AV 24th December 2022

The Palace of Westminster marks thecentennial anniversary of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj with a special tribute

debut for spinner Rehan Ahmed

India’s Sargam Koushal wins Mrs World 2022 title

Rishi Sunak says Britain is

not racist’

has since pledged

future I think for ever yone

in public life, language matt e r s , ” M r Su n a k t o l d t h e Press Association You asked about racism Now, I’ve seen some of the things that have been said I absolutely don’t believe that Britain is a racist countr y ”

Cameron to teach politics at NYU Abu Dhabi

Fo r m er p r im e m i ni st er D av i d C am e ro n w il l be teaching p olitics at a u niv ersity in the Gulf state of A bu Dhabi

Cameron, who led the UK between 2010 and 2016, w i l l l e c t u r e s t u d e n t s o n “practising politics and government in the age of disruption ” for a three-week course in Januar y at New York University Abu Dhabi It will involve topics such as

the war in Ukraine and the migration crisis

Si n c e t h e e n d o f h i s a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h Gr e e n s i l l C a p i t a l , t h e s u p p l y - c h a i n f inance f irm that collapsed

in 2021, the ex-prime minister has kept a low prof ile

A f r i e n d o f C a m e r o n said teaching at NYU was a “logical extension” of talks he had given to schools and u n i v e r s i t i e s “He l e d t h e Tor y party for 11 years and the countr y for six years and will draw on his experience in teaching the course about politics and government in the age of populism and disruption ”

Delivery driver who killed biker while on Snapchat jailed

D aniaal Iqb al, a delive ry drive r who was on his phone when he pl oughed his white Fo rd Tr a n si t v a n i n t o a motorcycl ist at t he corner of Kirkb y Road in Ripon on 21 S ept emb er, 2019, h as be en ja il ed

The impact of the collision was so severe that Peter R u s h fo r t h , 5 6 , w a s k i l l e d instantly

W h e n t h e c r a s h h a ppened, the 23-year-old driver had been working and had j u s t m a d e a d e l i v e r y t o a nearby farm

On suspicion of death by

dangerous driving, Iqbal was a r r e s t e d a n d h i s m o b i l e phone was taken to be examined by police - where they found that Iqbal had been using his camera and sending a message on Snapchat just seconds before the crash

DS Kirsten Aldridge said t h a t Iq b a l d e n i e d a n y responsibility for the collis i o n" d e s p i t e t h e r e b e i n g "unquestionable evidence"

She added: "This is yet another fatal collision caused by a driver who refused to listen to the warnings about the risk of using a mobile

while driving and chose to blatantly disregard the law

" Ve r y s a d l y i t ’ s Pe t e r Rushforth who has paid the price for Daniaal Iqbal’s poor decision-making

"To lose someone in a traff ic collision is devastating But to know that it was entirely avoidable and was c a u s e d b y s o m e o n e w h o believed sending a message w a s m o r e i m p o r t a n t t h a n their safety is galling "

Iqbal has been jailed for three and a half years and disqualif ied from driving for two years

R o yal M a i l h as as ke d p ostal staff to bring their p a ren ts , s i bli n g s an d friend s to wo rk to help b rea k s tr i ke a ct io n an d “ save C hristmas ”

The staff were asked to “bring friends and family to support the operat i o n a n d d e l i v e r C h r i s t m a s ” T h e b o s s e s described the scheme as a r e a l l y g r e a t i n i t i a t i v e a n d

really quick To h e l p d e l i v e r t h e

c o u n t r y ’ s C h r i s t m a s postage, Royal Mail has recruited an army of seasonal workers since the S e c o n d Wo r l d Wa r, b u t strikes of around 100,000 workers have already left f irms crippled in the busy festive season, with missi n g a n d l a t e p a c k a g e s causing chaos for shoppers and businesses

Further strikes will take place on 23rd of December a n d C h r i s t m a s Ev e a n d action has already disrupted deliveries over the last two months

No n - o p e r a t i o n a l s t a f f from Royal Mail’s tax, legal, accounting and marketing departments have also been asked to chip in to deliver as much mail as possible

T h e C o m m u n i c a t i o n Wo r ke r s Un i o n d e s c r i b e d t h e f a m i l y a n d f r i e n d s scheme as “next level desperation from Royal Mail,” saying that “the support for the strike is so strong that they are asking managers to bring in friends and family to clear the backlog ”

The paid subscribers of Asian Voice will receive their 2023 A N N UA L CA L E

Student solves centuries old Sanskrit problem

A S an s kri t g ra m m a ti ca l p ro b lem w h ic h h a s p erplexed sch olars since the 5th Century BC has been solved b y a U ni v e rs it y o f C ambridge PhD stud ent

R i s h i R a j p o p a t , 2 7 , d e c o d e d a r u le t a u g ht b y Pa n i n i , a m a s t e r o f t h e a n c i e n t S a n s k r i t l a n g u a g e w h o l i v e d a r o u n d 2 ,5 0 0 years ago Sanskrit is only spoken in India by an estimated 25,000 people out of a population of more than one billion, the university said Mr Rajpopat said he had "a eureka moment in Cambridge after spending n i n e m o n t h s g e t t i n g nowhere"

"I closed the books for a month and just enjoyed the s u m m e r - s w i m m i n g , c y c l i n g , c o o k i n g , p r a y i n g a n d m e d i t a t i n g , " h e s a i d Panini taught a "metarule", which is traditionally interpreted by scholars as meaning "in the event of a conflict between two rules of equal

s t r e n g t h , t h e r u l e t h a t c o m e s l a t e r i n t h e g r a mmar's serial order wins"

However, this often led to grammatically incorrect results Mr Rajpopat rejected the traditional interpret a t i o n o f t h e m e t a r u l e I n s t e a d , h e a r g u e d t h a t Panini meant that between rules applicable to the left and right sides of a word respectively, Panini wanted us to choose the rule applic a b l e t o t h e r i g h t s i d e Employing this interpretation, he found that Panini's " l a n g u a g e m a c h i n e" p r oduced grammatically correct w o r d s w i t h a l m o s t n o exceptions

Charity commission takes over city’s biggest mosque

The Charity Commission ha s stepped in to t ake over one of the cit y's biggest mosques a s a 'temporar y measur e' pen din g th e out come of a ful l inquir y The urgent inte rim measure has bee n take n at C e n t r a l J a mi a Mo sq ue G h a mko l S ha r if in Sm a l l Heat h

T h e d e c i s i o n w a s announced by the Charity C o m m i s s i o n a f t e r a y e a r-

long probe, still under way, into the mosque affairs following multiple complaints from worshippers and the l o c a l c o m m u n i t y V i r g i n i a Henley, of HCR Hewitsons, a Cambridge-based law f irm, has been appointed interim manager of the charity She will now conduct a further review of the charity’s govern a n c e a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i o n from inside, and make rec-

ommendations to the commission based on her f indings

It is the f irst signif icant step by the commission after launching a statutor y inquir y in November 2021 The regulators had initially informally investigated concerns about g o v e r n a n c e , s o c i a l m e d i a posts and unclear links to a p r i v a t e f u n e r a l c o m p a n y based at the site

Conservative MP declared bankrupt

C on s e r v a ti v e M P A d a m A f r i y i e h a s b e e n m ad e b a n k r up t a f t e r a j u dg e heard he owed around £1m to HM RC and £700,000 to Ba rc lays bank

A bankruptcy order was made against the MP at a hearing in the Insolvency and Companies Court The Windsor MP had already a n n o u n c e d h e w o u l d b e

standing down at the next election, saying with Brexit "c o n c l u d e d " i t w a s t h e "right time" Responding to the court order, Mr Afriyie said it was a stressful time

"This has been ongoing for many years following business failures some time ago ” Mr Afriyie had asked for the court proceedings t o b e a d j o u r n e d u n t i l

March arguing he would be able to pay off his debts by s e l l i n g o f f a p r o p e r t y Ho w e v e r, H M R C a n d Barclays opposed pausing the case, with the bank s barrister arguing that the c o m p a n y h a d " l o s t patience" adding: "We have seen no credible evidence that the property will be sold any time soon "

PM promise s to tackle illegal migration with new laws

R i s h i Su n a k h a s promised to bring in new laws to tackle illegal immigration, saying anyone who comes to the UK illegally will not be allowed to stay

M a k i n g a r a f t o f a n n o u n c e m e n t s i n t h e Commons, the prime minist e r s a i d t h e l e g i s l a t i o n would be introduced early next year and mean people who do not come to the countr y through legal and safe routes "will be detained and swiftly returned either to [their] home countr y or a safe countr y where [their] asylum claim will be considered"

He s a i d t h o s e c o m i n g illegally would "no longer be

a b l e t o f r u s t r a t e r e m o v a l attempts with late or spurious claims or appeals" and, once removed from the UK, "should have no right to reentr y settlement or citizens h i p" B u t h e p l e d g e d t o work with the UN Refugee Agency to create more legal routes "so the UK remains a safe haven for the most vulnerable"

L a b o u r a t t a c ke d t h e g o v e r n m e n t a n n o u n c ements as merely "gimmicks", while the Liberal Democrats said the plans would "weake n c r u c i a l p ro t e c t io n s fo r victims of human traff icking and modern slaver y " One of t h e p l e d g e s m a d e b y M r Sunak in the Commons was

to clear the backlog of asylum cases by the end of next year - but Downing Street have since clarif ied that this only applies to claims made before June

Thought for the week

Every dark cloud has a silver lining

Year ending are times to reflect, review and recharge While 2022 has had its own challenges, it has also been a year for many opportunities, kindnesses (see p1), and given many lucky ones a second chance in life

T

now The cost of living crisis has been excruciating

and other related businesses to a halt, with London losing over £2mn

The government is trying to help, with more than 40 available schemes to assist in times of crisis, and the community is no less enthusiastic in stepping in to help those less fortunate, wherever the government is failing to From hot food kitchen at gurdwaras to food banks in local charities, there are people working tirelessly to feed the hungry and keep them warm

The community has also achieved a big milestone this year Britain got its first ever Indian-origin Prime Minister and after months of unrest within the Tory party, he successfully calmed the storm His first Diwali at No 10 as the PM was marked by a huge applaud, as he called around to strengthen ties with allies, including India His message for His Holiness Shri Pramukh

Swami on the centennial celebration, has been heart warming Asian Voice is also publishing a special magazine, to pay its tribute

The FTA which had hit a dead-end after Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s remarks, has gained pace with PM Sunak’s initiative Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch gave an exclusive interview to Asian Voice post her visit to India Speaking about the agreement, she ensured Britons that she would bring the best deal from India, while keeping the friendship intact 2023 will be a crucial year with PM Sunak paving the the path for Tory party’s success or failure in the 2024 elections

P r a v a s i B h a r a t i y a D i v a s i s b a c k i n J a n u a r y , a n d t h e community has a lot to look forward to and rejoice especially w i t h t h e n e w I n d i a n H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r H E V i k r a m Doraiswami working so hard to make the UK-India relationship stronger

For every dark cloud there is always a silver lining and Britain and its people has the sheer determination to shine through the challenges

And on that hopeful note, we wish you dear readers, a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year

War of narrative or naivety?

‘While things are difficult at the moment, the door will always be left ajar’, a media report said in the context of the coronation ceremony of King Charles III The King has extended an olive branch towards his son and daughter-in-law Prince Harry and Meghan Markle The same report also mentioned that ‘Harry is his son and His Majesty will always love him ’ Harry & Meghan, the Netflix documentary series claims to expose the ‘truth’ behind the doors of the Royal family, urged Prince Harry to renounce his titles along with his wife and leave the Royal palaces to start a new life away from them The couple has been trying to win the narrative war against the palace Although its interpretation does depend on which part of the world one is watching it The Americans empathising with Markle and considering this a case of racism, the UK is viewing it with a different lens South Asians around the globe are also contemplating how the story of the so-called struggles of Harry and Meghan are just everyday scenes in a brown household

Amid this, one mustn’t forget, that art is subjective A documentary on an OTT giant is a form of art, a medium of expressing a narrative, not necessarily a true story Perhaps it's their version of the truth

One could also argue that the Royals declined to comment on the documentary, which is also a part of the disclaimer that flashes at the start of the Netflix doc However, in the war of narratives and lenses, it is important to remember that this is ultimately the story of a family, irrespective of the royalty attached to it

A family without disputes is almost a utopia But a family

that truly loves its members, knows how to bend the knee and open the hearts More importantly, a family that stands together, knows how to forgive

The nation lost its beloved Queen this year King Charles III lost his mother Not long ago, he also lost his father One life lesson which we all have learned regardless of colour, ethnicity or faith in the last two years, is the power of a family, love and forgiveness Losing loved ones to the virus has turned people’s lives upside down

What has gotten us through the pandemic, is the support system, which begins at home

If every person who has a minor or major disagreement with a family or relative starts producing documentary films on digital platforms, the world would become another soap opera and all there will be, would be hate and pain People will stop sitting together within the same four walls and there’ll be no room for forgiving constructive discussions and reconciliations

Even critics' consensus on the movie rating website Rotten Tomatoes describes the documentary as: “While Harry & Meghan is one of the most intimate glimpses yet into the famous couple, this overlong docuseries offers more overexposure than genuine illumination ”

A review of the documentary in the New Statesman says, “Overall, Harry & Meghan is an exhausting endurance test, six hours of your life you won’t get back Have the Sussexes succeeded in “telling their truth”? Does that reunite a broken relationship? Perhaps more like breaking a family forever, where a father is trying to hold his family together

China pushes India to bolster its borders and look west

What happened in Yangtse in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9 was a near replay of the Galwan clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in June 2020 Between 300 to 400 Chinese soldiers tried to unilaterally change the status quo of the LAC in this Arunachal sector However, the Chinese were firmly resisted by the Indian troops in the area Physical scuffles led to injuries on both sides but no fatalities The latest skirmish again goes to show that China won’t give up its claims on Indian territory along the LAC It has determined to unilaterally push the LAC westward and is no longer interested in engaging in serious dialogue to resolve the border issue Two things need to be noted here The Galwan clashes occurred at the height of the Covid pandemic when there was intense scrutiny of the Xi administration’s handling of the novel virus Now that China is beginning to draw down its zero-Covid strategy, again there are serious skirmishes In between a PLA officer who had taken part in the Galwan clashes was made a torchbearer in the Beijing Winter Olympics earlier this year, while a footage of the clashes themselves was p l a y e d o u t d u r i n g t h e 2 0 t h C h i n e s e C o m m u n i s t P a r t y

Congress

This clearly shows that the Xi administration is openly owning up to PLA’s transgressions along the LAC both for political and strategic purposes It’s no coincidence that the Tawang clashes happened just days after India and the US held military exercises close to the LAC In fact, Beijing’s aggressive tactics don’t spare any nation with which it has territorial or maritime disputes Just ask Japan, which is locked in a dispute in the East China Sea over Japan’s Senkaku Islands Chinese naval and aerial assets regularly harass Japanese defences around the islands But just as Tokyo remains firm on its territorial-maritime position, New Delhi should also show its resolve to thwart any misadventure by China China only understands the language of strength Therefore, New Delhi needs to do more to buttress its infrastructure along the entire LAC Closing the border infrastructure gap with China is of paramount importance to secure India’s territorial sovereignty The December 9 clash is the first significant clash between the neighbours for two years but comes against a background of unresolved tensions in the eastern Ladakh province, more

than 2,000 miles northwest In June 2020 two Indian soldiers died during clashes in Ladakh Since then more than a dozen rounds of talks have failed to find a resolution

China has been flexing its geopolitical muscles over the past year, when much of the world was grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic That has caused its relationships with several countries to deteriorate Among other things, China slapped trade sanctions on Australia, had a military clash with India along the border the two countries share, and has effectively taken control of parts of the disputed South China Sea, where China and several Southeast Asian countries have overlapping territorial claims Chinese diplomats overseas have also become more aggressive against other countries, both in person and on Twitter - a platform banned on the mainland Some analysts have dubbed the approach “wolf warrior diplomacy ” after nationalistic Chinese action movies of a similar name

International pressure has also been piling on China The US under President Joe Biden is keen to rally its allies to call out China’s alleged human rights abuses and non-market practices In March, the US and its allies - including the European Union, the UK and Canada - imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for alleged human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the western region of Xinjiang Beijing retaliated with sanctions of its own The US and the UK are among countries that have spoken up against China’s tightening grip on Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997 But that pressure has not eroded domestic support for the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese President Xi Jinping, said Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States Any criticisms from outside of China are widely seen as attacks on China that are intended to keep China down

Unfortunately China does not seem to believe in having a good relationship with its neighbours Except Pakistan and North Korea, no other country has had a cordial relationship with them in years, and PM Modi did try extending a hand of friendship! With China’s healthcare failing as Covid cases sores, it must not forget the importance of friends among neighbours But it always remains a two way traffic

How We Deal with Those We Do Not Like

How we d eal w ith people w ho we d o no t like is a major pro blem in the age of g row ing social media You may not like them because you believe or know them to be liars –take the Twitter account I go t susp ended for it’s hate sp eech which claimed ‘ 20 0 million Muslims in Ind ia were o n th e brink of ethnic genocide ’ (Leave to one side that religio n and ethnicity are two d ifferent th ing s and faiths focussed on conversion canno t have eth nic lim itations by d efinition)

The same Twitter account claimed the tensions in Leicester were due to ‘Hindutva ethno-fascists’ Twitter suspended the account on my report because it broke Twitter’s (and society’s) ‘hateful conduct rule’ They will have to remove the hateful content to have their account restored

The account is owned by MEND @medncommunity, and the claim “Empowering British Muslims across the UK to tackle Islamophobia by getting involved in media & politics Visit our website to volunteer with MEND!” and their URL is mend org uk

Now their goals are laudable – to tackle Islamaphobia, and more Muslims in politics But they are through their actions providing hateful content according to Twitter

They are useful idiots for Islamaphobes By writing in such hateful terms, they are inciting hatred and so banned by Twitter – or at least forced to remove this content They have become useful idiots for their enemies

They are not the only ones Take this week Jeremy Clarkson writing such horrible things about the Duchess of Sussex that Clarkson’s own daughter disowned her father’s comments Clarkson was "dreaming of the day when [Meghan] is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while crowds chant, ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps at her "

The hatred Clarkson, and people like Piers Morgan, show to Meghan means they’ve just proved her case That the media indeed hated her Their hate made them useful idiots for their ‘ enemy ’

The lesson? Do not through your hatred become a useful idiot for your enemy How did the British depart as friends of the Indians? Because Gandhiji never, even after Jallianwala bhag, hated the British

So what is the correct approach? Your response must be morally superior In Gandhiji’s case, non-violence Actually, in everyone ’ s case - non-violence

Once you fail that test, it does not matter where the truth lies, whether Duchess was right or wrong Nuance is lost You’ve proven her right MEND proved right those who oppose their hate

MEND is not a problem for Hindus It’s a problem for Muslims Because by writing such hateful things they reinforce the worst beliefs in society that they seek to disprove That is what useful idiots do They are traitors to their own cause Hate speech and extremism always leads to people being useful idiot traitors to the cause they claim to support

I do not dislike MEND because of their lies about Leicester or India or Hindus or that they wish to infiltrate the media to spread them I hate them because they set back the genuine case against Islamaphobia A worthy cause

Extremism doesn’t help any cause It makes you a traitor to your own cause

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Alpesh Patel

Prince William’s godmother apologises

two

in

r e s i d e n c e , a c c o r d i n g t o a s t a t e m e n t r e l e a s e d b y

Boris Johnson was paid over 1mn for speeches in

months of stepping down

Form er British Prime M inister Boris Johnso n has been paid more than 1 m i lli o n p o u nd s ( $ 1 2 4 m i ll i o n) to deliv er fou r speeches since h e left Do w n in g S tr eet j u s t o v e r th r ee months ago, official d ata show ed

Johnson stood down as prime minister in early September after he lost the support of ministers and lawmakers following months of scandals, including parties at the heart of government when the rest of Britain

was under a strict lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic The 58-yearold was paid 1,030,782 pounds for f o u r s p e a k i n g e n g a g e m e n t s i n October and November, a rate of a b o u t 3 0 , 0 0 0 p o u n d s a n h o u r , according to the latest register of financial interests of members of parliament As a member of parliament, Johnson is required to declare external earnings, as well as the number of hours involved

Cocaine found after Truss’ party

Traces of a suspecte d cla ss A drug was foun d at a g over nme n t g r a ce -a n d -f a v o ur home a ft er part ies at te nde d by political allie s of Liz Truss, the G ua rdia n has be en t old

K i n g C h a r l e s a n d C a m i l l a , t h e Q u e e n C o n s o r t , “ h a v e b e e n k e p t f u l l y i n f o r m e d a n d a r e p l e a s e d t h a t b o t h p a r t i e s have reached this welcome o u t c o m e ” , t h e s t a t e m e n t said

Rolls-Royce averts industrial action with 10% pay rise

T he luxu ry carm aker Rolls-Royce and th e lo g is tics co mp a ny Wi n ca nto n h a v e bo th g i v en w orkers in the U K above-inflation p ay r i se s, av e rti ng t h rea te ned i nd u strial actio n

About 1,200 workers at the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars factory in Goodwood, West S u s s e x , w i l l r e c e i v e a n i n c r e a s e o f 1 0 % , p l u s a £2,000 bonus Together, the increase will be worth up to a n e x t r a 1 8 % f o r 2 0 2 3 Meanwhile, 150 Wincanton e m p l o y e e s d r i v i n g f u e l tankers for the oil refiner Valero will receive pay rises w o r t h b e t w e e n 2 0 % a n d 3 7 % , d e p e n d i n g o n t h e i r

existing contracts

The Unite union s a i d t h e d e a l w o u l d b r i n g t h e drivers’ pay rates in line with those working at other refineries

British workers have voted in favour of a series of strikes across the UK economy in recent months, with factors including the surge in inflation, particularly in energy c o s t s , p l u s t h e c o n t i n u e d low rate of unemployment

The UK’ s consumer price index, the most closely foll o w e d m e a s u r e o f h o u s ehold inflation, rose by 10 7% in the year to November, nearly the fastest in four decades

The white powder was discovered at the Chevening e s t a t e l a s t s u m m e r i n t h e days before Truss won the Tory leade r s h i p c o n t e s t a n d b e c a m e p r i m e m i n i s t e r , a c c o r d i n g t o s o u r c e s A member of staff claimed they tested t h e p o w d e r u s i n g a s w a b w h i c h changes colour when it comes into contact with cocaine, and it indicated

t h e d r u g w a s p r e s e n t Possession of cocaine is a criminal offence which c a n l e a d t o i m p r i s o nm e n t f o r u p t o s e v e n years, or an unlimited fine In July, the governm e n t l a u n c h e d a n e w c r a c k d o w n o n c a s u a l d r u g u s e r s , s a y i n g t h e i r p a s s p o r t s could be confiscated

Separate sources have described finding similar deposits in the offices at No 10 Downing Street after two lockdown parties held when Boris Johnson was prime minister

Racial attack on 12-years boy in Bristol

A 12-yea r- old boy has b een left wi th injuries to his abdomen an d knees following a suspected rac ially aggrava ted assault in Bris tol

The victim was kicked in the abdomen by another boy, causing him to fall to the floor and for his turban to come off The assault happened on Quay Street in the city centre at around 4pm on Thursday 8 December Officers from Avon and

S o m e r s e t P o l i c e a r e t r e a t i n g t h e incident as a racially or religiously aggravated assault The force is now liaising with the boy’s school and will be reviewing CCTV from the area

I n s p e c t o r A d a m D o l l i n g s a i d : “This is a worrying and unpleasant incident which has had a significant impact on the young victim, his family and the local community ”

Woman sexually harassed during staff meeting gets £90,000

A woman who wa s slapped on the b ottom with a rule r during a st aff mee tin g has sett led a sexual har assment case for £90,000

The woman also said her former employer alleged she had "dressed and b e h a v e d p r o v o c a t i v e l y " a f t e r s h e raised a grievance with them Neither t h e w o m a n o r t h e f i r m a r e b e i n g named to protect her identity Chief c o m m i s s i o n e r o f t h e E q u a l i t y C o m m i s s i o n , G e r a l d i n e M c G a h e y described it as a shocking and distress-

ing case Ms McGahey said the investigation made the woman feel like a "perpetrator rather than a victim" "I think it really demonstrates very clearly that this organisation has a really toxic culture, a laddish culture and they just didn't respect or have any regard for their women employees " As part of the settlement, the employer is working with the commission to ensure it has comprehensive policies on sexual harassment and proper training for staff

100 million Indians were killed by British colonialism

Rece nt y ears have see n a re surgen ce in nosta lgia for the British empire Highpr ofile books such as Nia ll Ferguson’s Em pi r e : H o w B r i t a in M a d e t he Moder n Worl d, and Br uce Gill ey ’ s The Last Impe ria l ist, ha ve cl a imed t hat British colonial ism br ought pr osperity and dev elopment t o India and other colonies Two yea rs a go, a YouG ov pol l found that 32 percent of people in B r it a i n a r e a ct iv e l y p r ou d o f t he nation’s colonial hist or y

This rosy picture of colonialism conflicts dramatically with the historical record According to research by t h e e c o n o m i c h i s t o r i a n R o b e r t C A l l e n , e x t r e m e p o v e r t y i n I n d i a increased under British rule, from 23 percent in 1810 to more than 50 percent in the mid-20th century Real w a g e s d e c l i n e d d u r i n g t h e B r i t i s h colonial period, reaching a nadir in t h e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , w h i l e f a m i n e s b e c a m e m o r e f r e q u e n t a n d m o r e d e a d l y F a r f r o m b e n e f i t t i n g t h e I n d i a n p e o p l e , c o l o n i a l i s m w a s a human tragedy with few parallels in recorded history In a recent paper in the journal

World Development, census data was used to estimate the number of people killed by British imperial policies during these four brutal decades Robust data on mortality rates in India only exists from the 1880s If we use this as the baseline for “normal” mortality, we find that some 50 million excess deaths occurred under the aegis of British colonialism during the period from 1891 to 1920

Fifty million deaths is a staggering figure, and yet this is a conservative estimate Data on real wages indicates that by 1880, living standards in colonial India had already declined dramatically from their previous levels Allen and other scholars argue that p r i o r t o c o l o n i a l i s m , I n d i a n l i v i n g standards may have been “ on a par with the developing parts of Western Europe ” We do not know for sure what India ’ s pre-colonial mortality rate was, but if we assume it was similar to that of England in the 16th and 17th centuries (27 18 deaths per 1,000 p e o p l e ) , w e f i n d t h a t 1 6 5 m i l l i o n excess deaths occurred in India during the period from 1881 to 1920

in brief

SAJID JAVID TO STEP DOWN IN NEXT ELECTION SIGHTING ‘PERSONAL TOLL’

The odds are stacked against the Toriesat the next election but Rishi Sunak can turn the situation around, former Cabinet minister Sajid Javid said Mr Javid, who will not stand in the election, said his 12 years in Parliament had seen politics on “fast forward” with “one crisis after another” He added that while incumbent governments around the world had suffered as a result of the pandemic and the economic impact of the Ukraine war it “didn’t help” that rules were broken in Downing Street” during the coronavirus lockdown In a recent interview, Mr Javid explained his decision to stand down at the next election, due by January 2025 at the latest, saying that being an MP does take a personal toll both on himself and his family He insisted the Tories could still turn around the opinion poll deficit they face against Labour Mr Javid, whose resignation as health secretary opened the floodgates for the wave of quitting ministers which eventually caused Boris Johnson’s downfall, said “It didn’t help, by the way, in dealing with the pandemic that we saw the rules were broken in Downing Street

KING CELEBRATES HANUKKAH

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of Hanukah The king toured the JW3 community centre on Finchley Road speaking to schoolchildren packing presents and food hampers for families around Camden refugees baking gingerbread biscuits and survivors of the Holocaust In a speech during which she presented the king with a Chanukiah of eight candelabras, Dame Vivien Duffield said she founded JW3 to give the Jewish community in London a place to gather to protect and celebrate their heritage Schloss said: Unfortunately, there is still antisemitism, people say Jewish people should go to Israel, this is England, but I hope we are getting over these prejudices

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victim Anne Frank for a twirl while visiting a Jewish community centre in north London Eva Schloss, 93, who survived Nazi concentration camps and

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3

Further cementing the FTA, B a d e n o c h i s t a k i n g t h e negotiation forward Asian Voice exclusively spoke to the Trade Secretary about her India visit, the UK-India F r e e T r a d e A g r e e m e n t , mutual benefits of the FTA for both countries and the way forward She told the n e w s w e e k l y t h a t t h e v i s i t w a s ‘ v e r y p r o d u c t i v e ’ a n d helped in ‘building a more

e I t m a d e a n i c e

ments both our systems But I'm clear I won't sign until I have the best deal on the table

AV - Will the FTA imp ly that m o re In d ian p rof ess io nal s and students will be able to come to the U K to work and stud y?

p e r s o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p ’ t o drive negotiations She has affirmed that she won’t sign it until they have the best deal on the table

Following is the EXCLUS I V E i n t e r v i e w w i t h t h e S e c r e t a r y o f S t a t e f o r International Trade A V - Du ring Diwali due to c ertai n ad v ers e co m m ents f rom the Ho m e S ecretary the FTA closure fell through Do you think yo u have been able to salvage the relationsh ip through your visit and d iscussio ns?

KB: We said we would c o n c l u d e t h e m a j o r i t y o f talks by Diwali and we did t h a t – w e p r o v i s i o n a l l y closed the majority of chapters by that date The visit w a s v e r y p r o d u c t i v e i n refreshing talks, which was i m p o r t a n t g i v e n w e h a v e h a d a c h a n g e o f P r i m e M i n i s t e r I t w a s t h e f i r s t opportunity I have had to come to India to meet my c o u n t e r p a r t , I n d i a n Minister of Commerce and

also helpful for the negotiating teams on both sides to h e a r b o t h m i n i s t e r s g i v e t h e i r d i r e c t v i e w o n o u r vision for an ambitious and balanced deal that’s a winwin for both sides AV - Prime M inister Sunak rep o r ted ly co m m it ted to working 'at p ace' to wards an FTA that does not “ sacrifice quality for speed ” after that Oc to b er d e ad l in e w as mi ssed ami d po litical turmoil in th e U K Ho w will th e two nations make up for th e time lost?

KB: The PM and I are in total agreement that picking an arbitrary deadline to conclude is not the best way to c o n d u c t a n e g o t i a t i o n I want to make sure negotiators are not under pressure to rush a deal A quality deal that is ambitious and balanced is key But we also know that this is not something that we can spend forever working on We see a way forward in the talks for a balanced deal that compli-

KB: To be clear, what we are considering within the scope of the trade deal are mobility visas –b u s i n e s s v i s a s , p r o f e ssional visas Student visas a r e n o t s o m e t h i n g m y department looks at – it’s

not something that would be within a free trade agreem e n t W h a t w e ' r e d o i n g a r o u n d t h e F T A i s a b o u t ensuring that both nations can send over their best and brightest to grow their businesses and make it easier to d o t r a d e i n e a c h o t h e r ' s nations A free trade agreem e n t o n l y w o r k s i f b o t h sides can take full advantage of it and that's what business mobility – which can be hugely beneficial to companies in the UK as well as for Indian businesses - looks at A V - Ho w i s th e F T A between th e two countries a mu tually beneficial deal?

KB: Our shared priority is to have an ambitious and balanced deal We've been in d i s c u s s i o n s s i n c e J a n u a r y a n d t h e n e g o t i a t i o n s a r e

progressing very well But we need something that's going to be mutually benefic i a l t o b o t h t h e U K a n d India We are already very close trading partners, and we want to build on our existing strong friendship W e ' r e l o o k i n g i n t o m a n y areas, including goods, services, and investment protections What we ’ re looking at in this deal is how we can

go above and beyond our e x i s t i n g t r a d i n g r e l a t i o nship We want a trade deal that works for future generations, not just this one AV - What is th e next plan of actio n for India and th e U K to take the F TA forward?

KB: Talks are in a good place following the visit and r e c e n t n e g o t i a t i n g r o u n d We’re looking ahead now to round seven which will likel y t a k e p l a c e e a r l y 2 0 2 3 W e ’ v e s e t o u r e x c e l l e n t negotiating teams the challenge to work at pace, as they have been doing Our focus remains on securing a forward-facing deal which w o r k s f o r b o t h s i d e s a n d deepens our strong trading relationship, worth £29 billion according to our latest 12-month figures

Industry Piyush Goyal, face t o f a c

c h a n g e f r o m o u r u s u a l online meetings – building a more personal relationship i s v e r y h e l p f u l t o d r i v i n g negotiations I think it was

THERE’S A LOT TO CELEBRATE

work in collaboration

This year has been synonymous to the word ‘kindness’ and the absolute power that comes with it In many ways this kindness brought justice for the community and fulfilled the dream of having a more inclusive and multicultural Britain

T h e c o n t i n u e d a n d t i r e l e s s efforts of organisations in providing free and hot food, clothes, heating, care, and the magnanimous contribution of pharmacies helped the community and the country sail through 2022

At the start of the year, while we were still fighting new variants of t h e C o v i d - 1 9 v i r u s , f a c i n g s t a f f s h o r t a g e s a n d o t h e r d a y t o d a y i s s u e s , o u r h e a l t h c a r e w o r k e r s , e s p e c i a l l y d o c t o r s a n d n u r s e s braved through the nights and days d e s p i t e t h e N H S b a c k l o g T h e y ensured that more than 74 5 million vaccinations have been given since the NHS opened its programme to all adults in England

S p e a k i n g t o t h e n e w s w e e k l y about 2022 and its achievements, Dr Indranil Ch akravo rty MBE P hD F RC P, Co nsultant physician said, “This year 2022 has been a peculiar one for healthcare in the UK ”

Dr Chakravorty discussed what might be the answer be for the world to get through this year and the next He said, “The answer may lie in a fundamental but elusive human emotion of kindness and c o m p a s s i o n A l t h o u g h o f t e n described and felt as a human emot i o n , k i n d n e s s i s r e c o g n i s e d t o much more It is an act if commission not merely a feeling Kindness is the demonstration of an act of pure benevolence to another where there is no gain for the giver In healthcare, kindness and empathy are fundamental

“There has always been a debate between schools of thought, one (often in a minority) describing it as a profession like any other and then the vast majority believing that it's a vocation, a way of life Healthcare professionals are therefore expected to be kind in every walk of their life The law and their regulatory systems are often holding them to m u c h h i g h e r m o r a l a n d e t h i c a l standards ”

I n J a n u a r y 2 0 2 2 , t h e B r i t i s h Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) working alongside g r a s s r o o t s p r o f e s s i o n a l o r g a n i s ations, stakeholders from NHS and the academics developed a consensus standard for ‘Dignity’ in healthc a r e T h e s e s t a n d a r d s w e r e launched at a summit in the Royal C o l l e g e o f S u r g e o n s b y N H S E n g l a n d ' s N a t i o n a l M e d i c a l D i r e c t o r S i r S t e p h e n P o w i s F o l l o w i n g t h i s N H S E n g l a n d s People's office has launched a pilot to implement Dignity Standards in t h e N H S T h e f i r s t p h a s e p i l o t i n c l u d e s K i n g s C o l l e g e H o s p i t a l L o n d o n , L e i c e s t e r U n i v e r s i t y Hospitals and St Georges, Epsom and St Helier group of hospitals This project will help set standards of excellence in behaviours, interpersonal kindness is and respect, restoring dignity in the workplace Each organisation will appoint and train dignity champions who will be leading the work in developing r o l e m o d e l s , p r o v i d e t r a i n i n g Assessments of effectiveness will be conducted by academic teams from Universities of Hertfordshire, East Anglia and Glasgow

This project will be the first of its kind where voluntary professional organisations will lead the

w i t h g o v e r n m e n t organizations to transf o r m t h e w o r k p l a c e

The project draws on the kindness and compassion of volunteers in helping transform the workplace into one of kindness and empat h y , D r C h a k r a v o r t y told the Asian Voice Milesto ne year for championing div ersity

No one will forget t h e D i w a l i o f 2 0 2 2 , which will go down in British and South Asian history, all because of Prime Minister Rishi S u n a k L i t t l e d i d h e o r a n y o n e think that Liz Truss would step down only 45 days after becoming t h e P r i m e M i n i s t e r , a n d B r i t a i n would get its first British Asian Prime Minister who has roots in India and Africa Sunak also shut

some of our most important cultural events, which have brought people and communities together We saw the glorious and joyful return of Eid in the Square – which celebrated the end of Ramadan with Londoners and guests of all backgrounds joining together, showcasi n g t h e h u g e l y p o s i t i v e e f f e c t Muslim communities have in our

h o m e , B A P S h a s brought together the g e n e r o s i t y o f m a n y individuals to support the Trussell Trust with food provisions to help f a m i l i e s a c r o s s t h e c o u n t r y t h r o u g h t h e current cost-of-living crisis

“ T h e s e v a l u e s o f c o m p a s s i o n , s e r v i c e and kindness are the backbone to a happy and harmonious socie t y a n d t h e r e f o r e remain at the heart of our activities this year and beyond ” Inspiring and selfless generosity by comm unity o rganisations

A s i a n c o m m u n i t y w i t h i n m y r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s a

Laureate, as well as inspire people like me to pursue something out of the ordinary I look forward to the many achievements of my community in years to come and have no doubt that we will continue to blossom as an integral part of the UK ” Stupend ous success of Com monwealth Games 2022

T h e B i r m i n g h a m 2 0 2 2 Commonwealth Games demons t r a t e d t h e v e r y b e s t o f G l o b a l Britain to the world, showcasing the region’s strengths of: being connected and accessible; youth and inclusivity; and a focus on regeneration and rejuvenation

down all rumours of the so called ‘ d e b a c l e ’ o f t h e U K - I n d i a F r e e Trade Agreement and went ahead to shake hands with Indian PM Narendra Modi, affirming that the Living Bridge is not weak after all In an official statement to Asian Voice, the Conservativ e Friend s of Indi a said, “Despite the political challenges of this year, 2022 has been a milestone year for championing diversity in public life We had the most diverse leadership campaign within the Conservative P a r t y i n h i s t o r y , w i t h m e n a n d women from a wide range of ethn i c , s o c i a l a n d c u l t u r a l b a c kgrounds The appointment of the UK’s first Prime Minister of colour i n R i s h i S u n a k w a s a l a n d m a r k occasion for Britain and of course for CF India It reflected how we have shattered the glass ceiling and proving that anyone can excel and prosper in this great country The Conservative Friends of India continued to engage with members, P a r l i a m e n t a r i a n s , L o r d s a n d t h e Indian High Commission We hosted a variety of events, Diwali and conference receptions, held hustings with the final two leadership candidates and hosted roundtables discussing issues that impact our members and wider geopolitics We forward to building on a strong and eventful year in 2023 and look forward to being joined by many of you ”

Th e return of Diw ali at the Square

This year marked a massive celebration of Diwali at the Square, a first proper celebration, two years after the pandemic Despite the u n r e s t c a u s e d b y b o g u s s o c i a l media elements that led to communal riots at Leicester, continuing to champion diversity, T he Mayor of L o nd o n , S a d i q K h a n to l d th e newsweekly how ethnic minority communities continue to have a positive effect He said, “This year we have been able to once again celebrate the strength and rich diversity of our city with the return of

city More recently, we welcomed the return of the fantastic Diwali celebrations for the first time since the pandemic This event brought an incredibly vibrant atmosphere, s w a t h e s o f c o l o u r a n d c u l i n a r y delights to the heart of our city I’m proud that our capital was able to host one of the biggest Diwali celeb r a t i o n s o u t s i d e I n d i a a n d w a s delighted to see so many Londoners and visitors come together in celebration

“ E v e r y o n e i n t h e U K a n d around the world has the right to live in peace and to practice their faith freely and proudly In London, we are proud of our diversity, we celebrate it – and this makes our city better, brighter and more prosperous for everyone ”

S ervice and kindness are th e backbone of a hap py and harmonious society

Speaking to Asian Voice, about t h e y e a r g o n e b y , Y o g v i v ek d a s S w a m i , H ead S w am i o f B A P S S w a m i nar aya n S an st h a, U K & E u ro p e s a i d , “ F o r t h o u s a n d s o f devotees and well-wishers here in the UK and worldwide, 2022 has been a particularly memorable year as we celebrated the birth centen a r y o f H i s H o l i n e s s P r a m u k h Swami Maharaj The year was not o n l y m a r k e d w i t h m a n y j o y o u s moments of celebration, from the a w e - i n s p i r i n g 1 0 - d a y ‘ F e s t i v a l o f Inspiration’ at Neasden Temple to the Diwali celebrations themed ‘In t h e J o y o f O t h e r s ’ a t T r a f a l g a r Square, but also many opportunities to continue to be inspired by and implement the ideals embodied by Pramukh Swami Maharaj

“This was seen foremost in the BAPS volunteers who rushed to the frontline earlier this year to help those fleeing the devastating war in Ukraine Travelling thousands of miles and placing their own livelih o o d s o n h o l d , t h e y c o n t i n u e d Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s legacy of selfless service during times of h u m a n i t a r i a n n e e d C l o s e r t o

L o n d o n A s s em b ly M em b er K rupesh Hirani AM , told us, “It has been a tough year for everyone The rapid rise in the cost of food, fuel, utilities, rent and mortgages has impacted us all Many families in L o n d o n , a n d a c r o s s t h e c o u nt r y , h a v e h a d t o make sacrifices to c o p e w i t h t h e cost-of-living cris i s T h o s e w h o w e r e a l r e a d y struggling to make e n d s m e e t h a v e borne the brunt of i t M a n y p e o p l e , i n c l u d i n g k e y w o r k e r s , h a v e b e e n f o r c e d t o look to their communities for support I’m proud to say that my community in Brent and Harrow have rallied to the aid of those in need T h e g e n e r o s i t y a n d s e l f l e s s n e s s s h o w n b y c o m m u n i t y o r g a n i s ations has been inspiring I want to pay special tribute to organisations, of all faiths and none, who have been working tirelessly throughout 2022 to combat food insecurity L o n d o n ’ s C o m m u n i t y K i t c h e n , Brent Food Bank and many others have done so much to ensure that the most vulnerable haven’t gone hungry In a nation as wealthy as ours, it is tragic that such a despera t e s c e n a r i o h a s b e c o m e r e a l i t y under this government But we can t a k e h o p e a n d i n s p i r a t i o n f r o m those who have selflessly met the needs of others For your kindness, I thank you ” C omm unity’s you ng p oet laureate Iona Mandal, 1 6, Birm ing ham Y o u ng P o et L a u reat e 2 0 2 2- 2 0 24 told the newsweekly, “As a young British Asian living in Birmingham, this year proved to be eventful, with a balance of triumph and tumult I am sure that my community has continued to coexist by supporting one another in universally difficult situations, whilst celebrating our successes as a diverse and talented group of people

“Personally, being appointed as t h e B i r m i n g h a m Y o u n g P o e t Laureate 2022-2024 was a particularly gratifying moment for me, as I was given the privilege of occupyi n g a f a i r l y i n f l u e n t i a l p o s i t i o n within my city, besides allowing me to represent many young South A s i a n s w h o a r e n o t a l w a y s e q u i p p e d w i t h t h e s u p p o r t a n d encouragement required to flourish in the Arts

“I believe that we are capable of anything as a community, and this c a n o n l y b e g i n b y d i s m a n t l i n g e n t r e n c h e d g e n e r a t i o n a l b a r r i e r s which hinder us from achieving our full potential I hope to bring light t o i s s u e s r e l e v a n t t o t h e S o u t h

Ilika Mandal, Library Services, B i r m i n g h a m C i t y C o u n c i l , t h e mother of Iona Mandal said, “I’m a proud Brummie and the highpoint of 2022 for me was undoubtedly the Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham during the summer of ‘ 22 The Games demonstrated to the world, the region's strengths of being connected and accessible; youth and inclusivity; and a focus on regeneration and rejuvenation

T h e c i t y c e n t r e ’ s l a n d m a r k s including the Town Hall, Victoria S q u a r e a n d t h e A l e x a n d e r Stadium, centrepiece of the Games and venue of the gorgeous opening a n d c l o s i n g c e r e m o n i e s , u n d e rw e n t i n c r e d i b l e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n , decked in the colours of the Games and looking more beautiful than ever! What I was immensely proud of was to see the games uphold the image of Birmingham globally ” B ob Blackman MP for Harrow East told us, “Looking back on this, there are definitely positive lessons and achievements to be drawn I am pleased that the UK now has its first ever Hindu Prime Minister in Rishi Sunak, who I have no doubt will guide the country wisely and proficiently Additionally, it is evident that the country has moved forward from the pandemic in a c o n s t r u c t i v e m a n n e r , h a v i n g adapted to new models of working and a significant development of healthcare practices It has also been humbling to watch our country, and so many others around the globe, rally in support for Ukraine at this exceedingly difficult time for the nation It is in moments like this when comradery, solidarity and hope thrives As we look forward to the year ahead, I hope that whatever challenges we face, 2023 is a year of unity, kindness and resilience There is much to look forward to with the India Trade Deal, improvements in the cost of l i v i n g c r i s i s a n d t h e K i n g ’ s Coronation to name but a few ” However, 2022 will unfortunately also be the year Britain lost i t s b e l o v e d Q u e e n E l i z a b e t h I I Even within the period of mourning, there was a huge symbolic lesson for Briton hidden right there, in many forms than one There was a point when people belonging t o f i v e d i f f e r e n t f a i t h s c a m e t o g e t h e r a t t h e s a m e t i m e a n d bowed down to the Queen’s Coffin while it was laid in Westminster Kindness also comes with unrobing vanity and bureaucracy Ace footballer David Beckham stood in the queue of more than 10,000 people who wanted to catch a last g l i m p s e o f t h e Q u e e n w i t h o u t breaking it and set an example for the rest of the world, that with a little kindness, both to the living and the dead, we all can make this world a better place

s Y o u n g P o e t

PM Rishi Sunak serves dinner to British troops in Estonia

Iona Mandal Dr Indranil Chakravorty MBE Sadiq Khan

Winter can be a vulnerable time for older people as well as those with long term health conditions, such as diabetes and cancer, or those who are immunocompromised, as respiratory viruses such as flu and Covid-19 are in circulation.

It is important to remember that protection provided by Covid-19 vaccines decreases over time and flu viruses can change every year, which is why it’s vital to get both Covid-19 boosters and flu jabs in winter.

Without both vaccines, people who have weak immune systems and underlying health conditions remain at risk of serious illness, and in some cases, hospitalisation or even death. We are therefore being urged to take our Covid-19 booster and flu jabs if eligible, to protect our health this winter.

Eligible groups such as those over 50, those who are pregnant, or who have long term health conditions, who have not yet taken their first, second and third booster doses can still book an appointment to take their Covid-19 vaccines. It is better not to delay. Book your free flu vaccine and Covid-19 booster vaccine today.

Why are vaccines important?

England has administered over 45 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to date. Both flu and Covid jabs have a good safety record and provide the best protection we have against these viruses. Both flu and Covid-19 vaccines have been given to millions of people worldwide. All vaccines must go through the same regulatory approval process as any medicine to ensure they meet strict safety standards and offer high levels of protection. Most side effects are usually mild and they don’t last long. Reports suggest that within 14 days of receiving a Covid-19 booster shot, immunity increases by about 90% against serious illness.

Vaccines are best protection for those with long term health conditions

People with certain long term health conditions are more at risk this winter and will need the flu vaccine and Covid-19 booster as they are at increased risk of hospitalisation from flu and Covid-19 this winter.

It is important you get vaccinated to protect yourself. Don’t delay, book your free flu vaccine and Covid-19 booster appointments now.

Vaccines are your best protection from viruses like flu and Covid-19 that can cause serious illness.

Community speaks about benefits of vaccination

Asian Voice spoke to members of the community who have had their vaccines. They spoke about the advantages of being vaccinated as well as the extra precautions that they’re taking to ensure better health and immunity during this winter

season.

Dr Param Shah, Director – UK & Ireland, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has had a Covid-19 booster as well as the flu jab. He told Asian Voice, “The vaccines are very important for me and my family because even though we have been living in the UK for a few years now, with the changes in the weather cycle every year, these provide extra protection. Vaccines and regular jabs keep us protected from the sudden onslaught of illnesses. As crucial as it is to maintain one’s natural immunity, in the present circumstances we could do with all possible help such as vaccines.”

Thanu Kurien has taken her first booster dose. Sharing her understanding of the advantages of vaccines and flu jabs, Thanu told the newsweekly, “Yes, it helps to build

your personal and community immunity against harmful diseases. I would certainly advise people to take the Covid vaccine. I would also recommend the flu jab to people at risk from flu and who need the immunity during that period.” This winter Thanu is also making sure to take a lot of vitamins and wrap herself up to keep warm.

Higher education professional, Bharat Vaswani has taken the flu vaccine as well as the Covid-19 booster. Speaking to the newsweekly, he said, “I have been taking annual flu jabs for a decade now and it has kept me well protected

against seasonal infections. Even though I did get Covid after the first booster jab, the infection was mild and well controlled. I believe this was due to the vaccines I had taken.”

When asked why he would recommend others in the community to take their jabs, Bharat said, “As kids, we were given vaccines to protect us against polio and other diseases. So, we do not need to question the efficacy of vaccines. They protect you against serious complications and disease and that is a good reason to take them. You are doing your body and health a disservice by not taking them. It is better to be safe than sorry.”

Sharing other added precautions that he’s taking this winter to stay healthy, Bharat added, “Be aware of your body and what it is telling you. Wear appropriate clothing and keep warm and well-hydrated. Eat well and pace things out. Have vitamin D. I believe fruits have the ability to make you happier, so have lots of fruits”.

Bineeta Mitra said, “Yes, I have taken my Covid booster. If you do get Covid despite vaccination, it won’t be as fatal, and it will be manageable without requiring hospitalisation. The vaccination was essential for me as I was living with elderly parents. Also, the vaccination certification allows you to travel.” She further added, “Stay covered when you’re out, don’t take coughs and sneezes lightly, take medicines in the early stages, and stay happy.”

Advantages of vaccines for pregnant women:

• Flu vaccines can help pregnant women avoid serious health complications and prevent illnesses such as pneumonia, especially in the later stages of pregnancy.

• Vaccinated women are at a lower risk of premature births, stillbirths, and babies with low birth weight.

• A study conducted by the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology during the pandemic suggests that the placenta is ‘exhausted’ by even mild cases of Covid-19 and may cause damage to immune response.

• On average, every year, around 11,000 people succumb to the flu virus.

• The flu virus leads to over tens of thousands of hospitalisations in England.

• Flu and Covid-19 are both lifethreatening.

• If you have had your Covid-19 vaccines in the last six months, you have a 65% lower chance of being hospitalised.

• If you have not had your booster dose against Covid-19, you are 3 times more likely to be hospitalised with Covid-19.

• Individuals 50 years and over.

• Under 50s (over 5 years old for the Covid-19 booster and over 6 months old for flu vaccine) with a long-term health condition such as chronic liver disease, chronic neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy, stroke or a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), diabetes, and the immunosuppressed.

• Pregnant women.

• Children (flu vaccine) aged 2 or 3 on 31 August 2022.

• All children in primary school (flu vaccine).

• Some secondary school aged children (flu vaccine).

• Most children are offered the flu vaccine as a nasal spray.

Did you know?

Dynamic leader brings wealth of experience to Unity

S ha r o n J a n d u , M a n a g in g Di r e c t o r o f t h e N o r t h e r n A si a n P o w e r p o li cy t h in k ta nk, ha s been a ppointe d as C ha i r o f U n i t y En t e r pr i se a n d a B oa r d M e m b e r o f Unit y Housing A ssociation

A m o n g s t o t h e r l e a d e rship positions, Ms Jandu, a c o - f o u n d e r o f Y o r k s h i r e Asian Business Association, also serves as the Federation o f S m a l l B u s i n e s s e s A r e a L e a d e r i n Y o r k s h i r e , t h e Humber and the North-East, and is a Confederation of B r i t i s h I n d u s t r y R e g i o n a l C o u n c i l M e m b e r f o r Yorkshire and the Humber,

S h a r o n J a n d u s a i d : “ I l i v e d i n C h a p e l t o w n f o r nearly 10 years, know the area well and how it feels to live in a challenged community

Former lady detective opens up on her experiences of racism

A former senior Met Po li ce detective who faced decades o f ra c i sm i n t h e f o rc ei ncluding having a weapo n h eld to h er head wh ile sh e was branded a racist slurh as said o ffi cers still clo se r an k s t o d ef e nd r ac i s ts when complaints are made S h a b n a m C h a u d h r i , a f o r m e r d e t e c t i v e s u p e r i ntendent who sat four ranks above constable, worked in the force for 30 years, and has now opened up about her persistent experiences of racism as someone from an Asian background After being rejected applying to the force three times, her next real negative experiences once were applying for promotion around 1998, nearly ten years into her

c a r e e r “ I t w e n t p e a r s h a p e d S u d d e n l y I w a s u n d e r - p e r f o r m i n g , n o t g o o d e n o u g h , a n d d i d n ' t h a v e ‘ c r e d i b i l i t y ’ M i n o r things became big And I was rejected from the applic a t i o n p r o c e s s , ” S h a b n a m says She appealed it and got through Once in, she performed in the top one per cent in the Met Police “I was vindicated to a degree That upset a few people,” she says In 1999, the Met Police was branded institutionally r a c i s t a f t e r t h e b o t c h e d investigation into the murd e r o f t h e b l a c k S o u t h London teenager Stephen Lawrence The force implem e n t e d c o m m u n i t y r e l ations training

Portsmouth University losses discrimination case

A univers ity has been found t o ha v e di s c r i m i n at e d against an Indian lec turer on the grounds of race after i t failed to reappoi nt her for a job she had been doing for f i v e ye a rs , re p la c i n g h e r with a whi te candidate with no experience of the role D r K a j a l S h a r m a w a s one of only two senior lecturers at the University of Portsmouth who were not reappointed to their jobs when their contract came to an end, while 11 out of 12 white colleagues were successful, an employment tribunal heard In a damning j u d g m e n t , t h e t r i b u n a l ruled that Sharma was the victim of subconscious discrimination and described t h e s e l e c t i o n p r o c e s s a s being “tainted by race discrimination” The fact that she was not reappointed to her job was “extraordinary” a n d s h o u l d h a v e r a i s e d questions “Instead, the fact that a senior member of the academic staff who was a B A M E w o m a n w a s n o t reappointed to a post was

ignored by the university ”

T h e h e a r i n g i n S o u t h a m p t o n h e a r d t h a t Sharma began her job as associate head for organisational studies and human resources management in the business and law facult y a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f Portsmouth on a five-year c o n t r a c t a t t h e s t a r t o f 2016 She told the tribunal she had a “difficult” relationship with her manager, Dr Gary Rees, and complained about the way she had been treated on a numb e r o f o c c a s i o n s I n o n e example, she said he had asked her to do university w o r k i n t h e i m m e d i a t e aftermath of her father’s death and failed to support her adequately while she was caring for her critically ill son

The tribunal was also t o l d t h a t R e e s a c t i v e l y e n c o u r a g e d a w h i t e c o lleague to pursue an addit i o n a l q u a l i f i c a t i o n b u t failed to support Sharma w h e n s h e s u g g e s t e d s h e might do the same

“Unity has earned a reputation as one of the country’s most successful and forward-thinking housing associations, driven by its social purpose to fight inequality

and empower BME people

“Unity Enterprise is a key c o m p o n e n t o f t h i s w o r k through its support for local businesses including initiatives to identify and develop l o c a l e n t r e p r e n e u r s T h e u p g r a d e o f L e e d s M e d i a Centre will provide a major boost to these efforts and increase economic activity in Chapeltown and surrounding areas

“As Chair, I look forward to being at the heart of delivering a winning strategy to help many more people fulfil their business potential and live better lives ”

Thinktank predicts 12% rise in unaffordable population over 2019

Thi rty million people in the UK wi ll be unable to a fford wha t the public c on siders to be a decent standard of li ving by the ti me the curre n t p a r li am en t e n ds i n 2024, acc ordi ng to a study

T h e N e w E c o n o m i c s Foundation, a left-leaning t h i n k t a n k , s a i d r i s i n g p r i c e s , b e l o w - i n f l a t i o n increases in earnings and p r o j e c t e d i n c r e a s e s i n u n e m p l o y m e n t w o u l d result in 43% of households lacking the resources to put food on the table, buy new clothes or treat themselves and their families – a 12 percentage point rise compared with 2019 The NEF said its calculation that by 2024 almost 90% of single parents and 50% of workers w i t h c h i l d r e n w o u l d f a l l below a minimum income standard showed the need

for a radical overhaul of the welfare system

T h e t h i n k t a n k c a l l e d for universal credit to be scrapped and replaced by a national living income, a minimum below which no one could fall whether they were in or out of work Under its proposal, more than two-thirds of the population would see their disposable incomes rise, with increases of more than 50% – or £500 a month – for the poorest households The £70bn-a-year plan would be funded by a more progressive tax system, it s a i d , i n c l u d i n g t h e h a rmonisation of tax rates for i n c o m e a n d w e a l t h , extending national insura n c e t o i n v e s t m e n t income, and abolishing the u p p e r e a r n i n g s l i m i t f o r NICs

Kindness, the buzzword

When as ked if he agreed with a plan by a Tory MP to s tr i p P ri n c e Ha r r y a n d M e gh a n M a r k l e of t he i r roy al t it le s, Ke i r Sta rm e r was a s tudy in c aution

The Labour leader said t h a t h e “ w o u l d b e s u rp r i s e d ” i f t h e p r o p o s e d Private Members Bill from C o n s e r v a t i v e B o b S e e l y w o u l d a p p e a r o n t h e C o m m o n s O r d e r P a p e r “ any time soon ” Starmer’s subtext appeared to be that this was a needless overreaction to the latest Netflix d o c u m e n t a r y , w h i c h s e t s out in full Hollywoodised technicolour the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s experie n c e w i t h i n “ t h e F i r m ” There ’ s no question that the series has smashed the streaming service’s records, pulling in 2 4 million viewers on the day of its launch last week, its biggest singleday audience since joining the ratings body Barb last October That was double the first-day figure for the latest series of The Crown,

and the same number as w a t c h e d B B C O n e ’ s EastEnders on Thursday

I t h a s a l s o a t t r a c t e d huge criticism, with several Tory MPs expressing distaste at what they see as unfair attacks on the Royal Family Government minister Guy Opperman last week urged the public to “boycott” the series, brandi n g t h e c o u p l e “ u t t e r l y irrelevant to this country” Y e t , w h e n a s k e d f o r h i s v i e w o n S e e l y ’ s P r i v a t e Members Bill on his regular Call Keir LBC radio prog r a m m e t o d a y , S t a r m e r tried to sidestep the issue “Me wading in, politicians wading in doesn’t help It’s a f a m i l y I t ’ s t h e R o y a l Family, and I think politicians are a bit too quick to express views ”

B u t t h a t t o n e i s m a r k e d l y d i f f e r e n t f r o m one high-profile politician who waded into the controversy when it first surfaced back in March 2021 –Starmer himself

The situation has proven that there are no boundaries when it comes to health and well-being Political and geographical separations cannot divide humanity when there is an existential crisis Our fight for survival is common and shared Therefore, the ancient Indian concept of 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam' was proven powerful and universal Ultimately, people acknowledged and accepted that 'common good' is the ultimate good for mankind

It is expected that although COVID is not completely gone, we have learnt to live with it The virus seems to be milder and humanity much stronger Our collective will to survive, fight and handhold each other has won The two powerful weapons for this victory were kindness and empathy Incidents of self-sacrifice and selfless service filled thousands of pages of newspapers, and streamed for millions of hours on social media videos, giving inspiration and hope to everyone It was shown that those who suffered were not alone, but their pains were shared by others The willingness to part with own wealth and comfort, to be helpful to others, was evident from the amount of donations made during the Covid period At that m o m e n t , e v e r y o n e r e a l i s e d n o t h i n g w a s p e r m a n e n t , everything was transitory It provided a much-needed lesson of spirituality and value system to the society which had become too materialistic The lost concern for human welfare was restored and once again kindness won over selfishness Let's hope this will continue forever (Expressed opinions are personal)

King Charles and Camilla pay

a

visit to Harrow community kitchen

King Charles, who is a firm believer in o rganic agriculture and eco -friendly initiativ es, smiled and praised the w o rk at L o nd o n ’ s C o m m u n it y K i tc h e n i n C h ri s tc h u rc h A v en u e, Harrow

A c c o m p a n i e d w i t h C a m i l l a , t h e t w o t o u r e d a r o u n d t h e k i t c h e n o n Thursday, December 15

The kitchen has partnered with nearby Harrow School, which will make its school farm available to the wider community to help bring together the “diverse communities that make up London”

Other attendees include London Mayor Sadiq Khan a n d L o r d L i e u t e n a n t o f

G r e a t e r L o n d o n S i r Kenneth Olisa, who greeted the royals as they arrived, a l o n g s i d e c r o w d s o f l o c a l s c h o o l c h i l d r e n s i n g i n g Christmas carols and waving Union flags

L o n d o n ’ s C o m m u n i t y Kitchen founder Taz Khan and head of projects Suzy Jakeman gave a tour to the monarch, showing a farm with chickens, a herb garden and a kitchen where m i n c e p i e s w e r e b e i n g baked

Tory’s bid to deport migrants

crushed by MPs

A T or y b i d to d e p o r t mi grants e ven when j udges r ul e i t i s a g a i n s t th e i r h um a n r i g h t s h a s b e e n crus hed a t the f irst hurdle

Boris Johnson was said t o b e a m o n g M P s w h o backed a law to “proceed with removals” to Rwanda, “regardless” of any decision by an international court But in a rare move, MPs blocked it from going any further in the Commons after less than 15 minutes of debate - and Mr Johnson did not turn up to the vote They voted 188-69 to kill o f f t h e A s y l u m S e e k e r s ( R e m o v a l t o S a f e

Countries) Bill, moved by t h e M P J o n a t h a n G u l l i s a n d b a c k e d b y f o r m e r Home Secretary Priti Patel E x - m i n i s t e r s N a d i n e Dorries and Jacob ReesMogg had also been said to be in favour but did not t a k e p a r t i n t h e v o t e There are many reasons MPs can abstain in a vote, a n d t o d a y s s h o w d o w n came as a surprise to some The Tory government is still battling to send a sing l e a s y l u m s e e k e r t o R w a n d a a f t e r t h e E u r o p e a n C o u r t o f H u m a n R i g h t s r u l e d against a removal flight

Vadhwana

Starmer seems more comfortable talking about England’s football manager than criticising Royals

Sharon Jandu, Unity Enterprise Chair and Unity Housing Association Board Member

•

Light

• Yakult Light contains billions of Yakult’s unique bacteria which is scientifically proven to reach the gut alive

• Each bottle of Yakult Light is enriched with vitamins D & E

LIGHT UP YOUR WELLBEING THIS WINTER

Winter brings out the warmest cultural practices in South Asian households. Families eat more wholeheartedly, perhaps some extra dollops of food to not just satisfy their stomachs, but also their palettes. South Asian food and the traditional ingredients are designed to help us get through extreme weather.

While humans are designed to adapt to changes in temperature and environment, it is good to check in with our daily routines, especially nutrition, to ensure we are doing what we can to support our overall wellbeing and gut health too.

Gut health may not be the first thing that comes to mind for many of us, but it is thought to be a key factor in your overall wellbeing. It is important to understand that gut health is not confined to just digestion. The role of gut health in a larger perspective is paramount for the normal functioning of the human body. Little do people know that the gut and brain are in constant communication through what is called the gut-brain axis. That’s why the health of your gut can impact our overall wellbeing, such as mood and immune function and vice versa.

There is lots you can do to help keep your body healthy during the winter months. Yakult Light for instance not only contains

billions of Yakult’s unique bacteria, scientifically proven to reach the gut alive but it is also enriched with vitamin D, which supports your immune system and helps maintain normal bone and muscle function.

In the UK during the winter, we aren’t able to

produce enough vitamin D through exposure to sunlight alone. Luckily, we can can top this up with certain foods and supplements in our diet.

Mira Manek, Founder of @chaibymira, Author of Saffron Soul & Prajna, Integrated Health

Winter Wellbeing tips by Yakult

Wellbeing is not just about nutrition. Physical, mental, social and emotional wellbeing are all interconnected. Even the littlest things can have a big impact on your wellness – like how you get ready to face the day. So, making time to look after your wellbeing this winter is key. As well as your daily Yakult Light, why not try…

BETTER SLEEP BETTER

White Noise

White noise might help you sleep quicker and

Ditch your phone

Did you know? Electronic devices emit blue light that can suppress melatonin production – key for getting a good night sleep.

Short walks or a regular exercise routine can do wonders for your sleep! It can also help to reduce stress.

Caffeine

Avoiding caffeine for up to 6 hours before bed can help support quality sleep.

MIND BOOSTERS

Cultural activities Research shows that people who get involved in cultural activities such as visiting a museum or watching a play, are happier and more satisfied

within the community. Her mother used to give Yakult Light to her when she was a child before she left for school and believes that it played a role in her health during her early years. “Yes, and I remember that. It contains vitamin D which helps support immunity and it has also got lots of bacteria that are scientifically proven to reach the gut alive that’s why I have it. And it also tastes really good,” Mira said.

Nazia Khatun is an award-winning fitness specialist. Her resilience and determination to empower other females come from her own experience of struggling with an eating disorder which robbed her of happiness, self-worth and self-confidence. Having turned to fitness, Nazia incurred injuries that had a damaging psychological impact on her mental wellbeing.

Her discipline as a former boxer, equipped her to build an unshakeable mindset as she slowly recovered from her eating disorder. Defying stereotypes from an early age, Nazia also battled to find a place for herself as a female athlete within

with life. Doctors in Brussels have even started a 3-month trial to prescribe museum visits to relieve stress!

Read

Reading can help to reduce stress. Pick up that book!

Art attack

When the world was in lockdown, some people turned to art therapy for their emotional and mental wellbeing. Go for it!

Laugh

Laughing helps us to release negativity and introduce joy into our day.

Happy tunes

Pop on some happy music. Upbeat tunes don’t just sound good, they can make you feel good too.

Plan a holiday Research shows that planning and anticipating a trip is almost as enjoyable as actually going!

Meditation Spending a few minutes each day to clear your mind and reset helps us feel happier and more content for the rest of the day.

Refresh your senses

Take a walk in nature. Leave town and go to the sea or the countryside. Walking in green spaces is a simple way to boost both your physical and mental health for the day ahead.

the expectations of her Bangladeshi community.

Nazia’s mother used to add grated ginger to her tea during winter months to support her immune system. She now uses Yakult Light to support her wellbeing “Yakult Light has gut friendly bacteria, vitamins D & E and fewer calories than the original version, that’s why I like it,” Nazia said.

Bottoms up!

The good news is, Yakult is suitable for vegetarians, fatfree and gluten-free.

Yakult has been on a mission to inspire happiness and wellbeing in communities around the world for over 85 years. Yakult is available in two varieties: Yakult Original and Yakult Light. Each little bottle contains 20 billion of Yakult’s unique friendly bacteria, scientifically proven to reach the gut alive. Yakult Light is also enriched with vitamin D which supports your immune system, and vitamin E which helps protect your cells from oxidative stress.

Make Yakult Light a part of your winter wellbeing routine this winter.

Visit: www.yakult.co.uk

Practitioner Ayurveda, Breathwork and Happiness swears by Yakult Light. Mira Manek’s passion for healthy cooking combines her love of traditional Indian cuisine with her mother’s and grandmother’s recipes to create lighter and healthier dishes that are popular

Shefali Saxena

The Little Bottle of Sunshine

Yakult

is gluten-free, fat-free and suitable for vegetarians

Nazia with her daily dose of Yakult

Is it time to reintroduce death sentence

Sixties and seventies were the era of peace and goodwill with the slogan “Make Love Not War!” with John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Ringo Star and few more posed, paraded themselves in scanty clothes without a care in the world

It was the era which gave birth to movements like “Ban N

American base in England, with support from dedicated, intellectual and caring politicians mostly from Trade Union and Labour movement

The threats of nuclear holocausts were real, as both sides were armed to the teeth and any false movement may lead to WW3, Cuban crises was the prime example It was a nostalgic era when people cared more about peace, harmony, family and goodwill rather than fame and fortune at any cost which is the norm today

The burning question today is the safety of young girls and women in general So many bright young and highly educated women who have so much to contribute to their family and the nation, fall victims to sexual prowlers who assault and murder them in cold blood! The recent murder of a young, qualified lawyer is the prime example

Yes, most are caught and given life sentences, may die in prison but at what cost to tax payers! It takes some £100k per annum, per prisoner to keep them behind bars and on average will cost the nation some £30 million per prisoner who attracted life sentence Would this expense be justified when prison population is on the rise and many inmates enjoy life of luxury from their ill-gained loots stashed away for rainy days!

Abolition of death sentences were implemented during nostalgic era, a ruling from heart rather than from the head Many countries refused to join in and that include China, Russia, US and many more who routinely execute dangerous criminals for crimes against children, women, police officers and the public at large It would be kind rather than cruel to let these criminals go than keep them like animals in cages!

Bhupendra M G and hi

Christmas is a festival of joy

Christmas is time of the year when we welcome joy and good cheer into our homes, when we sing carols, wear our best clothes and celebrate with our near and dear ones 25 December, the day when Jesus Christ was born, is one of the biggest celebrations around the world Born to Joseph and Mary in a manger in the city of Bethlehem 2022 years ago, Christ the Saviour was visited by the three wise men of the east, the Magi, who came bearing precious gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh with them

What we must remember, though, is that Christmas is not merely a celebration which involves exchanging of gifts and partaking in lavish feasts; it is the infinite love of God and the many wonderful lessons that Jesus Christ taught us that we must reflect upon as we prepare for yet another glorious Christmas night The lessons of love, kindness and mercy that Christ Jesus had taught us remain just as relevant over 2022 years after his birth

Jubel D'Cru z, Mum bai, India

CMA probing price of Strep A antibiotics after rise in cases

The

Covid-19 pan demic lockdown s

On the other hand, pharmacists have complained that they are having to dispense penicillin and amoxicillin, the main antibiotic treatments, at a significant loss because the NHS reimbursement is not keeping up with rising wholesale prices

Government ministers have sought to reassure parents there was no shortage of the drugs, even though pharmacists have reported paying unusually high prices and difficulties in securing supplies of the antibiotics, some of which are being rationed by suppliers

The health department repeated those assurances saying: “We continue to work urgently with manufacturers and wholesalers to expedite deliveries, bring forward stock they have to help ensure it gets to where it’s needed and boost supply to meet demand as quickly as possible and support access to these vital medicines ”

Rajiv Shah, executive director of Sigma Pharmaceuticals, a Hertfordshire-based wholesaler that distributes antibiotics, said problems in the global supply chain were partly due to d r u g - m a k e r s b a s i n g m a n u f a c t u r i n g p l a n s o n t h e l o w e r demand of the past two winters when less social mixing meant unusually low levels of bacterial disease “Strep has come in and thrown a massive grenade into the whole supply chain,” he said, “We’ve sold more stock of antibiotics in a few days than in the whole of a normal December ”

Time to concentrate on aviation sector

The International Civil Aviation Day was recently celebrated on 7 December 2022 Well, it was quite interesting to note that most English newspapers in Asia were carrying a lot of special reports on the occasion that day Way to go indeed! In fact, a beautiful thought of air travel occurred to me after observing all those interesting reports out there

First up, the joy of travelling is something mysterious and interesting, and even beyond Of course, air travel has always been a step ahead because we are literally flying amid beautiful clouds, the Sun and Moon alike in the sky More to the point, it is to be noted that travels are not just about moving or taking the people/passengers between various places Rather, even transportation of goods/cargo actually involves a lot of travel instead

This means that travels in the form of consignment and transportation have been majorly contributing to rigorous economic activities across the board Way forward!

What next then? On the other hand, there have been some unfortunate blots on the aviation sector in the form of fatal air accidents worldwide This aside, there have been a lot more advancements in the modern aviation industry now - from high-end aeroplanes to well-equipped airports to efficient travel time

The other day I had an opportunity to travel by bus in my native district of Tuticorin after a hectic schedule And the joy and happiness I had out of it cannot be explained in words – just soothing my tired physical and mental faculties like anything

Above all else, transportation facilities in terms of trucks and lorries have been playing a huge part in the movement of numerous agricultural products like paddy, banana, betel and much more in my native areas like Korkai, Tiruchendur, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Marthandam and Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu

Likewise, the aviation sector has been front and centre in mass transportation of people and goods/cargo alike, thereby triggering rigorous economic activities across the world

All things considered, time has come for all the countries, authorities and airliners to make good use of innovation and technological advances available out there so as to be able to ensure crucial factors like passenger comfort and overall safety in the aviation sector globally

P Senthi l Saravana Durai M um bai, Indi a

Hunt to present budget on March 15

British f inance minister Jer em y Hu nt h as said h e woul d pr esent a budget on M ar ch 1 5 next year and had co mmissio ned th e Of fice for Budget Respo nsibility t o p repar e an eco nomic and f iscal f orecast to go alo ngside it

Last month Hunt announced a string of tax increases and tighter public spending in a budget plan he said was needed after the blow dealt to the country's fiscal reputation by former prime minister Liz Truss

"I have asked the Office for Budget Responsibility to prepare a forecast for 15 March 2023 to accompany a Spring Budget," Hunt said in a written statement to parliament recently

Horizon accounting scandal severely hurt several post masters

H u nd re ds o f su bpostmasters h ad their li ves, re p u ta ti o n s , c ar ee rs an d mental health ruined by th e H o ri z o n ac c o u n ti n g scandal and at least o ne to ok his o wn life

T h r e e y e a r s s i n c e 5 5 5 p o s t m a s t e r s e x p o s e d t h e technology failures in the High Court, 83 have had their convictions quashed and many are still waiting f o r f u l l a n d f a i r compensation

R e p r e s e n t i n g s o m e o f t h e p o s t m a s t e r s a t t h e o n g o i n g i n q u i r y i n t o t h e scandal, Edward Henry KC c r i t i c i s e d t h e “ c o n t i n u i n g and inexcusable delay”

In an attack on the Post Office and the Department f o r B u s i n e s s , E n e r g y a n d Industrial Strategy (BEIS), H e n r y l i k e n e d t h e “ u n j u s t i f i e d , i n i q u i t o u s

prolonging of suffering” of his clients, whose lives had been “destroyed by the legal system”, to “torture”

The inquiry, chaired by Sir Wyn Williams, was told recently about the impact of t h e s l o w , b u r e a u c r a t i c compensation schemes on victims

Sam Stein KC, acting for a g r o u p o f p o s t m a s t e r s , gave examples of families worried about eating and heating their homes One said: “Christmas dinner will be microwaved”; another’s daughter secretly glued her t o r n s c h o o l s h o e t o s a v e money; and a couple sold t h e i r p o s s e s s i o n s a n d moved into a caravan He said that one woman who was weak and tired from n o t e a t i n g h a d b e e n h o s p i t a l i s e d s i n c e a f a l l three weeks ago

16,000 appointments postponed during nurses’ strike

In England, nearly 1 6, 000 ap p o i n tme nt s, p ro c ed u re s and surgeries were rescheduled – 54,000 less th an th e Go ve rn me nt s u gg es t ed –wh en nu rs es s taged th ei r bigges t ever strik e in th e history of th e NH S

T h e f i g u r e s c a m e t o light after Health minister Maria Caulfield said around 7 0 , 0 0 0 a p p o i n t m e n t s would be lost due to the 12hour industrial action

However, according to p r o v i s i o n a l N H S d a t a reported by trusts where the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) strike took place on T h u r s d a y , 2 , 4 5 2 i n p a t i e n t and day case elective procedures and 13,327 outpatient a p p o i n t m e n t s w e r e r e s c h e d u l e d , c o m i n g t o

15,779 in total

According to figures on the NHS England website, across England, 9,999 staff were absent from work due to the strike

R i s h i S u n a k i s i n n o mood to bow to the press u r e f r o m h e a l t h l e a d e r s a n d s o m e s e n i o r Conservatives to negotiate pay with nurses to prevent further action

The Prime Minister said o n F r i d a y t h a t t h e o f f e r given to nurses is “appropriate and fair” as they warned strikes will escalate without a better pay deal

N u r s e s i n E n g l a n d , Wales and Northern Ireland w a l k e d o u t a g a i n o n Tuesday without a breakthrough

Defending Rwanda asylum plan proves costly

The gove rnme nt ’ s leg al bill for de fendi ng i ts contr ov e r s i a l R wa n d a a sy l u m pla n i s runni ng a t mo re than £865,000 a s the Hi gh Co ur t p r e pa r e s to d e l i v e r its judge ment

T h e f i g u r e c a n b e revealed after the prime minister unveiled a package of measures aimed at tackling small boat crossi n g s a c r o s s t h e E n g l i s h Channel The true cost is likely to be higher as the fees, which reflect more t h a n 1 0 0 c h a l l e n g e s b y g r o u p s a n d i n d i v i d u a l s , c o v e r t h e p e r i o d u p t o O c t o b e r 2 2 R i s h i S u n a k y e s t e r d a y r e a ffirmed his support for the s c h e m e t o d e p o r t s o m e

people arriving in the UK b y ‘ i r r e g u l a r ’ r o u t e s o n one-way, 4,500-mile trips to the east African country

A s h e o u t l i n e d m e asures to reduce small boat crossings and the number of arrivals from Albania, he s a i d ‘ w e w i l l r e s t a r t t h e first flights’ once the legal proceedings have conclude d H i s c o m m e n t s w e r e followed by a new tragedy i n t h e E n g l i s h Channel, with four peop l e d e a d a n d 4 3 rescued during a crossing in the early hours today A major search and rescue o p e r a t i o n i n v o l v i n g t h e C o a s t g u a r d , R o y a l N a v y and RNLI is underway

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

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

Com petit ion an d Ma rke ts Aut hority , the competit ion wat chdog is pr obin g whet her drugma ke rs ar e char ging e xcessiv e pr ice s for an tibiot ics, after an une xpe ct ed rise in cases of Group A Str eptococcus pushed up dema nd CMA said people had “ r ea l concer ns ” about the cost of a ntibiotics used to tr ea t Stre p A, a common bacte rial in fe ct ion It is a ffectin g ma inly schoolchildre n, who a ccord in g to doct or s must have fa iled to build up an imm un ity d ue to social isolation during

High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami presented credentials to His Majesty the King at Buckingham Palace, after which he hosted a Vin d’honneur

Launch of inaugural India Week across the UK in May 2023

As the UK and India reac h the closing s ta ges of agreeing a bilateral Free Tra de Agre ement, globa l advis ory firm EP G is h osting its annual get-together of c hange-ma kers, policy and busine ss le aders for high -le vel dis cuss ions on pertinent topics , c alled “ Ind ia We ek”

EPG’s India Week seeks to celebrate these trends, through several special events on 7-12 May 2023 in Leicestershire, Oxford and London

It starts with an exclusive CEOs’ Golf Weekend at Rutland Hall in Leicestershire, moving to the University of Oxford for an education leaders’ conference and Awards on 9 May to be attended by more than 40 leading educational institutions from India, in partnership with WBR Thereafter will be the flagship Ideas for India conference in London on 11-12 May, including dinner at the Houses of Parliament and a special dinner to celebrate UK-India ties

This conference will be in partnership with leading think tank Bridge India

At the last Ideas for India conference, Lord Ta riq Ahm ad, Minister of State at the FCDO, said the event “provides an excellent opportunity to celebrate the deep friendship between our two countries, and also look to the future It is this trusted partnership that extends to trade as well ”

Pratik Dattani, Ma naging Direc tor of EPG, said: “India’s economic growth rate is the highest amongst major economies today, as China struggles with

a bloated infrastructure sector, local government bad debts, a zeroCovid policy and an ageing population India’s inflation rate is lower than that of the UK, US and other major economies As the Western world diversifies its supply chains and geopolitical dependencies away from China, India stands to benefit ”

“This week-long celebration represents a window into India truly going global We expect more than 100 participants from India, as well as more than 600 attendees throughout the week ”

Kailash Manor Care Home

Brand new care home opens its doors to the first resident

K a i l a s h M a n o r C a r e Home, located in Pi nn er, North Lond on an d part of t he a wa r d- w i n n in g T LC C a r e G r o up o p e n e d i t s doors to i ts f irst resi den t on Mon day 5th Dece mb er

The home specialises i n r e s i d e n t i a l , n u r s i n g , dementia, and respite care a n d h a s 7 8 l u x u r i o u s ensuite rooms Residents can enjoy an array of facilities including, a temple, hair salon, bistro bar, spa, gym, library, cinema and cosy lounges

Prabhudas Samani had t h e h o n o u r o f b e i n g t h e f i r s t r e s i d e n t o f K a i l a s h M a n o r C a r e H o m e , a n d h e w a s g r e e t e d , a l o n g with his family, with a VIP welcome and provided with the d e s e r v e d h o nour of cutting the ribbon to declare the home open to residents

S a n d y S a m a n i , t h e d a u g h t e r o f P r a b h u d a s said “The red carpet and ribbon cutting was truly an amazing experience for

dad, he said he’s never been honoured like this H e w a s t r u l y chuffed Thanks t o t h e H o m e Manager, Rohan and his wonderful professional team who were always happy to help Kailash manor is luxurious and very comfortable and visiting dad after s p e n d i n g o n e d a y t h e r e said he is very happy No apprehension at all

On arrival, Prabhudas,

S a n d y a n d o t h e r f a m i l y members were given the o p p o r t u n i t y t o v i s i t t h e m a g n i f i c e n t t e m p l e a n d take part in the daily Arti ( p r a y e r ) a n d h a d t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o h a v e a blessing from our priest

with a special ceremony known as a Pooja ceremony S a n d y c o m m e n t e d “ T h e w e l c o m i n g P u j a r i s D i p a k b h a i a n d A s h i s h b h a i w h o h o noured him with the P o o j a c e r e m o n y s h o w s t h a t t h e h o m e h a s embraced the culture, the spirituality and the religion Rohan Mathew, Home Manager at Kailash Manor said “It was wonderful t o w e l c o m e Prabhudas and his family i n t o o u r h o m e T h i s moment has been on our team's minds for a long t i m e a s w e c a n f i n a l l y showcase our outstanding care across our stunning home!”

If you would like to find out more about Kailash Manor Care Home, please contact Raj Kerai, Business Development Manager Call 020 4538 7333 or email bdm@kailashmanor co uk

Lord Tariq Ahmad Pratik Dattani

Jharkhand seeks World Heritage tag for village with 108 temples

Maluti (or Malooti) is a tiny village near Shikaripara town of Dumka district of Jharkhand With a population of nearly 2,500 to 3,000, this unique village consisting of as many as 108 magnificent ancient temples with both the state and Central governments making sincere efforts to declare it a UNESCO World Heritage Site Spread over an area of 406 hectares, this village has numerous historical, religious and marvellous architectural ancient heritage structures that one is bound to leave one spellbound with ancient temple structures. The tableau of this village of 108 temples and beautiful ponds was presented during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi in 2015 when the t h e n U S P r e s i d e n t B a r r a c k O b a m a , w h o w a s t h e c h i e f g u e s t , w a s a l s o impressed.

vultures

has shown personal interest in bringing Maluti on the map as a historical and

work worth £1.37 million began to preserve these heritage sites with the help

Nearly 250 to 300 years ago, of the 108 temples built in Maluti, only 72 are left The number of ponds

to 65. Due to lack of maintenance, many priceless heritage structures have been destroyed. (Agency)

15-year-old flings her newborn to death

the key inside (Agency)

Perils of auto correct

Girl's vlog traumatises internet

Ahmedabad city has ceased to be a home for vultures, according to the recently concluded vulture census The nesting sites of the avian scavengers in areas like Indian Institute of Management (IIMA), Cantonment, LD College of Engineering, Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association (ATIRA) and Gujarat College have vanished These spaces, open and green once upon a time, were preferred by the saprophages for roosting Loss of habitat and extensive use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like diclofenac, used to treat domestic cattle, are the main reasons for the disappearance of vultures from the city, said experts About 15 years ago, Ahmedabad district had 254 vultures including white-rumped, Indian and Egyptian species But the recent census reveals that only 21 resident vultures and three cinereous vultures (migratory species) are left in the district and that too near a panjrapol in Viramgam (The Times of India)

Son kills, chops dad’s body

A 15-year-old minor was booked by the police after she allegedly killed her own infant child soon after giving birth to hide her pregnancy The police also booked her 18-year-old boyfriend Pravin Bhabhor for allegedly raping the minor and impregnating her The police are questioning the minor girl and Bhabhor, a casual labourer, and will arrest them after a preliminary investigation Cops will also get their medical examination done The crime came to light when locals in Magdalla found the fetus near an apartment While checking CCTV footage it was seen that the newborn was thrown from the upper floor of the apartment During questioning, the police found the minor’s behaviour suspicious and confessed during interrogation “The girl’s mother told the police that she was not aware about her daughter’s pregnancy The minor had complained of abdominal pain two days ago, ” said a police officer Doctors told the police that they cannot confirm the age of the fetus which weighed 1 25kg (The Times of India)

Boy takes ambulance for spin

Auto correct tool is a necessary evil on our smartphones and other devices in today's age The auto correct tool can be a lifesaver in many cases and an absolute bummer in others One such auto correct fail was spotted by author and columnist Nandita Iyer According to Nandita’s tweet, the restaurant misspelled the popular dish Paneer Lababdar as Paneer Labrador Netizens shared their witty take Digital business advisor Ashok Lalla shared his take and wrote, “As long as it’s only paneer, no need to call the canine cops!” A user shared Nandita’s tweet and wrote, “I’ll take it Eat a bit Squish a bit ” another user wrote, “To be fair, Labrador is a place The dog's breed name is Labrador Retriever So Paneer Labrador could very well be a dish!” Nandita replied to this and wrote, “Haha valid reasoning, but this is paneer lababdar that possibly got auto corrected to labrador ” A user shared another similar gaffe at another restaurant and wrote, “Another one ” This time it was Rabdi Malpua misspelled as Rabid Malpua (Agency)

Berlin aquarium that housed 1,500 fish bursts

A video of a girl's vlog about what she ate on the day of her father's 'shraadh' has gone viral online The clip was originally shared by Rowhi Rai on YouTube and has made its way all over social media People were traumatised after watching the clip In the now-viral video, Rowhi can be seen telling her followers what she eats in a day However, it was the day of her father s shraadh , which is a Hindu ritual that one performs to pay homage to one's ancestors She claimed that her family performs the ritual every year Rowhi also informed that she can only have one meal with salt and oil on the day, but can eat something sweet as well Rowhi then proceeded to show an oatmeal loaded with dry fruits that she had ordered for breakfast Later in the video, she described what she ate for lunch, which was "methi paranthas with aloo ki subzi " In the end, she also ordered pink lemonade "I'm traumatised," the user named S captioned the post (Agency)

‘Fresher’ turns out to be cop, cracks ragging case

In a case similar to Shraddha Walkar’s grisly murder by partner Aftab Poonawalla, a youth allegedly killed his father on their farm in Karnataka and tried pushing the body down a defunct eight-inch-wide borewell and, when he couldn’t, chopped it into 10-15 pieces before stuffing the remains down the pipe Vitthal Kulali, 21, was arrested almost a week after the December 6 atrocity and has admitted to killing father Parashuram Kulali, 54, with a rod before taking another person ’ s help to dismember the body so that it could be yanked down the borewell on their field in Bagalkot district’s Mudhol, police said The case came to light after a police probe on a missing person complaint by wife Saraswathi (Agency)

A 15-year-old patient at Thrissur General Hospital drove away an ambulance parked in the compound of the hospital last week The boy had slipped out of the hospital and driven the vehicle, which was part of the 108 Ambulance Service, for about 8 km without being noticed When the ambulance stalled near the railway crossing at Ollur, onlookers tried to help the “driver” by pushing the vehicle to help him re-start it But they grew suspicious on seeing the boy and alerted the police By the time the police reached there, the driver of the ambulance and his friends arrived as they had been tracking the vehicle using GPS The boy was then taken to the police station and later sent back to hospital with his parents He was later shifted to the medical college hospital District medical officer Dr Sreedevi said she has sought a report from Kerala Medical Services Corporation, which had entrusted with the Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) Green Health Services to runs the 108 ambulance service According to sources, the original driver had gone to the toilet after parking the vehicle but had left

A huge aquarium in the center of Berlin burst, causing a wave of devastation in and around the Sea Life tourist attraction, German police said Glass and other debris were swept out of the building, which also contains a hotel and cafes, as 1 million liters of water poured out of the 25-meter (82-foot) -high aquarium Police spokesman Martin Stralau said at least one person was lightly injured Operators say the aquarium has the biggest cylindrical tank in the world and contained 1,500 tropical fish of 80 different species before the incident The aquarium, which was last modernized in 2020, is a major tourist magnet in Berlin The AquaDom consists of a single seamless column, 14 meters high, filled with nearly a million litres of water and several hundreds of different fish species Visitors will be able to take a lift up the centre of the column and explore the world of the coral reefs and its inhabitants There was speculation that freezing temperatures had contributed to the leak, but authorities said the cause of the incident was still being investigated (Agency)

For over three months, the booklugging girl with the quick smile was a fixture at the MGM Medical College canteen in Indore Cheerful and sprightly, she easily made friends - from the canteen boys to the students hanging around over chai and chit-chat No one took her for anything else but a young medical student or a nurse No one had a clue the friendly fresher was a policewoman cutting her teeth in her first major mission The undercover cop, 24-year-old Shalini Chouhan, gathered enough information to crack a blind case that had thwarted investigators for over five months She helped identify 11 seniors who were accused of the brutal ragging of a group of first year MBBS students in July this year Dressed in jeans and a top, she slipped into the role of a nurse “Our officer in-charge Tehzib Qazi and SI Satyajeet Chouhan, who was leading the investigation, had pointed out the students I was supposed to keep a watch on I used to spend five-six hours at the canteen every day and talking to all kinds of people there Slowly, we could single out the seniors who were ragging freshers,” Shalini said No one realised that she had nothing to do with medicine “No one ever took me for anyone else,” she laughed (Agency)

Ahmedabad city loses all its

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

religious heritage site after which construction

of Central government

have also reduced

Indian fugitive Nirav Modi loses extradition appeal

In a big win for Indian ag encies, Nirav M odi, th e fug it i v e d ia m o nd m er ch a nt w an ted i n I nd i a to s tand t ri al o n b an k f rau d s a nd m oney laundering charg es, o n T hursd ay suffered a setb ac k i n h i s l eg a l b att le against his extradition as the Hig h Cou rt here denied him p ermission to appeal against t h e m o v e i n t h e U K S upreme Cou rt In a judgm ent order pronou nced at the Royal C ourts of Justice i n L o n d o n, L o rd J u st ic e J e rem y S tu art - S m i th a nd Ju stice Robert Jay ruled th at “ t h e A p p e ll ant ’ s ( N ir av M odi) ap plication fo r p erm is s i o n to ap p ea l t o th e S upreme Cou rt is refused” I n a r u l i n g d e l i v e r e d

speedily within just over a w e e k o f t h e U K ’ s C r o w n P r o s e c u t i o n S e r v i c e ( C P S ) submitting its response to t h e 5 1 - y e a r - o l d d i a m a ntaire’s permission to appeal application on behalf of the I n d i a n g o v e r n m e n t , t h e judges also ruled that the “certification of a point of law be refused” that would h a v e a l l o w e d h i s p l e a t o progress to the higher court An appeal on the grounds of a point of law of general public importance is a high

threshold that is not met very often and this refusal s i g n i f i c a n t l y l i m i t s M o d i ’ s remaining legal options in the UK against extradition to India

The latest High Court order also directs Modi to pay the legal costs related to t h e l a t e s t a p p l i c a t i o n , assessed in the sum of GBP 1 5 0 , 2 4 7 0 0 L a s t m o n t h ,

Modi lost an appeal on mental health grounds when the same two-judge High Court bench ruled that his risk of suicide is not such that it would be either unjust or oppressive to extradite him to India to face charges in the estimated USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan scam case

Mother of two killed in Kettering

T he fath er o f a nu rse who was killed alongside h er two ch ildren said h e had grown co ncerned abou t her since sh e moved to th e UK from h er native India

Anju Asok, 35, was found seriously injured in a flat in K e t t e r i n g i n Northamptonshire, next to the bodies of her son Jeeva Saju, six, and four-year-old d a u g h t e r J a n v i S a j u M s Asok died at the scene and t h e t w o c h i l d r e n d i e d a short time later at hospital H e r f a t h e r , A s h o k a n Arackal, spoke to reporters near his home in the Indian state of Kerala

H e s a i d h e h a d b e e n concerned about his daughter and how she was coping in the UK He said: "I never saw a smile on her face after she went to the UK She had a gloomy face despite less work pressure of only eight h o u r s a n d a s e c u r e d a n d good working condition "

I t i s u n d e r s t o o d M s A s o k a n d h e r c h i l d r e n a r r i v e d i n K e t t e r i n g i n O c t o b e r 2 0 2 1 , a n d h e r f a t h e r s a i d s h e h a d b e e n sending money back home to her extended family He said: "She used to send me

some money every month to support me but she called last week to say that sorry she was not able to send Manwhile, Northam-ptons h i r e P o l i c e c h a r g e d 5 2y e a r - o l d S a j u C h e l a v a l e l with three counts of murder “ D e t e c t i v e s h a v e charged Saju Chelavalel, 52, with three counts of murd e r , ” N o r t h a m p t o n p o l i c e s a i d “ M r C h e l a v a l e l , o f Petherton Court, Kettering, was arrested by officers who were called to his address at 1 1 1 5 a m o n T h u r s d a y , 1 5 December

“ O n a t t e n d a n c e , o f f icers found Anju Asok, 35, Jeeva Saju, six, and Janvi S a j u , f o u r , w i t h s e r i o u s i n j u r i e s a n d d e s p i t e t h e best efforts of paramedics, police officers and hospital staff all three sadly died a short time later

“ F o r e n s i c p o s t m o r t e m e x a m i n a t i o n s h a v e t a k e n p l a c e a t L e i c e s t e r R o y a l I n f i r m a r y , w h e r e i t w a s concluded all three died as a result of asphyxiation ”

Tributes were paid to Asok, who was a “loved and respected” nurse

Deborah Needham, the

East London GP sexually assaulted patients 25 times

An e a s t L on d on G P w ho abus ed pos ition as a “trusted” doc tor to perform invas iv e ex a m s o n f em a l e patients for his own s exual gra tif ic ation has been f ound guilty

M a n i s h S h a h , 5 3 , f r o m his GP surgery in Romford launched 25 sexual assaults on four women

T h e O l d B a i l e y h e a r d that between 2009 and July 2013, Shah convinced women to undergo invasive examinations despite there being no medical need for them

Shah would also break the protocol of not letting offer chaperones join the victims during their appointments, leaving them alone with him so he could carry out the assaults

Shah was convicted of 25 counts of sexual assault at the Old Bailey

DCITariq Farooqi, said: “I would like to thank those who attended court to give evidence against Shah I hope that this verdict goes some way to reassuring the public that we treat all complaints s e r i o u s l y a n d i n v e s t i g a t e them thoroughly no matter who they are against

“This conviction against a n i n d i v i d u a l w h o i s s u pposed to be a trusted pillar of the community, should not undermine the great work carried out by our medical professionals day in and day out ”

Shah will appear for sentencing at the same court on January 9 next year

chief executive of Kettering general hospital where she worked, said: “Anju Asok w a s a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y trained nurse who joined our KGH family in 2021 and predominantly worked on Barnwell B – one of our orthopaedic wards

“She was a committed a n d c o m p a s s i o n a t e s t a f f nurse, who was loved and r e s p e c t e d b y h e r d e a r friends and colleagues

“ A l l o u r t h o u g h t s a r e with her friends and family as they come to terms with this sudden loss ”

UK announces visa in 15 days for Indian travelers

T h e U n it e d K in g d om ha s a n n o un c e d t h a t t h e v i si t visas for India ns t rav elling to t he countr y will now be a lloc a t e d w it h i n 15 w o r k i n g d a y s R e f e r r i n g t o t h i s, British Hig h Commission er t o In dia A lex Ellis, in a video me ssa ge a dde d, “G ood ne ws f or t h o se t r a v e ll in g fr om Ind ia to UK – visit visas now within st and ard time of 15 wor king d ays (wit h a small n um ber of t rickier cases t aking long er) ”

However, he added that there are still a few cases which take longer, very com-

plex ones, and that’s right that they do, further stating that this enables new people to move to India and the United Kingdom with much greater ease A UK Standard Visitor visa is applicable in c a s e o f v i s i t i n g f a m i l y o r f r i e n d s , v a c a t i o n , b u s i n e s s trip, or a short course of study Then there is also this priority visa option, which now has a turnaround time of five days, the UK said, also adding that they have a big intake of student visas for t h e s e s s i o n s t a r t i n g i n J a n u a r y 2 0 2 3 T h e H i g h

C o m m i s s i o n e r a l s o a d d e d that two months ago, it was their aim to get back to proc e s s i n g I n d i a t o G r e a t B r i t a i n v i s a a p p l i c a t i o n s within their standard time of 15 days by the end of this year, which they have now achieved

And over the past few weeks, both countries have t a k e n s t e p s t o e a s e v i s a i s s u e s f o r a p p l i c a n t s o n e i t h e r s i d e E l l i s c a l l e d i t ‘ g o o d n e w s f o r t h e l i v i n g bridge’, as people can move between India and the UK with much greater ease

Dad jailed for attacking son-in-law in Birmingham

A d ad has been jailed for attacking his sonin-law with a meat c le av e r a t th ei r B ir m in g h am h o m e B h aj an S i ng h h a s now been j ailed for the horror incid ent, w h i c h m ay h a v e been the result of a " f es te ri ng f eu d " abou t a trip to India

B i r m i n g h a m Crown Court heard the victim, aged in his 30s, had been living with his wife and two kids at Singh's family h o m e i n C o r n w a l l R o a d , Handsworth, for two years

He also worked at the same factory as his father-in-law and there had not been any p r o b l e m s b e t w e e n t h e m But that all changed on April 14 this year Alex Warren,

p r o s e c u t i n g , s a i d S i n g h h a d b e e n d r i n k i n g w h i s k y a t home after returning from work His soni n - l a w a r r i v e d j u s t before 8pm with his wife after a shopping trip

T h e v i c t i m h a d b e e n i n t h e l i v i n g room when he felt a blow to the back of h i s n e c k H e i n i t i a l l y thought the defendant had s l a p p e d h i m b u t t h e n realised he had been cut and shouted to his wife: "He is attacking me "

People Over 60 are at a Much Greater Risk of Cancer

Cancer is a dreaded disease However, it is also one of the least understood diseases, and people have ma n y mi s c o n c ep ti o n s a r oun d i t T he r e a r e a number of things ab out cancer the general population is not aware about

We sp eak to Dr Bh av esh Parekh, Head of Shalby Cancer & Research Institute (SC RI) Ahm ed abad about th is Dr Parekh has an exp erience o f over 25 years as a cancer specialist and h e has treated a larg e num ber of patients successfully th roug h his career

Q Does cancer have any relationship with ag e?

A Yes, age is the biggest risk factor for cancer About 7 in 10 cancers occur in people over 60 years Today’s world is a world of geriatric population, and old people are more likely to have cancer than young people More common cancers in old population is prostate cancer in males and breast cancer in females Thus, it is advisable that people over 60 should get screened for cancer regularly This makes early detection possible

Q Wh at are th e other risk factors for cancer?

A Other risk factors for cancer are lifestyle factors and h e r e d i t a r y f a c t o r s S m o k i n g , c o n s u m i n g t o b a c c o , consuming alcohol, and obesity are some of the major lifestyle factors However, I must also add that it is not true that people who do not consume tobacco in any form or alcohol or are not obese can not have cancer Certain cancers can be hereditary For eg breast cancer If a w o m a n ’ s m o t h e r o r g r a n d m o t h e r o r a n y f i r s t d e g r e e relative has had breast cancer she is at a much greater risk to have breast cancer It is thus advisable that such women should get screened for breast cancer every year after the age of 45 Let me tell you, early detection has a very crucial role to play in successful treatment of cancer

Q Many people think all cancers need surg ery How true is that?

A No it is not true at all For eg if someone has a cancer of voice box it is not true that his voice box will need to be r e m o v e d c o m p l e t e l y W i t h t h e h e l p o f c h e m o a n d radiotherapy together we are able to preserve organ whilst making the patient cancer-free In many cases all three therapies, chemo, radiation and minimally invasive surgery are used to preserve organ For eg young women might be afraid that the whole breast would need to be removed But

this is not true We preserve the organ and are curing the cancer Plastic surgeon is also part of the cancer surgery in many cases Along with that head and neck cancer surgeon prevents disfigurement of face

Q P eo p l e w h o h av e b ee n ad v i s ed t o g o u n d er chem oth erapy are v ery afraid as they have heard there are v ery bad si d e effec ts o f c hem o th erapy P leas e tell u s something abo ut this

A Now chemotherapy that uses drug as targeted therapy, immunotherapy and hormonal therapy has no or minimal side effects like hair loss and nausea Also, this gives better results than chemotherapy

Q Please tell us abou t a challenging case you have treated at Sh alby

A There are a number of challenging cases we have treated successfully at Shalby A stage 4 breast cancer patient from Kenya was treated without any dose of chemotherapy She was cured with just tablets using targeted therapy One Indian patient in stage 4 breast cancer was cured without chemotherapy as well as without any surgery Both are living cancer-free life today I must also m entio n that th ere is a hug e difference in th e cancer treatm ent cost in countries like US A and UK compared to Ind ia In many cases the cost of treatment in India is as little as 5% than in these cou ntries

Dr Bhavesh Parekh, Head, Shalby Cancer & Research Institute Ahmedabad with a Stage 4 Breast Cancer Winner

a t e r go od of human ity , se rvin g as a globa l ambassador of lov e, pea ce an d ha rmon y This eve nt paid tr ibute to his count le ss cont ribut ions to t he U K d ur in g hi s 1 9 v isi ts t o t he co un t r y betwe en 1970 and 20 07, an d the le gacy of his va lues a nd culture tha t he be quea the d The progra mme wa s att en ded by a dive rse g r oup of d is ti n gu ish e d g ue st s i n clud in g Mem ber s of Par liame nt , Lords, loca l gover nme nt officia ls, cha rity pa rtn ers and faith re pre se nta tive s, who le arn ed mor e about P r a m u k h S w a m i M a h a r a j ’ s p r o fo u n d impact on the UK thr ough n umerous perso n a l t e st i m on i e s, i n cl ud i n g fr o m Lo r d Jite sh G adhia – who was the host of t he ev ent

I n a s p e c i a l v i d e o m e s s a g e , P r i m e Minister Rishi Sunak said, “Namaste, Jay Swaminarayan Pramukh Swami Maharaj lives in the maxim- in the joy of others lies our own In the UK he was the inspiration behind the magnificent Neasden Temple, familiar sight known for its help to the community and its beauty That dedication to

came in contact with such a great noble soul ”

BAPS UK Trustee, Dr Mayank Shah presented a brief intro on Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s life, teachings and works He said, “During his lifetime His Holiness visited 17,000 villages, not in the comfort of a car but on the back of a truck or in a rickshaw

Why it is important to preserve South Asian history and heritage in museums

Shefali Saxena

M anchester Museum w ill be t h e fi rs t- e v er m u s eu m to h a v e a p er m an ent S o u th A sia gallery in the UK, as a p art of a landmark partners h i p w i th th e Br i ti sh M useu m

T h e g a l l e r y w i l l b r i n g forth diverse histories and e x p e r i e n c e s o f t h e S o u t h A s i a n d i a s p o r a l i v i n g i n Manchester and will generate new ideas, events, perf o r m a n c e s , l e a r n i n g a n d public programmes in the museum Curated by Nusrat Ahmed, and co-curated with T h e S o u t h A s i a G a l l e r y C o l l e c t i v e , a g r o u p o f 3 0 inspiring individuals including community leaders, educ a t o r s , a r t i s t s , h i s t o r i a n s , j o u r n a l i s t s a n d m u s i c i a n s , the gallery will be a celebration of the contributions of the South Asian community in the UK The new South Asia Gallery will be the UK's first permanent space dedicated to the lived experience of the South Asian community

Speaking to Asian Voice, The Singh Twins explained

why it is important to pres e r v e S o u t h A s i a n h i s t o r y a n d h e r i t a g e i n m u s e u m s l i k e t h e M a n c h e s t e r Museum

The Singh Twins said, “ M u s e u m s h a v e a c r u c i a l role to play in helping us make sense of what is happening around us, broadeni n g o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f who we are in relation to one another If you look at some of the objects in museums, a teapot is not just a teapot – it comes with a whole history that not only c o n n e c t s u s t o d i f f e r e n t people and places of the past, but helps shed light on important, current debates

a r o u n d c o l o n i a l i s m , r a c e and ethical consumerism, for example That’s what really interests us as artists, these hidden connections and shared identities and histories that have modern relevance There is extraordinary convening power in bringing lived experience, o b j e c t s , a r t a n d p e r f o rmance together, which is w h a t t h e S o u t h A s i a G a l l e r y a t M a n c h e s t e r Museum strives for South A s i a h a s a r i c h h i s t o r y , w h i c h c a n t e a c h u s s o much, and it’s time museums brought this to life in ways that reflect multiple perspectives ”

He gifted the world over 11,00 temples, and Neasden Mandir is one of them These temples became the hallmark to preserve the culture, perform social services, and create model citizens for our society He was dedicated to interfaith harmony and always use to say that the true progress of any religion is not in growth in numbers It is in the quality of life, purity and spiritual awakening This year is very special as we are celeb r a t i n g h i s b i r t h c e n t u r y throughout the world In the UK and Europe, we hosted 17 inspired living programs The emphasis is on upholding the values, strengthening harmony and preserving culture ”

The London Bengali Film Festival (LBFF) is now open for submissions!

L BFF i s an an nual cele brati on of films from or about the Bengali Di aspora from Ban glades h an d the I ndi an state of Wes t

Seva is found in all of the Mandirs which were inspired by Pramukh Swami Maharaj During the pandemic, BAPS helped not only the Hindu community but thousands who needed that support during that difficult time Over the past 50 years, these efforts have not gone unrecognised Roads given the name of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, our iconic Wembley Stadium arch has been lit up to pay tribute to his service and support to our country ”

L o r d J i t e s h G a d h i a i n h i s w e l c o m e address said, “Pramukh Swami Maharaj was one of the great leaders of our time This is the location that Pramukh Swami himself visited in 1988 For me, he was the powerful combination of humility, humanity and vision His thoughts, words and action were in complete harmony Pramukh Swami’s pioneering work has left a strong legacy throughout this country not only in the form of the iconic Neasden temple but also in the growing activities in the UK New mandirs recently opened in Manchester and Birmingham and the first Hindu mandir in Abu Dhabi marked a strong presence on the G l o b a l s t a g e I n 1 9 8 4 P r a m u k h S w a m i Maharaj met Pope John Paul II He was among the first Hindu leader to engage with the head of the roman catholic church in the advanced interfaith dialogue In the y e a r 2 0 0 0 P r a m u k h S w a m i a d d r e s s e d U n i t e d N a t i o n s ’ p e a c e s u m m i t H e e x p l a i n e d t h e o p e n i n c l u s i v e n a t u r e o f Hindu philosophy He spoke about environm e n t a l a w a r e n e s s i n b i o d i v e r s i t y w e l l before time We are all truly blessed that we

High Commissioner of India to the UK Vikram Doraiswami said, “The desire of doing meaningful work and serving everyone is in the DNA of the BAPS organisation Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s message to l o v e h u m a n i t y , f o r o u r f e l l o w h u m a n beings is the central part of that theme The essence of service is reflected in the BAPS on daily basis activities Vaishnav Jan means a person who understands the pain of others, is beloved of God If you don’t understand the pain and suffering of others, the happiness of others and if your action is not consequent to making the world a better place through the happiness of others then you have not acted If life is indeed a short journey, then it is worth a while to make it a better one for all who travel with us ”

A special tribute was offered by Miss Mei Sim Lai OBE and British Airways

Acharya, Lord Rami Ranger, Lord Dolar Popat, Barry Gardiner MP, Krupesh Hirani AM, Cllr Ramji Chauhan, Dr Bharat bhai

Bengal The fourday festival will be held in London with special guests and talks, followed by a red carpet reception on the closing day, thus making it the largest Bengali film event in the world, outside of Bengal

In previous years, we have screened the Bangladeshi New Wave film Rickshaw Girl; the independent debut film #Homecoming from India; and Double Feluda – a detective film based on the Bengali sleuth Feluda, created by the acclaimed and renowned Oscar-winning director Satyajit Ray

Although the festival is geared towards sharing stories from Bengal and the Bengali Diaspora, there are two awards that are noteworthy

1 Audience AwardVoted by the audience

2 The Spirit of Bengal Award - Decided by the LBFF team

nights), food and transfers

Welcome address was was presented by Karishma Palak, Vidhi and Tulsi performed the shanti path Mayukhjit Chakraborty presented Vaishnav Jan bhajan on flute

A vote of thanks was given by Rena Amin

Additionally, at our discretion we will invite two film personalities (actor, producer, and director) from Bangladesh and India; and cover their flights, accommodation (4

Expected to take place around the 14th of April 2023, to coincide with the Bangla New Year, the audience will be Bengali and non-Bengali, looking for alternative artistic cinema, telling unique and untold stories or stories re-told from another point of view Our goal is to get these films to the mainstream audience and onto the international platform, while also bringing the rich art historical and modern culture of Bengal and Bengali experiences to the big screen

An international team made up of individuals, organisations and film personalities will be on board to facilitate and

support the festival, from the UK to India, Bangladesh and beyond Judges will include Filmmakers, critics (media), distributors and a leading university as our education partner At LBFF we welcome films that are commercial and non-commercial, independent and artistic It's easy to submit Simply log onto www lbff co uk and films do not have to be Bengali language, but must have English subtitles They must also fit to at least one of the following:

1 Writer or Director or Producer must be Bengali or have a Bengali heritage (any nationality) OR 2 The main character must be Bengali OR

3 The story must be set or be about Bengal or an issue affecting the Bengali Diaspora Munsur Ali, the founder of the London Bengali Film Festival (LBFF) is a British Bangladeshi film maker and also the CEO of the Limelight Film Awards (running for 9 years), who has been working in film and media for the last 10 years

The Singh Twins; Photo credit: Photographer Christopher Doyle

The Palace of Westminster marks the centennial anniversary of

Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj with a special tribute

High Commissioner Doraiswami, Lord Gadhia, Dr Mayank Shah, Miss Mei Sim Lai OBE, Lord Ranger, Vinod Thakrar, Navin bhai Shah

Lord Popat, Subhash Thakrar, Ramji Chauhan, Barry Gardiner, Krupesh Hirani

A

Single bus fares to be capped at £2 tickets

age but can exceed £5 in rural areas

Labour has said it was a "half measure" after "years of soaring fares"

F

As per the government, s i n g l e l o c a l b u s f a r e s i n England cost £2 80 on aver-

As part of longer-term s c h e m e s , t h e c i t i e s o f Manchester, Liverpool and West Yorkshire have already introduced £2 caps

T h e D e p a r t m e n t f o r

T r a n s p o r t , w h i c h announced the scheme in September, said buses were the most sought after forms

o f p u b l i c t r a n s p o r t i n

England, making up half of all journeys

It said the government was spending £60m on the cap to "help families, students and commuters" while taking two million car journeys off the road

The number of people travelling by bus has been on rise but has remained well b e l o w p r e - C o v i d l e v e l s , according to the latest official figures

UK government to stay ‘resolute’ on nurses’ pay

Despi te the p otential for further strikes in January, Oli ver Dowd en has said that the UK government will remain “ resolute” on pay for n urses, as the NHS confederation ch ief sai d it was i nevitable pati en ts wo ul d b e h arm ed by th e strikes

T h e R o y a l C o l l e g e o f Nursing (RCN) has said that t h r o u g h o u t J a n u a r y “ m o r e

h o s p i t a l s a n d m o r e n u r s e s taking part than at present” in strikes, unless ministers back down by Thursday

D o w d e n , t h e c h a n c e l l o r of the duchy of Lancaster, said ministers were being ‘“ reasonable, we ’ re being sensible, and would urge the unions to be reasonable as well”

“I have to say we will be resolute in response to this,

because it would be irresponsible to allow public sector pay and inflation to get out of control, and we owe a wider duty to the public to make s u r e w e k e e p o u r p u b l i c finances under control and we build a growing economy that can pay for these things,” he told the BBC’s Sunday With L a u r a K u e n s s b e r g p r ogramme

Police and Crime Panel confirm Rani Mahal as Deputy PCC

ni M ahal has been conf i rm e d as De p u ty P ol i ce and Crime Co mmissioner for L eicester, Leicestershire and Ru tland

The appointment was f o r m a l l y a g r e e d u p o n b y members of the county's Police and Crime Panel

A j m e r K a u r ( R a n i ) Mahal - a district councillor representing Glen Ward at H a r b o r o u g h D i s t r i c t Council - was announced a s P o l i c e a n d C r i m e C o m m i s s i o n e r R u p e r t Matthews' preferred candidate for the role of Deputy PCC earlier this month

Rani Mahal has extensive experience and skills, both as a county councillor and through her members h i p w i t h v o l u n t a r y a n d charitable organisations

Alongside her portfolio responsibilities as a councillor, Rani is currently a B o a r d D i r e c t o r o f t h e L e i c e s t e r a n d L e i c e s t e r s h i r e E n t e r p r i s e Partnership (LLEP), sitting on the Investment Panel She is also a board member of the Leicestershire Asian B u s i n e s s A s s o c i a t i o n a n d V i c e P r e s i d e n t / L e a d f o r women and political affairs at the organisation

She has worked relentlessly in and for the community, holding positions within charitable organisations including the Royal Society of Arts (formerly known as the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, M a n u f a c t u r e r s a n d Commerce) Rani is also an a d v o c a t e f o r u n d e r r e p r esented communities as a board member of the IndoBritish Trade Council and as an international member o f t h e W o m e n ' s I n d i a n C h a m b e r o f C o m m e r c e

and Industry (WICCI)

During her career, Rani has developed a passion for supporting the vulnerable and promoting opportunities for women with more than a decade of experience a s a m e m b e r o f t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e W o m e n ' s Organisation (CWO) and a s t h e c u r r e n t r e g i o n a l president of East Midlands CWO She is also a former m e m b e r o f W o m e n i n P h i l a n t h r o p y i n Leicester Rani Mahal first became fascinated by policing 30 years ago, when she wanted to become a Special Constable Since then, she has worked relentlessly in a n d f o r t h e c o m m u n i t y including as an advocate for underrepresented communities

A Volunteer Responder with the Royal Voluntary Service, Rani assisted in the national vaccination programme

She is a former trustee a t L O R O S H o s p i c e w i t h nine years' experience of overall governance, strateg y a n d o v e r s i g h t o f t h e charity and attended clinical governance meetings as well as advocated for terminally ill patients

A former parish councillor at Great Glen Parish Council, Rani has significant scrutiny and oversight experience, particularly in

h e r r o l e a s D e p u t y Chairman for the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Area Conservatives within her remit for fundraising and membership

S p e a k i n g o f h e r appointment, Rani said: "I a m d e l i g h t e d t o b e a p p r o v e d a s L e i c e s t e r , L e i c e s t e r s h i r e a n d R u t l a n d ' s D e p u t y P o l i c e and Crime Commissioner

I am grateful to Rupert a n d h i s t e a m f o r h a v i n g faith in me and giving me the opportunity to put my s k i l l s a n d e x p e r i e n c e t o good use across our communities

"It is an exciting time to be joining the team and c o n t r i b u t i n g t o R u p e r t s vision for a safer Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Already, the PCC is worki n g h a r d t o d e l i v e r o n behalf of the public and I hope to use my skills and experience in local government, business and the voluntary and charity sector to push our achievements furt h e r a n d s u r p a s s p u b l i c expectations with a strong response to the issues that are important to them

"I am really proud to serve the public in this new role and look forward to working with local people, our partners and the force to deliver a first-class service to our communities "

Vraj Pankhania on the winner list of Top 100 Influential People 2023

V r aj P a nk h a n ia , F o u n de r a nd G ro u p Ch ai r ma n o f Westco mbe Group and th e Fo under of th e Westcombe Fo undation i s on the list o f T op 100 Influential P eo ple as o ne of th eir winners for the year 2023 Th e T op 1 00 p ro gramme h igh lights and rewards individu als wh o are tru ly in flu enti al, aff ecti ng a nd i mp a c ti n g s o c i et y across a broad range of sectors

Over a 50-year career, Vraj has used his influence to build a property empire with a community purpose He is a philanthropist and businessman from humble origins who believes in giving back to the community He has been a pioneering

Pankhania

role model, demonstrating how doing things the right way can lead to business success As a Founder and Chair of Westcombe Group, he has led the company to become a £500m property d e v e l o p m e n t b u s i n e s s i n the UK Top 25 and is targeting a group value of £1bn in the next 5 years

Vraj’s speciality has been c o n v e r t i n g c r u m b l i n g

Listed buildings into beautiful apartments, affordable housing, offices and hotels He is now using his influence again to lead the way with a social-justice focus involving regeneration projects and tackling homelessness Equally, as Chair of W e s t c o m b e F o u n d a t i o n , Vraj has given away millions to transform lives in the UK, India and other emerging e c o n o m i e s T h e T o p 1 0 0 p r o g r a m m e i s t h e b r a i nchild of Awards Intelligence Founder, Mark LlewellynSlade He feels there is a need for a platform to highlight and reward truly influential people who affect and impact society today, across a broad range of sectors

UK billionaire increase up by 20% since pandemic

A ccording to a report calling for a progressiv e wealth tax to handle rising inequality amidst the cost of living crisis, the num ber of UK billionaires has increased by a fifth since the onset of the C ovid p andemic

As per the Equality Trust c h a r i t y , i n t e r v e n t i o n s b y g o v e r n m e n t s a n d c e n t r a l banks during the pandemic allowed for an “explosion of

billionaire wealth” in Britain at the expense of the rest of society

“This sudden explosion in extreme wealth was in large part due to measures a i m e d a t l e s s e n i n g t h e impact of Covid-19 on the economy, as central banks pumped trillions of dollars into financial markets, leading to a stock market boom which effectively lined the

pockets of shareholders,” Jo W i t t a m s , c o - e x e c u t i v e d i r e c t o r o f t h e E q u a l i t y Trust, said in a report published on Monday

“While Covid-19 saw billionaire wealth rise to levels never seen before, the construction of the economic i n f r a s t r u c t u r e t h a t h a s enabled this mass accumulation stretches back over the last four decades ”

Ra

Vraj

Brits’ favourite Christmas jumper inspired by Christmas films

Last-minute Christmas cooking concerns named biggest stress before Christmas

D ata p u l le d t o g eth e r by b o tan ic a l ex p er ts

C a nn abo t ec h , cr o ss - re ferenced Goog le searches made across the UK in the run-u p to C h r is tm as , co v e ri ng a range of categ ories - including food preparation, streaming platforms, social media, g ift- buyi ng and m ore T hi s l ate st a nal ys i s o f G o o g le searches rev ealed what stresses are mo st likely to keep Brits tossing and turning the night before Ch ristm as - w ith cooking coming ou t on top

The findings show that of all the major categories analy s e d , i t ’ s f o o d p r e p a r a t i o n t h a t c a u s e s t h e m o s t l a s tminute stress, as most Brits seek some cooking advice on Christmas Eve Searches that p e a k t h e n i g h t b e f o r e C h r i s t m a s i n c l u d e ‘ t u r k e y cooking time’, ‘ vegan recipes’, ‘vegetarian recipes’, ‘chicken cooking time’, ‘how to cook Christmas ham’ and ‘christmas trimmings’ - whilst ‘how t o c o o k C h r i s t m a s d i n n e r ’

O t h e r c o n c e r n s a r o u n d festive food - as indicated by the related queries - are what time to serve dinner, what d i n n e r w a r e i s b e s t t o u s e when plating up, and how long some dishes should be prepared in advance

When it comes to which specific components of dinner are likely to raise the most questions - aside from the c e n t r e p i e c e - t h e a n a l y s i s

s h o w s t h a t ‘ r o a s t p o t a t o e s ’ has the highest search volume on Christmas Day, followed by Yorkshire puddings, and stuffing

As for what else is likely to be keeping Brits up before C h r i s t m a s , t h e a n a l y s i s reveals that concerns around the weather cause the second-most stress, with searches for ‘ snow ’ peaking on the big day, and ‘rain’ rising in v o l u m e t h r o u g h o u t Christmas Eve

Speaking on the findings, r e s t a n d r e l a x a t i o n e x p e r t s C a n n o b o t e c h s a i d : “Improving sleep and reducing stress is key to boosting i m m u n i t y a n d d a y - t o - d a y

e l l - b e i n g G e t t i n g e n o u g h

should be a priority at all t i m e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y d u r i n g s t r e s s f u l p e r i o d s l i k e Christmas

“Whilst some stress over the festive period is inevitable - whether it’s due to spending money, wrapping things up at work or juggling family commitments - it’s crucial to stick to a healthy sleep routine in order to prevent any short or long-term impacts on your health

“To keep stress-levels low, B r i t s s h o u l d s t a r t t o w i n d down and avoid screens at least one hour before their p l a n n e d b e d t i m e - e v e n i f they have last-minute searches on their mind Preparation is key, but prioritising managi n g y o u r m e n t a l h e a l t h i s more important ”

December is now the second-most dangerous month for drunk driving in the UK

n t h e U n i t e d Kingdom, proving how much fans are willing to be seen w e a r i n g a G r i n c h - t h e m e d jumper

D IE HA RD

The second most popular Christmas movie jumper is w o r n b y K a r l V r e s k i , p o rt r a y e d b y A l e x a n d e r G o d u n o v , i n D i e H a r d S e a r c h e s f o r ‘ D i e H a r d C h r i s t m a s j u m p e r ’ r e c e i v e 2,400 searches per month, on a v e r a g e M a n y s p e c u l a t e w h e t h e r D i e H a r d i s a Christmas movie due to its action/thriller genre, which caused the writer to note that the film is set at a Christmas party during the holidays and f e a t u r e s m a n y C h r i s t m a s s o n g s , m e a n i n g i t i s a Christmas film

A RT HU R C HR IS T MA S

The 2011 animated familyadventure film Arthur Christmas places fifth in the rankings and is undoubtedly a film for all ages Searches for ‘Arthur Christmas Jumper’ average around 750 searches per month in the UK; despite the show being an animated film, the main character Arthur (James McAvoy), rocks some festive and colourful jumpers throughout the film

sters

S e a r c h e s f o r ‘ G r e m l i n s C h r i s t m a s J u m p e r ’ a v e r a g e 1,000 searches per month in t h e U K , p r o v i n g j u s t h o w popular the miniature furry b e a s t s a r e a n d h o w m u c h fans want to rock a green Gremlin-themed jumper

I n D e c e m b e r , a l c o h o l consumption among adults in the UK increases by a staggering 40% as the highly anticip a t e d f e s t i v e s e a s o n g i v e s Brits a reason to fill calendars and diaries with Christmas parties and after-work drinks with our nearest and dearest While having a few festive tipples with friends and family is part and parcel of celebrating Christmas, Carmoola has found that according to government data, December is now the second-most dangerous month for drunk driving in the UK And it’s not just Christmas that is the catalyst for the increase in drunk driving With a fresh wave of rail strikes announced Brits may be more tempted to take the car this festive season The majority of these strikes are d u r i n g t h e b u s i e s t t i m e o f year for Christmas festivities beginning December 12th and throughout the week including today's “Mad Friday!”

H o w e v e r - d o n ' t b e tempted to have a few and drive home! In Great Britain, it’s an offence to drive with an a l c o h o l c o n c e n t r a t i o n t h a t exceeds the following legal limits, the following would put you over the limit:

Breath alcohol calculatio ns for a 35-year-old wo man:

Height 163cm Weight 69Kg

D r i n k s h a d o v e r 2 h o u r s before driving Drinks 175ml glass of White

Wine strength 11 5%

1 glass 2 µg/100ml

2 glasses 17 µg/100ml

3 glasses 33 µg/100ml - over the limit!!

4 glasses 49 µg/100ml

5 glasses 80 µg/100ml

Breath alcohol calculatio ns for a 3 5-year-old man:

Height 178cm Weight 84Kg

Drinks had over 2 hours before driving Drinks Pints of Lager strength 3 8%

1 pint 2 µg/100ml

2 pints 15 µg/100ml

3 pints 28 µg/100ml

4 pints 42 µg/100ml

5 pints 55 µg/100ml

6 pints 68 µg/100ml

Whilst many will ordinarily rely on public transport to get home it may be the better option this year to take over the role as designated driver, meaning you can still have fun but can guarantee you can get home after the night out, in fact, you could even be in demand to help out your colleagues Obviously, no one wants to be the designated driver Everyone is having fun

whilst you are sipping a soft drink But spoiler alert it’s 2022 and there’s no better time to be a designated driver!

While you may think you might be the only one going sober, the UK’s largest recent study of drinking behaviours s h o w e d i n 2 0 1 9 , 1 6 - t o - 2 5year-olds were the most likely to be teetotal, with 26% not d r i n k i n g , c o m p a r e d t o t h e least likely generation (55-to74-year-olds), 15% of whom didn’t drink

And now one in 3 pub visits are alcohol-free! A recent survey from YouGov asked if B r i t s w h o d r i n k a l c o h o l w o u l d h a v e a n a l c o h o l i c drink if they were meeting with someone socially at a p u b o r r e s t a u r a n t i n t h e evening The results showed that 16% of alcohol-drinking Britons would not have an alcoholic drink if they were meeting someone socially at all, whilst three in ten British

d r i n k e r s ( 3 1 % ) w o u l d h a v e alcohol only if the other person does

With this in mind, to help designated drivers this Xmas party season, Carmoola has created a 4- step guide to b e c o m i n g a D e s i g n a t e d Driver Legend:

1 Be ready for every type of passenger

2 Learn drunk conversation

3 D o n ’ t b e l e f t s h o r tchanged

4 Have the perfect playlist for your drunk passengers

So there you have it - your p a t h t o b e c o m i n g a D e s i g n a t e d D r i v e r L e g e n d Whilst the festive time can be the busiest time in your social calendar, there’s no need to use it as an excuse to drink alcohol or overdo it and put yourself or others in danger C e l e b r a t e s o b e r , a n d b e proud to be the designated driver this Christmas

A new study has revealed the most popular Christmas j u m p e r s i n s p i r e d b y C h r i s t m a s m o v i e s , w i t h j u m p e r s t h e m e d f r o m D r Seuss’ The Grinch being the most popular The research

conducted by Boohoo analysed the monthly UK search v o l u m e f o r t h e C h r i s t m a s m o v i e - t h e m e d c l o t h i n g t o e s t a b l i s h w h i c h C h r i s t m a s jumper is the most soughtafter this festive season

TH E GR INC H

T h e m o s t p o p u l a r C h r i s t m a s j u m p e r i s n o n e o t h e r t h a n D r S e u s s ’ T h e Grinch Searches for the term ‘ G r i n c h C h r i s t m a s j u m p e r ’ a v e r a g e 4 , 7 0 0 t i m e s p e r m o n t h i

HOM E A L ON E

The 1990 classic Home A l o n e p l a c e s t h i r d i n t h e r a n k i n g s , w h i c h f e a t u r e s a y o u n g K e v i n M c C a l l i s t e r ( M a c a u l a y C u l k i n ) w h o i s accidentally left home alone at Christmas time and faced with scaring off two burglars from breaking into his house S e a r c h e s f o r ‘ H o m e A l o n e C h r i s t m a s J u m p e r ’ a v e r a g e 1,600 searches per month in the UK

GRE M L INS

Fourth place in the ranki n g s g o e s t o G r e m l i n s , released in 1984 and follows the shenanigans and destruction forced upon the small town of Kingston Falls, by a horde of mischievous mon-

searches peak on the big day itself

w

rest

Family connections bring joy to grandparents in festive period

who was inspired by his own grandma after he bought her an iPad one Christmas so she could join in the family WhatsApp group

The perfect Christmas playlist

right background music

per that is printed and p osted m onthly to th eir relativ e – usually a grandparent

After taking France by storm, it’s now hoping to top the UK’s Christmas gift list

51% of people in the UK are worried that their elderly relatives will feel lonely during the festive period A new survey by the family app, Famileo, found that 41% were a ‘bit worried’, with 12% ‘ very worried’ about their elderly loved ones

Famileo offers a new solution that aims to enrich family interaction in the digital age

Famileo has become a household name in France, with around 200,000 families using the app Previous research of users in France show it significantly eases communication with older relatives, offering more meaningful interactions *

Charity Age UK found that 42% of people aged over 75 did not use the internet People who have not used technology in their working lives, are over the age of 80, or live alone, are more likely to be disconnected, says the charity

The new survey into the UK’s concerns about elderly relatives during this festive season was conducted by Harlow Consulting for Famileo It found 96% of people surveyed said that it’s important the Christmas gifts they buy for elderly relatives are meaningful

Famileo began life in

care homes before becoming a major trend across France

The pragmatic solution works by respecting the communication habits of each generation – digital for younger generation and paper for the older one It allows families to share digital photos and messages to elderly relatives who don’t have smartphones or social media accounts

For older people, poor eyesight or lack of dexterity is a barrier to using technology, such as smartphones, iPads or social media apps

The app was the brainchild of Tanguy de Gélis,

Tanguy said: “One day when I went to visit her, I noticed the iPad on her table gathering dust She told me it wasn’t easy for her to use and that she missed the family postcards and letters she used to get So that got me thinking about an app with a digital interface for young people and a newspaper for the elderly ”

It was launched in France in 2015 by Tanguy and his co-founder, Armel de Lesquen

Each newspaper, or gazette, includes as many as 30 messages and can be delivered around the world The idea is to help families, no matter where they are or how busy their lifestyle, stay in touch

Tanguy said: “It offers an easy way for grandchildren to write to their grandparents, which helps build connection and reduce feelings of loneliness It’s an app that brings joy to grandparents ”

A ccording to recent stud ies, the right backg round m usic can increase o ur enjoyment of food by up to 60 % If you're busy preparing a festive feast and w ant to m ake sure ev erything g oes smoothly, picking the right music is key!

Cooking Christmas dinner can be a stressful experie n c e , e v e n f o r t h e m o s t a c c o m p l i s h e d c h e f s ! Y o u might have picked up the best ingredients and got your timings perfected, but you probably haven't given as much thought to what music you'll be listening to when you sit down to eat?

So, which songs should be on your playlist for the perf e c t C h r i s t m a s d i n n e r ? Lakeland analysed over 2,000 playlists on Spotify, containing almost 250,000 different t r a c k s t o f i n d o u thttps://www lakeland co uk/i nspiration/the-ultimate-dinner-party-playlist/

P e r h a p s u n s u r p r i s i n g l y , the number one spot went to t h e u n d i s p u t e d Q u e e n o f C h r i s t m a s , M a r i a h C a r e y , with her hit song ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ appear-

ing in 104 Christmas dinner p l a y l i s t s F o l l o w i n g c l o s e l y behind is Michael Bublé, with his version of ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas’ coming in second place, with 79 appearances

F r a n k S i n a t r a a n d Michael Bublé share the title of most popular Christmas artists, with each having 6 songs in the top 100, including both of their versions of ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ There were 5 different versions of this festive classic in the top 100, with o t h e r v e r s i o n s f r o m S a m S m i t h , E l l a F i t z g e r a l d a n d Charles Snyder also making appearances

Experts reveal eight tips to get the little ones sleep well on Christmas Eve

With Christmas just around the corner, little ones around the wo rld are counting down the d ays until Santa and his elv es p ay s t h em a v i si t However, the excitement can come at a co st wh en the kids struggle to sleep as th ey wait fo r the big d ay ahead

S l e e p e x p e r t s B e d K i n g d o m h a v e h i g h l i g h t e d some tips and tricks to get the c h i l d r e n t o s l e e p w e l l o n Christmas Eve

Fill the morning w ith exercise

Whether it’s a family walk o r p e r h a p s t h e i r f a v o u r i t e sport, taking the little ones f o r s o m e m o r n i n g e x e r c i s e will promote better sleep at night by burning off energy If you ’ re lucky enough to see s o m e s u n s h i n e , t h i s i s a bonus, as it helps to set the body’s natural clock for better sleep

Keep them away from sugary fo ods after midd ay

While it may seem a tricky task, it will prove much more of a challenge trying to get the children to sleep if they’ve h a d h i g h - s u g a r f o o d s n e a r bedtime By causing excess energy production, they will be overstimulated and therefore be kept awake resulting i n d i s r u p t i o n s d u r i n g t h e night Instead, try sugar-free jelly or juice with no added sugar if you need to satisfy their sweet tooth after midday

Keeping them up late will

prevent a good night’s sleep

While it may seem like a later bedtime will help your child to sleep better at night, it will in fact do the opposite Young children who are overtired will find it much more difficult to get some shut eye, and it will only prevent them from getting enough sleep if you plan on waking up particularly early on Christmas Day Giv e them a sleep-inducing snack before bed

It’s a must to make sure your child isn’t going to sleep on an empty stomach – and if y o u h a v e m a n y a c t i v i t i e s planned on the day, they may be too occupied to realise just how hungry they are A latenight snack will ensure they don ’t have any awakenings d u r i n g t h e n i g h t , b u t i t ’ s important to choose somet h i n g t h a t i n d u c e s s l e e p rather than fights it, like fatty and sugary foods Bananas are both healthy and sleep-induc-

ing as they calm the body and relax the muscles; pair it with a glass of milk, as this will make it much easier to rest due to containing tryptophan, a sleep promoting amino acid Keep things calm on the ev ening

If your way of celebrating t h e f e s t i v i t i e s a s a f a m i l y includes lots of activities, it will work in your favour to keep these for the afternoon and have a calm atmosphere for the evening Having an earlier dinner than usual will not only help the little ones

prepare for bedtime, but it’s one way to keep them occupied without having to get them too excited – and having bath time afterwards is an extra way to fill the time and relax them

Don’t alter th eir nig ht-time routine

Y o u r c h i l d r e n w i l l b e aware that something is missing if you alter their nighttime routine You may think t h a t s a c r i f i c i n g s o m e t h i n g like a bedtime story so that they can stay up for a little while longer will help to ease

the excitement out of their s y s t e m , b u t t h e i r r o u t i n e becomes a signal for sleep – so it’s vital to not make any drastic changes

Avo id using technolog y too close to bed tim e

If you plan on watching a Christmas film together as a family on the evening to keep things calm, it’s best to switch the screens off around two hours before your children’s bedtime Blue light, which is e m i t t e d f r o m t e c h n o l o g y screens like mobile phones, laptops, and TVs, can sup-

p r e s s t h e b o d y ’ s h o r m o n e melatonin which is responsible for making us sleepy So, it’s best to complete any techn o l o g y r e l a t e d a c t i v i t i e s before the bedtime routine

Don’t forget to countdo wn before bedtime

Counting down until bedtime allows your kids to prepare for sleep, for example an hour, then half an hour, and f i f t e e n m i n u t e s p r i o r N o t only will you avoid the protest to staying up for longer, but it h e l p s t h e m t r a n s i t i o n i n t o their bedtime routine easily

Fitness expert shares top safety tips for exercising outside during winter

A

ol ut io n s H o we v e r , w i t h sn ow a nd ice g uara nt eed for m a n y a r e a s t h r o ug h o u t De c e m be r , i t i s im p o r t a n t tak e sa fe ty into conside rat ion wh e n e x e r ci s in g o ut d o o r s Matt hew Magn ant e, an exe rcise a uthor at Fit ne ssVolt , has compiled a list of his most importa nt safet y tips to ke ep in mind when exe rcisin g outd oo r s d ur i n g t h e co ld e r months

Dr ink e ven if you don ’t feel t hirsty

M a n y m a y n o t r e a l i s e this, but we are at an elevated r i s k o f d e h y d r a t i o n w h e n exercising in colder temperatures

When it is cold, our blood

v e s s e l s c o n s t r i c t t o r e d u c e t h e a m o u n t o f h e a t l o s t through our skin, as a way of maintaining our core body temperature

D u r i n g t h i s p r o c e s s a hormone called plasma arginine vasopressin (AVP) that n o r m a l l y s i g n a l s t h i r s t , i s secreted at a lower rate than w h e n e x e r c i s i n g i n h o t weather This explains why you might find yourself craving water less when exercising in winter Research has found that exposure to cold weather can reduce our thirst sensation by as much as 40%

To prevent dehydration, continue to drink water as you would during summer and opt for a glass of water before heading out and cont i n u e t o s i p o n a d r i n k t h r o u g h o u t a n d a f t e r y o u r

workout

Opt fo r polyester over cotton t-shirts Moisture-wicking mater i a l s s u c h a s p o l y e s t e r o r wool will keep you warmer because their fibres absorb less water, and they dry out m o r e q u i c k l y P o l y e s t e r fibres are designed to insulate you even when wet by t r a p p i n g a l a y e r o f a i r between the fabric and your skin, while the shape of its fibres are designed to remove water

A three-tier layering system works best, comprised of a base layer such as polyester, a main layer such as wool and a waterproof outer layer that repels rain, snow and wind This way you create multiple layers of insulation while allowing sweat to move

through the layers and evaporate into the air rather than clinging to your clothes

Stretch before and after exercise

S t r e t c h i n g b e f o r e y o u e x e r c i s e i s p a r t i c u l a r l y important in winter, as your muscles tend to contract to conserve heat, which makes them more prone to injury

T r y t o i n c o r p o r a t e dynamic stretches before you head out for a winter run, to increase your muscles’ internal temperature and reduce the risk of injury

Body weight squats, calf r a i s e s , a n d g o o d o l d - f a s hi o n e d j u m p i n g j a c k s a r e effective dynamic stretches that get the blood flowing and increase your core body t e m p e r a t u r e , b e f o r e y o u head outside

A bestselling app in F rance, it’ s designed to bring joy to grandparents It w orks by crossing digital div ides as younger family m embers add photos and m essages o n the app , which are comp iled into a personalised newspa

The

can increase our enjoyment of food by up to 60%

Dear Financia Voice Reader Alpesh Patel OBE

S o it’s th at time o f year wh en everyone is thinking abou t 2023 and of c ourse, I hop e, their sto ck portfolios in their pensions and SIP Ps So I go t my team to give me the views of some o f the big publicati ons to see what they say Here is a su mmary

Forbes

Over 1,000 companies with market capitalizations between $300 million and $2 billion were screened for stock returns, sales growth, return on equity, and earnings growth to rank the 100 best of last year

For a company to qualify for the list, it needed to have positive sales growth during the last 12 months The last year has seen only half of the stocks increase

The top company on the list is SIGA Technologies, which produces antiviral treatments for diseases like monkeypox Its share price has declined 63% since August's peak The next company is Vaalco EnergyEGY, an oil drilling company based in Houston that operates primarily in Gabon, a small country in West Africa The rising energy prices this year have benefited Vaalco and it has ramped up its production capacity from about 5,000 barrels per day to 20,000 barrels per day in the last 18 months, partly as a result of its $307 million acquisition of TransGlobe, a Canadian oil company Reuters

According to BlackRock Investment Institute strategists, the healthcare sector is less sensitive to economic fluctuations than other sectors Its performance exceeds the broader index's performance year-to-date by about 1 7%

In the first quarter of next year, JPMorgan analysts predict a "mild recession" and the S&P 500 will test its 2022 lows Compared with other developed markets, U S stocks are unattractive due to their high valuations and Fed hawkishness, the bank said

The BoFA Global Research forecasts U S equities to end broadly flat in 2023, but gold prices are expected to rise up to 20% as the dollar falls A decline in the greenback makes raw materials like gold more attractive to foreign buyers

Markets Insi der

According to Bank of America, stocks are on track for a great bull market in 2023, but not in the place most investors anticipate Next year and beyond, small-cap stocks are expected to lead the market higher rather than large-cap behemoths

Because of a combination of factors, the stock market has historically f a v o r e d s m a l l e r , l o c a l i z e d c o m p a n i e s B a n k i n g o f A m e r i c a ' s M i c h a e l Hartnett said that secular trends of stagflation, reshoring, localization, fiscal stimuli will equal a bull market for small cap stocks in 2023 Marke t Watc h

It is currently anticipated that a recession in 2023 will occur, according to Gargi Chaudhuri, iShares investment strategist for the Americas at BlackRock In a regime of higher interest rates, investors might want to buy small-cap stocks instead of growth stocks in case the Fed "engineers a soft landing" for the U S economy

In her recommendation, she mentioned the iShares Core S&P SmallCap ETF IJR, -0 42% FactSet data shows that the ETF is down 11 1% so far this year According to Chaudhuri, the S&P 500 index, which is heavily oriented toward technology companies, dropped 14 4% over the same period

Well, that’s the first batch We will look into more next week And if you’d like my views – www campaignforamillion com to get them including my weekly market update

UK working on plan to become next Silicon Valley

Sweeping reforms to the UK’s fin anci al servic es sector s hould mark the first stage in a 20- year plan for B ritain to become the n e x t S i l i c o n Va l l e y , Fi n a n c e Mi nister J eremy Hunt sai d

Speaking shortly after the r e g u l a t o r y o v e r h a u l w a s announced, Hunt said the plans would improve the country’s global competitiveness, attract i n v e s t m e n t a n d f u r t h e r t h e government’s vision for Britain a s a n i n n o v a t i o n h u b Reinforcing Britain’s financial services industry - as well as s t r e n g t h e n i n g i t s w o r l d - c l a s s universities and tech and life sciences sectors - were among

three pillars cited by Hunt in f u r t h e r i n g t h a t g o a l “ T h e guiding purpose of this is to m a k e t h e U K t h e m o s t competitive place in Europe as well as the whole world,” he a d d e d T h e f i n a n c e m i n i s t e r was speaking from Edinburgh, S c o t l a n d , w h e r e e a r l i e r h e unveiled an extensive overhaul of the UK’s financial regulation system

D u b b e d t h e E d i n b u r g h R e f o r m s , t h e p a c k a g e o f 3 0 measures includes a relaxation of the rule that requires banks t o s e p a r a t e t h e i r r e t a i l o p e r a t i o n s f r o m t h e i r investment arms This measure

Parliamentary

- first introduced in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis - would n o t a p p l y t o r e t a i l - f o c u s e d b a n k s T h e g o v e r n m e n t a l s o confirmed it will review rules a r o u n d t h e a c c o u n t a b i l i t y o f t o p f i n a n c e e x e c u t i v e sanother post-2008 regulation The Senior Managers Regime, i n t r o d u c e d i n 2 0 1 6 , m e a n s individuals at regulated firms c a n f a c e p e n a l t i e s f o r p o o r conduct, workplace culture or decision-making

suggests ways to boost productivity of SMEs

A new re port fro m the All-P arty P a r l i a m e n t a r y G r o u p f o r Entre preneur sh ip calls on the G o v e r n m e nt t o e xp a nd a nd re form i ts two fla gsh ip sch emes f or boo sti ng t he prod uctivi ty of Bri ta in’s sma ll- a nd me di umsi ze d e nt e r p ri se s S u p p or t i n g S ME s Su cce ss f ul l y f i nd s t h a t w h i l e t h e H e l p t o G r o w sch emes have shown pr omise, th ey a re sti ll f al ling shor t of th eir ful l pote nt ial UK labor productivity is in a sorry state While it grew at 2 7 % p e r a n n u m o n a v e r a g e between the 1970s and the 2008 Financial Crisis, since then it has only grown at a rate of 0 5% p e r a n n u m o n a v e r a g e U K labor productivity is now 23% lower than in the US, and 17% l o w e r t h a n e v e n F r a n c e a n d Germany As author Eamonn I v e s s a i d : “ R e s t o r i n g p r o d u c t i v i t y g r o w t h t o

Group

h i s t o r i c a l t r e n d r a t e s i s a n e c o n o m i c i m p e r a t i v e – f o r seeing better living standards a n d s h o r i n g u p t h e p u b l i c finances ” At the 2021 Budget, R i s h i S u n a k , t h e n a s C h a n c e l l o r , a n n o u n c e d t w o s c h e m e s t o b o o s t S M E productivity

H e l p t o G r o w : D i g i t a l s u b s i d i z e s t h e c o s t o f d i g i t a l technologies, and Help to Grow: M a n a g e m e n t t r a i n s s m a l l business leaders in how to better manage their firms

On Help to Grow: Digital, t h e r e p o r t a r g u e s t h a t m o r e t e c h n o l o g i e s s h o u l d b e m a d e eligible for subsidy Businesses can currently get discounts on just three types of software – for e-commerce, digital accounting, a n d c u s t o m e r r e l a t i o n s h i p m a n a g e m e n t ( C R M ) E x p e r t s have called for other software to a l s o q u a l i f y f o r d i s c o u n t s ,

including for cloud computing, c l o u d s t o r a g e , H R t o o l s , a n d a r t i f i c i a l i n t e l l i g e n c e a n d m a c h i n e l e a r n i n g P r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h s h o w s t h e p o t e n t i a l p r o d u c t i v i t y b e n e f i t s o f t h e s e technologies to SMEs, which will only become more important as t h e e c o n o m y i n c r e a s i n g l y digitizes

O n H e l p t o G r o w : M a n a g e m e n t , t h e r e p o r t h i g h l i g h t s h o w m a n y b u s i n e s s l e a d e r s b e l i e v e i t i s t o o t i m econsuming, which has restricted uptake The management courses require 50 hours, spread over 12 weeks, to complete – a sacrifice many business owners feel they cannot make The report suggests increasing the flexibility of how they are delivered to open them up to more SMEs – for instance trialing online-only courses, or d e l i v e r i n g c o u r s e s i n a m o r e tailored timeframe

Subhrakant Panda takes over as FICCI President for 2022-23

S u b h ra k an t P a n da , Managing Directo r, Indian Metals & Ferro Allo ys Ltd h as t ak en o v er a s F I CC I P re s i de nt fo r 2 02 2 - 2 02 3 , fro m Sanji v Meh ta at the ap ex chamber's 95th Annual C o n ve n

i r ec t o r, E m a mi Li mi t ed h as j oined FICCI leadershi p as V ice Pres ident

P resident, F ICCI S u bh ra ka n t P a nd a i s M a n a g i n g D i r e c t o r o f I n d i a n M e t a l s & F e r r o Alloys Ltd (IMFA) which is the country's leading, fully integrated producer of ferro alloys with captive mining a n d p o w e r g e n e r a t i o n employing 6500 people He has handled various responsibilities in IMFA and implem e n t e d e x p a n s i o n p l a n s a f t e r h e w a s a p p o i n t e d M a n a g i n g D i r e c t o r w h i c h led to significant growth in revenue & profitability He is the first industrialist from

Odisha to lead a national industry chamber India has emerged as a bright spot at a time when the global econo m y i s f a c i n g t u r b u l e n c e and with his deep understanding of the economic and industry issues, Panda i s d e t e r m i n e d t o f u r t h e r strengthen FICCI's position a s t h e l e a d i n g i n d u s t r y c h a m b e r w h i c h w i l l c o ntribute to the India growth story through its engagem e n t w i t h v a r i o u s s t a k eholders

Senior Vice President, FICCI Dr Anish S hah , Managing D i re c to r an d C E O , Mah indra & Mah indra Ltd D r A n i s h S h a h i s t h e M a n a g i n g D i r e c t o r a n d

C E O o f M a h i n d r a & M a h i n d r a L t d H e j o i n e d Mahindra Group in 2014, as Group President (Strategy), and worked closely with all businesses on key strategic initiatives, built capabilities such as digitisation & data sciences and enabled synergies across group compan i e s I n 2 0 1 9 , h e w a s a p p o i n t e d D e p u t y M a n a g i n g D i r e c t o r a n d Group CFO, with responsib i l i t y f o r t h e G r o u p Corporate Office and full oversight of all businesses o t h e r t h a n t h e A u t o a n d Farm sectors, as a part of the transition plan to the CEO role

Dr Anish was President a n d C E O o f G E C a p i t a l

India from 2009-14, where he led the transformation of t h e b u s i n e s s , i n c l u d i n g a turnaround of its SBI Card joint venture His career at GE spanned 14 years, during which he held several leade r s h i p p o s i t i o n s a t G E C a p i t a l ’ s U S a n d g l o b a l units As Director, Global Mortgage, he worked across 33 countries to drive growth and manage risk As Senior Vice President (Marketing and Product Development) at GE Mortgage Insurance, he led various growth initiatives and played a key role in preparing the business for an IPO, as a spinoff from GE In his initial years with GE, Anish also led Strategy, eCommerce and Sales Force Effectiveness and had the unique experience of runn i n g a d o t - c o m b u s i n e s s w i t h i n G E A n i s h a l s o r e c e i v e d G E ’ s p r e s t i g i o u s L e w i s L a t i m e r A w a r d f o r o u t s t a n d i n g u t i l i s a t i o n o f Six Sigma in developing a ‘Digital Cockpit’

Vi ce Pres ident, FICC I: Harsha V A garwal, Vic e Chai rm an & M anagin g Direc tor, Emam i Ltd Agarwal is one of the

youngest and most promisi n g s e c o n d - g e n e r a t i o n leaders of the Rs 35,000 cr Emami Group and a key m e m b e r o f t h e s t r a t e g i c think-tank committee He i s t h e y o u n g e r s o n o f R a d h e S h y a m A g a r w a l , Founder of Emami Group A w a r d e d a s o n e o f t h e I n d i a ’ s H o t t e s t Y o u n g B u s i n e s s L e a d e r s i n t h e p r e s t i g i o u s ‘ F O R T Y UNDER 40 ’ list put together by The Economic times & S p e n c e r S t u a r t i n 2 0 1 6 , Harsha, with his extensive knowledge and experience in strategy, marketing and brand development, spearheads the FMCG business H e a l s o t a k e s p e r s o n a l interest in functions such as

M e r g e r & A c q u i s i t i o n , S t r a t e g y , H u m a n R e s o u r c e s , I n f o r m a t i o n

T e c h n o l o g y , H e a l t h C a r e b u s i n e s s a n d M a r k e t i n g functions of Emami Ltd and spearheads the digital initiatives of the organisation

An enterprising person and a quintessential businessman with a penchant f o r d e t a i l s a n d d e p t h , H a r s h a h a s t r e m e n d o u s application of mind and a feisty dedication to work He is steady and calm with focused leadership, coupled with a steely resolve He p a s s i o n a t e l y s t e e r s t h e organisation with a futuristic outlook, while continuing to strengthen its core values

Jeremy Hunt

L to R: Arun Chawla, Director General, FICCI; Harsh Pati Singhania, Past President, FICCI; Sandip Somany, Past President, FICCI; Uday Shankar, Past President, FICCI; YK Modi, Past President, FICCI, Sudhir Jalan, Past President, FICCI & Harsha Vardhan Agarwal, Vice President, FICCI

Sitting: Subhrakant Panda, President, FICCI

India emerging faster than data shows: Credit Suisse

i an e qu i ti es fro m " u n d er w ei g h t" t o " be nch m ar k, " no ti ng th at the bench mark indices had room for gro wth of u p to 14 %

Neelkanth Mishra, the h e a d o f r e s e a r c h a t t h e trading firm, predicted that the country will grow by 7% in FY24 as opposed to the m a i n s t r e a m f o r e c a s t s , w h i c h p r e d i c t a c t u a l

growth to fall below 6% Mishra told reporters that w h i l e t h e b r o k e r a g e ' s analysis considered a wide range of data to arrive at its conclusion, the consensus p r e d i c t i o n s w e r e b a s e d solely on official data Mishra said growth in

d e n s e f u e l s - w h i c h i s t y p i c a l l y b e l o w r e a l G D P growth as fuel efficiencies g o u p - i s o v e r 4 % p e r annum for the last three y e a r s S i m i l a r l y , r e v e n u e g r o w t h s o f t h e B S E 5 0 0 companies also point to a faster growth, he said

“ W e a r e e x p e c t i n g a s t r o n g e r a c c e l e r a t i o n i n India’s GDP growth in 2023 owing to several domestic d r i v e r s R e v i v a l i n g o v e r n m e n t s p e n d i n g , increase in low-income jobs and easing of supply chain b o t t l e n e c k s s h o u l d p a r t l y offset the impact of rate h i k e s , a s l o w i n g g l o b a l economy and the need to r e d u c e t h e b a l a n c e - o fpayments (BoP) deficit,” he s a i d H e a d d e d , t h e r i s k f a c t o r s c o n t i n u e t o b e d e p e n d e n t o n i m p o r t e d energy, reliance on foreign capital and a slowing global economy

India's advance tax collections rise 13% till Dec 17

Advance tax collections in

I n di a, p ai d by c o m p an ie s a n d c er ta in i nd i vi du a l s, h ave gone up 1 2 8 % to o ver £52 billio n, acco rding to the latest official nu mbers

Close to £40 billion is o n a c c o u n t o f p a y m e n t s t o w a r d s c o r p o r a t i o n t a x , with the remaining amount o f o v e r £ 1 2 b i l l i o n o n account of personal income tax While advance tax is to be paid in four instalments, u p t o D e c e m b e r 1 5 t h r e e

instalments had to be paid with the final tranche due in the middle of March

Advance tax is seen as a g o o d b a r o m e t e r o f d i r e c t tax collections, which seem to be holding strong so far T h e g o v e r n m e n t h a s b u d g e t e d f o r a 1 3 6 % increase in gross direct tax c o l l e c t i o n s d u r i n g t h e c u r r e n t f i n a n c i a l y e a r t o £142 billion

T h e n u m b e r s r e l e a s e d b y t h e f i n a n c e m i n i s t r y

estimated that during the fiscal year up to December 1 7 g r o s s d i r e c t t a x collections increased 26 9% t o o v e r £ 1 3 6 b i l l i o n , c o m p a r e d t o £ 1 0 8 b i l l i o n d u r i n g t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g period last year Within this, the corporation tax mop-up w a s e s t i m a t e d a t £ 7 2 5 0 b i l l i o n , w i t h p e r s o n a l i n c o m e t a x a d d i n g u p t o nearly £64 billion

According to the data r e l e a s e d b y t h e f i n a n c e

m i n i s t r y , a d v a n c e t a x accounted for over 38% of the gross collections, while the share of TDS was just a little under 50%

“ T h e r e h a s b e e n a remarkable increase in the s p e e d o f p r o c e s s i n g o f i n c o m e t a x r e t u r n s f i l e d d u r i n g t h e c u r r e n t f i s c a l , with almost 96 5% of the d u l y v e r i f i e d i n c o m e t a x returns (ITRs) having been processed till December 17, 2022

India's Nov WPI inflation slows to 21-month low

I n d i a's le ad i n g st o ck exch ange BSE reported that i n 1 4 8 d ays , 1 0 m i ll io n a d d i ti o na l re g is t ere d i n v es to r ac co u n ts w ere a d d e d t o i ts p l at fo rm , b ri ng in g t h e t o tal t o 1 2 0 m illion Betw een July 18 and Decem ber 13, the exchange ad d ed 1 0 m il lio n in ve stor a cc o u nt s, ac co r d i ng to a statem ent from BSE

I n c o m p a r i s o n , t h e exchange took 124, 91, 85 a n d 1 0 7 d a y s f o r t h e previous milestones of 110 m i l l i o n , 1 0 0 m i l l i o n , 9 0 m i l l i o n a n d 8 0 m i l l i o n , r e s p e c t i v e l y “ B S E c r o s s e d the milestone of 120 million r e g i s t e r e d u s e r s b a s e d o n unique client code (UCC) on D e c e m b e r 1 3 , 2 0 2 2 , ” t h e exchange said Of the 120

million users, 42% fall in the 3 0 t o 4 0 a g e b r a c k e t s , followed by 23% in 20-30 years and 11% in the 40-50 age bracket

M a h a r a s h t r a h a s t h e h i g h e s t p e r c e n t a g e o f investors among the states, accounting for 20% of the t o t a l i n v e s t o r s G u j a r a t r a n k e d s e c o n d w i t h 1 0 % G i v e n t h a t t h e g r e a t majority of trading volume is on rival exchange NSE, the exchange did not say how many of these accounts are active or are only used f o r m u t u a l f u n d i n v e s t m e n t s F o u n d e d i n 1875, BSE (formerly Bombay S t o c k E x c h a n g e ) i s t h e w o r l d ’ s f a s t e s t s t o c k exchange with a speed of 6 microseconds

Wh o le sa le p ri c e i nf la ti o n slowed to a 21-mo nth low in Nov em ber on the back o f m o d er ati ng fo o d a nd m an uf ac tu r ed p ro d u ct s in fl ati o n , p ro v id in g r eli e f fro m s tu bb o rn p ri c e pressures

D a t a r e l e a s e d b y t h e ministry of commerce and industry showed inflation, a s m e a s u r e d b y t h e W h o l e s a l e P r i c e I n d e x (WPI), rose an annual 5 9% in November, slower than the previous month’s 8 4%

When compared to the same month last year, the costs of food items, basic metals, textiles, chemicals and chemical products, and paper and paper products all d e c r e a s e d , w h i c h

s i g n i f i c a n t l y l o w e r e d t h e inflation rate in November 2 0 2 2 W P I - b a s e d i n f l a t i o n had eased to single digit in O c t o b e r a f t e r r u l i n g i n double digits for 18-months in a row The most recent d a t a w a s r e l e a s e d s h o r t l y after retail inflation figures, w h i c h i n N o v e m b e r decreased to an 11-month low of 5 9% as a result of moderating food costs and a favourable base effect After 10 months, retail inflation h a s s t a b i l i s e d b e l o w t h e Reserve Bank of India s 6% upper tolerance zone

Economists said the RBI is expected to tighten rates but at a less aggressive pace given the cooling in price pressures

The honeymoon is over

There is divided opinion regarding the pr operty m arket in the com ing year On a f orum I was on, the s peaker said this is not 2 008 and the consens us is we will be back to normal ; ther e will be intervention from the governm ent so the property mar ket does not c oll apse, as it is a bedrock of the UK ec onomy

I do not think this will be the scenario; next year will be a lot worse than 2008 on many fronts, property being only one

The question is how will the property market react? There is no simplistic answer to this question Even though people prefer headlines, black and white answers The m a r k e t i s d i f f e r e n t i a t e d g e o g r a p h i c a l l y a n d i n p r i c e segments

There were segments in the market which held their value during times of uncertainty and even increased –surprisingly Areas which have an international appeal such as Kensington, Notting Hill may not even go down in value

This recession will be led primarily by two drivers, one w i l l b e i n f l a t i o n a n d t h e o t h e r t h e p o o r s t a t e o f t h e economy If this was a company it would already be bankrupted, but this is UK PLC where they can print money to keep the game going In other words, a Ponzi scheme

I can therefore see the appetite for property investment to remain more as a safety net, somewhere recession proof to keep your cash

There is a confidence in UK property both here and abroad Even when values decrease, as sure as the sun rises again they are confident UK property prices will rise again too

Currently, rates have decreased a little where 5 year fixed rates can be secured at around 4 69%; which when looked at with a wide enough lens is not unreasonable

The issue is we have had an elongated honeymoon period, and it has come to an abrupt and sudden end Those affected will be highly geared, they may be in a situation where instead of the asset producing a monthly income, it now requires a monthly input

Even in this potential storm, we have strong interest in a block we could be looking to sell if the price is right It comes from a very prominent HNW individual, looking to acquire the property not for themselves but for their staff whom they require a large retinue of whenever they visit London Not someone who is looking at this deal, as a deal, rather if the shoe fits they will purchase it

This is why Central London properties are in demand, they behave differently to the rest of the UK This market has often been described as in its own bubble, separate to the rest of the UK Understandable, when this segment has been fuelled with foreign money

Without a doubt, opportunities will start to appear after January There will be deals to be done So, now is the time to gear up, so one is in a position to execute with short notice

Murthy regrets opposing key roles for Infy founders' children

N R N a r a y a n a Mu r t hy , t h e fo un d e r o f I n fo sy s, o p e n l y ack no wle dg ed th at his l ong -he ld opin ion t ha t foun de r s' offspring shoul dn't work for the company was incorrect He cl a ime d t ha t his c hoi ce t o e x cl ud e t he n ex t -g e ne r a ti on promote r group fr om Infosys was in corre ct

Accor

“Startups are prone to failures is a very high probability Though I must say, the success rate of startups in India is relatively higher than the rest of the world , ” the minister said, adding that the number of recognised startups has increased from 452 in 2016 to 84,012 as on November 30, 2022

H o w e v e r , G o y a l ' s i n - d e p t h r e s p o n s e s t o m e m b e r s ' questions about India's startup environment resulted in some abrasive exchanges between the opposition and treasury benches, particularly after Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury objected to Goyal's "political statement" rather than concise answers In a d d i t i o n , C h o w d h u r y t o o k i s s u e w i t h G o y a l ' s r e f u s a l t o recognise the Congress administration's contribution to the establishment of the prestigious IITs, which he claimed houses one of the nation s most successful start-up incubators

glass display manufacturing system

Akarsh Hebbar, global MD (display and semiconductor business), Vedanta said that “Vedanta is focused on taking the lead in creating the electronics industry ecosystem rather than just technology transfers This comprehensive plan can generate business opportunities of over $40 bn for our partners in the coming years ”

“The Dholera region in Gujarat shall be developed along the lines of global science parks and has the entire required infrastructure With Vedanta acting as an anchor unit, the region will be developed for 1,000+ MSMEs to create a sustainable economic environment for hi-tech SCM,” said Vijay Nehra, director of Technology Mission, Gujarat

Murthy had believed Infosys is a professionally run company and should keep promoters’ children away from any management roles in the firm “I was completely wrong in that I was depriving this organisation of legitimate talent I take back whatever I said I think every individual should have the same opportunity as every other individual if he or she is considered the best person for that role,” he said at a press conference in Bangalore at Infosys’s 40th year celebrations

"I probably adopted that attitude at that time because I was concerned that certain people may bring in undeserving candidates and place them in positions, and I wanted the future of the organisation to be strong," he added When assigned a post, competency, according to Murthy, should come first Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and chairman of Infosys, responded to the same query by saying, "We should not practise reverse discrimination "

Nilekani said when he returned to the company in 2017, he couldn’t stomach Infosys becoming a reality show “There is no plan B for when I leave I have a huge responsibility How do I make sure that I hand over in a way that it continues for the 100-year journey? I will be here if it’s required (But) I don’t want to be here that long looking at the 50th anniversary,” he said Nilekani said his challenge is acute

Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

Nepal president calls for government formation within 7 days

in brief

INDIAN-AMERICAN BOY JUMPS TO DEATH

I

K A T H M A

N D U : N e p al President B idya D evi Bhandari on Sunday c alled on all the po li ti c al pa rti e s of N ep al to form a new government within s e v en da y s , as PM Sh er B a ha d ur D e ub a di s c u s s ed power s hari ng deal with the c o al i t i on pa r tn e r P us h pa

Kamal Dahal ‘ Prachanda’ The president’ s c all came after the E lec ti on Commission submitted the final results of the elections held on November 20 No p ar t y i n t he 2 7 5 - m e m b er H ouse of Repres entatives won 138 seats requi red to form a government Parties that can garner a majority c an s ubmit claim until 5 pm on December 25 , the president’s office said

The Nepali Congress (NC) led by Deuba emerged as the s i n g l e l a r g e s t p a r t y w i t h 8 9 seats followed by opposition CPN-UML with 78 seats and C P N - M a o i s t C e n t r e l e d b y P r a c h a n d a s e c u r e d 3 2 s e a t s T h e N e p a l i C o n g r e s s a l o n g with the other ruling alliances has the combined strength of

1 3 6 s e a t s , t w o s e a t s s h o r t o f f o r m i n g t h e majority government

The president’s call to form the new gove r n m e n t c o m e s a t a time when political part i e s h a v e e n g a g e d t h e m s e l v e s i n h e c t i c c o n s u l t a t i o n s D e u b a met Prachanda at the P M ’ s o f f i c i a l r e s i d e n c e Baluwatar on Saturday and discussed formation of the new government and power sharing a m o n g o t h e r s , a c c o r d i n g t o party sources According to a report in the Kathmandu Post n e w s p a p e r , N e p a l i C o n g r e s s spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat said Prachanda in his

Bangladesh arrests head of largest Muslim party amid crackdown

D H A K A : T h e le a d e r o f J a m a a t - e - Is la m i ( Ban glade sh Islam ic Assembly) , Ban gla desh’s lar gest Muslim pa rty , has be en d eta ined d ays a fter he d ecla red the part y would join opposition -led prot ests d eman ding the re sig nat ion of Pr ime Ministe r Sheik h Hasina

A statement from the party’s acting secretary general, Maulana ATM Masum, said “Shafiqur Rahman was arrested from his residence on December 12 We are vehemently c o n d e m n i n g a n d p r o t e s t i n g h i s a r r e s t , ” Masum said, calling the authorities for his immediate and unconditional release

For years, Jamaat, the country’s thirdl a r g e s t p o l i t i c a l p a r t y , w h i c h h a s b e e n banned from contesting elections since 2012, was a major ally of the major opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and their alliance ruled the country from 2001 to 2006

But after Hasina came to power in 2009, Jamaat’s whole leadership was arrested and tried for war crimes dating back to the country’s 1971 independence war against Pakistan F i v e o f i t s t o p l e a d e r s w e r e h a n g e d

between 2013 and 2016 after they were found guilty by a war crimes court Hundreds of party activists were shot dead and tens of thousands were jailed after they staged violent protests against the executions

“All efforts are going on to destroy the l e a d e r s h i p o f J a m a a t - e - I s l a m i , ” r e a d t h e Jamaat statement “On one hand, they are talking of democracy and election, while on the other they are oppressing the opposition leaders and activists Practically, they do not believe in democracy ”

L a s t m o n t h , p o l i c e a l s o a r r e s t e d R a h m a n ’ s s o n , R a f a t S a d i k S a i f u l l a h , o n extremism charges and remanded him in custody under the country’s harsh “anti-terr o r i s m ” l a w s S u p p o r t e r s o f B a n g l a d e s h Nationalist Party, headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, hold a rally in Dhaka Rahman’s arrest came amid a continuing crackdown by the government when tens of thousands of BNP leaders and supporters led a rally protesting against soaring fuel prices and cost of living in the country

Pak blames India for ’21 blast near Hafiz house

ISLA MA BA D: Pak is tan accuse d India for 2021 bom bing nea r the Lahore res idenc e of LeT founder Haf iz Saeed, in whic h three pe ople were kill ed and 22 injured Addre ss ing a pres s conf erence , Pakis tan’s int erior m inis ter Rana Sanaulla h s aid Isl amab ad has decided to b ring its s tance before the wor ld and s hare evidenc e Imran M ehm ood, the main represent ative of Punjab 's c ounte r-t er roris m depa rtment (CTD), a ccompanied the minister

The CTD official said police had traced the suspect within 16 hours of the attack on June 23, 2021 “And within 24 hours we arrested three terrorists The first was Peter Paul David Sajjad Hussain, who was arrested alongside, was David’s assistant,” he said “He (Peter) was affiliated directly with two RAW agents - Ali Budaish and Bablu Srivastava,” the

CTD official alleged, adding his assistant had destroyed the phones used for communications to plan the explosion Mehmood claimed that owing to Peter's identification, Ziaullah, another terrorist, was apprehended and that Sami-ul-Haq, the attack's primary planner, was located with his assistance “We also found out about Naveed Akhtar, who did the surveillance and selected the target,” the official said “Naveed was a labourer in the Middle East and was in jail because he could not pay his fine,” Mehmood said He claimed that a RAW agent approached Naveed and demanded payment of his fine in exchange for Naveed engaging in terrorist actions against Pakistan He continued by saying that multiple terrorist plots were stopped as soon as Naveed was taken into custody

Pak court admits plea seeking Imran’s disqualification as a lawmaker

meeting with Deuba has formally sought his support to become PM in the first half of the five-year term While forging an electoral alliance ahead o f t h e N o v e m b e r 2 0 p o l l s , D e u b a a n d P r a c h a n d a h a d r e p o r t e d l y s t r u c k a ‘ g e n t l eman ’ s agreement’ on leading the government by turns M a h a t s a i d w h i l e Prachanda's proposal was to be e x p e c t e d , i t w o u l d b e m o r e n a t u r a l f o r t h e N e p a l i Congress, as the largest party to emerge from the elections, to lead the government Deuba h a s n o t g i v e n a n y d e f i n i t e answer to Prachanda, a source t o l d T h e K a t h m a n d u P o s t newspaper

6.2 mn people in Lanka facing food insecurity: FAO

An Indian American teenager is believed to have jumped off the famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and died according to his parents and officials of the US Coastal Guards The 16-year-old boy s bicycle phone and bag were found on the bridge The twelfth grader is believed to have jumped off the bridge, they said The coastal guards said they immediately carried out a twohour search and rescue operation after they confirmed they saw "a human" jumping from the bridge They said there is little reason to believe that the boy is alive Community leader Ajay Jain Bhutoria said this is fourth incident involving an Indian American jumping off the Golden Bridge in an apparent suicide attempt According to Bridge Rail Foundation, 25 people ended their lives here last year and nearly 2,000 suicide cases have been reported since the bridge opened in 1937

WOMAN FACES MURDER CHARGES

A 29-year-old Indian-American woman has been charged with first-degree murder for causing the death of her newborn infant by allegedly tossing the baby into a seaside inlet in Florida in 2018 because “she didn t know what to do with her” according to media reports Arya Singh the mother of the female infant known only as ‘Baby June’ was arrested after she confessed to the crime The arrest was made after investigators from Palm Beach County Sherriff s cold case unit found the father who cooperated in the probe the WPTV report said He knew nothing about the baby, detective Brittany Christoffel said Singh confessed to putting the baby in the water and told that she hadn t realised she was pregnant until she gave birth to the baby in the bathroom of a hotel room, said Christoffel

R e l e a s i n g t h e e m e r g e n c y r e s p o n s e overview report from June–December 2022 on Sri Lanka, the FAO said that 6 2 million people facing moderate acute food insecurity and humanitarian needs in Sri Lanka continued to rise sharply in 2022 as a result of political and economic upheaval

4 PAK COPS KILLED AS ULTRAS ATTACK POLICE STATION

At least four policemen were killed and as many critically injured when terrorists, suspected to be from the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) Pakistan, attacked a police station in northwest Pakistan’s Lakki Marwat district Two groups of heavily armed terrorists closed in on Burgai police station from opposite sides around midnight and took on a contingent of more than 60 cops The terrorists hurled hand grenades and fired rocket launchers killing four of the policemen instantly and injuring several The police traded gunfire with the terrorists for almost 45 minutes before they fled under the cover of darkness

LANDSLIDE TOLL IN MALAYSIA HITS 24

The HC had issued notice

Imran and the election commission on December 9, seeking details crucial to deciding if a plea

seeking the former PM’s disqualification as lawmaker was maintainable The court had last month reserved its verdict on the maintainability of the petition filed by one Sajid Mehmood The petition claims that Imran wrongfully mentioned in his nomination papers that he had two dependents in sons Sulaiman and Qasim According to Article 62 of the Pakistani Constitution, "a person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a m e m b e r o f M a j l i s - e - S h o o r a ( p a r l i a m e n t ) unless - he is sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, honest and trustworthy " The plea requests that the ex-PM be summoned to investigate the reasons for the violation

Four in every ten households experienced a reduction in their incomes, and one in every two households are currently relying on negative coping mechanisms to cope with the lack of food or money to buy it," its report highlighted The UN body cautioned that the supply of food in local markets has shrunk and food inflation has soared, reaching 90 per cent in July 2022 According to the FAO, the economic crisis had severely affected national food production and supply worsening the situation "Challenges facing food security and agriculture, Sri Lanka is witnessing an unprecedented economic crisis, and the situation is exacerbated by political and social turmoil Nearly 40 per cent of the population of Sri Lanka depend on agriculture as a primary source of income The on-going multidimensional crisis is posing an enormous threat to their livelihoods and disrupting the national food system Agricultural production is in a downward trend since mid-2021 due to the unavailability of fertilisers and other essential production inputs; livestock keepers are unable to access feed and basic veterinary supplies; and fishers are unable to access fuel for motorised boats," the report stated

The FAO stressed that immediate action is needed to provide farmers with quality seeds, fertilizers and pesticides to protect their livelihoods and feed their communities Responding to the crisis, the FAO plans to provide 201,148 households with a total of 10,057 tonnes of urea, 774,000 tonnes of paddy rice, unconditional cash transfers to 53,000 farming households and supply 36,000 tonnes of triple super phosphate to restore agricultural production during the upcoming 2023 Yala season to nearly 3 9 million people

Rescuers on Saturday found the bodies of a woman and two children, raising the toll from a landslide on an unlicensed campground in Malaysia to 24 with nine others still missing Selangor state fire chief Norazam Khamis told reporters the bodies of a mother and son were found buried under a meter (3ft) of mud and debris The body of a little girl was discovered later He said there was hope of finding survivors if they clung on to piles or branches or rocks with pockets of air but that chances were slim Authorities said 94 people were sleeping at the camp site on an organic farm when the dirt tumbled from a road about 30 meters above them and covered about 1 hectare Most were families enjoying a short vacation during the year end school break The 24 victims included seven kids and 13 women

C OLOM B O: Financial ly-col lapsed Sri Lanka is fac ing a rapidly growing food s ecurity cr is is with one in f our peopl e alrea dy fac ing f ood in s e c uri ty , t he Uni te d Na t ion s Fo od an d Agricultur e Organisat ion (FAO) warned on M onday

Bidya Devi Bhandari

in brief BJP's Indian American friends face US inquiry

GUNFIGHT KILLS 6 IN AUSTRALIA

Six people, including two police officers, were killed in a gunfight at a remote property in Australia s Queensland, authorities said When four officers arrived at the property in Wieambilla about 300km outside of Brisbane two armed people opened fire and killed two of them police said without identifying the suspects Police said there was then a siege” at the house Police said 16 officers responded and in a gun battle killed four people

GREEK LAWMAKER AXED OVER GRAFT CHARGES

The European parliament stripped Greek lawmaker Eva Kaili of her senior assembly post over allegations that World Cup host Qatar had bribed her to influence decisionmaking, charges she has denied Kaili, one of 14 vice presidents in the parliament, was among four people arrested and charged in Belgium over the scandal that has triggered outrage in Brussels and risks damaging the EU’s image Qatar has denied any wrongdoing The parliament acted quickly to loosen ties with Kaili, with 625 MEPs voting in favour of the move only one against and two abstaining

IRAN FOOTBALLER FACES DEATH OVER PROTEST

The world union of professional footballers FIFPRO said it was shocked and sickened by the risk of Iranian footballer Amir NasrAzadani being sentenced to death in connection with protests which have shaken the country for three months Nasr-Azadani was arrested in the city of Isfahan two days after allegedly taking part in an “armed riot” in which three security agents were killed on September 16, Isfahan’s judiciary chief Abdullah Jafari said Jafari said the 26-yearold had been accused of “rebellion, membership in illegal gangs, collusion to undermine security and therefore assisting in moharabeh”- a capital crime in Iran

EMBATTLED PERU PRESIDENT REFUSES TO QUIT

Peru’s embattled President Dina Boluarte said she would not step down in the face of violent protests over her predecessor’s ouster as she called on lawmakers to bring forward elections as a way to quell unrest What is solved by my resignation? We will be here, firmly, until Congress determines to bring forward the elections ” Boluarte told Peruvians a day after lawmakers voted against a bill to hold elections next December, more than two years early The South American nation has been wracked by violent unrest since thenpresident Pedro Castillo was impeached and arrested on December 7 after he attempted to dissolve Congress At least 18 people have been killed, including minors

NORWAY PM, MINISTER LABELLED AS NIGERIAN

Has Norway become part of Nigeria? The Scandinavian country s top diplomats asked Twitter to stop presenting its senior politicians as being from the African country The certified Twitter accounts of Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Store, foreign minister Anniken Huitfeldt and her ministry were all presented as Nigerian government officials or institutions “Dear @TwitterSupport, as much as we enjoy our excellent relations and close alphabetical vicinity with Nigeria we would appreciate if you could label us as Norway ” the foreign ministry wrote in a tweet More than three hours after the Norwegian request, the mistake had still not been rectified

W A S H I NG T O N : I nd i a n

A m er ic an f ri en d s o f P r im e

Minister Narendra Modi's g overnm ent and the ruling BJP are facing enquiry from US auth orities under a law th at requires Americans working for or o n behalf of foreign gov ernm ents or enti ti es to re g is ter th emselves and their o rg anisations as "foreign ag ents"

Investigations are believed to be ongoing against an undef i n e d n u m b e r o f I n d i a n Americans, including one who has declared to be the Indian P r i m e M i n i s t e r ' s l o n g t i m e friend and admirer and who has led numerous rallies and outr e a c h e v e n t s i n c l u d i n g M o d i

and top members of his cabinet A spokesperson for the US D e p a r t m e n t o f J u s t i c e ' s N a t i o n a l S e c u r i t y D i v i s i o n , w h i c h o v e r s e e s t h e F o r e i g n

Agent Registration Act (FARA) t h a t i s t h e s u b j e c t o f t h e s e inquiries, declined to confirm o r d e n y w h e t h e r t w o I n d i a n Americans - who were specifically mentioned in the requestwere under FARA investigation

Just this past July, a Texasbased organisation became the second organisation set up by I n d i a n A m e r i c a n s t o r e g i s t e r themselves under FARA - Ethos F o u n d a t i o n ( D B A - B h a r a t i Foundation) Its office-bearers are a US-based Indian citizen

and two Americans of Indian descent It was not immediately clear if the organization was forced to register itself under FARA by US authorities or did so voluntarily

In its registration form, the o r g a n i s a t i o n l i s t e d K i s h o r e Poreddy, describing him as the official Spokesperson of BJP, as the person it engages with, and listed the address of the foreign p r i n c i p a l - - t h e B J P - - a s N a m p a l l y H y d e r a b a d , Telangana, India

T h e o r g a n i s a t i o n s a i d i t s aim is to "communicate with N R I s ( n o n - R e s i d e n t I n d i a n s ) and bring political awareness a b o u t t h e i r M o t h e r c o u n t r y

which is India" To that end, it said, its activities are limited to " j u s t h e l p i n g t h e F o r e i g n Principal (the BJP) to gain (the) confidence of (the) Indian diaspora so that it can help them in their elections in India"

Regarding the services provided to the foreign principal, the BJP, it stated that it "will assist in communication with Indian diaspora which would help Indians have awareness of India and its politicians and cultural ambassadors, that would assist Indian Diaspora in conn e c t i n g w i t h I n d i a n c u l t u r a l and political ambassadors and won't be in darkness about their native country "

FBI report shows increase in anti-Sikh hate crimes in US

W

of 2021

The trends in the recent data continue to confirm what the Sikh Coalition has determined f o r m o r e t h a n 2 0 y e a r s : o u r c o m m u n i t y r e m a i n s u n i q u e l y vulnerable to the risk of targeted h a t e A n t i - S i k h h a t e c r i m e s soared by 140% between 2020 and 2021, from 89 instances to 214 Since the FBI began tracking anti-Sikh hate crimes in 2015, 214 instances represent the highest single total of hate crimes ever recorded According to the FBI’s data, Sikhs were among the

t o p t w o m o s t t a r g e t e d f a i t h groups for hate crimes across the country in 2021, behind the Jewish American community B e t w e e n 2 0 2 0 a n d 2 0 2 1 , there was a nationwide 12 per cent drop in hate crime reports But for the fourth year running, fewer law enforcement organisations are contributing to the FBI's collection of data on hate

Gandhi statue unveiled at UN HQ as 'reminder of values he maintained’

crimes The National I n c i d e n t - B a s e d R e p o r t i n g S y s t e m (NIBRS), a new reporti n g s y s t e m t h a t l a w enforcement agencies were forced to switch to by January 1, 2022, is probably to blame for at least some of this large decline Unfortunately, many large agencies – including those in high population areas like New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Jose – did not make the transition in time to be included in the 2020-2021 FBI dataset Whether due to the NIBRS transition or other factors, there was an approximately 22 per cent

decrease in voluntary reporting

b y l a w e n f o r c e m e n t a g e n c i e s c o m p a r e d t o t h e p r e v i o u s d a t a s e t D e s p i t e t h e s l i g h t national decrease in hate crimes, Sikhs were not the only community with increased reports of hate crime Despite the transition to NIBRS not taking place in counties with sizable Asian American and Pacific Islander constituents, there was a 9 per cent increase in anti-Asian hate events and a 73 per cent increase i n a n t i - N a t i v e H a w a i i a n o r Other Pacific Islander hate incidents This particular data point likely demonstrates the effects of racist and xenophobic public discourse around the Covid-19 pandemic

Indian American detained in health care fraud case

F L

of

:

t e n c e , n o ndiscrimination and pluralism

The new installation located a t @ U N H e a d q u a r t e r s w i l l s e r v e a s a r e m i n d e r o f t h e values Gandhi upheld, and to w h i c h w e m u s t r e m a i n committed ”

L a s t w e e k , F o r e i g n Minister S Jaishankar unveiled the statue of Mahatma Gandhi a t t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s Headquarters in New York In a news release, the Permanent Mission of India to the UN s t a t e d t h a t G u t e r r e s , C s a b a Korosi, the President of the 77th UN General Assembly, a n d A m b a s s a d o r R u c h i r a K a m b o j , I n d i a ' s P e r m a n e n t Representative, accompanied the EAM on the occasion and offered floral tributes at the bust of Mahatma Gandhi

M a h a t m a G a n d h i ' s favourite bhajan 'Vaishnav jan to' was recited at the event The bust, a gift by India, will b e t h e f i r s t s c u l p t u r e o f G a n d h i t o b e p e r m a n e n t l y

l o c a t e d a t t h e N o r t h L a w n G a r d e n s o f t h e U n i t e d Nations H i g h - r a n k i n g representatives of the United N a t i o n s S e c u r i t y C o u n c i l m e m b e r s , i n c l u d i n g n e w l y elected members and senior UN officials, also attended the e v e n t , t h e a n n o u n c e m e n t stated Jaishankar was in New Y o r k t o C h a i r t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s S e c u r i t y C o u n c i l meetings on 14-15 December 2022

During his visit, Jaishankar is scheduled to preside over t w o H i g h - L e v e l M i n i s t e r i a l s i g n a t u r e e v e n t s o f I n d i a ' s o n g o i n g p r e s i d e n c y T h e Foreign ministry, in a press release, stated that the HighLevel Ministerial Open Debate o n D e c e m b e r 1 4 i s o n t h e theme of "New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism [NORMS]

Minal Patel of Atlanta owned LabSolutions, which performed the genetic tests

D O J a l l e g e d t h a t P a t e l c o n s p i r e d w i t h p a t i e n t b r o k e r s , telemedicine companies, and call centers to target Medicare beneficiaries with telemarketing calls In the calls, the lab owner falsely stated that Medicare covered expensive cancer genetic tests

Patel bought signed physician orders from telemedicine businesses with the use of patient brokers by offering payments and bribes after Medicare beneficiaries consented to do a test Patel ordered patient brokers to sign contracts that falsely claimed they were providing genuine advertising services for LabSolutions in order to conceal the payments, DOJ said

The telemedicine doctors approved the expensive testing even though they were not treating the beneficiaries and often did not speak to them From July 2016 to August 2019, LabSolutions submitted more than $463 million in claims to Medicare, including unnecessary medically genetic tests Medicare paid more than $187 million, and Patel personally received more than $21 million

Patel was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, three counts of healthcare fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud the US and to pay and receive illegal healthcare kickbacks, four counts of paying illegal healthcare kickbacks, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering

US to restart free at-home Covid tests as infections soar

W A S H I N G T ON : T h e B i d en ad m i n is tr ati o n announced th at it would restart a program me th at p ro v id ed f re e c o ro n av i ru s te st s to A m eri c an hou seholds through the Po stal S ervice, part of a new push by the g overnment to h ead off rises in v i ru s c as es and h o sp i ta li s ati o n s a s w i nt er approaches

T h e p r o g r a m m e , w h i c h w a s p a u s e d i n September after distributing over 600 million tests, is restarting after federal officials dipped into what the White House said was “existing, limited funding ” Households will be able to order four Covid tests now The tests are a part of a larger Covid-19 "win-

ter readiness strategy" that the White House unveiled in response to growing concern over an increase in viral cases nationwide due to the cold weather Over the last two weeks, cases have i n c r e a s e d b y a b o u t 5 5 % , w h i l e d e a t h s h a v e increased by about 65% Hospital admissions have increased by almost 20%, placing further burden on healthcare facilities already overwhelmed by flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) outbreaks

Two Omicron subvariants, BQ 1 and BQ 1 1, have largely driven the climb in coronavirus cases They now make up around two-thirds of cases in the US and can dodge prior immune defences more easily than other recent variants

ORI DA

A cco rding to the US Department

Ju stice, a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida found a Georg ian m an g uilty of participating in a scheme to defraud Medicare by filing m ore than $463 m illion in claims for genetic and other laboratory testing (DOJ ) Not only were the tests not needed, but they were also procured through the payment of kickbacks According to court documents and evidence presented at trial,

Pramukh Swami was a key social reformer, says PM Modi

The Prime Minister welcomed everyone and praised Pramukh Swami Maharaj before addressing the audience He expressed his sense of the divine presence, the grandeur of his resolutions, and his pride in his lineage One can see

Additionally, he noted that the UN had also observed the

philosophy of India's relevance both within India and beyond the world

Throughout his 30-minute speech, the PM referred to Pramukh Swami as pita tulya (father-figure) who looked after him, and said that he still misses him “I have had the good fortune of knowing him when I was just a social worker It was his greatness that I am reminded of He treated everyone equally I first met him in 1981 The discussion we had was not about God or spirituality, it was about service to humanity,” recounted the PM, adding that he had met the Swami or called him before every big event in his life

“The tiranga yatra (of 1992) at Lal Chowk in Srinagar where I had gone to unfurl tricolour was tumultuous There were attacks on the procession, and it was a cause of concern for some As I had received his blessings before the start of the yatra, he knew about my participation The first call I received when I got down at Jammu was Pramukh Swami’s,” said the PM, adding that Swami inquired about his health and blessed him

“The pen with which I signed my first nomination papers for fighting my first Assembly elections from Rajkot was sent to me by Pramukh Swami Maharaj After that he used to send pens to me every time to sign nomination papers and he had even sent pens with colours of the BJP flag of green and orange when I went to fight (Lok Sabha) election from Varanasi in 2014," said the PM A f t e r t h e 2 0 0 2 A k s h a r d h a m t e r r o r a t t a c k i n Gandhinagar, Modi, then CM of Gujarat, connected with Bapa was fondly called “I could have only imagined what had happened to the sadhus in the temple When I spoke to him, his first concern was my well-being He asked me to believe in God, to not worry and said that everything was going to be fine He told me that God is always with the truth,” said the PM

The Prime Minister further added that Swami ensured that a saint, apart from renunciation, should also be capable and well-versed As Swami established an institutional mechanism for holistic spiritual training, the Prime Minister said that this will benefit the nation for many generations to come

In conclusion, PM said “In a vindictive and vengeful world like that of today, I have been fortunate enough to be around saints like Pramukh Swami Maharaj and Mahant Swami Maharaj who create a virtuous environment It was like a tired person sitting in the shadow of a great banyan tree Not ‘Rajasi’ or ‘Tamsik’, one has to continue moving while staying ‘Satvik’ ”

Among those present on the event were His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, Gujarat's Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Governor Acharya Devvrat, and Pujya Ishwarcharan Swami

As its fifth spiritual guru, Pramukh Swami Maharaj headed the BAPS, the most popular of the 16 branches of the Swaminarayan community, between 1950 and 2016

During this period, the sect set up temples in places like A t l a n t a , L o s A n g e l e s , L o n d o n , T o r o n t o , A u c k l a n d a n d Sydney There are Akshardham temples in New Delhi and Gandhinagar and another will open soon in New Jersey

Prime M inister Narend ra Mo

ad dressed the inaug ural function of Pramukh Swami Maharaj Sh atabdi Mahotsav in Ah med abad wh ich is being h

December 15, 2022, to

international festiv al hosted by the BAPS Swaminarayan Mand ir

PM Modi inaugurates Pramukh Swami Maharaj Shatabdi Mahotsav

Pankaj Patel Parimal Nathwani Gautam Adani Amit Shah and other dignitaries

BJP govt showed ‘red card’ to hurdles of NE growth, says PM Modi

On the day of the FIFA World C u p f in a l i n Qa t a r , P r i me Min iste r Na re ndr a Modi ma de t he decision to speak in the "cont ext of footba ll " in the lead-up t o t he asse mb ly e lections in three n o r t h e a st e r n st a t e s , cl a im in g t hat, like in the ga me , t he B JP g o v e r n me n t i n t h e l a st e i gh t y ears has shown the " red card" t o a ll bar riers t o the d evel opment of t he r egion

Speaking at a rally Modi said, “ I c a n s a y f r o m S h i l l o n g t h a t today our eyes might be on the game being played in Qatar and on the foreign teams in the field, but I have faith in the youth power of my country Therefore, I can say with confidence that the day is not far when we will celebrate such a festival in India and cheer for the tricolour ”

"It is a coincidence that I am here among football fans on the football pitch today, while the football World Cup final is going place On that side, a football match is in progress, and we are vying for advancement on this

field Although the game i s t a k i n g p l a c e i n Q a t a r , t h e enthusiasm here is just as great ”

"And friends, why not talk in the context of football, use football as an example, while I am on t h e f o o t b a l l f i e l d a n d f o o t b a l l passion is pervasive? We are all aware that in football, a player will receive a red card and be ejected if he violates the rules of sportsmanship Similarly, in the last eight years, we have shown a red card to many obstacles related to the development of the northeast We are making sincere efforts to exclude corrup-

t i o n , d i s c r i m i n a t i o n , n e p o t i s m , v i o l e n c e , p e n d e n c y o f p r o j e c t s , v o t e b a n k p o l i t i c s , ” M o d i s a i d S l a m m i n g the opposition, he said their governments were in power for a long time but had a divisive thinki n g f o r t h e n o r t h e a s t and now “ we have come up with the intention of DEVINE (Development Initiative for North East Region) Be it different communities, or different regions, we are doing away with every kind of division ”

“Today, development lanes rather than conflict borders are b e i n g b u i l t i n t h e n o r t h e a s t Numerous organisations have chosen the path of enduring p e a c e d u r i n g t h e p a s t e i g h t years rather than the path of bloodshed To ensure that Afspa is not necessary in the northeast, the situation is constantly being rectified in partnership with the states,” he said

PM Modi’s views on N-arms had impact on Russia:

CIA chief

Th e US said PM Narendra Modi 's views o n th e use of nuclear weapons, combined wi th t h o s e o f C h i n es e President Xi Jinp ing, h ad an impact o n th e Ru ssians and ma y h av e p r ev en te d a wo rldwide catastro ph e in the context of the Ukraine war Th is was furth er su ppo rt for India's stance o n the confl ict

I n d i a h a s r e p e a t e d l y u r g e d d i s c u s s i o n a n d diplomacy to end the crisis while cautioning against the deployment of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war Before Russian President Vladimir Putin, Modi has often emphasised the necessity of ending the conflict “I think it’s also been very useful that Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi in India have also raised their concerns about the use of nuclear weapons as well I think that's also having an impact on the Russians," director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) B i l l B u r n s s a i d , a c c o r d i n g t o a n interview to the broadcaster

“ I t h i n k t h e s a b r e - r a t t l i n g i s meant to intimidate We don't see

"going to take some time " Moreover, he foresaw the "growing" danger of nuclear conflict In his address at the meeting of Russia’s Human Rights Council at the Kremlin, Putin said that Russia will fight by “all available means ” at its disposal, according to CNN Putin said that he considered M o s c o w ' s n u c l e a r a r s e n a l a s a “ d e t e r r e n t r a t h e r t h a n a provocation”

football

Narendra Modi

any clear evidence today of plans to u s e t a c t i c a l n u c l e a r w e a p o n s , " h e added The CIA director made his c o m m e n t s o n t h e s a m e d a y t h a t R u s s i a n P r e s i d e n t V l a d i m i r P u t i n a c k n o w l e d g e d t h a t t h e c o n fl i c t i s

Bill Burns

Artefacts at Pramukh Swami Maharaj Shatabdi Mahotsav

NE W DE L HI: Se eking to def us e t he border te nsions b etween M ahar ashtra and K a rn a t a k a , U ni on hom e m inis ter Am it Shah as ked t he two c hief m inist ers to wait for the Suprem e Cour t ver dict on t he dispute and s et up a six-mem ber joint minis terial panel to addres s rela ted iss ues

Shah also told Maharashtra CM E k n a t h S h i n d e a n d h i s K a r n a t a k a counterpart, Basavaraj Bommai, that the border issue needed to be settled o n l y t h r o u g h c o n s t i t u t i o n a l m e a n s A f t e r m e e t i n g S h a h , t h e t w o C M s agreed not to press their territorial claims and wait for the apex court’s verdict

“It was also agreed in the meeting that no state will claim each other's land till the decision of the Supreme Court and three ministers each from both the states will meet and discuss this issue in detail,” Shah told reporters after the meeting

Shah alleged fake tweets in the n a m e o f t o p l e a d e r s i n f l a m e d t h e sentiments in both states “FIRs will be r e g i s t e r e d a n d c u l p r i t s b r o u g h t t o b o o k , ” t h e h o m e m i n i s t e r s a i d a n d

hoped that opposition leaders in both states “will not give political colour to this issue in t h e i n t e r e s t o f t h e general public”

Earlier, Shinde had r a i s e d t h e i s s u e o f certain tweets allegedly made from an a c c o u n t o f t h e K a r n a t a k a c h i e f m i n i s t e r M a h a r a s h t r a d e p u t y C M Fadnavis said Shinde also flagged the issue of Bommai “issuing directives” to K a r n a t a k a o f f i c e r s i n B e l a g a v i t o “prevent the visit of ministers from Maharashtra” to the region Bommai clarified that the directives were given as there were apprehensions about a law and order situation in Belagavi Shah said a committee under the chairmanship of an IPS officer will be formed to maintain law and order and e n s u r e p e a c e f u l p a s s a g e o f p e o p l e , transport and goods from one state to t h e o t h e r T h e h o m e m i n i s t e r h a d summoned the CMs of the two states after border tensions flared up recently leading to violence in Belagavi and the adjoining regions of Karnataka which h a v e a s i z e a b l e M a r a t h i - s p e a k i n g population

r u n un i v er si ti e s and p i c k o n e o r m or e em i ne nt p ersonalities to take ov er that respo nsibility

The opposition UDF boycotted the proceedings after the government refused to incorporate some of its suggestions in the bill such as including the chief j u s t i c e o f t h e K e r a l a h i g h c o u r t i n t h e s e l e c t i o n c o m m i t t e e T h e g o v e r n m e n t i n s t e a d d e c i d e d t o constitute a selection committee comprising the CM, the leader of the opposition and the speaker L a w m i n i s t e r P R a j e e v e s a i d t h e o p p o s i t i o n ' s demand to include the chief justice in the selection committee couldn't be considered as the latter would be required to adjudicate on legal issues if anyone challenged the chancellor's appointment in court The original version of the bill had proposed that the cabinet appoint the chancellor

The passage of the bill comes amid a tussle between governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the government over various issues, including the appointment of vicec h a n c e l l o r s o f v a r i o u s u n i v e r s i t i e s L e a d e r o f t h e opposition V D Satheesan said there was no need to have 14 chancellors for as many universities, at which Rajeeve said that could be discussed and finalised later "The government has no preconceived notion about the number of chancellors," he said

Vigilance Bureau raids properties owned by Amarinder’s ex-adviser

Sidhu may have t o spe nd l ess than e ight months in ja il if he displa ys good con duct an d prison official s a nd the Punjab Gov ernment give him special remissions

Sidhu, who has been handed d o w n o n e - y e a r r i g o r o u s i m p r i s o n m e n t b y t h e S u p r e m e Court, will get 48 days’ remission in the sentence automatically in lieu of w o r k i n g i n t h e j a i l f a c t o r y “ A convict gets four days remission per m o n t h , i n c l u d i n g t h e f i r s t t h r e e months of training where he doesn’t get paid,” said a serving jail official

The Jail Superintendent has the p o w e r t o r e m i t a n o t h e r 3 0 d a y s from a convict’s sentence This is usually given liberally to almost all convicts, barring those indulging in gross indiscipline

The Director General of Police ( J a i l s ) o r A d d i t i o n a l D i r e c t o r G e n e r a l o f P o l i c e ( J a i l s ) i s e m p o w e r e d t o p r o v i d e t h e t h i r d

remission of additional 60 days, but this is usually given in exceptional cases and with political consent In Sidhu’s case, he has a good chance o f g e t t i n g t h e b e n e f i t o f t h i s remission owing to his proximity to C h i e f M i n i s t e r B h a g w a n t M a n n

The CM had recently held a meeting with Sidhu, the only politician from an Opposition party to be allowed special audience with the CM There is also an outside chance t h a t S i d h u m a y g e t m o r e concessions if the state government announces special remission for all c o n v i c t s , b a r r i n g t h o s e j a i l e d i n heinous crimes

A request has been sent to the immigration authorities to issue a look out circular against Chahal An officer monitoring the case said Chahal’s phone is switched off since December 8 and he is not traceable

He said the VB teams are ascertaining the value of the properties of Chahal Chahal was adviser with a cabinet rank from 2017-21 when Amarinder was the Punjab chief minister He, along with Amarinder, joined the BJP in July

Chahal was booked in a corruption case by the SAD government in 2008 but was later acquitted as witnesses against him turned hostile Almost 10 days back, a team of senior district police officials reached his Tawakli Morh residence but Chahal was not present there

A senior VB official said though his family, including his grandson, are present in Patiala, Chahal had been missing despite efforts to trace his whereabouts “We have intimated the authorities to ensure that he does not leave the country,” he said

“In one of the earlier cases under probe, there is evidence linking Chahal Therefore, we are conducting searches at the properties owned by him,” said the official

in brief

KARNATAKA HEADING FOR TUSSLE OVER ANTI-HALAL BILL

The Karnataka assembly’s winter session is likely to witness a renewed faceoff between BJP and Congress over the government s plan to introduce an antihalal bill that will forbid halal meat in the state BJP MLC N Ravikumar has taken the initiative to bring the bill that seeks to ban food certification by any institution other than the Food Safety and Security Association of India (FSSAI) The halal issue sparked unrest in Karnataka earlier this year after pro-Hindutva fringe elements called for a boycott of halal meat during the Ugadi festival A section of BJP functionaries wants to give this legal sanctity by passing the bill

KCR'S PARTY WILL GET VRS: BJP CHIEF JP NADDA

BJP president JP Nadda targeted the ruling BRS in Telangana for alleged corruption including the recent examination of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao s daughter K Kavitha by the CBI in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam case He said the TRS which has recently been renamed as BRS would soon get VRS (voluntary retirement) Addressing a public meeting to mark the conclusion of the fifth phase of Statewide 'padayatra' by Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar Nadda attacked the BRS, referring to the CBI examining Kavitha, an MLC "KCR saab may get angry But, why the agencies had to call his daughter for questioning What is the reason? What is there in it?," he said Nadda, who accused Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao of corruption at the "macro-level", said the time has come to bid goodbye to Rao

PUNJAB PLANS CHEAP LIQUOR TO AVERT HOOCH

TRAGEDIES

When Bihar’s prohibition law is failing to avert hooch tragedies Punjab’s Bhagwant Singh Mann government informed the Supreme Court that it plans to provide a cheap variant of country liquor as a healthy substitute to wean away people from illicit homemade liquor The AAP-governed state s excise and taxation department said this in an affidavit even as senior advocate Ajit Sinha informed a bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar that the police have also strengthened local-level intelligence to detect and destroy illegal liquor manufacturing ‘bhattis’ which have mushroomed over the years in the sensitive border state

s chem e over the past year She handed over a l etter to Shah with her dem ands in an interac tion t hat l asted for around 15 to 2 0 m inutes at the chief m inis ter’s c ha mber in the st ate s ecretar iat, ‘ Naba nna ’

S o u r c e s s a i d B a n e r j e e e x p r e s s e d h e r d i f f i c u l t i e s a s a massive amount of central funds a r e s t u c k T h e B e n g a l government had not got a single

government said approximately 17,00,000 families are waiting to get jobs Bengal has 10 8 million active job cards, and 320 million man days have been applied but n o o n e h a s g o t a j o b y e t According to the NREGA Act, one should get a job within 15 days A number of letter have been sent

to the Centre in the last five months but nothing has been done about it, sources added West Bengal has received a n a l l o c a t i o n o f 1 1 , 3 6 , 4 4 8 h o u s e s u n d e r P M A Y - G scheme for the 2022-23 fiscal Sources said last week another letter was sent to Centre about t h i s S h a h , h o w e v e r , t o l d Mamata, her counterpart from Jharkhand Hemant Soren, Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and Odisha cabinet minister Pradeep A m a t t h a t t h e y t o o s h a r e d a responsibility along with the BSF f o r s e c u r i t y i n I n d i a ’ s b o r d e r areas Illegal infiltration, transb o r d e r s m u g g l i n g a n d t h e v u l n e r a b l e I n d i a - B a n g l a d e s h boundary were among subjects discussed at the EZC meeting

Talks on transportation facilities a n d w a t e r - s h a r i n g a m o n g t h e states were also held

T h e r o l e o f B S F w a s d i s c u s s e d , i n t h e l i g h t o f t h e increase in the operational area of the border force earlier this year In response, according to s o u r c e s , t h e h o m e m i n i s t e r i s believed to have indicated that the state governments too have a role to play in border security, according to sources

The meeting also discussed resurgence of Maoist activities in Jharkhand-Odisha and Bengal It w a s d e c i d e d t h a t s t a t e s a n d C e n t r e w i l l p o o l r e a l - t i m e information on Maoist activities i n t h e r e d z o n e i n o r d e r t o coordinate steps to neutralise the movement, officials said

3 KILLED IN STAMPEDE DURING BLANKET DISTRIBUTION

At least three people were killed and eight others severely injured in a stampede at a blanket distribution programme in West Bengal’s Paschim Bardhaman district The stampede broke out as people rushed to the stage in an effort to collect blankets after the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP left the venue Meanwhile, the ruling Trinamool Congress has put the blame on Adhikari, stating the incident occurred due to "chaos created by" him who described the deaths and injuries as “unfortunate ” According to Asansol Mayor Bidhan Upadhyay, around 5,000 people were present at the programme “Three people were killed and five others were injured in the stampede The injured people were hospitalised," a senior official of Asansol said

PUNJAB

Wait for SC verdict, Shah tells Maharashtra, Karnataka CMs Kerala passes bill to remove governor as chancellor Mamata raises non-payment of central funds in meeting with Shah

Sidhu may be freed after spending less than 8 months in jail

T H I RU V A NA NT H A P U RA M : T he Kera la ass em bly last w eek p assed the University L aw s (Am endm ent) Bill that seeks to rem ove the gov erno r as chancellor of state

C H A N D I G A R H : C on gr e ss l e a de r a nd for me r cricke ter Na vjot Sin gh

P A T IA L A : T he Vigilance Bureau raided various prop erties owned by BIS Chahal, form er adv iser to C ap t Am arind er Singh The VB has started a formal inquiry against C hahal in a disproportio nate assets case

Navjot Singh Sidhu

India thwarts China’s bid to ‘change status quo’ on LAC

Chinese troops tried to transg ress across the Line of A ctual Control at Yang tse in the Taw ang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on Decem ber 9 in a bid to “ u nilaterally change the status quo ” there but were beaten back by Indian sold iers, d efence m i ni s ter Raj n ath S i ng h to ld Parliam ent

Sources said the 300 troops from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), who intruded across the LAC armed with wooden clubs and sticks, apparently wanted to gain access to a peak that provides a commanding view in the highaltitude region at around 17,000 feet

B u t t h e I n d i a n s o l d i e r s deployed there, who also called in f o r r e i n f o r c e m e n t s , f o r c e d t h e PLA troops to retreat in the ensuing protracted hand-to-hand combat that left several wounded on

e i t h e r s i d e w i t h b r o k e n b o n e s , bruises and other injuries China, in turn alleged Indian troops had “ i l l e g a l l y c r o s s e d ” t h e d i s p u t e d border to block a routine PLA patrol during the incident

R a j n a t h , h o w e v e r , m a d e i t clear that the PLA troops had provoked the face-off, and that India has asked China to “refrain from such actions and maintain peace and tranquility along the border” through both military and diplomatic channels

The minister said the PLA soldiers went back to their locations due to the timely intervention by Indian military commanders The Indian brigade commander in the a r e a s u b s e q u e n t l y h e l d a f l a g meeting with his PLA counterpart o n D e c e m b e r 1 1 t o s t r e s s t h a t C h i n a s h o u l d d e s i s t f r o m s u c h actions This is not the first time

that the PLA has tried to gain access to the 17,000-feet peak in the forbidding terrain at Yangtse, or the ‘MagoChuna’ area as it is militarily called A similar PLA bid was thwarted by Indian soldiers in October last year Tawang is one o f t h e m o s t h e a v i l y d e f e n d e d regions by India along the 3,488km LAC with China, which claims it as part of ‘South Tibet’ and had captured it in the initial days of the 1962 war

Won’t cede an inch to Beijing, v ows Shah Declaring that the Narendra M o d i g o v e r n m e n t w o u l d n o t allow “ a single inch of its land” to be encroached upon, home minister Amit Shah praised Indian soldiers for “protecting the motherl a n d ” b y d r i v i n g a w a y C h i n e s e infiltrators from Tawang “within hours” on December 8-9

US pledges support to India over China border clashes

The Biden administr ation pledged supp ort fo r India in th e wake o f bo rder disp utes with Ch ina and accused Beijing o f being p rov ocat iv e against US all ies and p ar tner s in th e Indo-Pacif ic r eg ion Th e g ov ernment also v owed to cont inue wor king to ensure t heir secur it y

T h e U S a s s u r a n c e w a s g i v e n i n response to a question from a reporter at a P e n t a g o n b r i e f i n g r e g a r d i n g c l a s h e s between Chinese and Indian troops in Arunachal Pradesh The reporter specifically wanted to know if the Pentagon was worried that this could result in a larger military conflict and if the US was willing to give India more military support to help t h e m d e a l w i t h C h i n a ' s m i l i t a r y t h r e a t s " W e w i l l c o n t i n u e t o r e m a i n steadfast in our commitment to ensuring the security of our partners," Pentagon p r e s s s e c r e t a r y B r i g a d i e r G e n e r a l P a t

Ryder said

R y d e r s a i d t h e U S f u l l y s u p p o r t s India s ongoing efforts to de-escalate this situation The (US) department of defence continues to closely watch developments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at the India-China border We have seen the PRC continue to amass forces and build military infrastructure along the so-called LAC,” he added

The US support for India in its recent travails with China has been unequivocal, a far cry from the days when it typically advised India to sort out issues with its neighbours Beijing is said to have recently warned American officials to not interfere with its relationship with India, advice that Washington saw as China trying to erode "US and partner influence", according to a Pentagon report submitted to US lawmakers last month

India’s Sargam Koushal wins Mrs World 2022 title

A fter 21 years, Indi a's Sargam K o u s h al , w as e lec te d as M r s World in L as Vegas Sh e wo n the title for Ind ia by o utlasting riv als from 63 other co

a master's degree in English literature Sargam s father is an ex-banker She commended him for motivating her to pursue her dreams in life

Koushal now lives in Mumbai and is married to a Navy officer When asked about her most "beautiful and gratifying" chapter in life during the Mrs India pageant, she

r e s p o n d e d w i t h m a r r i a g e S h e said "I met a fantastic man We help each other to become better people He's been my support system"

Mrs World, which descended from the Mrs America competition, started in 1984 This contest was formerly known as Mrs Woman of the World Mrs World title was only given the name in 1988

Over the years, more than 80 countries have participated in Mrs World, with the United States claiming the most victories Mrs World was awarded to India once in 2001and the award was won by actress Aditi Govitrikar Currently, she is serving as a judge for Mrs India Inc 2022–2023

BJP, Bihar govt intensify war of words over hooch tragedy

Th e political slugfest between the Bihar government and th e oppo sition BJP continued ov er th e p ayment of com pensation to the kin of Saran hooch victims even as saffron party M P Sushil Mod i claim ed that m ore than 100 peo ple have d ied in th e trag ed y and fam ily m em bers of the d eceased w ere performing last rites without postm ortem due to fear of police Officially, how ev er, there have only been 38 d eath s in Saran district in "d ry" Bihar, the m ost of who m were the po or M odi said th at he had m et the fam ilies of th ose w ho lo st th eir liv es in the trag ed y While the Left parties, which support the

Nitish Kumar government from outside, are in favour of financial relief to the hooch victims, CM Nitish Kumar’s party JD(U)’s parl i a m e n t a r y b o a r d c h a i r m a n U p e n d r a Kushwaha said, “if somebody is manufacturing bombs illegally and gets killed during the blasts in the process, is the government responsible for that? Does it make the case for government compensation,” Kushwaha asked and said compensating the deceased in the hooch tragedy would amount to encouraging crime He even termed BJP’s demand as “irresponsible ” However, his remarks invited sharp criticism from Sushil Modi

At the same time, he cornered Congress for disrupting question hour in Lok Sabha even though a statement by the defence minister on the events in Tawang had been s l o t t e d S h a h a l l e g e d t h a t Congress may have done so to avoid any disclosures during his reply to a starred question pertaini n g t o t h e C h i n e s e f u n d i n g extended to the Sonia Gandhi-led Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) between 2005 and 2007 India plans a 1, 700 -km ‘ frontier highw ay ’

T h e g o v e r n m e n t w i l l c o nstruct a new highway in Arunachal Pradesh within the next five years that will be near to the borders with Tibet, China, Myanmar, and India The "frontier highway" will occasionally pass within 20 km of an international boundary

The 1,748-km long two lane

road, which has huge strategic significance and aims to stop migration of people from border areas, will be built by the road transport ministry This is the longest NH that the Centre has notified in one go in recent times

The NH-913 road will be a huge help for the smooth transit of defence soldiers and equipment to the border, where China has been making repeated incursion attempts On its side of the LAC, China is allegedly building infrastructure The highway will start from Bomdila and pass through Nafra, Huri and Monigong, which is the closest point on the IndiaTibet border The road will also p a s s t h r o u g h J i d o a n d Chenquenty, which are closest to the China border, and will termin a t e a t V i j a y n a g a r , n e a r I n d i aMyanmar border

India successfully tests Agni missile amid border tension with China

India l aunched it s most power ful nuclear -capabl e missile, the Agn i-V, as the IAF b egan a ma ssive ex ercise to finetune its combat rea din ess in the eastern sector This wa s part of a two-pr on ged st rategic stat ement to China

T h e S t r a t e g i c F o r c e s Command (SFC) in collaboration with DRDO conducted the test of the over 5,000k m r a n g e A g n i - V b a l l i s t i c missile, which brings even t h e n o r t h e r n m o s t p a r t o f China within its strike envel o p e , f r o m t h e A P J A b d u l Kalam Island off the Odisha coast

A c c o r d i n g t o s o u r c e s “ T h e t h r e e - s t a g e s o l i d f u e l l e d A g n i - V , i n i t s f u l l o p e r a t i o n a l c o n f i g u r a t i o n , was successfully tested for its e n t i r e r a n g e T h e m i s s i l e i n c o r p o r a t e d s o m e n e w t e c h n o l o g i e s t o m a k e i t lighter as well as enable it to go to a longer distance ”

The SFC had last tested the Agni-V in October 2021, which the defence ministry had then stated was in con-

formity with India’s stated policy to have “credible mini m u m d e t e r r e n c e t h a t underpins our commitment to no first-use”

Since the Agni-V is a cani s t e r - l a u n c h m i s s i l e , i t r e q u i r e s l e s s m a i n t e n a n c e and can be transported and fired more quickly than prior A g n i m o d e l s G i v e n t h a t China has a sizable nuclear arsenal and missiles like the D o n g F e n g - 4 1 ( 1 2 , 0 0 0 –15,000 km) that can strike any Indian city, it gives India a stronger deterrence against Chinese aggression

Last week, the Shillongbased Eastern Air Command launched the two day consolidated air combat training e x e r c i s e i n A s s a m a n d A r u n a c h a l P r a d e s h , w h i c h also included C-130J Super H e r c u l e s ’ a i r c r a f t a n d drones, Apache attack and Chinook heavy-lift choppers

IAF claimed it was a "preplanned exercise" and unrelated to the significant physi c a l a l t e r c a t i o n b e t w e e n Indian and Chinese forces on December 9 at Yangtse in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh

Govt takes on WHO for blaming Indian cough syrup for Gambia deaths

The government criticised WHO for failing to provide ev i d en c e t o s up po rt i t s claim that four cough and co ld s yr ups m ad e by the I n di a n c o m pa n y M a i de n Pharmaceutical Ltd were to blame for the deaths of 66 children in the Gambia The go ve r nm e n t a n n ou nc e d tha t s am pl es of t he f our products had been found to be of s tandard quality

India claimed that tests performed at a government l a b o r a t o r y h a d r e v e a l e d that all control samples of the four products were in compliance with specifications in a communication made on December 13 to t h e W o r l d H e a l t h O r g a n i z a t i o n ( W H O ) , which had issued a medical product alert linking the

drugs in question with the deaths of children in the Gambia

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 ( D C G I ) suggested to WHO that the Geneva-based organisation had rushed to conclusions about India-made products being responsible for the deaths in Gambia without having enough basis DCGI cited the results of the tests which found the cold and cough syrups manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceutical Ltd to be safe

None of the four drugs p o t e n t i a l l y l i n k e d t o t h e d e a t h o f 6 6 c h i l d r e n i n Gambia are being sold in India currently, the Union health ministry has clarified It claimed that references to the deaths of chil-

dren were included in the alerts and communications that were received from the start of the terrible occurrence in the Gambia, and that they were written in a w a y t h a t s u g g e s t e d t h a t cough syrup use was the main cause of the mortality

O n O c t o b e r 5 , W H O had issued a medical product alert which stated that the four drugs being supplied to Gambia by Maiden Pharma were of substandard quality It also issued an alert that claimed the products were linked to the death of many children in Gambia The four products a r e : P r o m e t h a z i n e O r a l Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup

Sargam Koushal

India, Pak foreign ministers spar angrily over 'terrorism'

I n a v e r b a l b a t t l e b e t w e e n t h e n ucle ar -a rme d ne ighb ours at t he U N , P a k is t a n s f or e i g n mi n is t e r B il awal B hutt o r efe rred to India's pr ime ministe r a s the "butcher of G u j a r a t " a ft e r h is co un t e r p a r t Subr ahma nyam Jaishanka r claimed t hat his nation was t he "epicent re of t errorism "

T h e H i m a l a y a n t e r r i t o r y o f K a s h m i r , w h i c h w a s d i v i d e d between the two in 1947, has caused p o l i t i c a l t e n s i o n b e t w e e n t h e c o m p e t i n g S o u t h A s i a n n a t i o n s T h r e e w a r s a n d n u m e r o u s s k i r m i s h e s a l o n g t h e i r v o l a t i l e border have been waged since then

Talking to reporters after the U N m e e t i n g , J a i s h a n k a r c a l l e d P a k i s t a n t h e “ e p i c e n t r e o f terrorism” “My advice is to clean up y o u r a c t a n d t r y t o b e g o o d n e i g h b o u r , ” h e s a i d “ H i l l a r y C l i n t o n , d u r i n g h e r v i s i t t o P a k i s t a n , s a i d t h a t i f y o u k e e p snakes in your back yard you can’t e x p e c t t h e m t o b i t e o n l y y o u r n e i g h b o u r s , e v e n t u a l l y t h e y w i l l bite the people who keep them in

the back yard,” he added W h e n B i l w a l w a s a s k e d t o respond to Jaishankar’s allegation, he said the Indians continue to say “ M u s l i m a n d t e r r o r i s t t o g e t h e r ” , whether in Pakistan or in India He said Jaishankar should remember that “Osama bin Laden is dead, [but] the butcher of Gujarat lives and he is the prime minister of India”

When religious riots in Gujarat,

India, killed over 2,000 people in 2 0 0 2 , t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e m Muslims, Narendra Modi, and the country’s Hindu nationalist prime minister was serving as the state's chief minister

Modi was accused of turning a blind eye to the violence Until his election as prime minister in 2014, he was denied entry to the United States He added, his country had lost far more lives to terrorism and

India denounces OIC official's visit to PoK

I ndia robu stly denounced th e v is i t t o P a k is t a n- o c c u p ie d K a s h m i r by O I C s e c r e ta r y general Hiss ein Brah im Tah a, s a yin g h e h a d b ec o me t h e “ m o u t h - p i ec e o f P a k is t a n ” and comm unicating to h op e h e w i l l r ef r a in f r o m no t j o in in g t h e c o u n t ry in p ro m o ti ng c ro s s - b o r de r terro ris m against India

T h e C e n t r e a l s o s t a t e d the Organisation of Islamic C o o p e r a t i o n ( O I C ) h a d already lost its credibility by t a k i n g a “ b l a t a n t l y

c o m m u n a l , p a r t i s a n a n d factually incorrect” approach on issues

“We strongly condemn the visit of OIC secretary g e n e r a l t o P a k i s t a no c c u p i e d K a s h m i r ( P o K ) and his comments on J&K during his visit to Pakistan Let me restate that OIC has no locus standi in matters related to J&K, which is an integral part of India Any attempt of interference and meddling in India’s internal affairs by the OIC and its

SC grants bail to Godhra train burning convict

s e c r e t a r y g e n e r a l i s c o m p l e t e l y u n a c c e p t a b l e , ” s a i d A r i n d a m B a g c h i , s p o k e s p e r s o n o f t h e ministry of external affairs

He added “It's secretary general has unfortunately become a mouth-piece of Pakistan We hope that he w o u l d r e f r a i n f r o m b e c o m i n g a p a r t n e r i n c a r r y i n g o u t n e f a r i o u s a g e n d a o f P a k i s t a n o f p r o m o t i n g c r o s s b o r d e r t e r r o r i s m i n t o I n d i a , especially in J&K ”

Jaishankar takes dig at China and Pak on terrorism at UN

In d i a n

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God hra train coach burning case, no ting that he has been in jail for the last 1 7 years A judge panel made up of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha took note of the request for bail made by Faruk Gaji's defence attorney, given the time since his arrest

S o l i c i t o r G e n e r a l T u s h a r M e h t a , a p p e a r i n g f o r t h e G u j a r a t g o v e r n m e n t , opposed the plea and said usually stone p e l t i n g i s a n o f f e n c e o f m i n o r n a t u r e , however, in the instant case, the train coach was bolted to ensure that passengers cannot come out

On October 9, 2017, the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal The applicant has requested bail on the grounds that he has been detained since 2004 and has served almost 17 years in prison We direct the applicant to be granted bail subject to such terms and conditions as may be imposed by the sessions (trial) court in light of the facts and circumstances of the case and the role attributed to the applicant, the bench stated in its judgment

The appeals against the conviction of several convicts are pending adjudication in the apex court

o ssb or d e r t e r r o r is m a s h e pr e s id e d ov e r a meeting on the topic at the UN Se curity Council He claimed that Sout h Asia still had long-standing terr or net work s and ol d hab its that were active t oday , despite " wha te ver gloss ma y b e applied to minimise unpl easant real ities "

Without naming China, he also attacked “double standards” in fighting terrorism and s a i d t h e w o r l d c a n n o t a f f o r d t a c t i c a l compromises or attention deficit on this issue

"Some have stuck with the idea that terrorism is merely another tool or tactic for far too long Such cynicism has been used by those who support terrorism to continue Even for the people whose tolerance goes this far, it could be harmful, Jaishankar added, recalling how attempts to outlaw terrorists that were supported by evidence had been delayed without a good justification

Anjali Kulthe, a nurse from India and a victim of the Mumbai attacks, spoke about the human cost of terrorism during the meeting held under India's leadership Her testimony, according to the minister, served as a reminder that justice in the case had not y e t b e e n s e r v e d J a i s h a n k a r c a l l e d f o r a comprehensive, contemporary and resulto r i e n t e d a p p r o a c h t o t e r r o r i s m a n d f o r overcoming political differences to arrive at a ‘ z e r o t o l e r a n c e ’ p o l i c y T h e m i n i s t e r i d e n t i f i e d f o u r m a j o r c h a l l e n g e s w h i c h , a c c o r d i n g t o h i m , t h e c o u n t e r - t e r r o r i s m architecture is grappling with

t h a t h e , h i m s e l f , w a s a v i c t i m , referring to his mother and former P r i m e M i n i s t e r B e n a z i r B h u t t o , who was assassinated by a suicide bomber in 2007 Bhutto was the f i r s t w o m a n e l e c t e d t o l e a d a Muslim-majority country in 1988

“As a Muslim, as a Pakistani, as a victim of terrorism, I believe it is time that we move away from some o f t h e I s l a m o p h o b i c n a r r a t i v e framing of this issue that took place a f t e r t h e a w f u l a t t a c k s o f September 11, 2001, because what we witnessed from that date up u n t i l n o w i s t h a t t e r r o r i s m , o f course, knows no religion, knows no boundaries,” Bilawal said “Why would we want our own people to suffer? We absolutely do not,” he added

I n a s t a t e m e n t r e l e a s e d b y A r i n d a m B a g c h i , s p o k e s m a n f o r I n d i a ’ s f o r e i g n m i n i s t r y , c a l l e d Pakistan minister’s remarks a “ new l o w ” “ T h e F o r e i g n M i n i s t e r o f Pakistan has obviously forgotten this day in 1971, which was a direct result of the genocide unleashed by

Unfortunately, Pakistan does not seem to have changed much in the t r e a t m e n t o f i t s m i n o r i t i e s I t certainly lacks credentials to cast a s p e r s i o n s a t I n d i a , ” s a i d t h e s t a t e m e n t , r e f e r r i n g t o B a n g l a d e s h ’ s i n d e p e n d e n c e f r o m Pakistan BJP hol ds prote sts across Gujar at A series of demonstrations were organized by the BJP in various parts of Gujarat against Bilawal's B h u t t o f o r h i s r e m a r k s a g a i n s t Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat BJP workers raised slogans a g a i n s t B i l a w a l a n d b u r n t h i s effigies in some places The protests w e r e h e l d i n A h m e d a b a d , G a n d h i n a g a r , V a d o d a r a , B o t a d , Rajkot, Mahisagar , Junagadh and many other places In Gandhinagar, a delegation led by state BJP’s Yuva Morcha president Prashant Korat s u b m i t t e d a m e m o r a n d u m t o governor Acharya Devvrat at Raj B h a v a n T h e m e m o r a n d u m criticizes Pakistan and Bhutto

SC rejects Bilkis Bano’s plea for Maharashtra to decide on remission

T h e S u p r em e C o u r t h a s d ismissed a p etition by 200 2 p ost-Godh ra riot-co nnected g ang rap e s u rv i v o r Bi l ki s Y a ku b Ra so o l w h o h ad so ught rev iew of the SC’ s M ay 1 3 j u d g m e nt w h i ch p e rm i tt ed t h e Gu j ar at g overnment to consid er the rem ission pleas of 1 1 gang rap e and m urd er co nv i cts sentenced to life, lead ing to their release from jail

T h r o u g h h e r l a w y e r , S h o b h a G u p t a , B i l k i s h a d r e q u e s t e d a n o p e n c o u r t h e a r i n g f o r h e r r e v i e w p e t i t i o n , i n w h i c h s h e sought to overturn the May 13 ruling that Maharashtra would be the "appropriate state" to decide again on the lifers' remission pleas after t h e y w e r e c o n v i c t e d o f g a n g - r a p i n g n u m e r o u s

v i c t i m s , i n c l u d i n g a pregnant Bilkis, and killing 14 people during the Gujarat r i o t s S h e h a d c o n t e n d e d that Maharashtra, and not Gujarat, should consider the remission

B i l k i s ’ s w r i t p e t i t i o n c h a l l e n g i n g t h e G u j a r a t g o v e r n m e n t ’ s d e c i s i o n t o r e m i t t h e r e m a i n i n g s e n t e n c e s o f t h e l i f e r s remains pending, along with similar petitions by activist S u b h a s i n i A l i a n d o t h e r s , before a bench headed by Justice Ajay Rastogi

O n M a y 1 3 , a b e n c h p r e s i d e d o v e r b y J u s t i c e Rastogi decided that as the o c c u r r e n c e t o o k p l a c e i n Gujarat, that state should be t h e o n e t o t a k e t h e r e m i s s i o n r e q u e s t s u n d e r the 1992 Remission Rules

i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n O n December 13, exactly seven m o n t h s l a t e r , a b e n c h o f Justices Rastogi and Vikram N a t h h e a r d h e r r e v i e w petition in private, absent any legal representation It d e n i e d h e r r e q u e s t f o r a public court hearing as well as her review petition

The bench said, “In our opinion, there appears no error apparent on the face of record, which may call for r e v i e w o f t h e j u d g m e n t dated May 13, 2022, and as regards the judgments on which the reliance has been p l a c e d , n o n e o f t h e j u d g m e n t s a r e o f a n y a s s i s t a n c e t o t h e r e v i e w petitioner In our opinion, no case for review is made out The review petition is accordingly dismissed ”

Human smuggling racket kingpin held in Gujarat

Bharat alias Bo bby Patel –th e 4 7- year-o ld ‘ Ding u ch a king pin’ susp ected of having sent four of a fam ily from Gand hinagar on an illeg al j o u rn ey to th e U S th a t end ed in th eir d eath s early in January – has finally been caught T he Gujarat police ar res te d h i m fr o m t h e Bhadaj area of Ah medabad wh en he alleg ed ly arrived to meet his ailing partner

A c c o r d i n g t o p o l i c e sources, a squad from the state monitoring cell, which keeps an eye on the city's gaming and alcohol sales, r e c e i v e d i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t Bharat Patel had been seen v i s i t i n g a r e s i d e n c e i n B h a d a j A s s o o n a s t h e y a r r i v e d , t h e c o p s apprehended Patel

O n e o f t h e m o s t i n f a m o u s i l l e g a l i m m i g r a t i o n a g e n t s f r o m G u j a r a t i s B h a r a t P a t e l , a c c o r d i n g t o a G u j a r a t p o l i c e o f f i c e r w h o w a s

i n f o r m e d o f t h e development He owns 28 v a l i d p a s s p o r t s , s o m e o f w h i c h e v e n h a v e h i s biometric data He changed m i n o r d e t a i l s a n d g o t multiple passports issued at d i f f e r e n t t i m e s t h r o u g h p a s s p o r t o f f i c e s i n t h e w e s t e r n p a r t s o f t h e country, including Mumbai and Ahmedabad He used these passports to slip in and out of the country ”

The officer added, “The Dingucha resident started off doing odd jobs in the

v i l l a g e T o d a y , h e r u n s a m a j o r m i g r a n t s m u g g l i n g racket from India to t h e U S t h r o u g h

Turkey and Mexico

He first established his base in Dingucha v i l l a g e , t h e n l a t e r began working with h u m a n s m u g g l e r s f r o m D e l h i , M a h a r a s h t r a , a n d Andhra Pradesh ”

B h a r a t P a t e l i s suspected of having helped 1 , 5 0 0 p e o p l e f r o m N o r t h G u j a r a t o b t a i n f a k e p a s s p o r t s A f t e r t h e Canadian police discovered Jagdish Patel, 35, his wife V a i s h a l i , 3 3 , a n d t h e i r children Vihanga, 12, and Dharmik, 3, frozen to death in an empty field on January 19, 12 metres from the US border, the Gujarat police and state authorities started l o o k i n g f o r h u m a n smugglers

P a k i s t a n i r u l e r s a g a i n s t e t h n i c B e n g a l i s a n d H i n d u s

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar & Bilawal Bhutto

T he Supreme Co urt g ranted bail to a conv ict s e rv i ng l i fe i m p r is o nm ent in th e 2

Manage blood pressure naturally with these 5 foods

H i g h bl o o d p r es s u re o r h y p er ten si o n i s a s er io u s condition and can severely d am ag e your arteries, making them less elastic which cou ld affect bloo d and oxyg en flow to your heart making you more suscep tible to h e ar t a il m en ts a nd h ear t attack If yo ur blood sugars are not controlled , it is d ifficult to know how it harms y ou r b od y in th e c ase o f blo od p ressu re Headach e, sh ortness o f breath , no seb le ed s , a nd anx i ety ar e amo ng th e high blood pressure symp tom s

Besides medication, it is a d v i s a b l e t o m a k e c e r t a i n lifestyle changes to naturally r e g u l a t e b l o o d p r e s s u r e Doing regular exercises and yoga can help improve blood circulation and heart rate In her latest Instagram post, Dr Dixa Bhavsar suggested some effective foods to reg-

ulate blood pressure Black pepp er Black pepper is a strong and pungent spice It is hot in potency, light to digest, a n d b a l a n c e s V a t a a n d Kappa It is best for people who have high cholesterol,

diabetes and hypertension or blood pressure

Amla

This is the season for t h e I n d i a n g o o s e b e r r y o r amla The citrus fruit cont a i n s a l l t a s t e s a s p e r A y u r v e d a e x c e p t l a v a n a

(salty), making it the best fruit for people with high blood pressure

Garlic

G a r l i c i s a w o n d e r f u l natural remedy for hypertension as it possesses antihypertensive properties due to its piercing, pungent and vata-kapha-reducing qualities, which help clear the b o d y c h a n n e l s ( b e s t f o r blockages)

Black raisi ns

Black raisins are made f r o m d r i e d b l a c k g r a p e s They can be added to vario u s d e s s e r t s a n d a r e a n excellent source of fibre and vital nutrients They contain potassium which helps reduce blood pressure

Arjun Tea

Arjun is the best cardioprotective Ayurvedic herb I t a l s o h e l p s m a i n t a i n h e a l t h y c h o l e s t e r o l a n d blood pressure

Researchers develop cancer-killing T cells that supercharge themselves

engineered T cells that only produce a strong anti-canc er c y t ok i n e wh en th ey c om e i n t o c o n ta c t wi t h t um o ur c e ll s T he i mmunotherapy s ucc es sfull y tr e at e d m i c e wi t h m elan oma and pan crea tic c ancer without caus ing any s ignificant side effects, and i t presents a promising new a p pr oa c h t o c o m ba t i n g these and other diffic ult-totreat tumours

T h e i m m u n e s y s t e m n o r m a l l y p r o d u c e s t h e potent inflammatory chemical IL-2, which is delivered by the cells It has powerful anti-cancer efficacy, which oncologists have known for years, but its usage has been constrained by the adverse r e a c t i o n i t c a u s e s w h e n administered systemically

In the study, published in the journal Science, the r e s e a r c h e r s w e r e a b l e t o k e e p t h e c y t o k i n e c o nt a i n e d w i t h i n c a n c e r b y programming the tumourinfiltrating T cells to make their own IL-2 when they recognized a cancer cell

"We've taken advantage of the ability of these cells to be local delivery agents and to crank out their T-cell amplifiers only when they r e c o g n i z e t h e y ' r e i n t h e right place," said Wendell L i m , P h D , t h e B y e r s Distinguished Professor in cellular and molecular biology, director of the UCSF Cell Design Institute and senior author on the study "I think this is a model for how we can use cell thera-

pies to deliver many types of potent but toxic therap e u t i c a g e n t s i n a m u c h more targeted manner ”

Since the 1980s, oncologists have known that high doses of IL-2 enable T cells to overcome these barriers, and the cytokine has been used as a cancer therapy in c h a l l e n g i n g c a n c e r c a s e s B u t s i m p l y i n f u s i n g patients systemically with IL-2 can cause high fever, l e a k y b l o o d v e s s e l s , a n d organ failure

L i m a n d l e a d a u t h o r G r e g A l l e n , M D , P h D , adjunct assistant professor of medicine and a fellow at the Cell Design Institute, aimed to tame IL-2's effects b y e n g i n e e r i n g c e l l s t h a t enhance the cancer-killing i m m u n e r e s p o n s e o n l y where it's needed: in the tumour They chose to go after notoriously difficultto-treat tumours, like those of the pancreas, ovary and lung, that form nearly ironclad barriers against T cells

To engineer cells T cells that could sense when they w e r e i n t h e t u m o u r , t h e researchers used a synthetic Notch (or synNotch) receptor, a flexible type of molecular sensor, which Lim's lab

developed several years earlier These receptors span t h e c e l l m e m b r a n e , w i t h e n d s t h a t p r o t r u d e b o t h inside and outside the cell The outside portion recognizes and binds to tumour cells, triggering the inside

portion to set the production of IL-2 in motion The team tested the synNotch cells on a number of deadly t u m o u r s , i n c l u d i n g melanoma and pancreatic cancer, and found that the c e l l s w o r k e d e x a c t l y a s planned

"We were able to design these therapeutic cells to s l i p p a s t t h e t u m o u r ' s defensive barriers Once in t h e t u m o u r , t h e y c o u l d e s t a b l i s h a f o o t h o l d a n d begin effectively killing canc e r o u s c e l l s , " s a i d A l l e n "We got on top of these tumours and in some cases cured them ”

Walnuts are the new brain superfood: Research

In a re ce nt clin ica l e xpe rimen t, und erg rad ua te st uden ts’ se lf-repor ted in dices of men ta l hea lt h and biomark er s of g ene ra l health wer

Lead researchers, Ph D student Mauritz Herselman and Associate Professor Larisa Bobrovskaya, say the results add to the growing body of evidence linking walnuts with improved brain and gut health Students experience academic stress throughout their studies, which has a negative effect on their mental health, and they are particularly vulnerable during exam periods," Herselman says

Eighty undergraduate students split into treatment and control groups were clinically assessed in three intervals, at the beginning of a 13-week university semester, during the examination period and two weeks after the examination period Those in the treatment group were given walnuts to consume daily for 16 weeks over these three intervals

"We found that those who consumed about half a cup of walnuts daily showed improvements in self-reported mental health indicators Walnut consumers also showed improved metabolic biomarkers and overall sleep quality in the longer term ”

Students in the control group reported increased stress and depression levels in the leadup to exams, but those in the treatment group did not The walnut consumers also reported a significant drop in feelings associated with depression between the first and final visits compared to the controls

Previous research has shown that walnuts are full of omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, as well as melatonin (sleep-inducing hormone), polyphenols, folate and vitamin E, all of which promote a healthy brain and gut

"The World Health Organization has recently stated that at least 75 per cent of mental health disorders affect people under the age of 24 years, making undergraduate students particularly vulnerable to mental health problems," Herselman says

Assoc Prof Larisa Bobrovskaya says mental health disorders are common in university students and can adversely affect students' academic performance and long-term physical health "We have shown that consuming walnuts during stressful periods can improve mental health and general well-being in university students, as well as being a healthy and delicious snack and a versatile ingredient in many recipes, to fight some negative effects of academic stress," Asso Prof Bobrovskaya says

"Due to fewer numbers of males in the study, more research is needed to establish sex-dependent effects of walnuts and academic stress in university students It's also possible that a placebo effect might have come into play as this was not a blind study ”

Treat arthritis pain this winter with these tips

Arthritis is an in flammatory join t ailme nt where the affec ted j oi nt’s range of motion is reduced due to in flamm a t i o n i n t he j oi n t s D e pe n d i n g upon the k ind and s tage of the di seas e, the development of symptoms mi ght be rapid or gradua l Winters and the c old in general c an be pa rti cularly hars h on arthri ti s sufferers as it b e c o m e s m uc h m o re d i f f i c u lt t o ma nage arthri tis di scomfort

Experts believe there are a few causes of arthritis flare-ups in the winter Joint discomfort results from the air pressure dropping Tissues swell when the pressure drops, causing tension to accumulate between joints and discomfort Colder temp e r a t u r e s c a u s e g r e a t e r m u s c u l a r spasms, which exacerbate joint pain and stiffness However, this pain can be managed with some helpful tips Kee p warm

Staying in an environment with proper temperature control is the best method to prevent the cold Layer warm clothing made of quick-

drying fabrics like wool is one of the greatest strategies to prevent cold weather aches and pains if you must go outside Wearing long underwear c o u l d a l s o h e l p k e e p y o u r l o w e r extremities warm if you have arthritis in your hips or knees Ensure to keep your hands and feet warm

Stay active

Regular exercise helps to increase muscle strength, flexibility, and energy levels, all of which can assist in lessening joint discomfort Try lowimpact exercises to make your joints less stressed For those who lead a

sedentary life, take it slowly S t a r t o u t b y e x e r c i s i n g f o r about two to 10 minutes twice d a i l y R e s t w e l l i n b e t w e e n workouts

Compression gear Compression clothing such a s a r m s l e e v e s , g l o v e s , a n d socks have long helped ease joint pain They aid in boosting c i r c u l a t i o n , w h i c h h a s b e e n p r o v e n t o a l l e v i a t e a r t h r i t i s

discomfort This kind of clothing can trap heat, acting as an additional layer to keep your hands and legs warm throughout the harsh winter months Consume enough vitamin D

Stronger bones are promoted by the increased efficiency of calcium absorption caused by vitamin D The UV light that we get from sunlight helps our bodies make vitamin D To make sure you ’ re getting enough vitamin D during this time, watch your vitamin D intake as the cold weather can cause heavier cloud cover and a desire to stay indoors

R es earchers at the UC San F ra n c i s c o ( U CS F) ha ve

e posit ively impacte d by walnut consumpt ion d uring the ir unive rsity studie s Accordin g to a U nive rsity of Sout h Austra lia study that was published in t he journ al Nutr ie nt s, waln uts may be able t o mitigat e the n ega tive effe ct s of aca demic st re ss on t he gut flor a, pa rticular ly in fe males

Director:

IMDb rating: 7 8/10

Plot:

Director: Vivek Agnihotri Stars:Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar IMDb rating: 8 3/10

and Dhruv Sehgal

Kapil Sharma - I’m not done yet on Netflix

Plot:

Director:

Stars:

IMDb

Chaddha,

Director:

IMDb rating: 5 5/10

From

Rocket

A

Directed by: Abhay Pannu Starring- Ishwak Singh, Jim Sarbh and others

P anchayat Season 2 on Amazon Prime Video

With the rise of an opponent against Pradhan Ji, village politics of Phulera heats up Unable to stay neutral, Abhishek sticks his neck out for Pradhan's family Directed by: Deepak Kumar Mishra Starring: Jeetendra Kumar, Neena Gupta, Raghubir Yadav

Delhi Crime Season 2 on N etflix

Inspired by true events, Vartika spearheads another crucial investigation with her team to save Delhi and its senior citizens from a heinous gang of killers Created by:Richie Mehta Starring: Shefali Shah, Rajesh Tailang, Rasika Duggal

M odern Love Mumb ai on Amazon Prime Video Exploring six unique yet universal stories of human connection and love in its varied forms, including romantic, platonic, parental, sexual, familial, marital and self love Starring: Mieyang Chang, Wamiqa Gabbi, Naseeruddin Shah, Yann Yann Yeo,

Fatima Sana Shaikh, Masaba Gupta, Ritwik Bhowmick, Sarika, Danish Rizvi, Chitrangda Singh, Arshad Warsi, Pratik Gandhi, Ranveer Brar, Directors: Vishal Bhardwaj, Shonali Bose, Alankrita Shrivastava, Hansal Mehta, Nupur Asthana

the liquid courage, behind his tweets to the sobering realities of making it in Mumbai, the comic pours his heart out, with a heavy dose of humor Starring- Kapil Sharma

Boys on Sony Liv

story of 2 extraordinary men, Homi Jehangir Bhabha and Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, who created history while building India’s future

U U N C H A I

Plot: Three friends take a trek to the Everest Base Camp A simple trek turns out to be a personal, emotional and spiritual journey as they battle their physical limitations and discover the true meaning of freedom

Sooraj Barjatya

Stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani

T H E K A S H M I R F I L E S

A heart-wrenching tale that captures the pain, suffering, and struggle of the Kashmiri Pandit community in 1990 and leads Krishna, a young college student, to set out on a quest to uncover the truth

G A N G U B A I K A T H I A W A D I

Duped and sold to a brothel, a young woman fearlessly reclaims her power, using underworld connections to preside over the world she was once a pawn in

Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Alia Bhatt, Vijay Raaz, Shantanu Maheshwari

rating: 7/10

V I K R A M V E D H A

Plot: A tough police officer sets out to track down and kill an equally tough gangster Director: Gayatri-Pushkar

Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Radhika Apte

IMDb rating: 7 1/10

L A A L S I N G H C H A D D H A

Plot: Laal Singh

a simple man whose extraordinary journey will fill you with love, warmth, happiness and will also make you laugh

Advait Chandan

Stars: Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Mona Singh

Shefali Shah - Darlings/Jalsa

Alia Bhatt - Gangubai Kathiawadi

Vidya Balan - Jalsa

Yami Gautam - A Thursday

Vijay Varma - Darlings

Priyanka Chopra gives her daughter Malti a taste of luxury

Actress Priyanka Chopra and her daughter Marie Malti Chopra Jonas took off for a holiday over the weekend.

Priyanka took to her Instagram Stories and shared a special photo with Malti It appeared to be taken in a first-class section of an airline or a private jet In the photo, Pri was seen in a black outfit, sunglasses and a black hat Malti wrote a white shirt and grey dress Both of them looked out of the airplane window The seat next to Priyanka was vacant Sharing the photo, she wrote, “Off we go ” She did not reveal the destination

Priyanka also recently shared a family picture from their recently aquarium visit in Los Angeles Taking to Instagram, Priyanka treated fans with a picture and a caption, “Family #aquarium #familyday #love ” In the picture, Nick was seen holding Malti in

Priyanka could be seen cutely l o o k i n g a t t h e m i n t h e backdrop of jellyfish floating around in the dark blue water

On the work front, Pri will b e s e e n i n i n t e r n a t i o n a l projects such as ‘Love Again’, a n d t h e s e r i e s ‘ C i t a d e l ’ Produced by Russo Brothers, Citadel will hit the OTT on Prime Video The upcoming s c i - f i d r a m a s e r i e s i s b e i n g d i r e c t e d b y Patrick Morgan and stars Richard Madden alongside Priyanka

In Bollywood, she will be starring with A l i a B h a t t a n d K a t r i n a K a i f i n F a r h a n Akhtar's ‘Jee Le Zaraa’, which promises to be another tale of friendship following the lineage of ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ and 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’, both of which have become cult classics over the years It is reportedly going on floors soon

Shah Rukh equates ‘Pathaan’ to Wayne Rooney

Jaideep Ahlawat responds to ‘An Action Hero’ lacklustre box office performance

ActorJaideep Ahlawat was a familiar OTT face this year, and had a string of projects that were released including ‘Bloody Brothers’, ‘The Broken News’, and the anthology 'Tryst With Destiny’. He also had a lone feature film ‘An Action Hero’, alongside Ayushmann Khurrana that was released earlier this month Despite positive reviews from critics and fans, the film didn’t perform well at the box office

Now, speaking in an interview, Jaideep s p o k e a b o u t w h y h e d o e s n ’ t h a v e e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r h i s p r o j e c t s W h i l e h e shared that the intention behind making a film is that as many people can see it as possible, sometimes things don’t work out Jaideep explained, “I mean surely, after a film’s failure there is some introspection about what might have gone wrong about the film? It’s getting almost unanimously positive reviews, but people aren’t going to the theatres to watch it ”

He added, “It’s slightly disheartening, and it’s not a feeling anyone likes to soak in It’s the hard work of so many people, so it’s

obviously not a nice feeling But no, I don’t become anxious about it ”

Jaideep also said, “It's a smart film, it is fast-paced, it has humour, it has action Anyone who has seen it has only said nice things to me about the film, so it can get a little confusing when people at large don t come to watch the film But it's okay " Taking a philosophical approach, the actor said, "It's a phase, sometimes it pans out and s o m e t i m e s i t d o e s n ' t N o p o i n t b e a t i n g oneself for it I think as a society we're still not at the point where we're going to the theatres like we used to, in the pre-pandemic times I think aadat thodi kam padh gayi hai [we're less used to it] It's my personal theory, but hopefully this phase ends and we tide through it ”

On the work front, Jaideep will be next in Sujoy Ghosh's ‘The Devotion of Suspect X’ with Kareena Kapoor and Vijay Varma His other feature project, ‘Three of Us’, recently premiered at the International Film Festival of Goa in November Directed by Avinash Arun, the film also stars Shefali Shah and Swanand Kirkire

Swara Bhasker questions Sadhvi Pragya's remarks on ‘Pathaan’

In a panel conversation, Wayne asked S h a h R u k h a b o u t h i s c h a r a c t e r i n h i s upcoming film ‘Pathaan’ He asked, “Who is P a t h a a n ? I s h e s i m i l a r t o a n y o n e i n football?” Shah responded, “I’m not saying this because you are here Honestly I will tell you who Pathaan is Pathaan is the guy you call last minute when you are all tied up and you can’t find a solution ” He added, “For me, if you don’t mind me saying, if Pathaan is to be equated to any footballer in the world, before or after or later, it will always be you You are the tough guy ”

Directed by Siddharth Anand, ‘Pathaan’ stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham

Actor

Swara Bhasker reacted to a recent video of MP Pragya Singh Thakur, also known as Sadhvi Pragya In the video, the BJP member is urging “Hindu” people to boycott the film starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. The controversy around the film started after the release of their first song ‘Besharam Rang’.

Reposting the video of Pragya Singh Thakur from an online news portal, the actor wrote in Hindi, “Why is terror-accused MP Pragya Thakur giving unemployed vibes? Have all the issues of the people of Bhopal been resolved? You are looking very strange, ma ’ am ”

In the video, MP Pragya Singh Thakur appeared to be unaware of the film's title However, she mentioned ‘Besharam Rang’ and said, “Main Hinduon se awaan karti hu uski koi film na dekhe (I urge Hindus to not watch Pathaan) ”

Swara, among a few other Bollywood celebrities, came out in support of the movie ahead o f i t s r e l e a s e S h e p o s t e d a s c r e e n s h o t o f a n e w s a r t i c l e t h a t s t a t e d t h e B J P - l e d g o v e r n m e n t i n M a d h y a Pradesh might ban the release of the new film for showing 'Muslim man groping woman w e a r i n g s a f f r o n ' “ M i l i y e h u m a r e d e s h k e s a t t a d h a r i n e t a o n s e A b h i n e t r i y o n k e kapde dekhne se fursat milti, to kya pata kuch kar bhi lete (Meet our country's leaders in power They may have done some work, had they had some time left after ogling at actor's dresses),” shared Swara

‘ B e s h a r a m R a n g ’ h a s b e e n c o u r t i n g controversies ever since its release The song h a s S h a h R u k h a n d D e e p i k a P a d u k o n e grooving in Spain Kumaar wrote it while the music was composed by Vishal-Sheykhar

V a i b h a v i M e r c h a n t h a s choreographed the song

T h e b o y c o t t c a l l s b e g a n w i t h m a n y o b j e c t i n g t o Deepika's outfits, including a saffron bikini, in the song A c o m p l a i n t p e t i t i o n w a s f i l e d b e f o r e a c o u r t i n B i h a r ' s

Muzaffarpur district on Friday, seeking the registration of an FIR against Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and others for "hurting religious sentiments" of Hindus in the song

‘Pathaan’ is directed by Siddharth Anand Besides Shah Rukh and Deepika, it also stars J o h n A b r a h a m T h e f i l m w i l l r e l e a s e i n January and marks Shah Rukh’s comeback to films after four years

Actor Shah Rukh Khan was in Qatar for the FIFA World Cup 2022, where he promoted his upcoming film ahead of the final match. He was joined by English footballer legend Wayne Rooney whom the actor jokingly said was his real inspiration behind his iconic embrace pose from ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’

Janhvi 'can’t wait' for Nayanthara’s ‘Connect’

ActorJanhvi Kapoor reviewed the trailer for Nayanthara’s upcoming Tamil film ‘Connect’, and took to Instagram to show her excitement for the movie The film released on December 22, 2022 Filmmaker

Vignesh Shivan reacted to Janhvi’s message He is the producer of the horror thriller, where his wife plays the mother of a teenage girl The film also stars Anupam Kher in the role of a priest

Vignesh took to Instagram, shared a new clip from Connect, and wrote, “#Connect trailer- 22 12 22 in cinemas near you!” He tagged Anupam Kher on the video He used ‘Nayanthara’ and ‘Satyaraj’ as the hashtags on the post Actor Nisha Ganesh wrote, “(Fire emojis) Looks amazing!! Can't wait to watch in big screen!!”

Reacting to the clip, one of Vignesh's fans wrote, “It was very thrilling to watch I am damn sure that it would be a great movie ” Another fan commented, “Looks amazing Best w i s h e s t o t h e e n t i r e t e a m ” A f a n w r o t e , “Excited for this one Nayanthara my favourite forever ” Many fans dropped heart emojis on the post and showed their excitement for the film's release

Taking to Instagram Stories, Janhvi shared Vignesh's Connect post and wrote, “Can't wait for this!! (red heart emoji) @wikkioffical looks too good ” Vignesh re-shared Janhvi's story on Instagram and wrote, “Thank you (smiling face emoji) Jhanvi :) means a lot :) glad you like it (smiley, flowers and red heart emoticons ”

TV Listing

9:00 SHUBH PRABHAT

9:30 SUR PRABHAT

10:00 DESHI BEATS

17:00 BHAKT GORA KUMBHAR (O)

17:30 RASOI SHOW (O)

18:00 RASOI SHOW (O)

18:30 SURI (O)

MON 26 DEC - FRI 30 DEC 2022

6:00 BHAGAT GORA KUMBHAR

9:00 SHUBH PRABHAT

9:30 SUR PRABHAT

10:00 DESHI BEATS

17:00 BHAKT GORA KUMBHAR (O)

17:30 RASOI SHOW (O)

18:00 RASOI SHOW (O)

18:30 SURI (O)

19:00 JODE REJO RAAJ (O)

19:30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU (O)

20:00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI (O)

20:30 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU (O)

21:00 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM (O)

21:30 GEETA (O)

22:00 MARI LADKI RE (O)

SATURDAY 31 DEC 2022

6:00 SAJAN-SONALDE

19:00 JODE REJO RAAJ (O)

19:30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU (O) 20:00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI (O)

20:30 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU (O) 21:00 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM (O)

21:30 GEETA (O)

22:00 MARI LADKI RE (O)

SUNDAY 1 JAN 2022

9:00 SHUBH PRABHAT 9:30 SUR PRABHAT

12:00 MENDI RANG LAGYO 15:00 MARI LADKI RE 17:00 RASOI SHOW 19:00 CHHUTA CHHEDA 21:30 RASHI RIKSHAWALI 22:00 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU

MAMTA KA 21:00 DURGA AUR CHARU 22:00 KITCHEN CHAMPION 2019 23:00 COMEDY NIGHTS WITH KAPIL

‘Connect’ marks the filmmaker’s second outing with Nayanthara Their first film ‘Maya’ was a paranormal thriller Ashwin Saravanan directed the film It is a horror-thriller set during the lockdown in India

Recently, Vignesh and Nayanthara welcomed their twins this year They had written, “Nayan & Me have become Amma & Appa We are blessed with Twin Baby Boys All Our prayers, our ancestors’ blessings combined with all the good manifestations made, have come together in the form of 2 blessed babies for us ” on the social media handle

Aishwarya shares candid pic of dad Rajinikanth with her sons

Filmmaker

Aishwarya

Rajinikanth shared an unseen picture of veteran superstar Rajinikanth on his 72nd birthday She took to Twitter to share the picture in which her kids can be seen with her father, and she captioned the post “cannot capture something more beautiful ”

In the picture, Aishwarya’s eldest son can be seen hugging Rajinikanth, who is seated on a sofa, from behind while her younger son is sitting on the floor with his hand around the actor's knee “Cannot capt u r e s o m e t h i n g m o r e b e a u t i f u l C a n n o t caption some such bonds My birthday boy with my boys (sic),” she captioned the picture

In the comments section, a fan compared the picture with that of a lion with i t s c u b s A n o t h e r w r o t e , “ W o w a w esome matching every feature of our tha-

laivar

”

R e c e n t l y , p i c t u r e s o f

Rajinikanth posing with a little girl on the sets of ‘Jailer’ surfaced on social media In the pictures, he can be seen g i v i n g a n a u t o g r a p h o n a book and giving the kid a hug while posing for the camera with her Reacting to the pictures, fans said the kid is lucky and blessed

R a j i n i k a n t h c u r r e n t l y a w a i t s t h e release of his upcoming film, ‘Jailer’ The makers of the film on Monday revealed that Rajinikanth plays a character called Muthuvel Pandian, and a special video was unveiled to introduce the audience to his character Rajinikanth plays a jailer in the film, predominantly shot inside a prison The shoot of film is progressing at a brisk p a c e R a j i n i k a n t h h a s t e a m e d u p w i t h director Nelson for Jailer, which also stars Tamannaah Bhatia, Vinayakan and Ramya Krishnan in key roles

Prabhas to get married after Salman Khan

Southern superstar Prabhas made a rare appearance in the upcoming episode of the popular Telugu chat show ‘Unstoppable’. In a show's promo video, Prabhas is questioned about his love life. When asked about marriage, the ‘Baahubali’ star gave a witty reply that left his fans in splits.

T h e c l i p b e g i n s w i t h P r a b h a s b e i n g cheered by the audience while he enters the stage He flashes his infectious smile and seemed to have a good time with actor Nandamuri Balakrishna who is hosting the show He tells the ‘Baahubali’ actor, “You s h o u l d a d d r e s s m e a s d a r l i n g ” P r a b h a s agrees and bursts into laughter The host also asked him when he is going to get marr i e d P r a b h a s r e s p o n d e d , “ A f t e r S a l m a n Khan ”

The clip also shows the actor being asked

if he does something to charm his female fan followers or if women just fall in love with him He was further teased by a c t o r - f r i e n d G o p i c h a n d , w h o j o i n e d h i m o n t h e s h o w Prabhas also mentioned about Mahesh Babu's father Ghattamaneni Siva Rama Krishna who passed away recently Prabhas was earlier rumoured to be dating his ‘Adipurush’ co-star Kriti Canon The dating rumours grew even stronger after Varun Dhawan also confirmed their relationship on an episode of ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 10 ’ However, Kriti dismissed the speculations and said, “It’s neither pyaar (love) nor PR our Bhediya just went a little too wild on a reality show And his fun banter lead to some Howl-arious rumours Before some portal announces my wedding date-let me burst your bubble The rumours are ABSOLUTELY baseless!”

Rajamouli says 'corporates' reduced hunger for success in Bollywood

In a recent media interaction, filmmaker SS Rajamouli spoke about Hindi cinema and the key ingredient to making a popular film In a new interview, the director said that a “connect

Rajamouli said such a scenario doesn’t exist there as they “have to swim or sink ” He added that they shouldn’t get complacent n o w t h a t t h e y h a v e “ g o o d b u s i n e s s ” Rajamouli said, “I don’t think there will be any secret formulas Two things I would say are, basically having a connection with the audience and not getting too comfortable If you get too comfortable, you will get too complacent If your film is doing good business at the moment of the announcement,

you tend to get complacent ” He also added, "What happened once the corporates started coming into the Hindi field and started paying high fees to actors, to directors or companies, the need to, 'I have to succeed at any cost', has come down a little bit, the hunger has come down a little bit Here, down south, that was not there You have to swim or you are going to sink Now it has shifted here Now, we shouldn't get complacent We have good business If we get complacent and the hunger goes down, then it will go the other way To have the connection with the audience, to always have an understanding of what are they wanting, I think is important ”

Currently, Rajamouli’s last directorial ‘RRR’ has garnered praise in India and globally The period action epic was nominated in the best picture-non-English and best original song at the upcoming Golden Globe Awards

Nora Fatehi sets the stage on fire at FIFA World Cup 2022 final

Actor-dancer

Nora Fatehi gave the performance of a lifetime at the closing ceremony of FIFA World Cup 2022. On Sunday, the final match between Argentina and France, with Messi leading his team to clinch the prestigious Jules Rimet Trophy Ahead of the match, Nora joined Balqees, Rahma Riad and Manuel to perform their song ‘Light the Sky’

For her performance, Nora opted for an embellished black dress, adorned with frills She paired it with black stockings and heels to elevate the all-black look Videos and pictures from her performance are currently doing the rounds on the internet In a video, Nora sang and danced to the song Taking the centrestage, she crooned in Hindi and left fans proud of her

Reacting to one such video, one of her fans commented, “#NoraFatehi was pleasure to eyes at the #ClosingCeremony performing live ” “Nora fatehi the women who stole the show in the closing ceremony in Qatar 2022, ” added another person A fan also said, “Nora Fatehi & Deepika Padukone both were

the jaaan of this closing ceremony Admit it or not inko dekh kar apke bi face per khushi aye ti (Nora and Deepika were the heart of the closing ceremony, admit it or not, they must have brought a smile to your face) ”

Talking about being a part of the FIFA World Cup 2022 with the anthem Light The Sky, Nora had earlier penned an emotional note She shared, "That moment when u hear ur voice at the world cup stadium @fifaworldcup (face holding back tears and smiling face with red heart eyes emojis),this was so surreal! Its milestones like this that make the journey so worth it (face holding back tears, red heart and handfolded emoji) I always envisioned moments like this, im Just a Dreamer with a hunger to make those dreams come alive! From a regular shmagular girl in the hood to this!”

“Believe in yourself self guys, never let anybody tell you You Cant! Ur dreams are never too big! Many laughed at me at the start but we out here!! And this is just the beginning" she also added

‘RRR’ bags four new nominations at the HCA Awards

Varun Dhawan bags Indian instalment of ‘Citadel’ spy universe

SS Rajamouli’s period action epic ‘RRR’ continues its winning streak in the West, as the Telugu film has now bagged four major nominations at the 6th Annual Hollywood Critics Association Awards. These include SS Rajamouli being nominated for Best Director and the Ram Charan and Jr NTR starrer being nominated for Best Picture, Best Action Film, and Best International Film R e a c t i n g t o t h i s a c h i e v e m e n t , t h e o f f i c i a l T w i t t e r h a n d l e o f t h e m o v i e w r o t e , " T h e n o m i n a t i o n s p r e e c o n t i n u e s ! # R R R b a g s 4 n o m i n a t i o n s a t t h e # H C A F i l m A w a r d s ! @ H C A c r i t i c s T h a n k y o u s o m u c h J u r y f o r recognising #RRRMovie”

Last week, ‘RRR’ secured four nominations at the inaugural HCA Creative Arts Awards These included Sreekar Prasad for Best Editing, Srinivas Mohan for Best VFX, M M Keeravaani for Best Original Song - Naatu Naatu, and King Solomon for Best Stunts

The HCA Creative Arts Awards will take place on February 17, whereas the HCA Film Awards will b e o n F e b r u a r y 2 4 T h e b l o c k b u s t e r f i l m h a s already been named the special HCA Spotlight Award recipient, which will be presented along with the HCA Film Awards

In July earlier this year, the movie was named t h e r u n n e r - u p a t t h e H o l l y w o o d C r i t i c s A s s o c i a t i o n M i d - s e a s o n a w a r d s l o s i n g o u t t o ‘Everything Everywhere

Raj & DK, who previously collaborated with Prime Video on the successful 'The Family Man' series, will serve as showrunners and directors on the upcoming show

Gaurav Gandhi, vice president, Prime Video India, said the team is excited to begin production on the Indian chapter of the 'Citadel' universe "With this endeavour, we are advancing our goal of providing viewers with entertainment that knows no borders by creating locally produced original material Citadel is a truly international brand with local productions in several nations that connect to a common narrative, a novel storytelling innovation," Gandhi said

The director duo also shared their excitement to begin work on the project and wrote in an Instagram post, "Can't wait to start on Citadel India a not-so regular spy story featuring the oh-so versatile @varundvn, in the global event series envisioned by the oh-so fabulous @therussobrothers! Stay tuned for the next announcement!"

Shilpa Shetty poses with 'legend' Wayne Rooney

In the photo, she opted for a pink dress She accessorised her look as she wore a p e n d a n t a r o u n d h e r n e c k w i t h m a t c h i n g bangles She kept her hair loose Wayne wore a black shirt with a coat He also wore a cap around his head They looked straight into the camera and smiled while posing for it Shilpa added the official FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 theme song to her picture

Sharing the picture on Instagram, Shilpa wrote,

a (handfolded emoji) Friday night done (dancing and t i c k e m o j i s ) ” S h e t a g g e d B a s t i a n o n h e r picture She used ‘thank god it is friday’, ‘football’, ‘world cup ’ and ‘gratitude’ as the hashtags on the post Wayne Rooney wrote, “Pleasure to meet you and your family (smiley emoji) ”

Reacting to the picture, one of Shilpa s fans wrote, “God bless you ma'am ” Another

Now, all eyes are on t

e O s c

i g i n a l Song

fan commented, “You are looking gorgeous as always ” O t h e r f a n w r o t e , “ M e s m e r i z i n g , M e r r y Christmas and a very happy n e w y e a r 2 0 2 3 ” “ M y f a v o u r i t e p l a y e r , a l l t h e time”, added one Many fans dropped heart emojis on the post

S h i l p a w a s l a s t s e e n i n ‘ N i k a m m a ’ alongside Abhimanyu Dassani and Shirley Setia She will be next in filmmaker Rohit Shetty’s first web series ‘Indian Police Force’ I t m a r k s h e r O T T d e b u t , w i t h S i d h a r t h M a l h o t r a S h e a l s o h a s ‘ S u k h e e a s h e r upcoming project

All At Once’ However, the

Indian film defeated Hollywood heavyweights like ‘The Batman’ and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ to win the second-best title

h

a r s 2 0 2 3 nominations which will be announced a month later on January 24 and the 95th Academy Awards will take place on March 12 next year There are strong chances that ‘RRR’ w i l l r e c e i v e a t l e a s t a c o u p l e o f O s c a r n o m i n a t i o n s f o r B e s t

I n t e r n a t i o n a l F e a t u r e

F i l m a n d B e s t O r

Actor Shilpa Shetty took to Instagram and shared a happy picture with star Wayne Rooney. She posted a photo with him from her Mumbai restaurant She was all smiling in the picture. The post garnered a lot of reaction from her fans, including the Manchester United legend himself.

Bollywood

actor Varun Dhawan is set to headline Prime Video's Indian original series within the 'Citadel' franchise Billed as a 'local original spy series', the currently untitled project hails from Prime Video and AGBO

Kuldeep helps India win first test against Bangladesh England hammer

Wri s t- sp i nne r K u ld ee p Ya d av registered his career-best match figures as India quickly wrapp ed up Banglad esh ’ s second inning s fo r a c o m p reh en si v e 1 8 8 - ru n w i n i n th e o p en in g T es t, at C h a tto g r am o n S u nd a y Needing four w ickets to pocket th e win, India finished th e job in 11 2 overs, bow ling th e ho sts out for 3 24 after the h osts beg an at ov ernig ht score of 276 for six K u ld eep s c al p ed t w o o f th e rem a in ing fo u r ba tters w h i le Mo ham med S iraj and Axar Patel to ok one wicket each

Kuldeep, who cherished an impressive five-wicket haul in the first innings, added three more in the second Bangladesh innings to finish with match figures of eight for 113 “I love

bowling with Kookaburra balls, i t g i v e s m e b e t t e r g r i p a n d control, compared to the SG ball,” said Kuldeep after the win Kuldeep was ably supported by l e f t - a r m s p i n n e r P a t e l , w h o finished with figures of 4 for 77 in the second innings

The result and first-placed Australia’s convincing win over S o u t h A f r i c a i n B r i s b a n e o n S u n d a y m o v e s I n d i a u p t o s e c o n d i n t h e I C C T e s t C h a m p i o n s h i p r a n k i n g s T h e top two sides will lock horns when Australia tour India in early 2023 Australia now hold a 7 6 9 2 - w i n p e r c e n t a g e , w i t h I n d i a ( 5 5 7 7 ) n o w a h e a d o f South Africa (54 55) Resuming at the overnight score of 276 for six, Bangladesh skipper Shakib-

Al-Hasan came all out attacking, knowing very w e l l i t w o u l d n o t b e easy to just survive the whole day

H e w e n t f o r h i s shots to score 84 in his 108-ball stay But the Indians played the patient game KL Rahul, who registered his first Test win as skipper, started with pace-spin combination of Siraj (1/67) and P a t e l B a n g a l d e s h b a t t e r s started aggressively as Mehidy Hasan Miraz delightfully drove Siraj through the covers in his f i r s t o v e r f o r t h e d a y ’ s f i r s t boundary

At the other end, Shakib m a d e h i s i n t e n t i o n s c l e a r , c l o b b e r i n g P a t e l o v e r s q u a r e leg But Siraj had his man in his

next over as Mehidy fell to a loose shot Siraj sprayed the ball outside the off-stump again and Mehidy only managed to slash the delivery straight to Umesh Yadav at backward point Shakib brought up his 30th Test fifty with a straight six off Patel Shakib took his chances but the asking was too tall as Rahul introduced Kuldeep as the first change and the lefta r m s p i n n e r p i c k e d u p t w o wickets in consecutive overs, while Patel picked another as I n d i a e n d e d B a n g l a d e s h ’ s dogged resistance

Dream debut for spinner Rehan Ahmed

Rehan Ahmed’ s jocu lar manner was a neat encap sulatio n o f th e j oy and daring that this England T est team under the captain, Ben Stokes, and the head co ach , B r en do n M c Cu l lu m, ar e exuding - wou ld any previ ous E ngland regime have played an 1 8- year o ld leg sp inner with o nly th re e fi rst-c lass match es u nder his belt? - but thi s was also an indication of the cheery o p ti mi sm and se lf- bel ie f th a t Ah med obvio usly possesses H e h a s i m m e d i a t e l y appeared to be at home on the Test stage And sometimes the very best cricketers also seem to have an uncanny ability to ride their luck and, in doing so, alter the landscape of matches Sir I a n B o t h a m u s e d t o d o t h a t regularly These are very early days for Ahmed, of course, but h e h a d d o n e e x a c t l y t h a t i n Pakistan in dismissing Babar, who had just passed 1,000 Test runs for the calendar year, the fourth player to do so after Joe R o o t , U s m a n K h a w a j a a n d Jonny Bairstow

It had been crunch time

w h e n A h m e d w a s b e l a t e d l y introduced to the attack Babar a n d S a u d S h a k e e l h a d b e e n going so well, steadily building a f o u r t h - w i c k e t p a r t n e r s h i p A h m e d ’ s f i r s t o v e r w a s uneventful, with only two runs coming from it Ahmed decided to drag his length back a little, r e s u l t i n g i n t h a t l o n g h o p A h m e d ’ s n e x t b a l l , t o M o h a m m a d R i z w a n , w a s a n o t h e r l o n g h o p t h a t t h e batsman pulled away for three, and soon there was a full toss that Shakeel pushed for only a s i n g l e A h m e d p r o d u c e d t h e most delicious leg break, exactly as he had been imagining the Babar ball to have been, to find Rizwan’s edge The next delivery w a s a b e a u t i f u l r e p l i c a , b u t

Salman Agha somehow avoided

n i c k i n g i t T h e s e w e r e t w o t e l l i n g d e l i v e r i e s T h e f i r s t sighting of Ahmed earlier in the match had revealed that, with quite a high (right) bowling arm and a (left) front arm that does not do a great deal of work, the googly is his more dangerous a n d , i n d e e d , m o r e e a s i l y a c h i e v e d b a l l f r o m a v e r y modern leg spinner’s action and a quicker pace of delivery that b r i n g s t o m i n d A f g h a n i s t a n ’ s Rashid Khan

B u t A h m e d h a s b e e n w o r k i n g h a r d w i t h E n g l a n d ’ s s p i n - b o w l i n g c o a c h , J e e t a n P a t e l , o n d e l i v e r i n g w i t h a s l i g h t l y l o w e r a r m a n d m o r e s i d e s p i n t o b o w l t h a t l e g s p i n n e r , a n d t h a t w a s n i c e l y evident here

A h m e d h a d c h a n g e d t h e c o u r s e o f t h e m a t c h T h e f a i r y t a l e w a s c o m p l e t e d w i t h t w o m o r e w i c k e t s a f t e r t h e break for the five-wicket haul, but the damage and the impact had been made in that spell

The excitement around him now will be enormous, given

how rare successful leg spinners are in England, and that will obviously need to be managed W i t h J a c k L e a c h n o w f i r m l y installed as the No 1 spinner who can bowl in all conditions, it may be that Ahmed does not p l a y a n o t h e r T e s t u n t i l n e x t winter in India, where England will next require two spinners

34 years after

Pakistan, sweep series 3-0

E ngland needed about 30 mi nu tes on Day 4 o f the th ird Test against P akistan to reach th e target o f 167 runs and win the test and sweep the series 3-0 Ben Duckett (82*) and B en S tok es ( 41* ) rema ine d u nbe aten to sc ore the remaining 55 runs th ey requ ired E arlier on Day 3, teenage leg-sp inner Reh an Ah med became the yo ungest debutant to take f ive wickets i n an i nnings and s et E ngland on co urse for a victo ry after three days o f play in th e third and final Test in K arachi on Monday Ahmed, wh o at 1 8 years and 1 26 days o ld on Saturday became the y o u n ge s t ma n ev er t o p la y a T e s t fo r E ngland, grabbed 5-48 to bu ndle Pakistan o ut for 21 6, giving h is team a target o f 167 runs with 75 minu tes and two days to play O p eners Zak Crawley and Ben Du cke tt p lu n de re d 8 7 by th e 1 2t h o v er b ef o re sp inner Abrar Ahmed dismissed Crawley for 41 and Reh an Ahmed for 10

After scoring 304 in the first innings, Pakistan were bowled out for 216 in the second, setting England a target of 167 The visitors struck 354 in their first innings Zak Crawley (41) and Ben Duckett (50 not out) made a flying start for England in their chase and the visitors began day four at 1122, with Stokes (10) also at the crease

Earlier, spinner Jack Leach took three top-order wickets in six balls in the morning s e s s i o n b e f o r e B a b a r A z a m a n d S a u d Shakeel struck a 110-run partnership to keep Pakistan in the contest

Sachin, Arjun too gets ton on Ranji debut

Arjun T endulkar, son of g reat cricketer Sachin T endulkar, made his father pro ud by scoring a century on his Ranji T rop hy debut for Goa In the pro cess, the 23 -year-old emulated his illustrious father, who had also scored a ton on Ranji Trophy d ebut Sachin had kickstarted his d omestic career with a century ag ainst Gujarat in 1 988, as a precociou s 1 5-year-o ld

Arjun hit 120 off 207 balls on day 2 of Goa’s Ranji Trophy opener against Rajasthan Batting at No 7 as a nightwatchman after Goa lost two quick wickets late in the day, Arjun was unbeaten on four off 12 balls overnight On the next day he turned the match on its head at the Academy ground in Porvorim

During his 310-minute stay at the crease, he hit 16 boundaries and two impressive sixes

He stitched a 221-run partnership with the other overnight batter, Suyash Prabhudesai, who hit 212 for his maiden first-class double-ton

While Arjun’s primary role is still that of a fast bowler, he has occasionally shown glimpses of his batting ability, having scored centuries in under-14 and under-16 selection games He also has a 91 against Uttar Pradesh in under-19 cricket, but this is the first hundred for Arjun at the first-class level He is also a part of the Mumbai Indians set-up but has not played a game yet

Messi led Argentina win FIFA world cup 2022

Deepika makes India proud by unveiling FIFA World Cup

Mbappé was defending France’s 2018 win at the tournament in Russia, Messi was playing in his final World Cup match, looking to claim the trophy which has eluded him for so long and which would enable him to match Diego Maradona’s achievement of winning the 1986 competition

Gonzalo Montiel, a substitute from Argentina, scored the game-winning penalty kick to end the a g o n i s i n g s h o o t o u t l o s s f o r t h e r e i g n i n g w o r l d champions France in a night of remarkable high drama

France had fought back from 2-0 down and 3-2 down in extra-time to make it 3-3 and take the game to penalties The Argentinians looked to be cruising to victory until Mbappe scored twice in the 80th and 81st minutes to level it at 2-2

H u g o L l o r i s o f F r a n c e d e f l e c t e d L a u t a r o Martinez's effort, but Messi scored from close range to give Argentina a 3-2 advantage in extra time

France appeared to be the more likely team to continue and win the game But there was more drama two minutes from the end of extra-time when Montiel conceded a penalty for handball Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Mbappe stepped up to score from the spot for the second time to take the game to penalties

Both Mbappé and Messi scored in the shootout but in the end – with France missing two penalties –Argentina won the title A long wait came to an end when Argentina won the World Cup for a third time ( a f t e r 1 9 7 8 a n d 1 9 8 6 ) , 3 6 y e a r s s i n c e t h e i r l a s t triumph

D e e p ik a Pa d u k on e , w h o unve ile d the FIFA Worl d Cup

"couldn 't have asked for more " Making India proud, the act ress became the first Indian to unveil the trophy S h e a l o n g w i t h f o r m e r Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas escorted the FIFA trophy to the football ground Now, she has shared a video on her Instagram h a n d l e a n d w r i t t e n a n o t e expressing her happiness and how "grateful" she is In the video, the a c t r e s s l o o k s b r e a t h t a k i n g i n a white shirt paired with a statement j a c k e t a n d b l a c k t u l l e s k i r t T o accentuate her look, the actress can

be seen in boots and sporting red l i p s t i c k S h a r i n g t h e p o s t , t h e actress wrote, "From unveiling the F I F A W o r l d C u p T

p h y t o w i t n e s s i n g o n e o f t h e g r e a t e s t games in sporting history, I truly couldn t have asked for more She used the hashtags "Grateful" and "FIFA World Cup 2022 "

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Rehan Ahmed