AV 22nd October 2022

to mark the

year,

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to

Shefali Saxena

Jake

Digital ‘creepy creatures’ come to life in Harrow this Halloween

H a r ro w To w n C en tre ge ars up for Halloween as the town is goi ng t o its own aug m en t e d re a l

t y s tor y trail to ce le b rate the festival

Shoppers will g e t t o c o l l e c t a s e r i e s o f d i g i t a l s t a m p s i n t h e form of QR codes t h a t w i l l u n v e i l ‘ c r e e p y creatures’ and masks that people will be able to tr y on virtually, take a self ie with in augmented reality, and will also have a chance at winning a prize

The QR codes are avail a b l e i n H a r r o w To w n C e n t r e f r o m n o w u n t i l October 31st To f ind out m o r e , p l e a s e s e e t h e Harrow Town Centre web site

Westminster bags gold medal for spookiness Me a n w h i l e , B a r r a t t Homes measured the bor o u g h s o n t h e r e p o r t e d number of ghost sightings,

cemeteries, spooky tours, s u p e r n a t u r a l b e i n g s , a n d Halloween events to deter mine how scar y they truly are

Westminster bagged the gold medal scoring a whop ping 78 out of 100 points for i t s s p o o k i n e s s , w h i l e t h e g h o u l i s h Ci t y o f L o n d o n won the silver medal with a terrifying score of 39 out of 1 0 0 T h e a r e a b o a s t s 2 1 ghost sightings, 21 spooky t o u r s , s e v e n s u p e r n a t u r a l beings, and one Halloween event yet zero cemeteries

North London’s Enf ield came third, scoring 33 out of 100 and the South London

borough of Bromley came fourth with a spooky score of 32 out of 100

T h e fo r m e r C o r o n a t i o n St r e e t star Helen Flanagan t o o e n j o y e d a H a l l o w e e n t h e m e d day out with her adorable children on Sunday

For a fun f illed day of a c t i v i t i e s , s h e v i s i t e d B eW I L D e r w o o d t h e m e park in Cheshire

T h e a c t r e s s s h a r e d a series of clips as her kids M a t i l d a , s e v e n , D e l i l a h , fo u r a n d C h a r l i e , o n e , p l a y e d i n t h e w o o d l a n d park, dressed in coats and wellies

If you are celebrating Halloween this year, please share your photos with us by 1st November 10 am BST We'd love to print them in our newspaper Email: she fali saxena@abplgroup com

Rishi Sunak camp overjoyed as it looks forward to 10 Downing Street

B ac ke rs o f Ri s h i Sunak gathered at a central L ond on hotel w ere in an u p be at m ood and the id ea of s hari ng com m is era ti o ns wa s f ar f ro m p eople’s mind

A l l i e s o f M r Sunak believe that he c o u l d b e i n 1 0 D o w n i n g St r e e t w i t h i n months if a suff icient mass of Tor y MPs can convince the 1922 Committee to tell Ms Truss that her time is up

C ampaign ers bel ieve t he fat al shooting of C hr is K a b a h a s r ei g n it ed a n ge r a m on g t h e b l a c k c o m mu n it y a b o ut i n s t i t u t i on a l r ac i s m in the police L a s t m o

h

Even before the events of Friday, when Liz Truss sacked her chancellor Kwasi Kw a r t e n g , r e p l a c e d h i m w i t h Je r e m y Hu n t a n d

ditched her flagship p o l i c y n o t t o r a i s e c o r p o r a t i o n t a x , Su n a k s u p p o r t e r s w e r e fe e l i n g o p t i mistic

O n e M P w h o supported him in the leadership race said: “Ever ything he said has come to pass ”

A n o t h e r s a i d t h a t h i s overlooked warnings about t h e e c o n o m i c d a n g e r M s Truss was heading towards was “Churchillian”

Indian couple drive through 22 countries to reach London

Nischal Sanghavi

For 6

down the dad to be, sparking an inquest into w h y h e w a s killed while at the wheel of a c a r b y t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n Police

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As per the I n d e p e n d e n t O f f i c e fo r Po l i c e C o n d u c t ( I O P C ) data, some 10% of those who died in or following police custody in England a n d Wa l e s i n t h e l a s t decade were black

Ho w e v e r, t h i s y e a r ’ s f igures show deaths in or following police custody are at their joint lowest since 2004/5 falling by e i g h t o n 2 0 2 0 / 2 1 t o 1 1 One of those was black

T h o s e s t a t s d o n o t i n v o l v e M r K a b a o r Oladeji Omishore, anoth er black man who lost his life following an alterca t i o n w i t h p o l i c e o n Chelsea Bridge

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Bu t, a ft er comple ting t he tr ip on 8t h O ct obe r, pa ssing t h r o u g h Tu r ke y, c

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d We st e r n E ur op e , He m a n g a nd his wife Priti felt t hat t his was the most exciting t ime they eve r had in t heir life

A t o t a l o f 2 3 p e o p l e which included Hemang and his wife from Mumbai apart from couples from Indore and Tanzania, families from Bengaluru and Shillong, a lady from the UK and other i n d i v i d u a l s f r o m Na s h i k , Goa and other places were originally scheduled to start the road trip from India to London However, one route that started with Myanmar was not feasible because of the war situation in Russia and visa issues in China The o t h e r r o u t e t h a t p a s s e s t h r o u g h Pa k i s t a n , Afghanistan is also not feasi ble Due to this the adven turists got their car delivered to Iran and started their road t r i p f r o m I r a n t o r e a c h London in 55 days

Hemang in a group of 10 cars drove 16011 km passing through 22 countries The

j o u r n e y i n c l u d e d p a s s i n g through 174 tunnels, staying at 31 hotels overnight, and taking 2 cross countr y ferries & 6 Fjord crossings He had to buy 1320 litres of petrol at 34 fuel stops during the jour ney Interestingly the petrol prices varied from £1 30 to £2 25 a litre

Us u a l l y d r i v i n g 1 0 1 2 h o u r s a d a y, He m a n g ’ s longest day was a 930 km drive As Hemang says, “it w a s a p h y s i c a l l y v e r y demanding journey as you t r a n s i t b e t w e e n l o w a n d h i g h t e m p e r a t u r e s T h e y travelled through Nordkapp which was 3 degree Celsius and also to Bandar Abbas w h i c h w a s 4 5 d e g r e e s During the trip, they met lots of locals and have hun d r e d s o f s t o r i e s t o s h a r e One of the interesting meet i n g s w a s w i t h t h e I n d i a n Ambassador in Nor way, who also invited them for high tea

A p a r t f r o m t h e h a p p y times, there were also some sad points in the journey, one of which came when a

car met with an acci d e n t Fo r t u n a t e l y, n o b o d y w a s h u r t , b u t the car was not f it to be driven anymore and had to be transported One of the low points of the journey was in Poland, when the Indian couple from Tanzania, got the news that the lady’s mother w a s n o m o r e T h e w h o l e group was sad to hear the unfortunate news and the couple had to exit the jour ney from Poland The most diff icult border crossing was from Iran to Turkey, which took 6 hours

According to Hemang, “Iran was one of the most w e l c o m i n g c o u n t r i e s a n d they enjoyed meeting with people there who were ver y c u r i o u s t o h a v e p i c t u r e s with them Though food is always a challenge on these kinds of trips, especially for v e g e t a r i a n s l i ke He m a n g and Priti, they were lucky to f ind Indian restaurants at m o s t p l a c e s O n e o f t h e places they loved the food most was Poland However, a s e v e r y Gu j j u k n o w s , He m a n g h a d s e c u r e d Khakhra, Thepla and Puri in his luggage though they did not stay for the whole trip Hemang has shipped the car back to India and will reach his home in 4 6 weeks

Helen Flanagan's H a l l o w e e n t h e m e d d a y o u t w i t h h e r children

Chris Kaba’s death throws light on institutional racism

Thought for the week

Let’s live a little this Diwali

Almost that time of the year A series of celebrations, starting with Navratri, ending with New Year’s Eve On Monday 24 October we celebrate Diwali followed by the Hindu New Year o n W e d n e s d a y T

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o l l o w e d b y H a l l o w e e n ,

Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas

This year London’s Mayoral Diwali kickstarted the celebra tions in London Ever since there have been unlimited celebra tions, as the UK's South Asian community or those celebrating came together to mark the occasion Temples like BAPS Neasden Temple or Anoopam Mission are gearing up to wel come devotees with days of celebrations including a display of an impressive Annakut

The House of Commons witnessed a cross party Diwali celebration on Monday 17 October On Tuesday 18 October, PWC Hindu Network is hosting a Diwali party at their offices and India Global Forum is hosting their Diwali do, at the Taj, attended by Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Minister of State Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Manchester India Partnership is also hosting their party in Manchester on Tuesday followed by the West Midlands India Partnership Diwali on Thursday 20 October

On Wednesday 19 October Grant Thornton as well the State Bank of India have their annual Diwali receptions On Friday Hindu Forum of Britain is hosting its annual Diwali do, whereas the Sindhi community is organising their private Diwali party The Hinduja family have their annual gala on Wednesday 26 October whereas the City of London Diwali will be hosted on 28 October

There was a time when the Prime Minister of the UK threw a lavish Diwali party at 10 Downing Street Former Prime Minister David Cameron opened his house to invite the com munity, with his own young children joining the party in Indian traditional clothes, taking a handful of mithais (Indian sweets) and savouries from the buffet and running around Theresa May followed in Mr Cameron’s footsteps Mr Johnson, despite having a half Indian spouse back in the days, never got a chance to welcome the diaspora to his Diwali do But as the Mayor he has joined several such parties, including one hosted by Gopi Hinduja in his residence

In the UK's political arena, nothing is going as planned The Tory party was supported in a large way by the UK's Indian diaspora Their disappointment was apparent when Rishi Sunak did not win the leadership race among party members, despite being the favourite of the Tory MPs Both Ms Truss and Mr Sunak campaigned relentlessly to win the support of the party's 160,000 voters Mr Sunak lost by 12 15% vote margin, much less than predicted

The ethnic communities over the last few days, have been wishing Mr Sunak’s return as the ‘saviour this time as the Prime Minister Though it is time to let go of that dream per haps, at least for the sake of Mr Sunak’s future He clearly dodged a bullet and saved his political career, though one can

only hope to have him as UK’s first Indian origin Prime Minister

Ms Truss miraculously gained the support from former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his friends in the party Mr Sunak, who was UK’s Chancellor through the two most diffi cult years during the pandemic, made realistic promises about financial recovery to withstand the upcoming challenges He also made discounts available to households, despite how miniscule the amounts have been But Liz Truss’ proposals the oratically looked more attractive, though it resulted in her most diverse cabinet not even surviving a mere 2 months Kwasi Kwarteng took the fall for the team, though it proved how wrong the party members were for choosing Ms Truss as the country’s Prime Minister The Hindu community leaders have written to Ms Truss to find the real perpetrators behind Leicester riot, while Home Secretary Suella Braverman antago nised the Indian government as the FTA failed to achieve com pletion within the Diwali deadline But an ever hopeful Minister of FCDO James Cleverly has promised a ‘better and stronger’ bilateral relationship with India, despite accusatory provocations by his own party members

The current Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is a former supporter of Mr Sunak and a white man in Ms Truss’ decorative cabinet previously flaunting its most diverse status for having no white man in a top job The mini budget has been packed off after two minutes of glory Bank of England begrudgingly stepped in and saved the day by printing more money But Goldman Sachs has predicted a worse recession in summer 2023 after this gov ernment’s tax U turn Still the party Chairman Jake Berry (see interview on p18) is sure that the Tory party will win any upcoming elections, including a snap one in case the no con fidence letters against Mr Truss gain sudden momentum Apparently demands to have Mr Johnson back is also getting very popular

There is doom and gloom everywhere, but hopes help make the world go round This year ’ s Diwali may not be the same for many families those mourning the loss of members since Covid or nursing a Long Covid health issue Some have lost jobs, while others are worried about the winter ahead that may strain their pocket, forcing them to choose between heating and eating Many families with elderly members or young chil dren cannot afford to splurge in gift giving this year But Diwali as every Indian festival is, can surprise you with the pos sibility of keeping it simple, homely and frugal

Sweets can be made at home, diyas too And nothing beats a happy union of families and delicious yet simple potluck with hidden recipes No Diwali is better than the one with abun dance of love, the one with grandparents’ hugs, children's gig gles, parents and partners’ fuss, uncles and aunts’ complaints and siblings' and cousins’ silly antics The days of worries are not over yet, but let’s park them for now to live a little A very happy and healthy Diwali and New Year to you and yours

A humane touch needed in hijab ban

Hijab ban in Karnataka has affected the education of Muslim girls in the state Since the ban by the Karnataka government in February, reports show that there has been a 16 per cent drop in Muslim women attending college in Mangaluru

According to a recent People’s Union for Civil Liberties report, a ban on hijab can have an adverse effect on the edu cation of Muslim students, especially those coming from socially underprivileged sections where orthodoxy is high Since the hijab ban in Karnataka, several girls have dropped out of school in the state It is a multiple edged sword for girls coming from socially underprivileged families Their parents are often ultra conservative and lack education and face social pressures The issue of the hijab has been politicised by all sides In Karnataka, for instance, there are certain conserva tive Muslim groups that hold sway in rural areas and these groups go around preaching how hijab is essential to Islam Though hijab is not mandatory in Islam, it is a patriarchal imposition There is a lot of Quranic evidence to support this as well For instance, the word hijab itself is not mentioned in the Quran It mentions an equivalent word that represents a barrier or a curtain and it is mainly used in the context of men The word which occurs inside the text has nothing to do with women We have to understand that hijab is a question of patriarchy since men have interpreted the Quran and they have interpreted that part as a barrier or curtain specifically for women So if we talk about the veil or the burqa, it’s not really mentioned in the Quran It has been interpreted as such by male religious and political authorities

Moreover, the full veil is rooted in Gulf countries It is not really an Indian or South Asian concept Muslims in Malaysia and Indonesia don’t necessarily follow the full veil rule It is only found in some Arab nations Hijab has only come up in South Asia in the last 25 years Though the older generations never wore a hijab they would cover their heads during reli gious occasions If hijab was mandatory, we would see all Muslim women across the world donning it whereas only about 30 per cent of Muslim women actually wear the hijab Even in some of the middle eastern countries where wearing hijab is mandatory by religious law, it only happened after state interventions One example is the Islamic Revolution of Iran and expansion of right wing conservative Islamic politics

of the 1970 80s Having said that hijab is a patriarchal imposi tion, what is happening in Karnataka is discrimination and injustice to the young girls whose education is hampered The right to education is a fundamental right, as is the right to pri v a c y a n d f r e e d o m o f e x p r e s s i o n W h a t i s h a p p e n i n g i n Karnataka is part of politics By using this contentious issue, they are trying to polarise opinions on it We are a secular country and we also have the right to religious freedom At best, you can have some kind of uniform in hijab also This is not a problem that cannot be solved by talking to parents The ultimate goal is to convince these parents who refuse to send their kids to school without a hijab Education is key to chang ing such deep seated conservative beliefs and behaviours but sadly the girls are barred from receiving education and empowering themselves

For a girl, to understand what is wrong and what is right, she needs to first go to school and then to college But this kind of political positioning where you are denying the girls entry to classrooms, and a lot of girls have already dropped and it is a step backwards So there is a lot of conservatism among Muslims There is a lack of overall education and social reforms In several Karnataka districts, there is a lot of domi nance of orthodox religious Muslim groups These groups enforce the wearing of hijab and they pressurise families in Muslim mohallas of small towns to adhere strictly to the guide lines of the Quran as interpreted by them These groups often act as custodians of patriarchy and perpetuate harmful gender roles The social pressure is often too hard for families to defy conservative orders Some fear ostracisation, others themselves fear the wrath of God It takes a lot to go against the tide There is need for education, awareness, and reform within Muslim society But under these circumstances, hold of political clergy or orthodox groups have been seen to prevail And this kind of communal politics further polarises both sides

Girls' education is essential for the progress of society They are our hope and our future It is much more difficult for a girl child to get an education, as compared to her brother If she wants to wear a hijab, even inside her class room, she can not be stopped, as it may be the only way her conservative fam ily will permit her to go to school, and in those cases, her hijab is her ticket to education

It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness. Ele anor Roose velt

Should you develop a habit of wearing good perfume?

When

some people walk i nto a r oo m , e ve r yo n e t ur n s around to look at them W hy? Mostly becaus e of the fragrance t he y a re we a ri n g Y e s , t he s m el l attracts attention even before they have seen them So, should you develop a habit of wearing good perfume? Well, it depends on your personal taste, but it is a wi dely accepted fact that wearing a good fragrance is better than not having anything on yourself While you mi ght not have a partic ular interest or taste in perfumes, it still creates an unc onsc ious effect on oth ers The good odour instils a positive impressi on on people It creates a calm, soothing and serene atmo sphere

We can consider people in two categories: those who wear perfume and those who don't There are many people who never wear any perfume, some because of reasons like allergy or particular disliking, but the majority of them mainly because they have never consciously thought of it They don't have a par ticular dislike but have never developed a special liking as well Another category of people is who regularly wear perfume, having a specific understanding of the perfume or those just wanting something aromatic without particular preference Whichever category you belong to, it is advisable that you give thought to wear a fragrance, at least as a trial It can be in any form perfume, scent, body spray or aftershave If you decide to try one, study your taste, and then buy a good quality product, which might be costly but will be suitable to your personality It might be a prod uct made locally or a well known international brand But wearing a cheap and inferior quality perfume won't serve the purpose To begin with, avoid strong and strange smells, instead choose something which is well accepted, sober and soothing It can be either a traditional smell of known flowers or a specially devel oped fragrance which is already been established in the market for a long Some of the brands and their vari eties are in the market for over a century It can be safe ly tried if you belong to that class of society where t h o s e b r a n d s a r e u s e d , s o m e p e o p l e m i g h t e v e n instantly recognise that fragrance If you live in a class where those brands are not very common, try to use a f l o w e r b a s e d o r o t h e r n a t u r a l a r o m a l i k e r o s e , marigold, lily, tulip, sandalwood, oud, etc because these would be familiar to everyone everywhere There are also alcohol based and non alcohol based products from which you can choose whatever suits your taste

Wearing good perfume gives your presence a wel come feeling If you make some particular brand and fragrance your signature style, it is identified with your personality over the period of time in your known circle It is not a bad idea to think of trying a few fragrances of different brands and then choosing one for yourself You can also choose two, one for your office and one for casual occasions

Asian

207 208, Harrow Business Centre, 429 433 Pinner Road, North Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 4HN Tel: 020 7749 4080

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Rohit Vadhwana

women

Shefali Saxena

G old Bang le C lub , a new c o m m u n i ty o n bo a rd i ng S outh A sian wo men into the e m erg i ng w o rld of We b3 , the next phase of the inter net, by co mbining cu lturally rich art with accessible ed u cation has opened its doors to women globally T o wel co me the co mm unity, the f em ale led in i ti ati v e i s lau nch ing its first lim ited ed i tio n art co llec tio n and inviting peop le to tu ne into the free education available v ia Instag ram and through listening to a sem inar th at took place earlier this week

Titled ‘Patterns of Our Future’, the five stunning boxed canvas artwork pieces will be released on Monday 24 October to coincide with D i w a l i T h e t r a d i t i o n a l Rangoli art depicted sym bolises and celebrates the intricacies of South Asian culture Created by the artist a n d c o f o u n d e r o f G o l d Bangle Club Nirali Patel, in t h e p i e c e , h a r m o n i o u s peaceful colours are paired w i t h v i b r a n t s p l a s h e s t o embody warmth and new beginnings

Pairing the limited edi tion art with Web3 technol ogy means owners will ben efit from exclusive access to G o l d B a n g l e C l u b e v e n t s , network and bespoke edu cation which includes live c o a c h i n g o n t h e s t e p s t o t a k e t o r e c e i v e a d i g i t a l proof of ownership

T h e f o r m a t i o n o f t h e Gold Bangle Club is a direct r e s p o n s e t o d a t a w h i c h shows that just 19% of the p a r t i c i p a n t s i n W e b 3 a r e women and just a tiny frac tion is South Asian women The Club aims to level the playing field by providing a safe space for South Asian w o m e n t o e x p l o r e W e b 3 ,

connect, network and cru cially, have fun Gold Bangle Club is inviting people to a c c e s s f r e e e d u c a t i o n v i a I n s t a g r a m a n d t h r o u g h

together to ensure that a range of perspectives drive t h e e v o l u t i o n o f a t r u l y inclusive Web3 The innova tion this could result in and the ideas that will emerge can really help to level the playing field, driving inclu sivity in tech and the wider w o r l d T h i s i s w h y G o l d Bangle Club is welcoming a n d o n b o a r d i n g w o m e n from South Asian commu n i t i e s i n t o t h i s e m e r g i n g and exciting space ”

NHS spends £40m a year on diversity staff

NH S bo s ses ar e s pe nd i ng about £ 40 mi llio n annually on d iversity and inclusio n s taf f Ins te ad o f th i s, th e hug e sum of taxpayer cash could pay fo r 1 3m illion GP ap p o in tm e nts o r h i re a n extra 1,20 0 nu rses

According to the data, t h e r e a r e m o r e t h a n 8 0 0 “diversity officers”

The average NHS trust has three such officers and each on a salary of £47,000

Freedom of information requests were sent to all 223 NHS trusts, 42 integrated c a r e b o a r d s a n d N H S England asking for the total

number of diversity officers and their pay

Based on these respons es, it was revealed that the N H S a s a w h o l e s p e n d s £40 7million on 812 staff

C a m p a i g n e r J o h n

O’Connell, chief executive o f c a m p a i g n g r o u p T h e T a x P a y e r s ’ A l l i a n c e , t o l d

The Sun: “Taxpayers are los i n g p a t i e n c e w i t h t h e s e right on roles in the health service

“Bossy bureaucrats are guilty of picking the pockets o f w o r k i n g B r i t s t o f u n d d i v e r s i t y d e m a g o g u e s instead of nurses and doc

tors

“ H e a l t h c h i e f s s h o u l d focus precious resources on frontline services ”

A n N H S s p o k e s p e r s o n said: “While it is down to i n d i v i d u a l N H S T r u s t s t o decide how they best they support their own staff, this story ignores the fact that NHS England is working to reduce the number of job posts by 30 40 per cent the NHS is also one of the most efficient health services in the world, spending a far lower proportion on admin istration costs than compa rable countries ”

Met Police to ditch recording ethnicity of drivers during stops

Th e Metrop ol itan P olice h ave made their decis io n to ditch p lans not to reco rd th e eth nic ity o f drivers during traff ic sto ps

disproportionality relating to ethnicity, the Met was asked to review samples of vehicle stops

plan team on the "commit ment to record ethnicity of traffic stops"

r e p l a y i n g t h e ‘ U n l o c k i n g W e b 3 : A n I n t r o d u c t i o n ’ event which took place ear lier this week

H am i s h a M e h ta, C o F o u n d er o f Go l d B ang le C lub said : “Web3 is the next phase of the internet, yet recent statistics show just 19% of people involved in it are women, even fewer from e t h n i c a l l y d i v e r s e b a c k grounds By bringing more diversity into Web3 from the e a r l y d a y s , w e c a n w o r k

Ra kh e e S h ah , C o F o u nd er o f Go l d Ba ng l e C lub said : “Web3 is still in its’ infancy and so, rather than there being a specific r o l e f o r w o m e n , w h a t ’ s important is that women are a c t i v e p a r t i c i p a n t s , t h a t women are not left behind d u e t o c o m m o n b a r r i e r s such as imposter syndrome or an assumption that this isn’t something for them Gold Bangle Club has been f o r m e d t o p r o v i d e a s a f e s p a c e f o r S o u t h A s i a n w o m e n t o e x p l o r e W e b 3 , connect, network and cru cially, have fun along the way I'd urge anyone that's curious to playback to the seminar which took place earlier this week, in which we unpacked the basics of Web3 and why it matters to y o u r l i f e t o d a y , a n d o f course, to join our commu nity ”

Nirali Patel, C o Founder of Go ld Bangle C lub said : “As an artist, I want female creatives to explore Web3 because rather than being a s p a c e f o r t h o s e w h o a r e t e c h n o l o g i c a l l y m i n d e d , which is a common miscon ception, it’s the contrary, it’s a space for people from all w a l k s o f l i f e M y v i s i o n through Gold Bangle Club is to provide the opportunity f o r e v e r y S o u t h A s i a n w o m a n t o s e e h e r s e l f t h r o u g h m y a r t w o r k W e hope that the offer of cul turally rich artwork, like the limited edition pieces we are releasing to coincide with Diwali ‘Patterns of Our Future’ will resonate with women, reminding them of the importance of commu n i t y , a n d t o g e t h e r w i t h a c c e s s i b l e e d u c a t i o n , h e l p more women get curious to explore this next phase of the internet ”

Following the publication of the Mayor’s Action Plan on Transparency, Accountability and Trust in Policing, officers were gathering the data as part of a pilot which ran for o n e w e e k a m o n t h f r o m January to June 2021

In order to identify any

H o w e v e r , o f f i c e r s ' g a v e t h e i r f e e d b a c k t h a t t h e y “could not see ” who was in t h e v e h i c l e u n t i l t h e y h a d s t o p p e d , a n d n o t i n g t h e d e t a i l s w a s “ t i m e c o n s u m ing ”

The Met has now said that it will be working with t h e N a t i o n a l R a c e A c t i o n

Former officers and cam paigners criticised the plan to d i t c h e t h n i c i t y r e c o r d i n g , calling it “rock bottom”

It came after the new Met C o m m i s s i o n e r S i r M a r k Rowley pledged to “root out racism”, and a month after Chris Kaba was shot dead by police while sitting unarmed in his car

Rishi Sunak’s summit with Labour’s Rachel Reeve

R ishi Sunak once Trus s ’ ri val i n th e race for No 10, had a hug and a chat wi th L abour s h a d o w ch a nc e l lo r R a c h el R e ev es a t t h e B l o o mb er g party at th e Tate Modern Th e “ ant i gr ow th c oa li t i on ” w as out in fo rc e

Also, there was Antonia Romeo, a civil servant who w a s r e p o r t e d l y b l o c k e d b y T r u s s o v e r t h e w e e k e n d

Consultant Isaac Levido, who h e l p e d t h e T o r i e s w i n t h e 2 0 1 9 e l e c t i o n b u t w h o h a s n o w a l s o b e e n s i d e l i n e d , showed up F o r m e r B o r i s J o h n s o n a n d S u n a k a i d e A l l e g r a Stratton, who now works for B l o o m b e r g , s p o k e o n t h e volatile political and econom ic climate since she started h e r n e w j o b S h e q u i p p e d :

“not since the time of the ancient Mesopotamians has the humble abacus taken such a k i c k i n g ” , a d d i n g “ I f y o u want to beat the market you really do need to know what you are talking about”

H e r b o s s M i c h a e l Bloomberg spoke too, saying t h e U K f a c e s “ m a n y c h a l lenges”, but at least the streets are cleaner than New York

Council raid on ‘sham stores’

In a joi nt operati on by inspec t o rs f ro m H MR C a nd W es t m i ns t er c i t y c o u nc i l, s e ven sh o p s w er e r ai d ed , believed to be invol ved i n a “ dirty money ” cri sis

T h e s t o r e s h a v e b e e n blamed for cheapening one of E u r o p e ’ s b u s i e s t s h o p p i n g streets, and are at the centre o f a c o m p l e x t a x e v a s i o n scandal that has been linked to organised crime

The local authority wants that the government to intro duce new legislation urgently

Standing on the shopping street, Adam Hug, the leader of Westminster council, said: “We are concerned there are rogues running these busi nesses ”

The shops although unas sumingly named “Gifts and Luggage”, the main subject of i n t e r e s t w a s a w a l l o f e

cigarettes

The council said it seized more than 14,000 items from two shops, with an estimated value of £215,000

Asked by officers to pro v i d e h i s d e t a i l s , o n e s h o p worker said: “I’ve just come from Virgin Active and am just covering for another guy who is not here ” Gifts and Luggage could not be reached for comment

Police still baffled by 2012 family murder

T h e de te c ti ve l e ad in g a n investigation of family mu r der inclu ding a mother and h er fi ve c hildren said there remained facts in th is case that don't add up" I n 2 0 1 2 , D r A b d u l S h a k o o r ' s w i f e D r S a b a h Usmani, sons Muneeb, nine, and Rayyan, six, and daugh ter Hira, 12, died in a fire at their Harlow home

S o n S o h a i b , 1 1 , a n d d a u g h t e r M a h e e n , t h r e e ,

died in the hospital

The blaze started down s t a i r s i n t h e B a r n M e a d property while the family were asleep upstairs In an attempt to get help for his family Dr Shakoor jumped f r o m a b e d r o o m w i n d o w b u t w a s u n a b l e t o s a v e them

H e s u f f e r e d s e v e r e smoke inhalation

Police believe burglars deliberately started the fire

D e t C h I n s p L o u i s e Metcalfe said, We are 10 years on Times change and allegiances change

" T h e c o m m u n i t y i n Harlow really needs to have a think about their moral conscience and if they know something, tell us

"I know someone knows and they need to tell us "

Following the murder of his wife and children, Dr Shakoor moved to Pakistan

Gold Bangle Club co founders

M a n y B r i t i s h I n d i a n s w h o were lucky to avail visas in time have travelled to India to celebrate Diwali with fam ily this year Starting from Navratri and Durga Puja this m o n t h , l e a d i n g i n t o Dussehra and now Diwali, those celebrating are elated to celebrate the festival of lights While political parties, parliamentarians, including t h e M a y o r ’ s D i w a l i a t T r a f a l g a r S q u a r e h a v e a l r e a d y m a r k e d t h e a u s p i cious occasion, public and c o m m u n i t y m e m b e r s l o o k forward to a special but sus tainable Diwali Prayers for peace recited by priests from t h e H a r e K r i s h n a T e m p l e and the lighting of candles marked this year ’ s Diwali cel ebrations in UK’s Houses of Parliament

Sharing his Diwali mes sage for the readers of Asian Voice, Rt Hon Jake Berry MP, C h ai rm a n o f, th e C onservative Party said, “The g r e a t e s t r e m i n d e r o f t h a t courage is when we com m e m o r a t e d t h e 5 0 t h anniversary this year of the expulsion of Ugandan Asians b y t h e b r u t a l d i c t a t o r I d i

LET THERE BE LIGHT

Amin The commemorative s e r v i c e s a n d e x h i b i t i o n s across the country reflected the sheer resilience of the British Hindu community in the UK in facing the expul sion Diwali is therefore also a timely opportunity to pay tribute to the outstanding contribution of the British Hindu community at large Y o u r c o n t r i b u t i o n t o a l l walks of life is what makes this country so great

“Unfortunately, the com munity tensions faced by the B r i t i s h H i n d u c o m m u n i t y earlier this year have natural ly been very disturbing, par ticularly to such a peaceful and integrated community Freedom of religion is the c o r n e r s t o n e o f B r i t i s h l i f e and I strongly condemn all forms of racism and discrim i n a t i o n i n o u r s o c i e t y I n d o i n g s o , I f u l l y s u p p o r t efforts to protect the British Hindu community and raise a w a r e n e s s a b o u t f o r m s o f Hinduphobia which has no place in society ” (See P18 for his EXCLUSIVE interview)

Wishing a ‘Happy Diwali’ to our readers, form er Home Secretary Rt Hon Priti Patel MP for With am said, “The s p i r i t u a l s i g n i f i c a n c e o f

I N H E R I T A N C E L A W S I N I N D I A

If a father owned certain property before his death, what happens to the property after his death?

Property keeps on transferring from one person to the other When a property is owned by a person his children have equal rights on the property and can claim this right after the death of the father This transfer of property wherein the ownership of the property stays within the family (from father to son/daughter or from mother to son/daughter) is known as inheritance

If a will is made in UK and the children are in India would the successors be affected?

A will can be made anywhere for a property situated in any province To gain access of ownership of such proper ty, the successor has to get a probate made against such property Furthermore, the laws of the country in which the predecessor lived before death, the laws of the country where the properties are situated and the laws of the coun try where the successors live all play a decisive role in such inheritance

Do sons and daughters have an equal stake at father’s property?

It varies according to laws According to Hindu law, the son and daughter both have an equal stake at the property of the parent The same is applicable for widows of the children Sons take two times the share of daughters If there are two or more daughters, their share is 2/3 of the estate

If a father dies without leaving a will what would happen to his property?

If a father passes away without leaving behind a will his children have stake in his property If at the time of death the father was of Hindu religion, his children irrespective of their sex would be given an equal share of the property Under Muslim law there exist 2 types of distribution Shia and Sunni Under Sunni everyone gets equal share of the property Under Shia, the property gets distributed accord ing to the strips they belong to Is inheritance a natural process or should it be initiated?

Inheritance is not a natural process It is a fact that the heirs have a right to the property but such right has no value until it’s claimed To claim a right to property, the claimant must furnish documents proving that their claim to the property is legitimate

Diwali is one of hope over despair, light over darkness and good over evil: some

thing we should all celebrate a n d h a s b e e n e m b r a c e d across the country This year will mark the first time since 2019 that we have been able to come together and cele brate as we normally would, a n d I k n o w t h a t h o m e s , M a n d i r s a n d G u r d w a r a s across the country will be filled with happiness and joy as we recall the inspirational story of Rama and Sita, the strength of their unity and friendship and the defeat of Ravana At this most auspi cious of times, we can reflect on and celebrate the fantas t i c c o n t r i b u t i o n s t h a t t h e Indian Diaspora continues to make to life here in Britain, and the historic ties between the UK and India ”

N e w l y w e d d e d Neelam Heera (Founder, Cysters) and Kal Sherg ill’s first Diwali as a married couple promises to be a special one Speaking to A s i a n V o i c e , N e e l a m s a i d , “This year, Diwali is going to

C o v i d p e r i o d , w e a r e a l s o c o n s c i o u s o f t h e d i f f i c u l t times the British economy is going through and the immi nent energy price and the Ukraine war issue here and w o u l d r e f r a i n f r o m a n y flamboyance in our celebra tions ”

London Kalibari Puja is due to take place on 24th O c t o b e r a t H a r r o w A r t s Centre where prasad will be distributed after completion of anjali Diwali prog ramm e of th e Hindu F orum of Eu rope

R ag a s ud h a V i nj am u ri BC A a, F R S A b e l i e v e s t h a t India is certainly a singular country in the world that has

Diwali enables me to delight fully share the cultural side of the occasion ”

A learning exp erience for yo ung sters

For the last few years, many young British Indians have not been able to visit home during the festive sea son, which also implies that t h e y ’ v e m i s s e d w i t n e s s i n g t h e g r a n d e u r o f c u l t u r a l practices that make Diwali one of the most important Hindu religious festivals Cllr Sharad K umar Jha looks for w a r d t o e n j o y i n g w i t h

the years I have been cele brating Diwali with my fami ly and some of our very good f r i e n d s W e d e c o r a t e o u r h o u s e s w i t h r a n g o l i , w e a r t r a d i t i o n a l I n d i a n c l o t h e s , c o o k I n d i a n f o o d , p l a y healthy poker/ bingo/ dumb charades, listen to varieties o f H i n d i s o n g s a n d t h e n burn some fireworks at the end It’s the occasion my kids look forward to just like the way we used to do when we were kids in India I want to t a k e m y k i d s t o I n d i a a t Diwali time and show the essence of this festival and how it is celebrated through out the country with passion, love and happiness, but till that time comes me and my husband try our best to show the importance of this festi val to them here and how this one festival brings so much joy and happiness at our home ”

A m ulticultural Diwali

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be very different for us as we are a newly married couple We've recently brought our first home and can't wait to invite our families to join us in celebrating this auspicious time Seeing both our fami lies come together is a bless ing and we are forever grate ful We are looking forward to lighting our first Diya at h o m e a n d a t t e n d i n g t h e G u r d w a r a t o g e t h e r a n d spending time reflecting on Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji's determination and striving for justice for all the political p r i s o n e r s h e l d a l o n g s i d e him For us lighting a Diya is a r e m i n d e r t h a t l i g h t w i l l vanquish the dark We wish everyone love and light this Diwali ”

Refraining from any flam bo yance

A nirban M ukho padh yay i s t h o u g h t f u l l y c e l e b r a t i n g Diwali and Kali Puja this year a s h e a c k n o w l e d g e s t h a t there’s a long road ahead to r e c o v e r y A n i r b a n t o l d u s , “

K a l i P u j a a n d D i w a l i a r e important religious and cele b r a t o r y e v e n t s f o r u s , t h e Bengalis and we will join in a s a c o m m u n i t y g r o u p Whilst we are coming out from the dark days of the

diverse celebrations and fes tivals all year Unique, spe cial, and firmly grounded in the cultural ethos and epics, Diwali stands out as a special time of the year when the celebration of victory over evil, and triumph of the light over the darkness is marked Speaking to the newsweekly, Ragasudha said, “While his torical, spiritual, mythologi cal, and divine significance is deeply ingrained in the festi val, as a dancer and cultural c o m m e n t a t o r , t h i s f e s t i v a l time marks a special context f o r m e C o m m u n i c a t i n g aspects of the story of Diwali through dance has been of utmost gratification and I am thankful to different organi s a t i o n s a n d o r g a n i s e r s f o r giving me an opportunity to do so My students also get to present dance on the occa sion, which gives me fulfil ment as their teacher This year I would also be partici p a t i n g i n t h e D i w a l i p r o gramme of the Hindu Forum of Europe and community organisations in Europe It is not just the fireworks that w o u l d l i g h t e n u p a n d enhance our joy, it is also the togetherness with the like minded (the Satsang), mak ing our family and friends proud through what we do, and setting an example for our young generation will be the spirit of the festival After a l l , t r i u m p h h a s d i f f e r e n t connotations and measures at different layers Pearls are not found on the surface, but i n t h e d e e p w a t e r s O u r i n v o l v e m e n t w i t h A r t a n d Culture should be so, and

friends, forgetting the vari ous challenges of life for a m o m e n t , e a t i n g d e l i c i o u s c u l i n a r y d e l i g h t s , w e a r i n g festive dresses and brighten i n g t h e m i r t h f u l a i r w i t h s p a r k l e s a n d i l l u m i n a t i n g f i r e c r a c k e r s “ C e l e b r a t i o n s b y d i f f e r e n t c o m m u n i t i e s keep the jubilance last for n e a r l y a m o n t h I t ' s a n authentic model to create an a m i c a b l e b o n d i n s o c i e t y T h e y o u n g e r g e n e r a t i o n comes to know about our culture and spread the merri ment further with renewed exuberance,” he told Asian Voice

P reserving cultures

A d h ila ksh m i Ga nap ath i based in Peterboro ugh said, “Deepavali for me is the most f a v o u r i t e f e s t i v a l B e i n g a south Indian Tamil, we cele brate Deepavali in the morn ing by doing prayers, wearing new clothes and having an elaborate traditional Diwali b r e a k f a s t l i k e i d l i , v a d a i , a d h i r a s a m , s u z h i y a n , s a m bar, chutney and many oth ers I make sure my children are home enjoying the festiv ity and never miss any small joy Every year we play fire works followed by delicious dinner in the evening with friends who are family here ”

She has also invited a British family for dinner over the w e e k e n d “ O u r f a m i l y i s looking forward to this excit ing evening to show them how we celebrate Diwali of course with loads of Indian sweets, food and little fire w o r k s a t t h e e n d Celebrating this way my chil dren learn our culture and t r a d i t i o n s w h i l e a b r o a d w h a t e v e r s m a l l w a y i t i s , ” Ganapathi told us

Anupa Singh, who lives with her family in London for the past 13 years said, “As we are living far away from our home country, we try our best to give our kids the experience and knowledge of our Hindu festivals and cul ture Diwali is one festival which is close to our hearts as it’s an occasion and reason for all the families to come together and celebrate Over

During the festive peri od, we do advise our readers to stay safe and adhere to Met Police guidelines for the safety of their homes Make sure there is no place for a b u r g l a r t o h i d e , a n d k e e p your garage and shed closed

If you ’ re going out to attend events, close all your win d o w s a n d d o o r s p r o p e r l y Track your parcels and gifts from loved ones online to p r e v e n t d o o r s t e p d e l i v e r y burglary

U K India FTA to miss i ts Di wali deadline?

Ignorance is bliss, but one cannot overlook the recent d e v e l o p m e n t s i n t h e o n g o i n g U K I n d i a F r e e T r a d e Agreement which has allegedly been derailed by Home Secretary Suella Braverman The final round of negotia tions of the FTA for which Indian PM Narendra Modi was rumoured to visit London this Diwali has missed its dead line Braverman said that she feared a trade deal with India would increase migration to the UK when Indians already represented the largest group of visa overstayers The Times newspaper has reported, quoting Indian govern ment sources, that ministers in India were “shocked and disappointed" by the “disrespectful" remarks made by Braverman Also, a report in Politico claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's UK visit during Diwali to sign the FTA is now not likely to happen

Cllr Sharad Kumar Jha

Priti Patel

Neelam and Kal Shergill

Anirban Mukhopadhyay

Ragasudha

Anupa Singh

Celebrating 11 years of selfless service

In a grand celebration, The Bhavan, L ond on bade farewell to Sri Joginder S anger, wh o retired from h is position as the Chairm an after 11 years of ser v ice On 1 4th September, Frid ay, the e v en i ng b eg a n w

t h p ray er s b y E x ec u ti v e D i rec to r D r M at tu r Nand akumara

Subhanu Saxena, who is now s u c c e e d i n g J o g i n d e r J i a s t h e Chairman, gave a warm welcome address He expressed his grati tude to Mr Sanger for his leader ship of many decades and his selfless service to The Bhavan

T h e f e l i c

c o m b i n e d w i t h t h e qualities of humility, h e l p f u l n e s s a n d friendliness made him a great leader Under his supervision, The Bhavan saw remark able financial growth,

Cross party members celebrate Diwali in House of Commons

a

c h

s i n c l u d e d w o r d s b y V i r e n d r a Sharma MP, Lord Dholakia OBE PC (Patron of The Bhavan UK), Lord Swaraj Paul PC (Patron of T h e B h a v a n U K ) , L o r d J i t e s h G a d h i a , B a r r y G a r d e n e r M P , Seema Malhotra MP, Varinder S i n g h ( E x e c u t i v e C o m m i t t e e Member, The Bhavan UK), Mr G o p i c h a n d H i n d u j a ( I n d u s t r i a l i s t ) W h a t w a s e v i d e n t i n e v e r y o n e ’ s

p

f e l i c i t a t i o n / a w a r d t h a t c a n b e given by The Bhavan, or even the Government of India, would be inadequate to fully do justice to t h e g i a n t o f a m a n t h a t S r i Joginder Ji has always been A f t e r t h a t N a n d a k u m a r a m e n t i o n e d t h a t B h a v a n ’ s President Sri Mehta and Director General Dastur Ji have thanked Mr Sanger for his services and wished him the best, and also w e l c o m e d S u b h a n u a s T h e Bhavan’s new Chairman Joginder Ji responded to all the felicitations and shared a few of his thoughts, reminiscing his long journey at The Bhavan He felt it was t h e g r e a t e s t h o n o u r t o s e r v e T h e Bhavan, a place where everyone who has love and regards for our culture is

A Diwali receptio n with a cro s s p ar ty r ep res en tati o n was organised in the State Ro o m s o f th e S p eak er ’ s Ho use, House of Comm ons on Mo nd ay 1 7 October The ev ent w as ho sted by MP s su c h as Na v end u M is h ra, S h ai le sh V a ra, V ir end ra Sharm a and Lord Dholakia and was attended by a num be r o f P arl i am e nta ri ans ,

Mr Vara said, “Diwali is a message of victory of good over evil, light over darkness a n d t h i s m e s s a g e i s v e r y important across the world There are Indian people in all four corners of the world and therefore Diwali is cele brated and the message of D i w a l i i s s p r e a d t o t h e entire world When we are seeing the conflicts in our

s p e e c h e s w a s t h e i n d e l i b l e m a r k Joginder Ji had created during his time His impeccable business sense,

and the inauguration of the annual Diwali Banquet which, to this day, is an extremely memorable and success ful day in the Bhavan’s calendar As many of the speakers expressed, any

always openly welcomed The Vote of Thanks was given by Dr Surekha Mehta (Vice Chair, The Bhavan UK) which was followed by a short cultural program by The Bhavan students and dinner for all the guests Photo credit: Raj D Bakrania

Tilda celebrates Diwali with flavourful culinary delights

T ild a has been at the heart of din ner tables acro ss the U K for ov er 50 years This year, to celebrate Diw ali and insp ire hom e co oks, T ild a partnered with celebrated ch ef M onisha Bharadw aj, content c re ato r S o n ali M o rj ar i a a nd f la v o u r en th u s i as t Ra d h i ka How arth to sho wcase th e m essage that food plays a central role in bring ing p eop le tog ether

At an event hosted on the 14th of October at Bellavita Academy, Tilda presented 3 tasting menus which were curated by the three leading influ encers, each with a touch of innova tion, tradition, and Diwali rituals

M o n i s h a s e r v e d t h e g u e s t s , a n entrée of Watermelon Dosa made with Tilda Pure Basmati, followed by a gen e r o u s l y f l a v o u r e d H y d e r a b a d i V e g e t a b l e B i r y a n i m a d e w i t h T i l d a Grand Extra Long Basmati Sella, and an aromatic Rose and Pistachio Kheer, made with Tilda Jasmine Rice

Monisha said, “I was delighted to partner with Tilda Rice to celebrate Diwali 2022 with food and festivities I created a 3 course menu using differ e n t v a r i e t i e s o f T i l d a r i c e a n d w a s amazed at how each one brought a unique flavour, fragrance and texture to my recipes!”

Sonali Morjaria’s menu included Rice and Vegetable Bhajiyas made with T i l d a P u r e B a s m a t i , f o l l o w e d b y a f l a v o u r s o m e K a d a i M a t t a r P a n e e r served with Tilda Pure Basmati and C h o c o l a t e R i c e H a l w a f o r d e s s e r t , made with Tilda Long Grain Rice

Sonali said, “I was delighted to be a part of the Tilda Diwali celebrations showcasing how versatile and easy it is

to use this premium rice brand in three different festive recipe creations From starter to desert, rice was the perfect hero of every dish ”

R a d h i k a H o w a r t h ’ s e n t r é e w a s

Italian inspired Arancini Rice Balls with a masala twist made with Tilda Pure B a s m a t i , w h i l e h e r m a i n c o u r s e , Baghali Polo had borrowed flavours from Persian cuisine and was made with slender and long grains of Tilda

Grand Extra Long Basmati Sella

For her dessert Radhika served up a royal treat of Zarda Pulao

“ T h e T i l d a D i w a l i w a s a n evening and an event to remem ber! It was festive, joyful, exciting and it was fantastic to see the guests enjoy a fiesta of delicious and delightful rice dishes created by the three chefs,” said Radhika

Ni k h il D es h p an d e, Br an d L ead at Tilda said “It s been bril liant to celebrate Diwali this year focussing on tradition and delicious food Rice plays a fundamental role across cultures, so it’s been incredible to showcase this though a special tast ing menu that stretched across differ ent regional cuisines of India using our quality grains that truly elevate any dish Building on our fifty year her itage, Tilda is committed to celebrating cuisines and cultures with an emphasis on quality and flavour ”

Diwali and New Year celebrations in Anoopam Mission UK

An oopam Mission UK is c e le b r a t i n g D e e p a w a l i a nd Nuta n Varsh (New Yea r) in the pr esen ce of Sa n t Bha g wa nt Sa he bj i a n d P a r a m Pu j y a Sha ntibhai

L a x m i P o o j a n a n d Sharda Poojan ceremonies will com mence at 6 pm on Monday 24 October Nutan Varsh celebrations will be on Wednesday 26 October Nutan Varsh Ashirwad and Thal event will be at 11am, First Annakut Aarti will start at

1 2 p m , F i n a l A n n a k u t

A a r t i w i l l b e a t 6 p m

T h e r e w i l l b e o n e

A n n a k u t A a r t i e v e r y hour between 12 pm to 6 pm

A n o o p a m m i s s i o n has cordially invited all with friends and family to celebrate the festival of light Mahaprasad will be served throughout the celebrations All the celebrations will be held at T h e L e a , W e s t e r n A v e , D e n h a m , Uxbridge UB9 4NA

d i p lo m a ts an d b u si n es s lead ers alo ng with mem bers of the Hind u, Jain and S ikh co m m u ni ti es fr o m ac ro s s the country

T h e e v e n t was started by l i g h t i n g d i y a s and prayers for w o r l d p e a c e were recited by a team from the H a r e K r i s h n a Temple

Chief Guest S i r L i n d s a y Hoyle said, “It’s my pleasure to welcome you all A very happy Diwali to you all I would like to wish all communities celebrating Diwali peace and joy across the world This festival of l i g h t s m a y b r i n g j o y a n d happiness to our life I also want to congratulate you all on the 75th Independence Day of India ”

Mr Mishra added, “This is a cross party event The British Indian community is a n i m p o r t a n t p a r t a n d makes a positive contribu tion to our Nation A parlia mentarian quoted a recent f i g u r e t o s a y t h a t B r i t i s h Indians make up around 2 per cent of the population, h o w e v e r , t h e y c o n t r i b u t e a l m o s t 8 p e r c e n t o f t h e GDP I think most would agree that this is an impres sive figure Diwali is the fes tival of light; it stands for t h e v i c t o r y o f l i g h t o v e r dark ”

He also referenced the free trade agreement (FTA) with India and said that as parliamentarians from dif ferent sides of the political spectrum, the event reflects t h e i r h o p e t o b e a b l e t o make a positive contribu tion to the bilateral relation ship

L e a d e r o f t h e L a b o u r party Sir Keir Starmer said, “ I w a n t t o w i s h H a p p y Diwali to all who are cele brating the festival in the UK, India and around the world ”

Following the reception,

Mr Sharma said, “Happy Diwali to all of you Diwali event is the most important part of the calendar of the house of commons Diwali is for conveying the message and the values we inherited from our forefathers The message from the Ramayana is peace, prosperity, unity and equality This message will spread throughout the world ”

The diplomatic presence a t t h e D i w a l i c e l e b r a t i o n i n c l u d e d D e p u t y H i g h Commissioner of India to the UK Sujit Ghosh, First Secretary Saravjeet Soodan, U g a n d a n H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r N i m i s h a Madhvani and Ambassador o f N e p a l G y a n C h a n d r a Acharya

Lord Jitesh Gadhia, Bob B l a c k m a n M P , K r u p e s h H i r a n i A M , C l l r V i m a l C h a u k s i , P r o f M a n o j L a d w a , B h a k t i v e d a n t a M a n o r I S K C O N T e m p l e P r e s i d e n t V i s a k h a D a s i , A s h o k K u m a r C h a u h a n MBE, Sgt Shiv Chand, SBI C E O S u d h i r S h a r m a , S B I R e g i o n a l H e a d S h a r a d Chandak we ’ re also among t h o s e w h o a t t e n d e d t h e Diwali do

country and continent let’s hope that Diwali will bring the brightness of joy and show the direction towards victory ”

Lord Dholakia added, “I was in India last week and I s a w t h o u s a n d s a n d t h o u sands of people doing Raas G a r b a T h e j o y , f u n a n d belief in their religion were remarkable All the celebra tions bring all of us togeth er ”

Sahebji

New research reveals

6 in 10 South Asians worry about week ahead

New research reveals almost 6

outh Asians regularly experience anxi ety (57%)

As the weekend draws to a close, many begin to worry about the week ahead with lack of sleep (57%), juggling family life (57%) and a looming to do list (54%) reported as the top causes

I

increased 170% in the last 10 year

Leading South Asian influencers and mental health advocates, including Parle Patel, Dr Tina Mistry and Ummar Sadique are supporting the Better Health Every M

South Asian community to adopt Self Care Sundays to help deal with feelings of anxiety by doing small things that can make a big

Leicester dad who won £3m mansion puts it on sale for £4m

difference

Parle Patel, Influ encer and Comedian, said: “Sundays are a particularly good day to be kind to yourself and get into the right frame of mind for the week ahead Try adopting a Self Care Sunday routine that works for you whether that’s mindful breathing exercises in your room or going for a run outdoors Take time to think about the good things in your life and list the things you're thankful for It’s important to speak to someone if you ’ re struggling ”

Dr Tina Mi stry, Clinical Psychologist, said: “Stress is the body's reaction to feeling threatened or under pressure It's very com mon and can affect our mood, our body, and our relationships especially when it

feels out of our control Try keeping a diary of what you are doing and how you are feel ing at different times of the day to help identify what's causing you anxiety this will help you create simple steps to better manage it ”

Ummar Sadi que, Senior Psychological Well bein g Practi tioner, sa id: “Trying to relax and enjoy the last few moments of the weekend on a Sunday can quickly become stressful, especially when you can’t help but w o r r y a b o u t t h e w e e k a h e a d ! F o r m e , reviewing my to do list and breaking down my biggest tasks into smaller, easier to manage chunks really helps Making a plan for managing upcoming stressful days or events can really help ”

UK accused of putting Tamil refugees at risk

Lawyers have accused the U K of assisting d an g er o u s o nw ar d b o at jo u r ney s by Tamil refug ees wh o had arrived at the British claimed territo ry of Dieg o Garcia in d istress

Just e ight weeks a fte r a father fr om Leiceste rshire who b ought a £25 l ot tery ticket and won a £ 3 mill ion Corn ish "piece of para dise" has put it on sal e

On 12 August, Uttam Parmar from Ashby became the new owner of the detached four bedroom bun galow

In the latest Omaze Million Pound House Draw, it was the top prize up for grabs

As part of his winnings, the prize also included £50,000 for the family and the home came mort gage free, with legal fees and stamp duty covered

The property is now listed for £ 4 million on RightMove, which comes with four ensuite bed rooms, and sits on five acres of land overlooking the Camel Estuary in Rock, Cornwall

After getting into difficulty, fishing boats that fled Sri Lanka were escorted to the Indian Ocean island, but the same vessels were later permitted to leave w i t h o u t b a s i c s a f e t y e q u i p m e n t , p u t t i n g p a s s e n g e r s , including children at “ grave risk”, lawyers of the UK law firm Leigh Day which is rep resenting 81 of the refugees have claimed O n e b o a t , a f t e r t h r e e weeks at sea, carrying 46 peo ple, ended up on the French

territory of Réunion while another carry ing 35 people including an 18 month old child, had to be escorted back to Diego Garcia due to a failed engine but has since been allowed to leave again, they say in legal letters to the government

Police release video of suspects 'celebrating' racist attack

A fo otage h as been released by the police w hich they say app ears to show two men celebrating a racist attack which left th e vic tim in dire need of hospital treatment

The victim, a 20 year old man, who was on his way to the gym, was approached by a group of five men in Victoria Road, near to the junction with Water Lane, in Leeds city centre Before one of the men threw a punch, he was racially abused

A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: "As the victim fought back, the others joined in the attack and made further racist comments

"As the victim tried to get away, he was struck with a bottle causing a wound to his head that needed stitches at hospital "

T h e i n c i d e n t h a p p e n e d i n t h e e a r l y hours of 29 May, and is being treated as racially aggravated wounding with intent

Police believe the group assaulted a sec ond man but he never came forward They are still trying to identify him

Anyone with information should con tact the force via 101

Don’t forget to change your clock!

UK’s clocks officially go back by an hour on Sunday 30 October 2022, one day before Halloween

This will give us an extra hour in bed, right before things get spooky on Halloween!

So from then, we will officially be back on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) till Sunday 26 March 2023.

FOR ALL OUR SUBSCRIBERS

We are aware of how eager you are to receive and read your most favourite newspapers every week You must be looking forward to the copy of your annual Diwali magazine as well But please note the below dates for the upcoming Royal Mail strikes that may affect your delivery

• Thursday 20 October 2022

• Tuesday 25 October 2022

Kindly note that we receive a very large volume of calls and emails every day So please bear with us if your delivery is delayed and we can’t reply immediately

We thank you immensely for subscribing to our newsweeklies and supporting us through the last five decades

The epidemic of Type 2 Diabetics

Type two diabetes is causing havoc, especially among the Asian community, in particular elderly British Indians, hardly there is a family where no one has type two diabetes As hospital appointments are gold dust and face to face GP appointments are also in great demand, especially due to backlog from the pandemic which is taking time to clear, patients have to do with online or telephone appointments that do not suit everyone, especially elderly Asian women whose first language is not English, as well as lack of IT knowledge, thus relying on their children and grandchil dren for the success of such appointments Unfortunately, these younger generations are not always available and consider anyone without IT knowledge as living in the past at best and a nuisance, stupid people at worse

It is indeed a stressful time, especially for those who are recently dragonized, as dieting is hard to control, in view of every type of food containing some sugar So often labels are confusing, ignore the needs of such patients It would be simple if these products are labelled “Diabetic Friendly” or otherwise, rather than sugar free or diet products

Another bone of contention is that our popular super markets ignore the needs of such people where only milk, cheese and a few more products are diabetic friendly They should have a special section where sugar free products are displayed and it should include, besides cheese and milk, ice cream, biscuits, bread, fresh and frozen meals and veg etables, as such products are easily available from online giants, ordering online

Information should also be easily available, especially f r o m S u p e r m a r k e t p h a r m a c i s t s w h o d e a l w i t h s u c h patients’ day in, and day out, often with more helpful hints than their under pressure GPs! It is possible to obtain most of this information on diet, medicine, symptoms and Care online that is if you know where to look! Booklets and pamphlets are also available in most surgeries and libraries

Unfortunately, most such patients are elderly, house bound, fragile, and lack the confidence to venture outside their comfort zone! As usual, we are light years behind other EU nations, in particular, Germany and Scandinavian nations!

Bhupendra M Gand hi

Lasting damage

The Coronavirus pandemic has created a huge challenge for humanity The pandemic has set back the fight against poverty in the developing world, with many economies in the Global South still struggling to recover from the effects of the lockdowns

In order to prevent further economic damage, we should take care to follow all required SOPs A resurgence in the virus may bring back the crippling lockdowns, end ing what recovery in economic activity we have been able to enjoy

Jubel D'Cruz Mum bai, India

Screeching U-turns

It is impossible to comment on any specific development in Downing Street because the government’s situation is changing rapidly and anything one writes can be woefully obsolete before this weekly newspaper comes out I will say, however, that embattled Prime Minister Liz Truss has committed so many screeching U turns that if she were a car driver her licence would be withdrawn immediately and she would be provided with a bicycle instead

Ash Gupta

We will end up paying an unnecessary price

I hope the British public does not have to live in uncertain ty One big lesson for us is Briton was a major power 50 years ago, but not anymore To interfere in financial mar kets, we will end up paying an unnecessary price or penal ty Sonner, we get out of this period it will be good for ordinary people

Surendra Patel

Café charges rude customers double for their drinks

In a bid to rem ind p eople of th e i m p o rt anc e o f g o o d manners, a café owner i n Lancash ire is charg ing rud e cu s to m ers m o re fo r th ei r drinks

Chaii Stop, in Preston, has come up with a new pol icy according to which cus t o m e r s w i l l p a y d i f f e r e n t a m o u n t s b a s e d o n t h e i r p o l i t e n e s s w h i l e p l a c i n g their order

Those who come in and simply say “desi chai” will be

charged £5 per cup, saying “desi chai please” will cost £3

The politest customers, those who say “hello, desi c h a i p l e a s e ” , w i l l g e t t h e drink for £1 90

U s m a n H u s s a i n , t h e owner of the café, which sells chai, doughnuts, street food and desserts, said the venue rarely sees rude cus t o m e r s b u t t h e p o l i c y i s h e l p i n g e n f o r c e a “ g o o d vibes only” culture

Government to unveil crackdown on climate activism

Ho m e se cr eta ry S u e ll a Bra v er m an u nv ei le d h e r plans granti ng p olice new p o w ers to t ake a m o r e “ p r o ac ti v e ” ap p ro ac h to co unter tactics fav oured by climate activists such as Just S to p Oi l an d E xt in ct i o n Rebellion

It is also believed that the government is pursuing l e g a l m o v e s t o i n t r o d u c e minimum service levels dur i n g s t r i k e s b y t r a n s p o r t w o r k e r s a f t e r m o n t h s o f industrial action by railway w o r k e r s i n d i s p u t e s o v e r pay, jobs and conditions

B r a v e r m a n h a s a l s o

vowed to use the govern ment’s public order bill that w i l l a l l o w s e c r e t a r i e s o f state to apply for injunc tions in the “public interest” where protests are causing or threatening “serious dis ruption or a serious adverse impact on public safety ”

The developments came a g a i n s t a b a c k d r o p o f p r o t e s t s i n e a s t L o n d o n where nearly 30 demonstra tors from Just Stop Oil gath e r e d o n S h o r e d i t c h H i g h Street shortly after noon on Saturday where they set up a roadblock to disrupt traf fic

UK crime gangs rake in millions

Thr oug h u nr e gula t ed sup porte d accomm od ation for vuln era ble pe ople , orga nised cr ime groups are tak ing mil lions of pounds of tax pay ers ’ money , police hav e re vea le d

Criminals have been liq uidating in “exempt accom m o d a t i o n ” , w h i c h i s designed to support vulner able people such as prison leavers, recovering addicts and those fleeing domestic violence

A c c o r d i n g t o p o l i c e , criminal gangs are buying properties and are setting t h e m u p a s s u p p o r t e d accommodation to receive

the higher rates, but provide little to no support for the vulnerable tenants

“ O r g a n i s e d c r i m e groups we know are making in excess of half a million pounds a month from this, and that’s taxpayers’ money, a huge amount of money, ” said assistant chief constable R i c h a r d B a k e r f r o m W e s t Midlands police

“A lot of the organised crime intelligence that we ’ ve got shows that crime groups will invest money, launder t h e i r m o n e y , t h r o u g h t h e p u r c h a s e o f t h i s t y p e o f property ”

Home secretary accused of ‘scapegoating’ modern slavery victims

To restrict claims by asylu m se e ke rs , th e g o ve rn m en t has been accu sed o f “ scape go a ti n g ” m o de rn s l av er y victims as it draws up new laws

It seems after accusing the migrants of “gaming the system”, Suella Braverman wants to stop what she sees as the abuse of current pow ers by migrants crossing the English Channel

T h e H o m e O f f i c e , Downing Street and gov e r n m e n t l a w y e r s a r e d i s

c u s s i n g n e w l e g i s l a t i o n w h i c h c o u l d c h a n g e t h e operation of Theresa May's Modern Slavery Act

Jasmine O’Connor OBE a d d e d : “ T h e g o v e r n m e n t needs to honestly listen to s u r v i v o r s , a n d s a f e g u a r d them against future abuse, not use them as a pawn in a game of hostile rhetoric and a divide and rule strategy

This bill must extend rather than roll back sup port and protections for all victims ”

Kapil D udakia

A P I L’ S K H I C H A D I

Do Muslim ‘Ghettos’ Control Labour?

Shockingly, this was the q ues ti on p ose d by m any pe ople to me rec ently I n a n o p e n d e m o c r a c y e v e r y community or inter est group has got the same opportunities If they are organised, focussed, and aspire to control, then the legal means of doing that are there for all to follow We cannot belittle any group for trying or for being successful

Table 1: Shows the top 20 constituencies in the UK where we have at least 20% of the local population that is Muslim (2011 census data, though I suspect the 2021 cen sus data will be even more enlightening)

Another interesting fact, every single one of these seats is Labour Though in the last few days Leicester East has now gone to the Tories It seems for once the voters told Labour that appeasement of Islamists, the very peo ple who are attacking Hindus, will not be tolerated

However, in my view this control extends way above 30 seats and their MPs To be honest, you have to stand up, applaud and admire the way in which they have brought the Labour Party to its knees Just look at the Labour front bench!

Another interesting fact, the proportion of Hindus in those same seats is markedly low In only 3 of those seats, we see the Hindu population being higher than 10% And in only one they have enough to dictate the outcome, as they did in Leicester East recently

There have been claims from residents in some areas that they are being intimated to leave Quite an allega tion, if true I recall Hindus in Leicester saying the same, that the recent attacks by Islamists was basically part of a premeditated plan to intimidate them into leaving the area Several families have already left the area, this is a failure of governance and policing, and it brings shame to the nation

I have also heard the term, ‘ethnic cleansing’ of areas being used I don’t like that term either, but I do under stand the sentiment being expressed The creation of sep arate ghettoised areas cannot be good for any communi ty Integration is important for our diverse communities to live in peace and harmony, and anything that creates a divide will ultimately lead to a distressed society Whilst there are some areas where we find a higher concentra tion of Jews, Hindus and Sikhs, these communities have shown a remarkable ability to integrate well with the wider community Maybe that is why they have become so successful and net contributors to the nation

It's clear Muslims have a hold over Labour Maybe that is the reason why Sir Peter Soulsby appears to have compromised the so called ‘independent’ investigation into the troubles in Leicester by already announcing that Hindu elements might be an issue What is surprising is t h a t t h e H o m e S e c r e t a r y a n d t h e C o m m i t t e e o n Standards in Public Life (CSPL) knowing of such gross violations of the Nolan Principles, seem to sit back and act as if nothing has happened

The headline mentions ‘Ghettos’ I don’t like that word either since the term was originally used for the ‘Venetian Ghetto’ in Venice, Italy, as early as 1516 Mainly to describe the area where Jewish people were restricted to live and thus forced into segregation Today we see the very opposite We now have communities that choose to live in their own self restricted areas They dominate those areas and within its bounds, they exercise control Some people classify them as no go areas I don’t think we in Britain should ever allow any area to be a no go area

The answer to the headline is yes The Muslim com munity has become a potent force in British politics It is linked almost entirely to the Labour Party that now depends on that vote bank For how long will Labour abdicate its responsibility to the nation and continue its appeasement of just one group?

If you are new, then write to Shefali at shefali saxena@abplgroup com

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

P R I D E V I E W T E A M H O S T S A N E X C L U S I V E ,

I N V E S T O R S - O N L Y , C O M M E R C I A L P R O P E R T Y S E M I N A R

For the 9th consecutive year, the Prideview team hosted their exclusive, investors only, commercial property seminar on Thursday, 29th September 2022 at The Royal Society of Medicine in Marylebone.

Over 100 investors attended the event with many more streaming it live, which covered a number of key t o p i c s i n c l u d i n g o n l i n e a u c t i o n s , l o n g i n c o m e i n v e s t m e n t s , a n d a d d i n g v a l u e t o c o m m e r c i a l property and finance

In the context of the media hype a r o u n d L i z T r u s s ’ s b u d g e t announcement, which had reached fever pitch in the lead up to the event, it was of no surprise that 55% of all attendees stated that their m a i n o b j e c t i v e i n a t t e n d i n g t h e seminar was to get an update o n t h e m a r k e t r a t h e r t h a n actively buy or sell.

N i l e s h P a t e l b e g a n t h e e v e n t , i n t r o d u c i n g t h e P r i d e v i e w t e a m a n d reassuring the audience that with ca £300m of property deals across all sectors done since Covid 19, operating in a c r i s i s i s n o t h i n g n e w t o Prideview

The special guest this year was David Margolis, Partner a n d A u c t i o n e e r a t A c u i t u s A u c t i o n s w h o p r o v i d e d a n auction market update, noting that more £1m + deals have been selling in the auction in 2 0 2 2 c o m p a r e d t o t h e p r e v i o u s 1 0 y e a r s b e f o r e a n a l y s i n g d e a l s d o n e i n v a r i o u s s u b s e c t o r s o f t h e market including the London area, Parades, Developments and Trade Counters He then w a l k e d t h r o u g h t h e r a t h e r troubled lending environment

looking at 5 fixed year fixed rates and the issue of falling LTVs as interest costs rise Interestingly in a poll of the audience, 33% believed Developments may represent the b e s t o p p o r t u n i t y i n 2 0 2 3 , a s developers look to offload sites in the face of increasing finance and build costs

H e w a s f o l l o w e d b y M a r k Hoffman, Director at Prideview, who was quick to point out that cash is (and always has been) king in the commercial property sector, and this is where opportunities are expected to abound in the near future especially in the £2m £5m s e c t o r d e b t f i n a n c e i s m o r e c o m m o n M a r k w a l k e d t h r o u g h t h e a r e a s e x p e c t e d t o b e m o s t p o p u l a r i n 2 0 2 3 s u c h a s t h e traditionally low yielding ‘hassle f r e e ’ i n v e s t m e n t s e c t o r w h e r e

y i e l d s m a y w e l l r i s e a n d H i g h S t r e e t R e t a i l

sharply post Covid could now be picked up at very attractive yields Mark mentioned that with £126m of deals done at an average of £2m per deal, Prideview will actively be s e

p b u y e r s s e e k opportunity in the coming months whilst also assisting sellers exiting assets of all sizes

It is possible to watch the full r e c o

d

n g o

e s e m i n a r b y registering on Prideview’s website or by reaching out to Sejal Kamani at sejal@prideviewgroup com As always they remain on hand to discuss any property investment m a

d h o s t breakfast seminars at their brand new Stanmore offices on the last Tuesday of every month

a

Nilesh Patel kicking off the Autumn Market 22 seminar

Special guest, David Margolis with an Auction Market update

Senior Investment Director, Mark Hoffman in his element

Ben Goldberg with the Prideview Directors

Prideview Founder, Shailesh Patel with some clients and suppliers

The Prideview Ladies enjoying the Gevening reat turn out for the Autumn Market seminar ‘22

Post

What about the Visas?

Ruchi Ghanashyam

Mrs Ruchi Ghanashyam is the former High Commissioner of India to the UK With a career in Indian Foreign Service for over 38 years, she has been posted in many countries

arriving in the UK She was only the second woman High Commissioner to the UK since India’s independence and during her tenure,

developments in the UK India relations @RuchiGhanashyam

It seemed strange for a member of the UK cabinet to thoughtlessly and publicly speak of what constitutes the worst irritant in India UK relations, at a time when the negotiations of the India UK trade deal are at an extremely delicate stage Post Brexit UK needs the trade deal with India to help compensate for the markets it lost in Europe A market of close to 1 4 billion people in India would seem to be an attractive proposi tion, even against that of the European Union ( c o n s t i t u t i n g l e s s t h a n 5 0 0 m i l l i o n ) B u t i t appears that some members of the government overlooked that every negotiation comprises “give and take”, not just “take and take”!

strength of our diaspora as a “living bridge” con necting our two nations

As for the economic cost that the UK might have to incur on any overstaying Indians, it would be wise to recall the contribution made by Indian companies and companies owned by people of Indian origin to the UK’s economy As studies by Grant Thornton UK have shown, diaspora owned companies alone created over 174,000 jobs and paid £1 billion in corporate taxes alone The recently released UK’s ‘rich list’ included a number of Indians in the top ten, with several more who were part of the list All o f t h e m a r e c o n t r i b u t i n g t o t h e e c o n o m i c strength of the UK Indian origin professors, politicians, social workers, artists and people in the services sector, add dynamism and bring enterprise to the UK Indian tourists and stu dents also contribute to the UK’s economy

Dad beats wife for asking him to clean up

A dad assau lted his wife after h e refused to help clean up w hen one of their children had been sick

Afe

w de cade s ago, soon a fte r joining ser vice , my husband an d I were invited for dinner b y one of our sen iors Amongst the pe opl e invited we re our host s ’ bosses We didn ’t ha ve a car and wal ked to dinne r My abiding memory of tha t evening is my husba nd’s coach ing, as he told me to stay quie t a nd not talk too much in front of our seniors Other times in my care er, whe n I went on a n assig nme nt, he woul d r e min d me t o ob ser v e t he sit ua ti on b e for e speak in g or ta king a ct ion I realised my luck in having received this advice as we watched recent developments in the UK Decisive and precipitate action must follow analysis and study, if the inevitable pit falls are to be avoided

As for speaking too soon, every diplomat knows that one better have all the facts and think through the implications, before making pronouncements A recent statement on the number of Indians overstaying their visas seems to have been made without much thought of its implications

While talking of the Indians being “the largest group of people that overstay” their visas, the honourable member of the UK cabinet did not give any figures Expressing his surprise at the statement, Lord Karan Bilimoria recalled that relations had been so damaged the last time such remarks were made that efforts were on to r e c o v e r f r o m t h a t d a m a g e H e a d d e d t h a t Indians overstaying their visas are a “ very tiny proportion [compared to] the people who over stay from other countries” (his interview to The Economic Times)

At one stage during my stay in the UK, we worked with an NGO involved in looking after the homeless There was a small proportion of visaless people of Indian origin, but the bulk were non Indians I never really came across destitute Indians who had overstayed their visas People were generally looked after by the G u r u d w a r a s , t e m p l e s a n d t h e c o m m u n i t y Many of the so called overstaying Indians are nationals of other countries Authorities in the UK can not expect India to take ‘returnees’ unless and until their Indian origins are verified

The role of the Indian origin doctors, num bering 60,000 in the NHS alone (BAPIO’s fig ures), when combined with those in the nursing and other medical technicians, together with those involved in medical research, comprise a staggering figure No numbers are available for this service that people of Indian origin render to the British economy, nor has any calculation ever been made of the enormous cost to India of brain drain to the UK In India we look at the

In contrast to the offending statement from the UK, one saw the video posted by the recently arrived High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram Doraiswamy Accepting that visa ser v i c e s o f t h e I n d i a n H i g h C o m m i s s i o n h a d become a challenge for Indian visa seekers, he highlighted the steps that the High Commission was taking to ameliorate the situation Apart from ensuring that visa appointments released online are not misused, he promised enhance ment of capacity in partnership with the visa service provider through different measures, including opening of new visa application cen tres in Glasgow and central London and capaci ty increase at existing visa centres by receiving and handling applications on saturdays and in the afternoons on weekdays Through these measures, HCI would double the capacity to 40,000 applications a month from the current level of 20,000 a month He also assured that ease of application would also be improved so that people can travel easily to India India UK relations are mutually beneficial Unless powers in the UK appreciate that, state ments such as the one cited above will continue to cause havoc The result would be what one newspaper headline said: “India UK trade deal on ‘ verge of collapse’ over visa comments”!

Asif Mughal told the victim "it's not my job" before grabbing, pushing and slapping her at the Allenton home they then shared, Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court heard

The terrified woman, his part ner of 12 years, and the mother of his three children finally managed to get out of the room when their young daughter opened the door

She fled to a nearby supermar ket to ask the staff there to raise the alarm

District Judge Jonathan Taaffe handed Mughal a 26 week jail sen tence and ordered him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, to pay £620 prosecution costs and a £154 victim surcharge, as part of the suspended sentence order

He also handed him a three year restraining order not to con tact his wife or go to her Allenton address

uthorisedd adeeme

Amara Karan: Cosmopolitan Candour (Part Four)

“Women in p ower h av e d em onstrated a better facility to strategically and benignly lead: they reach out to each other, striking sm art and th oughtful alliances and build one anoth er up If we could get a few wo men in charg e, it would be brilliant In the end, the May and Miller of Walker’s play do find sym pathy for each other that they can use to make peace, at least, betw een th em Fem inine auth ority is a hug ely obfu scated and underrated id ea which is d ue d eserv ed cred it ” T hus, ov erall informed assertion seems the way for ward o ver default instinctual agg res sion Finally, A mara ’ s illustriou s career implicitly ad vocates the many im por tant nu ances of an integ rativ e d iv erse w o rl d H er tra ns i ti o n f ro m th e demonstrative in the mainstream of representation to the social, d eeply political and indie as well as even exis tential esp ouses a v ery illum inating passio nate d iscou rse Not only d oes Am ara break cultural barriers but her enlig htening , s incere acting cho ices fu r th er d e m o ns tr ate th e s u p re m e p o w er o f h er m ed i u m o f ar t Distanced som ew hat from the im me diate corrup tiv e reality of the zeitgeist, th e discipline can elevate itself and set th e gold standard fo r hum anity as a constant throug hout tim e: “ p rog ress isn’ t linear and it’s a tricky concept as society currently stands; we ’ ve taken steps both forwards and back Picking any one p oint in histo ry, w e are not always ah ead” If w e consid er that cre ativity is th e em otio nal d imension of mod ernisation then, perh aps it is on our screens where the shoots o f revo lu tion can be the most purely pre served Being such a ubiquitous v ivid medium , d rama may not only depict th ese d azzling alternativ e world s but at o nc e m o v e m a ny to i nti m a tel y propagate the change that will ev entu ally h app en in the fu ture Such joint visualisatio n is the keeper of greater growth “Performing is always such a th rill and th e oppo rtunity for charac ter and p lot development is v ast,” the actress conclud ed : “I hop e w e’ll be see ing a lot mo re original content; the networks are d efinitely doing mo re of th is ”

From popular fun films such as St Trinians to indie comedies such as Wes Anderson’s Darjeeling Limited, you have had a varied and vibrant film career Can you share some highlight moments with us?

Well, the start of my career was g e t t i n g t h e f e m a l e l e a d i n W e s Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited which I will never forget; what a won derful crew and way to be introduced to the screen! I loved playing Gina M i l l e r i n T i m W a l k e r ’ s B l o o d y D i f f i c u l t W o m e n A n o t h e r b i g moment was being part of series The Night Of They have such brilliant sto rytelling and so many elements that work well together which is rare to find in a project: every character is w e l l d e v e l o p e d a n d a u t h e n t i c a l l y thought out I never felt them to be ciphers or small or irrelevant in any way

The play, Bloody Difficult Women, seemed a positive reclamation of a very divisive difficult past It was smart in its attempt to present some uplifting closure Brexit thew up so many

intersecting conflicting issues and national tension, including deep seated misogyny Please tell us more

Yes, there is often a point of empa t h y a m o n g s t w o m e n b e c a u s e t h e y understand vulnerability fundamen tally The play sought to celebrate female leaders in lieu of the heavily m i s o g y n i s t i c c o m b a t i v e c l i m a t e We’ve had incredible female monarchs t h r o u g h o u t h i s t o r y e g , Q u e e n E l i z a b e t h t h e F i r s t I m a g i n e t h a t becoming the norm: what stability, prosperity and peace! Contemporarily, The Kardashians are another example: they’ve built a modern dynasty and know how to stick together that, business and managing the world’s best PR machine! It’s incredible how they’ve transitioned into a global sen sation Similarly, it is common to have f a m i l i e s s t r u g g l e a n d p e t t i n e s s between siblings if a strong maternal figure is absent

Have you ever wanted to pen as well as act in theatre and film?

I’d love to start m y o w n t h e a t r e company and have m y o w n p o p u p c o m m u n i t y w i t h its own collabora t i v e c u l t u r e I t would be so cre atively fulfilling to be able to write as well as act, and s h a r e t h a t w i t h friends! Maybe one day I will be able to have my own the atre company and a network of actors with whom I can expressly do this It is such a skill to be able to develop your own creative material

Your current project, television series, Moonhaven, is a unique futuristic sic fi: how did you prepare?

Being the envoy, I was put in the

Getting to know the cast and crew a n d w o r k i n g w i t h P e t e r O c k o f o r Moonhaven was incredible in terms of immersion into the world of the story It has its own vernacular and glossary of terms It was important to relay the body language of the culture We all got on so well offset too! That defi nitely elevated the chemistry that you see on screen

So, making a great film is about the product forever evolving until the very moment the cameras stop? Absolutely: everyone tries to do

Vara visits local business Superior Surfaces

Shailesh V ara MP recently v i si t ed Ra m s ey b as ed Superior Surfaces Ltd to see first hand how the business is run and to d iscu ss so me of the challenges it currently faces

p l e a s e d t o v i s i t S u p e r i o r Surfaces and meet with Mr D e n n i s a n d M r R e y n o l d s along with their team, and to see the various manufac turing techniques used by the company to create their

p o s i t i o n o f h a v i n g t o mediate cultures As if I w a s a w e l l m e a n i n g P r e s i d e n t t r y i n g t o bridge the gap between t w o v e r y d i f f e r e n t worlds while executing an agenda of what prin cipally needs to be done I felt Indira needed to have power, poise, com passion and grace This attempt to be successful is also where the cracks in my character in the s e r i e s b e g i n t o s h o w

Things do start to go wrong and make the pressure incredi bly high Every move is being scruti nised under the looking glass This is very resonant of progressive diplomat ic gambits today As a result, I did read Obama’s autobiography to prepare He’s a very cool customer! I did this for Miller when preparing to play her in Bloody Difficult Women too

better after each take

Finally, what might be some helpful advice to other up and coming actresses who really want to launch their career?

T h e r e ’ s s o m u c h i n v o l v e d ! E v e r y o n e ’ s u n i q u e a n d a d i f f e r e n t approach is required which is tough You do feel pressure to conform to accepted protocols and fulfil certain criteria but you need to stay true to your own style: that’s my advice Some successful actors have formally trained while others have not but no one comes to work in exactly the same way If we all did that, it would be bor ing We need to be diverse as people I love the idea of directors and studios commissioning a l t e r n a t i v e m u l t i f a r i o u s voices because those stories can really help the industry and content to evolve You c a n n e v e r p r e d i c t t h e flavour of the month and what’s trending can mean y o u g e t l u c k y H o w e v e r , a g a i n , l o n g e v i t y l i e s i n a w e l l r e c e i v e d t r a d e m a r k that stands the test of time Stay true to your own tastes a n d d e v e l o p t h e m ; t r u s t y o u r o w n i n s t i n c t s a f t e r gaining some experience in the acting business Cultivate a strong sense of s e l f t h a t i s p r o p e r l y p r o j e c t e d

Sometimes I even watch my own work back to teach myself and grow: it’s a pride in your own compass and indi viduality that colourfully translates across different performances T : @amarakaran

The company was set up in 2009 by managing direc tor Mr Sean Dennis and spe c i a l i s e s i n m a n u f a c t u r i n g surfaces for dental practices, and commercial spaces as w e l l a s f o r k i t c h e n s a n d b a t h r o o m s T h e c o m p a n y o v e r s e e s p r o j e c t s f r o m d e s i g n t o i n s t a l l a t i o n f o r both commercial and resi d e n t i a l c l i e n t s a n d a l s o m a n u f a c t u r e s c l i m b i n g walls for the leisure indus try

D u r i n g t h e v i s i t , M r V a r a a l s o m e t w i t h M r Dennis’s business colleague Mr Richard Reynolds, along with some of the company ’ s staff

Following the visit, Mr V a r a s a i d : “ I w a s v e r y

surfaces I was keen to hear about the different types of projects the company is cur r e n t l y u n d e r t a k i n g a s i t seeks to expand and discuss the challenges the business is currently encountering

Superior Surfaces is growing from strength to strength and it is very encouraging to s e e t h a t i t c o n t i n u e s t o invest in our economy and provide excellent local jobs ”

D e n n i s c o m m e n t e d : “We very much welcomed the recent visit to our busi ness premises from Mr Vara It was comforting to know that he was empathic with the challenges we currently face and supportive in the quest for governmental sup port ”

Manchester surgeon reunites with acid attack victim in Pakistan whom he healed

A M anchester su r g eo n h a s b een reunited w ith the w o m an w h o se face h e help ed to rebui ld fo llow i ng a h o rr i fi c ac i d attack in Pakistan

D r A s i m S h a h m a l a k , w h o w a s b o r n i n P a k i s t a n a n d t r a i n e d a s a d o c t o r t h e r e before moving to the UK, flew to Karachi for an emo tional reunion with Kanwal Qayyum, a mother of two She lost her nose after being doused with sulphuric acid by a jealous friend who did not want her to be an air hostess

Hair transplant surgeon Dr Shahmalak, from Crown Clinic next to Manchester A i r p o r t , w a s p a r t o f t h e team who have spent the past 11 years painstakingly rebuilding her face includ ing completely remodelling her nose with tissue from her thighs He created new eyelashes and new eyebrows for the 40 year old free of charge with hair extracted from her scalp

Dr Shahmalak, 61, best known for his work with

c e l e b r i t y h a i r t r a n s p l a n t c l i e n t s s u c h a s J a c k P Shepherd from Coronation Street, said: “Kanwal is one of the bravest women I have ever met It was wonderful to hear how she has rebuilt her life following the attack and is now working success fully in a textile company ”

The medic who was honoured by Prime Minister Boris Johnson two years ago with a Point of Light Award for his mercy missions help ing acid attack victims was a l s o r e u n i t e d w i t h N i a z Bano, 52, who lost her left eye after being pelted with acid disguised in a cup of tea in a row over her daughter's wedding Dr Shahmalak, a f a t h e r o f t w o , l i v e s i n C h e a d l e w i t h h i s w i f e R u b i n a , w h o i s a Manchester GP

Sunetra Senior

"Progress isn’t linear and it’s a tricky concept as society currently stands; we’ve taken steps both forwards and back"

AMARA KARAN

Richard Reynolds (far left), Shailesh Vara MP (centre), and Sean Dennis (third from right) with other members of staff

Niaz Bano with Dr Shahmalak in Karachi earlier this month where he is helping new patients attacked by acid

180 British Indian organisations write to UK PM

O v e r 1 80 Br i t i sh In d i a n O rga nisat ion s ha ve writ ten a n open le tt er to the auth or it ies see king prot ection fol l o wi n g t h e v i o le n ce in L eicester and Birmin gham In the open letter, the H i n d u o r g a n i s a t i o n s h a v e sought the British govern ment's intervention and pro tection as they feel they are being targeted and threat ened They have made six appeals, including provision

for sufficient security to the H i n d u c o m m u n i t y i n t h e short and long terms

“We write to draw your attention to the recent dis t u r b a n c e s i n L e i c e s t e r , B i r m i n g h a m a n d o t h e r t o w n s w h i c h h a v e g r e a t l y d i s t r e s s e d t h e I n d i a n a n d Hindu communities in the U K H a t r e d t o w a r d s t h e Hindu community is at an all time high, to the point where there has been open

Big swing in favour of the Conservatives

According to Teleg raph, a lo cal council by election in the once red strongho ld o f Leicester E ast h as seen a big sw in g i n fa v o u r of t h e Conservativ es

‘Thursday night’s elec tion of a city councillor for the North Evington ward, w h i c h r e c e n t l y w i t n e s s e d what the police described a s “ s e r i o u s d i s o r d e r ” f o l lowing skirmishes between g r o u p s o f M u s l i m a n d Hindus, saw Conservative c a n d i d a t e S a n j a y M o d h w a d i a s w e e p t h e board,’ it was reported

Modhwala has report edly championed the city’s textile factories and cam

p a i g n e d f o r a “ M a d e i n Leicester” brand He won with 3,441 votes, pushing Labour Party into third place on 1,563 behind the G r e e n s o n 1 , 7 9 0 T h i s i m p l i e s t h a t t h e L a b o u r share of the vote dropped b y s o m e 5 0 p e r c e n t a g e points It is being speculat ed that the people of this d e p r i v e d c o m m u n i t y a r e g e n u i n e l y f e d u p w i t h L a b o u r h a v i n g k e p t t h e a r e a d o w n f o r s o m a n y years This comes after the Leicester East constituen cy, represented by the MP C l a u d i a W e b b e w a s expelled from the Labour Party

Former Met officer says, voices have been silenced

A f o rm er se n i o r Metrop olitan Po lice officer fo ught back tears saying sh e h ad finally been “ vindicat e d” a s a dam ni ng rev ie w expo sed racism and mi sogy ny in the fo rce ’ s mi scondu ct p rocedu re R e t i r e d D e t e c t i v e S u p e r i n t e n d e n t S h a b n a m Chaudhri told the Standard: “I feel like crying I’m so gutted for female, black and minority officers forced out of the job they loved Their voices have been silenced “For decades, whistleblow ers like me suddenly found themselves under investiga tion or subject to perfor mance matters “ It was a thread throughout my 30 year career ”

Baroness Louise Casey heard concerns officers rais ing issues relating to racism, o t h e r d i s c r i m i n a t i o n a n d w r o n g d o i n g w e r e o f t e n l a b e l l e d t r o u b l e m a k e r s , which then led to unfair d i s c i p l i n a r y a c t i o n H e r damning report published f o u n d b l a c k o f f i c e r s a n d staff are 81 per cent more likely to be accused of mis conduct than their white colleagues Asian police are 55 per cent more likely

But there is “ no dispro portionality” in complaints that come from the mem b e r s o f t h e p u b l i c , s h e found Colleagues labelled Ms Chaudhri a “ race card, p o w e r c r a z y b i t c h ” a n d a “ B o u n t y ” , s h e c l a i m e d Within three days of her putting in an application to

become one of the Met’s first Asian detective super intendents, she was served w i t h a g r o s s m i s c o n d u c t notice

A n a n o n y m o u s c a l l e r claimed she hadn’t recorded h e r w o r k h o u r s p r o p e r l y a n d h a d b e e n f a l s i f y i n g entries on a computer sys t e m M s C h a u d h r i w a s cleared after a seven month i n v e s t i g a t i o n a n d g i v e n advice on using the “book ing on ” system “I was tar geted because I was Asian and female,” said the officer who retired in December 2 0 1 9 “ T h e y k n e w I w a s going for promotion ”

“I went on to be pro m o t e d b u t s o d i d t h o s e r a c i s t a n d m i s o g y n i s t i c cops That is why they don’t s a c k r o g u e o f f i c e r s T h e same people who condone that behaviour sit on disci p l i n a r y p a n e l s ” I n s p e c t o r

Andy George, president of the National Black Police Association, said: “It comes a s n o s u r p r i s e t o u s Members fail to see justice when they raise issues of discrimination

“We’re disappointed but hopeful things will change F o r m e , i t ’ s a l e a d e r s h i p i s s u e , n o t s c a p e g o a t i n g f r o n t l i n e o f f i c e r s o r ‘ b a d apples’ Unfortunately, the M e t h a v e a l l o w e d t h e boundaries to stray too far They have protected offi cers who let them down W e a r e l o s i n g t o o m a n y black officers who become jaded over time “

violence, intimidation, and a b u s e l e v e l l e d a t H i n d u s t h r o u g h p h y s i c a l a s s a u l t s , harassment on social media, and most recently through soft targeting in schools and t h e w o r k p l a c e , " t h e l e t t e r reads

M e a n w h i l e , C h a n n e l 4 h a s b e e n c r i t i q u e d f o r i t s b i a s e d r e p o r t i n g o f t h e H i n d u M u s l i m u n r e s t i n Leicester Members of the H i n d u c o m m u n i t y h a v e called out the channel for only interviewing one Hindu person (who wasn’t identi fied) to substantiate that the community has been scape g o a t e d T h e c h a n n e l h a s been allegedly criticised for ‘ethnic cleansing’

Is Truss in trouble?

U K Prim e M inister Liz Tru ss on M ond ay apolog ised for go ing "too far too fast" w ith reforms that trig gered eco nomic turm oil, but vow ed to re m ai n le ad e r d es p i te a series of hum iliating clim b do wns

" I d o w a n t t o a c c e p t responsibility and say sorry for the mistakes that have been made we went too far and too fast," she told the BBC However, she said that she was "completely com mitted to delivering for this country" despite questions over who was now in con trol of government policy Truss is under tremendous scrutiny post the sacking of Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as the government's massive tax cuts sparked financial

market turmoil Meanwhile, after Prince Charles couldn't h e l p r e m a r k i n g : d e a r , o h d e a r u p o n g r e e t i n g L i z

Truss, that made her a lame d u c k a t h o m e s e e i n g h e r centrepiece economic plan shot down in flames by the markets and her own MPs, forcing her to give the de facto role of the UK’s CEO to Tory rival Jeremy Hunt less than six weeks into the job, says Michael Day, Chief

She was humiliated on the world stage where her t r i c k l e d o w n e x p e r i m e n t was trashed by the US presi dent, Joe Biden

"Close allies are not sup posed to attack each other’s key domestic policies And it’s unthinkable that a US leader with the possible exception of Donald Trump would rubbish a British premier’s flagship policy "

Officials in Washington had already said they were on the lookout for any wider economic fallout from UK m a r k e t t u r m o i l , w i t h t h e possibility of inflation being stoked in the G7, ahead of Joe Biden’s blunt appraisal of Liz Truss’s mini Budget as a “mistake”

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Foreign Commentator

T H E S O C I A L E X C E L L E N C E O F

S A N T B H A G W A N T S A H E B J I ’ S A N O O P A M M I S S I O N

Visionary Gurudev Yogiji Ma ha raj, t he s a i n t l e ad e r o f t he Swami narayan se ct an d spi ritual w orld, recogni sed the ne ed of a new e ra i n the future, i niti ated his de ar youn g 'J ashubhai Saheb' to bec om e a monk in ordi nary garb, re cognis ing his s pi rit of l i v i n g a m o n k ’ s l i f e T h e un i q ue A n oo p a m m i s s i on h a s g r ow n a n d e xpanded a s a res ult of this ‘ A n o o p a m M i s s i o n ’ i s a s p i r i t u a l abode of pious karma yogis in the sense of nation building through spirituality, culture, harmony, health and education ' A n o o p a m ' m e a n s p e e r l e s s , s u p r e m e Anoopam Mission is the best place to k n o w a n d u n d t d t h supreme spirit of ‘ the incomparable s of devotion!

G u r u d e v Y o g

Maharaj recognize t h e v i t a l i t y o S a h e b j i a n d h i s e i g h t y o u n g f r i e n d s , w a s pleased with their service, dedicatio and devotion to Go and called them p a r t n e r s Y M a h a r a j ' s u n i m a i n c o m p a r a b l e i n this brahmin status of youth marked a revolutionary new beginning in the soci ety along the spiritual path More than 100 energetic youths who are educated, eager to know God and attain higher level, full of spirit and enthusiasm to worship following the messages of supe riors, have dedicated their lives at the feet of Saint Bhagavant Sahebji, acquired the precious qualities of monkhood and made their lives blessed

Incomparable Saints full of construc tive, selfless, unselfish qualities are culti vating the religious and national values while living in the society These sad hakas are doing excellent sadhana with the aim of keeping non attachment to all values of karma, virtue, position, hon our, skills, etc Also, every work and action, they are doing with the intention of pleasing the only L o r d i n t h e b e s t w a y P r a c t i t i o n e r s o f A n o o p a m Mission have worshiped Karma Yoga as prophesied by the 'Gita' i n f u s e d w i t h t h e a r o m a o knowledge, faith and service in t h e s u b l i m e c o n f l u e n c e o Karma and Bhakti In order to not become a burden on the society, they are actively engag ing their clan, living a self suffi c i e n t l i f e , l i v i n g f r u g a l l y a n d d e d i c a t i n g t h e i r r e m a i n i n g wealth to the spectrum of ser vices for the society

In spite of wearing cream colored pants, sky blue shirt and a symbol of Anoopam Mission on the pocket, the incomparable mission carried out by the saint with the intention of pleasing the Lord and Guru alone is inde scribable in the field of service activity

Wandered around the country and abroad as part of the ‘Anoopam Mission’, t h e y h a v e b e e n o r g a n i s i n g B h a j a n evenings, Mahapujas, Spiritual camps, P a d h r a m a n i s , C e l e b r a t i n g d e v o t i o n a l festivals with grandeur, Preserving spiri t u a l r i t e s a n d v a l u e s i n t h e s o c i e t y , Starting the excellent work of inculcat ing Sanskar in them through child and

youth camps thereby Creating a strong y o u t h s o c i e t y T h e y h a v e a l s o m a d e developmental contributions to family, society and nation As a result of which today in countries like India, America, E n g l a n d , A u s t r a l i a , C a n a d a , N e w Zealand, Singapore, etc , a society of young people and elders living a sincere, rule based, pure life is being prepared Especially the youth even though they lived abroad, they did the best devotional service, became friends with everyone, organized devotional celebrations, per formed services, stayed away from addic tions, and made life blessed by using their skills and abilities in the sense of devotion to God

Bhagwantsahebji! An parable transcendent u, who has the pres ce of God in himself! n e w h o s p e n t 8 3 ears of life for wel fare In this unique life of Sant Bhagwant Sahibji, the heart of h i s G u r u Y o g i j i Maharaj revealed that, God do good to all!' e p i n g t h e s p i r i t o f seva e Prabhuseva' at nter, the organization d educational services in the places of Nadiad, Mogri, Dhari, Shinay, Vemar etc in Gujarat, in which children can get all round development, simple and excellent knowledge at a very minimal cost

E s t a b l i s h e d M i t r a P u n a r v a s a n K e n d r a , a l e a d s c h o o l f o r M e n t a l l y

Challenged and Special needed mentally retarded children which doing invalu able work to make mentally challenged children self reliant This is the first cen ter in Anand and one of the best centers in the state for children with disabilities l i k e c e r e b r a l p a l s y , a u t i s m , e p i l e p s y , down syndrome and mental retardation These saints have also imparted their devotion to society by providing training to become self reliant by establishing a School and college in Dhari Village of

healthy delivery through a combination of creative activities, prayer and spiritual blocks with guidance from expert coun selors, a nutritious diet, yoga practice, prayer and spiritual blocks in a comfort able environment and location

‘Computer Aided Training Centre’ to g i v e v o c a t i o n a l t r a i n i n g a n d "Information Technology Center" pro viding advanced computer education and keeping pace with the modern era, have been established Also, to enable students and art lovers with best train i n g i n t h e f i e l d o f a r t s ' S a h j a n a n d

d i a g n o s i s o f v a r i o u s b a s i c d i s e a s e s through public communication, neces s a r y t r e a t m e n t a n d p r e c a u t i o n s a n d spreading the service to the remotest man After starting with serving around 80,000 needy/underprivileged peoples from 132 villages, Anoopam Sanjeevani H e a l t h A w a r e n e s s ( A s h a ) P r o j e c t , a unique mission driven initiative dedi c a t e d t o t h e t r i b a l c o m m u n i t y , h a s adopted more than 35 villages for sanita tion, health, education and social uplift ment Under this project, regular eye, dental, special disease screening camps are organized and diagnostic services are provided The children are given guidance on basic hygiene along with he support of education, uniforms, extbooks, notebooks etc Midwives a r e t r a i n e d t o p r o v i d e e m e r g e n c y delivery services in inaccessible loca ions Medicines are distributed and he needy are also distributed food grains, clothes, shoes and other things Devoted Saints of Anoopam Mission, elfless volunteers are the precious asset of this Asha Project

T h e m i s s i o n v o l u n t e e r s S e r v e d drought and earthquake victims in the country and abroad through emergen cy relief and rehabilitation schemes, houldered with the victims of natural calamities and provided water, food, clothing, medicine and shelter, adopt ed and educated children who had lost h e i r p a r e n t s ' u m b r e l l a L o n g t e r m plans for settlement have also been carried out

In the year 2001, there was a terri ble earthquake in Kutch, Gujarat, and countless children were orphaned For many of these children Sant Bhagwant Saheb established an ashram at Shinay v i l l a g e n e a r A d i p u r i n K u t c h

Kalasadhana Tirtha’ imparts training in s i n g i n g , d a n c i n g a n d p l a y i n g i n s t r u ments Thus, the Anoopam mission has become a special medium working right from the baby in the womb to making the child a knowledgeable human

Anoopam Mission has done this chari able service to make these children trong and enabled orphans to take a prominent position in the society by giving them education, making their employment arrangements and getting them married

Provided Health wise and scholar ship based financial assistance to the poor and backward caste children of the motherland Care of senior citizens, environment enrichment, water conser vation programs and pan camps etc are excellent examples of service oriented approach of incomparable practitioners Inculcating culture in youth, making them free of addiction and bad compa ny and thereby building a healthy and strong society not only in India, but also in America, England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and across the globe

Santbhagwant Saheb's far reaching vision has led to unparalleled mission activities at home and abroad, perpetu ated by the 'Sri Swaminarayan Adhyatm, Sanskrutik and Samajik Seva Kendra'

Amreli district for promoting female education

'Amma Tapovan Kendra' is a newly added invaluable aspect in the various service activities of Anoopam Mission A unique mission driven ‘Garbha Sanskara and Child Counseling Centr’ Founded by Saints of Anoopam Mission The cen ter provides services to enable the birth of a bright and healthy baby through a

Not in the sense of getting rich but for the devotion to god, these followers started health services in various places, in which they dedicated themselves to save mankind from pain thereby provid ing them a healthy life Also, in the b a c k w a r d , i n l a n d , h i l l y v i l l a g e s o f Narmada district where no health edu cation has reached, mobile clinic vans h a v e p r o v i d e d a w a r e n e s s a b o u t t h e

All this has happened, continues to happen, and will continue to do so unceasingly Not egoism but dedication for others is the sainthood of Saint Bhagavant Sahibji The value of the wel fare of all that came into the relation ship flows through the hearts of Sant Bhagwant Sahibji and his saints This exalted spirit of Santbhagwant Sabji is the quality of God and that is why, in His interaction and relationship, the supreme peace of the universe is felt!

Shri Aksharpurushottam Maharaj and H i s D i v i n e E s s e n c e H o l d e r

Santbhagwant Sahebji are the lifeblood, the base of the Saints and Devotees of Anoopam Mission

Anupam Mission’s founder Saints, who are especially blessed and graced by Gurudev Yogiji Maharaj

Anoopam Mission

A U M A N T Y E S H T I S A N S K A R B H A W A N

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D E N H A M : F I R S T ‘ M U K T I D H A M ’ F O R T H E H I N D U S I N T H E E N T I R E E U R O P E A N C O N T I N E N T

Anoopam

Sampradaya (s

engaged

appealed to all on this occasion to pre serve Indian culture and identity

whose patronage is Santbhagwant Sahebji , the

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disciple of Brahmas waroop Yogi

saint traditi

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Gujarat, Anoopam Mission operates

eral centers around the world Anoopam Mission Charitable Trust was registered in England in 1978 AD Since then, he has been contributing to social service through many spiritual and service activ ities Now, the first ‘Muktidham’ for the Hindus in the entire European continent realized with the help and cooperation of the entire Hindu community under the inspiration of Sant Bhagwant Sahebji i n E n g l a n d , t h e a c t i v i t y o f ‘ A u m A n t y e s h t i S a n s k a r B h a w a n ’ i s h i g h l y beneficial for all Hindus

The last of the sixteen sacraments in I n d i a n S a n a t a n a c u l t u r e A n t y e s h t i Sanskara is of great scientific and cul t u r a l i m p o r t a n c e A c c o r d i n g t o t h e funeral rites, only after the human body dissolves into the ash through crema tion, the soul departs on the great path According to that belief, in the Hindu tradition, after the death of a human being, the body is cremated by perform ing the funeral rites

Till now there was no facility or place for Hindus to perform the cremation rit ual in England and the entire European continent, but due to the long standing e f f o r t s o f t h e H i n d u S a m a j a n d t h e determination and blessings of the spiri tual head of Anoopam Mission, Guruhari Santbhagwant Sahibji, now the sacred and beautiful green ground of Anoopam Mission located in Danham in England, f i r s t H i n d u S a n s k a r d h a m A n t y e s h t i Sanskar Bhawan will be realized

In India, such sanskardhams are usu ally located on the banks of rivers or in the sanctum sanctorum of some temples o r a s h r a m s , s i m i l a r l y i n E n g l a n d ' Antyeshti Sanskar Bhavan have been for more than forty years on the holy land sanctified by the feet of many saints, m a h a n t s , g r e a t s o u l s o f S h r e e A k s h a r p u r s h o t a m S w a m i n a r a y a n Temple which nurtures the faith of the f u n e r a l r i t e s f o r t h e d e v o t e e s o f a l l Hindu, Jain, Sikh etc

The newly constructed funeral home will have all the facilities and space for

y y, y ceremony can be performed in a scrip tural manner according to faith and rules This Mukti Dham will also have facilities such as waiting room, prayer r o o m , a d v a n c e d c r e m a t i o n m a c h i n e , shrine, prasad griha, car and bus parking etc On July 15, 2022, the place where Muktidham is to be constructed in the s a c r e d p r e m i s e s o f B r a h m a j y o t i a t Denham, will become endowed with a beautiful variety of worship of the land O n t h a t o c c a s i o n m e m b e r s o f t h e Parliament of England, leading digni taries, members of the Council and great saints will Attend in large numbers at this worship ceremony

Recently in the month of August from 16th to 21st in the presence of Sant Bhagavant Param Pujya Sahibji, Saints and future devotees of England in large numbers Shrimad Bhagwat week was also organized beautifully A large num ber of devotees came to Tapobhumi B r a h m a j y o t i i n D e n h a m , E n g l a n d t o r e a d t h e S h r i m a d B h a g w a t K a t h a o f Reverend Pujya Bhupendrabhai Pandyaji and became aware of the services of Anoopam Mission and the social service work of Antyeshti Sanskardham

p

, Foundation laying ceremony was per f

Muktas from across the UK, including 108

couples, took part in the foun dation stone puja Hon'ble Shri Venkaiah Naidu (Former Vice President of India, Shri Poll Schully (local minister), Shri

Reshamsingh Sandhu offered prayers at the feet of Shri Waheguruji on behalf of all

Then Shri Gopichand Hinduja of Hinduja Foundation expressed happi ness and expressed interest to cooperate in construction work

The Minister of Local Government Mr Paul Scully expressed his gratitude

appreciated the effort for the vision of ' Antyeshti Sanskar Bhavan'

Sant Bhagwant Saheb ji blessed and talked about the concept and history of 'Antyeshti Sanskar Bhawan' and thanked all those who joined and cooperated in the service of construction and realiza tion of this Bhawan

Everyone felt blessed to have the opportunity to be present on this divine occasion and showed enthusiasm and determination to work with them for the timely completion of the construction of 'Antyeshti Sanskar Bhawan'

With the blessings and inspiration of Sant Bhagwant Saheb Ji, the historic foundation stone laying ceremony of E u r o p e ' s f i r s t s t a t e o f t h e a r t

Mukitdham Antyeshti Sanskar Bhavan, dedicated to the service of the entire s o c i e t y , w a s h e l d o n W e d n e s d a y , 3 1 A u g u s t 2 0 2 2 , i n t h e h o l y l a n d o f Brahmajyoti, Anoopam Mission UK In the august presence of Sant Bhagwant Sahebji and Respected Sadguru Param Pujya Shantidada and in the presence of the best of UK, dignitaries, members of

Acharya Saints along with Sadguru respected Manojdasji, in the form of Pradhanacharya, conducted the entire Shilanayas Pooja with great devotion explaining the meaning of each ritual, action and block through the medium of Gujarati, Sanskrit, Hindi and English whenever required Before the construc tion of ' Antyeshti Sanskar Bhavan' or during the construction of this land, if the plants, insects or animals etc biolog ical elements are damaged, they will be better off with the price of forgiveness and new birth This pooja was performed with the intention of praying for the aus piciousness of the souls to have a better rebirth

India’s past Vice President Hon'ble Mr Venkaiah Naidu on the occasion addressed appreciated the services done

scheme has been initiated by Anoopam Mission so that everyone can participate in the service of this ancestor By serving with the bricks used in the construction of this Mukti Dham co operation was given by the dignitaries Hindu, Jain, Sikh etc All Hindu society has cooperated In the holy memory of their relatives and for the overall welfare of their loved ones, everyone has willingly joined in this mourning

Everyone is feeling blessed to have cooperated in the historical and socially

‘Sanskardham’, which is the most mem orable gift for the elders and future gen erations in Europe! If the leaders and fol lowers of all the Hindu sects living in Europe are united and committed to the preservation of Hindu rites and tradi tions, then this great work will be possi ble at the right time

So, first of all, let us do our duty by d o n a

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funeral home! When we are given the opportunity to be blessed by providing service in such charitable work, let us support it in every way!

chief

guests Besides, Shri Lord Dollar Popat, S h

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Veerendra Sharma (M P ), Ms Seema Malhotra (M P ), Mr Rajesh Aggarwal (Deputy Mayor of London), Mr Onkar Sahota (Speaker of London Assembly), Mr C B Patel ('Gujarat Samachar', UK) accompanied by local councillors and representatives of Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities

by Anoopam Mission and offered bless

Saints and devotees laying the historic foundation stone of Aum Antyeshti Sanskar Bhavan

Chief hosts and dignitaries with Sahebji in Nidhikumbha Puja

Acharyas and devotees in Shilanyasa Mahapujan Ceremony

Government is truly committed to securing FTA with India: Conservative Party Chair

Rupanjana Dutta and Shefali Saxena

A s Britain fears the po ssibility of a snap election soo n, th e country’s socio economic rev ival has becom e m o re im p ortant th an ev er T h e C o ns erv ati v e P ar ty it s rec en t d ecisio n to elect Liz T russ o ver Rish i Sunak as th eir lead er and therefore the U K’s Prim e Minister h as co me u nder sev ere s cru tiny after the current Cabinet success f u ll y ‘ w r ec ke d ’ th e ec o no m y T h o u g h p o l ls h a v e p red ic te d L abour P arty com ing into po wer in t h e n ex t ro u n d o f el ec ti o ns , C onservative Party C hairman Jake B erry in an exc lu si v e int erv i ew w it h t h e A si a n Vo i c e, s ai d h e believes that no one can beat them a nd t h ei r “ l o ca l c o m m u n it y engagem ents”

He further spoke about divisive politics, his party’s strength and r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h t h e e t h n i c minorities and the much anticipat ed UK India FTA

The Conservativ es hav e been through a lot lately With th e ch ange of lead ership and d em ands for massiv e crisis management, as P arty Ch airman, how do you man age to keep the sp irits of the party m em b ers h i g h in ch a ll eng in g times?

A lot has changed in the past month, we have a new King and a new Prime Minister But what has n’t changed is the task at hand Next year we have our next elec toral challenge, the local elections in May This will be a crucial part of our journey towards our collec tive success at the next General Election

In order for us to win those elections and replace those seats w e p r e v i o u s l y l o s t , w e n e e d t o d e l i v e r , d e l i v e r f o r t h e w h o l e nation We are re energising com munities and recognising that tal ent, drive and enthusiasm exist across the whole of the UK

But there is always more to do That is why we are committed to delivering on the levelling up mis s i o n i n a C o n s e r v a t i v e w a y H o w e v e r , I a m n o t j u s t t h e C h a i r m a n f o r t h e N o r t h e r n Conservatives, I am Chairman for t h e w h o l e c o u n t r y a n d l o o k i n g southwards, we are making great progress in ensuring it remains the powerhouse that it is

What is your vision for th e party as the new Chairm an?

It is a tremendous privilege to Chair the most successful and old est political party in the world

Our main aim is to prepare for the General Election, with many e l e c t o r a l c h a l l e n g e s a r o u n d t h e corner before we get there

If we are to ensure that this c o u n t r y r e m a i n s f r e e f r o m t h e scourge of socialism, we simply cannot afford to be divided Now is the time for the whole party and country to unite firmly behind the Prime Minister’s leadership so we can focus on delivering for the nation Tackling the serious chal lenges the country faces and pro v i d i n g t h e i m m e d i a t e s u p p o r t needed in the months ahead

P a r t o f m y v i s i o n i n c l u d e s engaging with diverse communi t i e s w h i c h i n c l u d e t h e B r i t i s h Indian community where we have made huge strides This was even

reflected in this year ’ s local elec tions, where Harrow home to one of the largest British Indian populations in the UK bucked the trend and turned blue in the local elections Harrow was the only council that the Conservatives gained across the country and it was evident that the British Indian vote won it for us

What role according to yo u do es the Sou th Asian d iasp o ra play in the British socio po litical econom y?

T h e B r i t i s h A s i a n d i a s p o r a makes a tremendous contribution to our economy Considering that British Asians make up a small per centage of the total population, their contribution to the UK’s GDP is beyond compare And it's not just their economic contribution, but their rich contribution to all walks of life from business, science, p r o f e s s i o n a l s e r v i c e s , m e d i c i n e , m e d i a a n d e v e n a r o u n d o u r Cabinet table in politics

I have witnessed this first hand i n m y c o n s t i t u e n c y , w h e r e t h e shared values of the British Asian c o m m u n i t y a r e e v i d e n t T h e i r commitment to hard work, educa tion, family and enterprise very much conservative values is truly inspiring

T h e C o ns er v at iv e p ar ty bo a s ts o f m any m em ber s from ethnic m inorities in piv otal ro les Wh at is yo ur take on issues and areas of concern for the com munity, especially subtle and insti tu tional racism as well as health disparities?

I am immensely proud of the C o n s e r v a t i v e P a r t y ’ s r e c o r d o n diversity We have the most diverse Cabinet on record, and I am glad that we keep building on our diver s i t y T h e r e a s o n w h y t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e s a r e s o s u c c e s s f u l w h e n i t c o m e s t o d i v e r s i t y i s because we focus on talent and meritocracy while breaking down any barriers

When it comes to racism there is no room for prejudice of any kind in our Party Our recently updated Code of Conduct means that discrimination can be called out and acted upon quickly I am p a s s i o n a t e a b o u t c h a m p i o n i n g equality of opportunity for all

In contrast, Labour still has a very masked view when it comes to diversity This was evident by the vile slurs made by a Labour MP on Kwasi Kwarteng last month Ho w crucial will the ethnic minority vote (if at all) be in the next general el ectio ns in th e UK ?

All votes are equally important However, as a Party, we have made a consolidated effort in engaging w i t h d i v e r s e c o m m u n i t i e s W e

want everyone to benefit from our policies which is why we are deter mined to extend our outreach Our Friends of Groups, Councillors and dedicated members are instrumen tal in helping us engage with com munities

L abour p arty ch ief Sir Keir S t arm er h as o f l ate b ee n indulging and interacting with th e d iaspo ra by em bracing its cultural festivals to perhaps streng then th e v ote bank for L abour How would the C onserv atives d o it differently?

It’s great to see Labour finally e n g a g e w i t h t h e B r i t i s h I n d i a n community They’ve done more visits in the last week than they’ve d o n e i n a d e c a d e ! H o w e v e r , a tokenistic visit is not enough

We have been engaging with communities for many years not just at election time We are build ing on our engagement to make it m e a n i n g f u l v i s i t i n g t o r e a l l y understand issues that communi ties face, and empowering civic duty

I am also grateful for the sup port of so many champions in our Party who have helped bridge the g a p b e t w e e n t h e P a r t y a n d t h e B r i t i s h I n d i a n c o m m u n i t y T h i s i n c l u d e s D o l a r P o p a t , S a n d y V e r m a , R a m i R a n g e r a n d J i t e s h Gadhia who have devoted so many y e a r s t o e x t e n d i n g e n g a g e m e n t with the British Indian community

I am also grateful for the sup p o r t o f o r g a n i s a t i o n s l i k e t h e Conservative Friends of India the largest affiliate group of the Conservative Party The leader ship of Ameet Jogia and Reena Ranger has been instrumental in strengthening our outreach with the British Indian diaspora and India

Y o ur s t a te m en t , "P eo pl e know that when their bills arrive, they c an either cut their consumption or they c an get a higher salary, higher wages, go out there and get that new j ob " didn't go down well wi th the general public Do you s tand by this or i n retrospect you would frame it dif ferently?

A s I m e n t i o n e d b e f o r e , t h e language I used in the interview was clumsy and I regret it The point I was trying to make, as part of a much longer interview, is that the Government needs to go for g r o w t h t o e n s u r e t h a t w e c a n grow the economy and that the whole of Britain can get a pay rise

The motivation for me and t h i s G o v e r n m e n t i s t o c r e a t e growth in the economy, to create m o r e h i g h l y p a i d s e c u r e j o b s That’s why the government is cre ating growth Ambition and aspi ration are not a bad thing, this is not just some academic exercise

With your H ome Sec retary attacki ng India directly, and now UK I ndi a FTA j eopardised, how will your party under your esteemed leaders hip damage con trol?

Suella Braverman is an excel l e n t a n d h a r d w o r k i n g H o m e S e c r e t a r y w h o s e c o m m e n t s a r o u n d i m m i g r a t i o n h a v e b e e n taken out of context and used to make her a scapegoat The govern ment is truly committed to secur ing a Free Trade Agreement with India It would be our biggest ever FTA, one that will reflect our his toric, natural bond with India

Suella in her role as Home Secretary is naturally focused on m a n a g i n g i m m i g r a t i o n T h e Indian authorities have dismissed reports that her comments have

been harmful Y our party has also been ac cused of dividing the Hi ndu and Muslim voters, pinning them against each other, to win elections H ow do you plan to change this notion?

A b s o l u t e l y n o t I t w a s t h e Labour Party who have a history o f d i v i s i v e p o l i t i c s , p a r t i c u l a r l y with their anti Modi/India leaflet issued during the Batley & Spen by election last year I am com mitted to steering away from any kind of divisive politics that includes addressing the commu n i t y t e n s i o n s w e w i t n e s s e d i n Leicester

However, it is important to acknowledge the concerns of vari o u s c o m m u n i t i e s F o r m a n y Hindus, it was the first time that m a n y f e l t u n s a f e i n p r a c t i s i n g their faith in Britain something which goes against everything we stand for Here in the UK, we are a proud country of religious free dom, but many communities who h a v e s t r i v e d t o i n t e g r a t e i n t o m a i n s t r e a m l i f e a n d w h o a r e proud to be British are feeling i n c r e a s i n g l y i s o l a t e d a n d v i c timised It is important to recog n i s e c o n c e r n s a b o u t a r i s e i n H i n d u p h o b i a a n d w h a t t h a t means for the community

D o y ou th i nk t he Conservative party is ready to defeat Labour in the next gen eral elec tions?

Y e s , w e h a v e a p r o v e n t r a c k r e c o r d o f w i n n i n g e l e c t i o n s a n d engaging with local communities Just last week, despite the polls, we w o n a h i s t o r i c b y e l e c t i o n i n Leicester and took a seat off Labour It shows how on the ground the message of the Conservatives is one that truly resonates with voters up and down the country

D I W A L I A T L O R D ' S

Diwali celebrations took place in th e historic Lo ng Room at Lord’s on Wed nesday 12th October Th e focus was on bringing the m eaning of Diwali to life with colourful cultural performances The Aarti also took place during the ev ent

Attendees included the Indian High Commissioner, Mr Vikram K Doraiswami and his wife, cricketers Ravi Bopara and Samit Patel, while Sunrise Radio presenter Anushka A r o r a h o s t e d t h e e v e n i n g E C B

Chair Richard Thompson, Director of Strategy, Vikram Banerjee and C h i e f D i v e r s i t y a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n s O f f i c e r , K a t e Miller were among the speakers

From right: English cricketer Ravi Bopara, Director of Strategy ECB, Vkram Banerjee, and Sunrise Radio presenter Anushka Arora

Camilla set to evade Koh i Noor crown

Queen Camilla might give a pass to th e crown mo unted with th e co nt ro v er s ia l K o h i N o o r d i a mo nd at the co ronation

Buckingham Palace officials are believed to be reconsidering a plan for the Queen Consort to use the crown made for the last Queen Mother as India’s rul ing party warned it would bring back “painful memories of the colonial past”

With the need to avoid giving offence, the Palace is trying to balance royal tradition and spec tacle

Palace insiders insisted that no decision had been made

However, a source close to the Queen Consort said: “I would h a v e t h o u g h t t h e y w o u l d e r r towards keeping India happy The p r i o r i t y i s t h e C o m m o n w e a l t h these days, and diversity

Those are the two very impor tant things going on ”

Another source said: “They will be seeing how choppy the waters get, they will be gauging the reaction ”

“There is heightened sensitiv ity about wanting to get through the first weeks and months of the reign without trouble They may decide it is not a fight worth hav ing,” the source said

Jake Berry

Distinguished guests and ECB staff members Back row, third from right: High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami

From left: English cricketer Samit Patel; Chief Diversity and Communications Officer ECB, Kate Miller

B R E A S T C A N C E R A W A R E N E S S

Understand the barriers within parts of our community

Kreen a is a B rea st C anc e r t h ri v er , d ia g no s ed w it h

Breast Cancer in 20 13 , w ho is writing her first book on h e r j o u r ney S h e i s an activ ist in th e So uth Asian c o m m u n i ty, a M o th e r o f four child ren born th roug h S u r ro g a cy an d an a m ba s sa d o r f o r E s tée L au d er C o m p an ie s U K & I re la nd Bre as t C anc er C am p a ig n He re ’ s o ur e xc lu s i v e in ter v i ew w it h K reena

At what age do you think women must start learning to examine themselves for Breast cancer?

I b e l i e v e t h a t s e l f c h e c k i n g a n d b e i n g

c o m f o r t a b l e w i t h o u r breasts must start from a young age Currently, within s o m e p a r t s o f o u r c o m m u n i t y , c o n v e r s a t i o n s around a woman's body only r e a l l y b e g i n w h e n a g i r l starts her period, and all too o f t e n t h o s e c o n v e r s a t i o n s are not held in a positive light By that, I mean that we are often told that having o u r p e r i o d s m a k e s u s unclean and as a result, we are not permitted to go close to places of worship

T h a t c o n d i t i o n i n g c a n lead to a detachment from our bodies and all that is n a t u r a l a b o u t t h e m P e r s o n a l l y , I t e l l m y o w n daughter aged 4 where her 'boobies' are and allow her

to watch me self check so that it becomes part of her normality; I think that is key, not defining an actual a g e b u t e n s u r i n g t h a t c h i l d r e n o r y o u n g a d u l t s within our community are educated in the right way to m a k e i t a p a r t o f t h e i r healthcare routine

What keeps south Asian women from addressing issues like Breast Cancer?

T h i s i s s u c h a t o u g h q u e s t i o n , i f i t c o u l d b e a n s w e r e d w i t h i n a f e w s e n t e n c e s t h e n o u r w o r k here would be done The reality is that this is a hugely complex space, one where r e l i g i o n , c u l t u r e , l a n g u a g e a n d e d u c a t i o n p l a y a b i g

Police using hotel and taxi companies to rescue children from drugs gangs

To rescue childr en t hat a re g r o o me d by d r u g g a n g s , po li ce ar e usi ng t ax i an d h ot e l c o m pa n i e s t o h e lp in t e r c e pt , a s e n io r po li ce officer ha s said

D e p u t y a s s i s t a n t commissioner and National P o l i c e C h i e f ’ s C o u n c i l county lines lead Graham M c N u l t y t o l d T h e I n d e p e n d e n t t h a t f o r c e s w o r k w i t h t h e f i r m s training them in identifying v u l n e r a b l e y o u n g p e o p l e who may be travelling alone to sell drugs He added that f o l l o w i n g c r a c k d o w n s b y

transport police and train g u a r d s , d r u g g a n g s a r e m o v i n g a w a y f r o m grooming children as young as 10 years old

A s p a r t o f S c o t l a n d Y a r d ’ s “ c o u n t y l i n e s intensification week", more t h a n 2 3 0 s u s p e c t s h a v e b e e n a r r e s t e d a n d £ 4 million worth of drugs has been seized

County lines the term refers to the use of mobile p h o n e s u s e d t o s u p p l y drugs from large cities to towns and rural areas is a s y s t e m o f “ l i n e h o l d e r s ”

w h o a r e i n c h a r g e a n d “ runners ” who are used to deliver them

T h e i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n w e e k s a w m o r e c o u n t y lines shut down than ever b e f o r e , w i t h m o r e t h a n 1 , 3 0 0 a r r e s t s , o v e r £ 2 7 million worth of class A and class B drugs seized, and 172 lines “ now dead”

A c c o r d i n g t o p o l i c e data, the number of “live l i n e s ” t h a t w e r e i n o p e r a t i o n s i n c e 2 0 1 8 h a s m o r e t h a n h a l v e d , f r o m 2 , 0 0 0 t o a r o u n d 6 0 0 o r 700

London mega-mansion last sold for £210m back on the market

U l t ra w ea l th y o ve rs e as i nve s t o rs h o p i ng t o t ak e a d va nt age o f t h e s l u m p i ng p ound, are ci rcling L ond on ’ s mos t expensi ve home fo r sale, H omes & Property has been to ld

The interest in the mega mansion, which last sold for a record £210 million in 2020 is said to have increased in the past fortnight, largely from U S a n d M i d d l e E a s t b a s e d investors, who have seen their b u y i n g p o w e r b o o s t e d b y

sterling’s tumble T h e d a y b e f o r e Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax slashing September mini Budget, a dollar was worth 89p but this rose to 93p just a f e w d a y s l a t e r a s m a r k e t s r e a c t e d t o f e a r s o v e r government borrowing This would save a dollar buyer £8 4 m i l l i o n o n a £ 2 1 0 m i l l i o n home

A c c o r d i n g t o s o m e industry insiders, this has led t o a r u s h o f i n t e r e s t f r o m

overseas investors

Two and a half years ago, t h e 2 0 b e d r o o m m e g a mansion, overlooking Hyde Park, was sold to a private b u y e r r e p o r t e d b y t h e Financial Times to be Hui Ka Y a n , f o u n d e r o f C h i n e s e d e v e l o p e r g i a n t E v e r g r a n d e and once China’s richest man

H o w e v e r , n o w w i t h E v e r g r a n d e s t r i c k e n b y China’s property crisis, it is believed that the home is back on the market

Labour suspends MP amid investigation

A mid an i nvestigati on into b ul l yi n g a c c u s a t i on s , a f o r m e r L a b ou r f r o n tb en c he r h a s b e en s us pended from the party

C h r i s t i n a R e e s w a s s h a d o w W e l s h s e c r e t a r y u n d e r J e r e m y C o r b y n a s party leader The Guardian r e p o r t e d t h a t s h e w a s s u s p e n d e d a f t e r c o n s t i t u e n c y s t a f f m a d e complaints

She will join Corbyn as a n i n d e p e n d e n t i n t h e Commons There are now 1 4 M P s s i t t i n g a s independents

Rees said: “There has b e e n a c o m p l a i n t m a d e

against me to the Labour Party which is u n d e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n , and I am therefore under a n a d m i n i s t r a t i v e s u s p e n s i o n u n t i l t h e process is concluded I’m not aware of the details of the complaint but I am fully c o o p e r a t i n g w i t h t h e investigation ”

S h e w a s p r e v i o u s l y married to Ron Davies, the former Welsh secretary and t h e a r c h i t e c t o f W e l s h devolution

In October 1998, Davies resigned from Tony Blair’s cabinet after admitting to a “moment of madness” with

a Rastafarian stranger he h a d m e t o n C l a p h a m Common

The couple separated in 1999 and later divorced

I n 2 0 1 5 , R e e s w a s e l e c t e d a n d b e f o r e b e c o m i n g s h a d o w W e l s h s e c r e t a r y h a d b e e n a shadow justice minister

Despite supporting Sir Keir Starmer to be Labour l e a d e r , R e e s w a s o u s t e d from the frontbench after Starmer replaced Corbyn in 2020

A spokeswoman for the Labour Party said: “We do not comment on individual complaints

role We need to understand the barriers within parts of our community, we need to u n d e r s t a n d w h e r e s h a m e l i v e s a n d w h y i t o c c u r s What role does systemic bias h a v e a n d h o w c a n w e overcome it?

Please tell us about your quest with Breast Cancer

W h e n I w a s f i r s t d i a g n o s e d w i t h B r e a s t Cancer I was 33 years old I was completely unaware of the signs and symptoms of this disease and the fact that i t o c c u r r e d i n y o u n g w o m e n M y o w n g r a n d m o t h e r h a d b e e n through Breast Cancer twice but as a family we never spoke of that time or learnt to self check, if we had, my own story may have been different After a period of my own shame, I decided to turn my journey around and

use it to create some good I r e a l i s e d t h a t t h e r e w a s power in vulnerability and learnt that by sharing my s t o r y , I c o u l d h e l p o t h e r women just like me

How supportive were your family and social peers?

I had such fear when it came to sharing my story, I thought I would be judged, I thought I would be blamed a n d I w o u l d l o s e f r i e n d s , family and everything I held close The reality is that I did lose some of that, that there were lots of people who had no idea how to support me so they chose to stay away I wished I had more support and that perceptions were different, but they were not I did however have a small but incredible support team that was there for me every step of the way It was their support that got me through and their positive attitude that helped me realise that anyone in our community could offer that, all that was needed was the removal of fear and the introduction of education and hope

What is your most significant learning from your own experience?

The learning from back then that I still carry with m e n o w i s t h e l e s s o n o f acceptance and belief Once I accepted Breast Cancer, I

found it easier to live and l e a r n f r o m i t O n c e I a c c e p t e d t h a t t h i s experience was happening the easier it became to look for the good in it The more I stopped being angry with cancer the easier it was to hold on to hope and faith and believe that I would find a l i f e w i t h a n d b e y o n d Cancer That is the lesson that brought me here and to m y w o r k w i t h T h e E s t é e L a u d e r C o m p a n i e s B r e a s t Cancer Campaign

What do you wish more women knew about Breast Cancer?

I wish people knew more a b o u t t h e s i g n s a n d symptoms of Breast Cancer I wish women, particularly South Asian women, didn't perceive it to be the shame filled death sentence that it is often believed to be I wish there were more stories of hope from my community, m o r e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , a n d m o r e a w a r e n e s s s o t h a t w o m e n f r o m m y c o m m u n i t y d i d n ' t f e e l s o a l o n e T h a t ’ s w h y I ’ m s o proud to be an Ambassador f o r T h e E s t é e L a u d e r C o m p a n i e s U K & I B r e a s t Cancer Campaign, to help reach my community and give them a permanent voice i n t h e b r e a s t c a n c e r discourse

Dear Financial Voice Reader, Alpesh Patel

W ell you ’ ve learnt something i mportant the markets determi ne your mortgage and pension Got it? I t’ s one reason I have my campai gn to teach a million people to be better i nves tors on www c ampaignforamillion com

You may have missed the name of an important British I n d i a n i n t h e C h a n c e l l o r ’ s e m e r g e n c y s t a t e m e n t o n Monday

He mentioned a hedge fund manager who would join his new Council of Advisors This makes sense given that the markets fought His Majesty’s Treasury and First Lady of the Treasury Truss and the markets won The Treasury did not realise how markets, specifically bond markets would react

So let me explain them to you Oh, that name Sushil Wadhwani

And it’s the UK and US facing this problem

The bond market had a turbulent week, with yields on the 10 year Treasury note (a loan to the US Government) reaching their highest level since 2014 Remember the way a bond works (it’s a loan with a fixed interest rate) is that as the price of the bond drops, then it’s effective yield goes up You’re Indian, think of it as a property paying a fixed rental income per annum If the price of the property drops, the yield goes up

This volatility is being closely watched by investors as they try to gauge its impact on the stock market

Some believe that the sell off in bonds is a sign that stocks are headed for a correction, while others argue that it's simply a healthy rotation out of low yielding assets and into riskier investments

So what should investors make of all this? Here's a closer look at what's going on in the bond market, and what it could mean for stocks

What is causing the bond market turbulenc e?

Former finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng's “mini b u d g e t ” a n n o u n c e m e n t o n S e p 2 3 s e n t s h o c k w a v e s through the bond market

The U K government's plans to increase spending and borrowing to fund a post Brexit economic recovery sent yields on 10 year gilts soaring to their highest level since June 2016, while the yield on 30 year gilts hit their highest level since 2014

The move came as a surprise to investors, who had been expecting the government to stick to its previous plans for fiscal austerity

The announcements had a disastrous impact on the stock market, with the FTSE 100 tumbling and 41% of mortgage deals pulled in the wake of the news

At the end of October Bank of England plans to begin its delayed sale of gilts as part of its quantitative easing program, which is likely to put further upward pressure on yields

Over the pond, the bond market volatility is at its highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis in the U S as well With the Fed accelerating the reduction of its $9 trillion balance sheet, this is likely to put upward pressure on yields and further widen the gap between short term and long term rates

So what does this all mean for the stock market?

Well, higher bond yields typically means increased borrowing costs for companies which can weigh on profits and share prices It can also make stocks look relatively l

n

o m e perspective

That said, it s important to keep in mind that the bond market is just one factor that can impact stock prices and there are many other factors at play as well

So while bond market moves can be closely watched, it's just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to analyzing the stock market

The stocks to bond correlation is not as simple as some make it out to be While a rise in bond yields can put pressure on stocks, it's just one factor among many that can impact stock prices So while bond market moves are worth watching, don't forget to consider the big picture when making investment decisions

For me, I’ve buying buying UK bonds and indeed their price has been rising since the mini budget Think of it this way it’s a property and the UK Government the tenant Are they good for the rent? Yes Can I do other things with the money than buy the bond (ie the property), well this is one of the things I can do and then I will flip the property (bond) and make a quick gain That’s what bond traders and I have been doing We’ve been buying UK Government bonds for the past couple of week and thereby reducing yields and so your mortagages in all likelihood and calming the markets down and doing what the Government wants buying bonds! You’re welcome Britain! �� It’s why Sushil, a fellow hedge fund manager, is advising the Chancellor This stuff is easier for us to understand!

One more U-turn by Truss

Liz Truss has announced yet another humili ating U t urn af te r ad m it ti n g he r mini Budget went "further an d f aster" than markets were ready for but refused to say sorry The PM, who is i n a desperate bid to save h er j o b, a n no un ce d t ha t she will hike corporation tax despite her promises not to

I t c o m e s j u s t h o u r s after she sacked Chancellor K w a s i K w a r t e n g a n d replaced him with former H e a l t h S e c r e t a r y J e r e m y Hunt Defiantly refusing to quit, Truss told reporters that she "had to act in the national interest" and did not apologise for the chaos

s h e h a s u n l e a s h e d I n a n i n e m i n u t e D o w n i n g Street press conference she also dodged a question on whether she had any credi bility left

T h e e m b a t t l e d P r i m e Minister left the room after just four short questions as journalists shouted "aren't you going to say sorry?"

C o n f i r m i n g t h a t s h e was scrapping her pledge n o t t o r a i s e c o r p o r a t i o n tax, she said: "It is clear t h a t p a r t s o f o u r m i n i Budget went further and faster than markets were expecting, so the way we are delivering our mission now has to change " Her leadership has been beset

by chaos, with Tory plotters already mak ing moves to get rid of her Earlier the gov e r n m e n t a n n o u n c e d that Kwarteng's ser v i c e s h a d b e e n d i s pensed with after the d i s a s t r o u s m i n i Budget caused finan cial chaos and opened a huge divide within the Tory party

Plots are already under way to get rid of Truss, w h o h a d a l r e a d y b e e n forced to U turn on a mas sive tax cut for Britain's highest earners In a hugely embarrassing move for the Prime Minister, she con firmed that corporation tax

will be hiked by more than £19 billion for big compa nies across the UK

It flies in the face of her pledge to cancel the plan i n t r o d u c e d b y f o r m e r chancellor Rishi Sunak to raise the corporation tax rate to 25% in April next year

Govt offering different schemes to ease burden of energy bills

Cost of liv ing p ressures are g ett in g ev e n g re ate r as Bri to n s ar e h e ad i n g i nt o au tu m n an d w i nter , w it h the need for m ore heat and ligh t in hom es Househ old income is being stretched as p ri ce s of g o o d s a nd f u el kee p g o i ng u p m o s tly because o f Putin's inv asion of U kraine and the effects of the coronaviru s p andemic

In response, the govern ment says it is offering a range of help to reduce the i m p a c t o n B r i t s w h o a r e worried about coping with the financial squeeze This includes energy rebates, cost of living payments and win t e r h e a t i n g a l l o w a n c e s I t has also put in place a two y e a r e n e r g y f r e e z e t h a t replaces Ofgem's huge price

cap increase and means the average home will save an average of £1,000 and the average flat will save £700

So what help is on offer? H e r e a r e s o m e s u p p o r t s c h e m e s i n c l u d i n g e n e r g y bills, household costs, child care and transport

From October 1, a new Energy Price Guarantee will mean a typical UK house hold will pay no more than

£2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next two y e a r s T h i s i s a u t o m a t i c a n d a p p l i e s t o a l l households

T h i s w i l l save the average h o u s e h o l d a t l e a s t £ 1 , 0 0 0 a year based on current ener gy prices from October The Energy Price Guarantee lim its the amount you can be charged per unit of gas or electricity, so your exact bill amount will still reflect how much energy you use

This applies to all house holds in Great Britain, with the same level of support m a d e a v a i l a b l e t o h o u s e holds in Northern Ireland

T h e E n e r g y B i l l s S u p p o r t Scheme will give £400 off energy bills for all house holds in Great Britain from this October This automat ic, non repayable discount will be applied in six install m e n t s b e t w e e n O c t o b e r 2022 and March 2023 to help households through winter

In the winter months, pensioners can get between £100 and £300 to help pay heating bills This winter, t h e y w i l l a l s o r e c e i v e a n e x t r a o n e o f f £ 3 0 0 P e n s i o n e r C o s t o f L i v i n g Payment, which will be paid as an automatic top up to the Winter Fuel Payment It will take this year's payment to between £250 and £600, d e p e n d i n g o n c i r c u m stances

Free travel may not be restored to aged people in London

Free trav el fo r L ond oners aged 60 and abov e that was axed during th e p andemic may nev er be restored , Sadiq Kh an ’ s to p trans po rt aid e has admitted

A long delayed review of whether to restore free travel before 9 am for hold ers of the 60+ Oyster or Freedom Pass is due by the end of the year But Seb Dance, the deputy mayor for transport, said the £230 mn funding gap in trans port for London’s finances meant the restriction may

have to be retained F o r c i n g o l d e r Londoners to pay to travel before 9 am raises about £15 mn a year in fares

T h e t i m e r e s t r i c t i o n was introduced by TfL in J u n e 2 0 2 0 t o “ r e d u c e crowding” and “help social distancing” But its reten t i o n b e c a m e p a r t o f t h e government’s bail out deals that required TfL to gener a t e a d d i t i o n a l i n c o m e L o n d o n b o r o u g h s , w h i c h a d m i n i s t e r t h e F r e e d o m Pass, have been asked to

Royal Mail set to cut 6,000 jobs

Royal Mail is set to cut as many as 6, 000 jobs over the next year and there c ould b e mo re r ed un d an c i e s ahead as the industrial dis pute gri pping the company shows no si gn of easing

T h e c o m p a n y ’ s c h i e f e x e c u t i v e , S i m o n Thompson, said the cuts would not affect the fre quency of London’s daily post “There is no plan that we have in regard to stop ping the daily delivery of

l e t t e r s i n L o n d o n ” H e a d d e d t h a t t h e c o m p a n y did not regret its require ment to provide the UK’s nationwide postal, the so c a l l e d u n i v e r s a l s e r v i c e obligation, and that it was positive for the company “ W e h a v e a l w a y s b e e n p r o u d t o b e t h e U S O p r o v i d e r a n d a c t u a l l y a combined delivery of let ters and smaller parcels is a g o o d c o m p e t i t i v e a d v a n tage ”

a d v i s e T f L o n t h e l i k e l y i m p a c t o f r e t a i n i n g t h e restricted hours Dance said it was “ very much up for consideration” whether to f u l l y r e s t o r e t h e b e n e f i t The rationale here is that there are far fewer people u s i n g t h e 6 0 + c a r d f o r work,” he said

“Obviously removing or watering down any conces sion is not something we would do with enthusiasm but purely out of necessity ”

TfL is also continuing to explore whether to with

draw from the Travel card scheme that allows rail pas sengers to buy a ticket that includes Tube and bus trav el TfL believes the train companies benefit dispro portionately from the fare s h a r i n g a r r a n g e m e n t a n d withdrawing from it could save £40 to £60 mn per annum TfL chiefs also have c o n c e r n s t h a t p a p e r Travelcards have a higher p o t e n t i a l f o r f r a u d t h a n Oyster or Contactless cars and a higher administration cost

Lord Gadhia appointed to Court of Bank of England

Lo rd Jitesh Gadh ia has been appoint ed to th e C ourt of th e Ba nk o f England as a no n exec utiv e di recto r ( N ED ) Hi s a p p o in tm e nt w a s am on g one of the last few approved ap p o in tm ents by th e la te Q u een E l iz ab eth I I an d m ad e by King C harles III this week

H e w i l l t a k e c h a r g e w i t h i n t h e C o u r t o f Directors, a governing body

that sets the cen tral bank’s strategy, a n d b u d g e t a n d takes key decisions on resourcing and a p p o i n t m e n t s N e w l y a p p o i n t e d C h a n c e l l o r J e r e m y H u n t , said: “I am delighted to be a b l e t o a n n o u n c e t h e appointment of Lord Jitesh G a d h i a , S a b i n e C h a l m e r s and Tom Shropshire Each of them will bring immense skill and experience to the Bank’s Court ”

Liz Truss

Lord Jitesh Gadhia

India may become third biggest economy in 5 years: IMF

In next five years, Ind ia may

th

o

economy after the United S tate s a nd C h i n a, sa ys I n ter nat io n al M o ne tar y F u n d 's Wo rl d E c o no m i c Outloo k d atabase

A s p e r t h e I M F , t h e South Asian country is most likely to reach the position two years earlier than ini tially expected, overtaking Germany and Japan

According to the World E c o n o m i c O u t l o o k

d a t a b a s e , I n d i a m a y a l s o s u r p a s s t h e U n i t e d Kingdom by the end of the year and take over as the

f i f t h l a r g e s t e c o n o m y

Looking at the numbers presented by IMF, the per capita GDP of India will reach $3,652 in 2027 as compared to $2,466 in 2022

Considering India's p r o s p e c t i v e t o s u p e r s e d e G e r m a n y a n d Japan, the IMF's report said that though infla tion in India is high, but is n o t s k y r o c k e t i n g c u r r e n t a c c o u n t d e f i c i t h i g h b u t

expected to moderate Also, I n d i a ' s f o r e x r e s e r v e s a t nearly $550 billion fiscal sit u a t i o n i s c o m f o r t a b l e Adding on, the banks are in a strong position and the credit cycle is picking up

Earlier in the January March quarter of FY 2021 22, India had overtaken the U n i t e d K i n g d o m a s f i f t h largest economy However, the IMF reduced the India's GDP forecast to 6 8 percent in 2022, from 7 4 per cent

India deserves to be called a bright spot: IMF chief Singapore airlines in talks with Tatas for merger of Vistara

K ristalina Georgieva, man aging director of the IMF, stated th at Ind ia is headed to lead the G20 countries f ro m th e p o s i ti o n o f “ strength ” and will leave a m ark on the w orld for years t o co m e d u ri n g i ts nex t year ’ s presid ency India will a ss u m e th e P res id en cy o f the G20 for one year from Decem ber 1 , 2022

U n d e r i t s P r e s i d e n c y , I n d i a i s e x p e c t e d t o h o s t over 200 meetings of the G20 across the country The G20 Leaders’ Summit at the level of heads of state/gov ernment is scheduled to be held on September 9 and 10 2023 in New Delhi

Speaking to reporters in Washington on sidelines of the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank, G e o r g i e v a s a i d , “ I n d i a deserves to be called a bright

spot on this otherwise dark er horizon because it has been a fast growing econo my, even during this diffi cult times, but most impor tantly, this growth is under p i n n e d b y s t r u c t u r a l reforms ”

She stated that “promi nent among the structural reforms are the “remarkable success ” in digitalisation in India, from digital ID to pro viding all services and sup port on the basis of digital access This has indeed been a huge factor for India’s suc cess ” “And so, the country is n o w s t e p p i n g i n t o t a k i n g the lead on G20 from that position of strength, which makes me strongly believe that we will see India leaving a m a r k o n t h e w o r l d f o r years to come during next year ’ s presidency (of G20),” she said

Sing ap ore Airlines (SIA) for the first time acknow ledg ed that it is in “confidential d is cussio ns ” with T ata Sons for a “potential integratio n ” of Vistara in w hich it is a 4 9% shareh old er with Air India (AI)

T h e S o u t h e a s t A s i a n carrier said in a filing with t h e S i n g a p o r e S t o c k Exchange that “The discus s i o n s s e e k t o d e e p e n t h e e x i s t i n g p a r t n e r s h i p between SIA and Tata, and m a y i n c l u d e a p o t e n t i a l integration of Vistara and Air India ”

T h e s t a t e m e n t c o m e s t w o d a y s a f t e r T a t a S o n s c h a i r m a n N Chandrasekaran said that he wants a single airline with two platforms meaning full service by potentially merg ing Vistara into AI, and bud g e t s e r v i c e b y c o m b i n i n g

AirAsia India with Air India Express

“We will have both full service and a low cost carri er but we want to make it a w o r l d l e a d i n g a i r l i n e o f scale, where Indians are able to fly everywhere That’s the g o a l , i t ’ s a l o n g j o u r n e y , ” C h a n d r a s e k a r a n h a d s a i d T h o u g h S I A w a s i n i t i a l l y looking to partner Tata Sons to bid for AI, it eventually didn’t join hands as it want ed to focus on repairing its b a l a n c e s h e e t t h a t w a s impacted by the Covid pan demic It has now “warmed up ” to the merger of Vistara and Air India

Govt concerned about slow pace of 5G rollout

A lt h o u g h t e l e co m p r o v i d e r s m a d e a p u b l i c a n n ou n ce men t a b ou t t he l aun ch i n fron t of Prime M i n i s t e r N a re n d r a Mo d i , t h e g ov e r n me n t i s co n cern ed about th e s low pa ce o f 5 G i m p le m e n t a t i o n a cr o s s t h e n a t i o n T op m ob i l e o pe r a to rs , s i gn i f i can t smartphone ma nufac t u r e r s , a n d o th e r i n f r a s t r u ct u r e s u p p l i e r s h a v e n ow be en called i n to dis cuss the delays

Top sources in depart m e n t o f t e l e c o m ( D o T ) stated that the government

wants to take stock of the s i t u a t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y a s i t had allocated 5G spectrum frequencies in a record time a f t e r t h e c o m p l e t i o n o f auctions on August 1 “We w a n t t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e reasons which are causing delays, and if these can be sorted out with our inter vention,” a source said

O n O c t o b e r 1 , A i r t e l announced a deployment i n e i g h t c i t i e s , i n c l u d i n g Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, and V a r a n a s i , a t t h e a n n u a l I n d i a M o b i l e C o n g r e s s ,

where the Prime Minister was also present However, Airtel has not been able to provide full fledged 5G ser vices in the targeted loca t i o n s M a n y o f f i c i a l s a r e blaming the testing proce dures used by manufactur ers of mobile devices

While the government and the industry try to sort o u t t h e m a t t e r , m o b i l e o p e r a t o r s h a v e s q u a r e l y b l a m e d de v ic e m a k e r s i n p r i v a t e c o n v e r s a t i o n s M o b i l e o p e r a t o r s a r g u e device makers are yet to provide software upgrades

to a majority of 5G smart phones to read the new fre quency bands

Adani company gets licenc e A d a n i D a t a N e t w o r k h a s b e e n g r a n t e d u n i f i e d licence for access services, which enables it to provide all telecom services in the country, according to two o f f i c i a l s o u r c e s G a u t a m A d a n i l e d A d a n i G r o u p entered the telecom sector a f t e r b u y i n g s p e c t r u m i n the recent auction “Adani D a t a N e t w o r k s h a s b e e n granted UL (AS),” a source said

SC halts takeover of CWC warehouse by Adani

The Supr eme Cour t has ha lt e d an at temp t by Ada ni Port s SEZ Lt d to se ize con tr ol of a C e n t r a l W a r e h o u si n g C orpora tion war ehouse sit u a t e d on 3 4 a cr e s in N e w M u n d r a P or t s T he co u r t a lso cr it i ci se d t h e G u j a r a t H ig h C o u r t fo r " a d op t i n g d ual be nchmar ks t o support t he busine ss gr oup s favour

The SC bench accepted arguments of senior advo c a t e M a n i n d e r S i n g h o n behalf of CWC and said, “We a r e o f t h e v i e w t h a t t h e a p p r o a c h a d o p t e d b y t h e division bench (of the HC) w a s , i n f a c t

f o r c i n g t h e appellant CWC, which is a

statutory body, to accept the settlement ”

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and C T Ravikumar s a i d , “ B y t h e J a n u a r y 2 8 , 2 0 2 1 , o r d e r , t h e d i v i s i o n b e n c h g o e s o n t o o b s e r v e

that they were prima facie of the opinion that, while the first two conditions taken by the CWC in its June 12, 2019 meeting appeared to be fair a n d r e a

into account the future esca lation, costs etc does not appear to be fair and may unnecessarily make the dis pute linger on ”

The bench said, “The HC o u g h t t o h a v e t a k e n i n t o consideration that, unless all t h e t h r e e c o n d i t i o n s w e r e complied with, the interests of CWC could not have been safeguarded If a settlement was to be arrived at, unless the same was found to be in the interest of both the par ties, it could not have been thrust upon a statutory cor poration to its detriment and to the advantage of a private entity ”

A bird in hand or two in the bush?

Wo rk h as not started as there is a bigger agenda to th is develop ment T he p lan is to extend the roof by two flo ors upwards, and add a 1 st and 2nd floo r extension to the rear; so, another coup le o f flats

The issue is if the flats are progressed in isolation, and then the planning comes through, some structural alter ations will be required to accommodate the extensions

Possibly a basement as well to accommodate the bin stor age and cycle facilities, which will be a requirement if the further applications are granted

The problem is even the most straight forward plan ning takes time; it’s whimsical and unpredictable For example, the work has been on hold whilst the rear per mission is in progress During this time, there have been two revisions to the plans as per the case officer’s guid ance Then, the case officer was changed and the planning was declined Despite being revised twice at the request of the planning officer Welcome to planning

The conundrum is then whether they push on with the current plans with the risk of redoing some of the works if the planning comes through, or continue to wait

In the interim build costs and interest rates have both risen, resulting in a higher cost to the project

The most likely conclusion seems to be to build two of the flats for now, have them rented out, leave the third in case the basement permission comes through

This is the difference between planning and permitted development Councils actually hate permitted develop ment as it leaves the permission outside of their control

The only way they can gain back control is to apply for an Article 4 by making a case to the central government which takes time

The saving grace is there is sufficient income coming in from the project, it was not entered into on the basis of planning alone

This issue calls into question investment strategy in general Should one purchase a site with the sole purpose of planning alone? In the past we have done so, and gener ally speaking most of the planning applied for has been obtained However, the focus now is to use PD rights, and reduce the uncertainty associated with full planning The only planning to be relied upon is the ‘slam dunk’ type of planning permissions

We’re exploring how to handle the rejected planning

We can either withdraw the application, and then go a for a pre app in order to iron out the reasons why it would have been refused Or, wait for the refusal so we know exactly what the report will say and then go for an appeal

The latter will take a longer time period, but then it is out side of the remit of the council and can be examined purely on the basis of planning policy alone

The essence is this adds both time and uncertainty into the equation, which is never good for any investment

RBI's monetary panel members differ on future rate hikes

Di ff e re nces h a ve e ru pte d in t he RBI’s moneta ry poli cy commi ttee (MPC) over rate hi ke s, ma ki ng f uture action by the central bank some wha t u ncert ain The mi nutes of the MPC h eld on Se ptember 28 30 rev eal that two of the tota l six me mbe rs Ashi ma Go yal and Ja yanth Va rma were in fa vour o f ta peri ng the rate hi ke cycle

Goyal said that “Most analysts are arguing for a 50bps (100bps = 1 percent age point) rise just to pre serve a spread with US pol icy rates This is a fear driven over reaction If the terminal Fed rate is 5%, will it require we raise ours to 8%?”

According to Goyal, the c a r r y t r a d e ( d r a w i n g investors by offering better spreads over US rates) is

n o t a s t a b l e s o u r c e o f financing Her colleague in t h e p a n e l , V a r m a , a l s o called for a pause “A pause is needed after this hike b e c a u s e m o n e t a r y p o l i c y acts with lags It may take 3 4 quarters for the policy rate to be transmitted to the real economy, and the peak effect may take as long as 5 6 quarters,” he said

M a n y a n a l y s t s h a v e been expecting the RBI to hike rates in the next poli cy in December as well in light of the higher inflation n u m b e r s a n d a h a w k i s h s t a t e m e n t f r o m t h e U S F e d e r a l R e s e r v e “ G o i n g forward, monetary policy needs to remain watchful a n d n i m b l e , b a s e d o n incoming data and evolv ing conditions,” RBI gover n o r S h a k t i k a n t a D a s wrote

We cu rrently h ave a client who se p ro jec t h as p lanning for th ree flats on the ground floor of a two storey building; th is was obtained using the p ermitted develop ment rules

Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

Biden calls Pak as 'one of most dangerous nations in the world'

WAS H I NGT O N: US P resident J o e Bi den c rit ic is ed P aki

tan, c a

th

t dangero us nations in the world" and said it may p ossess " nuclear w ea p o n s wi t h o u t an y c o h er en c e ” w h i c h s tr ai n ed relations between Wash ington and Islamabad

A t a p r i v a t e D e m o c r a t i c Party luncheon in Los Angeles, B i d e n m a d e h i s c a u s t i c comments about international geopolitics and the US' issues with China and Russia Days before Biden's comments, his administration had approved a $450 million refurbishment plan for Pakistan's F 16s, one of its p r i m a r y m e a n s o f d e l i v e r i n g nuclear weapons

A t a n e w s c o n f e r e n c e i n K a r a c h i , f o r e i g n m i n i s t e r Bilawal Bhutto said Pakistan’s nuclear assets “meet each and every international standard in accordance with IAEA” The US P r e s i d e n t o f t e n m a k e s discursive digressions at party

gatherings, and his more recent unscripted critiques i n v o l v e d e v e l o p m e n t s i n Italy and Hungary, where r i g h t w i n g f o r c e s h a v e come to the forefront

A t a f u n d r a i s e r f o r D e m o c r a t s , B i d e n s t a t e d that “I’ve spent more time with Xi Jinping than any person in the world 78 h o u r s ’ I ’ v e t r a v e l l e d 17,000 miles with him This is a guy who understands w h a t h e w a n t s b u t h a s a n enormous array of problems How do we handle that? How do we handle that relative to what’s going on in Russia? And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the

w o r l d : P a k i s t a n N u c l e a r weapons without any cohesion ”

T h e c o m m e n t s a l s o followed a week of US Pakistan engagement that involved the country’s top general, Qamar J a v e d B a j w a , a n d i t s f o r e i g n m i n i s t e r , B i l a w a l B h u t t o Zardari, both of whom were in Washington in an effort to reset ties with the US that have gone d o w n h i l l o v e r t h e p a s t f e w years

The US president’s remarks triggered a hysterical reaction in P a k i s t a n , w i t h t h a t c o u n t r y ’ s l e a d e r s , a n a l y s t s , a n d T V a n c h o r s g o i n g b a l l i s t i c a b o u t what they see as Washington’s war mongering and Pakistan’s safe and secure nuclear arsenal

4,000 charged in crackdown, accuses Bangla opposition

D H A K A : T h e Ba ng l ad e sh N ati o n ali s t P art y ( BN P ) s ay s fake cases were being slapped on s u p p o rt ers o f th e p a rty a nd accused authorities of targeting o pposition po litical parties

Thousands of party activists in Bangladesh have been hoisted with “fake” charges of violence in a widespread crackdown by authorities, the opposition has s a i d , a s a p r o m i n e n t h u m a n r i g h t s g r o u p e x p r e s s e d concerns

O p p o n e n t s o f P r i m e Minister Sheikh Hasina whose g o v e r n m e n t f a c e s a g e n e r a l

election next year and is accused o f r i g h t s a b u s e s h a v e h e l d protests across the country in recent months over power cuts

Sairul Kabir Khan, a BNP s p o k e s m a n , s a i d t h a t s i n c e August 22, police had charged at least 4,081 party supporters and l e a d e r s i n w h a t h e c a l l e d trumped up or “fake” charges related to the violence

A n o t h e r 2 0 , 0 0 0 u n i d e n t i f i e d B N P s u p p o r t e r s had also been charged, he added a tactic that rights activists say gives police sweeping power to h a r a s s a n y o p p o s i t i o n

Imran stuns ruling coalition, bags 6 of 8 national assembly seats

I S L A M A B A D : I n a f u r t he r s e t b a c k t o t h e Sh e hb a z S ha r if a dm inis tration, the Pakis tan Tehree k e Ins af part y, led by form er Prime Minis ter Imran Khan, won the important by ele ctions , c apturing two out of three provincial ass embl y se ats in Punjab and s ix out of the eight National As sem bly seat s

The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML N), led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf competed in the main election After the PTI legislators resigned in the wake of the overthrow of Khan's administration in April, eight seats in the national assembly (NA) and three in the Punjab provincial parliament were vacant Khan, who contested seven National Assembly seats in the crucial by polls held last week, emerged victorious in six constituencies, building forward momentum in his drive to push the six month old PML N led government into announcing an early general election

The 70 year old cricketer turned politician was defeated on a seat in Karachi by a candidate of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which managed to clinch two National Assembly seats NA 157 Multan and NA 237 Karachi which were bagged by PTI in the 2018 general elections In Multan, former PM Yousaf Raza Gillani’s son Ali Musa Gillani defeated Meher Bano, daughter of former foreign minister and PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi This was the only NA seat where Khan did not contest in the by poll The Multan contest was keenly watched as it showcased the influential Gilani and Qureshi families of the city fighting for a key seat

supporters who may or may not h a v e a t t e n d e d a r a l l y F i v e activists have been killed and more than 2,000 injured at the protests, Khan sadi Police had not intervened when BNP rallies came under attack, mostly by stick wielding activists of the ruling Awami League, but “if we retaliate, then t h e y s t a r t r e a c t i n g ” , h e s a i d “The police are not a neutral force,” Khan added

Police say four people have died in at least three protests but a c c u s e d t h e o p p o s i t i o n o f triggering the violence

Khan’s comments came as New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW) raised concerns over “ mass arrests and police r a i d s o f o p p o s i t i o n p a r t y members’ homes”

“While police have carried out mass arrests of opposition supporters, those affiliated with the ruling party appear to have impunity for violent attacks,” it s a i d M e e n a k s h i G a n g u l y , HRW’s South Asia director, said this set “ an ominous tone for the u p c o m i n g p a r l i a m e n t a r y e l e c t i o n s ” , w h i c h a r e s e t f o r December 2023

Pakistan seeks to restructure its $27 bn bilateral debt

WA S HING TO N: Pakistan’s new finance minister Ishaq Dar stated that h e will seek rescheduling of some $27 billion worth of non Paris Club debt largely ow ed to C hina, but will not pursu e haircuts as p art of any restru cturing

The veteran finance minister said multilateral development banks and international donors have been “quite flexible” with ways to meet Pakistan’s external financing needs estimated at about $32 billion after devastating floods Some of this may come from reallocating funds from previously approved, slower disbursing development loans, he added

Dar, who is participating in the IMF and World Bank annual meetings just over two weeks after taking office, claimed that Pakistan will seek restructuring on equal terms for all bilateral creditors

He declined to comment when asked whether he thought it would be difficult to persuade China, creditor for about $23 billion of the debt, to participate When asked whether Pakistan would seek to reduce debt principal, he said “rescheduling is fine, but we are not seeking a haircut

That’s not fair ”

Dar, who served as Pakistan’s finance minister three previous times most recently from 2013 to 2017 is known as a staunch defender of the rupee He said Pakistan has not engaged in physical intervention in the currency, which has been battered this year by a strong US dollar, but which has rallied some 10% since his appointment

The Pakistan finance minister added that the IMF’s new emergency “food shock” borrowing window may also be a good fit for the country, which has lost crops due to devastating floods and may need to import up to half a million tons of wheat in the next year

“In this scenario, we have the possibility to approaching and accessing this facility,” he said

Pak opposition leader arrested for tweet against army chief I S L A

legislator fro m former Prime Minister Imran K han’s Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) p arty, w as arrested by the Federal Investigatio n A gency ( FIA) for a “hig hly obnoxious and intim idating” tweet against the chief of th e cou ntry’s pow erful military, General Qamar

Javed Bajwa

Swati’s lawyer Babar Awan alleged his c l i e n t ’ s h o u s e w a s r a i d e d l a t e a t n i g h t w i t h o u t a s e a r c h w a r r a n t “ H e w a s blindfolded and treated like a terrorist,” said, a d d i n g t h a t t h e c o u n t r y h a d b e c o m e

“fascist”

Swati’s tweet was in response to a court in the city of Lahore acquitting incumbent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz in a money laundering case

I n h i s p o s t , t h e 6 6 y e a r o l d s e n a t o r addressed Bajwa, congratulating him for his “plan” working and saying “criminals” were going free “Mr Bajwa congratulations to you a n d f e w w i t h y o u Y o u r p l a n i s r e a l l y working, and all criminals are getting free at c o s t o f t h i s c o u n t r y W i t h t h e s e t h u g s g e t t i n g f r e e , y o u h a v e l e g i t i m i s e ( s i c )

corruption How you predict now the future of this country?” he posted

The FIA, which arrested Swati under a c y b e r c r i m e l a w , i n i t s f i r s t i n f o r m a t i o n report (FIR) said his tweet was a “calculated attempt” to sow “hatred in mind of people and army personnel against the Army Chief and Pakistan army ”

“Such intimidating tweets of blaming a n d n a m i n g i s a m i s c h i e v o u s a c t o f subversion to create a rift between personnel of the armed forces and an attempt to harm the state of Pakistan,” the FIR said

in brief

ROOMMATE CHARGED FOR THE KILLING OF INDIAN ORIGIN

A Korean student, who allegedly stabbed his Indian origin roommate to death in their dormitory at Purdue University has been charged with murder according to US media reports Ji Min Sha cybersecurity major from Seoul ruthlessly attacked Varun Manish Chheda on October 5 by stabbing him multiple times in the head and neck before he called authorities to report his roommate was dead, prosecutors argued, according to the Journal & Courier Sha was formally charged with murder in the killing of Chheda in what police called an unprovoked attack Prosecutors allege that Sha “did knowingly or intentionally kill” Chheda, ABC News reported

PAK LIKELY TO EXIT FATF GREY LIST, CLAIMS REPORT

Pakistan is likely to exit the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) this week after it was placed in the infamous category since 2018 for failing to check money laundering and terror financing, a media report said Pakistan was included in the increased monitoring list in June 2018 for deficiencies in its legal, financial, regulatory, investigations prosecution judicial and non government sector to fight money laundering and terror financing The watchdog said that the “first FATF plenary will take place on October 20 21” Pakistan’s continuation on the grey list has made it become difficult for Islamabad to get financial aid from the IMF, the World Bank the Asian Development Bank and the EU enhancing problems for the cash strapped country

PAK PM, SON ACQUITTED IN MONEY LAUNDERING CASE

A Pakistani court has acquitted Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his son of corruption and money laundering charges filed in 2020 Judge Ijaz Hassan Awan of the Special Court Central in Lahore city announced the verdict in front of the prime minister’s legal team who had earlier during the hearing requested a one day attendance exemption Sharif and his son Hamza the former chief minister of Punjab province, were charged during the administration of former Prime Minister Imran Khan They were accused of laundering millions of dollars in rupees The Federal Investigation Agency filed corruption and money laundering charges against Sharif and his two sons

PAK MAY BUY MOSQUITO NETS FROM INDIA

Pakistan s health ministry has approved the purchase of over 6 million mosquito nets from India, as the country scrambles to contain the spread of malaria and other diseases due to the unprecedented floods media reported WHO is using financial resources provided by Global Fund to acquire the nets for Pakistan WHO officials said they are planning to obtain mosquito nets as early as possible and are hopeful that these would be obtained by next month Over 1,700 people were killed, 33 million displaced in the worst floods to hit the country In September, WHO warned that a surge in diseases like malaria can cause a “second disaster”

MALAYSIA’S MAHATHIR, 97, TO RUN IN ELECTIONS

Malaysia’s 97 year old former leader Mahathir Mohamad announced that he will defend his seat in the general elections expected next month, though he wouldn t say whether he would be PM a third time if his political alliance wins PM Ismail Sabri Yaakob dissolved Parliament for snap polls caving in to pressure from his United Malays National Organization party which is hoping for a big win on its own amid feuds with allies in the ruling coalition The EC is due to fix a date within the week for a vote, which must be held within 60 days of Parliament s dissolution

Joe Biden

in brief

NZ PROPOSES COW, SHEEP BURP TAX

The New Zealand government confirmed plans to price agricultural long lived gases and biogenic methane that mainly comes from cow and sheep burps separately, in a plan that farmers have raised concerns about The government released its proposed plan on agricultural emissions pricing which when introduced in 2025 will make New Zealand the first country to have farmers pay for emissions from livestock The plan has been criticised by farm groups New Zealand has about 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep Nearly half its total greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, mainly methane

PREGNANT CABIN CREW CAN WORK: SINGAPORE AIRLINES

Singapore Airlines flight attendants will no longer be let go after becoming pregnant, the carrier said as it ditched the long criticised practice Previously, cabin crew were terminated after they became pregnant and company doctors declared them medically unfit to fly Those who wanted to return to flying after giving birth had to re apply for the job But the airlines said that pregnant cabin crew can now apply to work in a temporary ground position for three to nine months after declaring their pregnancy

13 MONTH OLD GETS INTESTINAL TRANSPLANT

A13 month old baby girl received the world s first intestinal transplant, Spanish health authorities said The baby has already been discharged and is in perfect condition at home with her parents , said the statement from Madrid’s La Paz hospital The baby received the organ via asystolic donation from a donor at the end of their life This method of donation means “the organ to be transplanted does not deteriorate ” The technique had not previously been used for the intestine because it was not thought to be possible for this organ “despite the fact that 30% of the candidates die on the waiting list”, said the hospital

JAPANESE ROCKET CARRYING 8

SATELLITES FAILS

The Japanese space agency said a rocket carrying eight satellites failed just after liftoff and had to be aborted by a self destruction command, in the country’s first failed rocket launch in nearly 20 years The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said its Epsilon 6 rocket experienced an unidentified “abnormality” and its flight had to be aborted less than seven minutes after takeoff from the Uchinoura Space Center in the southern Japanese prefecture of Kagoshima JAXA officials said the agency sent a self destruction signal after deciding that the rocket was not able to fly safely and enter a planned orbit

FLORIDA SHOOTER TO GET LIFE IN JAIL FOR KILLING 17

Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz will be sentenced to life without parole for the 2018 murder of 17 people at Parkland s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after the jury said that it could not unanimously agree that he should be executed The jury s recommendation came after seven hours of deliberations over two days ending a three month trial that included videos and photos from the massacre and heart wrenching testimony from victims’ family members A death sentence requires a unanimous vote on at least one count Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will formally issue the life sentences on November 1

American-Hindu lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard quits Democratic party

W A S H I N G T O N : T u ls i Ga bb ard , w h o ra n f o r th e Dem ocratic Presidential nom i natio n in 20 20 , announced that she is leaving the party, accus ing it of being do minated by woke, anti w hite and w armon gers S he is US ’ first ever self p ro f es s ed “ Hi n d u A m eri c an ” lawm aker of wh ite extract with th e close ties to the BJP RS S dispensatio n in India, is quit ting the Democratic Party

Gabbard, a four term con gresswoman from Hawaii, said in a video posted on Twitter “I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness,

w h o d i v i d e u s b y r a c i a l i s i n g every issue and stoke anti white racism, actively work to under mine our God given freedoms t h a t a r e e n s h r i n e d i n o u r Constitution ”

She criticised the party for being "hostile to people of faith

and spirituality" and for "demonising the police and protecting criminals at the expense of law a b i d i n g A m e r i c a n s " w h i l e s i m u l t a n e o u s l y demonising them She also charged that party o f f i c i a l s w e r e u s i n g n a t i o n a l s e c u r i t y a s a t o o l t o p u r s u e t h e i r political rivals and, most importantly, to push the w o r l d c l o s e r t o n u c l e a r Armageddon

Gabbard had lately become an outlier in the party after seeking the Democratic nomi nation in 2020 before dropping out and endorsing Joe Biden’s c a n d i d a c y M a n y m a i n s t r e a m

Biden to review US-Saudi relations following Opec oil cut decision

W A S HI N G T O N : W h it e Ho u se n a t i o n a l se c u r it y spokesma n John Kirby sta t ed t hat Preside nt Joe Bide n is re e va luat ing the US r ela tionship wit h Sa udi Ar abia afte r Opec ann ounced la st wee k that it would cut oil production

Kirby added that Biden is w i l l i n g t o w o r k w i t h Congress on the future of Saudi relations “I think the president is very clear that this is a relationship that we need to continue to re eval uate, that we need to be will ing to revisit,” Kirby said in

an interview “And certainly in light of the Opec decision, I think that’s where he is ”

B o b M e n e n d e z , t h e Democratic chairman of the US Senate foreign relations c o m m i t t e e , f o r a h a l t t o c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h S a u d i A r a b i a , i n c l u d i n g o n t h e majority of arms sales, and c l a i m e d t h e c o u n t r y w a s funding the Russian inva sion of Ukraine In response t o O p e c ' s a n n o u n c e m e n t l a s t w e e k t h a t i t w o u l d reduce oil production

Biden was disappointed by the Opec decision, Kirby

said, and added “he’s willing to work with Congress to t h i n k t h r o u g h w h a t t h a t relationship ought to look like going forward”

Kirby added, “and I think he’s going to be willing to start to have those conversa t i o n s r i g h t a w a y I d o n ’ t think this is anything that’s g o i n g t o h a v e t o w a i t o r should wait, quite frankly, for much longer ” Further he stated that “The issue does not only concern the war in Ukraine but it is a matter of US national security inter ests ”

Staring at population decline, Xi Jingping pledges

B E I J I N G : C h i n e s e

President Xi Jinpi ng vowed to enac t polici es to boost birth rate in the country as polic ymakers worry that an i m m i n e n t d e c li n e i n th e country’s population c ould hu rt t he w orl d’ s s e c on d biggest economy

Xi told some 2,300 dele gates in a speech opening t h e o n c e i n f i v e y e a r Communist Party Congress i n B e i j i n g t h a t “ W e w i l l establish a policy system to boost birth rates and pur s u e a p r o a c t i v e n a t i o n a l strategy in response to pop ulation ageing ”

T h e a u t h o r i t i e s imposed a one child policy f r o m 1 9 8 0 t o 2 0 1 5 , l a t e r switching to a three child policy, acknowledging the nation is on the brink of a demographic downturn Its fertility rate of 1 16 in 2021 was below the 2 1 OECD standard for a stable popu lation and among the low est in the world

D e m o g r a p h e r s p r e d i c t that despite China having the most people (1 4 bil lion), birth rates will reach historic lows this year, dip ping below 10 million from 10 6 million new born last y e a r a n d a l r e a d y d o w n 11 5% from 2020

T h e g o v e r n m e n t h a s

implemented policies dur ing the past year or two that include tax discounts, extended maternity leave, i m p r o v e d m e d i c a l i n s u r a n c e , h o u s i n g s u b s i d i e s , more funding for a third child, and restrictions on high priced private tutor ing The willingness to have children is still the lowest i n t h e w o r l d a m o n g Chinese women, according

t o a s t u d y r e l e a s e d i n February by the think tank Y u W a P o p u l a t i o n Research

D e m o g r a p h e r s s a y measures taken so far are not enough They cite high education costs, low wages and long working hours as issues that still need to be a d d r e s s e d , a l o n g w i t h Covid 19 policies and eco nomic growth concerns

Democrats saw her as a Russian stooge whose views on a range of issues aligned more closely w i t h t h e T r u m p R e p u b l i c a n Party

Although the US Congress has four lawmakers of Indian a n d H i n d u o r i g i n , G a b b a r d c l a i m e d t o t h e f i r s t “ H i n d u A m e r i c a n ” H o u s e Representative by virtue of hav i n g e m b r a c e d G a u d i y a V a i i s h n a v i s m t h a t h e r American parents followed She considers the Bhagavad Gita as a spiritual guide and took the oath of office in 2013 using her personal copy, which she gifted to PM Narendra Modi on the latter’s visit to the United States in 2014

Iranian protesters now turn their ire on mullahs

P A R I S : De s p it e i nte rn et o u ta g es , a ng ry p rotesters returned to the streets once m ore acro ss Iran as the uprising prom pted by M ah sa Am ini's death in detention entered its fifth week

T h e 2 2 y e a r o l d p a s s e d a w a y o n September 16, three days after going into a coma as a result of being detained by Iran's i n f a m o u s m o r a l i t y p o l i c e f o r a l l e g e d l y breaking the Islamic republic's strict cloth ing code for women The largest wave of public protests to hit the nation in years has been led by young women

“Guns, tanks, fireworks; the mullahs must get lost,” women without hijabs chant e d a t a g a t h e r i n g a t T e h r a n ’ s S h a r i a t i Technical and Vocational College, in a video widely shared online

D o z e n s o f j e e r i n g a n d w h i s t l i n g protestors attacked security personnel near a prominent roundabout in Hamedan, a city west of Tehran

Despite what online monitor NetBlocks called a “major disruption to internet traf fic”, protesters were also seen pouring onto the streets of the north western city of A r d a b i l , i n v i d e o s s h a r e d o n T w i t t e r S h o p k e e p e r s w e n t o n s t r i k e i n A m i n i ’ s hometown Saqez, in Kurdistan province and M a h a b a d i n W e s t A z e r b a i j a n , s a i d t h e 1500tasvir social media channel that moni tors protests and police violations

They were responding to an appeal for a huge turnout for protests under the catchcry “The beginning of the end!”

Lebanon, Israel reach ‘historic’ pact on maritime borders

J E RU S A L E M : I s r a e l a n d Leb anon have ag reed to se ttle a long sta ndi ng d ispute over who s hould control a portion of the ea stern Medi terran ean Sea, the lead ers of the two na tions sa id Thi s is a sign if ica nt diplomatic a ch i e v e me n t b e tw e e n t w o ne ighb our s w ho are sti ll techni cally at w ar a nd do n ot have an y formal d iploma tic ties

The office of the Lebanese President Michel Aoun said the draft deal satisfied “Lebanon, m e e t s i t s d e m a n d s a n d p r e serves its rights to its natural wealth ”

Israeli PM Yair Lapid called t h e d e a l a “ h i s t o r i c a c h i e v e m e n t t h a t w i l l s t r e n g t h e n Israel’s security, inject billions

i n t o I s r a e l ’ s e c o n o m y a n d e n s u r e t h e s t a b i l i t y o f o u r northern border” The deal set t l e d a d e c a d e s o l d d i s p u t e about the location of the two countries’ exclusive economic z o n e s i n t h e e a s t e r n M e d i t e r r a n e a n , d e m a r c a t i n g where both countries have the sole right to extract resources

I n r e t u r n , I s r a e l w i l l b e c o m p e n s a t e d f o r a n y g a s extracted from the region of the field known as Qana that is located inside of its exclusive economic zone Furthermore, Lebanon has waived any rights to the neighbouring second gas deposit known as Karish, allow ing Israel to collect gas there w i t h o u t w o r r y i n g a b o u t

H e z b o l l a h r e t a l i a t i o n T h e agreement would also maintain the "buoy line," which now acts as a de facto boundary between the two nations

M e d i a t e d b y t h e U S , t h e deal is much more limited than t h e s w e e p i n g n o r m a l i s a t i o n deals that established full diplo matic ties between Israel and three Arab states in 2020, after years of Israeli isolation in West Asia The deal nevertheless rep resented a significant break through for two countries that have a long history of conflict I s r a e l o c c u p i e d p a r t s o f Lebanon from 1982 to 2000, and fought a month long war in 2006 with Hezbollah, an Iran backed Lebanese militia

Tulsi Gabbard

SC divided over Karnataka HC order upholding hijab ban

N EW DEL HI: A two judge bench of the Supr eme C ourt last wee k de live red a s p li t v e r d i ct o n t h e v a li d i t y of t he K a r n a t a k a g o v e r n m e n t ’ s c ir cu la r b a r r i n g s t u d e n t s fr o m w e a r i n g a n y r eligious clo thing , in cludin g hija b, in st ate r un schools a nd college s, se ttin g t he stag e for con tinuing litiga tion for fre sh a djudication of the sen sit ive issue by a ben ch of at lea st thre e judge s

While Justice Hemant Gupta posed 11 questions and conducted a thorough analysis of both sides' arguments in his 1 4 0 p a g e d e c i s i o n t o a d d r e s s e a c h question in order to refute the Muslim side's pro hijab argument, his colleague Sudhanshu Dhulia took a completely different stance on the key issues in his 76 page decision

A f t e r p r o n o u n c e m e n t o f t h e f u n d a m e n t a l l y d i f f e r e n t j u d g m e n t s , which “respectfully” clashed with each other on basic constitutional issues such as freedom of choice, right to religious p r a c t i c e s a n d f r a t e r n i t y , t h e b e n c h ordered: “In view of the divergent views expressed by the Bench, the matter be placed before the Chief Justice of India f o r c o n s t i t u t i o n o f a n a p p r o p r i a t e Bench ”

Till the “appropriate bench”, which w o u l d b e o f a t l e a s t t h r e e j u d g e s ,

c o m m e n c e s a d j u d i c a t i o n a n e w , t h e K a r n a t a k a g o v e r n m e n t ’ s F e b r u a r y 5 circular, upheld by a division bench of the high court, would remain in force and state run educational institutions would be justified in enforcing uniforms on students to bar those who might insist wearing hijab or saffron shawls, as happened prior to February 5 Justice Gupta, who retires on October 16, focused on answering the question: “ w h e t h e r s t u d e n t s c a n e n f o r c e t h e i r religious belief in a secular institution” He sub divided his judicial prose into 11 parts to test the interplay of right to equality (Article 14), right to freedom of expression and choice (Article 19), right to privacy and dignity (Article 21) and right t o r e l i g i o u s p r a c t i c e s ( A r t i c l e 2 5 ) juxtaposed with the right of Muslim girl s t u d e n t s t o w e a r h i j a b i n s t a t e r u n educational institutions where uniforms are enforced

As polls near, Dera chief released on parole

C H A N D I G A R H : D e ra Sa c h a S a u da c h i e f

G urm eet Ram Rahim, a c onvi ct in ra pe and m urder cas es, was released on parole by the H a r y an a go v e rn m e n t C oi n c i d e n ta l l y , o r d e l i b e r a te l y , t he c o n t ro v e rs i al p re a c h e r i s releas ed j ust b efore an y i mportan t electi on i n the s tate or the regi on

He has been granted parole for 40 days by the Manohar Lal Khattar led state government this time This relief for the Dera chief, who claims to have a massive following in the state, has come at a time when the state is set to w i t n e s s p a n c h a y a t i r a j e l e c t i o n s a n d o n e c r u c i a l b y p o l l f o r t h e s t a t e a s s e m b l y i n Adampur, Hisar

Just before the state planned to hold the elections for the municipal bodies, he was given parole/furlough on June 17 Just before t h e P u n j a b s t a t e a s s e m b l y e l e c t i o n s o n February 7, the Haryana government gave the Dera chief a 21 day vacation

He was earlier released on October 24, 2020, just before the crucial assembly bypoll in Haryana

BENGAL

Imposing Hindi is unacceptable: Kerala CM writes to PM Modi

Vijayan wrote to the prime minister to Kerala's stand In response to reports on the official language committee of the Parliament's recommendation to make Hindi the medium of examinations for central services and to make Hindi a required language of study in educational institutions, including IITs and IIMs

He stated that "The essence of India is defined by the concept of 'unity in diversity' which acknowledges cultural and linguistic diversity Acknowledging this, i t i s b r o t h e r h o o d , t o l e r a n c e a n d m u t u a l r e s p e c t between different peoples that sustains our country The Chief Minister said that promoting any one language above others would destroy this integrity "

In terms of education, Kerala CM said the Centre has to accept the characteristics of states He said making employment exams in Hindi will result in the denial of employment to a large percentage of youth in the country Moreover, the imposition of Hindi is against the principle of cooperative federalism

L a t e r , D M K d e p u t y g e n e r a l s e c r e t a r y a n d Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi joined the debate over the imposition of a language after a parliamentary panel recently recommended Hindi as the medium of i n s t r u c t i o n i n t e c h n i c a l a n d n o n t e c h n i c a l institutions

Punjab, Haryana fail to reach agreement on SYL canal issue

C HA ND IGA RH : A meet ing to di scuss t h e co n t e n t i o u s S u t l e j Y a m u na L i n k ( S Y L ) c a n a l i s su e w a s h e l d b e t we e n Pu njab Chi ef Minister Bha gwant Mann a nd h is H ary ana cou nte rpar t Manohar La l Kha ttar Accor ding to re ports, the t w o we r e u n a b l e t o a g r e e o n t h e constru cti on of th e SYL ca na l The y will now u pd ate t he Unio n Mi niste r f or Wa ter Resources about the mee ting

Addressing media after the meeting, the Punjab Chief Minister stated that he h a d a l o n g d i s c u s s i o n w i t h H a r y a n a counterpart “I put across Punjab’s side very strongly ” Mann said Parkash Singh Badal during his tenure as chief minister had allowed Chaudhary Devi Lal to do a survey for the construction of canal “All such agreements have to be revised after 25 years But this agreement on sharing of river waters was done 41 years ago, and should be reviewed,” he added

Mann said he suggested to Khattar to meet the Prime Minister and apprise him

VP raps Bengal govt on post-election violence

N e w De l h i: P r a i s in g t h e N a t i on a l Hu m a n R ig h t s C ommission for promot in g t he idea tha t g over nme nts t hat uphold huma n r ights e x per ien ce g re at e r success by the ‘ Rule of Law’, Vice Pr esiden t Jagde ep Dha nk har re fe rre d to t he com mission’s repor t on the post poll v iolen ce in West Ben gal in which it ha d observ ed tha t the “L aw of the Rule r, n ot R ule of Law is the ban e of human r ig hts in the sta te”

Addressing the 30th Foundation Day celebration of NHRC, Dhankar, who was governor of West Bengal, stated that the absence of the Rule of Law should not be a matter of concern in one state only, but should apply to any part of the globe where the “Law of the Ruler prevails instead of the Rule of Law”

Additionally, he stated that everyone, including the victim and any witnesses to

in brief

TN BACKS RAJIV CONVICTS’ EARLY RELEASE PLEA

Contending that the governor is bound by its recommendation to allow premature release of life term convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the Tamil Nadu government supported the plea of convicts S Nalini and R P Ravichandran in Supreme Court for release from jail Armed with apex court’s verdict granting the same relief to co accused A G Perarivalan the petitioners had first approached the Madras high court which refused their plea leading them to approach the Supreme Court Invoking its extraordinary power granted under Article 142 of the Constitution to do complete justice, the SC had granted relief to Perarivalan and had said that the governor s decision to send the plea to the President was wrong and it has no constitutional backing

ACTOR'S SUPPORTERS ATTACK AP

MINISTER'S CAR

a violation of human rights, must choose a side since " n e u t r a l i t y s u p p o r t s t h e o p p r e s s o r , n e v e r t h e s u f f e r e r , a n d s i l e n c e encourages the tormentor, never the afflicted "

“We never believed, as a nation, in expansion Any expansion, particularly of g e o g r a p h i c a l b o u n d a r i e s , i n v o l v e s violation of human rights, of an extreme degree This nation (India) has never done so, ” he said, adding that no other country in the World can boast of such a track record NHRC chief Justice Arun Mishra said while India has witnessed several steps for the socio economic and political uplift of the marginalised, more affirmative action is needed He said that “ T h e t i m e h a s c o m e t o c l a r i f y t h a t u n r e p r e s e n t e d c l a s s e s i n s e r v i c e s a r e provided reservations within the reserved category to ensure overall development ”

o f t h e i s s u e H e s t a t e d t h a t “ I c a n accompany him to request the PM to allow for water from other rivers to be allocated to Haryana, but there is no surplus water in Ravi and Beas to be shared with Haryana ”

O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , K h a t t a r s a i d Punjab did not agree on the construction o f t h e c a n a l i n i t s t e r r i t o r y " N o consensus was arrived at in the meeting," he said

Punjab has argued that the amount of water coming through the Ravi and Beas rivers has significantly decreased, and as a result, it is requesting a re evaluation of the water volume

H a r y a n a h a s b e e n s e e k i n g completion of the SYL canal to get its share of 3 5 million acre feet of the river w a t e r s a n d a l s o t h a t P u n j a b s h o u l d comply with the 2002 and 2004 Supreme Court orders for the completion of the SYL canal for bringing its share of Ravi Beas waters

TMC MLA held in education recruitment scam

KO L KA T A: For mer W est Benga l Boar d of Pr imary Ed u c a t i on ( W BB PE ) c h a i r m a n a n d c u r r e n t Trina mool MLA Man ik Bha tt achary a was ar rest ed by t h e E n f or c e m e n t Di r e c t o r a t e a f t e r a m a r a t h on quest ion ing session on monet ar y kickbacks a llege dly r

schools

Bhattacharya is the second Trinamool MLA to be detained in relation with the alleged scam Former education minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested in July, was the first The MLA from Palashipara in Nadia was remanded in ED custody for 14 days by a PMLA court

The ED, in its remand application to the court, r e f e r r e d t o a l e t t e r s e i z e d f r o m B h a t t a c h a r y a ’ s residence, addressed to him and the Bengal chief minister The ED counsel claimed that “The contents of the letter revealed that illegal amounts, to the tune of Rs 700,000 each, were taken from 44 candidates in l i e u o f o f f e r i n g t h e m t e a c h i n g j o b s T h e s a i d amounts were collected by one general secretary of the Trinamool Youth Congress Committee ”

Visakhapatnam Police issued a notice to Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan prohibiting him from holding rallies in the city till October 31 This comes after his supporters went on a rampage and created a law and order situation earlier Supporters of the actor politician also reportedly attacked the car of Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) minister RK Roja who was in Visakhapatnam to attend an event Driver of Roja, who is the Industrial Development Corporation Chairperson, suffered a head injury in the attack and was taken to hospital for treatment Vehicles of other leaders Jogi Ramesh and TTD chairperson Y V Subba Reddy were also reportedly attacked

FORMER PUNJAB MINISTER ARRESTED FOR OFFERING 'BRIBE'

Former Punjab minister Sunder Sham Arora, who joined the BJP in June was arrested by the State Vigilance Bureau for allegedly offering a bribe to its AIG rank officer for favourably settling” an inquiry against him Arora who was arrested when he tried to hand over the cash to AIG Manmohan Kumar, was sent to three day police custody by a Mohali court Arora is the third former minister to be arrested by the AAP government on corruption charges The arrest comes ahead of the Assembly elections in Himachal where AAP is pitted against the BJP and the Congress In the past few weeks, Arora was twice summoned by the VB in connection with a “disproportionate” assets case and “irregularities” in the allotment of industrial plots during his tenure as minister

Sunder Sham Arora

PRIEST BOOKED FOR 8 YEAR OLD GIRL’S MURDER

An eight year old girl became a victim of suspected human sacrifice in a village of Bengal’s Malda district hours after she was last seen alive in the company of a local priest known to be involved in occult practices The state in which the girl was found with her throat slit forehead smeared with sindoor and petals sticking to her blood soaked body led villagers to allege that accused Bikram Bhagat murdered her as part of some ritual Police said Bhagat was critically injured and unconscious in hospital after being assaulted by a mob

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Ch ief Minister Pinarayi Vi jayan w ro te to P rim e M i nister Naren dra Mo d i saying th at efforts to imp ose the Hind i language are "unaccep table"

Over 9,000 Cong delegates vote to elect new party president

Ov er 9, 000 Co ng ress dele gates vo ted on M ond ay to elect the new president of th e A l l In d i a C o n g res s C o m m i tt ee ( A I C C ) w it h M al li ka rj u n K h a rg e an d Shashi Tharoo r in the fray and the former being wide ly seen as the 'fro nt runner' due to th e backing of the A IC C es tab li sh m e nt T he res u lt w i ll be o u t o n Wed n es d ay ev en i ng af te r counting of votes

After the completion of voting at the polling booths set up at the AICC office a n d h e a d q u a r t e r s o f t h e P r a d e s h C o n g r e s s C o m m i t t e e s , C o n g r e s s

Central Election Authority c h a i r m a n M a d h u s u d a n M i s t r y a n n o u n c e d a t a press conference that over "95%" votes were cast

"Of the total 9,915 party d e l e g a t e s , 9 , 4 9 7 v o t e d , " M i s t r y s a i d , a d d i n g t h a t sealed ballot boxes would b e b r o u g h t t o D e l h i f o r c o u n t i n g A t t h e A I C C

booth, 87 delegates, includ i n g o u t g o i n g c h i e f S o n i a G a n d h i a n d f o r m e r P M Manmohan Singh exercised their franchise He said the 5 0 d e l e g a t e s a m o n g t h e ' B h a r a t Y a t r i s ' , i n c l u d i n g R a h u l G a n d h i , v o t e d i n Karnataka (at a make shift polling booth created in a portable container)

Many Congress leaders cited the election process a n d t h e a t m o s p h e r i c s t o project the Congress as a " t r u l y d e m o c r a t i c p a r t y " and asked when other polit ical parties will hold such

e l e c t i o n s t o c h o o s e t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e l e a d e r " I h a v e b e e n w a i t i n g f o r t h i s moment for a long time," s a i d S o n i a G a n d h i w h e n s h e , a c c o m p a n i e d b y h e r d a u g h t e r P r i y a n k a V a d r a , came to the AICC to cast t h e i r v o t e i n t h e f i r s t Congress presidential elec tion in 22 years

"It's a moment of pride f o r t h e e n t i r e C o n g r e s s party as we're in a demo cratic process to elect the party president It's only the Congress that can elect its p a r t y p r e s i d e n t W e r e

Chandrachud to become next Chief Justice of India

C hief Justice of Ind ia Uday U m es h L al i t h as na m ed Ju stice DY Ch andrachud as h i s su c ce ss o r H e h a nd ed o v er t h e le tte r to C h and rac h u d , d es i g na ted h im as the next C JI Th e let ter was hand ed over in the p resence of oth er j udges of the Suprem e C ourt

In a matter of days, the President would designate Justice Chandrachud as the next CJI, which would be the final step prior to his taking oath as the 50th CJI after the retirement of Lalit on November 8th That will m a k e J u s t i c e s Y V Chandrachud and his son DY Chandrachud as the first father son duo to head the

Indian judiciary

Chandrachud Jr would serve as CJI for two years and two days, compared to his father's lengthy stint as the 16th CJI from February 1978 to July 1985

In June 1998, he was des ignated as senior attorney a n d i n M a r c h 2 0 0 0 t h e Bombay High Court nomi nated him as a judge On October 2013, he was named Chief Justice of the Highest Court in Allahabad On May 13, 2016, he was named a Supreme Court judge I n 2 0 1 7 , J u s t i c e C h a n d r a c h u d o v e r t u r n e d t h e c o n t r o v e r s i a l A D M Jabalpur decision from 1976, w h i c h s u p p o r t e d t h e s u s

p e n s i o n o f f u n d a m e n t a l rights during the Emergency and was rendered by a five judge panel that included C h a n d r a c h u d S r T h e S o w m i t h r i V i s h n u J u d g m e n t o f h i s f a t h e r ' s court from May 1985 was overturned by his judgment d e c r i m i n a l i s i n g a d u l t e r y under Section 497 of the IPC a year later

He was also part of the 5 judge bench’s unanimous verdict in 2019 that awarded disputed Ayodhya land for c o n s t r u c t i o n o f R a m Temple and a five acre land a t a p r o m i n e n t p l a c e i n Ayodhya to the Muslim side f o r c o n s t r u c t i o n o f a mosque

demonstrating real democ racy," said KC Venugopal, A I C C g e n e r a l s e c r e t a r y (organisation)

T e r m i n g t h e e l e c t i o n " h i s t o r i c " a n d " f r e e a n d f a i r , p a r t y s p o k e s p e r s o n J a i r a m R a m e s h s a i d t h e Congress is the only politi c a l p a r t y " t h a t e l e c t s i t s president through a demo cratic election

Soon after the voting started, candidates Kharge a n d T h a r o o r t w e e t e d t o advertise that they had a f r i e n d l y t e l e p h o n i c c h a n t before setting out for vot ing While Kharge said he w o u l d i m p l e m e n t t h e U d a i p u r D e c l a r a t i o n i f e l e c t e d , T h a r o o r s a i d h i s c o n t e s t w a s m e a n t t o s t r e n g t h e n C o n g r e s s a n d his candidature represented c h a n g e T h a r o o r s a i d P r i y a n k a V a d r a h a d t e l e phoned him in the morning and that she told him the election for the top post was good for Congress

Court rejects request for carbon dating of Gyanvapi 'shivling'

The Vara nasi dist rict judge has de nie d t he r equest of four Hindu women plaint iffs seek in g ca rbon da ting an d scientific in vestigation of the str ucture, citing the Supreme Court's or der to protect t he location where a supposedly authent ic 'shivl in g' wa s discover ed in the Gya nvapi compound's abl ut ion pond dur in g t he cour t commissioner 's surve y

After district and sessions judge Ajay Krishna Vishvesha pronounced his order, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Vishnu Jain, said that he would challenge it in the Supreme Court as the Varanasi court had cited the apex court while rejecting the plea

The district judge’s order said: “Plaintiffs 2 to 5 have requested to allow carbon dating or other scientific investiga tion by using ground penetrating radar (GPR) of the ‘shivling’ found during the court commission survey on May 16 to deter mine its nature, shape and age In its May 17 order, the SC had ordered to keep it protected If carbon dating or ground pene trating radar is permitted and it damages the ‘shivling’, it would be a violation of the May 17, 2022 order of the apex court If it happens, it can also hurt people's religious sentiments ”

T h e c o u r t s t a t e d t h a t i s s u i n g a d i r e c t i v e t o t h e Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for this investigation “will be unfair” and “there is also no possibility of any judicial solu tion to the questions integrated to the case by issuing any order Hence, this application is liable to be dismissed”

The plea to carbon date the ‘shivling’ (to ascertain its age) had been moved by four (Laxmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas and Rekha Pathak) of the five women plaintiffs who had earlier filed a petition seeking the right to worship Shringar Gauri and other deities in the Gyanvapi compound (Case No 18/2022)

Laws should change as per changing times: PM Modi

P ri m e M i n i st er N ar en d ra Modi sai d that laws should come wi th an expi ry date a nd fr am e d i n l oc al l an guages so that the common m a n c a n c om p r e he n d them He also stated that the justic e deli very m echa ni sm ne eds to upgrade and adapt to the c hanging ti mes and tec hnology

A d d r e s s i n g a t w o d a y meeting of law ministers and law secretaries of states at Kevadia in Gujarat, the PM stated complexities in l a w s a r e c o n t r i b u t i n g t o delay in justice delivery and imposing a high cost on cit izens as he exhorted the l e g i s l a t u r e , e x e c u t i v e a n d judiciary to work in tandem

Sardar Patel fan creates 147 statues on Iron Man's 147th birth anniversary

Nischal Sanghavi

Gopa l Va st apa ra, 58, a busi ne ssma n from Amre li a nd a Sar dar Pat el fa n, has come up with a un ique idea to ce l ebra te the upcoming 147th bir th a nn iv ersa ry of the Ir on Man who pla ye d a v ital role in u n it i n g In d ia Be i n g a Pat el fan , he wan te d t o do s om e t hi n g t h a t wi ll l e a d more an d more people to t h in k a bo ut h im a n d g e t inspire d by t he lead er

While PM Modi's initia tive to build Statue of Unity i m p r e s s e d G o p a l , h e thought that if every village had a statue of Sardar, it would give an opportunity t o t h e v i l l a g e r s t o l e a r n more about the leader and g e t i n s p i r e d O n 3 1 s t October, India will be cele b r a t i n g t h e 1 4 7 t h b i r t h

anniversary of Sardar Patel T o m a r k t h e o c c a s i o n , Gopal came up with a pro ject of creating 147 statues o f P a t e l w h i c h a r e l a r g e r than life size These statues would be installed at promi n e n t l o c a t i o n s a c r o s s Gujarat

Gopal who is engaged in construction business, has

selected a special kind of f i b r e f o r t h e s t a t u e a n d decided to paint the statue in golden colour Each 8 ft tall statue weighs 100 kg He said that if any Sarpanch is interested in installing the statue, he would give it to them free of cost The mes sage spread like fire and lots of Sarpanchs are willing to

install the statue in their villages Gopal said that he has spent £100,000 in creating the statues and he doesn't plan to t a k e a n y m o n e y f r o m anyone for this project

G o p a l ' s w i f e Muktaben and his three children are his biggest m o t i v a t o r s N o t deterred by the money he is spending, they are e n c o u r a g i n g h i m t o s p e n d m o r e o n s u c h a c t i v i t i e s I n i t i a l l y G o p a l wanted to give 58 statues because it is his 58th birth d a y H o w e v e r , l a t e r h e thought that this was not about him, but about Sardar Patel So he changed the plan The people from other villages are so happy that they are coming in groups to collect the statue

for speedy dispensation of j u s t i c e H e a d d e d

“Obscurity of law creates complexity If law is com prehensible to the common man, it will have a different i m p a c t O u r f o c u s should be such that even the poor can understand the new law ”

Modi said some coun tries have the provision of deciding during the fram ing of a law as to how long it will remain effective “So, in a way, the age and the expiry date of a law is deter m i n e d w h e n i t i s b e i n g framed When that (stipu lated) date comes, the same law is reviewed in new cir cumstances In India, too,

we will have to go ahead with the same spirit,” he said

PM Modi indicated that digital archives of signifi cant Supreme Court and high court cases will be very h e l p f u l t o t h e p o p u l a c e , h i g h l i g h t i n g t h e i m p o r tance of using regional lan guages in the legal system f o r " e a s e o f j u s t i c e H e added that “Delay in get ting justice is one of the m a j o r c h a l l e n g e s b e i n g faced by the people of our country But our judiciary i s s e r i o u s l y w o r k i n g t o w a r d s r e s o l v i n g t h i s issue In this ‘Amrit Kaal’, w e w i l l h a v e t o w o r k together to tackle this ”

Gambia deaths: centre forms panel to investigate

T he C e n tr e h a s fo r me d a four me mbe r committ ee to e x a m in e t h e d e t a il s o f ‘ a d v e r se e v e n t ’ r e po r t s r e c e i v e d fr o m t h e W o r ld Health O rga nisat ion (WHO) on t he de at hs of 66 childre n i n G a mbi a t ha t a r e b e in g li n k e d p ot e n t i a ll y t o fo u r ma de in India coug h sy rups

T h e d e v e l o p m e n t occurred on the same day t h a t t h e H a r y a n a g o v e r n ment ordered the suspen sion of drug production at M a i d e n P h a r m a c e u t i c a l s L t d ' s S o n i p a t f a c i l i t y a n d demanded that it provide an explanation for "many con traventions" discovered dur ing a recent inspection with in a week, or risk having its l i c e n c e s u s p e n d e d o r revoked

T h e U N s a i d t h a t t h e medications in question had impurities such as diethy

lene glycol and ethylene gly col in prohibited concentra t i o n s W h e n t a k e n b y h u m a n s , d i e t h y l e n e g l y c o l and ethylene glycol are fatal ly poisonous In addition to acute kidney injury, which m a y b e f a t a l , i t c a n a l s o cause abdominal discomfort, v o m i t i n g , d i a r r h o e a , t h e i n a b i l i t y t o p a s s u r i n e , headaches, and altered men tal status

T h e D r u g C o n t r o l l e r G e n e r a l o f I n d i a w a s informed about the issue on September 29 “CDSCO took up the matter immediately with Haryana state regulato r y a u t h o r i t y a s M a i d e n ’ s S o n e p a t u n i t i s u n d e r i t s j u r i s d i c t i o n A d e t a i l e d probe has been launched to ascertain the facts/details in the matter in collaboration with the state drugs con troller, Haryana ”

Mallikarjun Kharge & Shashi Tharoor

Himachal polls on November 12, EC defers Gujarat announcement

T h e E lecti o n C o m m iss io n l as t w ee k ann o u nc ed a s se m bl y e lec ti o ns i n H i m ac h a l P rad e s h o n Nov em ber 1 2, but the poll p a ne l, fo ll o w i ng th e p r ec ed e nt s e t by it s p r ed e ce s so rs i n 2 0 1 7 a nd w ith a view to curtailing the p eriod of the Mo del Cod e of C onduct so that it does not h ind er policy decisions and g overnance, put in abeyance annou ncem ent o f po lls in Gujarat

Though the term of the Himachal assembly expires o n J a n u a r y 8 , 2 0 2 3 , E C , keeping in mind the onset of snow in the higher reaches o f t h e s t a t e a r o u n d m i d November and the logistical p r o b l e m s i t c o u l d e n t a i l , decided to bring forward the p o l l i n g t o N o v e m b e r 1 2 , even as counting of votes w i l l b e t a k e n u p o n December 8

T h e n e a r l y f o u r w e e k g a p b e t w e e n p o l l i n g a n d counting in Himachal is a c l e a r i n d i c a t i o n o f a n a n n o u n c e m e n t o f G u j a r a t assembly polls in a week or two Sources indicated that p o l l i n g i n G u j a r a t , w h i c h may be held in 1 2 phases, is likely to be completed by D e c e m b e r 4 , f o l l o w e d b y c o u n t i n g a l o n g s i d e Himachal Though the term o f t h e c u r r e n t G u j a r a t a s s e m b l y e x p i r e s o n l y o n February 18 next year, polls i n t h e s t a t e w i l l b e h e l d earlier to avoid any impact of Himachal results on the level playing field

T h o u g h H i m a c h a l h a s so far seen direct political c o n t e s t b e t w e e n B J P a n d Congress, Aam Aadmi Party h a s t r i e d t o m a k e i t a triangular one this time For n e a r l y 3 7 y e a r s , B J P a n d C o n g r e s s h a v e s w i t c h e d

b e n c h e s i n t h e s t a t e alternately every five years But under Prime Minister N a r e n d r a M o d i , B J P i s hoping to defy this pattern

A l s o , t h e c o n t e s t i n Himachal this time will be in the absence of familiar faces who have dominated the state’s politics for years While Congress leader and f o r m e r C M V i r B h a d r a S i n g h i s n o m o r e , B J P ’ s Shanta Kumar, who has also been CM, is out of action d u e t o a d v a n c i n g a g e Another former CM, Prem K u m a r D h u m a l , w h o w a s B J P ’ s f a c e i n t h e l a s t e l e c t i o n s , i s o u t o f contention after his shock d e f e a t I n 2 0 1 7 , E C h a d , u n d e r t h e n c h i e f e l e c t i o n c o m m i s s i o n e r A K J o t i , announced Himachal polls on October 13 and Gujarat polls separately on October 25

SC raps Ekta Kapoor for 'polluting minds' of younger generation

E k ta K a p o o r's at tem p t to enlist the aid of the legal s y st em f ai le d w h en t h e S u p r em e C o u rt h ar sh l y c ri ti ci se d th e d ire cto r fo r " polluting" the m ind s of the younger g eneration T he top c o u rt al so w arn ed t h e filmm aker not to co me to them with any m ore pleas, and ord ered that a cost will be levied if she files more such p etitions

The SC was hearing a plea filed by her in which s h e c h a l l e n g e d t h e a r r e s t warrants issued against her f o r a l l e g e d l y i n s u l t i n g s o l d i e r s a n d h u r t i n g t h e sentiments of their families through the 'objectionable content' in the web series X X X , a i r e d o n h e r O T T platform ALTBalaji

A t r i a l c o u r t i n Begusarai, Bihar, had issued

the warrant on a complaint filed by an ex serviceman S h a m b h u K u m a r ' s w h o a l l e g e d t h a t t h e s e c o n d season of the series featured several objectionable scenes related to a soldier's wife

T h e S C b e n c h s t a t e d that, "Something has to be done You are polluting the m i n d s o f t h e y o u n g generation of this country It is available to all OTT (Over the Top) content is available to all What kind of choice are you providing to

the people? on the contrary you are polluting the minds of youngsters "

The court stopped short o f i m p o s i n g c o s t s b u t warned Kapoor that, "Every time you travel to this court and we don't appreciate this We will put a cost on you for filing such a petition The court asked Mukul Rohatgi who appeared for Ekta to please convey this to your client Just because you can afford and hire the services of good lawyers this court is not for those who have voices This court works for t h o s e w h o d o n t h a v e voices if these people who have all kinds of facilities, if they cannot get justice then think of the situation of this common man We have seen the order and we have our reservations "

Indian, British defence groups to collaborate more closely

I n di a n an d UK’s de f en ce i n d us t ry o r g a n i s a t i o n s hav e joi ned hand s to b uild a n e w D e f e n c e I n d u s t r y Join t Work in g Group for m or e e f f i c a ci o u s coope ration The in itia tive i s s u p p o rt e d b y t he UK gover nment The in augural me eti n g o f th e UK I n di a D e f e n c e I n d us t ry Jo i n t Worki ng Group was held on the si delin es of DefExpo 2 0 22 i n Ga n d h i n a g a r , Gujara t

T h e r e w a s 2 0 U K d e f e n c e b u s i n e s s e s a t D e f E x p o M a n u f a c t u r i n g defence equipment not just for India but also for the r e s t o f t h e w o r l d , U K i n d u s t r y h a s a l r e a d y i n c o r p o r a t e d I n d i a n defence suppliers into their global supply chain

T h e J o i n t W o r k i n g Group is a component of a long term effort by the two

nations to improve their d e f e n c e a n d s e c u r i t y p a r t n e r s h i p t h r o u g h i n d u s t r i a l c o o p e r a t i o n Shortening the duration of t h e d e l i v e r y p r o c e s s f o r defence purchases, the UK recently granted India the first Open General Export L i c e n s e ( O G E L ) i n t h e Indo Pacific region

T h e R o y a l A i r F o r c e (RAF) lately conducted a s u b j e c t m a t t e r e x p e r t i s e e x c h a n g e w i t h D e f e n c e Research and Development O r g a n i s a t i o n ( D R D O ) d u r i n g t h e v i s i t o f E u r o f i g h t e r T y p h o o n , Voyager and A400 in New Delhi and also held joint f l y i n g e x e r c i s e s w i t h t h e Indian Air Force (IAF)

Alex Ellis, British High C o m m i s s i o n e r t o I n d i a , stated that “A stronger UK India defence relationship is an essential element of

t h e B r i t i s h a n d I n d i a n governments’ Comprehensive Strategic Partnership The B r i t i s h G o v e r n m e n t a n d i n d u s t r y p r e s e n c e a t DefExpo is further proof of this, as is our support for co creation of next generation capabilities that will be fully o w n e d b y I n d i a T h e U K s u p p o r t s P r i m e M i n i s t e r Modi s ambitions of Make i n I n d i a , M a k e f o r t h e World ”

M a r k G o l d s a c k , Director, UK Defence and Security Exports, said that “ T h i s i s a n o t h e r d e v e l o p m e n t i n t h e e x p a n d i n g d e f e n c e c o n n e c t i o n s b e t w e e n t h e t w o n a t i o n s , w h o a r e aiming to build a portfolio of joint initiatives to assist t h e c r e a t i o n o f n e w t e c h n o l o g i e s a n d c a p a b i l i t i e s i n a c c o r d a n c e with the 2030 roadmap

SC to examine 2016 note ban and how it was done

A f iv e j u d g e C o n s t it ut io n bench of the Supr eme Court la st we e k d e ci d e d t o e xamin e the validity a nd the m a n n e r in w h i ch t h e gov ern men t demon etised R s 500 an d Rs 1, 000 curre ncy n ot es in 20 16, br ushin g aside t h e C e n t r e ’ s p le a “ n o t t o wa st e time on a n acade mic issue ”

A b e n c h o f J u s t i c e s S Abdul Nazir, BR Gavai, AS B o p a n n a , V Ramasubramanian and BV N a g a r a t h n a a s k e d t h e g o v e r n m e n t a n d R e s e r v e Bank of India (RBI) to file c o m p r e h e n s i v e a f f i d a v i t s explaining why the resort to Section 26 of the RBI Act w a s m a d e t o i s s u e a demonetisation notification on November 8, 2016, and detail the deliberations on p r o s a n d c o n s o f

demonetisation

Former finance minister a n d a s t a u n c h c r i t i c o f d e m o n e t i s a t i o n , P Chidambaram, stated it as a m i n d l e s s e x e r c i s e t h a t caused extreme hardship to citizens who stood in queues before ATMs for long hours to withdraw small amounts M a n y c o u l d n o t b u y medicine, get wages and lost j o b s A s s u c h , t h e d e m o n e t i s a t i o n f a i l e d t o a c h i e v e t h e o b j e c t i v e s o f blocking black money, terror funding and fake currencies

A t t o r n e y g e n e r a l R Venkataramani said, “If and w h e n r e q u i r e d , t h e government will show these d o c u m e n t s B u t i s i t necessary for the court to c a r r y o u t a n a c a d e m i c exercise when the decision has worked itself out? The

court would be required to go into a web of entangled a s p e c t s t h a t i s c o n s i d e r e d before the government takes an economic policy decision Should the court step into such an area?” But the court b r u s h e d a s i d e t h e observations of the Attorney general

Chidambaram said that “The SC had in 1996 decided t h e v a l i d i t y o f t h e 1 9 7 8 limited demonetisation The court can give a ruling which w o u l d s e r v e a s a g u i d i n g l i g h t f o r f u t u r e d e m o n e t i s a t i o n d e c i s i o n s ”

Further he added that both t h e 1 9 4 8 a n d t h e 1 9 7 8 demonetisations were done t h r o u g h l a w p a s s e d b y P a r l i a m e n t , w h i c h w a s a b a n d o n e d b y t h e g o v e r n m e n t i n 2 0 1 6 b y resorting to the RBI Act

Superstitious businessman tortures 14-year-old daughter to death

T he 14 year o ld daughter of a S urat based businessman w as to rt u red to d eat h , allegedly by her father and u ncle, w ho suspected that sh e was possessed with evil sp irits in Dhava v illage of Gir S omnath district

The girl, Dhairya Akbari, was initially ordered to sit on a sugarcane farm with her hair tied with a stick that was linked to a stone so she c o u l d n o t m o v e , w h i p p e d

with a stick and wire despite having blisters all over her body, and forced to stand close to a fire for two hours She was also refused food and drink From October 1 u n t i l h e r d e a t h , s h e w a s subjected to three days of torture

The girl’s father Bhavesh a n d u n c l e D i l i p clandestinely cremated her d e c o m p o s e d b o d y o n October 8, police said They

w r a p p e d t h e b o d y i n a plastic bag and a blanket and transported it in a car boot T a l a l a p o l i c e b e g a n i n v e s t i g a t i o n a f t e r b e i n g informed about a suspicious death and cremation They arrested the two following a c o m p l a i n t l o d g e d b y t h e girl’s maternal grandfather

Bhavesh informed only five members known to the family about the cremation and told them that she had

died of an infectious disease They now turned witnesses

M a n o h a r s i n h J a d e j a , s u p e r i n t e n d e n t o f p o l i c e , Gir Somnath, said, “Initially, i t w a s d i f f i c u l t f o r u s t o believe that a father could resort to such savagery But we found an audio clip in w h i c h B h a v e s h i s h e a r d t o r t u r i n g h i s w i f e w h o i s wailing We also found that Bhavesh and his brother are extremely superstitious and

India again abstains from vote against Russia at the UNGA

India once again abs taine d f rom voting in t he UN General Ass emb ly (UNGA) on a res olution denounc ing Russ ia’s “ill egal s o c a l l e d r e f e r e n da ” in U kr a i ne a n d s ub s e q ue n t “ at t e m p t e d il l e g a l a nne xation”

I n d i a s a i d s o m e o f t h e p r e s s i n g issues at play had not been adequately addressed in the resolution Speaking for the global south, which is reeling under food and energy crises, India called upon the international community to not take

any step that would further hurt the global economy

T h e r e s o l u t i o n , w h i c h s o u g h t

reversal of Russia’s decision to annex Ukrainian territory, was adopted with 143 votes in favour and five against in the 1 9 3 m e m b e r b o d y T h e U S , w h i c h lobbied hard to secure as many votes as p o s s i b l e i n f a v o u r , s a i d t h e G e n e r a l Assembly had delivered a resounding rebuke to Russia China and Pakistan w e r e a m o n g t h e 3 5 c o u n t r i e s w h i c h

abstained After what was the fourth s u c h a b s t e n t i o n i n a v o t e t a r g e t i n g Russia, India emphasised that the global order, which all countries subscribed to, was based on international law, UN C h a r t e r a n d r e s p e c t f o r t e r r i t o r i a l integrity and sovereignty of “all states” a n d t h a t t h e s e p r i n c i p l e s “ m u s t b e u p h e l d , w i t h o u t e x c e p t i o n ” I n d i a n ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said India’s decision to abstain was consistent with its well thought out national position

believe in witchcraft ”

W h i l e t h e g i r l ' s u n c l e D i l i p r e v e a l e d t h e g o r y details of the murder, her f a t h e r i s f r e q u e n t l y

c h a n g i n g h i s s t a t e m e n t s during questioning Police said they are taking help of a psychologist to speak with him to extract more details

Obituary

W e a r e d e e p l y s a d d e n t o a n n o u n c e t h e d e m i s e o f Pratimaben Merchant due to cancer, on Tuesday, the 18th of October at the age of 75 S h e w a s u n d e r g o i n g t r e a t m e n t a t t h e G u y ' s Hospital, London She served a s t h e H e a d o f N R I

D e p a r t m e n t f r o m 1 9 8 5 t o 1 9 9 9 i n L o n d o n b a s e d Citibank As the name suggests, Pratimaben, who has a beautiful face, won the hearts of everyone with her best performance as Lord Shri Krishna in the popular ballet "Vansaladi Vaagi" staged at Wembley's Conference Center in 1980 Pratimabehan was the daughter of Hasmukhbhai Amin, a native of Vaso Her daughter Sheetal, son in law Pasha and a grand daughter Maya were present during her last moments ABPL family prays that almighty God grant eternal peace to the departed soul Contact Sheetal: 07446936614

Ekta Kapoor

Late Pratimaben Merchant

Available from Superdrug,

Time to celebrate and come together

With Diwali fast approaching an d Christmas just ar ound the corner , man y people ar e l ooking forward to ce lebr ating with l ove d o n e s, e x ch a n g in g t ho u gh t fu l g if t s a n d savouring delicious meal s

Dr Harpreet Sood and Dr Madhvi Joshi have provided advice to help us all celebrate safely, as Covid 19 is still making people very ill every day And experts warn that this win ter could be the first time we see the effects of a so called ‘twindemic’, with people catch ing both Covid and flu at the same time, increasing their risk of serious illness

Cel ebra ting safel y

W i t h c o m m u n i t y c e l e b r a t i o n s a n d events back in full swing, the annual Diwali in the Square is no exception Thousands of f a m i l i e s f l o c k e d t o L o n d o n ’ s T r a f a l g a r Square in October, to celebrate the festival of lights with a colourful range of music, dance, food and workshops A Health Hopper bus was on site, offering Covid 19 vaccines to those who need one, as well as a health stall p r o v i d i n g g e n e r a l a d v i c e a n d g u i d a n c e Many cities will also soon host Christmas e v e n t s , i n c l u d i n g t h e Y o r k C h r i s t m a s Festival, that will be celebrating its 30th anniversary and is expecting to attract larger crowds than ever

D r H a r p r e e t S o o d , a G P i n L o n d o n explains there are more chances of picking up infections due to the changing weather, being outside in the cold and then spending time indoors in closed spaces “Some people need extra protection during colder weather as viruses circulate more and cause greater harm Catching Covid 19 or flu for most peo ple is unpleasant, but for some it can be very dangerous If we get both at the same time, the chance of being very unwell or going into hospital is even greater

“Vaccinations are the best protection against getting seriously ill from these virus es and spreading it to other people ” The basic steps that we all used earlier in the pan demic can still be followed Staying at home

w h e n y o u a r e i l l , w a s h i n g y o u r hands regularly, covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze, and keeping a window open when you have guests indoors, are still important to reduce the risk of infections spreading

Dr Sood adds: “As we ’ re approaching fes tivals like Diwali and Christmas, we’ll be spending time with loved ones But if you ’ re feeling unwell, we recommend you avoid going out and stay at home wherever possi ble Older family members or those with underlying health conditions are particularly vulnerable and at greater risk of complica tion It’s sensible to keep your distance from others until you ’ re feeling better ”

Boost y our immunity Al ongside your v accinations, her e a re some idea s to b oost your immune syst em to help fight in fection:

• A good night’s sl eep quality sleep helps us to feel fully rested Giving your eyes a rest from blue light and gadgets a couple of hours before going to bed, avoiding caffeine from the early evening and a relaxing bed time routine might also aid your sleep

• Reduce y our st ress leve ls with so much going on in our lives, it’s important to rest our minds as well as our bodies We all have different ways of calming our mind whether it’s yoga, meditation or a walk in the fresh air, find something that works for you

• Eat hea lthy most of our nutrients

Spot dementia with this 30-minute logic test

S c i en ti st s rev eal a s im p le memory and logic test could be u sed to sp ot dementia nearly a decade befo re visi ble symptoms p op up D r T i mo t h y Ri t tm an , o f t h e U n i ver s i ty o f C am b ri dg e, w h o o ve rs a w t h e s tu d y, believes the findings could b e u se d t o c r ea te a 30 minute tes t to identify peo p le with a h igh risk of devel o p i ng A lz h e i me r ’ s T h e y co uld be then enrolled in clinical trials o r given treat ments before they began to sh ow symp to ms

People who went on to develop conditions such as Alzheimer’s were found to perform less well at tasks t h a t m e a s u r e d p r o b l e m solving, reaction times and t h e a b i l i t y t o r e c a l l a s e q u e n c e o f n u m b e r s Around 900,000 people in the UK have dementia and the number is expected to rise as the population ages The latest study drew on i n f o r m a t i o n o n a b o u t 500,000 people aged 40 69 who had taken part in the UK Biobank project They took part in a battery of tests, which were used to gauge problem solving abil ity, memory, reaction times and grip strength

T h e t e s t s i n c l u d e d a “ snap ” game, where people have to react when a pair of c a r d s m a t c h A n o t h e r involved a simple problem that requires logic and rea soning Participants had to solve as many as they could i n t w o m i n u t e s D r N o l S w a d d i w u d h i p o n g , o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f C a m b r i d g e , w h o l e d t h e s t u d y , s a i d ,

“When we looked back at p a t i e n t s ’ h i s t o r i e s , i t became clear that they were s h o w i n g s o m e c o g n i t i v e i m p a i r m e n t s e v e r a l y e a r s

b e f o r e t h e i r s y m p t o m s became obvious enough to p r o m p t a d i a g n o s i s T h e i m p a i r m e n t s w e r e o f t e n subtle, but [they were seen] across a number of aspects of cognition ”

They added, “This is a step towards us being able to screen people who are at greatest risk for example, people over 50 or those who have high blood pressure or do not do enough exercise and intervene at an earli er stage to help them reduce their risk ”

come from a varied a n d w e l l b a l a n c e d diet Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as protein can b o o s t o u r i m m u n e system If you don’t eat meat, fish or eggs, p r o t e i n c a n a l s o b e f o u n d i n l e n t i l s , b e a n s , p u l s e s , s o y a a n d t o f u G o v e r n m e n t a d v i c e r e c o m m e n d s t h a t everyone should consider taking a daily vita min D supplement during the autumn and winter You may not make enough vitamin D from the sunlight if you have darker skin or spend a lot of time indoors, so you may decide to have a supplement all year round • Stay h yd rated remember to drink w a t e r r e g u l a r l y t h r o u g h o u t t h e d a y I t might not be at the top of your priority list especially as you may not feel as thirsty in the winter, but it’s essential for our health

• Exercise regularly to help your over all health and strengthens your immune system and lower the risk of illness It is rec ommended we do at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, but if you aren’t able to manage that, remember some exer cise is better than none at all

Getting your winter jabs

Vaccines protect us from getting seri ously ill and have saved lives and helped thousands of people stay out of hospital Flu vaccines are available for free on the NHS for anyone aged 50 and over, those who are pregnant and people with certain health conditions Others can have the vaccine because they may get seriously ill or pass it on to others if they catch it such as young children, primary school aged and some secondary school aged children

This autumn, the NHS is offering next generation Covid 19 vaccines that target

two different variants of the virus, poten tially improving protection And it is impor tant to come forward for both jabs even if you have been vaccinated before Dr Sood explains: “Your immunity reduces over time which is why those at greater risk from the virus are being invited to top it up again ahead of winter And the flu virus can change over time, so even if you had a flu vaccine last year, it’s important to come for ward for one when you are invited this year ”

“And if you or a family member still need an earlier dose of the Covid 19 vaccine, it’s not too late You will be welcomed by your local NHS team and someone will be able to advise on what you need (which you can also check on nhs uk or by calling 119)”

Dr Madhvi Joshi, a GP in Harrow points out that, as well as being quick and easy to get, the vaccines are safe She adds: “There has been extensive testing on Covid 19 vac cines and as our own communities have also been involved in tests, we can trust it is safe and gives us protection There are no egg or animal products in the Covid 19 vac cine and although some flu vaccines con tain egg, there are also low egg and egg free vaccines available, particularly for those with allergies Children over the age of 2 may be offered a nasal spray flu vaccine which contains small traces of porcine gela tine But if this isn’t suitable for your child, an injectable vaccine will still be available

“If you have any worries or questions about vaccines, please ask a health profes sional who will be able to help you ”

G e t t i n g y o u r v a c c i n e s w h e n i n v i t e d gives you and your loved ones the best pro tection from serious illness and hospitalisa t i o n C o v i d 1 9 v a c c i n e s c a n b e b o o k e d online at www nhs uk/get vaccination, call ing 119 for free, or in some areas you can find a local vaccination walk in centre To find out more about the flu vaccine and who is eligible, visit www nhs uk/flujab

WHO chief seeks immediate action to tackle Long Covid

Dr Tedros Adhan om Gheb rey esus, WHO Di rec tor ge ne ral, ha s w arn ed a bout t he effec ts of Long Covid He sai d the condi tion is “devastating” the lives and liveli hoods of tens of m illions of people, a nd w rea ki n g ha voc on hea lth sy s tem s an d ec onomi es, as he urged coun tri es to laun ch “i m m ed i a t e ” an d “ s u s t ai n e d ” e f f or ts t o tack le the “ very s erious ” c risis

cent of survivors have been left with mid and long term symptoms such as fatigue, breathlessness and cognitive dysfunction

With the absence of evidence about how best to treat it, Long Covid is turning people’s lives upside down, and many face “often lengthy” and “frustrating” waits for support or guidance, he said Dr Tedros wrote, “While the pandemic has changed dramatically due to the introduction of many lifesaving tools, the impact of Long Covid for all countries is very serious and n e e d s i m m e d i a t e a n d s u s t a i n e d a c t i o n equivalent to its scale ”

The countdown to Diwali has begun and it is extra special this year People look forward to celebrating the festival with all their family and friends after fol lowing two years of Covid restrictions The festive season is the perfect opportunity to binge eat dif ferent sweets and foods guilt free While one can easily get carried away, it is important to choose fes tive food mindfully if one wants to avoid health issues and sudden weight gain

Nutritionist Bhuvan Rastogi talk about healthy sweets one can eat this Diwali

She wrote, “Who can resist sweets when the fes tive season comes rolling around? But the conflict between sticking to your fitness goals and having a little bit of fun can put a dampener on your spirits But not if you choose the right kind of sweets and stick to the basics of meal planning That way you can still have fun without going overboard ” She said most of the sweets have excessive sugar and

In a report, Dr Tedros said the world has never been in a better position to end the Covid 19 pandemic, but it is also “ very clear” that many of those infected by the virus is still experiencing “prolonged suffer ing ”

The WHO estimates that 10 to 20 per

Tips to choose healthier sweets this Diwali

maida and they are usually high in simple carbs and they have a high glycaemic index The key is to try to reduce the effect of simple carbs

Cho ose sweets with a milk base

Milk has protein and fats Even if sweets are cream based, the glycaemic index will be lower So, pick chena (milk protein) over rasmalai (milk fat) and biscuits or cake which has both sugar and maida Chena has the most amount of protein, fol lowed by rasmalai and then biscuits

Pick fibre rich sw eets

Besan is high in fibre, millets come close second Have besan ladoo over ragi sweets and atta ladoo Besan has the highest fibre followed by ragi and atta

Pick sweets with natural sugar or artificial sweeteners Rastogi says fresh dates that have fruc tose and fibre which is much healthier than artificial sweeteners are safe to consume in moderation

Countries must now “seriously ramp up ” both research into the condition and access to care for those affected if they are to “minimise the suffering” of their popula tions and protect their health systems and work forces “Early in the pandemic, it was important for overwhelmed health systems to focus all of their life saving efforts on Covid 19 patients presenting with acute infection,” he said “However, it is critical for governments to invest long term in their health system and workers and make a plan now for dealing with Long Covid ”

“This plan should encompass: provid i n g i m m e d i a t e a c c e s s t o a n t i v i r a l s t o patients at high risk of serious disease, investing in research and sharing new tools and knowledge as they’re identified to pre vent, detect and treat patients more effec tively It also means supporting patients’ physical and mental health as well as pro viding financial support for those who are unable to work ”

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Deepika’s 'gharelu' comments on Ranveer’s Insta Live will have you in splits

Bollywood’s beloved couple Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s social media banter is every fan’s dream. The actress took the limelight from Ranveer’s Instagram live recently with the cutest comments Stuck in traffic, the ‘Bajirao Mastani’ actor and rapper Slow Cheeta rapped to the latter’s new song ‘All I Need’ in a car and much to everybody’s delight, their wives dropped comments

Sonam breastfeeds her son while getting ready for Karwa Chauth

Sonam

Kapoor and her husband

Anand Ahuja welcomed their son Vayu in August and it seems that the actress was born to be a mother Apparently adept at multitasking, she was part of the Karwa Chauth festivities hosted by her mom Sunita Kapoor at their residence in Mumbai recently She shared a video featuring her team prepping her up as she breastfeeds her son

S h a r i n g t h e v i d e o , S o n a m w r o t e o n Instagram, “It’s so nice to get back to the real world with my team, get dressed up and meet people love being back in my home ground Love you #Mumbai with all your scars and cracks you ’ re magic ”

T h e v i d e o s h o w s t h e c l o t h e s a n d jewellery Sonam had chosen for the day She is seen getting her hair blow dried and her m a k e u p d o n e w h i l e a l s o c h a t t i n g a n d laughing with the makeup artists At one

point, she is also seen feeding V a y u a s m a k e u p a r t i s t s continued to do her makeup The video ends with Sonam posing in the silk lehenga after getting ready Her husband Anand Ahuja c o m m e n t e d o n t h e v i d e o , “Built for this (bicep emojis) mama @sonamkapoor ” A fan wrote, “The way she is feeding while makeup,” along with a heart emoji Another commented, “@sonamkapoor you go girl!” An Instagram user wrote, “I loved watching this stunning mumma the way you feeding while getting your makeup done Proud of you ”

Sunita's Karwa Chauth celebration had s e v e r a l g u e s t s f r o m t h e f i l m i n d u s t r y including Raveena Tandon, Shilpa Shetty, Poonam Dhillon, Varun Dhawan's wife and designer Natasha Dalal, Neelam Kothari, Bhavana Pandey and Maheep Kapoor

Arjun Kapoor unveils Parineeti’s first look poster from ‘Uunchai’

Agastya Nanda watches ‘K3G’ to make fun of her, reveals Jaya Bachchan

Veteran actor Jaya Bachchan is now a common feature in her granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda’s podcast ‘What The Hell Navya’ In a recent episode, the two revealed that Agastya Nanda often watches ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ and makes fun of Jaya

A s R a n v e e r g r o o v e d t o t h e m u s i c , Deepika asked him how much longer it w o u l d t a k e h i m t o g e t h o m e S h e commented, “Hurry up ” , and “I am waiting for dinner” However, it was her “Which s i g n a l ? ” c o m m e n t t h a t t o o k t h e i c i n g

Ranveer turned the camera around to show her that he was indeed stuck in traffic Giving up, Deepika feigned frustration and wrote, “Okay going to keep dinner ready now, bye ” Slow Cheeta’s wife actor Shweta Tripathi sent them “lots of love”

M a n y o n T w i t t e r f o u n d D e e p i k a ' s comments cute “Deepika asking Ranveer which signal he has reached while he is live i n h i s c a r , g o d m y g i r l i s s o g h a r e l u , ” commented a person “Imagine Deepika Padukone keeping dinner ready for you Only Ranveer can relate,” tweeted another A few even meme d Deepika's frustration

Ranveer and Deepika got married in 2 0 1 8 a t I t a l y s L a k e C o m o T h e y h a v e worked in a bunch of movies including ‘ G o l i y o n K i R a s l e e l a R a m l e e l a ’ , ' B a j i r a o Mastani’, ‘Padmaavat’ and ’83’

Actors

Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra’s friendship is famously known The two often share banter on social media and stand up for each other from time to time Last week, Arjun shared the first look poster of Parineeti’s ‘Uunchai’, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, and Boman Irani Directed by Sooraj Barjatya and produced by Barjatya family banner Rajshri, the movie marks Parineeti’s first film with the revered production house.

‘Uunchai’ will feature the a c t r e s s p l a y i n g S h r a d d h a Gupta, and is the story of three friends who take a trek to the Everest base camp Arjun, who ha worked with Parineeti in films his debut romantic drama ‘Ishaqzaade’, ‘Namaste England’, and last year ’ s acclaimed ‘ S a n d e e p A u r P i n k y F a r a a r ’ , s h a r e d t h e poster and called ‘Uunchai’ a “special film”

“She was my first co star, she was my first heroine and this is her first #Rajshri film This is to all the beautiful firsts This one is for you Pari! With all heart, I bring to you, my dear friend Parineeti as Shraddha Gupta from #Uunchai! A special film by

Sooraj Barjatya See you at the movies on 11 11 22 Love and luck to Team Uunchai!” he wrote Parineeti wrote on her Instagram stories that Arjun launching her poster from the film was not a surprise but a “shock” and called him her “original, sach ka, asli dost (one true friend)” In another story, Parineeti said s h e w a s t o u c h e d b y t h e gesture, which she said was a rarity in the “insecure world ”

“Arjun launching my first look from Uunchai is one of t h o s e ‘ m o m e n t s ’ i n o u r friendship and in our life In t h i s i n s e c u r e w o r l d , p e o p l e on’t do that This is a core m o r y t h a t I w i l l c h e r i s h f o r e v e r S o m e t i m e s i n t h i s c r a z y career, a gesture like this can make you smile, really smile from within Love you baba You are the best Baaki sab phone pe (rest everything over call),” she wrote

Parineeti is currently seen on the big screen in her latest release ‘Code Name: Tiranga’, which is performing poorly at the box office It is her first big screen release after last year ’ s washout, ‘Saina'

The podcast brings together three generations of the Bachchan family and f e a t u r e s J a y a ’ s d a u g h t e r a n d N a v y a ’ s mother Shweta Bachchan Nanda When Navya asked the other two to name their favourite films in a recent segment, Jaya listed down ‘Gone With the Wind’, ‘On the Waterfront’, and Paul Newman’s ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’, and added that she also loves all Marlon Brando films She added, “In Indian movies, I prefer the old ones, I prefer Dilip Kumar’s ‘Devdas’, ‘Mughal E Azam’ I can watch ‘Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham’ anytime I love mushy movies I can watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ‘Black’ and all of Bimal Roy's films ‘Godfather’, I can watch Godfather all the time ”

S h w e t a a d d e d , " I t ( K a b h i K h u s h i Kabhie Gham) is a film that doesn’t age Agastya watches it a lot Sometimes, he does not understand when he watches n a n a ' s ( A m i t a b h B a c h c h a n ) f i l m s b u t Karan Johar's directorial is something he can watch over and over again." Jaya then said that Agastya watches the film to "make fun" of her “He watches it to make f u n o f m e , ” s h e s a y s S h w e t a t h e n explained that at times the generation gap may be a reason why he does not understand

Shweta got married to businessman Nikhil Nanda in February 1997 and they welcomed their elder daughter Navya Naveli in December of the same year Their son Agastya was born in 2000 Navya is working as an entrepreneur and Agastya is all set for his acting debut next year with the Netflix film, ‘The Archies’

This is my USP, I will do progressive films: Ayushmann Khurrana

Actor

Ayushmann Khurrana has carved a niche for himself in Bollywood; often doing films that come with moral values Speaking in an interview, he revealed why he won’t be opting for regressive films in near future Calling progressive films his USP, he said they can create an impact on the audience

Speaking about doing movies with a message, Ayushmann said, “I think it’s just that I don’t want to do anything regressive I know, the popular palate is slightly regressive, but I can’t change my mindset like that So, this is my USP, I’ll do films which are progressive, that has a moral ”

“I believe in cinema for change and the more people watch it, like it should be a theatrical because it reaches out to more people So, eventually, of course, it will come on OTT also, but if it comes in theatres, it'll reach more people So, I think that's my only effort,” he further added

Ayushmann made his acting debut with ‘Vicky Donor’ in 2012 His latest outing, ‘Doctor G’, opened in theatres last week The Anubhuti Kashyap directorial also stars Shefali Shah and Rakul Preet Singh It is a coming of age comedy drama where Ayushmann plays the role of a male student in the gynecology department

Ayushmann will be next seen in ‘An Action Hero’, alongside Jaideep Ahlawat He also confirmed ‘Dream Girl 2 ’ He will be collaborating with Ananya Panday in the second instalment

I don’t want to stop learning: Shubra Aiyappa

Actress Shubra Aiyappa believes life is all about learning and there’s still a lot left for her to learn. The model actor revisited her journey in the film industry on the occasion of World Students’ Day. She said she hasn’t stopped learning. “I was a curious kid and I continue to be one. I don’t want to stop learning. I am an eager person, who’s constantly learning. There’s so much left to learn in life and I will remain a student forever ”

The actor goes on to talk about the people who have inspired her at different stages of life “I started my journey as a model with fashion designer Prasad Bidappa He got me into this industry of modelling and entertainment He is among the first few people who helped me understand the industry,” Aiyappa says

Talking about her initial days in the industry and the people who helped her, she adds, “I moved to Mumbai to pursue a career in modelling and like every other Bengaluru girl, my Hindi wasn’t the best Out there, it’s a deal breaker,

Karthi’s ‘PS1’ brings seniors to theatres, actor overwhelmed

Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus ‘Ponniyin Selvan: 1’ has grossed over £40 million at the box office worldwide While it's giving great business, the movie has also earned the rare distinction of bringing senior citizens in large numbers to movie halls The film tells the story of the early life of Arulmozhivarman (Ponniyin Selvan), who went on to become the Chola emperor Rajaraja I (947 1014) The movie was released in theatres across the globe in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada It is based on the eponymous novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy Karthi, who plays the character of Vanthiyathevan in the movie found himself touched by the patronage of the older audiences However, he said the whole credit must go to the writer.

Karthi said, “It really feels overwhelming to see old people come and watch our movie But the whole credit must go to Kalki sir It is his story that has gripped them for so many years and is drawing these older audiences to the theatres If it wasn’t for t h e s t o r y , w e w o u l d n ' t b e s e e i n g t h i s k i n d o f response ” Karthi added that the novel is so gripping that his young daughter Umayaal, who was born in 2013, is currently reading it The film is having a dream run at the box office

When asked how he feels about the box office return of PS 1, the actor said, “Honestly, I’m not the kind of guy who’s too much into numbers I’m happy the film is doing very well and it’s a very good y e a r f o r T a m i l c i n e m a T h i s s u c c e s s m e a n s anticipation for part 2 would be naturally even more, and people will come and see it That’s what we aspire for as artists ”

On the work front, Karthi is gearing up for the release of his upcoming Tamil film ‘Sardar’, in which he plays dual roles It’s scheduled for release on October 21 Directed by PS Mithran, the film is touted to be a rooted spy thriller It’s the rootedness that makes the film unique, Karthi feels

to not have a strong command of Hindi to be able to do c o m m e r c i a l s , e t c M y H i n d i t e a c h e r , R a k e s h , g o t m e through that challenge I was away from home and he became like a father figure to me ”

Ask about a role model that the 35 year old would never stop learning from, and she says, “My mother She’s been there for me for more than 20 years and she is, by far, the most hardworking person I’ve known She keeps telling me how one must worship their work, and these are things that are ingrained in me She carries the same enthusiasm even in her 60s ”

The actor, who will next be seen in ‘Thimayya & Thimayya’, marked her acting debut in the Kannada movie industry with ‘Vajrakaya’ in 2015, where she was seen collabora tin g with actor Shiva Rajkumar and dir ector Harsha She believes that they were the first ones to take her under their wings and teach her about the workings of the film industry

Rajinikanth calls Chiranjeevi's Godfather “excellent”

Chiranjeevi’s

latest rendition ‘GodFather’ has received positive responses from critics and fans alike The latest person to praise the film is none other than veteran actor Rajinikanth ‘GodFather’ director Mohan Raja shared Thalaivar’s feedback last week and thanked him as well

H e w r o t e , “ S u p e r s t a r w a t c h e d # G o d f a t h e r Excellent, very nice, very interesting are few of the r e m a r k s i n h i s d e t a i l e d a p p r e c i a t i o n o n t h e adaptations made for the Telugu version ” The movie is the Telugu remake of Mohanlal’s hit M a l a y a l a m f i l m ‘ L u c i f e r ’

H o w e v e r , i t h a s c e r t a i n changes to the script that had drawn some criticism f r o m t h e f a n s o f t h e original However, it seems Rajinikanth has liked the changes

T h e d i r e c t o r t h e n thanked the veteran actor for the feedback, calling it one of the best moments of h i s l i f e “ T h a n k y o u s o m u c h T h a l a i v a @rajinikanth sir, one of the b e s t m o m e n t s o f l i f e means a lotttt,” he wrote, sharing a poster of the film Although Chiranjeevi has primarily worked in the Telugu industry and Rajinikanth in the Tamil film industry, the two have crossed paths over the years, sharing screen space in three

Vignesh Shivan flaunts newborn son’s 'love'

Filmmaker Vignesh Shivan and wife actress

Nayanthara recently welcomed twin sons via surrogacy and from what we see, they are loving the new phase in life Vignesh shared a glimpse of his daddy duties and called it a “dream come true” Posting a picture of his shirt featuring a pee stain, Vignesh wrote, “Dream come true…My son’s love on me.”

Nayan and Vignesh dated for years before they tied the knot earlier this year in June They took everyone by surprise when they jointly announced the arrival of their sons on October 9

V i g n e s h p o s t e d , “ N a y a n & M e h a v e b e c o m e

Amma & Appa We are blessed with twin baby Boys All our prayers, our ancestors’ blessings combined with all the good manifestations made, have come 2gethr in the form Of 2 blessed babies for us Need all ur blessings for our Uyir & Ulagam ”

Their announcement has, unfortunately, paved the way to controversy, with many raising concerns

films, including ‘Kaali’, ‘Bandipotu Simham’, and ‘Ranuva V e e r a n ’ T h e l a s t f i l m , r e l e a s e d i n 1 9 8 2 , w a s t h e i r l a s t collaboration together

‘ G o d F a t h e r ’ , w h i c h a l s o s t a r s N a y a n t h a r a , S a t y a d e v Kancharana, Murali Sharma, and Salman Khan in a cameo, has grossed over £10 million in its opening extended weekend since its release on Dussehra The film is on course to be one of the biggest hits of Chiranjeevi’s career and came as a balm for the veteran actor after the box office failure of his previous film 'Acharya '

about their surrogacy and questioning if laws w e r e f o l l o w e d b y t h e s t a r c o u p l e F o r t h e unversed, the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, of 2021 was passed in December 2021 It came into effect on January 25, 2022 As per the law, commercial urrogacy is banned in India, only allowing for altruistic surrogacy

Robbie Coltrane was a big fan of Indian curry

Actor Robbie Coltrane aka our beloved Rubeus Hagrid from ‘Harry Potter’ passed away earlier last week, leaving several fans devastated Fans worldwide paid tribute to the Keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, one of the many roles he has immortalised on screen.

Deepika discusses depression with Meghan Markle

Coltrane’s real name was Anthony McMillan, a n d h e w a s b o r n R u t h e r g l e n , L a n a r k s h i r e H e studied at the Glasgow School of Art and Moray House College of Education and has s e v e r a l m o v i e s l i k e ‘ C r a c k e r ’ , ‘ A l f r e s c o ’ , ‘James Bond’ series and the ‘Harry Potter’ series, among several others, to his credit While widely known for his acting prowess, he was an excellent singer and had hosted and starred in a number of documentaries

Out of most things people knew about him, it was his love for Indian curries that was known the most In the book ‘Robbie Coltrane’s B Road Britain’, Robbie recalls, “I remember going to London in my teens and seeking a curry, only to find that there was not much on offer outside the noticeably Asian areas, and even their curries didn’t taste as good as the curries in Glasgow ”

H e a d d s , “ M a y b e i t ’ s b e c a u s e m o s t

G l a s g o w I n d i a n r e s t a u r a n t s a r e P u n j a b i , whereas those in Manchester and Bradford are mainly Pakistani and in Birmingham mainly Kashmiri Punjabi curries tend to have more powerful, fruity, rich and pun gent sauces that appeal particularly to the Glasgow taste buds ”

Still not convinced by his love for cur ries? In the book, Robbie further visits an Indian restaurant called India Quay run by an Indian family, and Robbie along with Head Chef Sanjeev Sanghera

Actor

Deepika Padukone has been regularly vocal about her battle with depression She joined the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, recently on the latter’s podcast ‘Archetypes’ to discuss activism and mental health Deepika went on to become the face of mental well being advocacy in Bollywood after revealing in 2015 that she suffered from depression and sought treatment for it

Speaking on the podcast, she recalled the skepticism with which her comments were received by some people Deepika said that this was expected, however, largely speaking, people welcomed her decision to speak her truth She said, “It feels like this huge bur den was lifted off their shoulders That final ly, someone acknowledged the fact that okay, there is something that is such a thing as mental illness but with everything good that you do they’ll always be sort of that ”

She added that as difficult as the period was, she is glad she experienced it because she has come out a stronger person Deepika

now said she values the little things in life, like hugging her sister, or the “late night conversations” she has with her husband R a n v e e r S i n g h T h e a c t r e s s a l s o quashed all divorce rumours by gush ing about Singh She said, “My hus band was at a music festival for a week and he’s just come back So, he’s gonna be happy to see my face ” At P aris F ashion Week

The ’83’ actress was the moment in Paris this year, as she walked the ramp for Louis Vuitton The actress joined the likes of Hollywood A listers like Alicia Vikander and Antoine Arnault, Ana De Armas and others She was seen in a grey mini dress with bold lips She was accompa nied by her mother Ujjala and her father Prakash Padukone

Deepika's mother looked equally stun ning and made a style statement in a white shirt, trousers and suit While her father chose classy yet casual and wore a black s w e a t e r o v e r a w h i t e t s h i r t S h e w a s appointed the brand ambassador of the lux ury brand at the fashion week She’s also r e c e n t l y b e e n a n n o u n c e d a s t h e b r a n d ambassador for jewellery maker Cartier

Mira Nair’s ‘Monsoon Wedding’ to make a comeback as a musical in Doha

Dwayne Johnson 'can’t wait' for Varun Dhawan to watch ‘Black Adam’

Actors

Varun Dhawan and Dwayne Johnson had a fun interaction online recently, over the latter’s upcoming film ‘Black Adam’. Varun took to Twitter to give the film a shoutout, saying he will “get to see my hero back on big screen” finally Much to his fans’ delight, Dwayne responded to the tweet and asked him to share what he thought about the film

Filmmaker

Mira Nair’s 2001 hit comedy drama ‘Monsoon Wedding’ is all set to premiere in Doha as a mus Organisers announced ‘Monsoon Wedding Musical will premiere on November 15, as part of Qatar Creates’ cultural programme for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

S h e i k h a A l M a y a s s a b i n t H a m a d A l T h a n i o f Qatar Creates Events, sai “Monsoon Wedding is a s t h a t i n s p i r e s d e b a t e a b o u nature of life, identity and our place within an ever changing world It will be a pleasure to welcome director Mira Nair, and the talented cast to Doha to inspire a sense of joy and unity among young and old as part of our Qatar Creates programme ”

The movie, which bagged the Golden Lion Award at the Venice International Film Festival in 2001, is centred around a dysfunc tional Indian family as they prepare for their daughter’s wedding The movie featured an ensemble cast of Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah, and Vasundhara Das

Nair said Monsoon Wedding Musical follows in the footsteps of the origi m and strikes a beautiful ance between silence and music, darkness and joy

According to the film maker, the core story is about the love that “ we want to understand and that we all yearn for” “I am deeply honoured to stage its opening perfor mances in Doha, at a time hen the country turns into eeting spot for global cul d entertainment during the F I F A W o r l d C u p Q a t a r 2 0 2 2 , ” N a i r added

'Monsoon Wedding Musical’ features a stellar Indian cast that took five years to assemble, supported by Indian composer V i s h a l B h a r d w a j ’ s m u s i c a l c o m p o s i t i o n s , along with three hit songs from the film by Academy Award winning composer Mychael Danna, and orchestration from the Tony Award winning orchestrator of The Band’s V i s i t , J a m s h i e d S h a r i f i P e r f o r m a n c e s o f 'Monsoon Wedding Musical' will run till November 26

Warner Bros India posted a clip on Twitter and wrote, "Only 5 MORE DAYS TO GO until the power and fury of #BlackAdam unravels at the cinemas Watch Black Adam in cinemas in India from OCTOBER 20 onwards in English, Hindi, Tamil & Telugu Also in IMAX " They also tagged Dwayne Reacting to it, Dwayne tweeted, "Thank you INDIA Appreciate all the #BlackAdam love (and over the years as well) Book your tickets now this is a true theatrical experi ence Great to connect with all the press from your country last week! Love U back and enjoy the movie!!" He also added the h a s h t a g s M a n I n B l a c k , J S A a n d B l a c k Adam

Quote tweeting him, Varun wrote, "Let’s goo (fire and wolf face emojis) finally gonna get to see my hero back on big screen @TheRock #BlackAdam " Dwayne replied, "Thank you my brotha! Can’t wait for you to see the film 15 long years of fighting to get this made Well worth the wait Let me know what you think and keep kickin a** ”

Dwayne's much awaited ‘Black Adam’ will make its debut in Indian theatres on October 20, a day earlier than its global release The film is a spin off of Warner Bros and New Line Cinema's ‘Shazam’, featuring Zachary Levi The character first appeared in DC Comics in the 1940s as a villain corrupt ed by power He became an anti hero in the early 2000s

D i r e c t e d b y J a u m e C o l l e t S e r r a , t h e m o v i e a l s o f e a t u r e s A l d i s H o d g e a s H a w k m a n , N o a h C e n t i n e o a s A t o m Smasher, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, and Pierce Brosnan as Dr Fate The movie is written by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, and Sohrab Noshirvani

Sadhguru calls Mike Tyson a 'lotus flower'

Former professional boxer and actor Mike Tyson recently interacted with spiritual guru Sadhguru In their interaction, the actor boxer discussed his early life and spoke about the kind of environment he was raised in, adding that he lived in a neighbourhood where he was surrounded by death and prostitution Sadhguru, after listening to him, draws a parallel to a “lotus flower”, which grows and flourishes in the mud

D u r i n g t h e i r c o n v e r s a t i o n , Tyson said, “I never thought any good would ever happen to me growing up in my environment, in my neighbourhood You always feel bad, people died It was just nor mal seeing people die, seeing prostitutes, seeing that kind of filthy stuff, it was nor mal As a matter of fact, it was even hon ourable because it became so normal We normalised it ”

G i v i n g h i s o p i n i o n o n T y s o n ’ s l i f e , Sadhguru said, “In the yogic culture, we always use the Lotus flower as a symbol for human growth and development Lotus flower grows best wherever filth is really thick It stays in the filth but untouched and fragrant ” Sadhguru added, “So, this is a choice that all of us have Either we can develop [an] allergy to filth and run away or we can become part of the filth Or, we can

blossom into your fragrant flower This is a choice every human being has every moment of their life ”

T h e s p i r i t u a l l e a d e r ’ s w o r d s made Tyson say, “Yes, I am very f l o w e r f u l ” H i s r e s p o n s e m a d e everyone present burst into laugh ter, including Sadhguru

T y s o n b e c a m e t h e y o u n g e s t heavyweight champion in 1987 at the age of 20, had 50 wins during his career with 44 wins coming by knockout The boxer hosts a pod c a s t t i t l e d ' H o t b o x i n w i t h M i k e Tyson ’

He recently made an appearance in Puri Jagannadh’s ‘Liger’ and shared the screen w i t h V i j a y D e v e r a k o n d a a n d A n a n y a P a n d e y T h e f i l m m a k e r s r e l e a s e d t h e behind the scenes video of the shoot in Las Vegas with Tyson The boxing legend could be seen showing a lot of affection toward Deverakonda Prior to ‘Liger’, he also made a m e m o r a b l e a p p e a r a n c e i n ' T h e Hangover'

in brief India women win Asia cup

SPAIN DENIES VISAS TO 21 OF 30 INDIAN WRESTLERS

The U 23 World Wrestling Championships has always been a happy hunting ground for Indian grapplers But this time 21 out of 30 Indian wrestlers will miss the tournament as the Embassy of Spain denied them visas for the October 17 23 tournament being held in Pontevedra The embassy informed them about the cancellation of their visa forms, except for nine wrestlers who have already left for the event without any coaching and support staff because they might overstay in the northwestern Spanish city

RUDRANKKSH IS WORLD CHAMP IN 10M AIR RIFLE SHOOT

When junior Rudrankksh Patil defeated Arjun Babuta for the National Games gold two weeks ago, he was in disbelief having outplayed the World Cup gold medallist in the final Last week the Thane boy, all of 18, beat not just Babuta but also the Tokyo podium winners to become the new world champion in the men’s 10m air rifle event at the ISSF World Championships in Cairo In the process, Rudrankksh also won a quota for the 2024 Paris Olympics He will have to safeguard the Paris ticket with consistency for two years, as quotas won by shooters belong to the country and not individuals With this feat, Rudrankksh became the second Indian world champion in the 10m air rifle category after Abhinav Bindra who won the gold in 2006

WOMEN'S IPL LIKELY IN MARCH

The inaugural edition of Women’s IPL will have five teams and is set to take place in March 2023 before the start of men’s IPL As per a BCCI note the tournament will feature 20 league games with teams to play each other twice The table toppers will get a direct entry into the final while the second and third place teams will battle out in the Eliminator Each team can have no more than five overseas cricketers in the playing eleven

INDIAN GM ERIGAISI SHOCKS CARLSEN

Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi on Sunday hogged the spotlight beating world champion Magnus Carlsen in round seven of the preliminaries of the Aimchess Rapid online chess tournament The 19 year old Erigaisi, who had gone down to compatriot Vidit Santosh Gujrathi to make a losing start in the event, is currently in fifth place after eight rounds The win over Norwegian superstar Carlsen in the seventh round early on Sunday was the Indian’s first over the world champion Erigaisi won three straight games, beating Nils Grandelius (Sweden), Daniel Naroditsky (USA) and Carlsen before settling for a draw against Jan Krzyszstof Duda (Poland) He has 15 points and is in fifth place behind Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattoro v (17 points), Shahkriyar Mame dyarov (Azerbaijan) and Carlsen (both 16) and Duda (15)

DOPING BAN FOR DISCUS THROWER KAMALPREET

Olympic discus finalist Kamalpreet Kaur was banned for three years for doping with an anabolic steroid, track and field’s Athletics Integrity Unit said Kamalpreet had one year cut from the standard four year ban after she admitted the violation and accepted her sanction the AIU said She will be allowed to keep her sixth place finish at the Tokyo Olympics last year but will miss the 2024 Paris Olympics before the ban expires in March 2025

The 26 year old tested positive for stanozolol in a urine sample given in March when training at Patiala The steroid was most famously used by sprinter Ben Johnson at the 1988 Olympics

In di a m a in t a in e d t he i r dom inanc e in the Women’s Asia Cup wi th a n e i gh t wi c k e t de molition of a sel f de structing Sri Lanka in the final at Sylhet on Saturday f or t heir s eventh tit le in eight editions Sri Lanka, who we r e pl ay i n g t he ir f ir s t to ur na m e nt f in a l i n 14 ye a r s , im pl oded after opting t o bat on a s lo w a nd t urn in g pit ch The y could only m anage 65 for nine whic h India knocked off in 8 3 overs Sm rit i Mandhana s truck a sublime 51 not out off 25 ba lls

It was a procession after Sri L a n k a n s k i p p e r C h a m a r i Athapaththu got run out in the third over following a mix up with Anushka Sanjeewani who too got run out six balls later

Renuka, who has been in top form since the Commonwealth G a m e s i n A u g u s t , s e n t b a c k Hasini Perera on the very first ball she faced The left hander c h e c k e d h e r s h o t o n l y t o b e c a u g h t a t c o v e r , l e a v i n g S r i

Lanka at nine for four

The Sri Lankans were in dire n e e d o f a p a r t n e r s h i p b u t Kavisha Dilhari’s fall made it 16 for five as she was bowled while t r y i n g t o p l a y a n i n c o m i n g delivery from Renuka across the line

R a j e s h w a r i G a y a k w a d g o t her first wicket after Nilakshi de Silva played on to her stumps while trying to cut a ball close to her body At 32 for eight, being bowled out for a sub 50 total was v e r y m u c h o n t h e c a r d s , b u t Ranaweera saved them from that

ignominy with an unbeaten 18 off 22 balls

T h e I n d i a n s b o w l e d w i t h discipline but poor shot selection contributed more to Sri Lanka’s steep slide After a memorable w i n o v e r P a k i s t a n i n t h e s e m i f i n a l s , i t s e e m e d t h e occasion got the better of Sri Lanka India lost Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues cheaply in the run chase However, both t h e b a t t e r s d i d w e l l i n t h e tournament, with Shafali getting b a c k t o f o r m a n d J e m i m a h making a successful comeback

from injury

T h e e l e g a n t M a n d h a n a played some exquisite strokes on way to completing the formality alongside skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (11 not out off 14) Smriti’s effort included three sixes and s i x b o u n d a r i e s F i t t i n g l y , s h e sealed the win with a maximum off Oshadi Ranasinghe

The win is a shot in the arm for India’s preparations for the T20 World Cup next year They w e r e a b l e t o t e s t p l a y e r s f o r d i f f e r e n t r o l e s d u r i n g t h e competition, though that also contributed to their only loss in t h e t o u r n a m e n t , a g a i n s t Pakistan in the league stage

The Indians took a lap of the S y l h e t I n t e r n a t i o n a l C r i c k e t Stadium and, in a fine gesture w h i c h w a s w i t n e s s e d b y a sizeable turnout

Brief scores: India 71 for 2 (Mandhana 51*) beat Sri Lanka 65 for 9 (Ranaweera 18, Renuka 3 5, Rana 2 13) by eight wickets

Roger Binny succeeds Ganguly as BCCI president

R o g e r Bi n n y , fo r m e r I n d i a n cr ick et te am st ar an d member of t h e 1 98 3 W o r ld C u p wi n n i n g tea m, wa s on Tuesday na med a s the 36 th pre side nt of the Boa rd of C ontr ol for Cricke t in India (B C C I) H is a p p oi n t m e n t w a s ann ounced a t the BC CI AGM in Mumba i Binny replaces for mer Ind ia cap ta in So ur av G an gu ly Binn y, 6 7, was t he only ca ndida te to hav e filed n ominat ion for the BCCI pre siden t's post

The election of the next set o f o f f i c e b e a r e r s w a s a m e r e f o r m a l i t y a s a l l a r e s e t t o b e elected unopposed In a press r e l e a s e i s s u e d b y t h e B C C I , B i n n y ' s a p p o i n t m e n t w a s officially confirmed

T h e f o l l o w i n g m e m b e r s were elected as the new office bearers of the BCCI: President

Roger Binny

R o g e r B i n n y ; V i c e P r e s i d e n t R a j e e v S h u k l a ; S e c r e t a r y J a y S h a h ; J o i n t S e c r e t a r y D e v a j i t Saikia; Treasurer Ashish Shelar

"One representative of the general body was elected in the Apex Council of the BCCI MKJ Majumdar Two representatives in the Indian Premier League Governing Council were elected Arun Singh Dhumal and Avishek Dalmiya

India win warm-up match against Aussies

T h e w ar m u p m at c h a ga in s t Au str alia was I ndia’s ch ance to c h e c k w h er e t h e t ea m s t a nd s ahead of th eir T 20 W orld Cu p o p e ne r n e xt S u nd ay Af t er K L Ra h u l (5 7 o f f 3 3 ba l l s ) in t h e o p e ni ng s l o t an d S u ry a ku m a r Y ad a v (5 0 o f f 3 3 b al l s ) in t h e middle o rder sh owed things are u nd e r c o n tr o l , s p in ne r s Yu zvendra C hah al (1 28) and R As hwin (0 28) sho wed th ey c an be u s e f u l o n t h e b ig gr o u n ds in Au stralia

But the Monday show was all about Shami He wasn’t in the XI and came on to bowl the last over a liberty that could be taken b e c a u s e i t w a s n o t a n o f f i c i a l game India had 11 runs to play around with and Pat Cummins and John Inglis were at the crease

It was, in a way, a comeback by fire for Shami After the last T 2 0 W o r l d C u p i n U A E , t h e g e n e r a l c o n s e n s u s w a s S h a m i bowls too one paced and has lost his incisiveness in T20 cricket Add to that his lack of game time

S h a m i w a s r u l e d o u t o f t h e South Africa T20 series at home due to Covid and it was always a matter of concern how the 33 y e a r o l d w o u l d s h a p e u p B u t Shami, with his burst of pace and

ability to bowl the yorkers, proved t h a t I n d i a m i g h t n o t f e e l t h e absence of Bumrah too acutely after all

A f t e r C u m m i n s n e g o t i a t e d the first couple of full deliveries to get two twos, it was down to s e v e n o f f t h e l a s t f o u r S h a m i bowled a length ball in the third delivery which Cummins struck well, but it was brilliantly caught by Virat Kohli at long on

The fourth ball was a crucial one with Ashton Agar coming in Shami brought all his experience into play to bowl a short one which the left hander failed to c o n n e c t A g a r w a s p r o b a b l y e x p e c t i n g a f u l l e r b a l l a n d h e f a i l e d t o c o n n e c t a n d w a s eventually run out at the non striker’s end

It was still seven off two and one big hit would have taken the match to Super Over But Shami s h o w e d w h a t h i s b a c k e r s h a v e been insisting all this while when he had been away from the team A brilliant yorker removed Inglis and on the last ball, he got Kane Richardson with a similar delivery that wrapped up the six run win, and a dream over by Shami where he got three wickets for four runs, in addition to a run out

Binny, in his recent stint, was t h e K a r n a t a k a S t a t e C r i c k e t Association President and will now leave his position in the state body The medium pacer w a s o n e o f t h e a r c h i t e c t s o f I n d i a ' s h i s t o r i c W o r l d C u p triumph in 1983 In eight games, he took 18 wickets, the highest in t h a t e d i t i o n o f p r e s t i g i o u s tournament

Binny has served as member of senior selection committee in the past when Sandeep Patil was the chairman Whenever his son Stuart Binny's name came up for discussion for selection in the Indian team, he would recuse himself from the proceedings

Earlier, according to a report, Ganguly had a lot of meetings with the stakeholders in New D e l h i , l a s t w e e k T h e f o r m e r

I n d i a c a p t a i n w a s k e e n t o continue as BCCI President but h e w a s t o l d t h a t t h e r e i s n o precedence of giving a second term to the Board president " S o u r a v w a s o f f e r e d I P L c h a i r m a n s h i p b u t h e p o l i t e l y declined the offer His logic was that he cannot accept becoming h e a d o f a s u b c o m m i t t e e i n B C C I a f t e r h e a d i n g t h e s a m e i n s t i t u t i o n H e h a d e x p r e s s e d i n t e r e s t i n c o n t i n u i n g i n t h e position," the BCCI source said

I n c a s e o f D h u m a l , t h e d e c i s i o n m a k e r s w a i t e d f o r Ganguly to take a call on IPL c h a i r m a n s h i p a n d o n c e h e r e f u s e d , t h e y p r o m o t e d t h e Himachal man, who, along with secretary Shah, are known to be the most efficient men in last BCCI cabinet

National gamesServices emerge champs; Maharashtra second

Swimm ers S ajan Prakash and Hashika Ram achandra were crowned th e ‘Best M ale and F emale A thletes’ , res pectiv ely, o f the 3 6th National Gam es Gujarat, wh ich conclud ed here last week after a glittering clo sing ceremo ny attended by Vice President J ag deep Dh ankh ar

Table toppers Services completed their campaign at the Games in a blaze of glory, winning five gold medals on offer in the boxing ring in Gandhinagar on the final day of competitions Services finished with 61 gold, 35 silver and 32 bronze and were awarded the coveted Raja Bhalindra Singh Trophy for being the overall champions for the fourth time in succession Maharashtra bagged the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) ‘Best State’ trophy for finishing second in the medals tally with 39 g old, 38 silver and 63 bronze Haryana (38 gold, 38 silver, 39 bronze) had to be satisfied with the third position

The 29 year old Sajan won eight medals, with five individual gold, two silver and a bronze, to pip Srihari Nataraj who also claimed eight medals in all, with six gold including two in relays It’s the second time that India’s most experienced swimmer has bagged the coveted trophy after his success at the 2015 National Games in Kerala Hashika, just 14, won six gold in her collection of seven medals on National Games debut She became the first Karnataka athlete in 23 years to bag this coveted trophy

G u j a r a t ’ s 1 0 y e a r o l d S h a u r y a j i t K h a i r e ( M a l l a k h a m b ) , a reluctant starter after losing his father just a few days back, emerged as the ‘Viral Star’ of the Games, becoming its youngest medal winner

As many as 38 Games records crumbled in track and field at the IIT Gandhinagar and 36 in aquatics in Rajkot Tamil Nadu’s Rosy Meena Paulraj (women’s pole vault) and N Ajith (weightlifting men's 73kg clean & jerk), Services’ Siva Subramaniam (men’s pole vault), UP’s Ram Baboo (men’s 35km race walk) and Arunachal Pradesh’s Sambo Lapung (weightlifting men ’ s 96kg clean & jerk) were among the few to shatter national records too