a result,

Britons will receive early access to 90 million doses of two Covid-19 vaccine candidates should they prove safe and effective.

Commenting about the procurement, Business Secretary Alok Sharma said, “The Government’s strategy to build a portfolio of promising vaccine candidates will ensure we have the best chance possible of finding one that works.

“Today’s agreements will not only benefit people in the UK but will ensure fair and equitable access of a vaccine around the world, potentially protecting hundreds of millions of lives.

“While we are doing everything we can to ensure the British people get access to a successful vaccine as soon as possible, nobody is safe until we are all safe so global cooperation is absolutely critical if we are to defeat this virus once and for all.”

The UK has now secured access to six different candi-

dates, across four different vaccine types, reflecting the Government’s strategy to ensure the UK has a supply of vaccines should any of these prove safe and effective.

These include the University of Oxford’s vaccine being developed with AstraZeneca, as well as agreements with the BioNTech/Pfizer alliance, Valneva and GSK/Sanofi Pasteur.

In addition, a deal with AstraZeneca will provide the UK with access to treatments containing Covid-19 neutralising antibodies to protect those who cannot receive vaccines, such as cancer and immunocompromised patients.

The UK is actively working with the vaccine alliance GAVI, The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the World Health Organisation and a group of other countries to help buy vaccines as well as to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines to low-income countries.

or problems and would manage until it does. But this fear of contracting the virus and not accessing the necessary help and support promptly can result in worsening of these symptoms and in some cases becoming very serious to treat. It is important therefore that patients should not ignore or delay accessing medical or health support in such instances and must get themselves seen to as soon as possible.

The upcoming Diwali festivities usually coincide with the flu season. This is the opportune time for community leaders, religious leaders in temples and places of worship, and pharmacists to come together to build a firm and robust network in driving a clear but simple message forward about Covid19 and other such health complications.

We are living in unprecedented times and it is important we learn from the unfolding evidence and science, and act on it. Adopting a blame culture may only add to this Covid conundrum.”

Investing in pharmacy has never been more important Part of this process also requires that the pharmacists are armed with adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), sufficient quantities of flu vaccines and importantly remunerated for a closer involvement and engagement with their local communities. Professor Patel has been championing for the provision of essential resources to the disposal of the pharmacists. He said, “These are the true soldiers on the ground who are so well placed to champion health promotion within the community whom they know best. Greater investment and incentives are needed to

Dr Mahendra G Patel PhD FRPharmS FHEA Alumni Fellow NICE

mobilise these community pharmacists in effectively reaching out to the vulnerable. 44% of pharmacists are from BAME backgrounds and a huge proportion of them are working in community pharmacy.

With increased work-loads and short-staffing, their engagement levels with the community are undoubtedly compromised and they need to be better supported to provide more culturally acceptable care, and services tailored to the needs of the different communities. “Most fundamentally, we have dealt with Covid-19 complications for almost six months now. We need to implement the vast knowledge and intelligence gathered around handling coronavirus and beyond as part of our regular and everyday pharmacy practice and at the same time in helping to address the wider issues of health inequalities. Thus, adequately and appropriately resourcing pharmacists is imperative in order to help in the prevention of a potential second wave of Covid-19.”

NHS appeals British Asians to sign up for Covid-19 vaccine trial amidst lack of diversity On Monday 17th August the government’s taskforce announced that over 110,000 people had signed up for trials which could begin as soon as next month as it appealed for thousands of volunteers from British Asian communities to participate in its coronavirus vaccine trials.

The fresh appeal from the NHS appears following a “disappointing” uptake in the first phase where only 3% of the volunteers were from British Asian backgrounds.

Of the 112,104 volunteers who have signed up for the trials since 20 July, 94% were white. One in 10 of the volunteers work in health and social care, while a third are classed as frontline workers who have face-to-face contact with people due to their job. The vaccination group has said that researchers needed to do more to reach communities who may not speak English as a first language or watch mainstream television news and may be unaware of the vaccine trials.

Dr Dinesh Saralaya, is one of the directors of the recruitment programme,

and describing the low uptake as “very worrying” in a statement to The Guardian he said, “It’s very important that we dispel the myths in the Asian community that vaccines are going to be harmful,” said Saralaya, who runs a National Institute for Health Research patient recruitment centre in Bradford. “It’s perfectly safe. They are very, very closely monitored and

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STUDENTS’ POWER PREVAILS Continued from page - 1

in Coventry with support from other universities and organisations Uncertain choices: Clearing such as stand up to racism. through the universities Concerned that the grades were Priyanka went to Harlington determined based on their disadSchool and was predicted to receive vantaged socio-economic AAA. Her CAGs were an A in backgrounds and postBiology, B in Chemistry codes, Yaqoub had and B in Physics. She written open letters needed an ABB to to ministers and get into the a organised Human Biology march in course in Coventry’s Glasgow. But due Godiva Square. to the algorithm In his letter, she has been drawing attention down-graded to a to unfair grading at C in Biology, D in Sidney Stringer Chemistry and C in Academy he wrote, “At Physics.

Disappointed Priyanka Virdi Sidney Stringer Academy, with her results and at the 97% of maths A-levels were downprospect of not being able to study graded, with over half downgraded the degree of her preference at by two grades. Our A*-B for maths Glasgow, Priyanka had decided to went from 88% last year to 45% this appeal to Ofqual with the hopes year. that her grades may increase and “It is not fair and many of us are errors removed. In the meantime, asking about whether our grades she managed to secure a place at have been determined because of Royal Holloway through clearing our backgrounds and postcodes where she was offered a biology rather than what our teachers have course, similar to the one at actually calculated.

Glasgow.

Following the “This matter will help secure the Government’s U-turn, Priyanka future of my friends. It will enable believes that she may stand a them to go to their respective unichance at the University of Glasgow.

“I am yet to receive a confirmation from them. But the University has assured that all those with firm acceptances to the university will have their places honoured if their CAGs meet their entry requirements and mine do. They have said that it would take around 48 hours for the confirmation to be updated on UCAS.” Priyanka is just one of the many students to have her grades downgraded. Aditya Chakraborty from Queen Elizabeth Boys’ School had a similar fate. Aditya was slated to study Law and Politics at Queen Mary’s or Law and Criminology at the Nottingham University. But after being downgraded in his results in History, Politics and English, he was initially unable to qualify at both universities for his versities to study courses that they preferred course. Thus, he opted to have worked so hard to get into. In study politics at Queen Mary’s addition to this, it will allow us to instead. gain access to scholarships that will He said, “Based on the governfinancially support us at university. ment’s U-turn I would qualify to We feel rejected and left behind and study Law and Politics at Queen our teachers feel disrespected. I sinMary’s. There are not many stucerely hope this request is taken dents who are interested in studyseriously and our concerns are ing the degree so I maybe able to raised appropriately.” get through. But either ways I am Speaking about how the algohappy with studying just politics as rithm and its use has cast a light on well.” the broader inequalities within the UK’s education system, Yaqoub Protesting against results detersaid, “The use of algorithm demonmined based on postcodes and strated the inequality in our educasocio-economic backgrounds tion system as it clearly favoured Official figures those attending private released by Ofqual schools. It disregarded the highlighted that fact that students from 39.1% of the deprived areas are 700,000 teacher capable of achieving assessments the highest grades submitted in highlighted by the England were unjust downgrading. lowered by Subsequently, this one or more resulted in students grade during who have worked its standardisaextremely hard throughtion process, compared with just 2.2% Aditya Chakraborty with out their A-levels, getting punished because of their his parents of assessments that postcode.” were upgraded. And But it was not just the students this had resulted in widespread who have weathered through the protests across the UK. One of stress. Reports surfaced about parwhich organised by Yaqoub Imran ents suffering through anxiety from the Sidney Stringer Academy

attacks. Harrow Times had reported that a father of a student from John Lyons School was rushed to St. Mary’s hospital after facing a “mini heart attack” once he had discovered his son’s A-level results were downgraded. Asian Voice had approached the school to understand what kind of assistance and counselling was being offered to Shailen Patel who had desired to study medicine. But they were never responded to our questions.

On the contrary the Heads at both The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ Mr Gus Lock and Mrs Rose Hardy, Headmistress at the Girls’ School, feel strongly that the vagaries of the system have let pupils in England down.

look at themselves and say, by improvement to work on and keep putting these expectations on my improving my skill in that subject. child, I could be harming them for I used the same strategy for my the rest of my life. Is that worth mocks too as I always take them more than their well-being to have seriously. This enabled me to do a good life? If they don’t get good really well in it, which had assisted grades, they may still get a my teacher predictions and good degree and a job. A ultimately receive the lot of this is about sta4A*s.” tus. There’s more to I was overjoyed life. There’s a value to see 4A*s based of self, not what on my mock you do but it’s results, I am sure who you are. And that it accurately it’s all part of a reflects the journey. It’s the grades that I capacity to deal would have with resilience.” received if I had Right before the taken the exams too. announcement by But I feel extremely Ofqual, Asian Voice had sorry for students who Lina Mookerjee Open Tutoring UK offers free reached out to Munira could not achieve their tutorials for the disadvantaged Wilson, (MP for Twickenham. Lib rightful grades. Some of my Dem Health & Social Care friends were also given grades that In the meantime, some stuSpokesperson) who said, "Young they most certainly didn’t deserve dents appear to be taking matters people are being let down as a and I really regret that all of their into their own hands and helping result of the Government’s shamhard work only amounted to them those from disadvantaged backbolic handling of the whole Amissing their firm university (and grounds who do not have financial level grading process. The confueven the insurance for some!). resources to pay for tuition and resion and uncertainty emanating “Coming from an Asian backtake their exams. Founded by Grace from the Government is only ground and having lots of Asian Almond, Open Tutoring UK is a making the situation worse. friends, I feel that Asian parents do network of over 500 volunteer Meanwhile, students are losing indeed have high expectations of teachers who are offering one to university places and their hopes their children’s grades. Even an A one session by pairing up students and dreams are being left in tatgrade would not be enough for ters. The algorithm used for Asome parents! Although I believe level grades has clearly not that grades do matter and hence, I worked. It is utterly unacceptable always aim to achieve the best for any student to be downgrades I possibly can, I also graded based on their believe that ultimately family income, or any for employment, the other factor. The university, practialgorithm should cal experience therefore be and soft skills is scrapped with what matters in teacher grades the long run. being used H o w e v e r , instead. Urgent grades are deficlarity is needed nitely a stepping from the Prime stone for a good Minister before more university.” young people have their Psychotherapist speaks: A Munira Wilson futures stolen." wake up call Later, when Gavin Williamson (Conservative Asian Voice spoke to Lina Member of Parliament for South Mookerjee BSc MA BACP Senior Accredited, Depth Psychotherapist, Staffordshire and Education educator, and radio/tv commentawith their tutors.

Secretary) and Ofqual confirmed tor regarding the psychological “Students have been asking for that the government will abandon consequences of the pressure of varying levels of tutoring and constandardisation and use teacher performance. Calling the A - Level tact hours. We have no specified assessment for GCSEs and A-levresults “a complete chaotic farce”, duration for tutoring as re-sits are els in England, hundreds of thoushe said, “There is certainly a disfast approaching in Autumn and we sands of students had their exams tinction with children who are do not have the same amount of results upgraded, Wilson tweeted, coming from poorer schools and resources as a school. But we have “This is welcome news, not before poorer backgrounds and the put in certain rules and communitime. But where on earth is the unfairness of the caste system in cations systems where we will Education Secretary & Prime the UK. This stage of education is ensure that we will check in with Minister to make the announceso crucial of which way you’re tutors and students weekly in the ment and answer questions? No going to go. first few weeks of the program at leadership, no accountability, no least.” humility. Just contempt from this “From the experience of being government. #examshambles. For brought up in an Indian culture, Students with A*A*A*A* also many though the U-turn comes to name feelings is looked down feels that algorithm was unfair too late - surely the Govt should on. To look at it, you have your and accurate have foreseen the damage this power, your agency, look at what would cause? Some have already your options are and most imporVijay Damodharan of lost their place at universities & tantly, admit your feelings. It’s not Brampton Manor has scored a their dreams are in tatters. The a weakness, it’s real.

A*A*A*A* and he is off to mental health repercussions of “The fact that there is Cambridge to study this could be severe. Govt must be so much pressure, it is Natural Sciences. held accountable.” about shame reducSpeaking exclusiveThe chaos appears to be far tion in order to ly to Asian Voice, from over. The government’s prove to be so Vijay shared his handling of the situation will good. We are facstrategy of leave mental health implications ing an unprecepreparing to on many students at a time when dented situation achieve this Covid-19 has shredded apart the of forces and exceptional grade. jobs industry. BTec students are there’s a lot of “Had the exams still fighting to be heard and the uncertainty. So, to proceeded, just government’s handling of the Aexpect a child to like for GCSEs, my Levels results has cast a light on perform at their best is strategy was to comthe harsh inequalities plaguing plete a lot of past exam Vijay Damodharan unkind. It’s a real wake Student the UK’s education structures. up call for the parents to papers, identify areas of

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Former chancellor Sajid Javid becomes adviser to JP Morgan On 17th August Monday, banking giant JP Morgan announced that they had hired former chancellor of ex-chequer Sajid Javid as a senior advisor at the Wall Street firm.

Sajid Javid remains the MP for Bromsgrove but will take up a post as a member of the US bank's advisory council for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Javid had commenced his 18year career in finance at Chase

Manhattan, which later merged with JP Morgan, and served the organisation in several roles in its currencies and emerging market businesses. From there he had later joined Deutsche Bank where he ran several of the German lender's trading businesses in Asia, including in Singapore. He left Deutsche, where he was reportedly earning about ÂŁ3m, in 2009 to pursue a career in politics and was elected to parliament the follow-

ing year.

According to the Financial Times, his participation at the bank will be “strictly ringfenced� from his political position and has been signed off by the UK government’s Advisory Committee on Business Appointments. This is not the first time that JP Morgan has appointed a political personality at its firm. Previous appointees include former Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Italian

Finance Minister, Vittorio Grilli.

Javid quit from No. 11 in February over a tug-of-war with Dominic Cummings where the Prime Minister’s current chief political advisor had wanted Javid to get rid of his entire press team.

A spokesman for the bank said, "We are delighted to welcome Sajid back to JP Morgan as a senior adviser, and we look forward to drawing upon his indepth understanding of the busi-

Sajid Javid

ness and economic environment to help shape our client strategy across Europe."

Ex-UBS banker replaces BAME children thrice as likely Vadera at Santander to be tasered

Investment banking veteran East and Africa. From 2013 through William Vereker is slated to take 2018, he was Andrea Orcel's deputy over as chairman of Santander in at the investment bank of UBS. the UK replacing incumbent While Vereker now has landed a Labour-politician Shriti Vadera. top job with Santander, Orcel, his His appointment will commence former boss, is unemployed still on November 1, 2020, according and fighting with the Spanish bank to the bank. over millions of euros.

Vereker, in his 30year career as an investment banker had served ex-Prime Minister Theresa May for two years and most recently was the vice chairman of J.P. Morgan in the Emea region, that includes Europe, the Middle Baroness Shriti Vadera William Vereker

On Sunday 16th August it emerged that the UK police forces disproportionately use stun guns on children from nonwhite backgrounds. Children from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are almost three times more likely to have a Taser electronic weapon used on them by police than their white counterparts.

According to The Guardian, the proportion of BAME 11- to 17year-olds having electronic stun guns used on them in comparison to white children has been rising as growing numbers of officers are equipped with the weapons.

Figures obtained from the Freedom of Information requests highlight that stun gun use by officers against 11- to 17-year-olds of all ethnicities is rising, with 61% more children facing them last year than in 2018 – while data from 2020 shows it is continuing to increase steeply. In 2020 the data, mostly up until the end of May, shows BAME children have had Taser weapons used against them more times than white children – 295 occasions against 271.

The true figure accounting for all police forces is certain to be significantly higher.

From 2017 to 2019 BAME

children had stun guns used against them on at least 87, 184 and 236 occasions, in each year respectively in comparison to 144, 330 and 523 times against the white children. The figures suggest the weapons are being used for compliance when campaigners maintain they should only be drawn in the event of an imminent threat.

According to the NPCC Tasers provide officers greater ability to resolve situations involving the threat of serious violence, including from people with or believed to be in the possession of weapons.

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22 - 28 August 2020

Young British Hindus recording the origins of Hinduism in Britain Arjun Varma, Vaani Sood and Pritesh Patel Founded in April 2020, British Hindus is primarily a social media-based movement which aims to engage with Hindus of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds.

Our movement is spearheaded by over 20 young British Hindu volunteers who have one overarching aim - to celebrate the success of over 1 million British Hindus. Our content has been people-centric, positive and apolitical. Within a few months the project had snowballed and we were blessed to be featured on BBC Asian Network as well as being publicly endorsed

by Hindu organisations such as the City Hindus Network.

We are trying to trace the origins of the Hindu History in the UK. We tried to answer what seemed like the fairly simple question of, how did Hinduism arrive in Britain? Hindu influences in Britain were much deeper than we thought, ranging from early Hindu influences on Greek and European philosophy, to Shakespeare’s references to Hindu traditions, all the way through to

the current era.

We found that British Hindus, particularly the youth, have been itching to give back to their local communities, learn more about their traditions and understand their identity in depth.

Decades ago, it would have been excusable for the British public to view Hindus as almost exclusively Indian. Today, this is no longer the case with huge populations of Sri Lankan, Nepali, Pakistani, Afghan and Bangladeshi Hindus living in Britain. The Hindu

Arjun Varma

identity is now very multiracial, with Hindus who are White, Caribbean or African in origin often seen leading Hindu temples.

After hundreds of years of wars, trade and cultural exchange, Hindus in this country now want to be represented in every single field.

Whether it is medicine, the arts or even politics, Hindus have a tapestry of cultural values, traditions and philosophies which we want to share with the world.

Yoga, meditation and mindfulness are small examples of Hindu traditions which have had a global influence and continue to benefit humanity.

Over the next few weeks our British Hindu History campaign will explore the early 20th Century, when the early founders of modern India visited Britain.

Pritesh Patel

clouds, a silver lining is bound to appear. For Hindus in Britain, this period has given us time to reflect on all of the selfless service which suddenly became ever more valuable in British society. It is out of this reflection that the British Hindus project had emerged and we have been working hard on the #BritishHinduHero campaign, which aims to highlight what British Hindus have been doing for their local communities during this pandemic. We have received brilliant feedback

Vaani Sood

Many Hindu leaders who participated in the Indian freedom struggle were heavily influenced by Hindu ideas and their relationship with Britain has shaped the course of history.

Coronavirus pandemic has been a stressful time for us all, but as with all grey

so far with 100+ nominations ranging from doctors on the frontline to chefs who have been feeding the vulnerable, to personal trainers who have been keeping their local communities fit. Hindus and nonHindus alike have received the project well.

Latest ONS figures highlight lack of BAME police officers in Wales On 17th August latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have highlighted that officers from black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are extremely low in Welsh police forces.

According to the ONS, all four Welsh police forces have a lower percentage of BAME officers in proportion to the communities they serve. In Dyfed Powys Police, 1.3% of its officers are BAME compared to 2% of the population. Of the 12 BAME officers only two are women (both at constable level). In Gwent Police, 2.2% of its workforce as BAME people compared to 3.9% of its population. Between March 2019-20 the force had only one BAME female officer and 27 men. Only one of these men is above the rank of constable. North Wales Police has 0.9% BAME officers compared to 2.5% of the population. It has only two female officers who are BAME. South Wales Police has 2.6% BAME officers compared to 6.6% of the population.

There are 22 female officers, only one of which is above

the rank of sergeant. The figures in Wales show that not only is there a serious lack of people of colour within the police, there is also an even larger shortfall in BAME women. It has also highlighted that the higher ranks of the police career ladder are pre-dominantly held by white officers and that men and women from BAME backgrounds are languishing at the bottom. In the whole of Wales there are just seven BAME officers above the level of inspector and just one of those is a woman. Recent figures also observed the lack of BAME officers in Cambridgeshire.

Home Office data notes there were 71 BAME officers in Cambridgeshire Constabulary at the end of March this year– up from 60 the previous year and accounting for 46.2 per 1,000 officers whose ethnicity was recorded. But a recent analysis by the Government Statistical Service shows that is only half what it ought to be, with 88.0 per 1,000 of the local population being BAME.

Hindu Forum Britain collates evidence for discrimination against Hindu ceremonies around cremation The Hindu Forum of Britain (HFB) alongside other Hindu organisations has been collating evidence about discriminatory practices undertaken by coroners against the Hindu community.

There have been an increasing number of complaints in recent years with respect to discriminatory practices by coroners against Hindus in the UK, when Hindu families have sought release of the bodies of their loved ones for their last rites or “antim sanskar”.

Anecdotal evidence from the community has indicated that families are facing difficulties in obtaining Coroner's report with severe delays before the release of the body of a loved. This is trau-

matic for the grieving family.

“We have tried to explain that since we cremate the body, the body cannot be exhumed and hence total clearance is required.

Terrible loss due to death saddens families from all faiths in a similar way however, a complaint repeatedly voiced has been that too often Hindu families are pushed to the back of the queue while families from other faiths are allowed to move ahead. This cannot be permitted as we must get as fair and equal a priority as any other faith,” wrote HFB in its letter.

The HFB is therefore, now on a mission to record all complaints and grievances within the community with respect to Coroners

Trupti Patel, President of Hindu Forum Britain

Service. These responses will be submitted as evidence to the government demonstrating that Hindus face discrimination in getting a Coroner's report expedited which in turn prolongs the cremation process and the bereavement period.

Some of the key questions that they are asking also include a testimony of the Coroner’s service during Covid-19 The extent of unevenness of Coroners Services including local failures. Negative experiences families have faced with Coroners Service or during the cremation of family members.

What kind of improvement are required in services for the bereaved and progress in Hindu

Faith specific training and guidance for Coroners?

The evidence and collective concerns will be submitted to the House of Commons Justice Committee. The committee will read the evidence and use it to help the committee's inquiry. Oral and written evidence will be considered and a report will be published which will be made available in the public domain.

The HFB is optimistic about the outcome of the report and hopes that it will lead to a much improved and sympathetic Coroners Service for our grieving Hindu families.

The responses are to be submitted by 28th August to the HFB.

Report shows shifts towards white nationalism and racial politics A latest report by Hope Not Hate has warned that said that years of dominance by Tommy Robinson and other figures focused on Muslims has been giving way to rising white nationalism. It highlighted that the British far-right is becoming openly racist in the wake of a backlash against international Black Lives Matter protests. It has also flagged up that the growth of the new Patriotic Alternative group, which openly calls for non-whites to be ejected from the UK, suggests a “shift towards more openly racial politics”.

According to author

Simon Murdoch far-right activists were becoming “much more extreme ideologically” and an increase in migrant boat crossings over the English Channel and anger over so-called “cancel culture” had also had an impact in this trend.

However, he observed that the rise of the Europe-wide Identarian movement and spread of a conspiracy theory claiming that white people are being “replaced” by non-whites has influenced extremists in the UK. Speaking to The Independent, he said, “The biggest backlash has been to the Black Lives

Matter movement. There is more willingness to discuss race generally across the far right now.

“There’s this move from people previously focused on other topics like Islam, and alongside that is a contingent of the young British far right who have been embracing more extreme and traditionally fascist, white nationalist and antisemitic ideas.”

Patriotic Alternative was formed last year by the BNP’s former director of publicity, Mark Collett, and has been attracting activists from across the far-right spectrum. Last weekend, it

had displayed “white lives matter” banners across the UK in alignment with the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Now, it has emerged that the leaders are planning a third national conference in September.

On its website, Patriotic Alternative claims that “native British” people are being eradicated and proposes extreme measures to protect “the indigenous peoples of the United Kingdom”.

It says it would call a “complete halt” to immigration and pay people “of

immigrant descent … to return to their ancestral homelands”.

Hope Not Hate’s report found that private online

chats between members were “awash with extreme racism, Holocaust denial and open veneration of fascism”.

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KHICHADI Kapil’s

Contribution made by Manubhai Madhvani and parivar to Preston I had the pleasure of coming in contact with Manubhai when we were embarking on a major redevelopment of Gujarat Hindu society in 1996. Preston is a small town with 500 Hindu families residing in it. I met Manubhai through CB Patel, Rambapa and Chottubhai Pattni.

When we explained our project and our plight to raise funds towards the redevelopment of a new community centre/temple, Manubhai immediately organised a meeting in London inviting some influential Hindu business entrepreneurs including Hinduja brothers. Manubhai was a very approachable gentle man and carried a lot of influence amongst fellow businessmen.

Our project cost was £3.24 million of which we received a millennium commission Grant off £1.64 million. During 1997 to 2000 we frequently visited London and met Manubhai who introduced us to many philanthropists who helped us towards achieving our dream of 'centre of excellence' for the Hindu community & the wider community residing in Preston.

I had heard of their connection back in Uganda where they owned many factories and employing thousands of people and creating economic stability in Uganda. Unfortunately, when Idi Amin decided to bring his harsh rules, the Madhvanis and many others left Uganda and found refuge in UK. During the redevelopment of our centre we became close friends and Manubhai , Shardaben & Parivar visited Preston frequently. Not only that but when we had invited Pujiya Krishna Shankar Shastri for bhoomi poojan, Shastriji was not well. Manubhai took the responsibility to bring Shastriji to Preston for bhoomi poojan and ensured Shastriji was looked after. Manubhai and Parivar also raised the Sanatan dharma dwaj when we did Murti pratishtan.Manubhai and Shardaben both adopted Preston as their home and have made a large contribution towards the development of community centre/ temple.

Even today people talk about Manubhai and his simple nature and being such a humble person.

I read Gujarat Samachar and Asian voice regularly. I was saddened to read about the rift that has appeared amongst their family members. In the name of Madhvani Parivar , their good character and benevolence, I would urge their family to resolve this matter amicably so that the future generation can see this as a united family.

Manubhai has inspired many people by his humble nature. We are indebted to the Madhvani Parivar and pray Lord Krishna to resolve their differences .

Ishwerbhai Tailor MBE JPDL Former President Gujarat Hindu Society

Long Live India My heartiest and affectionate congratulations on our Independence Day.Let us pray today and every day and contribute as well, whatever little we can, to make our India a shining place on our global surface.

The governments come and go but we remain. We must also learn to appreciate the achievements governments, no matter how small they are. Invariably, I have been reading and listening in big crowds nothing but negative arguments.

But to me, a good sportsman always appreciates when he sees something unique in another sportsman. A valid appreciation always works wonders when we appreciate the plus points. As I see it, my birthplace, my India, has travelled through thousands of miles of misery and poverty-stricken days after independence. But today, we see visible mega progress in almost in every direction, since I left my home more than 60 years ago.

I have been witnessing the living standard of people growing higher, year by year. It’s worth mentioning perhaps, when I left my village (Punjab), there were only a few cycles with a population of more than 2,000 Inhabitants.

But today there are many who are car owners, motorcycles owners and with modern farming machinery. And during the last 15/16 years, I have had the opportunity to see India on my two feet, passing through more than 20 states during my two charity walks. And I saw and enjoyed the huge progress in every direction.I saw modern farming system, beautiful dual highways all over, new towns, supermarkets, shopping malls, metros, the entire India is linked with air travel, most of the villages are linked with tarmac roads, electricity to almost every village. So, let us appreciate these few by the outgoing governments and as well the present one. Finally, I cannot help mentioning two names and their teams, please forgive me in advance for that. One is our outgoing Finance as well Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the other is, our present tireless Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Sometimes I just wonder, from where this humble man has got so much energy to visit and make friends all over the world and sort out deep rooted problem at home, like Jammu & Kashmir.

Bobby Grewal By email

Madhvani Family I am writing further to the article in your papers on the Madhvani Family. I was pleased to read about the history of the Madhvani family – but disappointed to learn about the current dispute within the family. It brought back a lot of memories for me.

I was born in East Africa and whilst growing up, I have heard a lot about the good work done by these family.

Over the years, I have learnt a lot more about Manubhai Madhvani’s work through various media and their magazines.

Apart from developing his business, Manubhai is very well known as the Son of Uganda and also a philanthropist.

As a teenager, I had the opportunity to meet him and his family for the first time at the first ever katha in Harrow Leisure Centre and was proud to learn about his efforts to support the newly arrived communities to UK and integrate within the wider communities. He has always supported the community and stepped in when needed for his expert advice.

I am a proud Raghuvanshi, I believe there is so much value that has been added by Manubhai and now by Kamlesh, his son to take the legacy forward in the next generation.

I hope the conflict with the siblings will be resolved soon as they are both humble souls.

Krishna Pujara UK-India President of Business Council of WICCI (Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry)

Alzheimer claims another famous name!

Alzheimer, dementia, whatever name scientists may give, is spreading like wildfire. Every home with elderly members’ part of joint family goes through this heart-breaking scenario, watching their loved ones being moved to a “Care Home” so often in a vegetative state.

I was indeed saddened reading in national newspapers that Dame Barbara Windsor, heart and soul of so many “Carry On” films and recently gracing East Enders, popular soap widely watched, has been moved to “Care Home” after suffering from Alzheimer for some time. As these illnesses do not affect younger generation nor it kills people instantly and it is mostly confined to elderly, there is no urgency to find a cure, unlike Covid-19.

It is indeed difficult to care at home these advanced patients who may need 24-hour care that only nursing homes can provide. Although most care homes’ weekly charges are anything from £800 to £2000 at the upper end, most families have no option but to seek shelter in such well managed residential homes with 24 hours care a routine supplement. No wonder there is waiting list for bed availability at the lower end.

Even at this lower end, Councils can only provide part of weekly charges; relations have to pay the difference that may affect their living standard and drain their retirement savings. It is time for the government to provide this necessary care on NHS, introducing a special tax that should go directly to NHS pot rather than in bottomless government pit and end up in Defence Budget or Overseas Aid! Kumudini Valambia By email

India’s new education policy India’s New Education Policy (AV 8-14 August 2020) is really an important milestone, setting a new and much-needed direction in the field of education. The new policy has evolved from the current needs keeping in mind the future requirement to make India a global power. It has been rightly said that the change is constant. Hence changes from time to time should be made to reflect the needs of society and industries.

Plenty of new fields of learning are added in the past decade or so which were not there earlier. Since the internet and mobile technology became an integral part of our lives, emerging fields like nanotechnology, cybersecurity and plenty of other areas in clinical and medical sciences have become more important.

There are plenty of companies from all over the world keeping their eyes on the emerging superpower called India.

Many companies including Google and Apple have committed to invest in India. They know that India is one of the few countries which can fulfil their present as well as future requirements.

Like Intelligent Quotient, there is a need to look at Emotional Quotient also. Balanced and holistic education is very important especially when there is too much information available and it is difficult to judge what is good or bad.

A bit of spirituality, how to keep away from stressful life and manage work/family balance should be embedded in the education system for the overall holistic development of strong characters.

Hitesh Hingu London.

Follow me on Twitter: @kk_OEG

Duplicity, Treachery or Both?

Kapil Dudakia India celebrated its 74th year of Independence on 15th August, witnessed by people of all backgrounds who came together to celebrate the freedom enjoyed by 1.3 billion Indians. The flag is hoisted, the national anthem is sung with gusto and we witness emotional salutes to the Tirangā. It all looks great, unless you have Kapil with you who will draw your attention to some uncomfortable truths.

There are traitors amongst us. They are closer to us than we wish to believe and many of them hold positions of power not just in India, but around the world and within our community. They are the people who exhibit their ‘patriotism’ by organising high profile events to fool the foolhardy. I won’t name them they know who they are, and they exercise their power and reach to silence true patriots. They use privilege of position to control the narrative which suits their ideological mindset.

In the UK we see politicians like Keir Starmer, Preet Gill, Seema Malhotra, Claudia Webbe, Sadiq Khan and many others who suddenly wake up on the 15th of August to entice people into thinking they care about India or Indians. Our own people promote them, give them the oxygen of publicity, and legitimise their anti-India hatred and narrative.

The anti-Indians in Parliament, on social media, in Party conferences and in their locality spend most of their time undermining India at every turn. When Claudia Webbe chaired the Labour Party conference debate on Kashmir, she and the hierarchy within Labour allowed the rogues to make anti-India hate speeches without restraint. Last year some even joined the Pakistani hooligans who came to disturb the celebrations outside the High Commission of India in London.

In America it is no different. The anti-Indian Democrat Biden selected Kamala Harris as his running mate. Kamala suddenly discovered her Indian DNA to hoodwink the Indian diaspora. She forgot that her record shows the many occasions on which she publicly undermined India in favour of Pakistan, as has Biden. Incredibly the Indian media went mad in celebrating the selection of Kamala as the potential Vice President. The merchants of fake news grow stronger since they find it so easy to fool the foolish Indian.

In India we witness the very same. The separatists, the Maoist, the Congress cabal, the Khalistanis and many others, all undermine the nation for 364 days a year, but suddenly discover their ‘patriotism’ on the 365th day.

India, and many Indians make the same mistake time and again. They appease to the powerful in the hope that they will get a pat on the back, or an invitation to the inner circle, or an honour or a title, or some money-making contract. It’s always the same, the Sepoy mentality that enslaved Bharat for hundreds of years still remains unfortunately. Real independence will happen when we kick the anti-nationals out of all the powerful decision-making circles, be they in India, in the UK or the USA. When will we promote the Dharma Rakshaks who steadfastly give their lives for Bharat Varsh?

Those who hide in the shadows often tell me, there is a bigger picture that all of us are missing. This is just sleight of verbal gymnastics used often to establish their eliteness, and our collective subservience. Let me tell you, there is no such thing as a big picture – there is only Dharma. Those who do the right Karma are the Dharmic warriors for Bharat Varsh. At our peril we fall foul of the duplicitous, of the treacherous or both. Jai Hind.

India's temples loaded It has been claimed by some renowned Indian Gurus and widely circulated in the social media that some Hindu Temples have been receiving enormous donations in cash and gold and thus loaded with huge wealth estimated in hundreds of millions. I have a reason to believe that this is true. I am baffled why can't this wealth be put into good use by the temples' authority for the welfare of poor and needy comprising of over sixty percent of the Indian population. If they don't do it voluntarily, it is imperative that the government takes some action.

Niranjan Vasant By email We are grateful to all letter writers for more and more versatile letters well within word limit. Please keep contributing as always.

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

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SCRUTATOR’S Kirti Chakra for slain J&K cop, nine others get Shaurya Chakra India's second highest peacetime gallantry medal Kirti Chakra has been posthumously awarded to J&K police head constable Abdul Rashid Kalas, while there are nine recipients of the Shaurya Chakra in the Independence Day medals list. Kalas showed exemplary bravery while laying down his life during a fierce encounter in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, in which three terrorists, four security personnel and a civilian were killed in February last year. The three Army soldiers conferred with the Shaurya Chakra, all for anti-terrorist operations in J&K, are Lt-Colonel Krishan Singh Rawat, Major Anil Urs and Havildar Alok Kumar Dubey. Wing Commander Vishak Nair of the IAF has been conferred the medal for successfully retrieving a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter that had developed a technical snag in air. The other Shaurya Chakra awardees are Amit Kumar, DIG of J&K police, and four CISF personnel who have got it posthumously. (Agency) Muslims form human chain to shield temple

A group of Muslims formed a human chain to protect the Hanuman temple in RT Nagar, Bengaluru. The temple is located close to Pulakeshinagar MLA Akhanda Srinivasmurthy’s officecum-residence which was set on fire by the mob. When the rioters turned towards the temple, a few men formed a human chain around it and prevented them from targeting it. The video, captured by an unknown person, went viral, following which a large number of devotees visited the temple the next day. Meanwhile, Jayanthi R, mother of Naveen P, who is accused of posting a derogatory post on Facebook, expressed gratitude to Muslim youths for “saving her life. Had local Muslim youths not come to my rescue, I don’t think I would have been alive today,” said Jayanthi. (Agency) 23 players keen to operate pvivate trains At least 23 players, including PSU majors like IRCTC and BHEL, and a host of private

players such as GMR, CAF India, Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens and

Medha are keen to operate private trains in India, sources said. The trains to be operated by private players may have swanky features like that of Metro trains, including electronic sliding doors, passenger surveillance system, public address announcement system, display of information and destination boards. The railway ministry has come out with the draft specification for the trains that would be operated on 506 routes in a phased manner from March 2023. These trains won’t start unless all doors are closed and electrically locked. A provision has also been made to have train data recorders in each train with capacity to store the records such as speed, braking effort and battery voltage. It specifies that the design speed of these trains would be 180 kmph and should be capable of accelerating to 160 kmph from 0 kmph in 140 seconds. They may also have features like Braille signage, windows with safety glass emergency talk-back mechanism.

(Agency)

Diamond firm sets example in plasma donation A diamond firm in Surat has set an example with as many as 52 employees donating plasma at the Surat Municipal Corporation-run (SMC) SMIMER Hospital lats week. Darshan Salia, one of the partners in the firm, said that they had resumed operations after the lockdown was relaxed on June 1.

“During this time, six of our employees tested positive for Covid-19 and we shut our unit for a week. When we re-started, we asked all our employees to provide details about their and family members’ illness during the three weeks when they were at home,” said Salia. Of the 555 staff members, 170 employees said they had some mild illness. So, the company conducted antibody tests of 80 staffers and the reports revealed that 55 had developed antibodies. The SMIMER contacted the company offering free antibody tests for those wanting to donate plasma and collected blood samples. Later, 52 employees have donated plasma and 15 others are willing to donate soon,” Salia said. (The Times of India) Chinese national held for online gambling racket A Chinese national and three of his Indian associates have been arrested in a crackdown on an illegal online gambling racket being run by a China-based company, the police said. They were arrested by the Hyderabad police from Delhi. The online gambling was allegedly organised by different companies under the umbrella of China-based “Beijing T Power Company”, the police claimed, adding that transactions worth pound 110 million had been unearthed. Most of the transactions were carried out during the lockdown period.

Hyderabad police arrested Yah Hao, the online firm’s head of operations for Southeast Asia, and three Indian directors of the firm after two men from Hyderabad lost Rs 164,000 and Rs 97,000 while gambling online.

The four have been booked under IPC Sections 420 (cheating) and 120-B (conspiracy) and under the Telangana Gaming Act. Gambling is banned

in Telangana and some other states. The two youth placed bets while playing online gambling games organised by the Chinese firms. The organisers have also been accused of cheating the complainants by manipulating results. (Agency) Processing of US student visas to resume The US will from August 17 resume processing students visas in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata as this fall semester is about to begin from next month. Thousands of Indians students who got admission to US colleges have been waiting for the process to begin. The US embassy will, however, remain closed for routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa services. The US embassy in Delhi tweeted: “Our consular sections are opening to process student and academic exchange visitor visa applications on a limited basis. Student visas are a high priority, and we will make every effort to assist applicants in a timely fashion, while keeping our customers and staff safe. However, due to our very limited appointment availability we may not be able to accommodate all requests in time for the start of the fall semester.” The US will first process emergency student and exchange visitor appointment requests received prior to August 12 and then offer public appointments. (Agency) Namrata Shirodkar's answer to 'tricky' question

Namrata Shirodkar, who was crowned Miss India in the year 1993, shared a video on her Instagram profile. The video has snippets from Namrata's crowning moments as well as the question and answer round. Sharing the video, Namrata, wrote: "Was asked a tricky question that dates back centuries! This was my answer... What would yours be?" The question that was asked to the three finalists was: "What came first, the chicken or the egg?"

Here's what Namrata's response was: "Chicken. If there was no chicken, there would be no egg."

Namrata captioned the post: "Many moments relived. The excitement, the butterflies, the craziness of it all... It's all about that moment. One life is all we've got. Go on and make it

worthwhile. Dream big! The one thing that you have that nobody else does is you. This has always been my mantra. For all the girls who dream, make it happen.

Nothing is impossible." (Agency) Tourists can now fly to US, UK, Canada and UAE In a letter to DGCA, Ministry of Civil Aviation has confirmed that air travellers holding valid visa of all kind are allowed to travel to US, UK, Canada and UAE under the bilateral Air Bubble agreement with these countries, easing the travel for all type of Visa holders including tourist, business, student and transit visas. However, the Indian government has not allowed all visa type holders to enter India and only certain essential visa holders can enter India using International flights from these countries. For the inbound flights to India, the focus of the government is to repatriate as many stranded Indians either on Vande Bharat Mission, which is in its fifth stage now, or using the flights under the bilateral air bubble agreement. India's Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced that the government is in a very advance stage of negotiations for air bubble or bilateral bubbles with at least three countries - France, US & Germany. The minister confirmed that the next course of action for the government would be to start international flights based on bilateral agreements with certain countries. (Agency) Over 10,00,000 Indians returned from abroad Over 10,00,000 Indians have returned from abroad after the government launched the 'Vande Bharat' evacuation mission on May 7 in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava tweeted, 'Vande Bharat Mission crosses the 1 million mark!'. 'We continue our efforts with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to bring our nationals home,' he tweeted. Srivastava also tagged Civil Aviation

Minister Hardeep Singh Puri's tweet stating that nearly one million stranded Indians have returned through various modes under Vande Bharat Mission and more than 1,30,000 have flown to various countries. 'Driven by the aspirations of our people, the mission continues to facilitate repatriation and outbound travel of stranded and distressed citizens,' he had said.

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Welsh First Minister celebrates India's Independence Day Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford attended a socially distanced ceremony to commemorate the huge sacrifice of Indian soldiers in World War II on the 75th anniversary of VJ Day and the 74th Indian Independence Day. Numbers were strictly limited at the flag raising ceremony at midday at Cardiff Castle and only registered guests were allowed to attend so that new Covid rules could be observed.

The event had been organised by Indian Honorary Consul Raj Aggarwal and was also attended by the Lord Mayor of Cardiff Daniel De’Ath as well as senior officers from the armed forces and police including Brigadier Jock Fraser (Royal Navy), Brigadier Andrew Dawes (Army), Air Commodore

Adrian Williams (RAF), Assistant Chief Constable ACC David Thorne and High Sherriff Andrew Howell.

The guests arrived for the brief ceremony at Cardiff Castle at midday and listened to speeches by the First Minister and Raj Aggarwal, the representative for the Indian High Commission in Wales.

The event was to celebrate the anniversary of Indian Independence on August 15th 1947 and but unlike previous years members of the public were not allowed to attend and the festivities, which normally includes traditional Indian music, dancing and food, were cut back to the bare minimum for health and safety reasons.

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said, “It is

"It is important that we still take time to reflect on Indian Independence and great relationship between our two countries. It is also important to remember that today is the 75th anniversary

Flag hoisting ceremony

important we recognise the positive relationship we have with India and events like this provide the perfect opportunity.

“During these difficult times in the midst of a pandemic, the way the Indian community has rallied around to support each other has proven incredibly heartwarming and reassuring.”

In his speech Indian diplomat Raj Aggarwal said,

Indian diplomat Raj Aggarwal with First Minister Mark Drakeford

of VJ Day, and we should take time to reflect on the 87,000 soldiers from the Indian army who died in WWII fighting for our freedom. And I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the community leaders to support and look after elderly vulnerable and needy during this covid pandemic."

Labour Friends of India launches Mahatma Gandhi Future Leaders Programme On 15 August Labour Friends of India (LFIN) organised a virtual celebration featuring dance, yoga and inspirational stories from India’s Independence Day. Special guests at the celebrations included Angela Rayner MP, Chair & Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, HE Gaitri Issar Kumar, the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Navendu Mishra MP, LFIN co-chairs London’s Deputy Mayor Rajesh Agrawal and Darren Jones MP. Angela Rayner MP launched LFIN’s Mahatma Gandhi Future Leaders Programme which is designed to support Labour members from the Indian diaspora to put themselves forward for elected office and represent the Labour

Party at all levels. The programme will cover modules such as community engagement, communications, social media, campaigns and leadership.

Angela Rayner said, “I am delighted to join Labour Friends of India as Indians around the world celebrate Independence Day. All across our society, positions of power do not reflect the diversity of our country and our communities so I am really pleased that Labour Friends of India are launching a leadership programme to encourage more people from Indian origin to get involved in politics and to stand for elected office.

“I’m determined that we use all of the talent and potential in our Party and support people who haven’t previously considered get-

ting involved in politics before.”

Rajesh Agrawal, Deputy Mayor of London & co-chair of Labour Friends of India said, “I am very pleased to see our communities joining us to celebrate Indian Independence Day and to find out more about our new Future Leaders Programme.

The Labour Party needs more diverse candidates coming forward to stand for election and this programme which starts in October will provide Indian Labour members with really useful skills and information to take that step.”

Darren Jones MP, cochair of Labour Friends of India said, “As the

Parliamentary lead for Labour Friends of India, I would love to see more Indian origin representation in Parliament and across all levels of government in the UK. If you’re a Labour member who’d like support to step into a leadership role, this programme is for you.”

Sardar Patel Memorial Society UK welcomes Dr Subramanian Swamy Sardar Patel Memorial Society (SPMS) UK welcomed Dr Subramanian Swamy to their Independence Day celebration & an interactive discussion on the foundation of Ram Temple & historical anniversary of unification of India on Sunday 16 August 2020.

The virtual discussion attracted over 42,000 viewers around the world viewed through SPMS UK’s facebook page. It was moderated by Krishna Pujara (Secretariat) & Pravin Patel.

Lord Rami Ranger OBE (Vice-Chairman of SPMS) welcomed everyone to the discussion and highlighted the work of the Society. It was noted that during Dr Swamy’s previous visit to UK in 1983-84, it was pre-

dicted that he would play a pivotal role in UK’s history.

The celebration started with the Indian national anthem followed by patriotic songs by Bharti Patel, Harish Marwaha and Prathik Vyas.

CB Patel, Chairman of SPMS UK and Publisher/Editor of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar reminisced Dr Swamy's visit to the UK in the 80s with a prediction of Dr Swamy as the future Prime Minister of India.

SPMS were delighted to have Jagdish Shetty, National Secretary of Virat Hindustan Sangam among them, who thanked SPMS UK for organising the celebration.

After the introduction

by Pravin Patel (modera-

tor), Dr Swamy took the audience on a historical journey of Kashmir before 1947 and the so-called temporary implementation of

Dr Subramanian Swamy

Article 370, which benefited the elite few.

Dr Swamy talked about the unfairness of Article 370 and its misuse by its leaders. Billions of Rupees were invested for the benefit of the few which created a perfect boiling pot for the

terrorist cells and violence that ensued for many years and also highlighted the role of Sardar Patel during that time Dr Swamy

Jagdish Shetty

informed the audience that BJP had promised to deliver the removal of Article 370 if elected and that is achieved. A year on since the abrogation of Article 370, Kashmir is peaceful, its citizens move about freely in safety and most of

Learn to live with or leave a problem Rohit Vadhwana 'Only when this problem leaves me, I will be able to focus on other important things.' Have you ever said this to yourself? If yes, you are mistaken in the belief that the problem will ever leave you for good. Problems do not leave us; we have to leave the problem or learn to live with the problem. Anyone waiting for the problem to disappear and then begin some important enterprise, will never be able to do so because there will be hardly any time when life won't throw any challenges at us. It is on us to face them while striding ahead in our mission. Here is an analysis as to how can we either leave the problem or learn to live with it?

1. Identify the problem: Identify the problem you are facing. If it is related to health, finance, society, family or anything else? Better to note it down at the centre of a blank page. Let the problem be at the center and any hurdle emitting out of it be represented by a line coming out of it. Draw radiating lines from the problem and mention what hurdles it creates in your life.

One emitting arrow for one hurdle.

2. Do not allow a problem to create another problem: Once you have identified the problem, limit it. Do not allow it to create a chain reaction in your life. It may happen that a problem may be related to a neighbour but affecting your job performance adversely. Here is a question to ask: Does the problem directly affect your job? If not, then leave the problem back in the neighbourhood while leaving for the office. So, it does not create another problem of poor performance in the job. If the problem is related to health, do not allow it to affect your relationship. If it is related to relationship, keep it separate from career. Thus try to limit its capacity to affect any other aspect of your life.

3. Undermine the problem: I know, it is easier said than done. If the problem was easily resolvable, anyone would have done it in the first stage. But sometimes, we give so much importance to the problem that we overlook alternative and innovative solutions. Everytime we face a situation diverting our attention from main goal of our life, better to undermine it, ignore it as if it doesn't exist. This will allow us to reduce impact of that problem. But this approach has worked many times with many people. It is worth trying.

4. Make it a part of life: Sometimes problems do not go out completely. Some health issues, some irritating relatives, sometimes problems related to co-workers or friends persist and we cannot change the situation.

In that condition, it is better to accept it as a part of life and learn to live with it. Many diabetic patients have to do it with regard to their health.

Applying any of these criteria may or may not work!

But it is clear that we all face problems in our lives and they hardly get resolved. Therefore, either to limit them, ignore them or learn to live with them are the only possible options.

(Expressed opinions are personal) all look forward to a future that promises a better life in every respect. He added how Indian citizens can now travel to do business and even elect to live there.

No more the parochial chains of ancient laws for the people of Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir are firmly part of India as Sardar Patel would have it and of course one must not forget the Union territory of Ladakh. Dr Swamy then narrated the history of Ram Mandir and how it was destructed by Babur and the loss of tens of thousands of lives over centuries, yet how the Hindus never lost their belief in regaining the rightful ‘Janma Bhumi of Shree Ram’. Much legal work entailed in achieving

this goal ensuring that all was done in a peaceful manner as one would have it for the birthplace of Ram. It was finally announced that Ram Mandir would be rebuilt.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone on 5 August.

Dr Swamy also highlighted the dastardly acts of the so-called Bollywood mafia, and the alleged murder of Sushant Singh, which is fresh in the minds of the nation. Dr Swamy assured all present that he will not leave any stones unturned to get justice for Sushant’s parents.

The Chairman of SPMS, CB Patel summarised the meeting along with a vote of thanks by Kanti Nagda (Hon.CEO).

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Latest Artificial Intelligence could help doctors improve diagnosis but it's not designed to replace a doctor Shefali Saxena Peer-reviewed research shows Babylon’s latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) could help doctors improve diagnosis, particularly for complex cases. Doctors are overworked and in short supply across the globe, but they could soon be assisted by machine learning to help reduce errors in primary care.

This is the first known time that AI has used causation instead of correlations to support doctors with diagnosis in simulated cases. A pool of over 20 Babylon GPs created 1,671 realistic written medical cases - these included typical and atypical examples of symptoms for more than 350 illnesses.

Asian Voice exclusively spoke to Dr Nirvana Luckraj,

APAC Medical Director, Babylon to know more. We asked Dr Luckraj to comment on the accuracy of the diagnosis by AI and explain how the AI will compensate for the lack of human interaction with the patient, especially in cases where physical examination is required. She said, “Our technology is not designed to replace a doctor.

Alongside traditional interactions with a physical doctor face to face, people also have the choice of engaging with digital health interventions powered by AI. We have consistent monitoring, supervision and audit to maintain high quality assurance. In addition, we have also built a detailed Clinical AI governance protocol that merges statutory, regulatory and

professional best-practice to ensure our AI is safe.”

Dr Nirvana Luckraj, APAC Medical Director

Speaking about the kind of cases that this AI is adept at, the doctor said, “Babylon’s Symptom Checker covers a range of symptoms that

someone might consult a doctor about and based on the severity, risk factors and underlying existing health conditions the user has, our AI provides information on potential causes of their condition, lists them in order of likelihood and possible next steps.

This is because our AI, developed by our team of research scientists, engineers and healthcare professionals, is built around the way a doctor operates and is designed to empower people with knowledge about their health and help relieve pressure on clinicians.”

Babylon’s AI products (ie Healthcheck and Symptom

Checker) can be found in the Babylon app which is free of charge. The only chargeable service within the Babylon app is the GP consultation service where users are required to pay to speak to a physical doctor as well as the prescription medication they receive.

Thanks to digital literacy and abundance of literature on diseases online, we enquired whether he thought this might instigate patients to self medicate by using a technology like this where there's lack of human interaction and the patients might not be as articulate as they should be. She said, “With the availability of AI health services, we are empowering people to stay informed about their health and to

help them understand their symptoms better. Apart from traditional face to face interactions with a physical doctor, people will now also have the choice to engage with digital health interventions.

There will still be instances where people will need to see a doctor physically and our AI technology will help users to receive information about where they might seek further advice from healthcare professionals. However, it is important to note that Babylon’s Healthcheck and Symptom Checker products are not certified as diagnostic tools and are not intended for medical purposes. Any health-related information provided by Babylon’s software products should not be treated as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.”

Indian High Commission celebrates Independence Day in the UK Saturday 15 August was not a normal day of celebration in the UK. High Commission of India, for the first time had to organise a virtual Independence Day celebration, to maintain social distancing, but it was attended by thousands virtually.

The event started President of India, Ramnath Kovind’s address and flag hoisting which was attended

HE Ms Gaitri Issar Kumar, High Commissioner of India to UK

by a small group of High Commission diplomats and

officials. The new High Commissioner of India to UK, Ms Gaitri Issar Kumar in a message said, “As our people in India and all our brothers and sisters across the globe celebrate our 74th Independence Day, there is equal enthusiasm - if not more - among us all here in the UK… “This year, we shall have to be careful, follow local

Labour leader eager to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi Co-Chairs of Labour Friends of India (LFIN), Deputy Mayor of London for Business Rajesh Agrawal and Darren Jones MP, Chair of the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, addressed Indian Journalists’ Association (IJA) at an exclusive virtual meeting on Monday 17 August. This was LFIN’s first interaction with IJA members.

When Indians arrived in the UK post-independence of India, Labour used to be the most common party choice for them. 50 percent of Indians living in the UK, even voted for Labour till 2017. But in the last few years, especially during Jeremy Corbyn’s time, the party is believed to have moved away from the Indian diaspora’s sentiments and displayed proPakistan alignments.

In the last Labour party conference, Kashmir policies hurt the diaspora even further. The Indian High Commission’s dinner had to be cancelled as a result.

However recently Sir Keir Starmer, the new Labour leader, has said that Kashmir is India’s internal matter, and it seems the party has started taking baby steps towards rectifying certain mistakes.

On 15 August this year,

the LFIN Independence Day celebration as well as the launch of the Mahatma Gandhi Leadership Programme was attended by the new High Comm-issioner of India, HE Ms Gaitri Kumar.

Speaking at the virtual meet, Indore-born, Deputy Mayor Rajesh Agrawal told the journalists, that Labour’s new leader is very keen to visit India. “We want to take a delegation of Labour MPs to India next year along with Keir.”

When asked if Sir Starmer would meet the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while his predecessor was not a fan, Rajesh emphasised, “Why would he not meet Mr Modi? He is the Prime Minister of India. It is very important to engage with the global leaders of the world, whether that is US President Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron or Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Governments change but the relationship between countries goes on.”

He agreed while the party has lost some votes, they plan to work harder to reinstate diaspora’s faith in them. Rajesh explained, “There is no doubt we have lost some Indian votes in the last few years and that’s why the Labour Party needs to work harder in that direction.

Labour Party Co-Chair, Deputy Mayor of London for Business Rajesh Agrawal

“Keir Starmer has made his position absolutely clear that we must not allow the issues of the subcontinent to divide our communities here and any constitutional issues in India are a matter for the Indian Parliament.

Kashmir is a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve peacefully.”

Darren Jones, LFIN CoChair and MP for Bristol North West added, “Conference policies are not party policies. The Labour Party policy is that the issue of Kashmir is an internal matter for India. It’s not for the Labour Party to be dictating what should or shouldn’t be happening in other people’s countries around the world.

“You will see a different style of leadership under Keir Starmer in the future.

Lisa Nandy as new Shadow Foreign Secretary has also made clear that any difficulties of the past are no longer positions of the party…”

regulations and avoid unnecessary social contacts or large gatherings. Our first priority is to be responsible citizens and protect ourselves and our families from any untoward situation. “I, therefore, request you all to do everything you can to keep good health and a high morale. In fact, I strongly encourage you to adopt the fitness strategy launched by Rt Hon

Prime Minister of the UK on a Hero cycle made in India!”

An array of speakers talked about India’s journey and achievements since independence and shared congratulatory messages. It included Lord Tariq Ahmad, members of the House of Lords Swraj Paul, Karan Bilimoria, Rami Ranger and Jitesh Gadhia. It also included Baroness Usha Parashar

of FICCI UK, Harrow Mayor Nitin Parekh, London’s Deputy Mayor for Business Rajesh Agarwal, industrialist Nat Puri and Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, who recorded his message from a temple. Labour MP Navendu Mishra expressed his sentiments through a popular song from the film ‘Swades’ (2004): ‘Yeh jo des hai mera, swades hai mera’.

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Lord Bilimoria pays tributes Independent Commission delivers 40 recommendations to tackle poverty in Brent to the Commonwealth in On Monday 17 August Brent’s Poverty Commission delivered its findings, following a six-month review into poverty in the London borough of Brent. It points out 1 in 6 households (17%) live below the poverty line, doubling (to 33%) after housing costs are taken into account. More than 1 in 5 (22%) of children live in poverty, doubling to a startling 43% after housing costs. The report draws on evidence from residents, politicians and expert local and national organisations and presents powerful first-hand experiences, bringing home what it means to live in poverty in Brent.

Closing the housing gap The Commission found that the borough’s proximity to wealth and the skilled employment offered by central London has driven housing costs up without raising pay locally, creating an affordability gap which pushes people into poverty and is a key cause of homelessness. It points to an acute shortage of social housing which has forced people into the private rented sector where rents are two or even three times higher.

To address this, the Commission recommends Brent Council builds on its ambitious plans to generate more affordable homes, using its borrowing powers to build, working with housing associations and taking advantage of post-Covid opportunities to buy from developers and landlords who are exiting the market. It also urges the council to launch an in-depth review into the private rented sector, and enforce decent standards, not least to reduce fuel poverty and health problems caused by poor conditions.

Keeping the sharks at bay With the second highest number of furloughed workers in London and high rates of in-work poverty due to low pay, the Commission highlights the importance of active labour market policies in the wake of Covid-19 to support job creation and improve local earnings.

Recommendations include using the council’s local influence and procurement powers to secure more quality apprenticeships and specialist skills training, as well as to encourage more small and medium-sized employers to pay the London Living Wage. In particular, prioritising activities to raise the aspirations of young people in the borough.

To break cycles of debt that Covid19 is likely to exacerbate, the Commission encourages the council to take forward work recently started with credit unions to provide low-cost loans to cut down dependence on unscrupulous lenders.

Lord Richard Best, an independent crossbench peer and social housing

champion, who chairs the Affordable Housing Commission, said: “Our report makes recommendations to ease poverty in Brent by raising incomes. It also shows that poverty is driven by high costs, specifically of private sector housing rents, that lead to more than 2 out of 5 children living in poverty. We call for urgent action to generate the social housing that can address this problem.”

Cllr Eleanor Southwood, Cabinet Member for Housing & Welfare Reform at Brent Council, who commissioned the work said: “Because the causes of poverty are so complex, too often policy makers reach for sticking plasters. We wanted to understand how this web of problems, from wages to housing, debt and opportunity, come together to harm people’s quality of life in Brent.

“I am extremely grateful to Lord Best for leading this Commission. We will offer a full response in the coming weeks, but I’m optimistic that this marks a new chapter in how we address poverty in Brent.”

⚫ Commission delivers more than 40 recommendations to tackle the causes and consequences of poverty in Brent. ⚫ Highlights the huge impact of expensive rents, which doubles the number of people living below the poverty line in Brent. ⚫ Sees the council’s response to the Covid-19 crisis as demonstrating the value of local action and calls for enhanced powers and finances for local government. ⚫ Recommends measures to regenerate the local economy and raise incomes. ⚫ Commends the council’s innovative action to protect poor families from loan sharks, working with credit unions, and extending advice services for those affected. ⚫ Suggests other local authorities could look to adopt a similar model to pinpoint area-specific issues and tackle poverty across the UK.

commemoration of 75th anniversary of VJ Day

On 15th August Saturday, the Memorial Gates Council and the Ministry of Defence held a joint wreath laying ceremony at the Memorial Gates to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day. Tributes were paid to the Commonwealth (and Nepal) who fought in the Far East Campaign during World War II, ensuring their immense contribution does not go unnoticed or forgotten.

Leading the tribute ceremony, Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, Chairman - Memorial Gates Council said, “As Field Marshal Auchinleck said, “the British couldn’t have come through both wars if they hadn’t had the Indian Army”.

“I am proud to be Chairman of the Council of the Memorial Gates on Constitution Hill, inaugurated by Her Majesty the Queen in 2002. The Gates commemorate the service and sacrifice of the 5 million volunteers of the Commonwealth in WW1 and WW2, including from South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.”

The Memorial Gates Council is a not for profit organisation which plans, coordinates and hosts an annual commemoration for the men and women who served with the British Armed Forces during the First and Second World Wars on Commonwealth Day. The Council also works with the objective of educating the public as to the Commonwealth Contribution to the War efforts and was established to continue the work of the former Memorial Gates Trust.

Representing the Ministry of Defence is Baroness Goldie DL, Minister of State (Lords) at the M.O.D. who laid a wreath alongside Major Mani Rai. This was followed by a one minute’s silence and ceremonial music (Last Post and Reveille) which was performed by the attending Bugler (Sanjeev Thapa) and Gurkha Piper (Padam Gurung). The ceremony was synchronised with other ceremonies taking place that morning at the Chindits Memorial, the Gurkha Memorial and the Earl Mountbatten Statue. The Baroness Goldie DL, Minster of State (Ministry of Defence) said, “I am honoured to be joining the nation in marking VJ Day, shining a light on a conflict often perceived as the ‘forgotten war’. The war in the Far East and Pacific was pivotal, a huge multinational effort, representing the best of what the Commonwealth had to offer. “It will be a privilege to attend the planned commemorations and honour these outstanding heroes for the sacrifices that they have made on our behalf.”

VJ75: When the Japanese threatened to invade India as a “strong consequence of under estimation” by the British Shefali Saxena As a part of the VJ75: Never Forgotten series, historians from the National Army Museum, the National Museum of the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force Museum and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission explored the roles on land, sea and air throughout the Far East campaign, and examined how it continues to be commemorated. The panel was hosted by journalist and author Shrabani Basu.

Victory in Europe Day, on 8 May 1945, marked the end of the Second World War in Europe. But many thousands of Armed Forces personnel were still engaged in bitter fighting in the Far East. Legend has it that many families could not celebrate. They felt

forgotten and abandoned.

Nick Hewitt from the National Museum of the Royal Navy said, “From the Naval perspective, the commitment to the far east is vast. It’s a huge commitment by hundreds of thousands of ships and people.

Underestimation of the enemy is even less forgivable. The Royal Navy had helped Japanese develop their fleet.” The Japanese were fairly consistently helped by british so british knew them well. He also discussed the pre-war defence planning and debate

which included issues in bad assessment on the part of the British and over investment on ships even when fleets were reduced down to merely two ships. For the Royal Navy in particular, Hewitt feels that there were fairly catastrophic losses in the Mediterannean, causing a cycle of things going badly. He called it a “strong consequence of under estimation”. “Japanese Navy being deterred by two ships was a ridiculous concept,” he added.

Dr Peter Johnston from the National Army Museum said, “Fundamental to history in the far east, there are three main reasons why we need to commemorate this victory.”

Firstly, he said that it was an “incredible turn around, since it had driven out most of colonial possessions”. Secondly, it needs to be commemorated due to the “scale and duration of this campaign” and lastly, “to make up for the people and fighters - the soldiers who achieved that victory 14 different ethnicities”.

He also added that, “British had severely underestimated the enemy” while they had minimal equipment. “The Japanese were great at maneuvering,” Peter highlighted.

“India was being threatened by Japanese invasion which the British hadn’t faced in a hundred years,” he said. Peter also shared that what we see in the state in 1944 is a success of 18 months, purely because of training.

Dr Harry Rafael from the Royal Air Force Museum said, “It’s a shame that history is neglected.” He elaborated that the plots in Burma and the fighter pilots were “excep-

tionally talented” in air power. The British were “less equipped and the army had less fleets”. Rafael calls it an “under appreciation of how good the Japanese were”. He also stated that the number of aircrafts that the RAF had, led to heavy losses. For a fleet of 12000 members in the Navy, there were about 19000 tonnes of supply.

Dr George Hay from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) explained that the armies that actually fought in South East Asia faced hardship.

“They were fighting a brutal war in that terrain where the imprisonment was horrendous. Despite the relief that people felt, they didn’t get the recognition they deserved.”

Shrabani Basu also shared the story of the RAF’s rule of the terrain, the famous “Battle of the Tennis Court” where there was no water. “The army survived on a pint a day - per soldier,” she said and the terrain was so such that the chopper supplies would go to the other side sometimes.

VJ Day digital exhibition explores the diversity of the Fourteenth Army The National Memorial Arboretum, in Staffordshire, is hosting a free online exhibition of brand new illustrations as part of the site’s programme of activity commemorating the 75th anniversary of VJ Day. Created by Kremena Dimitrova, the colourful artworks of ‘Visualising History: Remembering the Forgotten Army’ tell the story of the diverse communities who comprised the Fourteenth Army, serving together in one of the fiercest theatres of the Second World War, and the

lasting legacy that they have had on today’s society and culture. It contains elements inspired by a recent series of digital workshops with young exploring the key themes of the exhibition.

A million people from Britain and across the Commonwealth served in the Fourteenth Army, one

of the most diverse forces in history, battling adverse environments and the fearsome Japanese Imperial Army. The stories of those who served, along with thousands who were captured and faced harrowing conditions as Prisoners of War, are often forgotten, with focus given to the conflict in Europe.

The exhibition is free to view on the Arboretum’s website until 30 September: http:// www.thenma.org.uk/whats -here/exhibitions/visualising-history-rememberingthe-forgotten-army/

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18 FINANCE - UK

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Dear Financial Voice Reader, Alpesh Patel The markets are at an all time high in the US. And some of my students are fed up with only making money on Amazon and Apple and Microsoft. And have asked me for a higher risk, higher reward strategy.

So here it is. But be warned, it is higher risk as you will read.

You Want To Add More Risk for More Return To Your Portfolio You have $20,000 risk capital for higher risk returns, aside from your safer pension and rainy day investments Let’s assume 5% chance of being down 30% (in fact research data shows this – see https://t.me/pipspredator) If we bought 300 shares in Microsoft which is $209 per share then that is a $62,757 worth of shares (300x209) If it dropped 30%, ie 30%x$62,757, you would use up $19,000 aprox of your risk capital BUT you don’t have $62,757 to buy the shares in the first place. You have $20,000 If we used a leveraged product like CFD/Spreadbet and bought equivalent of 300 shares in Microsoft, We would need a deposit, or margin, of $2,822 with the broker (plus over the course of the year funding charges for borrowing the other $62,757-$2,822 If Microsoft goes up $50 per share ((50/209) ie 25% per share we make $15,000 (300x50) ie 75% on our risk capital of $20,000 If it drops 30%, you are out of pocket $19,000 (30% of $62,745) So what are the risks? You lose all your risk capital very quickly as Microsoft drops There is a flash crash It drops more than 30% and you are liable to more than your entire risk capital You get the calculations wrong You don’t account for broker interest charges (speak to broker) Your broker is not FCA/SEC regulated/trustworthy The broker changes the ‘margin rules’ and you don’t get the notification so they close your position Anyway, I’ll say it again, high risk.

Charity shops struggle despite surge in donations during lockdown

Charity shops in Britain continue to struggle a tragic sales decline despite a surge in donations as households decluttered during lockdown.

Oxfam, which has 595 shops, said the money coming through is down by 32 per cent on a like-for-like basis as compared to last year. The British Heart Foundation (BHF), which has around 740 shops reportedly said income is currently down around 20 per cent.

BHF said it lost around £60 million in sales during lockdown. Barnardo's meanwhile, was quoted by a media report as saying, “We are forecasting a loss of £30 million in shop income for this year.” BHF's 3,500 paid staff were all furloughed during the lockdown, but are now back working, alongside 18,000 volunteers. Oxfam has around 1,000 paid staff and 22,000 volunteers.

Oxfam said, “We are down by 40 per cent on volunteer numbers, with many feeling uncomfortable or unable to return. We desperately need more volunteers, and have launched a recruitment campaign, including volunteers who can work from home.” With the onset of Covid-19, bags of donations had to be put aside in store rooms for 48-72 hours, then steamed and cleaned.

A spokesperson said, “Decluttering was the tale of the lockdown. But we have to isolate items donated for 38 hours, and we can quickly run out of space.” Online operations of these major chains were stopped during the lockdown, but are now booming with more and more people preferring to buy remotely. Oxfam's online operation, which includes its own-sourced items, is enjoying sales running at around double last year's levels.

Gupta saves 250 jobs in Tasmania, plans to buy Tata Steel’s Port Talbot firm On Thursday 13th August British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta bought a hydro-powered smelter in northern Tasmania, saving some 250 jobs at the facility.

Owner South32 disclosed that it had entered into a binding agreement to sell the facility to GFG Alliance, which is chaired by Gupta. The facility will be now be part of GFG Alliance’s Liberty Steel Group and Gupta said the acquisition would help his goal of becoming a carbonneutral steelmaker by 2030 and the smelter would strengthen GFG Alliance’s steel-making capability in Australia and around the world. The sale is subject to final approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board. Commenting on the

Sanjeev Gupta

sale, Gupta in a statement had said, “While living in Australia, I visited Tasmania a number of times and was impressed by its natural beauty, its commitment to renewable energy and the diversity of its industries.”

In a separate development the Liberty Group founder has also spoken of his desire in the acquisition of Tata Steel’s Port Talbot facility if the opportunity

arises. Gupta who has a corporate reputation of picking up stressed assets had bought Tata Steel UK’s speciality steel business for £100 million three years ago.

There has been constant speculation in the media about Tata Steel’s plans to close its two blast furnaces at its Port Talbot steelworks in Wales and replace them with electric arc furnaces as part of plans to acquire millions of pounds via a UK government coronavirus bailout fund. Some reports have suggested that the government has refused all aid to Tata Steel, asking the company to rely either on the owners or other commercial avenues. According to reports the car maker sought aid under ‘Project Birch’, the government

scheme to support structurally important companies. However, the company has still not made any concrete announcement regarding Port Talbot which employs 3,500 employees in Wales.

But Sanjeev Gupta has expressed his readiness in bailing out the Tatas in his interview with The Telegraph. Asked if he would look at Port Talbot if it was offered by the Tatas, Gupta said, “Of course.

“The Tatas are very close to Liberty Group; always have been. We have done many things together. We are always open for every type of co-operation with them. We will look at any steel assets, not only Port Talbot, that may come our way in the markets we operate in.”

UK plunges into deep recession, admits Sunak The UK economy plunged into a deep recession as it shrank 20.4 per cent between April and June at the height of the coronavirus lockdown, according to new figures released last week. Reacting to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak admitted that it indicated that the “hard times” are here and that many more jobs will be lost.

'I’ve said before that hard times were ahead, and today’s figures confirm that hard times are here,' Sunak told 'Sky News'. 'Hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their jobs, and sadly in the coming months many more will. But while there are difficult choices to be made ahead, we will get through this, and I can assure people that nobody will be left without hope or opportunity,' he said.

It marks the first time in 11 years that the UK has

Rishi Sunak

tipped into a recession, which is defined by two consecutive three-month periods of falling GDP. The latest GDP figures released by the ONS showed that it fell by 20.4 per cent between April to June, following a drop of 2.2 per cent between January to March.

'The recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has led to the biggest fall in quarterly GDP on record,” said Jonathan Athow, Deputy National Statistician at the ONS. 'The economy began to bounce back in June, with shops reopening, factories begin-

ning to ramp up production and house-building continuing to recover. Despite this, GDP in June still remains a sixth below its level in February, before the virus struck,' said Athow.

“Overall, productivity saw its largest-ever fall in the second quarter.

Hospitality was worst hit, with productivity in that industry falling by threequarters in recent months,” he said. The sharp fall in output was largely driven by the lockdown induced closure of shops, hotels, restaurants and schools, with the services sector suffering the biggest quarterly decline on record. On a month-onmonth basis, the economy grew by 8.7 per cent in June, building on growth in May. Industry groups urged the government for action against a feared second wave of the deadly coronavirus as well as Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU), which will

come into full force at the end of the Brexit transition period from January 2021 and a future UK-EU trade agreement is still being negotiated.

'This confirms the economic pummelling from the essential public health measures put in place to contain Covid-19. With people’s movement restricted over the second quarter, it’s unsurprising that sectors like hospitality, arts and entertainment felt the full brunt of lockdown,” said Alpesh Paleja, the Lead Economist at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

'Encouragingly, the economy grew in May and June, indicating that the early stages of a recovery are underway. Yet cash flow constraints are still biting hard for businesses, and with the pandemic not going away anytime soon, a sustained recovery is by no means assured,” he said.

35 mn meals served under Eat Out to Help Out scheme in first two weeks Over 35 million discounted meals have been served in the first two weeks of the launch of Eat Out to Help Out scheme by Chancellor Rishi Sunak. The scheme was launched to protect the jobs in the hospitality sector – which has been hit hard by the lockdown induced by coronavirus.

The data shows that over 85,000 restaurants have now registered for the scheme, including high-street chains such as Wahaca, Joe and the Juice and Pho as well as thousands of small businesses across the UK – including Bundobust (Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester) and Veggie Republic (Liverpool).

Data showed that restaurants have been on average

27% fuller than they were during the same period (Monday to Wednesday) in August 2019.

The Chancellor said: “Today’s figures show that Britain is eating out to help out – with at least 35 million meals served up in the first two weeks alone, that is equivalent to over half of the UK taking part and supporting local jobs in the hospitality sector. To build back better we must protect as many jobs as possible, that is why I am urging all registered businesses to make the most of this by claiming back today – it’s free, simple and pays out within 5 working days.”

Around 80% of hospitality firms stopped trading in

April, with 1.4 million workers furloughed, the highest of any sector. Stephen Wall, Managing Director and cofounder, Pho, said, "The Eat Out to Help Out scheme has really been amazing. It’s so nice to see our restaurants full of happy staff and customers again. It has certainly benefited our early week figures and seems to have encouraged the British public to dine out safely, as our restaurants are filling up and staying busy throughout the weekend, too.”

Many participating restaurants offer healthy and low-calorie options, and the scheme should be enjoyed as part of a healthy and balanced lifestyle. No vouchers are needed, with

the participating establishment deducting 50% from the bill.

Marko Husak, CoFounder, Bundobust said: "The response to the scheme has been phenomenal. Even though venues are operating at reduced capacity and with smaller teams following more thorough safety measures, we’re still managing to serve a similar number of customers on Mondays Wednesdays that we were this time last year. That makes a huge difference to independents like us." The scheme applies to all food and non-alcoholic drinks, with a maximum discount per person of £10. It could save a family of four up to £40 per meal.

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India extends faceless assessment scheme to all taxpayers Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expanded the faceless assessment scheme to all taxpayers, unveiled a single page Taxpayers’ Charter and promised a faceless appeal mechanism from next month. He urged citizens to be more taxcompliant, pointing to the fact there are just 15 million taxpayers in India with a population of 1.30 billion. far, the tax “So department in our city handled all issues. Scrutiny, notice, survey or confiscation, the income tax officer in the same city plays the principal role. In a way, this will end. Now, scrutiny cases will be allotted randomly in any part of the country… Under this system, a taxpayer will not have an opportunity to know people in the tax department or exert influence,” Modi said.

Narendra Modi

Minutes after his speech, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) expanded the scope of the faceless assessment, launched last year, and asked its officers to pass all assessment orders via the National e-Assessment Centre.

“Whilst this initiative should work very well for relatively smaller businesses, larger businesses whose tax returns tend to be more complex may find it challenging to comply with large amount of data

requirements during a faceless assessment and the inability to discuss and defend their positions in person with an appointed tax officer. Here, one idea which should be actively considered is mediation, something which even the Chief Justice of India has expressed on more than one occasion,” said Sudhir Kapadia, the national tax leader at consulting firm EY India.

From now on, the unit that undertakes assessment of tax returns has also been barred from conducting surveys, a task that will now be handled by the investigation and TDS wings of the department. Officers said this will require strengthening of the two wings by providing more manpower.

Idea is to repose greater trust in the taxpayer: PM While the PM

suggested that the new “platform for honest taxpayers” was a structural reform initiative, six months after the plan for a charter was unveiled, the income tax department is yet to detail the service standards or the timelines for resolution of issues.

“The attempt is to make the tax system, seamless, painless and faceless. The tax administration should be seamless so that it solves the problem instead of complicating matters.

Technology and simple rules will make the system painless. And, faceless in a way that the taxpayer and the tax officer should not be bothered,” Modi said in a televised speech. He said the idea is to repose greater trust in the taxpayer, pointing to the number of cases being taken up for scrutiny.

RBI transfers £5.71 bn surplus to govt for 2019-20 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a dividend payout of £5.71 billion to the government, in line with budget expectations but not enough to make up for revenue shortfalls from other heads. This year’s dividend is not comparable to last year’s surplus transfer of £17.60 billion, which included a one-time transfer of extra reserves in line with the recommendation of the Bimal Jalan-headed committee.

The dividend was declared in the 584th meeting of the RBI’s central board. Besides approving accounts and maintaining a 5.5% contingency risk buffer, the board also

discussed setting up of an innovation hub. Before adoption of the Jalan committee recommendations, the buffer had stood at 6.8%. In the Union Budget 2020, the government had provisioned £8.96 billion in dividend from the RBI, state run banks and financial institutions. Of this, the RBI was expected to contribute £6 billion. Nationalised banks will not be declaring any dividend this year as the RBI has barred them from doing so in order to

India's oil PSUs to stop using tankers with China links India's state-run oil companies have decided to stop chartering tankers owned or operated by Chinese firms even if the vessels are registered under third-country flags. The move follows regulations issued last month to curb business dealings with China in retaliation to the Chinese army’s border transgressions in Ladakh and the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley clash.

The oil companies already have a firstright-of-refusal clause in favour of Indian flag vessels in their global tenders. Under this clause, Indian tankers can be given contracts if they match the winning bid of foreign vessels. The latest move throws vessels with any China connection out of the ring. For limited tenders, the companies will not invite bids from Chinese shipping entities previously registered with them.

Chinese vessels have a small share of the number of ships chartered by the oil companies. The ban will not have much impact on oil companies’ trade.

conserve capital to cover defaults arising out of the Covid-19 crisis.

“The overall balance sheet of the central bank had expanded close to 30% in the RBI accounting year.

Such rapid expansion would obviously limit the amount of seigniorage surplus to the government. Also, at the current rate, the total capital of the RBI, including reserves is ahead of the 20.8-25.4% recommended by the Jalan committee that the central bank needs to maintain,” said SBI chief economist Soumya Kanti Ghosh.

According to Ghosh, the government cannot look to the central bank to raise funds. “The surprise to the market was the rise in

inflation of close to 7%. This is because of the shift in consumption from goods and services to food items.

This will make it difficult for the RBI to cut rates.

Now it is for the government to take action,” said Ghosh. Bankers say that RBI’s revenue generation is highest when there is volatility in the financial markets - either bonds or foreign currency.

During times of rupee volatility, the RBI ends up selling billions of dollars of foreign currency assets, which generate huge profits because of the weaker rupee. Similarly, when there is volatility in the bond markets, the RBI makes money through its open market operations.

RIL denies speculation over succession plan Reliance Industries denied a media Dhirubhai, who died intestate, is seen report that its chairman Mukesh to be keen to ensure a smooth Ambani is readying a succession plan transition. The report said that the by setting up a family council that proposed family council will “include gives equal representation to his three an adult member of the family, the children, Isha, Akash and Anant. three children, and possibly external “Not true,” a company members who will act as spokesperson said when mentors and advisors”. It asked about the report. A also said that the 63-yearsenior group executive, old is planning to complete too, dismissed it as "pure the succession planning speculation". According to process by the end of the the report, the ‘family year. Ambani’s wealth has council’ will provide a soared in recent weeks to collective governance Mukesh Ambani make him the fourth structure to manage the richest man in the world. It retail to telecom and petrochemicals is expected that the three Ambani’s conglomerate. RIL recently raised over children will eventually head separate £20 billion from marquee investors by verticals within RIL such as retail, diluting equity in Jio Platforms along digital and energy, the report said, with a rights issue at RIL. The moves quoting unnamed sources. In recent were part of a deleveraging exercise. months Isha, Akash and Anant have Mukesh, who had a contentious been roped into the business to handle separation from his younger brother Jio Platforms as well as the retail Anil after the death of their father businesses.

Knowledge is power

Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

We are in interesting times. In property knowledge is power; and those in the know, and who act on the knowledge, will profit well. There are a raft of Permitted Development permissions which have been released, in addition to what is already in force.

Permitted Development is decided by central government and is not subject to the usual planning requirements; so, no local opposition can stop Permitted Development from going ahead. There is certainty in obtaining this type of planning, in terms of whether you will get the planning in and also the timeframe within which you will obtain it. The permission must be given in 56 days. We recently obtained planning for two flats within a commercial element of a property within Permitted Development and the planning came through on the 56th Day. With the commercial market in flux, and with more people working from home, there is less walk-in trade.

Large commercial units are suffering, both the ones owned by individuals and the ones owned by large corporates. Whilst empty, the owner must pay business rates. You will find disposals of commercial units coming up in auctions and in the general market. There has also been many changes in legislation in regards to gambling shops. Have you ever wondered why there are so many gambling premises on the high street, next to each other?

Have you wondered how they are all surviving? It is because a large percentage of their turnover comes from the machines they have on site.

The law is changing, and will restrict the number of machines they are allowed. This means they will likely no longer be profitable, and will therefore need to be sold.

This wave has already started to rise, just look at the numbers which have started appearing in auctions.

One interesting Permitted Development which took effect from 1st August 2020, allows for the construction of two additional floors on a purpose built detached block of flats; i.e. the upwards extension of two storeys of residential flats on a current block within the airspace. The flats must have been constructed between 1st July 1948 and 5th March 2018.

The block must be detached and must be at least three storeys high and by adding the new storeys you must not exceed 30 metres in height. It is interesting to note that even architects do not seem to be conscious of these rights which can be obtained easily. We have been looking at a commercial property with the intention to purchase, where the architect had taken the trouble to go for planning to get a slight extension on the building, yet had missed a couple of angles under Permitted Development.

These should have been exploited first, and then planning should be addressed. It is actually surprising how many are unaware of this knowledge.

Once value has been added to a property by rezoning its usage, you have the option to resell the building or develop out and refinance. In the current market it is probably better to develop and refinance and simply focus on the monthly cashflow, especially as rates are exceptionally cheap at the moment, the 5 year fixed particularly so.

AI’S DOMESTIC MARKET SHARE FALLS TO 9% Last month, 21,00,000 people flew within India - 82% less than the 12 million passengers seen in July 2019. Schedule domestic air travel in India was allowed to resume at one third capacity from May 25, after a two-month suspension. The coronavirus had started disrupting air travel from late February and consequently India saw just 37 million passengers in the January-July 2020 period - down 55% from 82 million in the year-ago period, according to DGCA data. Last month also saw two things happen for the first time in domestic market share: Air India’s share down to single digit (in terms of passengers carried) and market leader IndiGo soaring past the 60% mark. SpiceJet is the second biggest Indian airline at 15.7%, with AI a distant third at 9.1%. The two Tata JV airlines - Vistara (4.2%) and AirAsia India (6.2%) - together accounted for 10.4% domestic market share in July. Operating minuscule operations, Wadia group’s GoAir saw just 3.8% share last month.

SC SEEKS SPECTRUM INFO FROM RCOM, JIO The Supreme Court sought the details of spectrum sharing pact between Reliance Communications (RCom) and Reliance Jio and said as to why the company using the spectrum of the other firm cannot be asked to pay the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) related dues to the government. Spectrum is a government property, not private, and anyone using it is liable to pay the dues, the apex court said. The SC bench asked the counsel for Reliance Jio and RCom to place their spectrum sharing agreements on record.

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PAKISTAN & BANGLADESH

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Pak army chief in Saudi Arabia to fix strained ties over Kashmir ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday reached Saudi Arabia to discuss bilateral relations, amidst the recent strain in the ties over Riyadh’s reluctance to toe Islamabad’s line on the Kashmir issue. Despite repeated requests from Pakistan to hold a foreign ministers’ meeting on Kashmir, the Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has shown reluctance to convene such a conference, prompting an upset Islamabad to threaten that it may call a separate gathering on the issue.

Diplomatic sources here said that Gen Bajwa was accompanied by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed.

The details of their engagements in Saudi Arabia have not been released, but the two are expected to hold high-level meetings to iron out misgivings. Pakistan has been pushing the 57-member organisation, which is the second largest intergovernmental body after the UN, for the foreign ministers’ meeting since India

tus. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, for the first time, criticised the Saudi government in a recent TV interview and threatened to call an OIC meeting by sidestepping the Gulf country.

Saudis avoided Pak Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa arrives in directly responding to Saudi Arabia on Monday.

Qureshi’s remarks, revoked the special status of but reportedly stopped renewing Jammu and Kashmir in August a USD 3.2 billion oil credit facility last year. However, there has not to Pakistan despite requests from been any positive response from Islamabad. Pakistan has also paid the OIC, the biggest bloc of back USD 1 billion loan to Riyadh Islamic countries in the world, to which, according to some Pakistan’s request so far. reports, the Saudis had A major reason behind the demanded.

OIC’s inaction has been Saudi Riyadh has also not respondArabia’s reluctance to accept ed to Pakistani requests to Pakistan’s request for holding a extend the oil facility, military meeting specifically on Kashmir. and finance ministry officials Riyadh’s support is crucial for said. "I think our case is to conany move at the OIC, which is vince them (Saudi) that there's dominated by Saudi Arabia and no foreign policy shift," a senior other Arab countries.

Pakistani military official said.

Pakistan has been trying to The Saudi-led OIC has only garner international support held low-level meetings over against India for withdrawing Kashmir despite Islamabad's Jammu and Kashmir’s special stademands. Analysts say Saudi

Arabia does not want risk its business interests in India for supporting Pakistan over Kashmir. Riyadh might also have reservations over its foe Iran's possible inclusion in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, they said.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said last week that if Saudi Arabia did not convene a meeting on Kashmir, then Pakistan might call one involving Islamic countries that supported it on the issue.

Last year Islamabad withdrew from a forum of Muslim nations at the last minute on the insistence of Riyadh, which saw the gathering as an attempt to challenge Saudi's OIC leadership. Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, an influential Pakistani cleric, who went to Riyadh ahead of the general's visit, was optimistic, saying Saudi King Salman bib Abdul Aziz and Crown Price Mohammad bin Salman have a long history of good relations with Pakistan. "I don't think things are so bad to say we are at daggers drawn," he said.

Fulfilling all its obligations relating to Jadhav: claims Pak army ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is fulfilling all its international obligations relating to Indian deathrow convict Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Army claimed. Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.

Weeks later, India approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence. The ICJ, then, restrained Pakistan from executing him. In July last year, the Hague-based court ruled

that Pakistan must undertake an 'effective review and reconsideration' of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also to grant consular access to India without further delay.

Responding to a question on Jadhav, Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Babar Iftikhar said, “The decision of the ICJ on Kulbhushan is being implemented.' 'We are following international law… Consular access was given to fulfil obligations under the ICJ verdict,” he said in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan provided consular access to Jadhav in July, days after it claimed that he had refused to file an appeal in a

Over 300 PML-N workers booked LAHORE: Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam is among over 300 opposition PML-N leaders and workers who were booked by Lahore police for hooliganism and attacking law enforcement officers. About 58 workers of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were arrested and sent to jail for 14 days by a sessions court of Lahore.

Maryam, her husband Capt (Retired) Mohammad Safdar, and 35 lawmakers and senators of the Opposition party are among over 300 leaders and workers booked under different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Violence erupted outside the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office in Lahore as heavy police contingents and workers of the PML-N confronted each other shortly after the arrival of Maryam there to record her statement in a land acquisition case.

Several PML-N workers, cops and NAB officials suffered injuries during the clash.

The anti-graft watchdog had summoned Maryam to record a statement in the investigation into the illegal acquisition of 3,500kanal of land in Raiwind by her, her father, uncle Shahbaz Sharif and grandmother.

court here against his conviction. However, India expressed its disappointment over Pakistan not providing an 'unimpeded, unhindered and unconditional' consular access to Jadhav.

The Islamabad High Court on August 8 constituted a larger three-member bench to hear the petition filed by the government to appoint a legal representative for Jadhav. Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran.

India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where

he had business interests after retiring from the Navy. Iftikhar also accused India of committing human rights violations in Kashmir.

To a question about Pakistan's new political map, he said that “it is the expression of our intent” and added that “we have told the world that this is where we have to go.” In a provocative move, Pakistan on August 4 unveiled its new political map showing the entire Jammu & Kashmir and parts of Gujarat as its territories, drawing the ire of India, which dismissed it as ridiculous assertions that have neither legal validity nor international credibility.

Pak court allows Sikh girl to go with her husband or any place of her choice LAHORE: A Pakistani court has ruled that a Sikh girl, who allegedly married a Muslim man against her family's will, was not a 'minor' and allowed her to go with her husband or any place of her choice, sparking tension between the two communities. The Lahore High Court allowed Jagit Kaur of Nankana Sahib who married Mohammad Hassan of her locality in September last against the will of her family to go with her husband or any place of her choice.

Since September 2019, Kaur has been living in Darul Aman (shelter house) in Lahore following her family’s allegation that she was kidnapped by Hassan who forcibly married her. India had voiced its concern with Pakistan over the abduction and forced marriage of the Sikh girl and sought 'immediate remedial action' from the Pakistan government. LHC justice Chaudhry Shehram Sarwar gave the ruling on the petition of Hassan seeking custody of 'his wife' Kaur whom he gave Muslim name Ayesha. Police brought the Sikh girl to the court amid tight security. Her brother and other family mem-

Jagit Kaur and Mohammad Hassan

bers were also present in the court who expressed their dismay over the decision.

Representing the Sikh family, Advocate Khalil Tahir Sindhu argued that the schoolleaving certificate was enough to prove that the girl is minor. He challenged the record of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) regarding her age.

Sindhu also informed the court that as per a settlement reached by Punjab Governor Muhammad Sarwar between the two parties, the girl is supposed to be handed over to her family.

in brief MALAYSIA JAILS INDIAN RESTAURATEUR A Malaysian court jailed an Indian man for five months for violating a home quarantine order, leading to dozens of new coronavirus infections, the Bernama state news agency reported. The 57-year-old, who resides in Malaysia and owns a restaurant in the northern state of Kedah, pleaded guilty to four charges of violating a mandated 14-day home quarantine order upon his return from India in July. He was also fined 12,000 ringgit ($2,864) by the Alor Setar Magistrate's Court, which held a special hearing at a Kedah hospital where the accused was undergoing treatment.

Authorities had earlier said the man, who initially tested negative for the coronavirus, had left his home during the quarantine period to visit his restaurant. After a second test came back positive, dozens of people, including the man's family members, restaurant workers and customers, were found to have been infected. A total of 45 cases linked to the cluster have since been reported in at least three Malaysian states.

Malaysia has gradually lifted strict lockdown measures since May after successfully containing the spread of the pandemic, but has warned that curbs may be reimposed after more than a dozen new clusters emerged in recent weeks.

DHAKA COURT INDICTS FIRST HINDU CJ IN GRAFT CASE A Dhaka court indicted Bangladesh’s first Hindu chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha and 10 others on charges of embezzling 40 million taka ($472,995) from a bank, a court official said. The indictment comes seven months after another court issued an arrest warrant against the 69-year-old former chief justice who lives in the US and was described as a “fugitive” by the anticorruption commission (ACC) in its chargesheet. “The court framed charges against S K Sinha and 10 others (former officials of the bank), beginning their trial in the Farmers Bank scandal,” said a prosecution lawyer. Date for the next hearing is August 18. The ACC said it found evidence of fraud involving transactions of 40 million taka borrowed with fake documents by two businessmen from the bank in 2016. The money was deposited in Sinha’s account. Sinha now lives in the US where he is said to have sought asylum. The graft case was lodged days after Sinha, in his autobiography “A Broken Dream: Rule of Law, Human Rights and Democracy”, claimed he was forced to resign in 2017 following threats. His comments had drawn a sharp reaction from PM Sheikh Hasina.

BANGLADESHI SMUGGLER KILLED ALONG BORDER A suspected Bangladeshi smuggler died after the Border Security Force (BSF) opened fire in self-defence during an operation along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Jalangi, Murshidabad. The BSF troops seized 150 bottles of pesticide from the spot where the skirmish occurred. The criminals had cut the border fence and were smuggling the pesticide to India through jute fields. “There were five or six of them. Our small patrol party was attacked from both sides. Some even attempted to snatch weapons from the troops. This was when one of our men was forced to fire a round from his gun. The immediate effect was unknown, but later, after the smugglers escaped towards Bangladesh, a search revealed an injured person and 150 bottles of pesticide. As this border is unfenced, we had erected an improvised cattle fence, 400m from the international border. The miscreants cut through this fence to smuggle in the contraband,” a senior BSF official said.

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in brief PAK COURT SUSPENDS SENTENCE OF TWO SAEED AIDES The Lahore HC suspended the one-year sentence of two senior leaders of the proscribed extremist militant group Jamaat ud-Dawah and close aides of 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed in a terrorfinancing case. In mid-June, a special antiterrorism court (ATC) in Lahore had convicted four top leaders of JuD - Zafar Iqbal, Yahya Aziz, Abdul Rehman Makki and Abdus Salam - for collecting funds and unlawfully financing activities of the terrorist group LeT. Iqbal and Aziz each had been sentenced to five years in prison while Makki and Salam had been given one-year jail terms each. Makki and Salam had challenged their conviction in the Lahore HC. During hearing, a two-member bench of the Lahore HC, after hearing arguments from the defence and prosecution, accepted the plea of Makki and Salam and ordered the suspension of their one-year sentence by the ATC. The court also ordered their release on bail.

NO EXTRADITION DEALS WITH FRANCE, GERMANY: HK GOVT Hong Kong said it had suspended its extradition agreements with France and Germany after the two countries made the same move to protest shrinking freedoms in city. “The two have politicised juridical cooperation, thereby damaging the basis of juridical co-operation between (Hong Kong) and Germany and France,” the city’s government said. Meanwhile, pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai walked free on bail, a day after he and other critics of China were rounded up by police. In a display of solidarity for Lai, people rushed to buy copies of his Apple Daily, with the newspaper saying it had upped its print run to 550,000 from the normal circulation of 70,000.

FB REMOVED 22.5M HATE-CONTENT POSTS

Asians of Africa-Recapturing a Historic Contribution The Ismaili Centre lecture series which covers contemporary topics of interest to civil society is presenting a virtual conversation between two scholars from East Africa, Dr Mohamed M Keshavjee, an international specialist on cross-cultural mediation and Dr Farouk Topan, an anthropologist and Swahili playwright on Thursday, 2 September 2020 at 8 pm BST: the. ismaili/TV. The conversation highlights significant Asian contribution

beginning with Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi establishing the oldest political party in Africa in 1894 with the help of Dada Abdulla, a Memon businessman from Porbander and ending with the significant contribution made to the dismantlement of apartheid by the Indians of South Africa during most of the twentieth century.

Asian contribution in East Africa similarly includes leading icons in the pantheon of freedom such as Hussein Suleman Verjee, A M Jeewanjee, MA

Desai, Makhan Singh and Pio Gama Pinto.

Topan,whose own grandfather Sir Tharia Topan, was a leading pioneer businessman and philanthropist had opened his home to David Livingstone in the 1850s while he was in Zanzibar.

“Our history,” saysTopan, “is being captured today in four different ways: this is through academia, memoirs, curiosity of the younger generations searching for their roots, fiction.

‘Diasporic and Distraction’ Keshavjee’s book of

India to sign deals with Kenya, 12 others for special flights NEW DELHI: India has listed Kenya among several countries it will sign a deal for special flights amid a lockdown of its airspace due to the Covid-19 pandemic. India’s Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the Asian country will sign bilateral deals with more than a dozen countries to specifically allow flights into and out of their territories, in a quid pro quo understanding.

“We are now taking these efforts forward and are negotiating with 13 more countries to establish such arrangements,” Puri said on Twitter. The countries are Kenya, Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. This comes a

week after Kenya’s High Commissioner to India, Willy Bett, revealed that he had proposed special unrestricted flights, especially those bringing emergency cases back home.

With India on lockdown since March, the airspace has been shut and only repatriation flights have been allowed under

special circumstances. The diplomat said that Kenya has been negotiating with Indian authorities, especially those in charge of aviation regulations, for a special passage. “We are negotiating so that Kenya Airways is allowed at least two special flights to and from India every month,” said Bett.

While the world was busy battling the spread of misinformation after the Covid-19 outbreak, hate speech on Facebook and Instagram went up exponentially. Facebook removed 22.5 million pieces of hateful content between April and June, its latest community guidelines enforcement report said. It’s higher than the 9.6 million pieces removed in the first three months of the year. In fact, it’s an all-time high. “Since October 2019, we have used (an enforcement strategy)14 times to remove 23 banned organisations,” said Monica Bickert, Facebook’s vice-president (content policy).

That includes The Right Stuff (a neo-Nazi conspiracy theory site), Patriot Front (a white supremacists group) and KKK.

Museveni gives bicycles to NRM village leaders

RUSSIA OFFERS MILITARY HELP, BELARUS CLAIMS NATO THREAT

He said the money was raised from 20 per cent of his salary remitted monthly to the party treasury, remittances by NRM Members of Parliament (MP) and through fundraising by some undisclosed party members. “I want to thank those members who contributed money for these bicycles. There are 68,000 villages in the whole of Uganda and all of them will get bicycles. This has been long in plans,” the President said at the flagging off of the distribution exercise at NRM party headquarters in Kampala.

He added: “That should make mobilisation easy. Mobilisation based on the village is easy because you just ride or walk to the houses and talk to people. That is how we were mobilising in the bush.”

Although Museveni did not disclose how much NRM spent on the bicycles, a random search around Kampala revealed that on average a Roadmaster bicycle costs about Shs450,000. At this rate, the 68,733 bicycles would translate into Shs31 billion.

Joseph Ndugwa, a local bicycle dealer in

Russia said it had told Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko it was ready to offer military assistance if necessary as demonstrators held the biggest protest yet against what they call Lukashenko’s rigged re-election. The protest in the capital, Minsk, attracted around 200,000 people, a reporter estimated. At least two protesters have died and thousands have been detained in demonstrations since last Sunday’s vote.

Opponents of Lukashenko, in power for 26 years, say the vote was rigged. He denies losing, citing official results that gave him 80% of the vote. The Kremlin said Russian President Putin had told Lukashenko that Moscow was ready to assist Belarus in accordance with a collective military pact if necessary and that external pressure was being applied to the country. It did not say where from.

short stories provides historical information in the most entertaining and educational manner.

There is a fear of losing a critical part of our history if we do not capture it now while some of our older generations are still alive”.

The short stories from the book highlight themes of diasporic anxiety engendered by the end of Empire phenomenon.

They represent diasporic angst faced by our earlier generation as they made the leap to a new horizon.

KAMPALA: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni flagged off the distribution of 68,733 bicycles to all NRM village chairpersons across the country to be used in mobilising support for the ruling party in the 2021 general election. Without disclosing the amount of money spent on the purchase of the Roadmaster bicycles, Museveni said the procurement had been financed using three sources.

Katwe, said because of the rising demand during the Covid-19 lockdown, a new Roadmaster bicycle costs Shs600,000 while an old one costs about Shs350,000. the President promised to also procure motorcycles and vehicles for all NRM subcounty and all district chairpersons. “In the same way, we are going to get motorcycles for the sub-country NRM chairpersons and later on we shall buy vehicles for the NRM district chairpersons,” Museveni said.

After receiving the bicycle from the President, the NRM chairperson for Lourdel Village in Kampala, Abdul Tebandeke, said he would need more facilitation to ably execute his mobilisation. “I am going to use this bicycle to spread the NRM ideology and mobilise support for the party in my village. However, this alone will not be enough for me to run my activities,” he said.

Bubble deal The high commissioner argued the idea is to keep a window for affordable care open to Kenyans especially now that the health system is getting stretched by the virus. “I see a travel bubble arrangement as a long-term solution that will bring consistency and enable those seeking medical care to plan as a schedule will be in place.” The discussions, he said, ended on Tuesday and Indian authorities will make a decision before the end of the week.

Kenya Airways has already airlifted about 500 Kenyans stranded in India under a special permission from New Delhi and will on Wednesday fly home another group of about 223.

“The travel bubble deal will be ready by next month”, Bett said.

Sri Lanka to follow ‘Kalyana Mithra’ foreign policy COLOMBO: Sri Lankan will follow a friendly policy towards all countries, said Dinesh Gunawardena, the new foreign minister after assuming charge. “Sri Lanka will be a Kalyana Mithra. A friendship in difficulty and happiness is our foreign policy; a non-aligned, neutral and friendly foreign policy as declared by the President. We have no enemies. We have friends. That is how Sri Lanka has achieved its respect across the world, which we will continue to follow,” the Minister said.

He added that as Sri Lanka was a pioneer of the Non-Aligned Movement, the country has friends across the world. “I hope our diplomatic vision will enable us to take the necessary steps to bring not only friendship with other countries, but also with Sri Lankans across the world.”

Minister Gunawardena also stressed for Sri Lankan mission’s need to operate more closely with its citizens across the world.

“The President has got an overwhelmingly strong mandate, unprecedented in the parliamentary electoral history. This electoral system never produces two thirds majority.

Sri Lanka is the first country to produce this electoral victory when compared with other countries. It is a strong mandate for a strong government, which will attract trust, support and confidence internationally,” he added. The Foreign Minister said that the Ministry has also been entrusted with new responsibilities which would require the assistance of other ministries and departments.

22 WORLD

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UAE, Israel sign peace deal; Iran calls it a ‘huge mistake’ NEW YORK: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel signed a peace deal that marked the Emirates as the third Arab nation to diplomatically recognise the Jewish state, after Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994). In an agreement brokered by the United States, the Arab nation got assured by the Israeli government that it would renounce its plans for annexing the West Bank, the most cherished territory desired by the Palestine.

The deal between Israel and the UAE intended to fully normalise relations follows a history of peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians and their Arab allies that have failed to overcome decades of distrust and violence. Most Arab nations, including the UAE, have not recognised Israel or had formal diplomatic or economic relations with it

Donald Trump, accompanied by US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, second from right, and others applaud in the Oval Office at the White House

because of what they regard as Israel’s thwarting of Palestinians’ aspirations for a state of their own. President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, which seeks a two-state solution, has lashed out against the deal as a “betrayal” by the UAE. A ‘huge mistake,’ says Iranian President Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called the deal a ‘huge mistake.’ “The Emirate rulers think that if they

approach America and the Zionist regime, their security will improve and their economy will grow,” Rouhani was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera. “But this is totally wrong.” The Iranian leader said the deal was a “betrayal of the Palestinian cause”. The Iranian foreign ministry denounced the deal as an act of “strategic stupidity from Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv”. South Africa also expressed concern over the deal.

Bahrain, Oman may follow UAE Bahrain and Oman could be the next Gulf countries to follow the UAE in formalising ties with Israel, Israel’s intelligence minister was quoted as saying. “In the wake of this agreement (with the UAE) will come additional agreements, both with more Gulf countries and with Muslim countries in Africa,” Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said. “I think that Bahrain and Oman are definitely on the agenda. In addition, in my assessment, there is a chance that already in the coming year there will be a peace deal with additional countries in Africa, chief among them, Sudan,” he said.Both Bahrain and Oman praised the UAE-Israel accord, although neither have commented on their own prospects for normalised relations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met with Omani and Sudanese leaders in the past two years.

Bahraini woman smashes statues of Lord Ganesh BAHRAIN: A woman is being investigated by Bahraini authorities after a video of her smashing statues in a shop appeared on social media. The woman, who is reported to be in her forties, was angered when she saw the statues of Lord Ganesh, which represented Hindu deities, in a department store in the Jufair area of the Bahraini capital Manama.

Bahrain is a Muslim majority country and the Islamic faith is strictly monotheistic, forbidding any portrayal of divine beings. In the video, the woman can be heard asking angrily, “This is a Muslim country, right? Why is this here?” before picking up one of the statues and smashing it on the floor of the shop.

She then threw at least four more statues to the ground, breaking some of them. “Does (Bahraini king) Hamad bin Isa accept this?” she said as a shop worker looked on helplessly. The Bahraini interior ministry said

that the woman could face charges related to destruction of property and breaking objects associated with a religious faith.

Nearly all of Bahrain’s citizens are Muslims but like in other Gulf countries, foreign workers outnumber citizens. Indians, most of whom follow the Hindu faith, are the largest single expatriate group, numbering an estimated 4,00,000 out of a total Bahraini population of 1.3 million. Last year Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been criticised for anti-Muslim policies at home, said he would invest US$4 million in the renovation of the 200 year-old Sree Krishna temple in Bahrain.

The Bahrain Ministry of Interior took to Twitter and confirmed that police has taken legal steps against the woman for damaging a shop in Juffair and "defaming a sect and its rituals", in order to refer her to the Public Prosecution. The Bahrain Interior Ministry also issued a statement regarding the incident and said,

But documents on an official Russian health ministry website said the vaccine had been tested on too few volunteers over too short a time to draw conclusions about its effectiveness, and described a number of side effects. “Adverse events...were met frequently or very

frequently,” according to the report from Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, which developed the vaccine.

“It is not possible to define the occurrence of adverse events more accurately because of the limited number of participants in the research.” Thirty-eight volunteers took part in the trials over 42 days.

Side effects included swelling, hyperthermia, lethargy, headaches, itching at the vaccination site, decreased appetite, diarrhea and cold-like symptoms. Over the course of the trials, 144 “adverse events” were recorded, more than 30 of which were ongoing. The report said the vaccine should not be administered to children, pensioners, or to people with a range of underlying health conditions.

No research was conducted

ROBERT TRUMP, PREZ’S YOUNGER BROTHER, DIES Robert Trump, the younger brother of US President Donald Trump, died in Manhattan.

He was 71. The White House, which announced his death, did not give a cause.

“He was not just my brother; he was my best friend,” Trump said. “He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again,” he said.

Robert, who took blood thinners, had experienced brain bleeds that began after a recent fall, according to a family friend.

Robert was a business executive and real estate developer. Unlike his reality TV star brother, he shunned the limelight. As the youngest of five kids, Robert was shielded from the pressure exerted by his strict father over his brothers. He was never groomed to take over the family real estate firm and was considered by those who knew him to be the inverse of the brash, self-promotional brother.

FRANCE ON UK’S QUARANTINE LIST AFTER VIRUS REBOUND IN PARIS The UK announced a 14-day quarantine on travellers returning from a number of countries, including France, the Netherlands and Malta. The move came as France faces a resurgence of the virus. The country’s sevenday average is now above 2,000 cases.

France declared Paris and the Marseille region to be high-risk zones, granting local authorities the powers to impose new restrictions aimed at containing the spread of Covid-19.

EU INKS FIRST VACCINE DEAL WITH ASTRAZENECA The European Union has agreed to buy at least 300 million doses of AstraZeneca’s potential Covid-19 vaccine in its first such advance purchase deal. The European Commission, which is negotiating on behalf of all 27 EU states, said the deal included an option to purchase 100 million additional doses from the UK drugmaker should its vaccine prove safe and effective. The EU deal mirrors move by the US and further reduces the potentially available stock in race to secure vaccines.

"Concerning a circulated video on social media, the DirectorGeneral of Capital Governorate Police announced that a woman, 54, was summoned for intentionally damaging a shop in Juffair and breaking religious idols. Legal proceedings are being taken to refer the case to the Public Prosecution". Khalid al-

Khalifa, advisor to the king of Bahrain and former foreign minister, said the woman's actions were unacceptable.

"Breaking of religious symbols is not the nature of the people of Bahrain. It is a crime... of hatred and is rejected," he tweeted.

"Here, all religions, sects and people coexist," he added.

Russian scientists doubt effectiveness of its Covid vaccine MOSCOW: The Russian coronavirus vaccine hailed by President Vladimir Putin is not certain to work and has side effects including swelling, fever and pain, according to scientists who developed the drug. Putin announced last week that Russia had approved the world’s first vaccine against the virus, saying his own daughter had taken part in clinical trials. Officials said the vaccine would be offered to medics as early as this month and rolled out to the general population from October.

in brief

into how it might react with other medicines, and nothing in the report backed up officials’ earlier claims that the drug would provide immunity for two years. Putin said his daughter had experienced a slight increase in body temperature after receiving the vaccine, but the next day was back to normal and had a “high number of antibodies”.

“I know it works effectively, forms strong immunity, and has passed all the needed checks,” the president said. Other officials announced there had been preliminary orders for more than a billion doses from 20 countries.

Moscow hailed its speedy development as an example of its medical prowess, naming the vaccine “Sputnik V” in a nod to the Cold War space race. But scientists in Russia and abroad

have criticised a lack of testing and transparency. The World Health Organization remained sceptical about the Russian vaccine, saying that it was “not ready at the moment to say there is a vaccine that has undergone the experiments we request for the assessment that it is ready for use worldwide".

British researchers said the rush to roll out the vaccine was “reckless and foolish,” while the German government also raised doubts. Others have highlighted that the vaccine has yet to pass Phase III clinical trials, which typically take months and involve thousands of people.

Such trials, which require a certain rate of participants catching the virus to observe the vaccine's effect, are normally considered essential precursors for a vaccine to receive regulatory approval.

TIKTOK US STAFFERS PREPARE TO FIGHT BAN TikTok and its US employees are planning to take President Trump’s administration to court over his order to ban the app. The employees’ case will be separate from a lawsuit from the firm that owns the app, said Mike Godwin, the lawyer representing the employees. The ban takes effect in September, but it’s unclear if it will make it illegal for TikTok to pay its 1,500 workers in US.

MALAYSIAN ISLAMIST PARTY SEEKS SNAP POLL Malaysia’s majority Malay ethnic group must secure a dominant position in new national elections to ensure political stability in the country, an Islamist party leader who is also a senior figure within the ruling coalition said. Malaysia has faced political uncertainty since former premier Mahathir Mohamad resigned in February and a new government was formed with a razor-thin majority in parliament. Mahathir was replaced by Muhyiddin Yassin, once his close associate, with the backing of the Bersatu party and two others representing Malays – the scandal-tainted United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and the PanMalaysian Islamic Party (PAS). PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang said fresh polls were needed to increase Malay representation in parliament and legitimise the ruling Perikatan Nasional coalition’s claim to power.

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India to expand Ayushman, Modi is the longest serving bring 450 mn more under cover non-Congress Prime Minister The Centre plans to expand the Ayushman Bharat health insurance framework to include 450 million ‘nonpoor population’ who are currently not covered under any government or private insurance scheme and are only a little better off than the PM-JAY beneficiaries.

While the proposed plan is to offer coverage on ‘selfpay basis’, it aims to reduce insurance premium by around one-third of the existing retail price and cover the “missing middle” against financial risk of hospitalisation using the Ayushman Bharat ecosystem, official sources said.

“The idea is to reduce the average insurance premium so that it is affordable to people who are just above the poverty line and are currently neither covered under the government scheme or by their employers and are also unable to afford market prices,” an official said.

Apart from Ayushman Bharat and other government schemes, around 125 million people are covered

under private health insurance. Of this, around 70 to 80 million people access schemes offered by employers and rest buy a policy from retail market. However, for a policy of Rs 300,000 to 500,000, the average premium for a young family is around Rs 10,000-15,000 annually. Those involving elderly have higher premiums.

The proposed scheme is likely to reduce the premium to Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000 per year for a cover of Rs 500,000, the official said. Under the proposal, it will be mandatory for insurers to maintain basic features of ABPMJAY scheme such as a family floater of Rs 500,000 per annum with no

cap on the number or age of family members in a group.

The policy cover will be sold to groups like RWAs (for their employees), delivery groups and cab integrators to ensure a “cross risk” pool through a mix of individuals of all age groups and with variety of disease profiles that should make it viable for insurance companies too. The scheme should help persons in informal employment or gig workers.

The National Health Authority - the implementing agency of the government-run scheme - has invited expressions of interest from insurance companies that are interested in participating in the project targeting the “missing middle”. At present Ayushman Bharat provides a free annual cover of Rs 500,000 to around 107.4 million ‘deprived’ families, covering around 500 million people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the longest serving PM of nonCongress political stock, surpassing the 2,268 days that his BJP senior Atal Bihari Vajpayee had clocked in his three terms combined.

Modi, who is in the second year of his second tenure, now boasts of the fourth longest serving PM after Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, all belonging to Congress.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi

Vajpayee had three terms as PM - a 16-day tenure from May 16 to June 1 in 1996, followed by a 13month tenure from 19981999 and a full five-year term between 1999-2004.

BJP MP and head of the party's good governance cell, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, said Modi's feat reflected the popularity he had earned because of his work.

“First, his work in Gujarat made him the popular choice for PM in 2014.

His performance in office enhanced his appeal and helped him score an even

bigger win in 2019. The back to back victories left no doubt about the stability of his government, and has given him the strength to deal with the challenges facing the economy, national security and foreign policy," he said.

Nehru, the first PM, remains the longest serving with a 17-year spell spread over three terms. His daughter Indira Gandhi was the second longest serving, holding office for 11 years from 1966 to 1977. She lost in 1977 but regained office in 1980 and held it until

1984. Manmohan Singh was in office for a decade, from 2004 to 2014. The nonCongress prime ministers who could not complete their tenure included Morarji Desai (March 24, 1977 - July 28, 1979), Charan Singh (July 28, 1979 - January 14, 1980), Vishwanath Pratap Singh (December 2, 1989 November 10, 1990), Chandra Shekhar (November 10, 1990 - June 21, 1991), H.D. Deve Gowda (June 1, 1996 - April 21, 1997) and Inder Kumar Gujral (April 21, 1997 - March 19, 1998).

Ready to solve differences with India, Sanjay Dutt diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer build trust: China China stands ready to work with India to enhance political mutual trust, properly manage differences, step up practical cooperation and “safeguard the long-term development” of bilateral ties, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday. The remark by spokesperson Zhao Lijian was in response to a query on PM Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech in which he had said the Indian Army had given a fitting reply to acts of aggression challenging India’s sovereignty, “from LoC to LAC”.

Responding to the question, Zhao said China had “noted” Modi’s speech.

“We are close neighbours, we are emerging countries with over one billion people. So, the sound development of bilateral ties not only serves the interest of the two peoples but also stability, peace, prosperity of the region and the whole world,” he said.

“The right path for the two sides is to respect and support each other as this serves our long-term interests,” Zhao added. Modi’s comments came amid the border row with China along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh and increase in incidents of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control with Pakistan in the last few months.

Indian envoy meets PLA brass, seeks status quo Earlier, as the IndiaChina military stand-off in Ladakh entered its 100th day, and with the disengagement process having stalled, India’s envoy to China Vikram Misri met senior People’s Liberation Army officers in Beijing to explain India’s position on the border situation that has sought restoration of

status quo as before the confrontation began in early May. Misri’s meeting came even as an unsigned article in the Chinese embassy bulletin quoted Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi as blaming India for the Galwan Valley clash of June 15, asking New Delhi to conduct an investigation into the incident and “hold violators accountable,

strictly discipline frontline troops and immediately stop provocative acts”. This, Indian officials said, was China’s usual tactic of blaming India for actions that PLA troops were responsible for. But while the Chinese foreign office spokesperson has said so often enough, it was more unusual for the hardline quotes to be attributed to Wang, who is also the state councillor. Misri’s meeting with the Chinese military brass was also unusual. In Beijing, Misri has been meeting think tanks and foreign ministry officials to apprise them of India’s views. Earlier this week, Misri met Liu Jianchao, deputy director of the office of the CPC Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission, an influential official in the party.

Legendary classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj is no more Indian classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj died on Monday following a cardiac arrest at his home in New Jersey, his daughter Durga Jasraj said. He was 90. One of India’s greatest music legends, Pandit Jasraj leaves behind a storied legacy spanning almost eight decades.

Bapuji is no more, his daughter Durga, also a musician, said over phone

from Mumbai. She was inconsolable and could not speak any more.

Jasraj, who belonged to the Mewati Gharana, was in the US when the coronavirus-led lockdown happened and decided to stay back in that country. With profound grief we inform that Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj ji breathed his last this morning at 5.15 EST due to a cardiac arrest

at his home in New Jersey, USA, a statement issued by his family said.

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt has been detected with stage four lung cancer, said sources at Lilavati hospital who are not authorised to talk to the media. The actor, who was rushed to the hospital on Saturday after he complained of breathlessness, was discharged on Monday.

The actor’s oxygen level was fluctuating between 9092% when he was admitted.

He was immediately tested for Covid-19 through rapid antigen kit. But as per the sources, the test result didn’t show any presence of the pathogen of the virus.

Later, it was reported that he has developed fluid in his chest.

His diagnosis revealed that he was suffering from stage four lung cancer.

“When he was taken to the hospital, he was low on oxygen saturation. But when his Covid-19 report came negative, he run cancer analysis and it came positive,” said a source from the hospital. When contacted his treating doctor, Dr Jalil Parker, refused to make any comment on it citing patient confidentiality.

Sanjay had announced that he was taking a ‘short break’ from work for ‘some medical treatment’. “Hi friends, I am taking a short break from work for some medical treatment.” The

'Khalnaayak' actor further said “My family and friends are with me and I urge my well-wishers not to worry or unnecessarily speculate.

With your love and good wishes, I will be back soon!”

Sanjay Dutt was hospitalised after complaining of breathlessness. The actor is the eldest child of late Bollywood stars Nargis and Sunil Dutt. He has two sisters - Priya Dutt and Namrata Dutt. He is married to Maanayata Dutt with whom he has two children, a son and a daughter. He also has a daughter Trishala Dutt from his first marriage to Richa Sharma who died of brain tumour in 1996.

On the work front, Sanjay is currently awaiting the release of "Sadak 2" and "Bhuj: The Pride of India", which will premiere on Disney+Hotstar. He will also star in the second instalment of "KGF" and "Shamshera", alongside Ranbir Kapoor. In 2019, the actor had featured in three movies Ashutosh Gowariker's period drama "Panipat", Karan Johar-produced "Kalank" and political drama "Prassthanam".

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in brief

Karnataka plans to recover costs from culprits of Bengaluru violence BENGALURU: The Karnataka government held a high-level meeting on action to be taken after violence in state capital Bengaluru last week, in which three people died in police firing.

The meeting was held, with social distancing rules followed, at the official residence of Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, who was discharged from a private hospital after recovering from Covid-19.

The Chief Minister later tweeted, saying the meeting had discussed ways to recover costs from those believed to be guilty; considerable damage had been done to government and private property during the violence.

"Our government has decided to assess damages caused to public and private property in the violent incidents in KG Halli and DG Halli, and recover costs from the culprits. We will approach the high court for appointment of a Claim Commissioner, as per the Supreme Court order,"

Yediyurappa wrote in the first of three tweets.

"Stringent action has been initiated against the culprits... including invoking of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA Act)," he said.

Yediyurappa also said that a SIT (special investigation team) had been formed to conduct a "detailed" probe of the incident and that a special team of three prosecutors would be appointed for a "speedy trial". "The SIT will consider invoking the Goonda

Act if warranted," he added.

Violence erupted in DJ Halli and KG Halli in the east of Bengaluru on the evening of August 11, with mobs gathering after a Facebook post that was deemed offensive to Muslims.

Two police stations and the home of Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, the uncle of the man accused of making the post, were attacked and burned, along with several vehicles.

Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who was present at the

meeting, told reporters the Chief Minister had been informed of developments in the case and action taken. Bommai also refused to comment on allegations of Congress involvement in the violence. "I don't want to comment about the Congress. Akhanda Srinivas Murthy has not named anyone in the FIR, but has said he will give, at a later date, (information about) who was there. We have got our own sources, witnesses to conduct the inquiry of burning his house also," he said.

The Home Minister also stressed that there was no question of charging innocent people for the crimes. On the alleged role of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), many of whose members have been arrested for their alleged involvement, he said: "The SDPI is a political party by itself. Our investigation has nothing to do with political overtones. We are going by the merit of the case and our officials are totally unbiased".

PUNJAB

ICUs full, Punjab struggles to cope with Covid caseload CHANDIGARH: With a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases, intensive care units in Punjab seem to be bursting at the seams. With most of these already full, patients requiring treatment in ICUs are reportedly being turned away.

The state has reported around 14,000 cases in the first 15 days of this month. The number of deaths during the period was around 400, which was more than the deaths witnessed between March and July.

Gian Sagar Medical College, which provides ICU facility to patients from Fatehgarh Sahib, Mohali and Ropar districts, has started sending back such patients. The hospital has 20 ventilators and 300 other beds.

Over the past two weeks, the hospital authorities sent back two ambulances carrying high-

risk Covid patients on the pretext of non-availability of beds, said a senior health functionary in Mohali district. A doctor posted in the Covid ward at the Ropar district hospital said earlier they were referring high-risk patients to Gian Sagar Hospital, but not anymore as not enough beds

were available there. Even the authorities at government hospitals in Chandigarh seem reluctant to take patients from Punjab.

Covid deaths on the rise The Covid deaths percentage at Government Rajindra Hospital, a tertiary healthcare

institution, has been increasing with each passing day. The daily deaths count has now reached around 12. The increasing death rate at the hospital has already raised alarm bells for the hospital authorities, the state health department and patients. Until August 15, as many as 155 Covid deaths were reported in the hospital of the 1,075 patients admitted in the Covid ward of the hospital. The sources at the Covid ward revealed that daily death count had increased from an average of five to seven to 12 in a week. Meanwhile, the hospital authorities attributed the spike in Covid death rate to the referral of only more severe patients to the hospital. The authorities claimed that more sick patients from other parts of the state had been referred to the hospital that soared the death rate.

'OPS FOR CM' POSTERS JOLT RULING AIADMK With only nine months before Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, posters projecting Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam as the ruling AIADMK's chief ministerial candidate have created ripples within the party. A group of senior ministers have been shuttling between the residences of Panneerselvam and Chief Minister E Palaniswami. Panneerselvam and Palaniswami issued a joint statement in which they said that all key policy decisions would be taken democratically, and cautioned "functionaries against sharing personal opinions" "Party's decisions, including alliance, will reflect cadre sentiment. All cadres should work unitedly for victory. Functionaries ought to avoid sharing personal opinions. Action will be taken against those violate this," the joint statement said.

298 BAGGAGE PIECES RETRIEVED FROM PLANE CRASH SITE Air India Express said it has retrieved 298 baggage pieces so far from the plane crash site at the Kozhikode airport in Kerala with the help of the US-based company Kenyon International. Moreover, it said a total of 92 passengers injured in the plane crash in Kozhikode have been discharged till date from hospitals after "obtaining complete fitness."

An Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people, including a six-member crew, overshot the tabletop runway during landing at the Kozhikode airport in heavy rains on the night of August 7. The B737 plane fell into a valley 35 feet below and broke into pieces, killing 18 people, including both the pilots. The airline said with the help of Kenyon International, 298 baggage pieces have been retrieved so far from the accident site.

PUNJAB ASSEMBLY TO MEET ON AUG 28 To meet the constitutional requirement, Punjab assembly will be convened on August 28 for a one-day session. The go-ahead for the session came during a video conference of the state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. The cabinet noted the constitutional requirement to hold a session within 6 months of the previous session and decided on a day-long session within two sittings on August 28. With the cabinet decision, Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore has been authorised to convene the 12th session of 15th Punjab Vidhan Sabha, as per clause (1) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India. The session has been scheduled to open with obituary references, after which it will adjourn for a while and reconvene for the next sitting.

WEST BENGAL

Bengal Governor hits out at Mamata Banerjee KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has apparently taken great offence after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday skipped a traditional tea party at Raj Bhawan to celebrate the 74th Independence Day. In a series of tweets, he said he was "startled and stunned" by the absence of Chief Minister, adding the "vacant seat speaks volumes".

After hoisting the national flag on Red Road, Kolkata, the Chief Minister had called on Governor Dhankar along with senior most officers of her government. It was an unscheduled visit, which lasted for about 90 minutes, and, according to sources, was "extremely cordial".

A couple of hours after the "athome" tea party at Raj Bhavan, the

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is seen greeting an empty chair meant for chief minister Mamata Banerjee at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata on Saturday

Governor tweeted a photo of the banquet hall in which a guest, Mrs Dhankar and the Governor can be seen sitting on red velvet covered high-backed, ceremonial chairs.

But on the Governor's right is a vacant chair that has a label stuck on it, which reads "Chief minister Mamata Banerjee".

In the tweet, the Governor

said, "The vacant seat meant for CM at celebration of Independence Day at Raj Bhavan speaks volumes, has created an unwholesome situation that is not in sync with the rich culture and ethos of WB. There is just no rationale for this unbecoming stance. (sic). The absence of CM and officials on occasion of

Independence Day celebration at Raj Bhavan has, like many, startled and stunned me. we need to rise to the occasion as respect to freedom fighters who gave their all to secure for us freedom and democracy. I am at a loss of words," one of the posts read.

According to sources, the state government was upset that the Governor was inviting many people for the tea party. Amid the Covid-19 crisis, there was a general understanding that large gatherings should be avoided.

Reports in a Bengali daily claiming that Raj Bhavan had invited as many as 90 guests made up the Chief minister's mind not to attend. Whether she conveyed that to the Governor is not clear. While coming out from Raj Bhawan on Saturday morning, Mamata told

the media that she had come in, met Dhankar in the morning because she would not be able to come for his evening event. She made no mention of the number of guests. According to sources, usually as many as 300 to 400 guests are invited to the Independence Day tea party every year. But this time, after much deliberations, around 50 invitations were sent out. Around 35 attended. Distance was maintained between guests who were seated in the banquet hall.

The Governor spent about 45 minutes with them and the tea party wrapped up a little after 6 pm. Two hours later, the Governor posted a series of tweets, again triggering speculation about the worsening ties between him and the Chief Minister.

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22 - 28 August 2020

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

Born rebel Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose • His ancestors served in the Durbars of Nawab and Sultan • “Desh Nayak” was rusticated from the Presidency College ho does not know the Indian revolutionary freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897- 18 August 1945) who resigned from the Indian Civil Service (ICS) immediately after he was selected and joined the Indian National Congress, elected twice the President and even resigned from the Congress following differences with Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel? He was a close friend of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru during the freedom movement having emotional as well as socialist bond with the first Prime Minister of India.

Even after he left not only the Congress but even Indian soil to take over the Indian National Army (INA) following differences with the Mahatma, he was the first person to call Gandhiji the Father of the Nation in his Rangoon Broadcast in July 1944 seeking Bapu’s blessings. And even Gandhiji addressed him as “the Patriot of the Patriots”.

Unfortunately, the hero of the Indian youth and people at large died in the plane crash at Taipei on 18 August 1945 leaving so many mysteries unsolved around him.

The Netaji’s contribution in the freedom movement may be known to people who loved him but not many would be aware of his childhood adventures or encounters. It is a known fact that Pandit Nehru’s forefathers migrated from Kashmir to serve in the family connections in high places and Mughal Durbar, but one may not be their to ‘the dictatorial vice-chancellor, aware that even Subhas’s ancestors Ashutosh Mookerjee (the father of Dr. served on the high positions in the Syama Prasad Mookerjee), to get Durbar of Nawab of Bengal and Sultan.

Subhas admitted elsewhere, but their Subhas Bose grew up “in a efforts were not immediately predominantly Muslim quarter of successful’.

Cuttack, with Muslim neighbors, After a year’s absence, Subhas teachers, and classmates, and took part returned to Kolkata to try his luck with in Muslim festivals”, discloses a the university authorities once more. celebrated historian and his great grand He tried to get recruited in the ‘49th nephew Sugata Bose. A Harward Begalee Regiment” in 1917 but was Professor and former Member of disqualified because of his poor Indian Parliament, Dr. Bose writes in eyesight, even thought he passed all the “His Majesty’s Opponent Subhas other medical tests. He tried his luck Chandra Bose and India’s Struggle again at the office of the Principal of against Empire”: “Subhas belived his the Scottish Church College and with ‘mental attitude’ towards Muslims was the help of his brother Sarat he could influenced by his early contacts, and returned to his studies in philosophy in reported that friction or conflict July 1917. between Hindus and Muslims was Subhas went to Kolkata to join the unknown in his formative years. The College in 1913 and had to have a gap of diverse and liberal social setting was a one year due to the Oaten episode. But boon, but did not preclude the tortuous in the summer vacation of 1914, he had individual trials of coming of age in an come to Cuttak. One day he ‘quietly left era of incipient nationalism.” home with a friend, without telling his Of course, Subhas was a bright parents, in search of a guru or a student who ranked second in the spiritual preceptor. He visited all of entire university in his school-leaving major pilgrimage sites of northern matriculation examinations. He was India, including Lachhman-Jhola, sent to Calcutta (now Kolkata) to join Hrishikesh, Hardwar, Mathura, the prestigious Presidency College. He Brindaban, Benares and Gaya. At was “rusticated’ for leading the Hardwar, a third friend joined the students fight against the racial search party for a guru. The two-month discrimination by his British teachers expedition made possible a few leading to physical assault on Edward meetings with some truly holy men, but Farley Oaten, a history professor. “Had overall it ended in disillusionment and Subhas actually taken part in the disenchantment. physical assault on a Next Column Subhas witnessed professor? In his deposition the before the Enquiry The Interim Government first-hand deeply ingrained Committee, Subhas did not formed in 1946 caste prejudices in admit his own guilt, but northern India and the petty sectarian steadfastly refused to name any other rivalries of the men of religion.’ His or criticize the action of the students.” pilgrimage ‘brought face to face with Subhas was clearly dismayed at the the patent shortcomings of Hindu time to see his studies cut short, and society’. During this period Subhas’s hoped for a reprieve. His father (a political consciousness was aroused government pleader and the first nonwhich made him a Desh Nayak (Leader official Chairman of Cuttack of the Country) in later years in the Municipality) and elder brother Sarat (a words of Rabindranath Tagore. barrister) tried their best to use their

W

India, Nepal decide to accelerate bilateral projects amid map row Senior diplomats of India and Nepal on Monday held a virtual meeting during which they comprehensively reviewed the progress made on various India-aided developmental projects in the Himalayan nation and decided to expedite their implementation.

The meeting came days after Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli his Indian telephoned counterpart Narendra Modi to greet him on India''s 74th Independence Day, in the first high-level contact after bilateral ties came under severe strain following issuance of a new political map by Nepal in May. Foreign Nepalese Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra led the delegations representing their respective countries during the 8th meeting of Oversight Mechanism. The meeting, held virtually due to the coronavirus outbreak, carried out a comprehensive review of bilateral economic and development cooperation projects since its 7th meeting held on July 8, 2019.

During the meeting, both sides deliberated on the issues and agreed to expedite their implementation, according to a press release issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu. The two sides noted "the progress made in the development projects in the last one year, including reconstruction of 46,301 earthquake damaged houses in Gorkha and Nuwakot districts, the operationalization of Motihari-Amlekhgunj, cross border petroleum products pipeline, the Integrated Check Post at Biratnagar and the High Impact Community Development Projects."

Nepal also noted with

appreciation Covid-19 related assistance, including the supply of medical equipment

by India, the release said. The meeting mainly discussed the status of implementation of the on-going projects under Nepal-India bilateral cooperation covering Terai roads, cross-border railways, Arun-III hydropower project and petroleum products pipelines, according to the Nepalese Foreign Ministry.

"The meeting also discussed issues related with Pancheshwar multipurpose project, post-earthquake reconstruction, irrigation, power and transmission lines, construction of Nepal Police Academy, integrated check posts, Ramayana circuit, HICDPs, motorable bridges over Mahakali River, agriculture and cultural heritage, among others," it said.

"Both sides underlined the need for expediting implementation of the bilateral projects. In that connection, they agreed to undertake necessary measures to timely address problems and obstacles in the course of implementation," it said.

The Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism was set up after Prime Minister Modi''s visit to Nepal in September 2016 to oversee the implementation of bilateral projects and take necessary steps for their completion in time.

"India and Nepal have

agreed to hold the next meeting of the mechanism on a mutually convenient date to review the progress made in the implementation of the India assisted economic and development cooperation projects," it added.

The ties between India and Nepal came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an strategically 80-km-long crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8. Nepal protested the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through its territory. Days later, Nepal came out with the new map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its territories.

In June, Nepal''s Parliament approved the new political map of the country featuring areas which India maintains belong to it. In its reaction, after Nepal''s lower house of parliament approved the bill, India termed as untenable the "artificial enlargement" of territorial claims by the neighbouring country.

India said Nepal''s action violates an understanding reached between the two countries to resolve the boundary issues through talks. Prime Minister Oli has been asserting that Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura belong to Nepal and vowed to "reclaim" them from India.

India’s Covid case tally crosses 27,00,000 India’s Covid-19 tally on Tuesday crossed 27,02,742, while the death toll due to the disease crossed the 51,797 with 941 fresh fatalities, according to the Union health ministry. The number of people who have recovered from the disease went up to 19,19,842 in the country, pushing the recovery rate to 72.51 per cent, according to health ministry data.

The number of tests for detection of Covid-19 also crossed the 30 million mark in the country, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The death toll due to Covid-19 climbed to 51,797 with 941 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours. The case fatality rate has declined to 1.92 per cent. There are 6,76,900 active Covid-19 cases in the country currently. According to the ICMR, a total of

3,00,41,400 samples were tested for Covid-19 in the country till August 16, including 7,31,697 on Sunday.

Of the 941 fresh deaths, 288 were in Maharashtra, 125 in Tamil Nadu, 116 in Karnataka, 88 in Andhra Pradesh, 56 in Uttar Pradesh, 51 in West Bengal, 41 in Punjab, 16 in Jharkhand, 15 in Jammu and Kashmir, 14 in Rajasthan, 11 each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, 10 each in Kerala, Odisha, Haryana and Telangana, eight in Delhi and

seven each in Chhattisgarh and Assam.Six fatalities were reported from Goa, four each from Puducherry, Ladakh, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Tripura, three from Manipur and a death each was recorded in Chandigarh and Uttarakhand. Of the total deaths, Maharashtra accounts for the maximum of 20,037, followed by Tamil Nadu (5,766), Delhi (4,196), Karnataka (3,947), Andhra (2,650), Uttar Pradesh (2,449), West Bengal (2,428) and Madhya Pradesh (1,105).

26 INDIA

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8 - 14 August 2020

Ladakh has shown the capability of Indian soldiers: PM Modi The country and Indian Army have responded to belligerence on the borders in the language of the aggressor and Ladakh has given the world a demonstration of the capability of the Indian soldier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during his seventh Independence Day address, from Red Fort, on Saturday last.

“From LoC to LAC, whoever has raised eyes on the sovereignty of the country .... the armed forces and the country have responded in the same language. Respect for India's sovereignty is supreme for us. What our brave soldiers can do for this resolution, what the country can do, the world has seen this in Ladakh,” Modi said.

The remark was seen as a reference to the Galwan Valley clashes where, according to the defence establishment, Indian jawans retaliated against the PLA’s aggression by inflicting many casualties on the Chinese side. PM Modi said despite recent adversities - a reference to the Covid-19 pandemic - there have been “misadventures” on the borders.

World has seen what our brave jawans can do While he did not name either China or Pakistan, PM Modi referred to the threats of expansionism and terrorism, in that order, represented by the two hostile neighbours, saying that India’s tough stance has been

appreciated. “Recently, as a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council, 184 countries out of 192 supported India. This is a matter of great pride for every Indian. This is an example of how we have made our place in the world. And this is possible only when India itself is strong, India is powerful and safe,” he said.

The brief reference to the ongoing military standoff in Ladakh came as discussions to disengage at friction points and de-escalate are stalemated due to China’s refusal to pull back its troops despite several rounds of talks. The two sides are now digging in and Indian forces are preparing supplies to last through the winter.

“When we embark on an extraordinary journey with an extraordinary goal, the path will

also be full of challenges and these challenges too are extraordinary.

Notwithstanding the recent adversities, there have been misadventures along the border which threw a challenge to the country. But whoever tried to threaten the sovereignty of our country right from the LoC to the LAC, the army of the country, our brave soldiers have given a befitting reply,” he said.

Modi said, “The whole country is full of zeal, driven by conviction and moving forward with unwavering devotion to protect India’s sovereignty. The world has seen what our brave jawans can do in Ladakh...Today, I pay obeisance to all the brave men and soldiers who sacrificed their lives”.

In the rest of his speech, Modi expounded in detail on the theme

of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ in the context of decisions such as curbs on defence imports that are to be indigenised, national infrastructure projects, a new education policy, development of Tejas fighters, a plan to connect all villages by fibre optical networks, and reforms in taxation and the MSME sector.

India can’t continue to be an exporter of raw materials and receiver of finished goods, he said.

Modi also said that the beginning of the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya is a “peaceful culmination” of the age-old Ram Janambhoomi issue.

“The citizens of India have shown exemplary restraint and wisdom, and acted responsibly... Peace, unity and harmony are going to be the strengths of self-reliant India.”

There was a pointed reference to the middle class as Modi reassured this vocal segment that the government has not lost sight of their needs.

“Whether it is the agriculture sector, small-scale industries sector or the people in services sector, almost all these people, in a way constitute a huge middle class of India,” he said. The government is constantly working to fulfil dreams of the middle class. The middle class

has the power to do miracles. So middle class families get the greatest benefits of ease of living.

Cheap internet, affordable smartphones and flight tickets all these things are going to increase the strength of the middle class,” he said. Home loan rates have become cheaper and funds have been set up to complete distressed projects, Modi added.

Self-reliant Bharat while calling for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat,’ Modi sought to pitch the country as a manufacturing hub, with “Make for World” as the mantra so that that local value additions help the country make the switch from a supplier of natural resources and raw materials and importer of finished products.

“Our country has plenty of natural resources. It is the need of the hour that we start the value addition of these natural resources and human resources; and to take the country to new heights. How long shall we continue to export raw material to the world? How long will the process of exporting raw material and importing finished goods continue? So, we will have to be self-reliant,” Modi said, while pointing to self-sufficiency in key food products such as wheat. In address to an industry chamber two months ago, he had called upon companies to play a big role in the global supply chain.

INDIAN AMERICANS REJOICE KAMLA HARRIS’ VICE-PRESIDENT BID Continued from page - 1 The 55-year-old first time senator from California is now the first American of Indian and Asian descent to run for vice-president.

She is also the first African American of a major party and only the third woman yet to run for that office, after Democrat Geraldine Ferraro and Republican Sarah Palin.

The US hasn’t had a female vicepresident, or president, yet.

Biden announced his pick in a tweet as speculation reached a feverish pitch on all leading TV channels and social media. “I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris - a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants - as my running mate,” the former vice-president wrote on twitter.

In her first public response to the announcement, Harris wrote on Twitter: “@JoeBiden can unify the American people because he’s spent his life fighting for us. And as president, he’ll build an America that lives up to our ideals. I’m honored to join him as our party’s nominee for Vice President and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.” A win in November will make Harris the first female vice-president of the United States and set her up the presidency in 2024, at the end of Biden’s first term, or 2028. Most vice-presidents have gone on to run for the top job themselves and win, with some exceptions such as Al Gore.

Kamala Harris - The granddaughter of Besant Nagar, Chennai Kamla’s mother Shyamala Gopalan who hailed from Chennai, met and married Kamala’s father Donald Harris, Jamaican student at the University of California at Berkeley. It was a hugely “progressive” decision taken by the family, considering India was still a deeply conservative country and accepted the “inter-racial union’. She was a cancer researcher, who raised Harris and the younger daughter Maya Harris, as a single mother mostly after early separation from Donald Harris. Shyamala passed away in 2009.

Kamala’s grandfather PV Gopalan remained a guiding light in Kamala’s life imparting values of civic mindedness, public service and human rights. He passed away in 1998. In an interview to journalist Aziz Haniffa, Harris said, “One of the most influential people in my life, in addition to my mother, was my grandfather PV Gopalan, who actually held a post in India that was like the Secretary of State position in this country..some of my fondest memories from childhood were walking along the beach with him after he retired and lived in Besant Nagar, in what was then called Madras. He would take walks every morning along the beach with his buddies who were all retired government officials and they would talk about politics, about

how corruption must be fought and about justice. They would laugh and voice opinions and argue, and those conversations, even more than their actions, had such a strong influence on me in terms in terms of learning to be responsible, to be honest, and to have integrity.” In her book The Truths We Hold Kamala, she called her grandfather a diligent civil servant, who had a strong anticorruption stance. Kamala once said, “My grandfather felt very strongly about the importance of defending civil rights and fighting for equality and integrity. I just remember them always talking about the people who were corrupt versus the people who were real servants.”

Doctor Gopalan Balachandran, Harris’ maternal uncle told a publication that the Harris sisters grew up in a predominantly black neighbourhood, so their mother had a vast library of religious scriptures like Ramayana for them to read and made many visits to India to imbibe the culture. In a speech she delivered in the year 2008, Harris said, “I remember the stories that they would tell and the passion with which they spoke about the importance of democracy. As I reflect on those moments in my life that have had the most impact on who I am today — I wasn’t conscious of it at the time — but it was those walks on the beach with my grandfather in Besant Nagar that had a profound impact on who I am today.”

Erstwhile critic, present day ally Noticeably, the Senator had gone on record to believe the women who accused presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden of inappropriate interactions and called into question his record on race issues. Joe Trippi, a long-time Democratic strategist reacted to this and told Newsweek, “You can criticize Biden and he doesn't seek revenge. He can still work with you and get his agenda passed. With Trump, there's no way.”

Trump on Harris: From “fine choice” to “the meanest” President Donald Trump, who had earlier called Harris a “fine choice” if picked by Biden, felt differently and accorded the announcement the full Trump treatment. He slammed her as “nasty” and “the meanest, the most horrible, most disrespectful” for her grilling of Brett Kavanaugh at his senate confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court. His campaign called her “phony”.

Indian Americans ecstatic Ramesh Kapur, a veteran Democrat who hosted a fundraiser for Harris at his home in Boston in 2016 during her senate run, said he believed the announcement was the start of a journey. “It’s the beginning of her becoming the first Indian American president - this is a journey.” “Moment of great pride for the Indian American community,” said Shekar Narasimhan, a top Democratic

strategist and fundraiser. “It’s a first in so many ways and will help Joe Biden win the presidency which is the first priority. A seismic shift occurred today, and its ramifications will be felt for many decades”. Former first lady Michelle Obama tweeted in support of Biden and Harris: “If we want to end the chaos and division—and keep alive the possibility of progress on the issues we hold dear—we’ve got to vote for @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris like our lives depend on it.” Former President Barack Obama shared his wife’s tweet and further added, “As Michelle said, we’ve got to do everything we can to elect @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. So make sure you have a plan to vote.

Vote early. And tell everybody you know to register to vote at http://iwillvote.com.”

In a video from 2019 that recently surfaced on the internet again, Harris was seen cooking a masala dosa with actor Mindy Kaling. In the video, Harris also talks about how her maternal family in India advocated vegetarianism. “So, when we were growing up and we would go to India…and my grandfather was a little mischievous…my grandmother, of course, was strictly ‘no, nothing’. If it had a mother, it was not getting eaten. And if my grandmother would go out of town, my grandfather would then…get very mischievous and he would say, ‘Okay, let us have French toast‘,” Harris said.

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HEALTH VOICE

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27

22 - 28 August 2020

Coming out of lockdown

Dr Chandni Pujara, Psychiatry, London Working in London, particularly in boroughs that have been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus, there has been a marked shift in people presenting to mental health services. The prevalence of mental illness in parts of the capital are high, and this often correlates with a high population of BAME communities, which as we have all heard, have been impacted severely by Covid-19.

Although research is ongoing, trends at present are showing that in certain areas, the proportion of people from BAME backgrounds seeking help from mental health services as lockdown is coming to an end, is increasing, and in

particular we are seeing a rise in people coming to us for the first time, as well as an increase in people who are in their 40s and 50s.

Whilst it has been refreshing to see mental health and well being talked about more openly in the past few years and particularly in the past few months during lockdown, it is important to recognise that we do not know what the long term implications of the pandemic and lockdown will be on people’s mental health, particularly as the economic effects are being revealed.

For most people, finding a way to get through lockdown, took a lot of emotional energy, but we pulled through, expecting things to return to some semblance of normal. As we watched this pandemic unfold, we learnt a lot about what our new normal may look like, and for many people this may be a source of a lot of stress.

Fear and anxiety are possibly the most common responses most people will feel as restrictions are eased.

Many will fear becoming unwell with the virus, as it still lurks in the community,

and others will fear passing it on to a loved one. It is important to recognise that this is a completely normal response, and risk can only be managed by people following the guidelines.

What we must acknowledge is that every time we go through change, even returning to something we once did regularly, it will feel unusual and scary, and can cause nervousness. This is because we haven’t done it in a while and forgot how it feels, for example returning to work, or going to the shops and having to wear face coverings etc. These feelings are normal, and can only be overcome by building up tolerance and returning to activities gradually, whether this is your work, or your social life.

Feeling angry or frustrated at other people’s behaviour or even making judgments about them can happen easily at a time like this, but it is important to not become preoccupied with these thoughts, or what other people are doing. It is important to take things at your own pace. Do not let the fact that other people appear to be finding this transition easier

pressure you into moving faster than you are ready to.

Lockdown has been very quiet and isolated for many people, and it is important for you to recognise if you don’t feel comfortable with certain things. Going into shops, using public transport, traffic, are all things that can be overwhelming when coming out of lockdown.

The “new normal” for most people will mean that we have to think of the day to day, as it is going to be very difficult to predict or plan for the rest of the year or perhaps even longer. It is easy to get caught up in moments like these but it can help to focus on what you have learnt and achieved in the past few months and focus on the present. Mindfulness and meditation can be useful tools but it is also important to try and relax and talk about how you are feeling to people you trust.

Remember to be accepting of your emotions and to approach yourself with a kindness that you would show to others. If you are finding it difficult to manage, please seek advice from a professional.

Walking to work better than going out for a stroll: Study A new study published online in the Journal of Transport and Health reveals walking to work makes it a much healthier choice as it makes people walk faster. It found that walking for different reasons yielded different levels of self-rated health. People who walked specifically to places like work and the grocery store from their homes for example, reported better health than those who worked for leisure.

The study used data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey, a US data set collected from April 2016 to May 2017.

Researchers analysed selfreported health assessments from 125,885 adults

between the ages of 18 and 64. The adults reported the number of minutes they spent walking for different purposes – from home to work, from home to shopping, from home to recreation activities and walking trips that did not start at their homes.

Respondents ranked how healthy they were on a scale of 1 to 5. The Akar and

Ohio State doctoral student Gilsu Pae found that walking for any duration, for any purpose, increased how healthy a person felt. They also found that an additional 10 minutes of walking per trip from home for work-based trips increased that person's odds of having a higher health score by six per cent compared with people who walk for other reasons.

People who walked from home for reasons not connected to work, shopping or recreation were three per cent more likely to have a higher health score.

The

Nearly 6 per cent people in England likely infected with Covid-19 A new study brings grim news for England, estimating six per cent of people were likely infected with Covid-19 during the peak of the pandemic's trend. A study that tested over 100,000 people across England for antibodies to the coronavirus shows that almost six per cent of people had them, adding 3.4 million people had previously contracted the virus by the end of the June.

The study matches other surveys that suggest higher

levels of Covid -19 than implied by daily testing statistics. Healthcare and care workers were most likely to have been infected previously.

Maximum infections were reported in London, where 13 per cent of people had antibodies, while minority ethnic

groups were two to three times as likely as compared to white people.

A report quoted research lead at Imperial Graham Cooke, “There are still many unknowns with this new virus, including the extent to which the presence of antibodies offers protection against future infections.

Using the finger-prick tests suitable for large scale home testing has given us clearest insight yet into the spread of the virus in the country and who has been at greatest risk.”

researchers also found that walking trips that begin at home are generally longer than walking trips that begin somewhere else. Akar was quoted in a report as saying, “I was thinking the differences would not be that significant, that walking is walking, and all forms of walking are helpful. And that is true, but walking for some purposes has a significantly greater effect on our health than others.”

One in two youths subjected to anxiety, depressioncausing situations

A survey by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) reveals half of the world's youth population are subject to anxiety or depression-causing circumstances, and over a third are uncertain of their future career prospects due to the ongoing Covid -19 pandemic. The study titled 'Youth and Covid-19: impacts on jobs, education, rights and mental well-being' survey found that if no action is taken, youths are at the risk of suffering severe and longlasting adverse impacts from the pandemic.

The report said, “The Covid -19 pandemic has disrupted every aspect of our lives. Even before the onset of the crisis, the social and economic integration of young people was an ongoing challenge. Now, unless urgent action is taken, young people are likely to suffer severe and long-lasting impacts from the pandemic.” The survey aimed to capture the effects of the virus on the lives of youths in employment, education, rights, and social activism.

ILO received over 12,000 responses from 112 countries. It found that 50 per cent young people, one in two, across the world are possibly subject to anxiety or depression, while 17 per cent are probably affected by it. The survey said, “Severe disruption to learning and working, compounded by the health crisis, has seen a deterioration in young people's mental well-being.”

Also, young people whose education or work was either disrupted or had stopped completely were almost twice as likely to be affected by anxiety or depression as compared to those who continued to be employed or whose education was not affected. The report said, “This underscores the interlinkages that exist between mental well-being, educational success and labour market integration.”

The report further said, 38 per cent of young people are uncertain of their future career prospects as Covid-19 is expected to further hamper the labour market. ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said, “The pandemic is inflicting multiple shocks on young people. It is not only destroying their jobs and employment prospects, but also disrupting their education and training and having a serious impact on their mental well-being.”

Covid-19 vaccine: UK govt signs deals for additional 90 mn doses The Boris Johnson-led government has signed deals for an additional 90 million doses of the Covid -19 vaccine being developed by the Belgian pharmaceutical company Janssen and the US biotech company Novavax.

The new order has amounted to a potential stockpile of 340 million doses. Business Secretary Alok Sharma said, “The government's strategy to build a portfolio of promising vaccine candidates will ensure we have the best chance possible of finding that works.”

He added that the new deal will not only benefit people in the UK, “but will ensure fair and equitable access of a vaccine around

the world, potentially protecting hundreds of millions of lives.”

The government now has experimental Covid-19 vaccine candidates developed using four different scientific approaches. This includes: Adenovirus vaccines: 100 million doses, Oxford University/ AstraZeneca; 30 million

doses, Janssen mRNA vaccines: 30 million doses, BioNTech/ Pfizer; Inactivated whole virus vaccines: 60 million doses, Valneva; Protein adjuvant vaccines: 60 million doses, GSK/Sanofi; 60 million doses Novavax.

The Oxford and BioNTech/ Pfizer vaccines are in Phase III clinical trials.

28 ART & CULTURE

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22 - 28 August 2020

A war has terribly unintended consequences Shefali Saxena To mark the end of 75 years since World War II, the National Army Museum held a virtual event “India at War” with the author of the book ‘The Raj at War’ by Yasmin Khan to discuss the war that was a global catastrophe.

Yasmine is a writer and an associate professor of History at the University of Oxford.

The session was moderated by Shrabani Basu, Sunday Times bestselling author, journalist. Books include Spy Princess, Victoria & Abdul (made into a major film) and For King and Another Country.

Unlike the first World War, the war came to India’s doorstep during World War II. The city of Calcutta (now Kolkata) took the brunt as American ground infantry and Japanese planes took over.

Yasmin described that there were big industrial projects going on and new aerodromes and factories were being built.

Everyone was gearing up the economy for war effort as a passionate and complex national movement was simultaneously going on. Shrabani added that there was political turmoil in 1942 while Gandhi’s Quit India Movement was fueling up. Congress leaders were in jail. Indian troops were fighting the war for the British army. There was a huge dilemma. Yasmine and Shrabani also threw light on how in those days, wars years weren’t really a part of national history because “so many of these leaders were frustratingly behind walls”.

The Bengal Famine had hit meanwhile and all these kinds of other events were happening, hence a new world emerged in 1944-1945. Her book reminds us that “Britain did not fight the second world war, the British empire did.” In Patrick French’s review of Yasmin’s book ‘ The Raj at War’, he wrote, “Large claims and top-down history are, though, not the purpose of The Raj at War. Its strength lies in the detail.”

Very little is written about Aruna Asaf Ali in the national archives who was an Indian educator, political activist, and publisher. Aa an active participant in the Indian independence movement, she is widely remembered for hoisting the Indian National flag at the Gowalia Tank maidan, Bombay during a Quit India Movement in 1942.

Yasmin explained how Ali went underground, and it was evident that women in the war remained neglected, despite ground level contribution in India in all fields.

“Women like Aruna Asaf Ali aren’t really known about in India. There is no great biographical tradition of women being

Shrabani Basu

Yasmin Khan

written about. They were a part of Quit India Movement and Indian National Army. Women had an auxiliary call in India. They were brought into working environment and public spaces to takepart in poetical acidities, as stenographers or secretaries,” Khan said.

By the 1940s, the younger generation of women was drawn into public life. Khan explained that there are some most extraordinary photographs of women in uniform, nursing general hospitals, nursing soldiers as a “kind of hidden history there”.

Shrabani said, “We don’t necessarily think of asian women being involved in the war, or the extent of Indians who were involved in building fields and roads migrant labour.”

Yasmine told that many women were working back then as labourers in picking tea in plantations in the North East. One of the reasons of drawing labour into the war effort was to build a big road which was intended to connect China, Burma and India. The labourers worked around giant mountains, difficult jungle terrain and all the work was basically done by manual Asian labour, thousands of labourers including women.

The ladies also discussed how by the end of the 1940s most people were in public life, who might not have been otherwise. There were a lot of women who did social work in helping refugees and children. There were women who were coming out of purdah.

There was a big labour shortage and women sort of pushed out of factory work which they had been doing to support and push out. Women are said to have gone underground and dug gold in the 1940s too.

“Prostiution was highest in the war all over the world in Calcutta,” said Yasmin. Yasmin said that one can find it hard to talk about prositiution in the 18th century but in recent living history it is very different in war time. “It had an impact on manpower and fighting ability of the army which is most evident in military record, very well assessed in medical wings of the army as a problem and issue. Calcutta in particular with so many international troops became

hospital has a massive record of 86,000 casualties. Many of them were admitted due not through combat but through disease. The salary for 18 Rs for an average soldier with three meals a day. Earlier it was Rs 11, a pair of uniform and shoes and food.

But the memory of war in India and Pakistan was not necessarily the same as that of the UK. Today, people realise that the diaries of their parents and letters from those days are worth putting in the museum. “Lots of them have never been seen or found,” said Yasmin.

magnets for prostitutes,” she said.

There were also mental health issues during the war. Yasmin said,”It is a really complicated picture and people in service were very demoralised. Some of them in ICS (Indian Civil Services) knew they ‘The Raj at War - A People’s were in the wrong place, lost in South Asia where they wanted to fight in history of India’s Second Europe. It was a very strange time for World War’ by Yasmin Khan the ruling cadre and it contributed to the consensus that it was time to leave.

By 1946 it was evident that the army wasn’t rock solid or reliable. British in India were finding it really difficult to fight it with Japanese around. Calcutta took the brunt of this. “The Bengal Famine is the kind of tragedy of the 1940s and actually more than twice the number who died in partition during the famine. It was shocking and also strange. It was obvious that a war has terribly unintended these consequences,” Khan said. She also added that there was no rationing in India, no real protection for peasants and protection. It was a red line while the British ate bacon and butter.

Basu and Khan also spoke about the prisoners of war which are said to be Yasmin’s book talks about the war that was far around 80,000. It was incredible how broader than just the critical struggle between people came back after three to four Allies and Axis, its ramifications were felt years of war. But, how could the cause throughout the world. It was a time of social reloof freedom be with the simultaneous cation, reorienting ideas of patriotism and geoadvances of Britannia? Yasmin graphical attachment, and forcing the movement explained that there was a real change of people across oceans and continents. In India among British officers and soldiers too. at War, Yasmin Khan offers an account of India's They worked hand inland with Indians. role in the conflict, one that takes into consideraThere was a global shift and America tion the social, economic, and cultural changes was becoming bolder day by day. “I that occurred in South Asia between 1939 and think there is a contradiction because 1945-and reveals how vital the Commonwealth's at the same time Britain was in power, contribution was to the war effort. it is an imperial colony. There’s no This authoritative account offers a critically inevitability to it. They saw this as a way important look at the contributions of colonial of enabling independence,” Khan manpower and resources essential to sustaining added. “Indian politics in 1946 was the war, and emphasizes the significant ways in really fractured. There was this whole which the conflict shaped modern India. conversation of the role of Muslim This week marks the 75 years of the end League, religious contradictions and of World War II. You can read this cosntitution. All religions worked book on Kindle, or buy it on Amazon. together,” she said, The wartime

Book Recommendation

Are we extra sensitive to criticism?

Bringing together critical perspectives on theatre, the Theatre Critics Conference had a session on “The Need for Critics”.

The Panelists included Gayatri Sinha, Ananda Lal, Mayank Shekhar, Deepa Gahlot.

Moderating the session, Mukund Padmanabhan (Professor of Practice, Krea University, Editor and Journalist) said that across the world, there has been a market decline in the coverage of arts. It is often regarded as an activity that will create dissonance and upset the status quo.

Editor, Art Critic and Curator, Gayatri Sinha said, “We tend to turn more to academics then say critics for more considered and intense serious writing and research in the visual arts. In comparison the critic seems more lightweight. This is like an umbrella discipline and yes, it’s horribly marginalised. We see the chain of patron consumer, producer, theatre artist etc. the

critic is the weakest link in the chain. Oddly enough if the market falls, the link that gets dissolved is the link of the critic.

They are poorly paid and they are not seen as very important. A lot of early writing in this century is about the loss of the critic. Why this has happened is because art curators have become really powerful. Curator has become the dominant writer in critical discourse. The critic has sort of slumped.”

Ananda Lal, Theatre Writer, Director, Critic and Professor said, “You think of the media in three different categories, there is no theatre criticism to speak of, online. There’s really no platform online for theatre as such. If you look at print media where the theatre critic used to inhabit, you will find that only New York Times and the London Times continue to have brilliant criticism. Most of the newspapers have stopped theatre criticism.”

He also added that when he

started 40 years ago he would write about 600 words, which have now declined to 300 words due the politics of space in print.

There is thing hunger for reviews but at the same time, there’s very limited hunger. It’s only for glowing, good reviews.

Are we extra sensitive to criticism?

Film Critic, Writer and Journalist Mayank Shekhar said, “We are unable to see critics as a society as no different from a writer to begin with. To see criticism as a craft and art form of its own, I think we are quite far away from that point which has also to do a lot with the readers in terms of what they demand from a critic. There’s this idea built in the social media sphere that my opinion is as good as yours, so why are you a critic? He also explained that the relationship between artists and theatre critics is never going to be a happy one and it is unfair to expect that. “If I cannot like a particular film or

play, I cannot expect the audience to like my review. It’s the most emotional response you are likely to have. You really like that critic who gave you a good review. That fondness stays only until a point that he doesn’t,” he added.

The panel also agreed that one of the prime responsibilities of a critic is to be more well informed about the craft by engaging with its creators through long form interviews, interactions and in depth pieces. Mayank Shekhar addressed a burning question that we often see on social media

about the credibility of critics. He said, “There’s no special CV for a film critic and readers are the best judge of how good a critic is. You don’t need a degree to be a filmmaker, why should you need a degree to be a film critic?”

In a nutshell, Sujoy Roy, who’s known for his work in creative industries and the cultural sector and the man behind the Jaipur Lit Fest for years, said that, “It’s absolutely vital to have free speech, commentary and dialogue. Criticism irrespective of the art form is all conjoined.”

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BOLLYWOOD

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22 - 28 August 2020

Priyanka posts new picture of herself travelling, gets fans guessing Actor Priyanka Chopra posted a picture of herself travelling last week, and fans were quick to think she is on her way to shoot for her upcoming Hollywood film 'Matrix 4'. The picture showed her looking out into the open expanse from the window seat of her vehicle. Her hair is neatly tied up in a bun, sporting a pink printed shirt.

Her look is completed by a pair of heavy golden-coloured hoop earrings.

Fans jumped at the opportunity to guess where she was headed. One wrote, “Matrix 4 I know that's right.” The actor has been rather active on social media all through the pandemic when she self-isolated in her Los Angeles home.

On the work front, she has a lot going on her plate with projects like 'Happiness Continues', 'We Can Be Heroes', 'The Matrix 4', and 'The White Tiger'.

Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan expecting second child Bollywood actors Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Saif Ali Khan are expecting their second child. They made the announcement with an official statement that read, “We are very pleased to announce that we are expecting an addition to our family!! Thank you to all our well-wishers for all their love and support. Saif and Kareena.” The couple were flooded with wishes from friends and family. Saif's sister and actor Soha Ali Khan wrote, “The

Quadfather.

Couldn't resist!

Congratulations Kareena Kapoor. Be safe and healthy and radiant as ever.”

Both, Saif and Kareena met on the sets of 2008 movie 'Tashan'. They later tied the knot in 2012, and their son Taimur Ali Khan was born in 2016. On the work front, Kareena will be seen next opposite Aamir Khan in 'Laal Singh Chaddha', an official Hindi remake of Tom Hanks' 'Forrest Gump'.

Salman gets teary-eyed thinking about deceased music composer Wajid Khan

Shanaya Kapoor makes Bollywood debut as assistant director

with Salman Khan-starrer 'Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya'. He also scored music for a lot of Salman Khan-starrers. Talking about him, Sajid said he still sends WhatsApp messages to his brother. “The place where I sit in my house there is a picture of him and me on the wall, so I go there and speak to him, I still WhatsApp Wajid. I sent this song to him on WhatsApp. I am still talking to him. I want to keep it like that where I am talking to him on the phone.”

In an interview with a media source, music composer Sajid Khan recalled the moment actor friend Salman Khan got teary-eyed thinking about his brother Wajid. He said, “Tears started flowing down my eyes as I was talking. I told him, I feel that Wajid is with us right now. Salman walked back to the pool area and he looked up at the sky and started crying.”

Music composer Wajid died on June 1 at the age of 42. He launched his career in 1998

Amid a flood of nepotism debates, actor Sanjay Kapoor's daughter Shanaya has made her debut as assistant director with 'Gunjan Saxena The Kargil Girl'. Sanjay took to Instagram to shower love on the movie. Sharing a picture of Shanaya and director Sharan Sharma from the set, and another of her pointing at her name in the credits.

He wrote, “I am so glad that Shanaya started her journey in this beautiful world of movies as an assistant director with you

@sharansharma, You are an Extremely talented director and A super human being too , loved #gunjansaxena , looking forward to your next ! #gunjansaxena streaming now on #netflix.”

'Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl' is the story of Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena, the first Indian Air Force woman pilot who conducted recce and rescue missions in the 1999 Kargil War. The movie also starred Pankaj Tripathi, Vineet Kumar Singh, Angad Bedi and Manav Vij.

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Janhvi Kapoor remembers mom Sridevi on her birth anniversary

Actor Janhvi Kapoor shared a priceless photo of herself with mom and veteran actor Sridevi on the latter's 57th birth anniversary. The black-and-white photo showed the 'Gunjan Saxena' actor with her arms around her mother.

She captioned the post, “I love you mumma”. Fans were quick to shower love, including Bollywood celebs like Kartik Aaryan, Zoya Akhtar, Bhumi Pednekar and Sanjay Kapoor.

Janhvi's father and film producer Boney Kapoor also shared a message saying how he wished she was with the family. Sharing two old pictures of the two of them together, he wrote, “Jaan missing you lots every second of the 900 days you left us, but more so today to see the joy on your face for the good reaction to Janu's work in Gunjan, I wish you were here with us, our joy is incomplete without you. Happy birthday my love my life. #HappyBirthdaySridevi.”

Sridevi died in February 2018 after accidentally drowning in the bathtub of her hotel room in Dubai.

Genre: Biographical Film Duration: 112 minutes

Meet the first Indian female to fly in a combat zone Gunjan Saxena is an amazing film about a woman with determination and drive to follow her dream and she proves the world wrong when she flies in the Kargil war.

Sushant's brother-in-law recounts how he learned about the actor's death Deceased actor Sushant Singh Rajput's brother-inlaw has recalled the events of the night he and his wife, the actor's sister, learned of his death. Vishal Kirti wrote a new blog entry describing one of the toughest things he has had to do in his life, telling his wife that her brother was dead. He wrote, “We were fast asleep on the night of 13th June which was a Saturday night in the US and Sunday (14th June) afternoon in India.”

He wrote that he checked the texts flashing on his screen. “Many people including family members were

trying to reach us and many friends were asking if the news was fake,” he wrote.

Kirti added that he learned the news was true. “And that's when I did one of the toughest things I have had to do in my life, break the news to Shweta.”

“I cannot forget her reaction and her first conversation with Rani Di. It broke my heart to listen to them crying on the phone and that night changed our lives forever as we knew it,” he added.

Sushant's family has accused his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty of abetment to suicide.

Vidyut Jammwal has a special question for Sonu Sood, his response is gold Actor Sonu Sood is a messiah of sorts on the internet, and is flooded with thousands of requests for help every day.

Recently, however, he was approached by fellow actor Vidyut Jammwal to help him find his 'Nargis'. For the uninitiated, Jammwal just saw the release of his film 'Khuda Haafiz' on Disney+ Hotstar.

He plays the character Sameer, while his co-star Shivaleeka Oberoi plays his kidnapped wife Nargis in the movie.

Approaching Sonu, Jammwal tweeted, “Mujhe meri Nargis wapas chahiye, aur ab tak uska koi pata nahi. @SonuSood, suna hain bichade hue logo ko aap mila rahe hain, kya meri bhi madat karenge? #FindNargis? #KhudaHaafiz”. (I want my Nargis back, there is no sign of her till now Sonu Sood, I have heard you have been uniting people, will you help me as well?)

Sonu responded by saying, “Brother @VidyutJammwal iske liye toh Noman jaana padega. Aur yeh kaam toh sirf tum hi kar sakte ho. Waise humaare Twitter ke log, kya aap humari help karoge to #FindNargis? #KhudaHaafiz.” (Brother Vidyut Jammwal one will have to go to Noman for this task. And only you can do this. My people on Twitter, can you help us find Nargis?)

'Khuda Haafiz' is a film set during the financial crisis of 2007-2008, about a young man who races against time to rescue his kidnapped wife from flesh traders.

The film starts with a young Gunjan who is on board a flight with her older brother, the air hostess takes her to visit the cockpit and from that moment onwards Gunjan is mesmerised.

Her father encourages her dream of wanting to be a pilot and says it makes no difference whether the person flying the plane is a man or a woman.

This stays with Gunjan and as she grows up and when she sees an advert for a pilot role she broaches the subject with her parents, her mum and brother are completely against the idea of her leaving her studies to become a pilot.

Later her dad shows her an advert for female fighter pilots and after much debating she applies.

Gunjan flourishes in her training and is sent to an all-male camp where she is faced with some harsh truths about being a female fighter pilot. She reaches her breaking point and just when she is about to leave she is sent to the Kargil area as the country is at war and are in need of pilots.

Her brother is stationed in the same camp and he is finding it hard seeing his sister in a war-torn area. When the media get wind of the fact that a female fighter pilot is at base, her commanding officer decides to send her home but a troupe of soldiers are attacked and wounded and they need rescuing. Gunjan being the only option goes on her mission. Not only does she succeed but she is hailed a hero and finally gets the recognition she deserves.

'Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl' is a film about will power and following your dreams. It will make you angry to see how Gunjan is treated and how narrow minded the men in her world can be but at the same time you will feel like you have won the battle when Gunjan achieves what she has set out to do.

The film seems like it has a heavy hearted subject, however, it shows the beautiful relationship between Gunjan and her father and the love her brother has for her. It shows a family full of patriarchs where her mother has to accept that both her kids are in a war zone and the whole country is relying on them.

You can get in touch with Vallisa: djvallisa@gmail.com

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Rana Daggubati and Miheeka Bajaj tie the knot Actor Rana Daggubati has tied the knot with Miheeka Bajaj in Hyderabad in an intimate affair with just 30 guests in attendance, including actors Samantha Akkineni, Allu Arjun, and Naga Chaitanya. The first picture of the newly married couple was shared by actor Ram Charan, who captioned it, “Finally my hulk is married wishing @ranadaggubati @miheeka a very happy life together!!”.

Tamannaah weighs in on internet toxicity and trolling Actor Tamannaah Bhatia believes people should be more empathetic towards each other, stating the growing toxicity on social media is a source of concern. She says, “I used to think why do people always present best part of their lives on social media and why is it so sugar-coated? But today, sitting at home in these trying times, when I see so much negativity, I actually wish they go back to the sugar-coated stuff. We need to spread a lot more positivity around because we've never seen such difficult times before.”

Bhatia said all the negativity needs to go from everywhere. The 30 year old said, “I don't even understand

Social media was also recently rife with photos of the couple participating in a puja post their wedding and the photos from the ceremony are all over the internet. Rana was seen in a traditional mundu and a shirt, while Miheeka wore a silk sari along with a borla and white chooda for the puja. The new bride also wore a heavily embroidered red shawl while performing the holy rituals.

Singer SP Balasubrahmanyam critical after testing positive for Covid-19

why so much hate? Strong influencers should go back to being entertaining. Social media is a great too. It impacts a lot of people, more so now when we're using it to stay connected with each other.

It's entirely up to us to make these platforms empowering.”

She added, “Many people have expressed curiosity as to how I am being productive. This expectation people have on us, and the ones that we create for ourselves, affects us. We all are fighting our own economic and emotional battles, so, please go easy on others and yourself.”

Playback singer SP Balasubrahmanyam is currently in critical condition and has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit of MGM Healthcare, Chennai. He had tested positive for the coronavirus last week and was hospitalised. A health bulletin released by MGM Healthcare, revealed, “In a late night development on August 13, his condition had deteriorated, and based on the advice of the medical expert team attending to him, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit. He is on life support and his condition remains critical.”

The report added that he's under observation by the team of experts from critical care and his haemodynamic and clinical param-

eters are being closely moniThe tored. singer had posted a video on his Facebook page when he tested positive for the virus, saying he was instructed to self-quarantine at home and get treated.

He had added that his fans and well wishers need not worry about his condition as there is nothing to worry. “All my friends are here, they are taking good care of me, I am in good hands. And I have good health. Nobody has to worry about this one,” he said.

TV Listing

Telugu actor Niharika Konidela set to get engaged to Chaitanya Telugu actor Niharika Konidela is likely to get engaged in a private ceremony with beau Chaitanya Jonnalagadda in Hyderabad. A media report claimed the actor may get engaged in the presence of close family and friends. Niharika unveiled Chaitanya in June, when she shared a picture of a coffee mug with 'Mrs Niharika' written on it.

After sharing a string of pictures with her and a man whose face is hidden, she finally unveiled his identity only a few days later.

Her rumoured boyfriend/fiance is a business strategist in a leading MNC in Hyderabad. Reports also reveal the wedding will take place later this year.

Niharika's brother Varun Tej had confirmed an August engagement in a media interview. “The wedding may take some more time, but we are planning to have the engagement sometime in August with all the precautionary measures in place,” he had said.

21:00 NAATI PINKY KI LAMBI LOVE STORY

21:30 PAVITRA BHAGYAA

SATURDAY 22 AUG

18:30 INDIA UNLIMITED

19:00 ISHQ MEIN MARJAWAN 2 19:30 CHOTI SARDAARNI

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 24 AUG FRI 28 AUG 2020 14:30 KASAM

20:00 NAAGIN (SEASON 5) 21:00 DESI BEAT RESET

21:30 KHATRON KE KHILADI-MADE IN INDIA

SUNDAY 23 AUG

15:30 INTERNETWALA LOVE

15:30 OM SHANTI OM

19:00 ISHQ MEIN MARJAWAN 2

19:00 CHOTI SARDAARNI

16:00 THE GREAT INDIAN GLOBAL KITCHEN 19:30 CHOTI SARDAARNI

20:00 SHAKTI

20:30 SHUBHARAMBH

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 24 AUG FRI 28 AUG 2020 8:00 TERE NAAL ISHQ 8:30 BHARADWAJ BAHUEIN 15:30 JAI SHRI KRISHNA 16:00 DHARAM THI GUJARATI 16:30 RASOI SHOW 17:30 CHHUTA CHHEDA 18:00 TUM KAUN PIYA 18:30 DIL KA RISHTA 19:00 MERE HUMRAHI

18:30 DESI BEAT RESET

20:00 NAAGIN (SEASON 5) 21:00 DESI BEAT RESET

21:30 KHATRON KE KHILADI - MADE IN INDIA

19:30 OM NAMAH SHIVAY 20:30 BARRISTER BABU 21:00 BALIKA VADHU - LAMHE PYAAR KE SATURDAY 22 AUG 11:00 DESI BEAT SEASON 2 17:00 DHARAM THI GUJARATI 18:00 BFFS WITH VOGUE (SEASON 3) 19:00 FEET UP WITH THE STARS (SEASON 2) 19:30 OM NAMAH SHIVAY 20:30 DESI BEAT SEASON 2 21:00 BALIKA VADHU SUNDAY 23 AUG 11:00 DESI BEAT SEASON 2 17:00 DHARAM THI GUJARATI 18:00 DESI BEAT SEASON 3 19:30 OM NAMAH SHIVAY 20:30 DESI BEAT SEASON 2 21:00 BALIKA VADHU

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Dhoni retires from international cricket MS Dhoni, the former captain of the Indian cricket team, has announced his retirement from international cricket, bringing down curtains on a near 16-yearlong career of one of the country’s greatest limited-overs cricketers. Dhoni retires as India’s most successful captain in limited-over internationals, having won three ICC trophies - 2007 T20 World Cup, 50-over World Cup in 2011 and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy - the only captain to do so.

Dhoni, 39, made the confirmation through a video on Instagram, its caption reading: “Thanks – Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. From 1929 hrs consider me as Retired.” The announcement means that Dhoni’s last India game would remain the semifinal of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in which India lost to New Zealand by 18 runs. It was his 350th ODI, in which he scored 50 off 72 balls before being run-out by a bullet throw from Martin Guptill in the deep. Incidentally, Dhoni was run-out in his first ODI as well.

Having retired from Test cricket in December of 2014 with 4,876 runs from 90 matches, Dhoni carried on playing ODIs and T20Is. With 10,733 runs, Dhoni is fifth in the list of India’s all-time runscorers in ODI behind Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. His overall Indian numbers are staggering: 538 matches, 17,266 runs, 16 centuries, 108 fifties, 359 sixes, 829 dismissals.

Dhoni’s future was a hot topic of speculation since his sabbatical from cricket following India’s World Cup exit.

Ever since the defeat to New Zealand, Dhoni did not play any form of cricket in the last one year, hinting he might have played his last in India colours. Dhoni, however, would be turning up in the IPL where he will captain the Chennai Super Kings in the tournament’s 13th season in the UAE. Dhoni burst on to the scene as a 23year-old batsman, making his India debut in an ODI against Bangladesh in December of 2004. The following year, he slammed his maiden ODI hundred - 148 vs Pakistan at Vizag which shot him to prominence. Later that year, he slammed 183 not out against Sri Lanka in Jaipur, his highest individual score in ODIs and the best by a wicketkeeper in ODIs. In 2006, Dhoni registered his maiden Test hundred (148 against Pakistan in Faisalabad, and played brutal knocks on the ODI leg to help India secure the five-

MS Dhoni

match series 4-1.

After a disappointing 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, Dhoni was given charge of a young Indian team to play the first-ever T20 World Cup in South Africa, where India beat Pakistan in a riveting final to clinch the title. From there, Dhoni’s career as batsman and captain took off and reached unprecedented heights. In March of 2008, he led India to

returning to India after 15 years, India were hot favourites to lift the most prized trophy in cricket, and with Dhoni leading, India realised a 28-year-long dream. Struggling for runs in the tournament, Dhoni saved his best of last.

He hit an unbeaten 91, to help India chase down 275 against Sri Lanka. The winning six, the sight of Dhoni lofting Nuwan Kulasekara into the stands, triggering euphoria will stand out as perhaps the most iconic moment in Indian cricket.

Post the World Cup, Dhoni’s captaincy prowess, in Test matches, began waning. India were blanked 0-4 in England and Australia, but Dhoni revived his captaincy career by leading India to the ICC Champions Trophy win in 2013, and thus completing a trifecta of ICC trophies. Dhoni took India close to three more world titles, but couldn’t quite lead the team over the line. India finished runner-up in the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh, followed by a semi-final finish in the 2015 World Cup and 2016

Suresh Raina too retires Following the announcement by MS Dhoni, another Indian cricketer Suresh Raina also announced his retirement from international cricket. Raina was one of Dhoni’s trusted lieutenants during his reign as India’s captain. The left handed batsman was part of the team that won the 2011 ICC World Cup. He played a pivotal role in India’s triumph in the tournament, playing crucial knocks in the knock-out matches against Australia and Pakistan. “It was nothing but lovely playing with you, @mahi7781. With my heart full of pride, I choose to join you in this journey.

Thank you India. Jai Hind!” he wrote on his instagram page. the CB tri-series win in Australia, beating the hosts in back-to-back finals.

Taking over captaincy in Tests once Anil Kumble retired in late 2008, in 2009, Dhoni shepherded India to the pinnacle of ICC Test rankings for the first time and a Test series win in New Zealand which established him as a force to reckon with. He overtook Sourav Ganguly as India’s most successful Test skipper and stretched his captaincy record to 27 wins from 60 matches, a record that stood until last year before Virat Kohli bettered it.

In 2010, under Dhoni, India won the Asia Cup, after 15 years, beating Sri Lanka comprehensively in the final. It was the perfect way to warm up for what was to come next. With the World Cup

World T20. In January of 2016, Dhoni led India to a 3-0 whitewash over Australia in T20Is. In January of 2017, Dhoni stepped down as India’s limited-overs captain, but continued playing on. In the second match since his announcement, Dhoni cracked a century – 134 against England at Cuttack – as India took the series 2-1.

It would also prove to be his final ODI century. Dhoni was a pivotal part of India’s 2019 World Cup campaign under Kohli, where in the crunch semifinal clash against New Zealand - which was a two-day affair - he almost got India home. He walked off the field without showing much emotion, a trait that became synonymous with Dhoni throughout his career.

Four parties bidding for IPL title rights Tata Group holding company Tata Sons, fantasy sports platform Dream 11 and elearning start-up rivals Byju’s and Unacademy have expressed interest in bidding for the title rights of the13th edition of the Indian Premier League.

The window for ‘Expression of Interest’, floated by BCCI on Monday, ended on Friday. Despite intense speculation, telecom major Jio, consumer goods company Patanjali Ayurved and tech giant Microsoft did not come to the table. The Tatas, already an official IPL partner, are being seen as frontrunners as BCCI looks to raise over £30 million in the middle of a raging pandemic.

With the Indian cricket board

also set to bring in two more official partners – expanding the pool from three to five – the IPL is set to make up almost 75% of what it ended up losing in the wake of Chinese mobile manufacturer Vivo India’s exit.

Vivo was contracted to pay the BCCI £44 million per year in a five-year rights cycle between 2018-2022. Dream 11, a major player in the sports

sponsorship market, and Byju’s – sponsor of Team India’s jersey – are keen on the rights too. Unacademy, Byju’s direct rivals in the elearning sector, have already initiated talks with BCCI to come on board as official partners along with fintech company Cred. Unacademy will stay on as official partners should Byju’s fail to acquire the title rights. “That’s a

separate rivalry building up between the two. If Byju’s win the title rights, Unacademy will have to move out of the OP space,” those tracking developments said. BCCI is learnt to have given Unacademy and Cred a verbal commitment to come on board as official partners, “subject to title rights”.

Tata Motors and TCS have been associated with cricket as IPL’s official partner and as technology partners with IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals, respectively. However, this is the first time Tata Sons has shown an interest in the title sponsorship of a cricketing event. In 2017, the Tata Group had stepped in as title sponsors of the Mumbai Marathon.

in brief CHETAN CHAUHAN, FORMER CRICKETER, DIES OF COVID Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Chetan Chauhan, one of Indian cricket's most well-known openers, died on Sunday from Covid-19 related complications after being put on life support for nearly 36 hours. Chetan, who played 40 Tests for India, was 73 and is survived by his wife and son Vinayak. He was currently serving as the minister of sainik welfare, home guards, and civil security in the Uttar Pradesh cabinet. Chetan Chauhan, who was the legendary batsman under Sunil Gavaskar's longest serving opening partner, was admitted to Sanjay Gandhi PGI hospital in Lucknow on July 12 after being testing positive for the coronavirus. His health worsened because of kidney-related ailments and he was shifted to Medanta hospital in Gurgaon. On Friday night, he had a multi-organ failure and was put on ventilator support.

After retiring, Chetan Chauhan served in the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) in various capacities - president, vice-president, secretary and chief selector apart from being manager of the Indian Team during its tour of Australia in 2001. He was elected to the Lok Sabha twice from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, in 1991 and 1998 and was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1981.

BCCI MEMBERS UNHAPPY WITH NCA’S FUNCTIONING A senior Team India cricketer, who had started training at a private facility once partial lifting of lockdown began in June, complained about a niggling injury that individuals around him expected the National Cricket Academy (NCA) to attend to. Expressing “helplessness” to do much in the middle of the pandemic, the academy said it couldn’t help by way of an online diagnosis and remedy either because the cricketer’s complete medical record was not at the NCA’s disposal. The cricketer is fit now, and back in the nets, but the academy’s stated ‘helplessness’ became a talking point soon after. “What exactly is the NCA’s role, if not to identify a cricketer’s fitness and injury-related concerns and address it?” a senior cricket administrator said, post a webinar held by the academy to address BCCI members and their operational divisions. With batting legend Rahul Dravid at the helm, the academy has time and again insisted that it is trying to put better work policies and a clearer, more structured vision in place but members say that will happen only after the BCCI and the academy together acknowledge that “at the moment, the NCA is a glorified government hospital where nobody wants to go”.

HOCKEY TRAINING CAMPS TO START FROM AUG 19 The Indian men and women hockey campers will resume training from August 19, a day after their quarantine ends. The campers returned to the Sports Authority of India, South Centre on August 3 and 4 following a sixweek break. On arrival they were tested for Covid-19 and six players from the men’s camp including skipper Manpreet Singh tested positive. While Mandeep Singh was hospitalised, the others – Manpreet, Jaskaran Singh, Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar and Krishnan Pathak were shifted to a multi-speciality hospital here as a precautionary measure. There has been speculation about the status of the camp, but SAI - in consultation with various stakeholders including the men and women team chief coaches - decided to go ahead with the training. It made make little sense to call off the camp and send the players back home, only to follow the quarantine protocol on their return later.

AIFF MAY SETTLE FOR SHORTER I-LEAGUE The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has suggested curtailing of all leagues this season to ensure that players’ safety is not jeopardised in times of the corona pandemic. The Indian Super League (ISL), I-League and even Second Division I-League will all be played at a single venue this season. While ISL will choose between Goa and Kerala, Kolkata is the preferred venue for ILeague and second division. “I am clear that we have to be very careful about player safety. If that means curtailing of leagues, we have to do that,” AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said after the league committee meeting. Curtailed leagues, for now, would be reducing the length of the competition. From five months to four, for the ISL, and even shorter for I-League.