AV 25th February 2023

ARE ASIANS STILL LIVING IN MORAL DILEMMA?

The South Asian community in Britain recently hailed the wedding of a renowned community member - Jasvir Singh CBE City Sikhs Chair and Co-Founder of South Asian Heritage Month Jasvir told the press that he

to hide his sexual orientation, but it is not something he has talked about

messages from the community and around the world.

with Keith Vaz DR S OU R AV ROY

Dr Sourav Roy is a sustainability thou ght lead er and ad vocate, a publish ed author, catalytic ph ilanthrop ist and speaker He is the cofounder and C EO of Centre for Big Synergy (C BS ), a civil society o rg anis atio n o f the Uni ted Natio ns Dep artm ent o f So ci al a nd Economic Affairs CBS is a not-for-prof it global facilitator furthering the UN's Su stainable Develo pm ent Goals S ince 20 1 8, C BS has to uched ov er 9M lives in over 120 co untries and donated ov er £ 1M worth of tim e and expertise

Sourav has held senior positions within higher education, cutting-edge pharmaceutical research and development, strategy consulting and the third sector Sourav's research at King's College London led to the discover y of promising new molecules that are currently in development for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

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

Home is wherever my loved ones and friends are - doesn't matter where it is

2) What are your proudest achievements?

I feel fortunate to have lived up to my parent's expectations, accomplished the academic ranks, distinctions, and prestigious scholarships; to have contributed to cuttingedge research in developing potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease; and most signif icantly, to have inspired millions to act on the UN's Global Goals

3) What inspires you?

Those truly extraordinar y individuals who are 'planting trees they will never sit u n d e r ' I f w e a l l a c t e d l i ke t h e m a n d addressed the major challenges faced by our society or the world at large, without any expectations of recognition or praise, we would live in a different world

4) What has been biggest obstacle in your career?

Ever y obstacle eventually turned out to be a good teacher for me, and there have been many But the most impactful so far had been illnesses of family members, the last economic recession, and the COVID pandemic

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

It is my parents, my grandmother, a couple of teachers from University and surely my wife They acted as examples, showed me the right path, and still are the best sounding boards for me

6) What is the best aspect about your current role?

Climate change is the biggest challenge faced by us Through my work at CBS, I am

The L ond on bo roug h wh ere th e m ost people have second h om es h as been rev e aled T h er e are m a ny c o as ta l to w n s and b eau ty s p o ts where resid ents com plain of th e influx of rich Londo ners buying up prop erties as seco nd h o m e s an d l eav in g them v acant mu ch of th e year - bu t wh ich parts of

Former PM to move to a 400-year old Oxfordshire house

Boris Johnson is understood to have agreed to buy a £ 4m nine-bedroom, Grade II-listed hom e in Oxfo rdshire

able to inform, inspire and involve governments, civic society, and private organisations to create a sustainable planet for us and generations to come This is a sheer privilege

7) And the worst?

The worst part is to combat individual and organisational complacency to act with urgency in combating climate change I wish the civic society realises that people running t h e g o v e r n m e n t s a n d b u s i n e s s e s a r e amongst them, and it is 'ever yone's business' to influence them to implement sustainable changes

8) What are your long-term goals?

Over 85% of the civic society is unaware of the UN's Global Goals or their signif icance for their own lives, let alone take urgent action to address the challenges Engaging the civic society to act towards meeting the 2030 Agenda will be our ongoing effort

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

I would want to change how the NHS is funded and managed Paradoxically, it has become Britain's national pride and shame Without an immediate evolution of the NHS to meet the needs of the changing times, this world-revered organisation will cease to exist

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

It would have to be one of my most admired polymaths, Leonardo Da Vinci I would want to f ind out what innovations he may be able to offer to combat climate change and the other major issues faced by us, and hopefully also f ind a way out of the island!

L o nd on ar e th e se Londoners actually coming from?

The Census 2021 asked people whether they stayed at another address for more than 30 days a year If they a n s w e r e d y e s , t h e y w e r e then asked the purpose of t h e s e c o n d a d d r e s s , a n d whether it is within or out-

The former prime minister and his wife, Carrie, have in recent weeks viewed a property in a picturesque village It has been found that they have now made an offer that has been accepted The house, which features its own moat, was listed for sale for “offers in excess of £4m” It is not known how much Johnson has offered to pay for the house, which is now shown as “sold subject to contract” A spokesperson for Johnson said: “We never comment on matters such as living arrangements ” T h e f i v e - b a t h r o o m house dates back to the early 1600s and is set in almost f ive acres of grounds Three s i d e s o f t h e g r o u

speculation

Johnson is considering running for election in Oxfordshire rather than his existing seat of Uxbridge,

T h e v i l l a g e i s c l o s e t o Jo h n s o n ’ s p r e v i o u s c o ns t i t u e n c y o f He n l e y, fo r w h i c h h e s e r v e d a s M P between 2001 and 2008

The house has “period features”, estate agents said, as well as “ornate cornicing” and “ open f ireplaces” They are currently believed to be l i v i n g b e t w e e n a L o n d o n townhouse and a countr y property in the Cotswolds, p r o v i d e d b y t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e d o n o r L o r d Bamford and his wife at a cost of £13,500 a month The Bamfords are friends of the former prime minister and also strong Brexit backers

Mr Johnson has received £ 2 5 m a s a n a d v a n c e fo r speeches, meaning he has received earnings, hospitalit y a n d d o n a t i o n s w o r t h more than £5m over the six months since leaving off ice

Damian Green rej ection as candidate seen as targeting

Senior Tor y MP Damian Green has been rejected as the c andi date for the newly created Weald of Kent constituenc y

The move has fuelled speculation that grassroots Tor y campaigners are targeting parliamentarians seen as responsible for Boris Johnson's departure from No 10

Mr Green was effectively deputy prime minister under Theresa May until she sacked him in 2017 after an investigation into claims that pornographic material was found on his Commons computer

An MP for Ashford since 1997, he currently chairs the One Nation caucus of centrist

side the UK

Overall, 3 2 million usual r e s i d e n t s i n E n g l a n d a n d Wales (5 3 per cent of the population) reported staying at a second address for more than 30 days a year The most common types of second address were another parent or guardian's address (used by 1 1 million people), s t u d e n t s ' h o m e a d d r e s s e s (6 5 5 , 0 0 0) , a n d h o l i d a y h o m e s ( 4 4 7 , 0 0 0) W i t h i n London, the borough with the most people who used s e c o n d a d d re s s e s w a s t h e City of London, where nearly one f ifth (19 1 per cent) of r e s i d e n t s h a v e a s e c o n d address Coming in a close s e c o n d p l a c e w a s

Kensington & Chelsea with 17 7 per cent of residents having second addresses

T h i r d p l a c e g o e s t o We s t m i n s t e r a t 1 4 8 p e r cent, followed by Camden ( 1 3 3 p e r c e n t ) , H a m m e r s m i t h & Fu l h a m (11 3 per cent), and Islington (9 8 per cent)

Conser vative MPs and has been critical of Mr Johnson

He tweeted: "I am disappointed not to have been adopted as the Conser vative candidate for the new Weald of Kent seat I am now thinking about what to do next and how I can best continue to work for the people of Ashford and sup-

port the government "

Mr Green was one of the more than 140 Conser vative MPs who voted to say they had no conf idence in Mr Johnson last June - blaming anger among his constituents about partygate Mr Green, who is acting chairman of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, was rejected by the local executive He could still put his name for ward as the selection of an MP goes to the wider constituency membership

Mr Green was sacked as a minister in 2017 after allegations about pornography on his parliamentar y computers

King give s update on the Queen Consort’s health

King Charles has giv en an u p d a te o n th e Qu ee n C onso rt’s h ealth after sh e tested p ositiv e for Covid-19 Camilla, was forced to cancel her engagements this week, including a visit to the West Midlands, after testing positive on Wednesday (15 Februar y)

On Friday (17 Februar y), Charles travelled alone to c e l e b r a t e M i l t o n Ke y n e s ’

n e w c i t y s t a t u s , d u r i n g which he shared an update on his wife’s health during a brief walkabout

According to a report, a f t e r m e e t i n g c o m m u n i t y

r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s i n s i d e C h u r c h o f C h r i s t t h e Cornerstone, he stopped to talk to well-wisher Tazmin Fa r r i n g t o n Fa r r i n g t o n

King Charles III Camilla, the Queen Consort

a s ke d a b o u t C a m i l l a ’ s health, with Charles reportedly replying: “She’s getting better”

The Queen Consort is said to be in good spirits and resting, and is disappointed not to be able to fulf il her engagements

A protester, one of 20 anti-monarchists, shouted: “ W h y a r e y o u w a s t i n g m o n e y o n a c o r o n a t i o n , Charles?” However, memb e r s o f t h e p u b l i c b e g a n singing “God Save the King” which drowned out other comments

Nearly a fifth of residents in one London borough have a second home

Boris Johnson with wife Carrie

Damian Green

Photo courtesy: Twitter

Women’s health is much more than just female anatomy

T h e N i c o l a B u l l e y d e a t h r a i s e s s e v e r a l q u e s t i o n s a b o u t women ’ s health, which is beyond just female anatomy As we went to press, there was no conclusion about the cause of Bulley’s death, but after the report of her disappearance, Lancashire Constabulary immediately graded Bulley as high risk because of what they later described as specific vulnerabilities" These vulnerabilities were clarified to be "significant issues with alcohol which were brought on by her ongoing struggles with perimenopause"

There are many issues about a woman ’ s health, that often don’t get recognised, talked about or even receive the day-today care that it needs There’s no universally accepted definition of women ’ s health either Women, who endure pain of menstruation every month or that of childbirth, are expected to be stoic without any other complaints till death, including those affecting their mind People can empathise with a physical wound but what does not show on the surface never gets c o u n t e d ! H o w m a n y A s i a n w o m e n t a l k a b o u t p e r i o r menopause, and how it affects their mental health in today’s day and age in the UK?

More than 8 in 10 (83%) women suffer from broken sleep due to menopause symptoms such as night sweats They will experience an average of 219 disrupted nights a year during this time – and face an incredible 657 hours of broken sleep in the first year of experiencing symptoms On average, they will lose 2 2 years of sleep, with 27% of respondents reporting they are still suffering from poor sleep

The government’s refusal to introduce menopause legislation leaves women at risk of being driven out of the workforce, MPs have warned, The Independent reported last year

A leading testing expert says that an astonishing 53% of UK women are not expecting the perimenopause until they have symptoms Although they are experiencing a natural process, many fear they are ill This pause before the menopause must be taken far more seriously

While most UK women know to expect the menopause around the age of 51 (the average age in the UK), many experience upsetting symptoms such as mood changes, headaches and night sweats up to ten years before their full menopause

The leading testing expert, Dr Quinton Fivelman PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at London Medical Laboratory, said, “Most women think menopause is something that happens in their 50s When women start to notice symptoms far earlier, while still experiencing their periods, many worry they may be suffering from a serious illness – from hormonal imbalance to cancer The problem is that the perimenopause is simply not

discussed enough, either by GPs or among friends and family

“Many women in their early 40s experiencing symptoms such as late-night anxiety attacks, headaches and mood changes do not associate these symptoms with the first stages of the menopause That’s because they continue to have periods, though perhaps less regularly, and some even experience increased PMS-like symptoms

“Our research reveals around half of all women are unaware of the perimenopause and, more significantly, how early its symptoms may start

“Most shockingly, while 46% of women worldwide did not expect perimenopause when it started, this figure was significantly higher among UK women, with more than half (53%) being surprised when they first experienced symptoms

“The perimenopause is a natural process when your body makes the natural transition to menopause, marking the end of the reproductive years Symptoms are caused by the changing levels of hormones in the body When oestrogen is higher, you may have symptoms similar to Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) When oestrogen is low, you may have hot flushes or night sweats For those women who were not expecting these symptoms and are unaware of the cause, this creates heightened anxiety ”

However, as menopause potentially can trigger several mental health issues, a feeling of depression or anxiety are common But a survey has suggested that while many people don’t approach near and dear ones with their difficulties, a poll of 2,004 UK adults commissioned by charity Samaritans indicated that people would instead prefer communicating with a stranger on the phone (33%) or by email (18%)

The research was carried out as part of Samaritans’ Small Talk Saves Lives campaign in partnership with the rail industry and British Transport Police to reduce the number of suicides on the network by encouraging people to start a conversation if someone appears to need help

Samaritans’ chief executive Julie Bentley said: “It’s normal to feel anxious about starting a conversation with someone you don’t know in person, but at Samaritans we know firsthand how life-changing that conversation could be Suicidal thoughts are often temporary and there’s no evidence to suggest that you will make the situation worse It’s about trusting your instincts, starting a conversation, and showing you care We know it’s been a really challenging time for people’s mental health over the last few years, so we hope the Small Talk Saves Lives campaign builds that confidence and reminds the public of the difference they can make ”

Khalistanis targeting Hindu temples to

The Khalistani movement is gaining momentum in Australia and Canada In less than a month, Australia has seen three separate anti-Hindu attacks on temples initiated by pro-Khalistani elements living in the country In the latest incident, a Hindu temple has been asked to cancel bhajan singing or face consequences In Canada also Hindu temples become the target of Sikh separatists Temple walls were defaced with anti-India slogans of ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ and ‘Hindustan Murdabad ’ The miscreants had also hailed slain Khalistani terrorist Jarnail S i n g h B h i n d r a n w a l e a s a m a r t y r S i k h s F o r J u s t i c e , t h e K h a l i s t a n i t e r r o r i s t o r g a n i s a t i o n b a n n e d b y t h e I n d i a n Government in 2019, is demanding a separate nation named Khalistan The demand was first raised by Bhindranwale

The khalistani movement that surfaced in the late 1970s and early 1980s spread like wildfire in Punjab, and it took authorities around two decades to eradicate the movement from Punjab’s soil Unfortunately, those who sympathised with Khalistanis are now reigniting the movement Furthermore, K h a l i s t a n i t e r r o r i s t s w h o f l e d I n d i a w e n t t o t h e U n i t e d Kingdom, United States, Canada and Australia, among other countries and continued their operations While Khalistani sympathisers in Canada, including those in the government there, have not quite shied away from extending support to break India forces, the ones who had moved to Australia had

gain publicity

not been this anti-Hindu and anti-India However, in the last two years, the rise of incidents against the Hindu community involving Khalistani elements concerns India The Indian authorities reportedly warned the Australian authorities to be vigilant of such elements recently

There have been reports of Khalistani elements gaining momentum in Australia but failing to gain support like in Canada However, the incidents will rise as three Hindu temples have already been attacked in Australia and 2023 has just started Apart from the attacks on temples, there are some examples that point towards the uprising of Khalistani elements in Australia The Khalistani posters were also seen outside Plumpton Gurudwara The poster included photographs of the killers of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh The poster read, “The Last Battle K h a l i s t a n R e f e r e n d u m V o t i n g J a n u a r y 2 9 , M e l b o u r n e ” OpIndia reported that Khalistani elements blamed Brahmins for the 1984 anti-Sikh genocide that took place after the assassination of former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi by her two former Sikh bodyguards Despite no religious motive behind the riots, Khalistani sympathisers have blamed Hindus India has asked Australian and Canadian governments to be vigilant to curb anti-India activities of the Khalistani separatists and also attacks on the Hindu temples

Air India orders can boost India’s prowess

A year after Air India returned to the ownership of Tata group, it announced the largest ever deal in the world for commercial planes Sourcing from both Boeing and Airbus, AI ordered 470 jets In addition, there are options to increase the size of the order Reports put the gross value of the deal at $85 billion, making it the largest ever in nominal terms The deal’s scale has everything to do with India’s economic prospects India is expected to remain one of the fastest growing major economies in the foreseeable future This will expand demand for air travel Boeing forecast that India will need more than 2,000 new commercial aircraft over the next two decades This is the context in which the political participation of PM Modi and Biden and Macron, should be viewed

One of India’s advantages today is that of economic heft and the potential to give it the space to simultaneously access overflight routes over Russia and buy planes from US and French companies In this context, India needs to get more out of its economic deals Both Airbus and Boeing also make military aircraft Both companies already have independent manufacturing facilities in India where different units of the Tata Group are partners However, given the potential demand from both the civilian and military side, India needs to get more of their supply chain based here Unless India’s manufacturing

capacity gets far more out of these deals, technological diffusion in the domestic manufacturing ecosystem will be relatively limited That will feed back into both economic potential and strategic leverage Both GoI and industry need to figure out ways in which a lot more benefit can be extracted in exchange for India’s markets

By placing the orders, the Tata group has confirmed their commitment to staying the course and turning around Air India Coupled with the patient capital approach of the Tata Group, this development’s impact will flow through to the entire aviation value chain This will enable Air India to engage in a complete fleet renewal coupled with significant expansion Locally, Air India faces a formidable competitor in IndiGo which flies a fleet of 308 aircraft and has more than 55% of the market locked up Air India after combining four entities where majority holding is with the Tata Group has a fleet of 220 aircraft with 26% of the market So there is a fair gap to be covered There’s also a fast-growing competitor in Akasa, which has captured more than 2% of the market in five months since launch that will surely impact margins Internationally, airlines like Emirates, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, British Airways and Lufthansa have already upgraded their product and will roll-out new features that at the very least will have to be matched

Thought for the week

Mar cus Aure lius

Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart -

Political Sketchbook

Alpesh Patel

India’s Huge Multilateral Jet Deal

I ndi a should not have oliga rchs or favoure d b usi nes ses But i f you w ere going to f avour anyon e, top of my lis t w ould be Tata (Proba bly Ma hendra too)

So as the largest ever plane deal was signed this week and the Heads of UK, US and France announced the deal I was especially pleased to be in France at the time

To me most things in my life are a movie script So here is how I imagined my French trip with my son and wife I hope the French Ambassador to the United Kingdom is reading this love letter to his country (It was Valentines this week of course and the French are as romantic as Lord Krishna!)

SC ENE 1:

FATHER strolls down the Champs-Elysees, looking at his SON with intensity

FA THER:

"Listen to me, son The greatest French thinkers have given us invaluable advice that has survived the test of time Their words are like a lighthouse guiding us through the darkest storms of life "

SON looks at hi s f ather, curious to kn ow more

FA THER:

"Voltaire said, 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it ' He reminds us of the importance of free speech and how essential it is to defend our right to express ourselves "

SON nods i n ag reement

FA THER:

"Rousseau taught us that we should always follow our natural impulses and be true to ourselves He believed that society corrupts us and that we should live in harmony with nature "

SON rai ses an eye brow, i ntrig ue d

FA THER:

"And then there's Montesquieu, who emphasized the importance of separation of powers in government He believed that the only way to prevent tyranny was to have checks and balances between the different branches of government "

SON lis tens atte ntive ly

FA THER:

"These great thinkers remind us of the values that we must uphold as citizens The freedom of expression, the importance of individuality, and the need for accountability and transparency in our institutions Never forget their words, son They have the power to shape your life and make you a better person

SON looks up to hi s f ather

SON:

"I won't forget, dad Thanks "

FA THER: (hugging his son)

"Anytime, son You're the future, and I have faith that you'll make it a better one "

"Sure dad, but first, when are we getting that crepe? Are you lost again? I knew I should have brought mamma "

Continued on page 10

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Humza Yousaf eyes Scotland’s top post

S cottish Health M inister Hum za

Yo usaf has announced he would run in th e leadersh ip co ntest to r ep l ac e Ni co l a S tu rg eo n as S c o ttis h Nati o nal P arty ( S NP ) lead er and first minister

Yousaf becomes the first to publicly announce his intention t o s t a n d i n t h e r a c e a f t e r Sturgeon's surprise resignation earlier in the week saying she had become too divisive and too tired to carry on I have decided to put myself forward as a candidate to become Scotland's next First Minister, and Leader of the SNP," the 37-year old, who has been a member of the Scottish parliament since 2011 and has a l s o h e l d s e v e r a l m i n i s t e r i a l roles, said on Twitter

John Swinney, the 58-yearold deputy first minister, ruled himself out, saying his decision

not to be a candidate was to create the space for a "fresh perspect i v e o n t h e g o v e r n i n g S N P s a i m s , i n c l u d i n g o n i n d e p e ndence The SNP has said it will choose a new leader within six weeks through a ballot of its members, which will close on March 27 Sturgeon, 52, said she was not leaving politics and that she would stay on until a succes-

sor has been picked Her unexpected exit has left a question mark over the SNP's fight for independence as the W e s t m i n s t e r g o v e r n m e n t h a s blocked its attempts to hold a second vote after a 2014 referendum in which Scotland voted 55% to 45% to remain part of the U n i t e d K i n g d o m T h e l o s s o f Sturgeon, regarded by many as the best political communicator in Britain, also has the potential to influence the outcome of the next national election if it helps the opposition Labour Party to regain some of the seats it once held in Scotland Humza is the first non-white and first Muslim cabinet minister in the Scottish Government A member of the SNP, he has been the MSP for Glasgow Pollok s i n c e 2 0 1 6 , h a v i n g p r e v i o u s l y

in brief

r e p r e s e n t e d G l a s g o w r e g i o n from 2011-16 On 18 February 2023, Yousaf declared his candidacy for SNP leadership and First Minister of Scotland

Born and raised in Glasgow, Yousaf attended the University of Glasgow, earning an MA in p o l i t i c s B e f o r e b e c o m i n g a n e l e c t e d o f f i c i a l , h e w o r k e d a s parliamentary assistant for many prominent MSPs, including then First Minister Alex Salmond and t h e n D e p u t y M i n i s t e r N i c o l a Sturgeon

Y o u s a f ' s f a t h e r , M u z a f f a r , w a s b o r n i n M a i n C h a n n u , Punjab, Pakistan and emigrated to Glasgow with his family in the 1960s, eventually working as an accountant His mother, Shaaista Bhutta, was born in Kenya to a family of South Asian descent that later emigrated to Scotland

Sunak may successfully close landmark deal with Northern Ireland

It has taken three prim e m inisters, three Northern Ireland secretaries, sev en law suits by th e E U and an ep ic breakdow n o f relations w ith Ireland before surgery was finally performed on one of the d eepest wou nd s caused by Brexit The UK and the EU are inchi n g c l o s e r t o a d e a l o n t h e Northern Ireland protocol and –if Rishi Sunak pulls it off and f a c e s d o w n o p p o n e n t s i n t h e Democratic Unionist party and European Research Group (ERG) – he will have achieved something that eluded Theresa May and Boris Johnson

Even with briefings to politic a l l e a d e r s a n d d i p l o m a t s i n Belfast and Brussels, secrecy surrounds the deal One EU diplomat said the silence echoed that from Michel Barnier’s team in the days running up to the origin a l w i t h d r a w a l a g r e e m e n t i n

2019 Despite DUP protestations, it is believed Downing Street has

when those before him failed?

Signs that a deal was on the cards emerged in October at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham after the Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker’s shock apology to the EU and I r e l a n d o v e r t h e b e h a v i o u r towards them during the turbulent Brexit years

Any pact between the EU and the UK on the Brexit trading arrangements will be seen as a w a t e r s h e d i n r e c e n t Conservative party politics, given

pencilled in an announcement It may be no coincidence that the week will be dominated by a UN g e n e r a l a s s e m b l y o n t h e f i r s t anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sucking the oxygen out of publicity from any rebellion

So how did Sunak – the technocratic, cautious former chanc e l l o r w i t h l i t t l e p r e v i o u s l y k n o w n i n t e r e s t i n N o r t h e r n Ireland – get to this position

Storm Otto causes power failure to tens of thousands of homes

Tens o f thousands of hom es are witho ut power as Sto rm Otto b ri ng s w in d s o f m o r e t h an 80 mph to parts of the UK Energy company SSEN said that, as of 4 30pm Friday, 16,000 p r o p e r t i e s i n S c o t l a n d w e r e without power and it could be more than two days before supply is restored Power has been restored to 27,000 properties so far The network has a number of faults on its high voltage network due to fallen trees, branches and other windblown debris

M a r k R o u g h , o p e r a t i o n s director at SSEN Distribution, said: "We continue to make good p r o g r e s s r e s t o r i n g p o w e r t o those homes impacted by Storm Otto and we would like to thank our customers for their ongoing patience and understanding as our teams do everything they c a n t o r e c o n n e c t s u p p l i e s a s s o o n a s p o s s i b l e W h i l s t w e e x p e c t t o m a k e s i g n i f i c a n t progress restoring those still off supply throughout the remaind e r o f t o d a y a n d i n t o t h e evening, due to the widespread and extensive damage caused to our network, some customers will remain off supply for over 48

BIRMINGHAM MEN ARRESTED BEFORE BOARDING PLANE

Two men have been arrested at Heathrow Airport in connection with terrorism offences The men aged 30 and 66, have been detained at the flights hub under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 The men, aged 30 and 66, were scheduled to board a plane leaving the UK but were detained at the airport West Midlands Police said in a brief statement: "An address in Birmingham is due to be searched

hours, particularly those in rural locations " I n E n g l a n d , a b o u t 1 9 , 0 0 0 homes were left without power o v e r 1 4 3 i n c i d e n t s , N o r t h e r n

P o w e r g r i d s a i d M o r e t h a n

11,000 are said to have since had s u p p l i e s r e s t o r e d T h e M e t

Office recorded wind gusts of 8 3 m p h a t I n v e r b e r v i e i n

S c o t l a n d ' s n o r t h e a s t , w h i l e winds elsewhere reached up to 75mph

Schools were closed in some parts of Scotland, particularly in t h e H i g h l a n d s a n d

Aberdeenshire, and the roof of a school in Carnoustie, Angus, was d a m a g e d b y t h e w i n d I n

Aberdeenshire, the council said several GP practices were operating emergency services only, as they were among those to have lost power supply

i t w a s o n l y l a s t J u n e w h e n Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss, who at the time was foreign secr e t a r y , t a b l e d t h e N o r t h e r n Ireland protocol bill, shredding t h e a l r e a d y s t r a i n e d r e l a t i o n s with the EU

I t i s u n d e r s t o o d t h e announcement will be high level, celebrating the fact it is a “ negotiated” and a “voluntary” agreement, with most attention on removing checks on goods to supermarkets, corner shops, hospitals and schools

Former prime minister at loggerheads with PM Sunak over NI protocol

PM Rishi Su nak is on a collision course with former prim e mini s ter Bo r is J o h n so n o v er h i s p l ans to o v e rh a ul N o rth e rn I reland ’ s po st-B rexi t arrang em ents, am id a frantic diplom atic blitz to end the bitter dispu te with the EU

I t i s u n d e r s t o o d t h a t M r Johnson has become concerned that a successful deal will see the government ditch controversial legislation allowing the UK to unilaterally rip up some B r e x i t a r r a n g e m e n t s i n t h e region

With Mr Johnson and the Tory right threatening to disrupt the deal, Sir Keir Starmer told the Observer he was taking the extraordinary step of offer-

ing his party’s support in any p a r l i a m e n t a r y v o t e o n t h e agreement, enabling Mr Sunak to stop “scrambling around to appease an intransigent rump of his own backbenchers”

While government insiders are at pain to state that there is much work to do on the details of any deal, they have signalled t h a t a s u c c e s s f u l o u t c o m e would mean the bill would not be needed

Supporters of the legislation insist it would give the UK c o n t i n u e d l e v e r a g e o v e r Brussels A source close to Mr Johnson said it was his view that “it would be a great mist a k e t o d r o p t h e N o r t h e r n Ireland protocol bill”

They have been arrested under section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of terrorism "They were transported to a police station in the West Midlands to be questioned " London Heathrow is seeing its busiest start of the year since before the pandemic, according to its boss John Holland-Kaye The UK's busiest airport revealed more than 5 4 million passengers travelled through Heathrow in January, reaching levels not seen since the start of 2020 It comes as UK airports were hit with severe disruption in the run-up to Christmas as Border Force staff staged strike action in December

REFUGEES COERCED INTO CHEETHAM HILL’S ORGANISED CRIME GROUPS

Once again they had gathered on their favourite corner Where Jury Street meets New Bury Road; the prime hangout for the network of “spotters” who monitored this corner of north Manchester As police approached, some whistled the alarm Fireworks screeched into the grey sky Metal shutters on shops selling fake goods were slammed shut Dealers dived down Harris Street, scooping up bin bags of drugs from the pavement Until recently the spotters rarely saw police patrolling this corner of Cheetham Hill just north of the city centre’s gleaming glass towers So violent were its warren of scruffy streets the area had effectively become a no-go” zone Here beneath the shadow of Strangeways prison, 33 organised crime groups, composed largely along ethnic lines, worked with or against each other Police intelligence confirmed extreme levels of brutality, extortion and intimidation In criminal terms, these are among the most threatening streets in Britain They are also where vulnerable child asylum seekers –abducted from outside hotels run by the Home Office – are believed to have been taken Trafficked 260 miles from the south coast, some of the refugees had been coerced into Cheetham Hill’s organised crime groups

Man filmed himself sexually abusing 4-year-girl jailed

A m an has been jailed for film ing himself sexually abusing a fouryear-old girl and sharing it online K e e n a n R i d g w a y , f r o m Skegness, shared almost 30,000 i n d e c e n t i m a g e s a n d v i d e o s o f children online - including 42 of the young girl The 21-year-old became the subject of an investigation in August 2021 after he sent videos of the child abuse to another offender who was arrested in Miami

Before abusing the young child, R i d g w a y h a d e m a i l e d t h e o n l i n e user to say that he had sent all the v i d e o s h e h a d , b u t p r o m i s e d h e w o u l d b e " m a k i n g n e w s o o n s o you'll be the first person to be sent them" The National Crime Agency linked the images and videos back to

Ridgway and confirmed that it was him in the videos F u r t h e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n s f o u n d another 355 indecent images and videos on his phone, on top of the

0 , 0 0 0 h e h a d u p l o a d e d o n l i n e R i d g w a y w a s c h a r g e d w i t h 1 6 offences, including three counts of s e x u a l a s s a u l t o f a c h i l d , t h r e e

counts each of taking and possessing indecent images of children, six counts of distributing indecent images of children, and possession of prohibited imagery H e p l e a d e d g u i l t y t o a l l c h a r g e s a n d w a s s e n t e n c e d a t Lincoln Crown Court to six years and three months in prison He has been placed on the sex offenders register for life and is also subject to a ten-year sexual harm prev e n t i o n o r d e r M a r t i n L u d l o w , from the National Crime Agency, said: "Ridgway sexually abused a young child in circumstances where s h e s h o u l d h a v e b e e n s a f e H i s actions have caused trauma to those involved, the impact of which may be felt long after he has served his sentence

Humza Yousaf

A couple having dinner in candle light in absence of power

Widow gets her rights at 83 after husband excluded her from will

A n 8 3 -y ear - ol d w i d o w w hose husband of 66 years left her out of his will has w on a Hig h Court figh t for a s h a re o f an e st ate w o rth m ore th an £1 m illion

Karnail Singh left everything to his two sons – and nothing to widow Harbans Kaur, or his four daughters, a judge was told Mr Justice Peel heard that Mr Singh, who died in 2021, “wished to leave his estate solely down t h e m a l e l i n e ” H e h e a r d that Mrs Kaur estimated the

Car returned damaged from Heathrow meet-and-greet

estate to be worth £1 9 million, gross, but one of her sons put the value at £1 2 million

The judge, who heard that the family had run a clothing business, has ruled that Mrs Kaur should get 50% of the net value of the estate He said it was clear that “reasonable provision” had not been made for Mrs Kaur, whose income consisted of state benefits of around £12,000

Driver crashes car causing death of young couple

A m a n ha s ad m i tt e d t o c a us i n g t he d ea t h of a young couple after a car c r as h ed i n t o a w a ll i n

Solihull

Meesha Afzal, 22, and Kyle Khan, 26, died after a Mercedes A200 they were travelling in with friends h i t a w a l l o n W a r w i c k Road, Solihull

P o s t - m o r t e m e x a m inations found Meesha, a carer, died from head and n e c k i n j u r i e s H e r h u sband, Kyle, died from a head injury Their injuries were consistent with having been in a road traffic collision, the hearing was told The married couple, who both wore seatbelts, were pronounced dead at t h e s c e n e i n t h e e a r l y h o u r s o f 1 3 D e c e m b e r

2020

An inquest had previously heard the crash happened at around 1 50am, n e a r t h e j u n c t i o n w i t h Gentleshaw Lane Eidnun Liaquat, 28, had previously d e n i e d t w o c h a r g e s o f causing death by dangero u s d r i v i n g A t B i r m i n g h a m C r o w n

Court, he pleaded guilty to two alternative charges of causing death by careless driving which were accepte d b y t h e p r o s e c u t i o n S e n t e n c e w a s a d j o u r n e d by Judge Francis Laird KC until April 21 for reports to be prepared Liaquat was told by the judge that he had admitted "very serious c h a r g e s " a n d t h a t j u s t b e c a u s e h e w a s b e i n g granted bail did not mean he would not receive a custodial sentence

K y l e ' s m u m R o s h n i S a j i d a Y o u s a f , 5 1 , s a i d : " T h e b e a u t i f u l c o u p l ewho married in July 2017were the Romeo and Juliet of this century Kyle and Meesha were my life It breaks my heart that I’ve lost two children as she was my daughter too They would be looking down at me from heaven smiling to say 'do not mourn usw e ' r e h a p p y t o g e t h e r i n death too My fallen angels K y l e a n d M e e s h a w e r e s o u l m a t e s G o n e , b u t n e v e r w i l l b e f o r g o t t e n , forever in our thoughts, prayers and hearts

London mosques get Islamophobic letters

T wo L ond on mosques h av e b ee n t arg e ted w i th I slam op h obi c letters, w ith o ne saying the w riter could “ not sto p smiling ” after seeing footage o f the TurkeyS yria earth quakes

Erkin Guney, chairman o f t h e M a s j i d R a m a d a n mosque in Shacklewell Lane in Hackney, received a letter saying “I am only sincerely s o r r y t h a t m o r e M u s l i m s didn’t die” The letter, which has circulated online, cruelly stated that “there should have been at least 2 million dead” and that the “ more Muslims that suffer the better”

A n o t h e r m o s q u e i n S t o k e N e w i n g t o n , t h e A z i z i y e M o s q u e , r e p o r t s that it has also received a similar letter with hateful c o m m e n t s M e t r o p o l i t a n

Mr Justice Peel has outlined details of his decision in a written ruling after considering evidence at a recent h e a r i n g i n t h e F a m i l y Division of the High Court in London “The claimant and the deceased married in 1955, so that by the time of h i s d e a t h t h e y h a d b e e n married for about 66 years, ” said the judge in his ruling They had seven children, of w h o m o n e s a d l y i s deceased ” He said evidence showed that Mrs Kaur had played a “full role” in the marriage and worked in the family clothing business

The judge said that she should “receive 50% of the net value of the estate”

A holidaymaker has told of his horror at dis covering his c ar was damaged, apparently dri ven 2 ,000 miles to Belfast and given a series of fines - after he left it with a Heathrow Airport meet-and-greet parking service

Ravi Joshi left his prized BMW 5 Series with Universal Terminal Ltd when he flew to India from Heathrow for one month with his wife and two children to visit his sick mother in December last year But the 42-year-old IT consultant from Rugby, Warwickshire, was horrified at the state of his grey

family saloon when it was returned to him at the airport car park 30 days later

The car, which he had paid £18,000 for three years earlier, was vandalised The bonnet was dented, the headlight and indicator were smashed, the ABS braking system was broken and engine was ruined

The BMW had been driven 2,400 miles in his absence and had been taken to Northern Ireland by ferry, tickets found inside the vehicle seemed to indicate The car then broke down as he was driving his family back home and has now been written

Lenses that change, for no

off due to the extensive damage to the bodywork and engine

Ravi has also received numerous fixed penalty notice fines through the post because his car was captured on camera parking illegally Ravi said he has reported the incident to police Scotland Yard confirmed that the Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation

Last month a number of holiday makers had their cars allegedly stolen after paying £145 to Terminal Universal Ltd at London’s Heathrow Airport

report of a letter sent to two mosques in Hackney cont a i n i n g r a c i s t a n d Islamophobic language

“Enquiries are ongoing

There has been no arrest " The letter targeting Masjid Ramadan continued: “This has got to be the best news anyone who hates Muslims as much as I do could ever hear about It’s simply fantastic ”It concluded: “I hope y o u a l l r o t i n h e l l ” T h e death toll from the TurkeyS y r i a d i s a s t e r h a s p a s s e d

45,000

E b u B e k i r T e z g e l , a senior Imam at the Aziziye M o s q u e i n S t o k e Newington, called their lett e r a “ u n a c c e p t a b l e ” a n d “ d i s g u s t i n g ” h a t e c r i m e M a y o r o f H a c k n e y P h i l i p G l a n v i l l e a n d C l l r S u s a n F a j a n a T h o m a s h a v e

ARE ASIANS STILL LIVING IN MORAL DILEMMA?

It was a rare moment when the s o u t h A s i a n c o m m u n i t y c a m e together to celebrate a person who was already a champion of diversity and now was being celebrated for his choices "My husband is white, British, and was not born into a Sikh family But h e u n d e r s t a n d s m y S i k h i (Sikhism) and he has respected and embraced that part of my life We have said we want to have a family and want to bring our children up Sikh We spoke about the kind of wedding we wanted in great detail, but sadly there was no way of getting married in a g u r d w a r a , e v e n t h o u g h i n m y interpretation of the Anand Karaj ( t h e S i k h m a r r i a g e c e r e m o n y ) , there is no reason for this,” Singh told BBC

Asian Voice spoke to more members of the South Asian comm u n i t y a b o u t w h e r e w e s t a n d w h e n i t c o m e s t o e m b r a c i n g , accepting and nurturing the free-

liament, something that couldn’t be more further from the truth ” Razzaq thinks that as if this w a s n ’ t b a d e n o u g h , o n 1 4 t h February the Pakistani senate of Human Rights passed a regressive amendment to Trans Protection Bill (2018), legislation that was the w o r l d ’ s m o s t p r o g r e s s i v e t r a n s p r o t e c t i o n b i l l i n t h e w o r l d

C o m m e n t i n g o n t h i s a m e n dment, Saima said, “So it's a bit of a double-edged sword With farr i g h t i d e o l o g i e s s w e e p i n g t h e

“Even just generally speaking, on a p o l i t i c a l l e v e l , w h e n p e o p l e speak about in movies, especially about sexuality, and coming of a g e a n d f i n d i n g y o u r i d e n t i t y , they almost speak about it as if, you know, freedom is the only and ultimate goal But it's really not, especially living in a society like this, you can't say individual

changes as being us reclaiming our South Asian cultural and societal diversity from centuries gone

b y r a t h e r t h a n a s ‘ m o d e r n ’ o r ‘Western’ developments, and the more we see this in that manner, the better it will be for proper validation, understanding and celebration of the lives of South Asian LGBTQ+ people in the UK and around the world ” The trailb la zers

Dr R ohi t K Das gupta (Senior Lec turer i n Cultural In dus tries ,

U ni ver si ty of Gl as gow, Vi si ti ng

F el l o w i n M e d i a a n d C r ea t i v e

I n d u s t ri e s , L ou g h b or o u gh

U n i v e r s i t y , C o u n c i l l or a n d

C o m m i s s i on e r f or So c i a l

how to foster greater inclusion of d i v e r s e p e o p l e s a p p e a r s t o b e g a i n i n g t r a c t i o n a m o n g f i r m s

They are staging tailored initiatives targeting specific groups to boost diversity, and are also now delving deeper – considering the p h y s i c a l a r c h i t e c t u r e , p o l i c i e s a n d p r o c e d u r e s w i t h i n t h e i r organisations that will assist in promoting greater diversity and inclusion

Firms acknowledge the challenges faced when measuring the success of various initiatives but are finding numerous ways to gauge progress Second, only to P r i d e M o n t h , h e l d i n J u n e , L B G T Q + H i s t o r y M o n t h h a s become a key time for firms to c e l e b r a t e L G B T Q + c o l l e a g u e s and continue to raise awareness t h r o u g h m o n t h - l o n g e v e n t s across the UK

Gr ant Thornton: visible role models and a se nse of community

freedom trumps everything else It should be equally important to people who are going to continue to live in a society that's like a collective, so you get the freedom in the end that you want, but at what cost is the term and are you okay with it? There's a big heaviness that comes with losing your innocence and coming of age ” South As ian s ociety has vi ewed dive rse s exuality through that m ora l lens

dom of sexual diversity While there is a considerable amount of progress that the community has made in empowering LGBTQ+ folks, there is still a long way to go in terms of removing the moral dilemma from sexual diversity

We can ’ t pick and choos e eq uality lik e a b ag of pic k-n- mi x Di re c to r of C ha n g e a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n s , B i r m i n g h a m Pride, Sai ma R azzaq spoke to the n e w s w e e k l y a t l e n g t h a b o u t where we as a community stand in terms of accepting, embracing and learning about the LGBTQ+ community Saima said, “In some aspects, we really are starting to s e e a n e l e m e n t o f p r o g r e s s i v e change amongst the South Asian diaspora when it comes to gender identities, predominantly down to South Asian LGBTQ+ individuals and their allies taking a stand to collectively reclaim this narrative Last year Shiva Raichandani won the Iris Prize; a BAFTA-qualifying LGBTQ+ film festival, for their film Queer Parivaar which explores Queer, trans and nonbinary narratives ”

Saima further added, “We’ve a l s o s e e n t h e r e l e a s e o f S a i m S a d i q ’ s g r o u n d - b r e a k i n g f i l m Joyland Pakistan’s first Oscarshortlisted film that tells the story of a married man who falls in love w i t h a t r a n s w o m a n A s a Pakistani, I’d have thought we’d have been celebrating our first e n t r y i n t o t h e O s c a r s b u t n o

Instead what we saw was the creation of a smear campaign, based on misinformation that was used t o g a s l i g h t P a k i s t a n i s , b o t h a t home and abroad, into thinking that a same-sex marriage bill had been passed in the Pakistani par-

world over, this is also having a knock-on effect on South Asians both at home and abroad These ideologies are providing fuel for patriarchal, far-right factions that exist within our communitiesfactions who despise the emancipation of women and point blank refuse to even recognise the existence of LGBTQ+ people who live amongst them ”

The Director of Change and Communication also mentioned t h a t o n F r i d a y 1 7 t h F e b r u a r y Birmingham Pride took part in a vigil that was organised in memory of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey (pronounced j-eye) “Brianna was a trans girl murdered by fellow school pupils in the UK, simply because of who she was During the vigil and while my colleague Eva Echo; Director of Innovation, w a s b e i n g i n t e r v i e w e d b y t h e press, a group of South Asian boys s t a r t e d h u r l i n g h o m o p h o b i c abuse at those attending the vigil There were so many of us but these boys really had no shame and one of these South Asian y o u n g b o y s e v e n p u l l e d o u t a knife on the crowd before running off,” Saima said

“Birmingham is home to one of the largest South Asian communities in the UK What are we coming to as a people? We really must understand that we can’t pick and choose equality like a bag of pick-n-mix Just like we f i g h t a g a i n s t r a c i s m w e m u s t stand up against the oppression of all minorities,” she added Further cementing the sentiment on LGBTQ+, in a previous interview with Asian Voice ahead of the release of Joyland in the UK, director Saim Sadiq told us,

J asvi r Si ngh CBE, City Sik hs Chair and Co- Founder of South As ia n Her ita ge M onth recently came out to share the news of his wedding with his partner Nick Speaking to us, Jasvir Singh told t h e n e w s w e e k l y , “ T h e S o u t h Asian communities have historic a l l y b e e n v e r y w e l c o m i n g o f diverse gender identities and sexualities The presence of hijras in the region is well known, and there have been same-sex relationships depicted in art and in sculptures such as on the temple carvings of Khajuraho in India for centuries, if not millennia

“When Victorian British values were imposed on Indian society in the mid-19th century, sadly that millennia-long history was p u s h e d a s i d e i n t h e n a m e o f 'morality', and the introduction of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code in 1860 criminalised homosexual acts for the very first time Since then, South Asian society h a s v i e w e d d i v e r s e s e x u a l i t y through that moral lens, and the region is slowly emerging from that perspective Section 377 has been repealed, and there is a case g o i n g t h r o u g h t h e I n d i a n Supreme Court for same-sex marriages to be recognised Changes throughout the subcontinent are having ripple effects here, and the diaspora communities in Western Europe, North America and the Pacific have benefitted from more liberal and progressive views on t h e r i g h t s o f L G B T Q + p e o p l e , including on same-sex marriages However, there is still so much more to be done

“The mainstream South Asian communities need to be far more welcoming of the diversity of gender and sexuality, for example, and the concept of what constitutes a ‘family’ needs to evolve to reflect the reality of the present day We also need to view these

In te gra ti on & Equalities , London B o r ou g h of N e w ha m ) b e l i e v e s that Queer rights have moved from the periphery to the very c e n t r e o f d i s c u s s i o n o n S o u t h

Asian identities “British South Asian queer artists such as Sunil Gupta, Pratibha Parmar, Ian Iqbal Rashid and others have been trailblazers in creating work that has challenged the homogenous lens through which South Asian identities have often been discussed In a recent research project with D r C h u r n j e e t M a h n o n S o u t h

Asian queer migration to the UK we note how mainstream queer histories of organising have often erased South Asians even though there is a rich history of the contribution made by South Asian queer people to anti-racist and a n t i - c a s t e p o l i t i c s , q u e e r r e s i s -

t a n c e , c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n a n d c o m m u n i t y o r g a n i s i n g i n t h e U K , ” D r D a s g u p t a t o l d A s i a n Voice LGB TQ+ History M onth: in clusi on and diversi ty ac ros s the bi gge st fi rm s

T h e I n s t i t u t e o f C h a r t e r e d

A c c o u n t a n t s i n E n g l a n d a n d Wales released a note in February - which is marked as LGBTQ+ History Month According to the ICAEW, the 2021 census was a milestone for the LBGTQ+ community in the UK It marked the first time that the community was counted in the census since this record-keeping began more than 200 years ago and revealed that there are more than 1 5 million LGBTQ+ people living in England and Wales

But while progress is undeniable, there is more to be done As w e c o n t i n u e t o c e l e b r a t e t h i s month’s LGBTQ+ History Month – a celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer history to promote awareness of the issues facing LGBTQ+ people – we take a look at what the largest UK accountancy firms are doing

A more fundamental look at

At Grant Thornton, the firm’s LGBTQIA+ network has an independent charter and a clear mandate as well as a budget and goals Its strategy is agreed upon with

the senior leadership team, two of whom are sponsors Bradley Chadwick, a partner and current leader of the firm’s LGBTQIA+ inclusion and diversity strand as convener for Count Us In, says the charter is to promote the interests of and create an inclusive environment for LGBTQIA+ partners and other people working at Grant Thornton They seek to do this by ensuring there are visible role models, a sense of community and that the firm’s policies are inclusive

Deloi tte: expe rience s of seni or LGBTQ+ people , t rans hi stori es a nd trans f utures

At Deloitte, February sees a mix of in-person, hybrid and virtual events across its UK offices, including an event focusing on t h e e x p e r i e n c e s o f s e n i o r LGBTQ+ people, one on trans histories and trans futures, as well as a family-focused event on coming out together Deloitte’s events for History Month, and throughout the year, are all mana g e d b y i t s L G B T Q + n e t w o r k which was set up in 2007 Clare Rowe, inclusion lead at Deloitte, says that its LGBTQ community is one of the firm’s five inclusion priorities, along with disability, social mobility, gender balance and ethnicity – all of which are overseen by the firm-wide inclusion team which works in partnership with the LGBTQ+ network throughout the year Last S e p t e m b e r , D e l o i t t e a l s o p u blished its headline sexual orientation representation data externally for the first time

Saima Razzaq

Saim Sadiq, Director - Joyland

Jasvir Singh CBE

A still from Joyland

Dr Rohit K Dasgupta

How workforce qualification levels differ across England and Wales

T he ONS has pu blished a d igital article looking at 2021 C ens u s d a ta o n d ifferi ng levels of ed ucati onal qu alif i ca ti o ns h eld b y resid ents activ e in t h e w o r kf o rc e acro ss the various local authorities of England and Wales A data explo rer map allows users to see how their area com pares

Around four in ten economically active people in E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s ( 4 2 % ) h a v e a h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n qualification, which was the most common level of qualification; there was little difference across most regions, but in London, this figure was higher, at 57%

L e a v i n g L o n d o n a s i d e , there was no clear northsouth divide between regional qualification levels, in contrast to trends in income and productivity, where previous ONS analysis has shown a clear north-south divide

M u c h s t a r k e r i n e q u a l ities exist within regions: the East Midlands and East of E n g l a n d r e g i o n s h a d t h e greatest inequality in qualification levels, with the East of England being home both to the ninth most qualified area

Closing the ethnic minority gap between teachers and pupils

35% of pupils in England are from an ethnic mi nority, but these underrepresented groups make up only 15% of teachers, government data has revealed

(Cambridge), and the 330th (Fenland)

Of the ten least highly qualified areas in England a n d W a l e s , s e v e n w e r e i n these two regions, and many were coastal areas; people m a y n e e d t o l e a v e s u c h places to acquire higher-level qualifications or to get a job that requires more education

While all of the ten most highly qualified areas were in cities, there were only two only cities in the ten least highly qualified areas

Harrow is ranked 47 out o f 3 3 1 E n g l i s h a n d W e l s h local authorities This puts it i n t h e t o p 2 0 % o f a r e a s Brent is ranked 151 out of 331 E n g l i s h a n d W e l s h l o c a l authorities This puts it in t h e t o p 6 0 % o f a r e a s Bradford is ranked 283 out of 331 English and Welsh local authorities This puts it in the bottom 20% of areas

UK workforce under pressure with rise in long-term sicknesses

T h e U K r is ks a s h ri nki ng w orkforce cau sed by longterm sickness, a new rep ort w arns Pensions and health cons u l t a n t s L a n e , C l a r k a n d Peacock (LCP) says there has

it could hold back economic growth Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has set up a review of policies to reduce inactivity a n d c o u l d m a k e a n a n n o u n c e m e n t i n t h e

Budget on 15 March

Now Teach, a charity helping older career changers become secondary school teachers shared a case study with Asian Voice which gives an insight into bridging the ethnic minority gap between teachers and pupils

The approach of recruiting older people into the classroom means 32% of Now Teachers are from an ethnic minority Almost all of the teachers are over 45 and have decades of experience working in other fields Traditional teacher recruitment, focussing on young graduates, is baking in this ethnicity gap between pupils and teachers Changing tactics to attract older trainees could double representation

This inequality may also be having a wider impact The UK has one of the youngest teaching workforces in the OECD and data shows the most economically deprived schools have the youngest teachers, meaning those children are taught by people with the least life and career experience

Kharuz Zaman, 47, is a former lawyer and now a Maths teacher at Harris Boys' Academy East Dulwich, London Kharuz spent two decades working in the City of London as a corporate lawyer for firms such as Barclays and Slaughter and May, specialising in mergers and acquisitions in the banking and financial services sector

He was born in Bangladesh and moved to the UK aged 8 Learning a new language and adapting to a completely different environment in the process

young people to thrive and realise their full potential, as a Maths teacher A few years later he accepted a position as Teaching and Learning Responsibility lead for Careers

Kharuz has drawn on his personal life experiences to build a strong connection with students

He said, “I believed I could make the biggest difference by teaching at a school where a large proportion of the students are from disadvantaged backgrounds It was important for me to do it at the peak of my career, rather than waiting until I was closer to retirement ”

He is passionate about developing and promoting talent from diverse backgrounds He said: “From a diversity perspective, I think it’s important to have a balanced representation

in all professions - including teaching

“Young people need role models from all backgrounds It’s a good thing that Now Teach is succeeding in getting more professionals from ethnic minorities to change careers to become teachers One of the reasons for this could be a healthy shift in attitudes among professionals working in e g the City, with more people being motivated by having a clear sense of purpose and a

desire to make a contribution to society

“Having said that, we must not lose sight of the fact that - despite being better represented, there is a marked reduction in the proportion of ethnic minorities in leadership positions This suggests that, as with many other professions, we still have a long way to go before we can say that the world of education has fully embraced diversity and is truly meritocratic”

u The FTE of teachers has increased by 4,400 since last year

u The rate of entrants to teaching continues to be higher than that of teachers leaving the profession, meaning an overall increase to the number of teachers in England

u Entrants to and leavers from teaching are up from last year but down compared to pre-pandemic levels

u School workforce ethnic diversity is increasing but the teaching workforce continues to be predominantly female

u Pupil to teacher ratios are similar to last year: 20 6 pupils per teacher in nurseries and primary schools, 16 7 in secondary schools, and 6 3 in special and PRU schools

u 3 in 5 teaching hours were spent teaching English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects of mathematics, English, sciences (including computer science), history, geography and modern languages

Source https://explore-education-statistics service gov uk/

b e e n a s h a r p i n c r e a s e i n " e c o n o m i c i n a c t i v i t y "working-age adults who are not in work or looking for jobs

The figure has risen by 516,000 since Covid hit, and e a r l y r e t i r e m e n t d o e s n o t appear to explain it

The total of long-term sick, meanwhile, has gone up b y 3 5 3 , 0 0 0 , s a y s L C P I t means there are now nearly 2 5 million adults of working age who are long-term sick, official data from the Labour Force survey reveals

The report comes at a t i m e o f i n c r e a s i n g d e b a t e about the rise in so-called e c o n o m i c i n a c t i v i t ytotalling 8 9 million peoplea n d w h a t i s f u e l l i n g i t Ministers are concerned that

Some policy experts have talked of a "great retirement" in which more people have l e f t t h e w o r k f o r c e e a r l y , some because they have adequate pensions and do not f e e l t h e n e e d t o c a r r y o n working Policies to encourage the over-50s back into t h e w o r k p l a c e h a v e b e e n

considered

But the LCP report takes a different tack - it says pressure on the NHS can account for some of the increase in long-term sickness Delays g e t t i n g n o n - u r g e n t o p e r at i o n s a n d m e n t a l h e a l t h treatment are possible explanations Others who would otherwise have had a chronic c o n d i t i o n b e t t e r m a n a g e d may be in poorer health

Kharuz attended a ‘failing’ comprehensive school in Smethwick, Birmingham, which was later shut down However, he sees it now as a golden opportunity: “I’ve been very privileged to have had such life chances, which provided me with strong foundations for adult life” After taking law at King's College London, his career flourished

Then, in his mid-40s, after being made a partner at his law firm, he read a newspaper article about Now Teach, a charity that helps professionals change their careers and become teachers Eager for a new challenge, he signed up, took a new degree and has fully devoted himself to inspiring and helping

Kharuz Zaman

Bus

fare cap extended till June end

T he £2 cap on bus fares in England h as been extended for th ree mo nths following w arnings that hundred s o f serv ices could be cu t if it ended

The cap applies to more than 130 bus operators outside London

It had been due to expire on 31 March, but has been extended until the end of J u n e B u s o p e r a t o r s h a v e been struggling to maintain

service levels in the face of rising costs and passenger numbers not recovering to p r e - p a n d e m i c l e v e l s T h e cap was introduced partly as a cost of living measure but

Junior doctors in England vote overwhelmingly for strike action

J u n io r d o c to rs i n E ng land hav e voted o v erw h e lm i n g ly f o r strike action in their fig ht for pay restorat i on A lm o st e v er y j u n io r d o c to r w h o cast a v ote, vo ted in f av o u r o f tak in g s tr i ke a ct i o n an d t u rno u t w as i n e xc es s o f

77 %

More than 47,600 junior doctors in England were eligible to vote in the BMA’s ballot Almost 37,000 votes were cast and 98% of those v o t e d i n f a v o u r o f s t r i k e action, meaning this was the largest ever turnout for a ballot of doctors by the BMA a n d a r e c o r d n u m b e r o f j u n i o r d o c t o r s v o t i n g f o r strike action

W i t h n o m e a n i n g f u l engagement from the UK Government on pay, despite s e v e r a l l e t t e r s a n d t h e

B M A ’ s m e e t i n g w i t h t h e Health Secretary in January, junior doctors in England will now prepare for a 72hour walkout next month

B M A j u n i o r d o c t o r s c o m m i t t e e c o - c h a i r s D r

Robert Laurenson and Dr V i v e k T r i v e d i s a i d , “ T h i s vote shows, without a shadow of a doubt, the strength of feeling among most of E n g l a n d ’ s j u n i o r d o c t o r s

We are frustrated, in despair a n d a n g r y a n d w e h a v e voted in our thousands to say, ‘in the name of our prof e s s i o n , o u r p a t i e n t s , a n d our NHS, doctors won’t take it anymore ’ “ T h e G o v e r n m e n t h a s only itself to blame, standing by in silent indifference as our members are forced to take this difficult decision “ W e h a v e h a d a r e a lterms pay cut of more than 26 % since 2008 This year we were offered an insulting 2% pay, which means with inflation at over 10%, we are working more than a month for free “ A d d e d t o t h a t , e v e rworsening conditions mean m o r e d o c t o r s a r e b e i n g lured away from the NHS to s e e k b e t t e r p a i d m e d i c a l careers and quality of life elsewhere

“There is no doubt that this is a crisis, but it is of the Government’s making – so f a r r e f u s i n g t o h a v e a n y m e a n i n g f u l d i s c u s s i o n s

is also meant to encourage people back on to buses

U p t o 1 5 % o f s e r v i c e s could have been scrapped without further funding, the Confederation of Passenger Transport, which represents bus and coach firms, said earlier this month During the pandemic the government provided £2bn to support bus firms, who provide the most popular form of public transport in England

The transport watchdog

T r a n s p o r t F o c u s s a i d t h e funding would help many people who are struggling w i t h r i s i n g l i v i n g c o s t s Inflation - the rate at which prices rise - is currently near a 40-year high, but has eased i n r e c e n t m o n t h s T h e Office for National Statistics said the £2 fare cap was a contributing factor in inflat i o n s l o w i n g d o w n i n January

Virtual facilities could help reduce hours for trainee nurses

New v irtual ward s for train ee nu rs es co u ld help ease the pressure on the NHS

Don’t fall prey to the trend of overestimation

Rohit Vadhwana

We are living i n an age of overestimation Everywhere you will fi nd this phenomenon While a p pl y i ng fo r a j o b , a pe r s on wo ul d desc ri be his/her hobb y so passi onately that it would soun d like roc ket scienc e Someone who likes baking and eating cake would say that s/he is pass ionately in love with the scienc e of baking and i ts mi nute detai ls

Adding that s/he enjoys the immersive process of preparing a cake and involves him/herself very deeply in taking notes of the result, particularly, the texture, taste and softness of the cake Now, this is too much of a description of baking! But in the age of over-narration, this is what is considered a killing elucidation

with us about pay The road to recovery must start with Ministers listening to us and p a y i n g u s w h a t w e ’ r e worth ”

T h e B r i t i s h M e d i c a l Association has also accused t h e g o v e r n m e n t o f " r e c kless" behaviour ahead of the results of a strike ballot by junior doctors

T h e B M A ' s P r o f e s s o r P h i l i p B a n f i e l d s a i d t h e prime minister and health secretary were refusing to enter meaningful negotiat i o n s w i t h u n i o n s T h e Department of Health and Social Care said it had met w i t h t h e B M A a n d o t h e r unions to discuss pay

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said, "We hugely value the work of junior doctors and we have been clear that s u p p o r t i n g a n d r e t a i n i n g the NHS workforce is one of our main priorities

S t a t e - o f - t h e - a r t nursing facilities that i n c l u d e m a n n e q u i n s modelled on real-life c h i l d r e n , a n d d u mmies that have a pulse, could reduce the hours needed for t r a i n e e n u r s e s t o i n t e r a c t with real patients on wards

A t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f 2 0 2 3 , t h e N u r s i n g a n d Midwifery Council changed their regulations to allow "innovative simulation" for more than a quarter of the 2 , 3 0 0 p r a c t i c e l e a r n i n g hours One of the few places i n t h e c o u n t r y p r o v i d i n g t r a i n i n g w i t h a u g m e n t e d reality and simulation techn o l o g y i s M i d d l e s e x U n i v e r s i t y L o n d o n P r o f e s s o r C a r m e l C l a n c y , academic dean of faculty of health social care and educ a t i o n , s a i d t h i s t y p e o f training allows students to get more practical experience She said: "Here they get the chance to be at the front of the bed as opposed to at the back looking on, and

they get the chance to have hands-on and practice skills they might not otherwise get a chance to " Staffing shortages in the NHS means it can be difficult for employees to have t h e c a p a c i t y t o s u p e r v i s e trainees, and there is also a f i n i t e n u m b e r o f s t u d e n t p l a c e m e n t s a v a i l a b l e i n N H S t r u s t s P r o f C l a n c y added that if more students did their practical training in simulated environments, it would take a load off overstretched hospitals W i t h a p p l i c a t i o n s t o s t u d y n u r s i n g i n E n g l a n d d r o p p i n g b y 1 8 % f o r t h i s c o m i n g a c a d e m i c y e a r , M i d d l e s e x U n i v e r s i t y s a y s its facility can help recruit more nurses, by making the c o u r s e e n v i r o n m e n t l e s s intimidating It is calling for more investment in similar centres across the country

Labour to drive out anti-Semitism, watchdog says

To rid i ts ranks o f antiSemitism, Britain's o pp ositio n Labour P arty has made sufficient ch anges over the last two years, the equaliti es wat c h do g s a id o n Wednesday, as leader S ir Keir S tarmer pledged zero to l er an c e o f di s c ri m i natio n

T h e w a t c h d o g f o r c e d Labour to present an action plan to address allegations o f d i s c r i m i n a t i o n a n d h a r a s s m e n t a g a i n s t J e w s Polls indicate that Labour h a s a s t r o n g c h a n c e o f forming Britain's next government after an election expected in 2024

"Today is an important moment in the history of the Labour Party," Starmer said in a speech "It has taken many, many months of hard work and humility to get here "

" W e c a n s a y f i r m l y , proudly, confidently: The

Labour Party has changed U n d e r m y l e a d e r s h i p there will be zero tolerance o f a n t i - S e m i t i s m , o f racism, of discrimination of any kind "

Sir Starmer also made it clear that Jeremy Corbyn will not stand for re-election as a Labour Party cand i d a t e , u n d e r w h o m t h e a l l e g a t i o n s o f a n t iSemitism first emerged in 2019

How does it help? To whom? That's a big question Rather than saying that s/he likes a walk in nature, write on social media that s/he feels rejuvenated while walking in the beautiful foliage of woods, and gets soul uplifted with the energy of the universe Rather than writing what is one's hobby in biodata, people write a longish description of rather a simple activity It has become a fashion to overstate Understatements are not appreciated Boasting is fine and acceptable Sometimes even rewarded

To take advantage of this trend, many people come out with such commentary that impresses their bosses Blinded by verbosity, employers are willing to give promotions and opportunities for training to those who can say more rather than to those who say less Expression, even if meaningless and sometimes baseless, are the tools to impress superiors The hospitality industry writes pages and pages about their services/products, without coming to the point You might have noticed that nowadays even sales emails are so long that you scroll them down, often more than three or four times, to see what is the asking price

This trend has one clear negative If you don't come to the point within a reasonable time, people lose their focus Your presentation, which indulges into everything else than the point you want to make, is hardly seen by anyone in the room Some of them have pre-decided questions and others ask because they don't want to be seen as someone who has not paid attention Finally, whatever they want to know, comes out from that brief question-answer session Another disadvantage of this fashion is that those who want to focus on work do not get rewarded But those who have the ability to talk about the work are preferred It affects the industry sooner or later when they pay the price, but again it is those who know how to express get away with speculative analysis, and those who cannot speak get fired

If you are the person who hires or manages people, make sure you know about this fashionable trend, so you don't fall prey to it unless you decide to

(Expressed opinions are personal)

Workers at Royal Mail vote for more strikes

" J e r e m y C o r b y n w i l l n o t s t a n d f o r L a b o u r What I said about the party changing, I meant we are not going back," Starmer told reporters

Mr Corbyn, who represented his north London constituency for nearly 40 years, took to Twitter and said that it was up to his local Labour members and not Starmer to decide who their candidate should be

Until a long- runn ing dispute is resolved, thous ands of w or k e rs a t B ri t a i n 's R oy a l M a i l ha s vo te d i n fa vou r of f urt he r st ri k es , their trade union sai d on Thurs day T h e C o m m u n i c a t i o n W o r k e r s U n i o n ( C W U ) , w h i c h r e p r e s e n t s m o r e than 110,000 postal worke r s a t t h e c e n t u r i e s - o l d postal company, said more than 95% of those who participated in the ballot voted for strikes

I n D e c e m b e r , R o y a l Mail workers held a set of s t r i k e s w h e n p a r c e l v o lumes are typically high as people exchange Christmas presents over the holiday season

Dates for fresh strikes have not been set yet by the CWU but the vote gives it a

s i x - m o n t h m a n d a t e f o r action running until midAugust " ( T h e b a l l o t r e s u l t ) i s proof that for Royal Mail to begin functioning normally again, there needs to be a c h a n g e i n n e g o t i a t i n g approach from its leaders h i p t h a t r e c o g n i s e s t h e depth of feeling from the workforce," CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said in a statement

A spokesperson for the company said it was disappointed by the vote

"We remain committed to getting around the table with the CWU, resolving this dispute and agreeing a pay and change deal for our people," the spokesperson said, adding that Royal Mail had plans to minimise disruption from any strikes

Police initiate fresh investigation after 25 years of racist-attack death

A mum has been giv en fresh h o p e b y p o l i ce re v i ew i ng their investigatio n into the d eath of h er so n 25 years after he was fou nd at the b o tto m o f t h e R iv er T ham es O n O c t o b e r 1 4 1 9 9 7 , R i c k y R e e l w e n t m i s s i n g after he and his friends, who are all South Asian, were subjected to a racist attack by two white men Ricky, 20, from West London, and his p a l s a l l r a n i n d i f f e r e n t directions and he was never seen again His body was found seven days later His m u m S u k h d e v R e e l h a s always maintained the racial e l e m e n t w a s n e v e r t a k e n s e r i o u s l y a n d t h e p o l i c e ' s p r e j u d i c a l v i e w s a b o u t S o u t h A s i a n s s e v e r e l y

eyes"

Domestic abusers face crackdown in raft of new promising measures

Ricky Reel

impeded any progress to the investigation

No one has ever been arrested or charged in connection with Ricky's death

A f t e r s p e n d i n g a 2 5 t h C h r i s t m a s w i t h o u t R i c k y , Mrs Reel has been told the police will now take a look at her son's case with "fresh

It comes after Mrs Reel told previously that she was c o n t a c t e d b y s o m e o n e i n July 2021 claiming to know who killed her son and that the fatal attack was racially motivated She passed that i n f o r m a t i o n t o t h e p o l i c e with demands to speak to the new Metropolitan Police C o m m i s s i o n e r S i r M a r k Rowley If this new information proves to be credible then the campaign can apply to reopen the inquest

In 2014, Mrs Reel and the campaign were notified that they had been under surveillance as part of "coll a t e r a l i n t r u s i o n " O n t h e 25th anniversary of Ricky's death, the police put out a renewed appeal

UK Secretary of State for Defence discusses ways to enhance defence industrial cooperation with Indian Defence Minister

U K Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace had a t el ep h o ne c o nv e rs ati o n w it h I nd ia ’ s D ef enc e M inister Rajnath Singh on F ebruary 21 , 20 23 The conv ersation was positive and f o c u se d o n t h e f u tu re g ro w th o f th e bi la ter al d efence relationship B o t h M i n i s t e r s d i sc u s s e d a w i d e r a n g e o f defence and security issues, including regional developments and the Indo-Pacific T h e M i n i s t e r s b r i e f l y r e v i e w e d t h e i r o n g o i n g d e f e n c e c o o p e r a t i o n a n d expressed satisfaction with t h e i r b i l a t e r a l m i l i t a r y - t o -

military engagements

T h e y a l s o d i s c u s s e d ways to enhance defenceindustrial cooperation and i d e n t i f i e d a f e w p o t e n t i a l a r e a s o f c o o p e r a t i o n

R a j n a t h S i n g h s u g g e s t e d that UK companies should b e c o m e p a r t o f I n d i a ’ s growth story and participate in co-development and coproduction in India

Lord Swraj Paul inaugurates hall in memory of late wife

L ord Swraj Pau l m arked the op ening of the L ad y A runa S wraj Pau l Hall at the over the 60-year-old m u lti s p o rt v e nu e i n w est L ond on took p lace a t a s p ec ia l e v en t attend ed by British parl i am e nta ri an s an d d iplomats on S aturd ay

The opening coincided with Lo rd Paul’s 92nd birth day

The historic openi n g t o o k p l a c e a t t h e Indian Gymkhana Club in London Lady Aruna p a s s e d a w a y a t h e r London home in May last year, aged 86

Petrol station fined £100,000 for allowing people to sleep inside

T h e c o m pa n y r u n n i n g a petrol station in Corn wall has b een fined more than £100,000 after people were f ound s leeping in side of i t

In 2022, an inspection c a r r i e d o u t b y C o r n w a l l F i r e a n d R e s c u e S e r v i c e f o u n d p e o p l e h a d b e e n sleeping illegally inside the garage in Lanner - without s u i t a b l e f i r e p r e c a u t i o n s T h e c o m p a n y o p e r a t i n g L a n n e r G a r a g e S T F o r e c o u r t L T S , w h i c h i s n e a r R e d r u t h , p l e a d e d g u i l t y t o f i v e o f f e n c e s u n d e r t h e R e g u l a t o r y

Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

It was fined £100,000reduced from £150,000 to

account for an early guilty plea The director of the c o m p a n y , S a t h e e s w a r a n Sachchithananthamoorthy, from Bristol, was also fined H e w a s o r d e r e d t o p a y £ 3 , 8 0 0 , r e d u c e d f r o m £5,700 for his early guilty plea, and £4,038 in costs and a victim surcharge of £ 1 9 0 w h e n h e a p p e a r e d before Exeter Magistrates’ Court on 8 February

The offences related to failures in the fire safety standards identified by officers of Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) following a fire safety inspect i o n a t t h e p r o p e r t y i n

Domestic abusers will now face tags and toug her manag em ent und er new measures to protect wom en and girls The new pro posals by the U K g overnment go further than ever before in p rote ct i ng w o m en a nd g i rls f ro m h ara s sm e nt, a g g re ssion and vio lence, and focus on stop ping dom estic abuse before it takes place

P r i m e M i n i s t e r R i s h i Sunak said, “No woman or girl should ever have to feel unsafe in her home or comm u n i t y a n d I a m d e t e rmined to stamp out these appalling crimes The Ask for Ani scheme provides a lifeline for anyone suffering from domestic abuse and we will continue to expand the scheme so that more people c a n a c c e s s i t , i n c l u d i n g piloting this service in the first job centres As well as extra support for victims, we ’ re making it a priority for the police to tackle violence against women and girls and t o u g h e n i n g u p t h e w a y

o f f e n d e r s a r e m a n a g e d –p r e v e n t i n g m o r e o f t h e s e crimes from happening in the first place, and bringing m o r e p e r p e t r a t o r s t o j u stice ” The law will be changed so that the most dangerous d o m e s t i c a b u s e r s w i l l b e watched more closely For the first time, controlling or coercive behaviour will be put on a par with physical violence, which will mean o f f e n d e r s s e n t e n c e d t o a year or more imprisonment or a suspended sentence will a u t o m a t i c a l l y b e a c t i v e l y m a n a g e d b y t h e p o l i c e , prison and probation serv i c e s u n d e r m u l t i - a g e n c y public protection arrangements

A range of agencies will have a legal duty to coopera t e t o m a n a g e t h e r i s k s posed by these dangerous offenders This will make it easier to deliver a joined-up approach to protecting the public While the govern-

ment is pursuing this legislation, police and the probation service will start work immediately to ensure that f r o m n o w o f f e n d e r s s e ntenced to a year or more for c o n t r o l l i n g a n d c o e r c i v e behaviour are recorded on the violent and sex offender register, so that they don’t fall through the cracks

I n a d d i t i o n , a b u s e r s could be fitted with a tag, prevented from going within a certain distance of a victim’s home, and made to attend a behaviour change programme, as part of a trial of domestic abuse protection notices and domestic abuse protection orders in three areas in the UK

A l s o f r o m l a s t w e e k , those at risk of, or suffering from, domestic abuse will be able to receive emergency help from one of 18 job centres and jobs and benefit offices across the UK, and a new postcode checker will tell them their nearest location to access the service

The Ask for ANI (Action N e e d e d I m m e d i a t e l y ) scheme is already in operation in over 5,000 pharmacies across the UK in over 88 cities, towns and villages It is delivered in partnership with Hestia’s Safe Spaces

A n y o n e w h o i s s u f f e r i n g from or fearful of domestic abuse can ask for ANI, and they will be guided to a safe a n d p r i v a t e s p a c e a n d offered support to call the police or specialist domestic abuse services

Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, said, “Domestic abuse is a despicable crime that leads to people’s closest r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e c o m i n g a frightening existence of torment, pain, fear, and anxiety It is completely unacc e p t a b l e a n d a s H o m e Secretary, I will do everything in my power to stop it The wide-ranging measures announced today will mean the most dangerous offenders will be watched more closely and added to the violent and sex offender register Also, police forces in England and Wales will now h a v e t o t r e a t v i o l e n c e against women and girls as a n a t i o n a l t h r e a t a n d m o r e v i c t i m s w i l l b e p r o t e c t e d from harm ” S i n c e t h e s c h e m e launched in 2021, emergenc y s u p p o r t h a s b e e n accessed on average once a week On top of this, the N a t i o n a l P o l i c e C h i e f s ’ Council is writing to every force in England and Wales to reiterate the expectation that forces must proactively identify the most dangerous d o m e s t i c a b u s e r s i n t h e i r area to prevent them from committing further crimes To support this, the Home Office will help develop a new risk assessment tool so that police forces can quickly identify domestic abusers most likely to commit the greatest harm – even where they have no conviction –a n d s t o p t h e m i n t h e i r tracks

Meghana Pandit becomes new CEO of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

able and sufficient fire risk assessment, the fire detection and warning system fell short of the standard expected in a premises providing sleeping accommod a t i o n a n d t h e e s c a p e routes serving the sleeping accommodation were not adequately protected C F R S i s r e m i n d i n g b u s i n e s s o w n e r s i n C o r n w a l l t h a t t h e y a r e r e q u i r e d t o c o m p l y w i t h t h e R e g u l a t o r y R e f o r m ( F i r e S a f e t y ) O r d e r 2 0 0 5 B u s i n e s s e s m u s t h a v e a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment and ensure that all fire safety provisions are adequate and regularly maintained

M egh ana P andit h as been appointed as the new C EO o f O xf or d U ni v e rs it y Hospitals NHS Fou nd ation Trust and sh e becomes the tr u st ’ s f i rs t f em a le C EO Megh ana's appointm ent will c o m e i nt o e ff ec t f ro m March 1, 2023 P a n d i t t r a i n e d i n

Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the Oxford Deanery and w a s V i s i t i n g L e c t u r e r i n U r o g y n a e c o l o g y a t t h e University of Michigan in t h e U S , P a n d i t , w h o w a s serving as the interim CEO a t O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y Hospitals (OUH) since July 2022

New experts to advise on better UK visa offer

T h e In ter nat i o nal Hi g h e r E d u c ati o n C o m m i ss i o n (IHEC ), chaired by former U K univ ersities m inister and member of Parliament C hris Skidm ore, has been created in the wake of recent reports of U K gov ernment plans to

for overseas students

curtail the post-stud y work visa route and other measures to crack d own on student mig ration statistics

The focus of the new commission, launched this week, will be to highlight the value of overseas stu-

dents to the UK economy and society and also to make recommendations for a new ' I n t e r n a t i o n a l E d u c a t i o n Strategy 2 0' that is made up o f v i s a o f f e r s c o m p e t i t i v e with other worldwide higher education destinations

Ben Wallace Rajnath Singh

Who cares for Carers?

In common with most Western countries, the elderly population of Britain is on the rise People are living longer, mainly due to vast advance in medical science but not necessarily a healthy life The common illnesses like diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure and few more are on the rise These are mainly age related illnesses that were under control when we used to live to the normal age rather prolonging lives artificially with massive use of drugs and other advances in medical science

As a result demand for Carers is high Caring for elderly, many with onset of dementia is a demanding job that needs patience, humour and dedication No wonder by far these vacancies are mostly filled by one ethnic people, as most of them are indeed hard-working, easy going with good disposition who work on most part twelve hours a day, six days a week Without them Care industry will collapse

But I wonder how much these dedicated; hard-working professionals are appreciated and paid decent wages, as most come through agency that denies them paid holidays, sickness benefits rather than employed directly by the Council or the NHS! Until we need the help of these professionals, most of us do not know or appreciate their work-load, what part they play in keeping our ageing population in comfort that enables us, the younger generation to go to work knowing that their loving elderlies are in good hands, looked after well in their absence

While most of them have their own transport, the most essential tool in their armoury, there are few carers who use public transport resulting their twelve hour shift extending by two hours or more, especially at week-ends when there is a limited public transport

One way the government can help them is to provide interest-free loans to buy or hire motor-vehicles and pay t h e m m i l e a g e a l l o w a n c e o r a f i x e d r a t e t r a n s p o r t allowance, as is the custom, tradition in most EU countries Some of them should be given special training to look-after difficult or terminally ill patients that may drain their emotional reserve, as most of us are not equipped to care for terminally ill elderlies, caring them day in, day out that results in a special bond and affection between Carers and their patients, losing them suddenly brings on depression in some carers if not trained sufficiently

Bh upendra M Gandh i

Reform, perform and transform

The words “reform, perform and transform” represents India, the world is aware of the reforms implemented in India to make doing business easier in India (India’s defence sector ready for big leap, Says PM Modi, AV dated 18-24 Feb 2023) Air India signs a deal to buy 470 planes –the world’s largest ever single-tranche aircraft purchase order are some very encouraging news for us

Keeping in mind the Loksabha election in 2024, there will be lots of agencies with vested interests that will target Indian companies, politicians and prominent figures of India to tarnish the image of the country to fulfill their n a r r o w p e r s o n a l / p o l i t i c a l i n t e r e s t s b y u s i n g v a r i o u s “toolkits” They want to create disturbances in the country by citing old examples, documentaries, speeches etc people should remain vigilant against these forces and believe the information gathered through reliable sources

So-called reformists, intellectual people, and believers of pseudo-secularism will try to use words like “Hindu Nationalists”, publish pictures of demonstrations etc to divert the attention of people from developmental activities

This is a very crucial period for India as a country keeping in mind the present geo-political situation and people should not believe the stories published by a few handfuls of people or foreign organisations but trust the well-established system of the country

Hitesh Hing u

World Environment Day

We celebrate World Environment Day on 5th June, which is to demonstrate support for environmental protection

On one end constant research and innovation makes it possible to produce various new products, but it is lagging behind in finding out ways to make environmentally friendly products as we see the amount of trash/waste generated by various products is increasing day by day and littering the roads The need of the hour is to think on the lines of making products like edible cones used in cone ice-cream, where the cone along with ice-cream can be consumed, unlike ice-cream served in cups with plastic spoon, which is difficult to dispose and often litters the road

It is time we realise that holy earth is like inherited family jewel and we have no right to sell or exhaust this and leave an empty shelf for our future generations We need to preserve mother earth by inventing and popularising more environment friendly products

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday officially known as the Day of Ashes is a day of repentance, when Christians all over the world confess their sins and profess their devotion to God The ashes symbolise both death and repentance

Ash Wednesday is inextricably linked to Easter After all, it marks the beginning of the Lent penance period that ends on Easter Sunday

But, even though the Easter story takes place in biblical times, the traditions of Ash Wednesday aren’t quite that old It dates back to the 11th century In many c h u r c h e s , t h e a s h e s a r e p r e p a r e d b y b u r n i n g p a l m branches from the previous Palm Sunday celebration

On Palm Sunday, churches bless the palms and hand them out to the congregation, a reference to the Gospels’ account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when onlookers lay palm branches on his path On both Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, Christians fast, meaning they eat less than usual

During these days, it is not acceptable to eat meat, eggs and fish But milk, pulses, fruits and vegetable are allowed

Many people keep the ashes on their forehead for the entire day, as it is a sign that they are sinners and need God’s forgiveness

Even though there is no mention of Ash Wednesday in the Holy Bible but there is a tradition of donning ashes as a sign of penitence that predates Jesus

In the Old Testament, Prophet Job repents “in dust and ashes,” and there are other associations of ashes and repentance in the books of Esther, Samuel, Isaiah and J e r e m i a h T h i s y e a r , t h e c h u r c h c e l e b r a t e d A s h Wednesday on 22 February

Jubel D Cruz Mum bai, India

Record number of young cannabis smokers hospitalised with mental health issues

The Sunday Mirror recently found that the number of young adults ending up in the hospital reached a record high with more than 250 young adults a week currently being admitted with severe psychological problems triggered by the drug The figures are up by 80% since when experts first started tracking the data in 2013 and come at a time when police have become lenient in apprehending users At least 3,881 children and teens were hospitalised last year with cannabisrelated issues The NHS records include cannabis consumers with other health issues as well

The police now usually let off under-17s with a warning for possession, while older users are fined £90 on the spot Meanwhile, the cannabis available now is reportedly 10 times more powerful than in the 1960s Experts such as David Raynes, of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, linked cannabis to serious birth defects and testicular cancers It has also been linked to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety and psychosis Nuno Albuquerque, of private specialist UK Addiction Treatment Centres, said: “There’s not enough education around the dangers, especially for young people Using cannabis at a young age is becoming socially normalised yet it can induce mind-altering symptoms ”

Continued From page 3

SCENE 2: EXT LOUVRE - DAY

Family Day

Family Day bank holiday was celebrated on Monday February 20, 2023 in Ontario and many other provinces of Canada In Canada , Family Day was originally observed in Alberta in recognition of the importance of home and family to its founding fathers The fact that there was no statutory holiday between New Year’s Day and Good Friday in April played heavily in to the decision to adopt Family Day by the many provinces

Winter in Canada is very long, many times it’s brutal with heavy snow falls It’s usually very windy, dark everywhere and have short days Therefore, many people suffer from the winter blues In Ontario in 2007, Dalton McGuinty- Liberal government after victory as promised established this provincial holiday in February to give hard-working individuals more time with their loved ones and to celebrate the wonderful bonding times with families

Family bonds are very important as family helps us to get through the most difficult times and also celebrate the best of times Families also help in good upbringing of children to become better, compassionate and kinder persons Happy Family Day to all the esteemed readers of AV, GS and staff around the world

Sure sh and Bhavn a Pa tel

Mark ha m, Ont ario, Canada

Impossible task

Politicians cannot please all the people all the time but prime minister Rishi Sunak is having a go at the impossible task of attempting to harmonise trade relations between Northern Ireland and the European Union, both sides insisting on having their own way, with mainland Britain caught in the middle Mr Sunak’s predecessors and others have already tried and failed to sort out the complex situation so I wish him all the luck in the world as he rolls up his sleeves to tackle this challenge

A sh Gupta

£2m worth of drugs recovered from 40-year-old

A man h as been jailed after being fo und with nearly £2 million wo rth of Class A d rug s

Khalil Mohammed, 40, was found in possession of a set of keys for a van holding nearly two million pounds and 20 kilograms worth of class A drugs Mohammed was seen going to and from a van, as well as driving it back and forth from his home and getting items from the back, the court heard A check on the Police National Computer revealed he had been disqualified from driving earlier that year, and the ban should have lasted until December - 3 months after he was seen behind the wheel of a vehicle He was arrested on 8 September 2022 and officers searched his van

Khalil Mohammed

They found 11 blocks and seven brown parcels which contained nearly 20 kilograms of heroin, with a street value of £1 9 million DC Robert O’Brien, serious and organised crime, said: “A significant amount of heroin has been stopped from hitting the streets and a dangerous drug dealer locked up Greater Manchester Police are dedicated to stopping drug dealers in their tracks, before their ‘product’ becomes available to communities, and we would urge anyone who has any information regarding drug activities taking place in their area, to contact us ”

Mohammed has been jailed for nine years and seven months

India’s Huge Multilateral Jet Deal

A F A T H E R c r o u c h e s down looking pensive His SON walks over and stands next to him

SON

Hey, dad What's up?

FATHER

I've been thinking about your future, son I want to share some advice with you that I've learned from two of the greatest minds in French h i s t o r y : R i c h e l i e u a n d

Robespierre SON (smiling)

I'm all ears, dad Lay it on me

FATHER

( r a p i d l y , g e s t u r i n g f o r emphasis)

F i r s t o f a l l , R i c h e l i e u said that to be a great man and a good one, you must be able to recognize the true greatness of others and give t h e m c r e d i t f o r t h e i r

accomplishments

SON (nodding)

Okay, I get it Don't be selfish and arrogant

FA THER (intensely)

E x a c t l y A n d

Robespierre said that to be a great leader, you must be a b l e t o i n s p i r e o t h e r s t o follow you, not simply order them to do so

SON (skeptical)

But isn't Robespierre the guy who led the Reign of T e r r o r d u r i n g t h e F r e n c h

Revolution?

FAT HER (somewhat exasperated)

Y e s , b u t t h a t d o e s n ' t mean he didn't have some good ideas about leadership

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, son

SON (laughs)

Sorry, dad Go on

FAT HER (leaning forward)

The point is, don't be a f r a i d t o t a k e r i s k s , b u t always weigh the potential r e w a r d s a g a i n s t t h e p o t e n t i a l c o n s e q u e n c e s Strive for excellence in all t h a t y o u d o , t r e a t o t h e r s with kindness and respect, and never compromise your principles Remember that s u c c e s s i s n o t a c h i e v e d

overnight, but through hard w o r k , d e t e r m i n a t i o n , a n d p e r s e v e r a n c e A n d m o s t importantly, always be true to yourself, even in the face of adversity

S ON (grinning)

W o w , d a d T h a t w a s quite a lecture

FA THER (chuckling)

I know, I know But I just want you to be the best v e r s i o n o f y o u r s e l f , s o n That's all any father could ask for S ON

(hugging his dad)

Thanks, dad I'll try my b e s t N o w c a n I h a v e a c r e p e a n d w h y i s m o m rolling her eyes at you again?

Cambridge college becomes the first to admit 90% students from State schools

T he Lucy C av endish Co lleg e h as becom e th e first co lleg e in Cambrid ge to admit over 9 0 % o f i ts s tud ents fro m S tate s ch oo ls I t h ad also rec eiv ed th e m o st d iv ers e intake in the histo ry of th e u niv ersity

S e c o n d y e a r s t u d e n t s Tasnia Khan (19) and Luke

P a t t e r s o n , 2 0 , w h o a r e studying different subjects have both come from State schools "I did think that perhaps it would be a bit less diverse or a lot more "posh" and I think that's the perception everyone has of Cambridge" law undergraduate Tasnia told ITV News Anglia

"I do come from a state school in London and so I thought it would be a massive cultural jump, but coming here I found people just like me and like people from

Fostercare - transforming the current care system

state schools, people from diverse backgrounds, so it really like busted that myth t h a t C a m b r i d g e i s n ' t l i k e that "

A sentiment echoed by L u k e P a t t e r s o n " W e a l l know the typical preconception - it s like Harry Potter, it's this hundreds of years old university, but actually, I a p p l i e d d i r e c t l y t o L u c y because I saw this place and I saw the potential

"There's so many nona c a d e m i c o p p o r t u n i t i e s here in Cambridge and the college is fantastic at breaking down those barriers to give them to you " I n 2 0 1 7 , o n l y 6 0 % o f C a m b r i d g e s t u d e n t s w e r e from state schools

To rectify this, two years a g o , t h e L u c y C a v e n d i s h College launched an online outreach programme

90,000 students join to claim back tuition fees from universities

N early 90,00 0 stud ents have now joined a jo int clai m to try and get so me of thei r tuiti on f ees refunded due to di srupti on to thei r education d uring C ovi d lockdowns and restri cti ons

In what is thought to be one of the largest joint litigations ever in the UK, it focuses on students enrolled during the pandemic from 2020 to 2022, along with others who had learning affected by s t r i k e a c t i o n f r o m 2 0 1 8 onwards

UK students pay £9,250 per year for undergraduate courses and more for gradua t e c o u r s e s ; w h i l e i n t e r n at i o n a l s t u d e n t s p a y u p t o £40,000 per year Those leading the legal action say like a n y o t h e r c o n s u m e r s , t h e y deserved compensation when t h e y r e c e i v e d s u b s t a n t i a l l y l e s s v a l u a b l e s e r v i c e s t h a n those for which they paid

Many students who are part of the action, especially t h o s e o n p r a c t i c a l - b a s e d courses, claim they feel their

Shefali Saxena

Agreat er n umbe r of foste r carer s are n eeded more t han eve r be fore in Engla nd Statistics r elea se d for Ch i l d r e n L oo k e d A ft e r ( CL A ) in Engl and during 2022 show a 9% rise in 2021 figures In 2022, the number of CLA by local authorities in Engl and r ose to 82,170, up 2% on la st ye ar and cont inuing t he rise see n in recent y ears Both sta rts and ce asing were up on last yea rlast year 's figur es were likel y impacted by the pandemic

T h e n u m b e r o f C L A w h o w e r e adopted was up 2%, however, this is a modest increase given the decrease of 18% last year due to the pandemic where court cases progressed more slowly or were paused The number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) is above pre-pandemic levels - after a 20% decrease last year, the numbers of UASC are up by 34% In general, health checks were maintained during the pandemic but last year the proportion of CLA having had their teeth checked by a dentist fell substantially to 40% - this has begun to recover - in 2022 70 % of CLA had had their teeth checked by a dentist during the year

The government plans to launch an implementation strategy to transform the current care system to focus on more early support for families, reducing the need for crisis response at a later stage The recent announcement echoes to better support all families, as evidence shows that strong, supportive families make for more stable communities and happier individuals

Usma Saeed talks about the enriching experience she has found fostering to be and how she’s encouraged other families, particularly those within the Asian community, to become involved

q u a l i t y o f e d u c a t i o n w a s severely hampered by having t o s w i t c h o n o n l i n e o n l y l e a r n i n g , o f t e n f o r w h o l e terms at a time Universities UK is a body r e p r e s e n t i n g h u n d r e d s o f higher education institutions

training, support groups, and contact meeting

Usma is currently caring for a 10year-old boy and a 16-year-old young man, who have been in her care for five and nearly four years, respectively “The b o y s h a v e m a d e i n c r e d i b l e p r o g r e s s whilst with me and I’m very proud of all they’ve achieved ” Usma was awarded T h e M a r y A n n e R a w s o n A w a r d f o r Education, in honour of her determination, and service to the community at the Inspirational Women of Sheffield Awards 2022

Here's Usma Saeed's exclusive Q&A with Asian Voice

What does it take to foster children as an individual? What kind of monetary and emotional currency does it take on your part to make sure you do justice to the children you're fostering?

To be a foster carer, you must be ready for each individual's needs and be able to support the emotions and t h e t r a u m a t h a t t h e y h a v e b e e n through You must be loving, caring and adapting in many ways Being able to recognise the best in the children and making them believe in themselves

the shortage of foster careers I would emphasise and encourage more Asians to offer and help these children There are numerous positive stories that I could share but I feel that without fiver rivers' support, I couldn’t

across the country Prof Steven West, their President, said: "The universities were delivering learning and education and were providing support, uh, albeit in a different format So the costs for the university were still there We were still paying staff We were still creating the services and providing a service, and the students, let's remember, met the learning outcomes, graduated on time, and were not held back The alternative would've been to c l o s e u n i v e r s i t i e s , s t o p a l l education and shut down It would have had a devastating i m p a c t o n t h o s e s t u d e n t s having to defer for a year or more and also cause wider complications for the country as a whole "

A mother of three grown-up sons, from Sheffield, Usma is a full-time teaching assistant and Chair of Governors at a senior school In just six years, she has fostered over 20 children and young people, from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, working with Five Rivers Child Care

She says it’s been interesting to learn about other religions and cultures and that working in a diverse school community gave her a good grounding The S a e e d s c e l e b r a t e E i d , D i w a l i a n d Christmas A Muslim, Usma says her religion teaches acceptance and respect f o r o t h e r r e l i g i o n s U s m a k n e w s h e would be able to open up her house to children who needed her but that she would require the support of her family

As well as fostering, Usma takes on additional responsibilities within the o r g a n i s a t i o n a n d i s a F o s t e r C a r e r R e p r e s e n t a t i v e , s u p p o r t i n g n e w a n d existing foster carers within her area There are myths surrounding fostering, such as carers not being able to work when fostering Five Rivers allows carers to work, as long as their work is flexible and the children are the priority Foster carers need to be able to go to regular

What is your advice for fellow Asians and how can they make a difference by fostering more children? You must be willing to give these kids 100% dedication and offer them emotional care and encourage them to make the right choices for their future You have to be able to not focus on the negative behaviour that they do but praise all the positives they do as they have had all relationships taken away from them and to make relationships with us will take a long term We have to be patient and continue thriving in positivity

Please share some recent success stories and the difference Five Rivers Child Care made

There are many different avenues of help we can get and my fostering agency five rivers offers a variety of training and support groups to ensure we develop our professionalism In r e g u l a r m e e t i n g s w i t h o u r s o c i a l workers, we are able to recognise what support or training we need and they direct us towards that It is also important to have a good support network as this enables your wellbeing and helps you to give these children the best opportunity whilst in your house As a practising Muslim, I believe that fostering is a part of our religious beliefs as our prophet said anybody that puts a hand on a child in need is a good-hearted person There are a number of children who need to be put in matched placements due to

Rare 50p coin sold for £1,500

A 50 p c o i n b ea ri ng P ad d i n g to n B ear w a s recently sold for £1 ,500 on eBay, rep orted the Watfo rd Obs e rv e r I t w as o ne o f 5, 001 ,00 0 coins of its kind prod uced by the Royal Mint in 2 0 1 9 A n d w h i le t h at made it the 14th rarest 50p co in in the UK, only one bid was m ad e on its listing on eBay

The design on this coin was part of a series of four

5 0 p c o i n s p r o d u c e d , t w o each in 2018 and 2019 The f i r s t t w o d e s i g n s h a d P a d d i n g t o n o u t s i d e

B u c k i n g h a m P a l a c e a n d waving a Union Jack, respect i v e l y , w h i l e t h e 2 0 1 9 d e s i g n s h a d P a d d i n g t o n o u t s i d e t h e T o w e r o f London and tipping his hat outside St Paul’s Cathedral

The Royal Mint had correctly predicted that coins from the series would be “highly

have been in a good position as a foster carer One child I had came to me at the age of 10 had a reading age of a 5-year-old and within 2 months of them being with me, he was able to read confidently on his own I work very closely with the children’s families as this has always made my placements successful

As a person with her own family to take care of, how do you juggle between fostering, parenting, work and household?

As a family, we thrive on each other and support these children We have a very busy household but we have boundaries and routines set in place This is something that I have had with my own children and continued with the foster kids I work full time and my school are very adaptable if I need to go to meetings or training sessions Everybody in this household knows what to do and we get on Everybody does their own chores in the house which makes it easier for me My biggest son Umar is the most hardworking of all of my kids and I can see him potentially being a foster carer in the future as he is a natural a r o u n d k i d s a n d h a s h e l p e d m e immensely When I take on a child I am always told what this child has been through From that, I always make a plan and structure for what I and the family will do to help This is shared with my social worker and any advice she gives me I do take on board This enables me to give this child and best care and support whilst with me

collectable” The one that s o l d f o r £ 1 , 5 0 0 h a d

Paddington at the Tower of London

What has made the 50p coin the most valued and collected coin in the UK is its 27 5mm diameter, which makes it the largest of any

B r i t i s h c o i n , a n d a l l o w s

s p a c e f o r d e c o r a t i v e p i ctures The coin has often been used to celebrate big e v e n t s i n B r i t i s h h i s t o r y ,

with the mintage, the condition of the coin, the presence of error in the design, and the method of selling contributing to the value of t h e c o i n a s a c o l l e c t a b l e item

Usma Saeed (Left)

Photo courtesy Roya Mint

UK at the bottom of league table on toddlers’ diet

British to ddlers hav e one of th e w orst d iets in th e world , exp erts h av e warned , with the majority of calo ries com ing fro m foo ds which h a v e b ee n l in ke d to a h o s t o f h ealth problems

A study of children’s diets in eight countries found that under5 s i n t h e U K h a v e t h e h i g h e s t c o n s u m p t i o n r a t e o f m a s sproduced, ready-made foods, with these products making up nearly t w o t h i r d s o f B r i t i s h c h i l d r e n ' s average energy intake Research on adults has increasingly linked such diets to an added risk of cancer, heart disease and obesity

C h i l d - n u t r i t i o n e x p e r t s h a v e e x p r e s s e d c o n c e r n s t h a t consuming such foods from an early age could set habits for life,

calories, sugar and salt than lessprocessed options

Affordable nursery opens in Romford

fuelling the risk of deadly diseases

Research has already linked ultraprocessed children’s foods - such as baby biscuits, puff and stickstyle crisps, purée pouches and ready meals - with weight gain and growth problems Such foods are made by industrial processing and c a n c o n t a i n a d d i t i v e s s u c h a s flavourings, emulsifiers, colourings and preservatives They typically contain less nutrients and more

The authors of the Brazilian research suggested manufacturers d e l i b e r a t e l y e x p l o i t e d t i m e - p o o r parents who needed to feed fussy children They warned that ultrap r o c e s s e d f o o d s w e r e t y p i c a l l y “energy-dense, sugary, fatty, salty, a n d d e p l e t e d i n [ f i b r e ] , m i c r o n u t r i e n t s , a n d b i o a c t i v e c o m p o u n d s ” , c a l l i n g t h e m “ a n important driver of the obesity epidemic”

T h e B r i t i s h S p e c i a l i s t N u t r i t i o n A s s o c i a t i o n , w h i c h represents the processed children’s food industry, said the term “ultrap r o c e s s e d ” r e f e r r e d t o l e v e l s o f processing, rather than whether or not a food was unhealthy

Primary school students to get free meals

F ree scho ol meals will be o ffered to all p ri mary scho ol p up ils across L ond on for a year under plans by S ad iq Khan to tackle wh at he said w as a failure by ministers to step u p support d uring the cost of living crisis

The move will come into force from September, saving families about £440 for every child and benefiting 270,000 children, City Hall estimates The mayor, who himself received free school meals as a boy, said he hoped the move would help “reduce the stigma that c a n b e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h b e i n g singled out as low-income” and boost take-up among families who needed the help most H u n d r e d s o f t h o u s a n d s o f schoolchildren live in poverty but a r e n o t e l i g i b l e f o r f r e e s c h o o l meals because of the government’s “restrictive” eligibility criteria, the mayor ’ s office said Khan’s one-off proposal, worth £130m and funded f r o m h i g h e r - t h a n - e x p e c t e d business rates income, is designed

to fill that gap by making free m e a l s u n i v e r s a l a c r o s s L o n d o n primary schools The Mayor, who has said he intends to seek a third term in 2024, said the free meals would ensure parents “ aren’t worrying about how they’re going to feed t h e i r c h i l d r e n ” a n d w o u l d s t o p t h e m g o i n g h u n g r y i n t h e c l a s s r o o m s o t h e y c o u l d b e t t e r

concentrate on their studies

C h a r i t i e s a n d u n i o n s w e l c o m e d t h e m o v e V i c t o r i a Benson, the chief executive of the single parent charity Gingerbread, called it a “huge relief” given many children had “ gone without basic e s s e n t i a l s b e c a u s e h o u s e h o l d b u d g e t s h a v e b e e n s t r e t c h e d beyond breaking point”

A Department for Education spokesperson said that since 2010, the number of children receiving a free meal at school had increased by more than 2 million, given the introduction of universal infant free school meals and “ generous protections” put in place as benefit recipients move across to universal credit

They stressed that more than a third of pupils in England received f r e e s c h o o l m e a l s i n e d u c a t i o n settings, compared with 1 1 million in 2009, with investment in the N a t i o n a l S c h o o l B r e a k f a s t P r o g r a m m e t o e x t e n d i t f o r another year

Legal action against Home Office for denying rights to thousands

T he H ome Offi ce is facing l e gal ac ti o n o ve r i ts t re at me n t o f t en s o f tho usands o f p eople in th e UK wh o it is said are being de nied emp lo yment righ ts and benefits

A judicial review is being brought by charity Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex & L o n d o n o v e r t h e government’s alleged failure t o p r o v i d e t h e r i g h t documentation for foreign nationals who are living lawfully i n t h e U K b u t w h o a r e encountering delays in their visa r e n e w a l p r o c e s s T e n s o f t h o u s a n d s o f p e o p l e i n t h i s s i t u a t i o n a r e b e i n g w r o n g l y suspended from work and being d e n i e d a c c e s s t o b e n e f i t s e a c h y e a r , l e a d i n g s o m e i n t o destitution, the charity Ramfel will argue They will say that the Home Office is frustrating the purpose of the law by depriving people of the r i g h t s t h e i r s t a t u s i s m e a n t t o protect F o r e i g n n a t i o n a l s w h o a r e

legally in the UK but looking to e x t e n d o r f o r m a l i s e t h e i r immigration status are put on “3C leave” while their application is b e i n g p r o c e s s e d T h i s s t a t u s protects their current rights to w o r k a n d c l a i m b e n e f i t s , b u t leaves them without a physical document confirming their status – s o m e t h i n g m a n y e m p l o y e r s i n s i s t o n s e e i n g S o m e 3 7 2 , 0 0 0 people were in the same position d u r i n g 2 0 1 9 , a c c o r d i n g t o information shared by the Home

A new nursery has opened its doors as it looks to help families with “ afford able” child care in th e midst of the cost-of-living crisis Foundation Nurseries, which set up its first space in Ilford last September, is welcoming children aged two to five to its new Rise Park site Open five days a week, from 7am to 7pm, the new nursery also offers a tea and coffee service at weekends

T o n y C h a r l e s , m a n a g i n g director at Foundation Nurseries, said: “Our clear vision is to offer a f f o r d a b l e a n d o u t s t a n d i n g c h i l d c a r e t o t h e e n t i r e

community "

I n a s t a t e m e n t , t h e n u r s e r y described the country’s childcare system “at breaking point, leaving many families facing a financial crisis”, prompting the new venture to start

Park play area labelled dangerous by parents

P are nts f ea r c h il d re n w i ll be seriously hurt at a new £ 400 ,00 0 ‘dang er zone ’ play area – where you ngsters could ‘ fall through the huge gaps ’

T h e p l a y z o n e r e o p e n e d i n September following two months of building work

N e w e q u i p m e n t a n d a n outdoor gym were installed, but p a r e n t s h a v e c a l l e d f o r u r g e n t change before a child is injured on Central Park, Ashford, Kent Andrew Stott, a dad who lives in the surrounding Park Farm area, fears kids will fall through ‘huge gaps ’ in the bridge built at the playzone

T h e f a t h e r - o f - t h r e e w a n t s netting beneath the bridge and for c o n s t r u c t o r s t o c l o s e t h e g a p s between the stepping platforms on

the bridge

Mr Stott, 36, said: ‘The number one concern with this play park is the bridge

‘There should also be netting up there as it is quite high – it must be seven or eight feet

Ashford Borough Council said the Central Park play area was designed to meet the appropriate European safety standards for play equipment and surfacing

‘Both the company ’ s work and t h e a c t u a l e q u i p m e n t w e r e i n s p e c t e d b y a n i n d e p e n d e n t qualified register of play inspectors international inspector prior to it being opened to the general public T h e i n s p e c t o r c o n f i r m e d t h e equipment has been installed to the correct standards and certified as low risk ’

Cross-party group urges Braverman to create legal avenue for asylum seekers

Suella Braverman is being urged to red uc e th e nu m b er o f as yl u m seekers crossing the C hannel in sm all b o ats b y c re at in g a ne w

“h u m ani tar ian v i sa ” th at w o ul d cap numbers and create a leg al av enue for accessing the U K

information for the number of people currently on 3C l e a v e , o r h o w l o n g t h e s e people are waiting for an immigration decision

B e t w e e n J a n u a r y 2 0 2 0 a n d M a y 2 0 2 2 , R a m f e l h e l p e d 3 2 9 p e o p l e m a k e f u r t h e r l e a v e - t o - r e m a i n applications, and in at least 109 instances clients faced s o m e k i n d o f d e t r i m e n t w h i l e o n 3 C L e a v e Meanwhile, 21 people were e i t h e r w r o n g l y s u s p e n d e d f r o m work or prevented from taking up e m p l o y m e n t T h e c h a r i t y e s t i m a t e s t h a t n e a r l y 4 1 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e o n 3 C l e a v e c o u l d b e wrongly suspended from work or see their benefits wrongly cut off due to lack of documentation

A Home Office spokesperson s a i d : “ O u r g u i d a n c e c l e a r l y stipulates that employers should p r o v i d e i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h e v e r y opportunity to demonstrate their r i g h t t o w o r k a n d m u s t n o t discriminate against those with an outstanding application

Rishi Sunak has made tackling Channel crossings one of his five priorities since entering Downing Street, despite concerns among his own ministers that it is not within his power to stop boats attempting t h e d a n g e r o u s j o u r n e y T h e g o v e r n m e n t i s s c r a m b l i n g t o examine a series of controversial measures that could be included in a forthcoming immigration bill, aimed at automatically blocking those who come to the UK on small boats from seeking asylum

Sunak’s promise to ‘stop the boats’ is destined to fail without asylum reform

H o w e v e r , a g r o w i n g c r o s sparty group of political figures is backing a new specialised visa that would allow 40,000 people a year to seek asylum The proposal has been drawn up by the independent thinktank British Future It said t h a t r a t h e r t h a n r a t c h e t i n g u p expectations and rhetoric, a new visa stream would make asylum case processing and safe returns

“ f a s t e r a n d f a i r e r ” , w h i l e a l s o s a v i n g m o n e y o n h o t e l

Suella Braverman

a c c o m m o d a t i o n c r e a t e d b y a backlog of cases

The plan would see a visa made available to anyone with a strong asylum claim or links to the UK, i s s u e d a t B r i t i s h c o n s u l a t e s a t locations away from the French and Belgian coasts

Last year saw a huge increase in the number of people making t h e p e r i l o u s j o u r n e y a c r o s s t h e Channel A total of 45,756 people made the trip, up from just 1,900 in 2019 At least 50 people have drowned or are missing, including 32 people who died when a boat capsized in November 2021

Asylum processing delays are n o w s e v e r e A t t h e e n d o f S e p t e m b e r , j u s t 7 % o f a s y l u m applicants were processed within a s i x - m o n t h p e r i o d T h e b i l l f o r emergency hotel accommodation for asylum seekers, who are not allowed to work while their case is processed, is currently £5 6m a day

Sadiq Khan

Government to reward people for healthier lifestyle

S teve Barclay said the pilot could 'pave the way for more initiativ es that reward people for increasing t h ei r ex erc i se l ev els o r eat in g h ealthier food '

Supermarket vouchers will be given to the public for increasing their daily step count and eating well through a new Government app The Better Health: Rewards app is free to download for all over-18s living in Wolverhampton i n a f i r s t - o f - i t s - k i n d p i l o t launched

Users will be given free fitness trackers, which will link to the app to follow their physical activity

O v e r 2 0 w e e k s , p a r t i c i p a n t s collect points for completing personalised goals - such as increasing their step count or eating more fruit and vegetables - which they can exchange for rewards including cinema tickets, clothes or food vouchers

The Government has given £3 million of funding for the incentives, which users will be given if they meet weekly challenges and improve their diet and physical activity Supermarkets including

The next Mayor of London election in 2024

The Mayo r of London is an impo rtant role, rep resenting th e city and setting its bu dget

They’re also responsible for making the capital a better place to live: providing affordable housing, helping businesses succeed, sorting out TfL (Transport For London), and ensuring opportunities for young people

Not everything they must decide is popular, as the latest ULEZ expansion and backlash might prove for sitting Mayor, Sadiq Khan

Aldi, Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda are participating in the scheme, along

w i t h r e t a i l e r s A m a z o n , A r g o s ,

P r i m a r k , M & S , J o h n L e w i s a n d

Currys

Gyms and leisure centres in

W o l v e r h a m p t o n , i n c l u d i n g

P u r e G y m , P l a c e s L e i s u r e ,

C o m p l e x i o n s a n d W V A c t i v e across, are also offering vouchers

a n d d i s c o u n t s a s p a r t o f t h e

scheme The app was announced by Boris Johnson in July 2021 as part of his radical plans to tackle the obesity crisis Estimates sug-

gest obesity costs the NHS £6 5 billion annually

The pilot is being delivered by t h e O f f i c e f o r H e a l t h Improvement and Disparities in partnership with Wolverhampton City Council, and was spearheaded by Sir Keith Mills, who pioneered the Nectar rewards programme

An evaluation team will review the impact of the pilot on people’s diet and exercise and provide a report in early 2024, from which the government will consider a wider rollout

Over 350,000 children waiting for surgery

H un dreds of thousands of chil dren a re waiting for surgery as new figure s show t he ba ckl og has spirall ed b y almost 50 per cen t in t wo yea rs T h e l a t e s t N H S d a t a f o r D e c e m b e r l a y s b a r e t h e p a r l o u s state of paediatric medicine, with NHS leaders and doctors warning that adult care is being prioritised over children’s In December 2022, 364,000 children were waiting for treatment, from neurosurgery to ear, nose and throat operations, while a further 200,000 needed community services such as speech and language therapy The surgery figure is up by 48 per cent since

April 2021 – a far bigger increase than was seen in the overall NHS waiting list, which grew by 36 per cent over the same period

Mike McKean, vice-president of p o l i c y a t t h e R o y a l C o l l e g e o f

Paediatrics and Child Health, said intensive care capacity was being “pushed to the limits”

A n a l y s i s s h o w s t h a t a l m o s t 3,000 children were waiting more than 18 months in November, while more than 15,000 were waiting for more than a year Urgent referrals of children by GPs have also risen from at least 2,500 a week in 2019 to a record 5,400 in December The

real figure, however, will be far higher, as this data only includes electronic referrals Doctors say the increase is a result of health condit i o n s b e i n g m i s s e d b e c a u s e o f reduced access to healthcare services during the pandemic

A s p o k e s p e r s o n f o r t h e Department of Health and Social Care, while not setting out any spec i f i c p l a n s f o r c h i l d r e n i n t h e department’s forthcoming major c o n d i t i o n s s t r a t e g y , s a i d : “Reducing waiting lists is one of our top priorities, and we want patients to have fast access to highquality care ”

More than 1,000 GP practices and pharmacies have closed

670 p harmacies and 34 3 GP p ractices have clo sed over the p a s t s ev e n y ea rs - f or ci n g p atients to trav el furth er fo r care, a damning study reveals

A major audit of official data on new openings and permanent closures from 2015 to 2022 today lays bare the tragic demise of primary care in England It found there has been a net loss of 670 pharmacies and 343 GP practices over this period, with the most d e p r i v e d a r e a s h i t h a r d e s t Industry leaders and MPs last night warned the government is sleepwalking into a disaster' and called for urgent action to 'arrest the

decline' Failing to tackle the problem will leave people without the care they need and hit the economy, they added The analysis by the Company Chemists Association, which represents large pharmacy

o p e r a t o r s s u c h a s B o o t s , found 37 per cent of the GP and pharmacy closures have been in the 20 per cent most deprived areas It blamed a lack of funding for the closures and fears s o m e t o w n s a n d v i l l a g e s c o u l d s o o n b e c o m e ' c o l d spots' - where access to prim a r y c a r e i s ' s i g n i f i c a n t l y reduced or inadequate' It said primary care is 'essential to both accessing the NHS but also the health and economic prosperity of the population The warning c o m e s a s t h e G o v e r n m e n t i s p r e p a r i n g t o p u b l i s h a P r i m a r y Care Recovery Plan

Fraudsters have conned the NHS of more than £7bn

Over the last six years, fraud sters h av e conned the NHS out of more than £ 7 billio n, analysis shows

It is believed that this figure would have been enough to draw out the salaries of 17,000 nurses and 8,000 GPs

As per the analysis by Labour, the health service lost an extra £54 million to fraud, bribery, and corruption last year compared with 2019/20

It was also revealed that one

c r i m i n a l g a n g s t o l e £ 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 worth of medical supplies and sold it back to the NHS

Labour’s shadow health secret a r y W e s S t r e e t i n g s a i d : “ T h e Government is letting fraudsters g e t a w a y w i t h s t e a l i n g p u b l i c funds, and taxpayers are paying the price “ I f t h e T o r i e s w e r e n ’ t s o relaxed about criminals walking off with billions of pounds of taxpayers ’ money, they could afford to

But how often does the Mayor of London get put to a vote, and when is the next one?

The last London mayoral election took place on May 6, 2021

Twenty candidates from across the political spectrum threw their hat in the ring, in attempt to unseat Labour’s Sadiq Khan – however he was ultimately voted in, to a second term in office Typically, the Mayor of London serves a fouryear term This is because the May 2021 election was actually due to take place in 2020 It was delayed due to the coronavirus

pandemic, and the 2024 vote will put the election cycle back on track

The 2024 date was confirmed in March 2020 by the UK Parliament website

Labour Party incumbent Sadiq Khan has already confirmed he will be running for reelection to a third term in office There are no limitations on how long a Mayor can serve So far, the only confirmed candidate running against him is the Green Party’s Zoë Garbett

Millions set to lose voice in local elections

Just 3% of people without v oter ID will have applied for the g overnment's new card in time fo r May's local electio ns, figu res sug gest

And young people have been among the slowest to sign up The Tories rammed through new laws forcing voters to show photo ID at polling stations nationwide for the first time, despite there being no evidence of in-person voter fraud in the UK But around 2 million people are thought to lack acceptable ID And campaigners have accused the government of discriminating against young people by disallowing travel cards and student ID, while allowing pensioners ’ to use discount travel cards as identification

The government estimates the cost of providing ID to people who

don't have any will cost taxpayers up to £230 million a year But just 20,000 people have so far signed up for a new government-issued card - at an average rate of just 608 per day, according to the government's new online dashboard If they continue at the same rate, only 60,215 people will have applied for a card before the deadline of April 25 - just 3% of the total n u m b e r w i t h o u t I D E l e c t i o n workers will be asked to keep tabs on how many people are turned away from polling stations in the l o c a l e l e c t i o n s o n M a y 4 f o r a report to be published later by the E l e c t o r a l C o m m i s s i o n A n d i t ’ s understood they will be allowed to use their ‘discretion’ on whether to allow people to vote with expired forms of ID

Sadiq Khan’s controversial Ulez plan may be blocked

Do w n i n g S t r e e t co u ld b l oc k Sadiq Khan’s decis ion to expan d L on d on ’ s ul t r a l o w - e m i s s i o n zone (Ulez ), i t has bee n re por ted

train the doctors and nurses the NHS needs ”

This comes after a bogus psychiatrist who earned more than £1 million from the NHS She is now jailed for fraud

In 1995, Zholia Alemi faked a medical degree from New Zealand to register in the NHS and then landed jobs at several trusts

She worked with potentially v u l n e r a b l e p a t i e n t s a n d e a r n e d between £1million and £1 3million

The Ulez is currently limited t o t h e a r e a w i t h i n L o n d o n ’ s north and south circular roads but is due to be extended to cover the whole of the capital from August 29 when it will expand to border areas of Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey Drivers of vehicles that do not meet minimum emissions standards are charged a £12 50 daily fee for entering the zone Whitehall officials are now examining whether Mr Khan has exceeded his powers under the

Greater London Authority (GLA) Act of 1999

The Act gives the government the power to veto proposals by the mayor that are "inconsistent" with national transport policies and "detrimental" to areas outside Greater London However, the powers have never been used before

Leader of Hillingdon Council Ian Edwards said: “Ulez is the wrong solution in outer London as it will have negligible or nil impact on air quality but will cause significant social and economic harm to our residents We believe Sadiq Khan’s decision to i m p o s e t h i s s c h e m e o n o u t e r London boroughs is unlawful ”

Sadiq Khan Mayor of London

No diversity in ‘white’ BAFTA Awards?

T h e B A FT A A w a r d s t h a t t oo k p l a ce in Lo n d o n on Sun day ha ve bee n accused of bein g colour ed white by cr itics t his ye ar The pr estigious Brit ish e ven t ha d a d iv er se se t of nom in ee s, with pe ople belongin g to et hnic min orit ie s t ak in g a lmost 40 % of a cting to shortlist slots But t hat did n ot t ra nsla te int o w i n s , wi t h t h e 4 9 v ic t o r s a cr oss all ca t eg or ie s bei ng whit e It comes t hre e y ea rs a ft er an outcry a nd subsequen t re for ms when a ll 20 a cting nomine es we re white, t he BBC re port ed Film and TV critic and Bafta short film jury member Ashanti Omkar tweeted, “Disappointed!! I've felt this deep pain in the pit of my stomach of late, as I'm seei n g t h e # f i l m i n d u s t r y behind the scenes and the supremacy that it flaunts in my face so much, day by day, so it's not a surprising result, b u t i n 2 0 2 3 , i t i s d e e p l y regressive and uncalled for ” I n a r a r e e x a m p l e , t h e

a c t o r / f i l m m a k e r J a m e s Krishna Floyd tweeted, “My mum travelled by car from India to UK Last night her y o u n g e s t s o n w e n t t o @BAFTA’s w a nominated film he’s in that celebrates refugees ”

I n d i a ’ s S h a u n a k S e n who was nominated for his documentary film ‘All That Breathes’ did not win In an analysis by Andrew Pulver t i t l e d ‘ I s B a f t a ’ s w o r k t o increase diversity in danger of being undone?’

i n T h e G u a r d i a n , h e w r o t e , “ F u r t h e r m o r e , a wider concern is that the

‘Khadi for Nation, Khadi for Fashion, Khadi for Transformation’

The Hi gh Commissi on of India in London, in associat i on w i t h t he Lo nd on S c hoo l of T re n d s a n d

INI FD presented a unique s h ow c as e of K ha di g a rments on ‘ India Day’ as part of London Fashion Week 2023

During the Indian freedom struggle this humble, home-spun fabric became a symbol of empowerment as Mahatma Gandhi encour-

British Asian population of the UK is particularly badly s e r v e d b y B a f t a , a n d t h e British film industry in general: the 2021 census identified 9 3% (around 5 5 million p e o p l e ) i d e n t i f y i n g a s “

A s i a n , A s i a n B r i t i s h o r Asian Welsh” – whose only representative in the main prizes this year is director Sally El-Hosaini, whose film The Swimmers was one of 10 up for best British film It c a n ’ t b e a g r e a t s i t u a t i o n when nearly 10% of the population is practically invisib l e a t t h e n a t i o n ’ s f i l m awards ”

Maha Shivaratri celebrations at Neasden Temple

BAPS Shri Swamina rayan M a n d i r, L on do n ( p op ul arly known as ‘Neasden T e m p l e ’ ) c e l e b ra t ed t h e H i n d u fe s tiv a l of Ma h a Shivaratri on Saturday 1 8 F e b r u ar y 2 0 2 3 M a h a Shivaratri commemorates the day Shiva manifested as a s hival ing – an icon ic representation of the popul ar H indu deity symboli s i n g h is e n e r g y a n d potentiality

shrine

An ice shivaling, symbolising the manifestation of Shiva, was also presented in the Haveli entrance providing a reminder of t h e s a c r e d p i l g r i m a g e t o w n o f A m a r n a t h i n India where a natural ice shivaling exists

aged the use of khadi as a s y m b o l o f n a t i o n a l i s m , equality and self-reliance

High Commissioner of India to the UK, HE Vikram D o r a i s w a m i a n d d i s t i nguished guests and international delegates graced this occasion to pay homage to this national symbol of selfreliance as it made this fascinating journey from ‘local’

The

to ‘global'

T h i s c o l l e c t i o n w a s designed and curated by the young INIFD designers- a crew of 12 young women f r o m d i f f e r e n t p a r t s o f India- who, together with local artisans and weavers, presented an array of fascinating garments with one common link- Khadi

T h e f i r s t p a r t o f t h e

show was a presentation of 4 0 m o d e r n g a r m e n t s designed on the basic principles of deconstruction in a variety of hues and cuts, c l e v e r u s e o f e m b e l l i s hments and nuanced detailing

The second part of the evening showcased 25 garm e n t s i n p u r e K h a d i , a s a l u t e t o t h e s p i r i t o f Swadeshi

K e y g u e s t s i n c l u d e d Indian High Commissioner H E V i k r a m D o r a i s w a m i , D e p u t y H i g h Commissioner Sujit Ghosh, M P G a g g a n M o h i n d r a , Poppy Jaman OBE, representatives from the High Commissions of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and a host of o t h e r d i g n i t a r i e s , f a s h i o n a f i c i o n a d o s a n d i n t e r n ational buyers and delegates

Swamis and devotees bathed the shivaling with panchamrut (a holy mixt u r e o f m i l k , y o g h u r t , h o n e y , s u g a r a n d g h e e ) a n d o f f e r e d b i l v a - p a t r a (bael leaves) during which they prayed for the health and well-being of people

a c r o s s t h e w o r l d Worshippers and visitors a r r i v e d a t t h e M a n d i r t h r o u g h o u t t h e d a y t o offer reverence to Shiva and observe the festivities, w h i c h i n c l u d e d a n a n n a k u t ( d e v o t i o n a l offering of food) displayed t o t h e d e i t i e s i n t h e

hosts Triveni, a youth festival of Indian classical arts

Bhavan

O v er tw o w e ek end s o f

February 2023, The Bhav an, Lo nd on hosted the v ery first instalm ent of a uniqu e festiv al ce ntred o n th e yo u th artists currently training at Th e Bhavan

T h e B h a v a n ’ s r e s i d e n t teachers in various subjects p r e s e n t e d t h e i r d i s c i p l e s , s h o w c a s i n g t h e i n t e n s i v e t r a i n i n g t h e y r e c e i v e i n Indian Classical Art genres

The festival took place on 11, 12 and 19 February

The first day saw students of Hindustani Vocal, Tabla and Sitar performing The sec-

ond day showcased students

o f K a r n a t i c v o c a l , V e e n a , and Karnatic Violin, and the final day saw a dance extravaganza featuring upcoming t a l e n t s o f O d i s s i , K a t h a k and Bharatanatyam

The audience and students were thrilled with the performances

T h r o u g h t h i s f e s t i v a l , The Bhavan aims to give a platform to upcoming stud e n t s w h o h a v e a l r e a d y achieved a certain level of proficiency and are forging a h e a d i n t h e i r p a t h , a n d potentially enter the world of the performing arts as strong artists

Free laptops distributed to help students access digital educational services

SEV A T rust UK, a Bedford b as ed re g is t ere d c h ar it y w o r ki ng o n E d uc a ti o n, Health, Env ironm ent and So cial Welfare p rov ided 55 f ree l ap t o p s to c h il d re n studying additional Indian l ang u ag e s a t S u nd a y schoo ls run by local charit ie s an d c o m m u n it y g roup s T h e l a p t o p s w e r e donated by SEVA Trust to students from different age groups who are studying Punjabi, Hindi, Sanskrit in Bedfordshire in addition to their normal full time education

Guru Nanak Gurdwara, G u r u G o b i n d S i n g h

G u r d w a r a , S r i G u r u

R a v i d a s s T e m p l e , R a m g a r h i a S i k h S o c i e t y ,

Sanskrit and Hindi teachi n g g r o u p s , w h o a l l r u n evenings or Sunday schools to help children to learn Punjabi and other Indian languages

C h a r a n S e k h o n , Chairman of SEVA Trust said, "In line with our chari t y o b j e c t i v e s t o s u p p o r t educational initiatives and help students from diverse communities, we decided t o w o r k w i t h a l l l o c a l

G u r d w a r a s a n d T e m p l e s who are doing wonderful work to help children to teach additional languages This not only helps children to connect with their cultural roots but enable them to progress in their future careers with multilingual skills I would like to

t h a n k C h r i s C o t t e r i l l o f

X M A L t d f o r f a c i l i t a t i n g

SEVA Trust to buy these laptops on cost price "

Amarjit Singh Joshan, an education secretary of Guru Nanak Gurdwara and Devinder Kaur Gabri who

c o o r d i n a t e s f r e e P u n j a b i

S c h o o l a t A m p t h i l l R o a d

Sikh Temple said, "This is a fantastic initiative by SEVA Trust to support children

o f o u r P u n j a b i S c h o o l s

There are many children

without any IT equipment at home and these laptops will not only help to supp o r t t h e i r e d u c a t i o n a l n e e d s b u t t o f u l f i l t h e i r educational goals by making technology accessible " S E V A T r u s t d o n a t e d further 10 laptops to L&D support centre run by Sri

G u r u R a v i d a s s S a b h a , Bedford and their president Jaswinder Kumar said, "We a r e a b s o l u t e l y d e l i g h t e d with this support We offer free ESOL, Life in the UK and Punjabi classes Due to e c o n o m i c b a r r i e r s , t h e r e many adults and children w i t h o u t t h e n e e d e d I T equipment These laptops will help in a big way to allow all attendees to access digital education "

James Krishna Floyd Prince and Princess of Wales on BAFTA awards red carpet

Poppy Jaman OBE with her mum, HE Vikram Doraiswami and guests watching the fashion show on India Day

South Asians will enjoy revisiting scenic Bangladesh through "Secrets in the Wind"

Shefali Saxena

R u m ki C h o w d h ur y w as b o rn i n Ban g la d es h an d g rew up in the U SA She has al so liv ed i n th e U K and S w ed e n W it h an M A i n English L iterature from Th e Queen M ary University o f L ond on and a BA in Eng lish

Writing from The William P aterson U niv ersity of New J ersey, h er literary exp eriences exp and from journali sm to p ubli shi ng com pan i es li ke S i m o n an d S c h u s te r I nc , P ea rs o n H i g h er Ed u ca ti o n P u b li s h i ng , T h e He ral d Newspaper and The Record

Manchester Museum reopens with first permanent gallery to celebrate the experiences and contributions of South Asian diaspora

Man che ster M use um ’ s n ew South Asia Ga llery , a British Muse um partne rship, is the fir st perma ne nt ga ller y in the U K d edicat ed to th e ex perien ce s a nd historie s of South Asian diaspora commun ities

Manchester Museum, part of the University of Manchester, reopened to the public on 18 February 2023 following a major capital redevelopment

N ew s p ap e r A s h a is a teenag er hoping to get to know her Bengali cultu re on a d eeper level by taking a v acatio n wi th h er parents f ro m A m eri c a to B an g la d es h T h er e, s h e m eet s h er co u s i n, Ku s h i , w i th w ho m s h e h op es to form an imm ed iate sisterly bond However, h er ho pes are crushed wh en sh e senses K ushi is hid ing a d eep and d ark secret She eventually d iscovers that her cousin is being stalked and torm ented by an older male After K u s h i o p en s u p t o A s h a about the details, A sha w ond ers if s h e c an h el p h e r c ou si n So o n, sh e realizes th at Ku sh i is ju st on e o f m any young girls w ho fall v ictim to stalking and child m arr ia g e i n B an g la d es h every year Will A sha and K ushi be able to escape th e w rath o f one such m onster?

"Secrets in the Wind" by Rumki Chowdhury is a YA f i c t i o n n o v e l i n s p i r e d b y true stories The protagonist, Asha, is a teenager hopi n g t o g e t t o k n o w h e r Bengali culture on a deeper level by taking a vacation w i t h h e r p a r e n t s t o B a n g l a d e s h T h e r e , s h e m e e t s h e r c o u s i n , K u s h i , with whom she hopes to form an immediate sisterly bond However, her hopes are crushed when she senses Kushi is hiding a deep and dark secret She eventua l l y d i s c o v e r s t h a t h e r cousin is being stalked and tormented by an older male A f t e r K u s h i o p e n s u p t o Asha about the details, Asha wonders if she can help her cousin Soon, she realises that Kushi is just one of many young girls who fall victim to stalking and child

m a r r i a g e i n B a n g l a d e s h every year Will Asha and Kushi be able to escape the wrath of one such monster?

B a n g l a d e s h i s a b e a u t i f u l c o u n t r y w i t h b e a u t i f u l souls, but like any country, there are those dark alleyways that need to be lit

South Asians living abroad, i n c l u d i n g i n B r i t a i n , w i l l e n j o y v i s i t i n g / r e v i s i t i n g scenic Bangladesh through "Secrets in the Wind" while learning about the common s t r u g g l e s s h a r e d a m o n g stalker victims due to certain societal pressures Speaking to Asian Voice, R u m k i s a i d , “ I r e m e m b e r h e a r i n g a b o u t r e a l - l i f e s t a l k e r v i c t i m s t o r i e s i n Bangladesh When I began researching deeper into the topic, I realized that it was actually a common struggle a m o n g y o u n g g i r l s i n Bangladesh Moreover, due t o s o c i e t a l p r e s s u r e s o f Bengali norms, thereby the lack of support most victims receive from their own fami l y m e m b e r s , t h e s e g i r l s often choose to keep silent or are encouraged to keep quiet about their tormentors There are many different reasons that trigger the girls to feel ashamed, guilty and consequently, alone in their battles A lot of those reasons are highlighted in my YA novel, "Secrets in the Wind " I recently travelled b a c k t o B a n g l a d e s h a n d spoke to one such victim I told her about my YA fiction novel, "Secrets in the Wind" and it touched my heart when she said that I understood her situation although I knew that deep down, I never truly could u n d e r s t a n d h e r c i r c u mstances She is a survivor, a champion, but in that gain, she also lost some things Bangladesh is a beautiful country, but like any country, there are those dark alleyways that need to be lit "Secrets in the Wind" is my way of shedding that light ”

and this new multilingual gallery explores the connection between South Asia and Britain’s legacy of Empire, presenting fresh perspectives on British Asian and South Asian culture and creativity

The gallery has been uniquely cocurated by the South Asia Gallery Collective, a group of 30 inspiring individuals including community leaders, educators, artists, historians, journalists and musicians

Showcasing over 140 historic artefacts from the collections of the Manchester Museum and British

ronmental resistance through floating

Museum, alongside new contemporary commissions and personal objects provided by the Collective, the gallery presents a range of personal stories that provide visitors with a window into South Asia

It also presents powerful female figures of the Mughal Empire such as Nur Jahan, reflecting on the role of women and revealing the impact of Gandhi’s visit to the cotton mill town of Darwen, Lancashire in 1931; exploring the connection of Manchester’s cotton industry to the Indian independence movement Lived Environments illustrates the importance of care within South Asian life and the impact of the British Empire on the region’s environments

Items on display include postcards of tea plantations, tea tokens from the 18th century, an opium pipe and a film showing the Bangladeshi envi-

gardens Science & Innovation looks at South Asian innovation through the contribution of three iconic individuals that have often been overlooked, including Satyendra Nath

one of the seminal founders of modern quantum science

Bose,

Collective member, Fal Sarker, grandson of Bose will share the story of his impact on the scientific professions, including correspondence between Bose and Einstein as “ a labour of love to my famous ancestry and his impact on quantum physics”

Work by Aziz Ibrahim features as part of a listening station - a musician in the Collective, recognised for playing with the Stone Roses and Simply Red, as well as developing South Asian blues which mixes English and Punjabi, whose album describes a family journey from Lahore to Manchester

Finally Movement & Empire look at South Asian identity in relation to

voluntary and involuntary migration, including the impact of war and the trauma of Partition, which was one of the largest migrations in human history An NHS display celebrates the importance of the South Asian community to UK medicine, from the 1950s movement of medics to the UK as well as the significant contribution of the community during the Covid pandemic

Nusrat Ahmed, South Asia Gallery

Curator at Manchester Museum, said:

“As a first-generation British-born South Asian person, it is really exciting to be part of such a groundbreaking project The co-curated South Asia Gallery envisages a collaborative, iterative space that will generate new perspectives and connections We hope to engage further diaspora communities on its opening and support its continual evolution This personalised approach humanises the gallery, telling stories about real people and their objects ”

The Singh Twins Mural

I beg you to define me, Azraa Motala, South Asia Gallery

Museum Wide Shot

Kirit Patel

photo by Maryam Wahid

Museum wide shot

South Asia Gallery Collective

photo by Maryam Wahid

Nusrat Ahmed

photo by Maryam Wahid

Rumki Chowdhury

3 agencies lose sleep over missing pair of shoes

Three railway agencies - the Government Railway Police, the Railway Protection Force, and the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation - investigated for more than a month, spanning the states of UP and Odisha, over a missing pair of shoes The shoes belonged to the daughter of a senior railway official based in Odisha Finally, the investigators found that the shoes were mistakenly taken by a co-passenger who is a 34-year-old female doctor working in Delhi. During questioning by the railway police, the doctor said that when the train reached Bareilly station around 3 am on January 4, she suddenly woke up and left with the wrong pair of shoes of the same size. She has now returned it to us. And we'll send it back to the complainant There is no evidence of any theft and so no charges will be framed against her, police said. On January 5 in Sambalpur, Odisha, divisional railway manager (East Coast Railway), Vineet Singh, filed a theft complaint on behalf of his 20-year-old daughter, alleging that a pair of shoes valued at Rs 10,000 had been taken from the AC first-class coach of the Lucknow Mail (Agency)

Ahmedabad zoo to get two more tigresses

Man asked Mumbai police to be his Valentine

The Mumbai Police's Twitter account can undoubtedly match with others when it c o m e s t o p r o d u c i n g e n t e r t a i n i n g y e t significant content for social media And the department once again shown why they are the greatest on the unique occasion of V a l e n t i n e ' s D a y I t a l l s t a r t e d w h e n a Twitter user named Samuel Lopes tweeted, “@MumbaiPolice will you be my valentine?”

The zoo in Ahmedabad will be home to two more tigresses from Aurangabad On February 19, Pratibha and Ranjana, two 26month-old tigresses born in Aurangabad's S i d d h a r t h Z o o , w i l l b e m o v e d t o t h e Kankaria zoo The tigresses will be kept in quarantine for 15 days before being shifted to the zoo enclosures According to R K S a h o o , d i r e c t o r o f K a n k a r i a Z o o , t h e Aurangabad zoo would receive an emu, a jackal, an Indian crested porcupine, and a hornbill in return A senior official of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation added t h a t i n D e c e m b e r 2 0 2 0 , t i g e r c o u p l e Samrudhi and Siddharth had delivered five cubs The Aurangabad zoo had decided to send the two tigresses to Ahmedabad as it had 10 tigers including three white ones The Kankaria zoo, on the other hand, only has a white tigress and a Bengal tiger (The Times of India)

Rajdhani food impresses Oz traveller

T o e x p e r i e n c e I n d i a n c u i s i n e i n i t s purest form, many people go to restaurants Furthermore, some individuals might even take food excursions of our nation! One A u s t r a l i a n p a s s e n g e r o n t h e R a j d h a n i Express, however, was highly impressed with the meal Salvatore Babones posted a picture of his dinner from the Rajdhani Express on Twitter He ate chicken curry, rice, roti, dal, and curd Babones also shared a picture of himself with the train staff In the tweet, he wrote, "This is 2nd Class food on India's national railways? It tastes First Class to me! I'm very impressed, Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw You should make Mr Narendra Kumar your international brand ambassador Five stars for the kitchen in the R a j

cream!" (Agency)

The unusual post grabbed the attention of the department and they surely came up w i t h t h e p e r f e c t a n s w e r “ W h y n o t @samuel3real? We would love to Hope you don’t mind not getting undivided attention As we can’t be committed to just one, but each and every Mumbaikar ” People also gave the response a lot of positive feedback Many were amused by the fact that a citizen a s k e d a p o l i c e d e p a r t m e n t o u t o n Valentine’s Day (Agency)

Bride appears for exam in her wedding dress

An Indian b r i d e w h o w a s t a k i n g h e r p r a c t i c a l e x a m i n h e r w e d d i n g g o w n w h i l e wearing a lab c o a t a n d a s t e t h o s c o p e around her neck served as a reminder of the value of education The same event was captured on camera and uploaded online As expected, it has garnered thunderous applause from online users and gone viral on social media networks “Medicos life Exam and wedding in one day,” read the caption of the video shared on Instagram The video captures a bride named Shree L e k s h m i A n i l , a s t u d e n t o f B e t h a n y Navajeevan College of Physiotherapy, in a bright yellow coloured saree and wearing heavy wedding jewellery As she enters the class, she waves at other students and is met with laughter and cheers A text insert on the video reads, “When bride attends the practicals ” (Agency)

Engineer hacks MEA site, clears wife's passport

R e c e n t l y , t h e

C y b e r p o l i c e i n Mumbai detained a 27-year-old civil e n g i n e e r f o r a l l e g e d l y h a c k i n g into the system of t h e c i t y p o l i c e ’ s p a s s p o r t v e r i f i c a t i o n branch and clearing the inquiry reports of t h r e e a p p l i c a n t s , i n c l u d i n g h i s w i f e A c c o r d i n g t o a u t h o r i t i e s , t h e a c c u s e d i n t e n d e d t o i m p r e s s h i s w i f e w h o w a s planning to take a job abroad Raja Babu Shah, a tech-savvy individual, cleared two

a d d i t i o n a l i n q u i r e s t o a v o i d a n y suspicion “Documents submitted by Shah’s w i f e w e r e i n o r d e r a n d t h e r e w a s n o problem But after the FIR, Shah’s wife’s passport has been stopped,” said police The suspect is being held by authorities Last year, a complaint was filed at a police station in Mumbai against an unidentified person According to a police investigation, the accused utilised an internet protocol (IP) address assigned to a device in Noida and cleared the passports of three women

Later, police arrested Raja Babu Shah from Ghaziabad in UP Shah was staying in a r e n t e d h o u s e i n U P a n d h i s w i f e w a s working in Mumbai (The Times of India) Woman vet rescues stranded leopard from well

New Delhi will serve as the starting point for the 12-day, February 14-25, all-women c a r r a l l y , w h i c h w i l l j o u r n e y t o t h e Longewala War Memorial and back under the slogans "She's Unstoppable" and "Soar H i g h " A c c o r d i n g t o r e p o r t s , t h e participants would travel 2,300 km and stop in Jaipur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Longewala, Jodhpur, and Udaipur before returning to Delhi (Agency)

Mumbai penthouse goes for £24 mn

A penthouse in a luxury tower in W o r l i h a s r e p o r t e d l y b e e n s o l d t o a n i n d u s t r i a l i s t f o r £24 mn, making it the most expensive apartment transaction in Indian history Welspun Group Chairman, B K Goenka has acquired the triplex at Three Sixty West, an o p u l e n t d e v e l o p m e n t a t A n n i e B e s a n t R o a d , W o r l i , t h r o u g h a g r o u p e n t i t y A c c o r d i n g t o m a r k e t s o u r c e s , t h e penthouse is on the 63th, 64th and 65th floors in Tower B of the skyscraper The penthouse has 30,000 square feet of space

In the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, a 31-year-old veterinarian, went down in a cage to save a growling leopard that was only a few inches from her Armed w i t h d a r t s a n d a t r a n q u i l i z e r g u n , D r Meghana Pemmaiah sat inside a cage that w a s l o w e r e d i n t o a 2 5 - f o o t - d e e p w e l l , sedated the leopard stuck there for more than 36 hours and pulled it into the same c a g e i n a d r a m a t i c t w o - h o u r r e s c u e operation When the forest department was unable to save the young leopard, it called in a team from Mangaluru's Chitte Pilli animal rescue centre The veterinarian duo Dr Meghana and Dr Yashaswi Naravi, as well as specialists Prithvi Salian and Nafisa Kousar, were all part of rescue effort Well aware of the perils of the job, Dr Meghana, 31, decided to take the plunge “due to the adrenaline rush” “The leopard was starved and dehydrated for nearly two days We could not get a clear image of the leopard from above, and the forest department had tried to rescue it with ladders and a cage More importantly, the leopard was in a cosy spot and not willing to come out,”she said (Agency)

All-women Indian Navy car expedition

The Indian Navy has started on an allwomen car expedition that will cover 2,300 km over the course of 12 days and inspire more women to join the armed forces N a v a l c o m m a n d e r s a n d o t h e r r a l l y participants wheeled out of the India Gate complex on their way to the renowned Longewala War Memorial in Rajasthan as Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar signalled the demonstration's start virtually via a video link The National War Memorial in

The transaction was registered last week a n d t h e b u y e r p l a n s t o s t a y i n t h e p e n t h o u s e , s a i d s o u r c e s “ T h i s i s t h e costliest apartment sold to date in India We anticipate more deals in the ultraluxury segment in the next two months because from April 2023, the capital gains allowed to be invested under Section 54 have been limited to £1 million,” said Pankaj Kapoor, founder and MD of Liases Foras, a r e a l e s t a t e r a t i n g a n d r e s e a r c h f i r m (Agency)

Amid arrest fear, teen bleeds to death due to home birth

In the midst of a widespread police campaign against child marriage, a 16-yearold girl in Assam's Bongaigaon district bled to death after giving birth to a healthy baby girl at home For fear of being arrested, her family declined to take her to the hospital Some 2,763 people have been detained in the past week in the state Her husband, 25year-old Sahinur Ali, and her father-in- law Ainal Haque, 53, were arrested under the P o c s o A c t a n d P r o h i b i t i o n o f C h i l d Marriage Act, 2006 The duo was sent to judicial custody for 14 days Doctors said the teenager wasn’t alive when she was brought to the civil hospital on February 5 Her baby is at her mother’s house and did not need hospitalisation, Bongaigaon joint director of health services Dr Paresh Roy said “She was 16 at the time of delivery Though she was medically fit and was being monitored by an Asha worker, delivery at home turned fatal Unskilled people were i n v o l v e d d u r i n g d e l i v e r y T h e y d i d n o t inform the health department when she went into labour,” Roy said The district administration has instituted a magisterial inquiry (Agency)

Lohana International Business Forum

President of Uganda will inaugurate Lohana International Business Forum- Africa Calling

HE The President of Uganda

Yoweri Museveni is going to inaugurate The Lohana International Business Forum (LIBF) 2023- Africa Calling From March 19 to 22, 2023, LIBF will take place in Speke Resort & Conference Centre in Munyonyo, Kampala Uganda Mobilizing quality investments and fostering trade between Lohana Entrepreneurs is the theme of the event LIBF will explore a renewed commitment by Lohana Business stakeholders to build better community business investment and trade connections

Satish Vithalani: President International Lohana Mahaparishad

“ T h e b u s i n e s s p e o p l e a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l s f r o m L o h a n a a r e s u c c e s s f u l i n t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e industries, but regrettably they are s t r a n g e r s A p r o s p e r o u s b u s i n e s s p e r s o n d o e s n o t k n o w other businessmen in the same industry The Doctors in Africa a r e n o t c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e Doctors of Mumbai, Ahmedabad

What is this event?

or elsewhere in the World The IT sector features the same scene So, it was very necessary to give a platform to them to know each other I had a series of discussions with Vijaybhai Karia, Subhashbhai

T h a k r a r a n d a l l m e m b e r s a n d that’s how Lohana International B u s i n e s s F o r u m w a s b o r n E v e r y o n e c a n e x p l o r e t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f d o i n g b u s i n e s s together We want to develop the b r a n d L o h a n a w h i c h w i l l b e k n o w n f o r i t s q u a l i t y A f r i c a calling will bring them under one r o o f I f a n y b o d y w a n t s t o d o business in east Africa then they w i l l b e u p d a t e d , g u i d e d a n d a s s i s t e d f o r a n y v e n t u r e L I B F opening will be done by H E The P r e s i d e n t o f U g a n d a Y o w e r i Museveni and it is a great honour for all of us ”

Lord Dolar Popat: Prime Minister s Trade and Investment envoy to Uganda, Rwanda and DRC

“I would like to invite all the Lohanas to this one of its own k i n d e v e n t s , w e l l p l a n n e d b y S a t i s h b h a i V I t h a l a n i a n d

Commonly Asked Questions

Lohana International Business Forum is an initiative aimed at connecting the Lohana B u s i n e s s e s a n d t o d e l i b e r a t i n g m a r k e t opportunities as well as for businesses to u n d e r s t a n d b e t t e r r e g u l a t o r y a n d f i s c a l environment of participating countries I t o f f e r s a u n i q u e p l a t f o r m f o r t h e business stakeholders to synergize in order to grow & strengthen the global Lohana Businesses and Industries

When and where this event will be held?

Lohana International Business Forum (LIBF) is planned to take place on 19th to 22nd March 2023 The venue will be the famous Speke Resort & Conference Centre, Munyonyo, Kampala, Uganda

Why Africa?

A m o n g s t t h e t o p 2 0 f a s t e s t g r o w i n g economies of the world, 10 are African East African countries are amongst these fastgrowing economies Kenya is growing at 5 5%, Uganda has grown at 7% in the past, T a n z a n i a h a s g r o w n a t 4 9 % , D R C i s expected to have 6 3% growth and Rwanda has had 7 2% growth Africa has the youngest population in the world with 70% of subSaharan Africa under the age of 30 Africa is also one of the world’s highest repositories of natural resources with abundance of valued metals, increasing discoveries of oil as well as minerals

Beyond all the above potential, Africa also has a fantastic spread of Indian diaspora and particularly Lohana diaspora which can become a living bridge to developing and growing business

T h e F o r u m w i l l s h o w c a s e t h e opportunities for business and investment in East Africa as well as provide a platform for delegates to have a stand to promote their companies to African businesses

Which nations are represented by participants?

Businessmen and professionals settled in the following countries are invited to LIBF 2023 Africa calling and most of them will participate from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, D R C o n g o , R w a n d a , B u r u n d

Namibia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Ghana,

C o n v e y e d b y S u b h a s h b h a i T h a k r a r G l o b a l i s a t i o n i s something that we have all talked a b o u t s i n c e l a s t 3 - 4 d e c a d e s

G l o b a l i s a t i o n f i r s t s t a r t e d b y landing on the shores of Lake Victoria and the Madhvani and Mehta families have been there since 1980 So, we Lohanas are Global, you will find the Lohanas in every part of the world One good thing about us is that we are merchant people and we always excel in business It is important that we meet each other and think a b o u t t h a t h o w w e c a n complement each other Secondly, A f r i c a i s t h e c o n t i n e n t o f m y special interest in the Parliament, a continent that I love 1 3 billion p e o p l e , 1 7 % o f t h e w o r l d population and these people are going to double in 30 years of time, so a quarter of the world’s p o p u l a t i o n w i l l b e i n A f r i c a Currently, Africa’s GDP is 3% You can imagine the potential Africa has for businesses over the next 30-40 years I think Africa is the n e x t f r o n t i e r f o r T r a d e a n d Investment The continent is 30 million square kilometres in size and has extremely fertile soil It’s an amazing continent to work, live and trade Lohanahas have shown a good example in the past

guide you also

to succeed in the great continent of Africa Hence, I am delighted to see you all at this important event It will be a turning point for the community We sincerely wish to leave a global legacy for the next generation ”

Vijay Karia: Chairman LMP Business Development Committee

“It is a first-of-its-kind effort o f t h e L o h a n a I n t e r n a t i o n a l Business Forum There are a lot of S p o n s o r s h i p a n d e x h i b i t opportunities It will be a strong m e d i u m t o b u i l d s t r a t e g i c a n d trusted relationships and create values The one-to-one meetings will be arranged between African and other companies, investors and other stakeholders A series of networking and exhibition centre will be available to showcase the c o m p a n y o r o r g a n i s a t i o n s t o l e a d i n g b u s i n e s s e s a n d k e y g o v e r n m e n t o f f i c i a l s I n t e r a c t w i t h t r a d e a n d b u s i n e s s a s s o c i a t i o n s a n d G o v e r n m e n t a g e n c i e s t o g e t i n s i g h t s o n p r o m i s i n g s e c t o r s f o r investments, markets for exports, a n d i m p o r t s a n d h e a r a b o u t

You need a valid Passport and Invitation letter from Uganda

b u s i n e s s o p p o r t u n i t i e s , government policies and success stories A dedicated workshop will focus on how to trade with Africa and other markets The Forum w i l l p r o v i d e a p l a t f o r m , p a r e x c e l l e n c e , f o r n e t w o r k i n g a n d deal-making ”

Subhash Thakrar

Convener Lohana

International Business Forum, Past Chairman LCCI

Through this event, we want to continue to build resilient and s u s t a i n a b l e p a r t n e r s h i p s H e a r from the Ugandan Ministers and o t h e r p u b l i c o f f i c i a l s , A m b a s s a d o r s , G l o b a l L o h a n a C o m m u n i t y l e a d e r s , A f r i c a n c o m p a n i e s a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l e x p e r t s o n d i f f e r e n t w a y s t o develop and promote strategies to mobilize higher levels of quality investments and enhance trade to support sustainable and inclusive g r o w t h f o r G l o b a l L o h a n a Entrepreneurs The Forum will p r e s e n t t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s available in African Countries to potential Global Lohana Investors assembled under one roof

Other African countries, GCC (Gulf), UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Germany, Portugal, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, J a p a n , H o n g K o n g , S i n g a p o r e , F a r E a s t Countries, United Kingdom, USA, Canada, India

How to participate in the event?

You can participate by registering with the following web link For Registration as D e l e g a t e , F a m i l y M e m b e r , B u s i n e s s

Associate Registration and Exhibition Stand b o o k i n g y o u c a n v i s i t : https://business lohanamahaparishad org/re gistration/

Is there any provision for Non-Lohana Partners and supporting staff?

Yes, they are considered as Delegates, so, their delegate fee is also USD 250 Why should we attend this Forum?

If you are

• I n t e r e s t e d i n l e a r n i n g a b o u t A f r i c a n Countries' policies and initiatives promoting trade, investment and business?

• Looking to invest in Africa and the region?

• Ready to enter the African market but not sure where to start?

• A n A f r i c a n b u s i n e s s e x p l o r i n g W o r l d market opportunities and seeking partners?

• Looking to meet with decision-makers to help move your business forward?

• A business or financial institution seeking new projects and investment opportunities?

• Interested in building partnerships on the ground to further your business?

• An entrepreneur seeking the right investor or partner to get you started?

• Eager to discuss opportunities as well as the challenges you are facing with peers and experts in the field?

• Looking to showcase your company and amplify your brand in the African business and investment marketplace?

What about VISA and other documents?

Is there any Vaccination required?

Yes, you require COVID, Yellow Fever and Polio Vaccine Security Concerns in terms of Investment and Life Safety?

There is no such security concern The majority of people cooperate Life is simple and secure Similar to Indian investment risk

What will be the Communication Language?

U s e o f b a s i c G u j a r a t i a n d E n g l i s h

Interpreters are available from our local partners, wherever required

e s

v

o u n t r y ’ s w e b s i t e U S D 5 0 i s charge for Uganda Visa, which is one entry visa USD 100 is charge for multi-entry Visa combined for 3 countries Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda for 3 months

You can do it yourself or through your agent Wherever require the committee will

Dear Financia

Voice Reader Alpesh Patel OBE

How to make the m os t of investing in stock s in 2023?

I am celebrating This week I hit 100k followers on my TikTok channel which teaches people in 1-3 minute bitesize videos how to be better investors

Are you looking for ways to make the most of investing in stocks in 2023? In this article, we'll explore the best strategies for investing in stocks for the upcoming year and beyond We ll cover everything from choosing which stocks to invest in, to strategies for diversifying your portfolio and minimizing risk With the right approach, you can make the most of investing in stocks in 2023

1 Many stocks that have been performing well in 2021 are expected to continue to do so in 2023 Indeed I am seeing it in my own SIPP portfolio already which is doing a lot stronger than I imagined - some stocks up 40% already

As JP Morgan noted "Mega-Cap Stocks Come Back in Favor Up until late 2022, mega-cap technology stocks whose market capitalizations are multiples more than the $10 billion classification of a large-cap stock were market darlings, buoyed in part by the soaring popularity of indexing, which typically bases weights on market cap Changes in the macroeconomic backdrop (i e , higher inflation and interest rates) and other factors prompted investors to change course The 10 largest stocks in the S&P 500 at its peak in 2022 lost a combined $4 9 trillion last year "

2 Interest rates are expected to peak in the near future, making stocks a favorable investment option looking beyond that

3 Technology stocks are expected to be a great investment opportunity in 2023, due to the continued growth of the tech industry

4 It is important to research the company and industry you are considering investing in before making a decision So make sure you watch my webinar www alpeshpatel com/latestshares and www investing-champions com

What a re t he es tim ated returns from investing in stocks for 2 023?

It's impossible to predict the exact returns you will get from investing in stocks in 2023, as the stock market is unpredictable and can be affected by many external factors

However, many experts predict that investing in stocks will be a good long-term investment in 2023, with my expecation of achieving a potential average return on my portfolio of over 40% this year It's important to remember that the amount of returns you get can vary greatly, depending on the particular stocks you choose to invest in, so it's wise to do your research and consider the risks associated with any investment

What s trategies s hould I use for investing in s toc ks for 2023 ? Her e are a few t ips to get you star ted:

1 Be sure to learn about the different types of stocks, their past performance, and the potential risks and rewards associated with each type

2 Set realistic goals Decide how much you can afford to invest and determine what kind of return you ’ re looking for – e g long-term growth or short-term gains

3 Develop a diversified portfolio Don’t put all your eggs in one basket Investing in a variety of stocks and industries can help reduce your risk and increase your returns Whilst I only have US stocks, I do select out of 8,000 companies the best 20-40 companies by growth, valuation and income

4 Monitor the market Keep an eye on the stock market and pay attention to current events and news that may have an impact on the performance of certain stocks

5 Stay patient Investing in stocks can be a long-term process, so don’t expect instant results Monitor your investments regularly and make adjustments as needed I monitor weekly and hold for 12 months

Following these tips can help you create a plan for investing in stocks for 2023 Good luck!

Record growth in wages may force interest rate hike

Wages in UK have gr own a t t he i r fa st e st r a t e in mo r e than 20 yea rs, b ut ar e still fa il ing to k eep up with infl at io n A v e r a ge pa y r o se b y 6 4 % b e t we e n S e p t e mb e r a n d No v e m b e r com p a r e d wit h the sa me period in 2021, according to t he Office for National Statistics (ONS) It means that wa ges are gr owing at their fastest r ate since records b egan in 2001

However, when adjusted for inflation, average pay fell in real terms by 2 6% The chancellor Jeremy Hunt said t h e f i g u r e s s h o w e d t h a t d e s p i t e g l o b a l e c o n o m i c challenges, “the UK labour m a r k e t r e m a i n s r e s i l i e n t

Food prices in UK to remain high throughout the year

Food inflat ion is a t a 45-ye ar hi g h, wit h a su pe r ma r k e t boss war ning that g rocer y price s will re ma in high this ye ar O veral l UK price inflation fel l for t he t hird month in a r ow to 10 1% in the ye ar t o Ja n ua r y f ro m 10 5 % i n

De cembe r The biggest factors in the rat e slowing we re decrea ses in fue l prices and the cost of dining out

T o c a l c u l a t e i n f l a t i o n , w h i c h m e a s u r e s t h e i n c r e a s e i n t h e p r i c e o f s o m e t h i n g o v e r t i m e , t h e

O f f i c e f o r N a t i o n a l

Statistics (ONS) keeps track of the prices of hundreds of

everyday items If it falls, it does not mean the prices of goods are going down, it just means prices are rising more s l o w l y M a n y a n a l y s t s believe inflation will contin-

ue to fall, although it is still c u r r e n t l y f i v e t i m e s t h e Bank of England's target of 2% Olive oil, sugar and lowf a t m i l k p r i c e s h a v e a l l increased by more than 40%

HMRC gives tax notice to 4,300 social media influencers and online earners

HM Revenue & Customs i s writing to thous ands of onli ne traders, gamers and social media “influenc ers ” i t suspects have not pai d the right tax for money earned online

As part of the UK tax agency ’ s latest attempts to keep up with the rapid e x p a n s i o n o f t h e d i g i t a l e c o n o m y , HMRC is writing to 2,300 online “ content creators”, who make money or receive gifts for posting material on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube This includes people who have a large following and receive gifts from businesses in exchange for promoting their products, as well as those who get paid by platforms on the basis of the levels of engagement their content receives

H M R C p l a n s t o s e n d a f u r t h e r 2,000 so-called “nudge” letters to people who sell goods and services through o n l i n e m a r k e t p l a c e s s u c h a s e B a y , Facebook and Etsy The tax authority said letters are sent to people “who we believe may owe us tax” Online content creation and marketplace trading has exploded in recent years A study by s o f t w a r e c o m p a n y A d o b e l a s t y e a r found that the number of “content creators” had doubled to about 16mn in the UK between 2020 and 2022, most doing so as a side hustle, with 65 per cent in other full-time employment

However, experts say awareness of the tax due from many people earning money from their online content is low, particularly among those in their

t e e n s a n d t w e n t i e s A d o b e ’ s r e p o r t found that some 2 8 mn UK “influencers ” earned about £120 per hour on average

HMRC did not disclose how much tax is missing from online platform earners But Adam Craggs, tax partner at law firm RPC, said HMRC must think there is a “sizeable chunk of income going untaxed from individuals making large sums of money ”

People who make a profit from their online activity will be viewed as trading by HMRC and need to register with the tax authority and complete a self-assessment tax return if their gross income is more than £1,000 Even if you are not carrying out social media activities for the specific purpose of making a profit, if your gross income from those activities (plus any other trading and miscellaneous income, not j u s t o n l i n e r e v e n u e ) i s m o r e t h a n £1,000 per year, HMRC say you still need to report it

Recipients of an HMRC nudge letter should not ignore them, say tax advisers The tax authority gets information from online platforms and also carries out investigation work If you co-operate fully to pay tax owed, any penalties incurred will be lower than if you resist A penalty will not normally be charged if the mistake was not deliberate and you co-operate If you cannot afford the tax bill, you can arrange a late payment plan with HMRC, but interest will be charged

O2, Virgin Mobile customers will have to pay higher bill

w i t h a r e c o r d n u m b e r o f employees on payrolls” He added that he was committed to halving inflation this year - currently running at 10 7% - which would help people’s wages go further “Wages have risen at an unprecedented pace outside the pandemic period, piling p r e s s u r e o n t h e B a n k o f England to up interest rates a g a i n n e x t m o n t h , ” s a i d

Myron Jobson, senior pers o n a l f i n a n c e a n a l y s t a t i n t e r a c t i v e i n v e s t o r T h e c o n s u l t a n c y C a p i t a l Economics believes the Bank could hike rates from their current level of 3 5% to 4 5% in the coming months

Milli ons of O 2 and Virgi n Mob ile customers will be hit with price hi kes of up to 17 3% on part of their mobi le bi ll The increase will apply to the airtime part of your c ontrac t - so what you pay for minutes, texts and data This is separate to what you pay for your handset - the pri ce of thi s won’t be going up Customers who are mid-contract will see the ir ai rti me bi ll in cre as e f rom April Virgi n Media O2 us es the Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation for January, plus 3 9 %, to determine price rises for the following April RPI for January was 13 4% which means airtime bills will go up by 17 3%

Major bank offering new customers free £200 to switch - plus £36 a year cashback Virgin Media O2 told that the average customer will technically see a smaller rise of 10% overall, due to how it splits bills into airtime and d e v i c e p l a n s A s a n e x a m p l e , i f

someone had an iPhone 14 Pro costing £53 98 per month for 36 months, they would pay £4 15 more each month This is because their deal is made up of £29 98 per month for the device and £24 for their airtime - this would mean they pay 7 7% extra

The 17 3% on airtime bills applies to customers who took out a deal or u p g r a d e d f r o m M a r c h 2 5 , 2 0 2 1 Anyone who took out a new deal or upgraded before this time will see their bill go up in line with just RPI of 1 3 4 % P a y - a s - y o u - g o u s e r s a r e u n a f f e c t e d b y t h e p r i c e r i s e s T h e broadcasting watchdog is looking into w h e t h e r m i d - c o n t r a c t p r i c e s g i v e c u s t o m e r s e n o u g h c e r t a i n t y a b o u t what they can expect to pay Other major providers including BT, EE and S k y h a v e a l r e a d y a n n o u n c e d p r i c e rises of up to 14 4% for their mobile customers

in that time

M a t t H o o d , m a n a g i n g d i r e c t o r o f C o - o p F o o d , which has more than 2,500 UK stores, said prices continued to rise in January as costs for grocers did, making it "incredibly tough"

But in the case of olive oil, prices have been higher in recent months largely due to summer heatwaves hitting crops in Spain, a huge e x p o r t e r o f t h e p r o d u c t Kyle Holland, oils analyst at data firm Mintec, said production in Spain was down to 720,000 metric tonnes, from the usual 1 5 million

Aldi plans to open 60 new stores in London, create 2,400 jobs

T he Ge r ma n-o wned sup e rma r ke t Aldi plans t o “ a lmost double” i ts 6 0 stores in London and cr eate 2,40 0 jobs It ha s 990 bra nches across t he UK and e mploys 4 0,000 pe ople –and last y ear lea pfr ogge d Mor risons to be come the f ourth-lar gest cha in However, it is underrepresented i n t h e c a p i t a l i n c o m p a r i s o n t o other supermarkets due to a shortage of suitable sites The retailer is looking for locations big enough for its standard 20,000 sq ft stores, with around 100 dedicated parking spaces also needed

Ben Shotter, regional managing director at Aldi, said: “We strongly believe that access to affordable, high-quality food is a right, not a privilege He said that there are still many areas, particularly in the capital and within the M25, that don’t have access to an Aldi

"As a result, too many people have to make do with big prices at the big supermarkets We want to give more people a new Aldi store with our award-winning products at unbeatable prices We are looking for locations across the UK, but particularly in London ”

Tesco eyeing to sell its banking business

The UK's big gest supe rma rke t cha in Tesco is re porte dly look ing in to selling the ban kin g ar m of the business

According to re ports, the re tailer was in the "ver y pre limina ry sta ge" of a re view into Tesco Bank a nd it ma y not le ad to forma l sale

Based on its book value, the sale of Tesco Bank could bring in more than £1billion for the retailer Goldman Sachs has reportedly been advising on the sale The potential buyers are expected to be other mid-sized UK lenders as well as financial investors

Tesco Bank employs around 3,800 people and it is based in Edinburgh but also has staff in Glasgow and Newcastle Tesco Bank offers a range of personal banking and insurance products, including personal loans, credit cards, car insurance and pet insurance

Tesco Bank says it currently holds nearly £6 billion in customer deposits

In the first half of 2022, Tesco Bank recorded an adjusted operating profit of £67million, down 6 9% on the year before

India's trade deficit narrows to lowest level in a year

In di a 's t ra de de fi c i t de cr ea s ed to $17 8 billion, th e smallest amou nt since January 2022, as both exports an d i m p o r ts f el l f o r th e s ec o n d consecutive month

T h e l a t e s t d a t a f r o m t h e department of commerce show that d u e t o s l u g g i s h i n t e r n a t i o n a l d e m a n d , I n d i a ' s g o o d s e x p o r t s decreased by 6 5% to $32 9 billion, while imports decreased by 3 6% to $50 7 billion The data revealed that non-oil imports were 10 4% lower at $40 2 billion while non-oil exports declined at a quicker rate of 8 7% to $28 billion

Indian exporters must figure out how to overcome the difficulties, a c c o r d i n g t o F M N i r m a l a

Adani row: SC 'no' to Centre's sealed cover suggestion on panel

The Bigger Picture

Sitharaman, who also promised that the government would assist them “ T h e c h a n g e s a b r o a d o r t h e recession abroad, are all going to be a c h a l l e n g e f o r I n d i a n e x p o r t e r s

Indian exporters have to be far more receptive of what’s happening there and constantly keep engaging with the government Otherwise, when our exporters are trying to be on t h e i r t o e s , s u c h c h a l l e n g e s c a n d e m o t i v a t e t h e m A s r e g a r d s , i m p o r t s , w e c a n n o t b e i n w a r d looking Several MSMEs and large companies need critical components to come from somewhere else, we h a v e k e p t o u r s e l v e s c o m p l e t e l y aware of it,” she said at industry body Assocham’s event

Indian-origin Neal Mohan is new CEO of YouTube

Neal M ohan, an Indian-A merican is a l o ng t i m e G o og le and Yo u T u b e executive Moh an h as joined a select g rou p of Indian-born IT executiv es, inclu ding Sundar Pichai of A lp habet, S atya Nad ella o f M icros oft, Arv ind K r is h n a o f I BM , and S h a nta nu Narayen of A dobe M o h a n w i l l s u c c e e d S u s a n W o j c i c k i , w h o s e r v e d a s C E O o f YouTube for almost 25 years and is leaving the parent company Alphabet Inc “When I joined YouTube nine years ago, one of my first priorities w a s b r i n g i n g i n a n i n c r e d i b l e leadership team Neal Mohan was one of those leaders, and he’ll be the SVP a n d n e w h e a d o f Y o u T u b e , ” s a i d

Wojcicki in a letter Since 2015, Neal Mohan has held the position of chief product officer at YouTube Before that, he worked at Google, the online

search giant, which he joined in 2008 Mohan oversaw the creation of a d v e r t i s i n g p r o d u c t s f o r Y o u T u b e , G o o g l e D i s p l a y N e t w o r k , A d S e n s e ,

A d M o b , a n d D o u b l e C l i c k a d t e c h solutions while overseeing Google's display and video advertising business f r o m 2 0 0 8 t o 2 0 1 5 H e d e v e l o p e d a d v e r t i s i n g s t r a t e g i e s f o r m e d i a partners and marketers at this time, which fueled the growth of the online media, consumer internet, and mobile app ecosystems Mohan “became YouTube’s Chief Product Officer in 2015 Since then, he has set up a top-notch product and UX team, played pivotal roles in the l a u n c h o f s o m e o f o u r b i g g e s t products and has led our Trust and Safety team, ensuring that YouTube lives up to its responsibility as a global platform,” stated Wojcicki

India's wholesale inflation eases to near 2-year low

I n c on t ra s t to r e ta i l i nflation, which s piked to a t hr ee - mo nt h hi gh d uri n g t h e m on t h du e t o th e i ncreas e in prices of cereals, eggs, meat, fish, and milk a n d r e ve rs e d t he ea s i n g t r en d , w hol e s a le pr i c e i nflation eased to a nearly two year low i n January as prices of some food items, m an ufa ct ured good s, an d fuel pric es softened

A c c o r d i n g t o d a t a i s s u e d b y t h e c o m m e r c e a n d i n d u s t r y m i n i s t r y , inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), climbed an annual 4 7% in January, down from the previous month's 4 9%

A c c o r d i n g t o a f o r m a l statement, the moderating

p r i c e s o f m i n e r a l o i l s , c h e m i c a l s & c h e m i c a l p r o d u c t s , t e x t i l e s , c r u d e p e t r o l e u m & n a t u r a l g a s , a n d f o o d g o o d s a r e t h e main drivers of the decline in the rate of inflation

I n D e c e m b e r , W P I inflation fell below the 5% threshold for the first time i n 2 2 m o n t h s , a f t e r r e m a i n i n g o v e r d o u b l e d i g i t s f o r 1 8 s t r a i g h t months and beginning to decline since October

T h e d a t a s h o w e d vegetable prices contracted b y 2 6 5 % i n t h e m o n t h w h i l e m a n u f a c t u r e d product rates rose nearly 3%, lower than last year ’ s 9

5% Fuel and light prices also moderated

Th e S up r e m e Co u rt re j e c t e d th e c e n tr a l g o v e r n m e n t ' s "s e a l e d” c ov e r pr op os a l f or a pan el to bolster re g ul a t or y s a f e g ua r d s a n d de f e n d investors i n the wake of the collapse of the Adani stock, statin g that it preferred "full transparenc y " in the s itua ti on

The court had requested suggestions last week regarding the creation of an e x p e r t p a n e l , i n c l u d i n g a j u d g e , t o

i n v e s t i g a t e t h e e f f e c t s o f t h e f r a u d allegations against the Adani Group, which have destroyed millions of dollars' worth of investor wealth and sparked v e h e m e n t o p p o s i t i o n a t t a c k s o n t h e government Stock turmoil c ontinues

M o s t s t o c k s w i t h i n A d a n i G r o u p came in for a fresh round of selling on M o n d a y w i t h A d a n i T r a n s m i s s i o n , Adani Green Energy and Adani Total Gas closing at the 5% lower limit while Adani Enterprises, the group flagship, ending with nearly 6% loss on Monday

In contrast, Adani Power went up by another 5%, since abandoning its £701 7 million -crore buyout of DB Power

At an aggregate level, the group ’ s market value continued to dip (£2 49 b i l l i o n l o s s o n M o n d a y ) w i t h t h e combined market capitalisation of all the 10 companies at £83 billion, nearly 57% or £109 billion down from January 2 4 L a t e o n t h a t d a y H i n d e n b u r g R e s e a r c h , a U S - b a s e d s h o r t - s e l l e r published a damning report alleging the group of accounting fraud, stock price m a n i p u l a t i o n a n d c o r p o r a t e malfeasance Although the group denied all allegations, the stocks prices have been on a southward journey now in its fourth week

HDFC raises £2.5 bn in its biggest rupee-bond issue

Ind ia s largest ho using finance firm , HDFC, has completed th e larg est-ev er sale of rupee bonds, g enerating £ 2 5 billion th roug h 1 0-year non-conv ertible debentures w ith a 7 97% coupon rate Th e bond yield translates into a spread ov er the closing yield on 10-year gov ernm ent securities o f 4 9 basis points (1 00bps = 1 percentage point)

With the option to retain subscription for an additional £2 5 billion, HDFC launched the issue last week to raise £500 million Insurance companies, pension funds, provident funds, banks, and mutual funds submitted 92 bids totaling £2 78 billion, of which the company retained 55 investor bids totaling £ 2 5 billion According to investment bankers, the rush for long-term bonds despite a reduction in money market liquidity indicated that there was a big demand for triple A-rated paper with respectable returns HDFC executive director V S Rangan, said “demand in t h e h o u s i n g s e c t o r c o n t i n u e s t o b e s t r o n g a c r o s s a l l categories The penetration level of housing in India is one of the lowest in the world India’s mortgage-to-GDP ratio is about 11% compared to over 20% in many other emerging markets and more than 60% in some of the advanced economies On a sustainable long-term basis, the demand is expected to remain strong ”

IndiGo, other carriers set to order over 1,000 planes

I n t h e n e xt 2 4 mo n t h s, o t h e r d omestic ca rri ers, l ead by Indi Go, a re a nti ci pa ted to place ord ers f or a t otal of 1,00 0 to 1,200 a ircra ft, accor ding t o t h e Ce nt r e f o r A si a P a c i f i c Avia tio n (CAPA), making Air Ind ia 's 4 70 ai rcr aft orde r a signi ficant one f o r t h e e xp a n si on o f t h e In d i a n a via tion indu stry “India is, p erha ps, on the cusp o f a long-a wa ite d and hi storic ch ange it may f inally be set to take its p lace as th e global a via tion mar ket of the 21st century , ” th e re port sa id

In the next two years, almost every Indian airline is projected to place more aircraft orders for fleet replacement and growth, although IndiGo is anticipated to place the next sizable order “ I n d i G o h a s b e e n p l a n n i n g t o place a significant order of around 300 aircraft prior to Covid, which was deferred due to the pandemic This is now likely to proceed and could be even larger than previously envisaged, i n c r e a s i n g t o a r o u n d 5 0 0 a i r c r a f t now, ” said the recently released CAPA

report titled ‘India: The next growth engine of global aviation’ P r e s e n t l y , 7 0 0 a i r c r a f t a r e i n o p e r a t i o n a c r o s s a l l I n d i a n s h i p s

S o m e o f t h e m u l t i n a t i o n a l

behemoths run far larger fleets on t h e i r o w n ; A m e r i c a n A i r l i n e s , f o r example, runs a fleet of 935 aircraft b e c a u s e t o t h e s e l a r g e c o n t r a c t s , I n d i a ' s a i r c r a f t p r o d u c t i o n i s expected to sharply increase during the next ten years So, it is crucial for India to get ready for the anticipated growth pace

Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

A c l i e n t h a s a p p r o a c h e d u s w i t h t h e i d e a o f remortg aging h is residentia l prop erty in o rder to pu rch as e anothe r o n a BTL basi s He a ls o ha s a bout £100K in the bank, not doing ve ry much

This wasn’t a particularly difficult feat; a straight forward refinance on the residential and mortgage on the BTL

Both would be on a five year fixed to weather the coming turbulence in the economy This is the first ever BTL he is doing

It is likely after about a year his confidence in the BTL model will have grown, and he may wish to repeat the process again However, his options would be limited due to the 5 year fixed rate he would be on; not completely closed off as he could raise funds on a further advance but he would be limited to the existing lender

A neater way to set this up which would enable him to borrow funds later on, if he so wished, would b e t o a r r a n g e a n o v e r d r a f t o n h i s r e s i d e n t i a l property, that being the cheapest rate This rate can be fixed now for 5 years, hence shielding him from future rate rises, conversely of course if the rate was t o d r o p h e w o u l d n o t g e t t h e b e n e f i t o f t h e reduction This is the ‘premium’ you pay for the security

There is a small increase in the rate between the fixed product and the one which gives the overdraft facility However, when you look at the broader benefit this is a price well worth paying

It would allow the investor not only to purchase another BTL property but to buy one in auction, where there is a time limit for completion Or if a property has not sold with an agent a few times, due to say the mortgage collapsing, it gives him the ability to swoop in and pick up a deal, at a discount to the original price of course

A property purchased in the right location, could very easily go up by £100K, well outweighing the premium paid for the overdraft

This could be done in a manner which would mitigate the variables in the transaction What we would recommend is a two bedroom flat in a location which has been on our radar and has not failed to perform Since we have been purchasing in the area rents have gone up from £900pm to £1,400pm and we believe there is still a lot of mileage in this location A two bedroom flat would cost about £285K It would be a flat we would recommend because it does away with maintenance aspect outside of the immediate property The block we tend to purchase in has a very reasonable s e r v i c e c h a r g e w h i c h i n c l u d e s t h e b u i l d i n g insurance

The potential tenant would have to go through r e f e r e n c i n g , w h i c h w o u l d e n a b l e a n i n s u r a n c e policy to be taken out which would cover the landlord for any void in the rent and also the cost of eviction This set up would take away most of the variables, leaving only the capital growth to benefit from, which is the goal of any investment Property i n v e s t m e n t t o o c o m e s w i t h i t s o w n r i s k s a n d challenges but at this level they can be mitigated with some planning and foresight

Voda Idea’s loss widens to £800 mn

Vo da f o n e I d e a ’ s l os s wi de n e d i n t h e th i r d q ua r te r of F Y2 3 a s t h e c om p a n y c on t i n u e s i ts s tr u gg l e to b ro a d e n re a l i s a t i on s f r om custom ers, while looki ng at ways to boost network a nd launc h 5G sites

T h e c o m p a n y , w h i c h r e c e n t l y g a i n e d a f t e r t h e

g o v e r n m e n t d e c i d e d t o pick up 33% equity into it in lieu of interest payments f o r d e l a y e d s t a t u t o r y payments, said loss in the December quarter stood at

£799 million against £759 5 m i l l i o n i n t h e s e c o n d q u a r t e r T h e a v e r a g e revenue per user (ARPU), a k e y m e t r i c t o m e a s u r e h e a l t h o f t e l e c o m companies, stood at Rs 135 against Rs 131 in the second quarter

Pak announces historic hike in petrol, gas prices to please IMF

I S L A M A B A D : T h e P ak is ta n gov ernment has announced a historic hike in the prices o f petrol and gas as the gov ernment tried to appease the IMF fo r unlocking the critical loan tranche for th e cash-strapped country

The “petrol bomb”, as the price hike is termed these days, was dropped last week, hours after the government unveiled a s u p p l e m e n t a r y f i n a n c e b i l l before parliament, proposing to raise the goods and services tax (GST) to 18% from 17% to help raise Rs 170 billion ($639 7 mil-

lion) in extra revenue during the fiscal year ending in July

T h e r i s e i n t h e p r i c e o f petroleum products was one of the preconditions of the lender

T h e p r i c e o f p e t r o l w a s

hiked to Rs 272 per litre after an increase of Rs 22 2, noting that the surge has taken place due to the rupee ’ s devaluation against

t h e d o l l a r T h e p r i c e o f t h e

h i g h - s p e e d d i e s e l ( H S D ) w a s hiked by Rs 17 2, kerosene by Rs 12 9 and light diesel oil (LDO) by nearly Rs 9 7 The new price of HSD will cost Rs 280 per litre Kerosene will be available

at Rs 202 7 whereas LDO will be sold at about Rs 196 7 per litre

T h e i n c r e a s e c a m e a s f i n a n c e minister Ishaq Dar presented the money bill in parl i a m e n t t o f u l f i l t h e International Monetary Fund’s d e m a n d t o i n c r e a s e r e v e n u e before it releases $1 1 billion out of the $7 billion loans

T h e c o u n t r y i s l o c k e d i n negotiations with IMF for the release of bailout funds, and with about enough reserves to

CREMATION GROUNDS FOR HINDUS IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

m e e t o n l y t h r e e w e e k s o f imports, Pakistan is looking to increase revenue despite multidecade high inflation of 27%

T h e ‘ m i n i - b u d g e t ’ a l s o p r oposed to raise taxes on luxury items to 25%, while hikes in taxes on first and business-class air travel, cigarettes and sugary drinks were also proposed

Pak Taliban warn of more attacks against police force

K A R A C H I : Paki stan’s Tali ban warned o f m ore attacks against law enfo rcem ent officers, a day after nine people, inclu ding fiv e terrorists, were killed in a gu nfigh t w ith security fo rces who m anaged to secure back control of the h ead office build ing o f the K arachi Po lice ch ief

The police are often used on the frontline of Pakistan’s battle with the Taliban and are frequently a target of militants who accuse them of extra-judicial killings “The policemen should stay away from our war with the slave army, otherwise the attacks on the safe havens of the top police officers will c o n t i n u e , ” T e h r e e k - e - T a l i b a n P a k i s t a n (TTP) said in an English-language statement

Earlier, armed militants of the Tehreeke-Taliban (Pakistan) stormed the office of the Karachi Police chief and opened fire As many as nine people, including five terrorists, were killed in a gunfight Four other

people, including two police constables, a rangers personnel and a civilian were also killed and 17 were injured in the firing, reports said As per reports, at least eight armed militants entered the police chief's office, situated on Sharea Faisal in Karachi

A senior security source said five terrorists were killed during the operation He said three were killed in the long gun battle while

two blew themselves up which also caused some damage to one floor of the building

The building was under siege for nearly four hours In the videos from the spot, several rounds of gunshots can be heard A video also shows the moment an explosion took place inside the building

Bangladesh shuts down main opposition party’s newspaper

D HA KA : The Dainik Dinkal , a Benga li-l ang uage broadsheet an d the mouthpiece of t he Bangl adesh Na tion alist Party (B NP), has ha lted pr oduction after a govern me nt suspe nsion orde r was uphel d by a wat chdog, stoking fea rs about media free dom in the country It has be en in circul ation for mor e t han t hree decades It employs hundreds of journal ist s and press worker s

and look aftte be eternally g blessings will

The caretaker cabinet of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in its first meeting approved the transfer of approximately two acres of government land to the Auqaf department for the construction of cremation grounds for Hindus and Sikhs in the province Cremation ground each in the Peshawar and Nowshera districts are to be constructed for the Hindu and Sikh communities and a little less than half an acre for Christian graveyards in the Kohat district of the province The caretaker cabinet approved the transfer of two acres of government land for the minority communities The communities welcomed the decision

PET LEOPARD RUNS AMOK IN ISLAMABAD

A pet leopard escaped from a house in the Pakistan capital and roamed the streets for hours before being shot with a sedation dart, wildlife officials said In videos posted to social media, the young male cat slips between cars before knocking down a man and leaping over a garden fence “According to our initial investigation it is a pet animal and not wild at all but he is scared and is constantly roaring ” Tariq Bangash director of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board said Pakistan last year banned the import of exotic mammals after large numbers were brought in or bred in recent years causing problems for wildlife officials

8 KILLED AS CYCLONE HITS NZ

f a move on to g er abo e aftter a short period of illness caused by Lukemia

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The daily covers news stories including the frequent arrests of BNP members and what the party says are thousands of fake cases against its supporters The newspaper on Monday said the Dhaka district authorit i e s h a d o r d e r e d t h e s h u t d o w n o n December 26, but it continued to publish after filing an appeal at the Press Council headed by a top high court judge

“The council rejected our appeal yesterday [on Sunday], upholding the district magistrate’s order to stop our publication,” said Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, managing editor of the newspaper

A New Zealand mum has recounted the heartbreak of watching her two-year-old daughter being swept away in floodwaters unleashed by Cyclone Gabrielle, which has killed at least eight people The storm has faded into the South Pacific but left a trail of destruction and human suffering across New Zealand s North Island About 10,000 people are displaced, cities and towns are still without power and drinking water, and local government officials estimate tens or even hundreds of communities have yet to be contacted

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JAPAN DISCOVERS ALMOST 7,000 NEW ISLANDS

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The order said the printing permit of the newspaper was cancelled after it violated the country’s printing and publication laws The council said the paper ’ s publisher, Tarique Rahman – the acting chief of BNP –was a convicted criminal and was living abroad without handing over his job to another person

B i s w a s s a i d R a h m a n , n o w b a s e d i n L o n d o n , s u b m i t t e d h i s r e s i g n a t i o n a n d appointed a new publisher, but the authorities did not accept the changes “This shutdown is all part of the government crackdown on dissenting voices and freedom of speech,” Biswas said

Japan has “discovered” more than 7,000 new islands it did not know existed using advanced mapping technology in the first geographical study of the archipelago in 35 years The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan is expected to release a report on its updated map of the nation in March At present, Japan is officially made up of 6,852 islands, but that figure will rise to 14 125 islands, Kyodo News reported The previous estimate was the result of a study by the Japan Coast Guard in 1987 but that list of islands only included those with a circumference of at least 100 metres or 328 feet

7 siblings and second mother ole in ll our are immensely

China temporarily shuts down consular office in Pak

Chinese citizens to be cautious while in Pakistan, saying they might be at risk due to a deteriorating security situation

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Ben feell in love with the boy next door! This was our Sureshbhai and they were married on 26/6/66 which m kes it 56 years of marriage! I was only 11 years old when I did the brother’s blessings in the wedding They now h ve two wonderfuul daughters: Shilpa and Anjli, two ver y supportive sons in law, Paresh and Raj j and of course their proud grandsons, Shaan and Ar yan

Recently, Sureshbhai,Shilpa, Anjjli, Paresh and Raj j and the grandsons had given up ever ything in their lives to care

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I S LA M A B AD : A fter warning its citizens to rem ain cautious in Pakistan owing to the deteriorating secu rity situatio n, C hina has tem porarily sh ut dow n the consular section of its mission th ere due to technical concerns

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The embassy announced this on its website, refraining from providing specific information about the nature of the "technical issue" or the timeline for the closure The warning stated that starting on February 13, 2023, until further notice, "the consular section of the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad will be temporarily closed due to technical concerns "

T h e n o t i f i c a t i o n f o l l o w s l a s t w e e k ' s notice by the Chinese government, advising

Pakistan has seen a rise in terror attacks s i n c e l a t e l a s t y e a r w h e n t h e P a k i s t a n i Taliban group called off a fragile truce with the government Chinese nationals working on the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have regularly been targete d b y v a r i o u s t e r r o r i s t o r g a n i s a t i o n s i n Pakistan, putting a significant portion of Beijing's Belt and Road infrastructure programme at risk

The CPEC is a USD 65 billion network of r o a d s , r a i l w a y s , p i p e l i n e s , a n d p o r t s i n

Pakistan connecting China to the Arabian Sea

in brief Hindu temple told to cancel bhajan or face consequences

M E L B O U R N E : T h re ate ni ng p h on e ca ll s w er e m ad e t o a H i nd u te m p le i n M el bo u r ne, A ustralia, telling them to cancel a r eli g i o u s e v en t o r fac e " consequ ences " According to a m ed ia so urce, a m an speaking in P unjabi called the priestess of t h e K ali M at a T e m p le i n M elb o u rn e's C rai g i eb u rn neighbourhood B h a w n a , t h e p r i e s t e s s , claimed to have received a call from an unknown number A guy warned Bhawna to cancel a

bhajan (spiritual) performance on March 4 by a vocalist, whom h e c l a i m e d w a s a k a t t a r (staunch) hindu, while speaking in "Amritsar-Jalandhar" Punjabi, Bhawna said Twannu pata hai vo banda k a t t a r H i n d u h a i , v o a a y a t e panga ho jana hai mandir te (you know that the singer is a staunch Hindu If he comes, there will be t r o u b l e a t t h e t e m p l e ) , " t h e caller said, as per Bhawna

Talking to media, priestess Bhawna said, "I pleaded with

him, bhai ji this is Ma Kali’s ( H i n d u G o d d e s s K a l i ) p l a c e , e v e n G u r u M a h a r a j ( G u r u Govind Singh) used to pray here Why would someone come and fight here?

D e v o t e e s p e l t s t o n e s , coconuts after clash erupts over beating drums in Tamil Nadu Lately, Hindu temples have been targeted in Australia and other n a t i o n s b y p e o p l e s u p p o r t i n g the Khalistani movement I n J a n u a r y t h i s y e a r , S h r i Shiva Vishnu Temple in Carrum

Downs was vandalised during the “Thai Pongal” festival

O n J a n u a r y 1 2 , t h e S w a m i n a r a y a n t e m p l e i n Melbourne was defaced by 'antisocial elements with anti-India graffiti

In Canada's Mississauga, a Ram Temple was vandalised last w e e k w h e n v a n d a l s s c r a w l e d anti-Indian graffiti on the walls

Outrage at the incident caused the Indian Consulate General in T o r o n t o t o u r g e i m m e d i a t e action

Indian-American doctor admits healthcare fraud conspiracy

N E W Y O R K : A n I n di anAmeric an doctor has adm itted de f r a ud i n g N e w J e r s e y s t a t e an d lo c a l h e a lt h b e n e f i t programmes and other in surers b y s u b m i t ti n g f ra u d ul e n t c la i m s f o r m e d i c a l l y unn ecess ary prescri pti ons Saurabh Patel, 51, who owns a m e d i c a l c l i n i c i n N e w a r k , p l e a d e d g u i l t y b y videoconference before the US District Judge Robert B Kugler l a s t w e e k t o a s u p e r s e d i n g information charging him with o n e c o u n t o f c o n s p i r i n g t o commit healthcare fraud S a u r a b h o f W o o d b r i d g e , N e w J e r s e y , w a s p r e v i o u s l y c h a r g e d b y i n d i c t m e n t w i t h

c o n s p i r i n g i n t h e h e a l t h c a r e f r a u d s c h e m e w i t h a f a m i l y m e m b e r , K a i v a l P a t e l

According to court documents, despite having no background i n p h a r m a c e u t i c a l s o r medicine, Kaival and his wife

c r e a t e d a n d o p e r a t e d a company called ABC Healthy Living LLC to market medical p r o d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e s , i n c l u d i n g c o m p o u n d prescription medications

Kaival and an accomplice then approached Saurabh and c o n v i n c e d h i m t o a u t h o r i s e p r e s c r i p t i o n s f o r t h e c o m p o u n d m e d i c a t i o n s f o r w h i c h t h e y r e c e i v e d c o m m i s s i o n s , r e g a r d l e s s o f

Nikki Haley enters US prez race, to take on Trump

WA S HING TO N: Nikki Haley, a f o rm e r U N am b as s ad o r and Indian-A merican, said that she w ould run for presid ent of the U nited States in 20 24, p utting h er at o d d s w i th h er fo rm er emp loyer Do nald T rum p, who is also vying for th e p residency In a vid eo that h er cam paig n staff e m ai l ed t o su p p o r ter s, Ni kk i a nn o u nc ed t h at s h e w a s running for p resident N i k k i , a f o r m e r S o u t h Carolina governor who served as US ambassador to the UN under T r u m p , w i l l l a y o u t h e r campaign ideas in a speech in Charleston, South Carolina She became the first Republican to directly challenge Trump in a field that is anticipated to grow i n t h e e n s u i n g w e e k s a n d months Haley, 51, said in her video t h a t i t w a s t i m e f o r a n e w g e n e r a t i o n o f l e a d e r s t o "rediscover fiscal responsibility, s e c u r e o u r b o r d e r , a n d s t r e n g t h e n o u r c o u n t r y , o u r pride, and our purpose " She also made a folksy reference to her p r i o r i n v o l v e m e n t i n f o r e i g n p o l i c y R u s s i a a n d C h i n a a r e

N E V A D A : U p s e t Hi n d u s a r e

urgi ng Birmin gham Museum of A r t (Bi r mi n g h a m, A l a b a ma ) t o i mmed iate ly wi thdra w from it s s hop an d on lin e the Strin g Doll f e a t ur i n g H i n d u d e i t y L o r d G a n e s h , c a l l i n g i t h i g h l y i nappropri ate D i s t i n g u i s h e d H i n d u s t a t e s m a n R a j a n Z e d , i n a statement in Nevada, said that Lord Ganesh was greatly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be

US BOY DIES FROM FLESH EATING BACTERIA

Jesse Brown, an 11-year-old boy in the United States, died from a benign twisted ankle he suffered while running on a treadmill, leading to a flesh eating infection Some days later, his family discovered that his entire leg was covered in what seemed to be splotchy, purple, and red blotches that resembled bruises Shortly after that, physicians informed Brown that he had a group A strep infection that developed into flesh eating bacteria Brown was then admitted to an intensive care unit Paediatrician Dr Candice Jones said that in most cases are not as severe but in very rare cases it can cause a secondary infection like flesh-eating disease

w h e t h e r o r n o t t h o s e p r e s c r i p t i o n s w e r e m e d i c a l l y necessary T h e c o n s p i r a t o r s s t e e r e d individuals who were paid to r e c e i v e t h e c o m p o u n d m e d i c a t i o n s t o S a u r a b h ' s m e d i c a l p r a c t i c e f o r t h e p u r p o s e o f r e c e i v i n g h i s authorisation on the fraudulent prescriptions, a Department of Justice said in a statement T h i s e n a b l e d S a u r a b h t o receive insurance payments for t h o s e p a t i e n t v i s i t s a n d procedures In addition to the p e o p l e s t e e r e d t o S a u r a b h ' s medical practice as part of the scheme, Kaival also instructed S a u r a b h o n w h i c h i n s u r a n c e

c o m p a n i e s c o v e r e d t h e compound medications

T h e r e a f t e r , h e r e q u e s t e d t h a t S a u r a b h p r e s c r i b e t h o s e medications to existing patients o f h i s p r a c t i c e w i t h t h o s e i n s u r a n c e p l a n s i n o r d e r t o further benefit Kaival and his wife Kaival was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, substantive counts o f m o n e y l a u n d e r i n g , a n d m a k i n g f a l s e s t a t e m e n t s t o federal agents He is scheduled to proceed to trial later this year

Saurabh faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison a n d a $ 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 f i n e H i s s e n t e n c i n g i s s c h e d u l e d f o r June 27, 2023

Fresh quake hits Syria and Turkey

Antakya, Turkey: A no ther earthquake struck th e bo rder region o f Turkey and Syria on M onday, ju st tw o weeks after the area was devastated by a larger quake that killed more than 47, 000 peo ple and damaged or destroyed hu nd reds of tho usands of hom es Monday's quake, this time with a magnitude of 6 4, was centred near the southern Turkish city of Antakya and was felt in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon

SEIF AL-ADEL IS NEW AL QAEDA CHIEF

Seif al-Adel a former Egyptian special forces officer who is a high-ranking member of al Qaeda and has a $10 million US bounty on his head is now the militant group's uncontested commander according to a new UN report After the death of its founder Osama bin Laden in 2011 Al Qaeda has not openly declared a replacement for Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was thought to have been killed in a US missile strike in Kabul last year

CHINA SLAPS CURBS ON LOCKHEED MARTIN, RAYTHEON

Nikki Haley

advancing All of them believe they can intimidate or kick us

You should be aware of a fact a b o u t m e : I d o n ' t t o l e r a t e bullies And if you're wearing heels, it pains them more when you kick back, she added

Vivek Ram aswamy to o vying o ptions

Indian-American Republican a n d b u s i n e s s m a n V i v e k R a m a s w a m y i s p l a n n i n g t o announce his 2024 presidential bid Ramaswamy, 37, who is a millionaire and has been dubbed by the New Yorker as the “CEO o f A n t i - W o k e I n c ” , h a s embarked on test runs and factf i n d i n g m i s s i o n s i n I o w a , according to a media report

Hatay Mayor Lutfu Savas said that he had received reports about some people stuck under rubble after the latest quake Three people were killed and more than 200 injured, Interior Minister Suleyman S o y l u s a i d I n S a m a n d a g , w h e r e t h e c o u n t r y ' s D i s a s t e r a n d Emergency Management Authority AFAD reported one person dead, residents said more buildings collapsed but most of the town had already fled after the initial earthquakes Mounds of debris and discarded furniture lined the dark, abandoned streets

Muna Al Omar said she was in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the ground started heaving again

I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet, she said, crying as she held her 7-year-old son in her arms People in Turkey trapped under debris by recent quake P M Mo di hails Ind ia’ s relief w ork

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "No matter the country, if it is about humanity, then India keeps human interest foremost " He was speaking at a ceremony to greet disaster relief personnel upon their return from earthquake-hit Turkey The entire world w i t n e s s e d y o u r q u i c k a r r i v a l t h e r e I t d e m o n s t r a t e s y o u r preparedness and your training skill It is commendable how hard our NDRF personnel have worked these past ten days

In his interactions with the Indian human aid and disaster relief t e a m s , h e e m p h a s i s e d t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e " V a s u d h a i v a

Kutumbakam" philosophy and stated that the nation is proud of the professionals who work for the National Disaster Response Force and other organisations involved in Operation Dost

Hindus upset with Birmingham museum

worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be thrown around loosely or used as a key chain, etc Inappropriate usage of sacred Hindu deities or concepts o r s y m b o l s o r i c o n s f o r mercantile or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees, Zed added

Z e d , w h o i s P r e s i d e n t o f

Universal Society of Hinduism, also urged Birmingham Museum o f A r t ( B M A ) D i r e c t o r D r

Graham C Boettcher to offer a f o r m a l a p o l o g y , b e s i d e s

withdrawing Ganesh String Doll from Museum Shop and website H e a l s o u r g e d B i r m i n g h a m

Mayor Randall L Woodfin and B i r m i n g h a m C i t y C o u n c i l P r e s i d e n t W a r d i n e T o w e r s Alexander to look into this issue

B M A , “ o n e o f t h e f i n e s t regional museums in the United States” and owned by the City of Birmingham, should not be in the

In an effort to isolate democratic Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory, Beijing slapped trade and investment restrictions on Lockheed Martin and a unit of Raytheon Lockheed and Raytheon’s Raytheon missiles and defense are barred from importing goods into China or making new investments in the country the commerce ministry said What consequences the sanctions might have were unclear Most sales of weaponry-related technology to China are prohibited by the US although some military contractors operate commercial enterprises in the aerospace and other sectors

CHINA, IRAN SEEK EASING OF SANCTIONS

Presidents of China and Iran Xi Jinping and Ebrahim Raisi respectively urged for the easing of sanctions against Iran as a crucial component of the faltering global nuclear deal Xi also accepted an invitation from Raisi to visit Iran, the two leaders said on the last day of a three-day state visit to China by Raisi The two also urged the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which was a 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and numerous nations, including the US, in which Tehran committed to curtail its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions Xi told Raisi that China would “participate constructively” in talks to resume negotiations on implementing agreement

b u s i n e s s o f r e l i g i o u s a p p r o p r i a t i o n , s a c r i l e g e a n d belittling sacred Hindu deities It w a s d e e p l y t r i v i a l i z i n g o f i m m e n s e l y v e n e r a t e d H i n d u deity to be treated like this; Rajan Zed indicated Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1 2 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought a n d i t s h o u l d n o t b e t a k e n frivolously Symbols of any faith,

larger or smaller, should not be mishandled; Zed noted

Ganesh String Doll was priced a t B M A S h o p o n l i n e a t $ 1 1 F o u n d e d 1 9 5 1 , 1 8 0 , 0 0 0 g r o s s s q u a r e f e e t B M A , “ h o u s e s a diverse collection of more than 2 7 , 0 0 0 p a i n t i n g s , s c u l p t u r e , prints, drawings, and decorative a r t s d a t i n g f r o m a n c i e n t t o m o d e r n t i m e s ” D r A n n e

BJP has nothing to hide about Adani case: Shah

Union home minister Amit Shah cl aime d that the BJP has nothin g t o fear or hide r egarding the Hinde nburgA da ni co nt r ove r sy d esp it e opposition d eman ds for a j oi n t p a r l i a me n t a r y committe e t o l ook into the issue “ T h e S u p r e m e C o u r t has taken cognisance of the matter As a minister, if the SC is seized of the matter it i s n o t r i g h t f o r m e t o comment But in this case, there is nothing for the BJP to hide and nothing to be afraid of,” Shah said in an interview H e f o r c e f u l l y r e j e c t e d t h e c h a r g e o f “ c r o n y c a p i t a l i s m ” a g a i n s t t h e Centre, saying not a single c a s e h a s b e e n f o u n d o r p r o v e n a g a i n s t t h e B J P g o v e r n m e n t “ O n t h e contrary, scams worth £120 billion took place during the UPA (tenure),” he said S h a h d e c l i n e d t o

India

I n d i a wa s a m o n g t h e 4 3 c ou nt ri e s on it s "ho n our roll" so far for havin g paid t he i r a s s e s s m e n t s to th e budget, Stephan e Dujarric , t he S p ok e s p e r s on f or

Secretary-G eneral Antonio

Guterres, sai d

India's share is assessed at 1 044 per cent of the total budget of $3 217 billion

Despite the fact that it comes to $33 592 million, the UN receives a credit of $ 3 0 5 2 m i l l i o n f r o m i t s Indian employees in place of the income taxes they would have otherwise had to pay A complex formula that

comment when asked about Rahul Gandhi's decision to devote his whole speech in the Lok Sabha to the Adani c o n t r o v e r s y d u r i n g t h e discussion of the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, claiming that it was c o m p l e t e l y t h e C o n g r e s s leader's lookout Shah denied the claim t h a t g o v e r n m e n t investigation agencies were b e i n g u s e d i m p r o p e r l y

"They should go in court a n d p r e s e n t t h e i r c a s e ; courts are not under our

Gauhati HC questions mass arrests over child marriages

and the charges of rape are "totally bizarre" allegations

control Even in Pegasus, I had proposed that they visit the court, and after a search, t h e r e w a s n o t h i n g discovered

The home minister also dismissed Congress protests o v e r t h e e x p u n c t i o n o f r e m a r k s m a d e b y R a h u l G a n d h i a n d M a l i k a r j u n Kharge in the Lok Sabha a n d R a j y a S a b h a , s a y h i n g t h a t t h i s w a s p r e t t y s t a n d a r d w h i l e a l s o emphasising that speeches i n P a r l i a m e n t h a v e t o conform to rules

e Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012

“ T h e r e a r e c h i l d r e n , there are family members, there are old people This may not be a good idea to go for obviously it is a bad idea,” the judge said “You proceed as per law, we have nothing to say If you find s o m e b o d y g u i l t y , f i l e a chargesheet Let him or her face trial and if they are convicted, they are convicted,” he said G r a n t i n g i m m e d i a t e b a i l t o t h e n i n e a r r e s t e d p e o p l e w h o h a d m o v e d c o u r t , J u s t i c e S h y a m o b s e r v e d , “ I f m a r r i a g e i s taking place in violation of

law, the law will take its own course We will only consider if immediate cust o d i a l i n t e r r o g a t i o n i s r e q u i r e d o r n o t A t t h i s moment, this court thinks that these are not matters for custodial interrogation We will ask them to appear a n d r e c o r d t h e i r s t a t em e n t s T h e s e a r e n o t N D P S , s m u g g l i n g , s t o l e n property cases ” I n o p p o s i t i o n t o t h e 4 , 2 2 5 c h i l d m a r r i a g e i n s t a n c e s t h a t h a v e b e e n registered as of February 14, a total of 3,031 people have been detained The crackd o w n h a d s t a r t e d o n February 3 with 4,004 FIRs

India’s first rapid train service to start soon

t a k e s i n t o a c c o u n t d e b t load, gross national income ( w h i c h i s d e f i n e d a s t h e g r o s s d o m e s t i c p r o d u c t plus income from abroad), and an adjustment for per c a p i t a i n c o m e u s i n g t h e "capacity to pay" principle d e t e r m i n e s t h e r a t e o f b u d g e t a s s e s s m e n t s f o r e a c h o f t h e 1 9 3 m e m b e r countries India claims to have the f i f t h - l a r g e s t e c o n o m y i n the world, but this boast is u n d e r m i n e d b y t h e country's low "capacity to pay" due to low per capita income

This puts its assessment

India, Japan army exercises to enhance interoperability

After cond ucting their first-ever joint air combat drills last month with a keen eye on China, Ind ia and Japan will shortly beg in an exercise between their arm ies to improv e interoperability and sharp en their military prowess

From February 17 to March 2, the exercise "Dharma Guardian" at Camp Imazu in the Japanese province of Shiga will concentrate on platoon-level operations in jungle, semi-urban, and urban terrains The fourth iteration of Dharma Guardian, which is taking place against the backdrop of the current international crisis, is vital and significant in terms of the security concerns faced by both nations

India has sent a contingent from the Garhwal Rifles regiment for the exercise, while Japan is fielding the Middle Army of the Japanese Ground Self Defence Force “The exercise will enable the two armies to share best practices in tactics, techniques and procedures of conducting tactical operations under a UN Mandate, in addition to d e v e l o p i n g i n t e r o p e r a b i l i t y , b o n h o m i e , camaraderie and friendship between the two forces,” he added

l o w e r t h a n s o m e f e l l o w d e v e l o p i n g c o u n t r i e s l i k e Brazil with an assessment of 2 013 per cent or Mexico at 1 221 per cent

The assessment for the US is 22 per cent, which is the highest that can be set for a country, working out to $707 897 million China c o m e s n e x t w i t h a n a s s e s s m e n t o f 1 5 2 5 4 p e r c e n t o r 4 9 0 8 3 m i l l i o n B r i t a i n , w h o s e e c o n o m y was surpassed by India in terms of size, contributes $ 1 4 0 7 7 5 m i l l i o n o r 4 3 7 5 p e r c e n t , m a k i n g i t t h e f i f t h - l a r g e s t d o n o r a f t e r Japan and Germany

India will soon have a hig hsp e ed t rai n sy st em w i t h first-rate am enities for passe ng e rs In M arc h , th e nation will acquire its first Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS) , w hich will go from Sah ibabad on Ghaziabad to Du ha i D ep ot and i ncl ud e am enities similar to those of a plane The 17-km long running stretch o f the train w ill co ver Sahibabad , Ghaziabad, Guldh ar, Duhai and Duhai d ep o t a t an o p e rat io n al sp eed of 18 0 km per h our Tickets for the rapid rail ride will be available v ia card s and m o b i le d e v i ce s Accord ing to m ed ia so urces, the section s track h as been laid and the overh ead line equ i p m e nt in s tal lat i o n i s virtually com plete M ed ical assistance on rail

M e d i c a l h e l p w i l l b e available on board the train a s w e l l T h e r e i s a l s o a stretcher facility set up in

the final rapid train car In addition, a different coach w i l l b e s e t u p j u s t f o r patients who are sent from Meerut to Delhi in order to provide transportation at a lesser cost

Like in the DMRC, separ a t e c o a c h e s h a v e b e e n a r r a n g e d f o r w o m e n a n d s e p a r a t e s e a t s h a v e b e e n prepared for the physically disabled passengers These seats can be folded when not in use

Facil ities for standing passeng er s All passengers, whether

they are standing or seated, will find the rapid train system to be convenient With adjustable chairs and unique setups for standing passengers, the RRTS offer some relief

A s p e r t h e r e p o r t s , a m e n i t i e s o n t h e t r a i n i n c l u d e W i - F i , m o b i l eU S B c h a r g e r , l a r g e w i n d o w s , i n t e g r a t e d A C s y s t e m , a u t o m a t i c d o o r c o n t r o l s y s t e m , l u g g a g e storage, driver interaction s y s t e m , d y n a m i c r o u t e m a p , C C T V a n d infotainment system

Karnataka minister regrets

'finish off Siddaramaiah like Tipu Sultan' dig

B E N G A L U R U : A s t he politic al cl im ate in the state heats up in advance of pol ls l ater this year, a K arnataka m inis ter's cal l to "f inis h off" opposition Congress leader a nd f or mer Chief Minister Sidda ramaiah has sparked a n e w c o nt r ov e r s y The m in is t er l a t e r e x pr e s s e d r egr ets over the re ma rks

Andhra CM Jagan's sister held for 'derogatory' remarks

p o l i c e c o m p l a i n t

CN Ashwath Narayan

Higher Education Minister CN Ashwath Narayan recently spoke to a crowd in Mandya and said, "Do you prefer VD Savarkar, a proponent of Hindu nationalism, or Tipu Sultan? Should we deliver this Tipu Sultan somewhere? What was done by Nanje Gowda? You ought to eliminate him (Siddaramaiah) in a similar manner "

Amid a tug-of-war for votes in K a r n a t a k a o v e r t h e M u s l i m r u l e r , right-wing groups have claimed that Tipu Sultan did not die fighting the B r i t i s h , b u t w a s k i l l e d b y t w o

Vokkaliga chieftains Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda - a theory disputed by some historians

Reacting to the statement, the Congress unit in Karnataka has filed a

a g a i n s t N a r a y a n They have also filed a complaint against state BJP president N a l i n K u m a r K a t e e l , w h o s a i d t h o s e w h o r e v e r e Tipu Sultan should be "driven out" of Karnataka

S i d d a r a m a i a h h a s a c c u s e d N a r a y a n o f t r y i n g t o " i n s t i g a t e " people to kill him and urged Chief

M i n i s t e r B a s a v a r a j B o m m a i t o immediately sack the minister " H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n M i n i s t e r

Ashwath Narayan has appealed to people to kill me the way Tipu was killed Ashwath Narayan, Why are you trying to instigate people? Get t h e g u n y o u r s e l f , " t h e C o n g r e s s v e t e r a n s a i d T h e f o r m e r c h i e f minister claimed in a series of tweets that the absence of any action against t h e m i n i s t e r d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t B o m m a i , H o m e M i n i s t e r A r a g a Jnanendra, and their "incompetent cabinet is sleeping and is in accord with Ashwath Narayan "

Protest in Haryana over OPS restoration, cops use tear gas

C H A N D I G A R H : P o l ic e f i red te ar g as s h e lls and struck lathis on hundred s of g o v ernm ent em p lo yees to p revent th em from crossing i n to th e c i ty f ro m P a nc h ku l a to g h era o th e o f f ic i al re s id enc e o f H ar ya na c h i ef m i ni s ter M ano h a r L a l K h a tta r i n a tw o - h o u r p r ot es t d e m an d i ng th e restoration of the old p ension scheme (OP S) in the state

With the Haryana assembly’s budget session starting on Monday, employees of various government departments pushed their demand for the restoration of the OPS which was admissible to those appointed before 2008 Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab have already announced to implement the OPS

Earlier in the day, employees started assembling in Sector 5, Panchkula, for a massive rally despite heavy police deployment After the rally, employees marched till the sectors 7-817-18 roundabout to come close to the housing board light point, the access point to C h a n d i g a r h T h e p r o t e s t e r s b r e a c h e d t h e f i r s t t w o l a y e r s o f barricades put up by the Haryana police As they crossed the first layer of the security ring of the Chandigarh Police, cops pushed them back and then used water cannons, lathi charge, and tear gas shells to disperse them A dozen-odd employees suffered injuries They were taken to General Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula

The protest was led by Virender Dhaliwal, president, Pension Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (PBSS), which had the support of all employees’ associations Unions of various departments and even NGOs offered support

6

HYD E RABAD : Andh ra Pradesh chief minis ter Jagan Mohan Reddy’s s is ter Y S Sharmila was taken into p reventive c usto dy d u r ing h e r p ad a ya t ra in M a h ab u b a ba d f o r h er a l l eg e d derogatory remarks agains t Bh arat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and T elangana ch ief minis ter K Ch andrasekhar Rao

Speaking to reporters, she said her party will move the h i g h c o u r t a g a i n f o r p e r m i s s i o n t o r e s u m e h e r s t a l l e d padayatra and questioned the BRS government if women in the state had the democratic right to ask questions Earlier, she was booked under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for her remark

“I was insulted by MLA Shankar Naik I questioned his illegal land deals They called me an eunuch When we counter this, they arrest us The entire opposition, barring me, has compromised with BRS

Reiterating that “Telangana is Afghanistan of India and (CM) K Chandrasekhar Rao Taliban”, she alleged: “There is no respect for the Constitution, only CM’s writ runs here The situation is so dire that I need to approach the court again for yatra ” Meanwhile, BRS mandal president Lunawat Ashok has lodged a complaint against Sharmila for insulting Naik In the complaint, Ashok alleged she made derogatory remarks against the MLA, even claiming the legislator was involved in corruption, grabbing land and robbery He accused Sharmila of “insulting” the legislator belonging to the ST community, t h r o u g h h e r c o m m e n t s d u r i n g h e r o n g o i n g s t a t e w i d e padayatra ‘Praja Prasthanam’ Police said they have cancelled permission for the padayatra, citing law and order situation, a s S h a r m i l a ’ s s t a t e m e n t h a d t r i g g e r e d p r o t e s t s b y B R S partymen, demanding action against her “We have taken her into preventive custody and for her own safety she was shifted to Hyderabad,” a senior police officer said

Punjab govt dismisses

officials in scholarship scam involvement

C HAN DIG ARH : The Bhagwant M ann-l ed AAP governm ent in Punjab dism is sed six officials found involved in t he £3 9 m il lion SC Pos tM atric Sc holars hip s cam

Confirming the development, a senior functionary stated that four officials were from the Department of Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities and two worked in the Finance Department Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, a former minister of social justice, empowerment, and minorities in the Congress-led administration of Capt Amarinder Singh, was in office when the scam first came to light

An investigation pointed out that instructions of the then CM for disbursement of scholarship to SC students were ignored and undue benefits given to private institutes

Rather than taking approval from the Finance Department for a reaudit of 14 institutes, errant officials extended undue benefits to other institutions as well

Those dismissed include Parminder Singh Gill, Deputy Director; Charanjit Singh, Deputy Controller; Mukesh Bhatia, Section Officer; Rajinder Chopra, Superintendent; and Rakesh Arora and Baldev Singh, both senior assistants Both Charanjit and Rakesh have retired The d i s m i s s a l o r d e r w a s p a s s e d b y M i n i s t e r f o r S o c i a l J u s t i c e ,

Empowerment and Minorities

Dr Baljit Kaur

According to the departmental investigation, the then-directives C M ' s f o r t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f s c h o l a r s h i p s t o S C s t u d e n t s w e r e d i s r e g a r d e d , a n d c e r t a i n p r i v a t e i n s t i t u t i o n s r e c e i v e d i m p r o p e r

benefits Benefits worth millions of dollars were given to the negligent institutes instead of pursuing action against them Errant officials added the names of more institutions to extend unjust benefits to t h e m a s w e l l , r a t h e r t h a n o b t a i n i n g c o n s e n t f r o m t h e F i n a n c e

Department for a re-audit of 14 institutes

Bengal civic poll will be free and fair: governor tells BJP

O L K A T A : We s t Be n g a l Go ve r n or C V An a n d a Bo s e a s s u r e d BJP s t a t e p r e s i d e n t S uk a n t a Ma j u md a r t h a t t h e upcomin g pan cha yat elections in the s tate wi ll be fre e and fa ir The governor declared duri ng a me e t i n g a t R aj Bh a va n t h a t there w ould be "ze ro tole rance" for corrupti on an d that no on e in the state w ould be permitte d to impose their own laws

“The governor ensures that he is accessible to the common man As far as corruption is

ED ARRESTS KERALA CM'S FORMER AIDE SIVASANKAR

The Enforcement Directorate claimed that it had to arrest Kerala chief minister’s former principal secretary M Sivasankar as he refused to cooperate and was evasive in his replies when the agency officials confronted him with evidences of him allegedly receiving bribes in the CM’s pet Life Mission project The agency has said that it has been probing the Unitac Builders and Developers Pvt Ltd and Sane Ventures LLP under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for suspected pecuniary advantage obtained by some persons from the Life Mission project and illegal gratifications received by various persons including some public servants

DMK NETA KILLS JAWAN OVER IMPROPER USE OF TAP WATER

During an argument over the improper usage of drinking water a DMK council member his sons and relatives thrashed an Army jawan at Pochampally in the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu till he died The councilman and eight other people were detained by police The deceased M Prabhu of Nagojanahalli and his brother Prabhakaran were both jawans and were on leave The trouble started when panchayat councillor R Chinnasamy chided Prabhakaran’s wife Priya for washing clothes at a public drinking water tap Later that day, Chinnasamy, his three sons, and five other family members went to the homes of the two jawans and attacked them with iron rods After being treated for head injuries at a Hosur private hospital, Prabhu died

CANADA-BASED TERRORIST'S ASSOCIATE DETAINED

An associate of Canada-based terrorist Lakhbir Singh Landa was arrested in connection with the Mohali RPG attack case police said A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) was fired at the Punjab Police s intelligence headquarters located in Mohali on May 9 last year According to police Gurpinder alias Pindu is the 11th suspect to have been taken into custody in connection with the RPG attack in Mohali He claimed that Pindu, a native of the Khemkaran village of Bhura Kona, was in frequent contact with the accused Nishan Singh and Charhat Singh during the attack and is a close associate of the terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa who is living in Canada

CBI ARRESTS 6 MORE IN BENGAL SSC JOBS SCAM

concerned, there will be a zerotolerance policy Nobody will be allowed to take the law into their own hands " L a w a n d o r d e r s h a l l b e m e t i c u l o u s l y u p h e l d , a n d e f f e c t i v e a n d a g g r e s s i v e i n t e r v e n t i o n w i l l b e m a d e w h e r e n e c e s s a r y I n a statement released by the Raj B h a v a n , i t w a s s a i d t h a t " v i o l e n c e h a s n o p l a c e i n e l e c t i o n s a n d t h a t t h e n e x t

p a n c h a y a t e l e c t i o n s w i l l g u a r a n t e e f r e e a n d f a i r

elections "

Majumdar called on Bose on a prior appointment and discussed the state of affairs in West Bengal The BJP leader said that "corruption was on the rise, and the law and order situation has deteriorated" in t h e s t a t e d u r i n g t h e a l m o s t two-hour meeting

M a j u m d a r a l s o i n f o r m e d t h e g o v e r n o r t h a t t h e s t a t e government “has been found w a n t i n g i n t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e

M G N R E G S , P M A Y ( G ) a n d PMGSY and there are glaring i r r e g u l a r i t i e s a n d b l a t a n t corruption all around"

N o t a b l y , t h e s t a t e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n h a d r e c e n t l y w r i t t e n t o t h e f e d e r a l government asking the quick disbursement of money under the PM Awas Yojana (PMAY), highlighting the fact that the state would miss its deadline of M a r c h 3 1 f o r c o n s t r u c t i n g 11,00,000 homes if there was any further delay

The CBI has arrested six more people in connection with its investigation into alleged irregularities in recruitment made by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC), a senior official said Those arrested were allegedly working as agents, collecting money from candidates and facilitating their employment in various schools across the state he said "We have got specific evidence against them " the CBI official said Several people had been arrested by the agency in connection with the irregularities including former education minister Partha Chatterjee earlier The Calcutta High Court had last week directed the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education to cancel jobs of 1,911 Group D employees, who were given appointment in state government-sponsored and -aided schools illegally, following manipulation of recruitment examination results

PM Modi urges investors to support India's growth story Quad foreign ministers to meet in

P r i m e M i ni s ter N are nd r a M o d i u rg ed i nv e st o rs to sup port the nation's dev elo pment and sai d that his a d m i ni s tr ati o n h as re d ef i ned g ov erna nc e to h e lp t h e u n d er p ri v i le g ed an d sp ur economic pro gress He also claimed th at th e globe m ig h t g ai n fr om I nd ia 's p rosperity

“In India’s prosperity is the world’s prosperity and India’s growth is the world’s growth When you associa t e w i t h I n d i a ’ s g r o w t h j o u r n e y , I n d i a g i v e s y o u guarantee of growth,” the PM said at the Economic T i m e s G l o b a l B u s i n e s s Summit, which had global and Indian industry leaders in the audience

Modi wove his speech around the two-day event’s theme of ‘reimagining busi-

ness and reimagining the world’ and said that since 2014, his government has sought to “reimagine and reinvent” every element of governance – from building infrastructure to direct benefits transfer and providing toilets, tap water, housing and other amenities

He quoted Rajiv Gandhi

as saying that just 15 pence of every rupee went to the intended recipients, adding t h a t o v e r t h e p a s t n i n e years, the government has disbursed £280 billion via DBT under various initiat i v e s " I f R a j i v G a n d h i ' s statements had been accurate even today, 85% of itroughly £240 billion - would

Delhi on March 3

h a v e g o n e t o s o m e o n e ' s pockets, with only £40 billion going to the underprivi l e g e d B u t n o w , 1 0 0 % i s g o i n g t o t h e u n d e r p r i v ileged”, he remarked

M o d i s a i d t h e t r u s t shown by the government in the citizens, instead of t h e e a r l i e r “ m a i - b a a p ” approach, had resulted in an i n c r e a s e i n t h e t a x p a y e r base, apart from a projected three-fold jump in revenue collections “When people realise that their tax is going for the welfare of people a n d t h e n a t i o n , t h e y p a y honestly,” he said, in addition, compared to the prior standard of an average processing time of 90 days for income tax refunds, approximately half of these returns are now handled within 24 hours

Negligence of all stakeholders led to Morbi bridge tragedy: SIT report

T h e s pe c i al i n v e s t i ga t i o n t e a m ( S I T ) , w h i c h w a s e s t a b li s he d to i n ve s t i ga t e the Morbi b ridge collapse tragedy on Oc tob er 30 of las t year, whi ch clai med the li ves of 135 people, has s ubm itted a damn ing report to t h e G uj a ra t h i gh c o ur t hi ghlightin g admini strative a n d te c h n i c al e rr o rs a n d om i ss i ons on th e par t of n u m e r ou s s ta k e h ol d e r s w hi c h ul ti m ate ly re su lte d i n the deaths of in noc ent people

SIT has questioned the legitimacy of the mainten a n c e c o n t r a c t f o r t h e M o r b i s u s p e n s i o n b r i d g e , claiming that the chief officer of the Morbi municipality should not have signed the contract without first getting the general board's consent The SIT report indicated that 22 out of 49 cables or nearly half of the cables that suspended the Morbi bridge w e r e i n h i g h l y c o r r o d e d condition

No more ‘special category’ status for states, says FM

Union finance ministe r Ni rm a la S ith ara m an m ad e it clear that the centre w i ll no t t ak e i nto ac c o u nt r equ e st s from any state to be giv en "special category status," which is a big setback for states like Odisha and Bihar that h av e been p ressing for it for a while

The FM, who was speaking with the media about the Union Budget, responded when asked whether the Centre will take Odisha's request for special category status into consideration, “(The 14th) Finance commission has clearly said no special status can be given ” Taking examples of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which were given special category status in the initial years after bifurcation, she said, “But the finance commission’s clear opinion is no more special status category ”

Odisha and Bihar have pushed for special category status in order to receive 90% of the cash in centrally sponsored projects instead of the current 60%, along with other advantages In order to accommodate it and take into account its vulnerability to natural catastrophes, Odisha has been asking for a revision in the criteria

Earlier this month, in the parliamentary debate on the Motion of Thanks to President’s address, BJD MP Sasmit Patra had raised the issue in Rajya Sabha “Whenever a cyclone hits Odisha, houses are damaged Crops get destroyed Whenever there is such a disaster, the Centre should consider making Odisha a special focus state for three years and give funds in the 90:10 ratios,” Patra had said

I n i t s p r e l i m i n a r y report, the SIT cites provisions of section 65(3) of the Gujarat Municipality Act to assert that any contract that is to be executed after the c u r r e n t f i n a n c i a l y e a r requires prior approval of the general body Here, the contract was for a period of 1 5 y e a r s " T h e g e n e r a l board's prior consent was r e q u i r e d b e f o r e t h e c h i e f officer could sign the contract The increase in user fees was rejected at the prior

meeting Despite this, the c h i e f o f f i c e r n o n e t h e l e s s agreed to a condition that allowed for rate increases,” according to the report B e s i d e s c h i e f o f f i c e r S a n d i p s i n h Z a l a , t h e S I T also pointed out the lapse by the municipality’s president, vice president and the chairman of the executive committee The three office bearers of the municipality c o n f i r m e d t h e a g r e e m e n t by signing the ‘Rojkam’ on the same day ”

Fresh cracks appear on Badrinath highway

A ro u nd 1 0 m o r e l ar g e c racks hav e ap peared o n t h e Bad ri na th h i g h w a y c l o se to J o sh i m a th n o t long after the Uttarakhand g o v er nm e nt a nn o un c ed t h e C h ar Dh a m y atr a's c o m m enc i ng d ate s T h e B ad ri nat h s h ri ne t o w n, o ne of the busiest p ilg rima g e d es ti na ti o ns i n t h e Garhw al Him alayas, is co nnected to the h ig hway Locals claim t h at a 1 0 - ki lo m ete r s tret ch b et w ee n J o s h im ath and M arwari has develo ped cracks

Sanjay Uniyal, office-bearer of Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (JBSS), a citizens’ group which has been highlighting the s u b s i d e n c e p r o b l e m i n Joshimath, said, “There are new cracks in at least 10 places on t h e B a d r i n a t h h i g h w a y n e a r

Joshimath Contrary to the state government’s claims, old cracks are widening and fresh cracks are emerging too ”

A c c o r d i n g t o l o c a l s , t h e cracks are particularly noticeable on the section of the roadway in front of the SBI branch, close to the railway guest house, before Jaypee Colony, and close to Marwari Bridge According to resident Pranav Sharma, a tiny portion of the highway has also

The G20 foreign ministers’ m eeting next month will be fo llo wed by a meeting of the foreig n m inisters of Quad cou ntri es A cc o rd i ng to m e d ia , Ex tern al A f fai rs M i ni ster S Jaish ankar will h av e a breakfast meeting w ith his Au stralian, Jap anese and U S counterp arts – Penny Wong , Yo sh imasa Hayash i and Anto ny Blinken respectiv ely – on M arch 3

The three ministers will attend the G20 summit on March 1-2 together with their Chinese and Russian colleagues while remaining in attendance for the Raisina Dialogue The Quad ministerial is anticipated to decide on the final agenda for the Quad summit, which will be hosted by Australia this year, while reiterating their commitment to a free, open, resilient, and inclusive Indo-Pacific in the face of rising Chinese aggressiveness Australian PM Anthony Albanese will arrive in India on March 8 for a bilateral summit during which he and PM Narendra Modi will discuss, among other things, efforts under the Quad mechanism to uphold the “rules-based international order’’ Quad aims to further the ideas of liberty, the rule of law, democratic values, peaceful conflict resolution, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, as the foreign ministers had stated in a joint statement following their meeting last year on the margins of the UNGA Both Moscow and Beijing see Quad as an exercise meant to contain China Given India's links to Moscow and the fact that it is the only member of the Quad that has not denounced Russia's activities in Ukraine, the meeting is expected to express vehement opposition to any unilateral action that might upset the status quo or heighten tensions in the Indo-Pacific

Iranian foreign minister pulls out of Raisina Dialogue

Ho s s ei n Am ir - Ab d o l l ah ia n, the foreign minister of I ran, w il l n o t t ak e p a rt i n t h e Raisina Dialogue, repo rtedly du e t o dis agre em ent s wit h ORF , th e event' s organiser, over a prom otional video that featured anti-h ijab pro testers in I r a n w it h a p ic t u r e o f I r a nia n P r e s id en t E b r ah im Raisi in th e backgrou nd I r a n r e q u e s t e d t h e removal of the images, but ORF refused The reason for t h e i n t e n d e d v i s i t ' s c a n c e l l a t i o n w a s n o t c o n f i r m e d b y e i t h e r p a r t y

The MEA likewise declined to comment on the matter

A 5 0 - s e c o n d v i d e o

features clips on key global challenges and developments including the war in Ukraine, global push back to China’s a g g r e s s i v e b e h a v i o u r i n S o u t h C h i n a S e a a n d t h e w o m e n ’ s p r o t e s t s i n I r a n T h e r e w a s n o o f f i c i a l a n n o u n c e m e n t a b o u t h i s visit to India

On March 3, he was supposed to take part in the dialogue India's premier g e o p o l i t i c a l a n d g e o e c o n o m i c f o r u m i s k n o w n a s t h e R a i s i n a Dialogue The MEA and the O b s e r v e r R e s e a r c h F o u n d a t i o n ( O R F ) a r e working together to put it together

16th Foundation day of India office

shifted close to "zero curve" in t h e h i l l t o w n o f R a v i g r a m m u n i c i p a l w a r d , w h i c h h a s experienced significant subsidence

Moreover, the cracks on the h i g h w a y w h i c h w e r e e a r l i e r filled with cement by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) have started to resurface, he added

A senior geologist said, “The s p o t s w h e r e t h e c r a c k s h a v e appeared must be investigated in detail by experts to establish w h e t h e r t h e r e i s c o r r e l a t i o n with the subsidence or not ”

Atul Sati, convenor of the JBSS, said the fissures are “ a major cause of concern ” “The B a d r i n a t h h i g h w a y i s a l r e a d y facing subsidence in the lean season We don’t know what will happen when thousands of vehicles ply on the road during the peak time of Char Dham yatra ”

Gujarat Samachar (UK)- Asian Voice celebrated its 16th foundation day at the Ahmedabad office on February 16th (Friday) On this occasion, a remembrance ceremony was held for the Parekh couple, Mr Bhupatbhai Parekh and Mrs Sarlaben, who made significant contributions to the establishment of the Ahmedabad office (Above)

Narendra Modi

(From L to R): Vikram Nayak, Kaushal Dabhi, Sandip Bhavsar, K K Joseph, Hardik Shah, Dinesh Kadia, Badal Laklani, Jagdish Arora, Subhasini Naicker, Nilesh Parmar and Achyut Sanghvi

Nirmala Sitharaman

Thackeray-Shinde battle over party symbol reaches SC

T he Ud dhav Thackeray faction of S h i v S en a o n M o n d ay to o k i ts battle to th e Supreme C ourt to w res t b ac k th e B al as ah e b T h a c ker ay- f o u nd e d 5 7- y ear -o l d p arty’s name and th e ‘ bow and arrow ’ election symbol by filing a p etition challenging the Electio n C o m m i s si o n ’ s d ec i si o n to g iv e both to the Eknath-Sh ind e faction, but failed to get an out-of-turn h earing fro m th e apex court

T h a c k e r a y f a c t i o n t h r o u g h advocate Amit Anand Tiwari filed a 189-page petition accusing the EC of allotting the party name and symbol without scrutinising the overwhelming majority support of Sena cadre and members for the f o r m e r M a h a r a s h t r a c h i e f minister, Thackeray

It said, the EC has erred by

considering only the support of S e n a l e g i s l a t o r s a n d M P s t o t h e Shinde group and said these rebels s t i l l f a c e d i s q u a l i f i c a t i o n p r o c e e d i n g s , o u t c o m e o f w h i c h would depend on the decision of a five-judge bench of the SC

Senior advocate A M Singhvi made an unsuccessful attempt to mention the petition before Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud for an u r g e n t l i s t i n g s o a s t o g e t a n opportunity to plead for a stay of the EC order

Tax on certain remittances not paid, says I-T dept after BBC survey

The tax department in its f i r s t of f i c i al s t at e me n t r e ga r di n g t he s ur pr i s e s u rv ey ope ra ti o ns c ar ri e d out at the BBC offi ces said that tax has not been paid on certain remittances that have not been dis closed as i n c o me i n I n di a b y th e f o re i g n e n ti t i e s of th e group T h e B r i t i s h B r o a d c a s t i n g C o r p o r a t i o n ( B B C ) o f f i c e s i n t h e n a t i o n a l c a p i t a l a n d Mumbai were the site of m a r a t h o n s u r v e y operations by the income t a x d e p a r t m e n t A n a c r i m o n i o u s v e r b a l b a t t l e between the BJP, which is in power, and the opposition parties was brought on by t h e s u r v e y D e s p i t e significant usage of content in Indian languages other t h a n E n g l i s h , t h e s u r v e y

found that group entities i n c o m e a n d e a r n i n g s d i d not correspond to the scope of their operations in India Dilatory tactics employed, says I -T dept I t c l a i m e d t h a t t h e s e d i f f e r e n c e s a r e r e l a t e d , among other things, to a lack of suitable Function, A s s e t a n d R i s k ( F A R ) analysis, the wrong usage of c o m p a r a b l e s t h a t c a n b e used to estimate the proper Arms Length Pricing (ALP), a n d i n s u f f i c i e n t r e v e n u e a p p o r t i o n m e n t I t w a s made apparent that those personnel whose roles were v i t a l , s u c h a s t h o s e primarily related to finance, content development, and o t h e r p r o d u c t i o n - r e l a t e d duties, had their statements recorded

I - T s u r v e y h a d c o m e w e e k s a f t e r a m a s s i v e

c o n t r o v e r s y o v e r a documentary by the British s t a t e - f u n d e d b r o a d c a s t e r on the 2002 Gujarat riots BBC survey amounts to intimidati on T h e B r u s s e l s - b a s e d International Federation of J o u r n a l i s t s s t a t e d t h a t i t was "extremely disturbed" a b o u t t h e i n c o m e t a x "surveys" conducted on the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai Its statement said, “The search of BBC o f f i c e s b y i n c o m e t a x a u t h o r i t i e s a f e w w e e k s after the broadcasting of a d o c u m e n t a r y i n t h e U K critical of the Indian PM a m o u n t s t o i n t i m i d a t i o n We are deeply concerned by these attempts to silence critical reporting and the consequences it may have on independent journalism in the country ”

Smriti Irani blasts billionaire Soros over Modi remarks

U n i o n M i ni s t e r S m r i t i I r a n i u r g e d In d i a n s t o s t a n d a s o ne a g a i ns t "f orei gn powers wh o try t o i nt e r v e ne i n Ind i a ' s d e m o cr a t i c p r o c e s se s " s h o r t l y a f t e r b i l l i o n a i r e i nv e st o r G e o r g e S o r o s a nt i c i p a t e d t h a t I nd i a n b u si n e ss t y co o n G a u t a m A d a n i ' s r e ce nt s t o ck m a r k e t st r u g g le s wo u l d sp ar k "de mocr at ic r ev iv a l i n Indi a" and th at P rime M i n i st e r N a r e nd r a Mo d i w o u l d " h a v e t o a ns we r que sti ons " She referred to Soros' comment as a "declaration t o d e s t r o y I n d i a ' s democratic processes" and claimed that Indians had p r e v i o u s l y o v e r c o m e s i m i l a r " f o r e i g n p o w e r s " w h o h a d a t t e m p t e d t o intervene in our internal a f f a i r s a n d w o u l d d o s o o n c e m o r e S h e u r g e d e v e r y o n e i n I n d i a t o r e s p o n d a p p r o p r i a t e l y t o Soros The Union Minister a t t a c k e d t h e b i l l i o n a i r e h a r s h l y , c a l l i n g h i m a n

e c o n o m i c w a r c r i m i n a l who has made it clear that he intends to harm India

"The man who broke the Bank of England, and is designated by the nation an economic war criminal, h a s n o w p r o n o u n c e d h i s d e s i r e t o b r e a k Indian democracy Soros, a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l entrepreneur, has declared h i s i l l - i n t e n t i o n t o i n t e r v e n e i n d e m o c r a t i c processes of India," the BJP leader said

" P M M o d i h a s repeatedly said that he can t a k e c r i t i c i s m , b u t a n attempt on India will not be tolerated," Smriti said

Cong too fla y Soros

E v e n a s C o n g r e s s c o n t i n u e d t o h a m m e r away on the Adani stocks c r a s h i s s u e , i t d i s t a n c e d itself from the comment of G e o r g e S o r o s A I C C spokesman Jairam Ramesh s a i d , “ W h e t h e r t h e P Mlinked Adani scam sparks a democratic revival in India d e p e n d s e n t i r e l y o n

C o n g r e s s , o p p o s i t i o n parties and our electoral process It has nothing to do with George Soros Our Nehruvian legacy ensures people like Soros cannot d e t e r m i n e o u r e l e c t o r a l outcomes ” R a m e s h ’ s f o r m u l a t i o n p i t t i n g C o n g r e s s ’ “Nehruvian legacy” as the b u l w a r k a g a i n s t a n y a t t e m p t e d f o r e i g n i n t e r v e n t i o n i n I n d i a n politics, was designed to quash any bid to paint the stocks crash controversy as p a r t o f a t r a n s n a t i o n a l plot U n d e t e r r e d , C o n g r e s s continued its attack on the i s s u e A I C C l e a d e r A j a y M a k e n a s k e d w h y w a s Modi government scared of forming a JPC on the A d a n i r o w , a r g u i n g t h a t handing over of strategic s e c t o r s l i k e a i r p o r t s a n d ports to a favoured private company as part of “ crony capitalism” is a matter of “ t h r e a t t o n a t i o n a l security”

T h e S h i n d e f a c t i o n f i l e d a caveat on Saturday requesting the top court not to pass any orders in the case without giving the group a n o p p o r t u n i t y t o b e h e a r d Balasaheb Thackeray had founded Shiv Sena on June 19, 1966, and as a r e c o g n i s e d s t a t e p a r t y , i t w a s registered with the EC on October 12, 1989 with the ‘bow and arrow ’ symbol reserved for it I n a u n a n i m o u s o r d e r , t h e three-member EC on Friday said the party name ‘Shiv Sena’ and symbol ‘bow and arrow ’ will be retained by the Shinde faction It ordered the freezing of the party name ‘Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena’ with the ‘two swords and shield’ symbol to the Thackeray faction Instead, it allowed the Thackeray faction to use Shiv Sena (Uddhav

B a l a s a h e b T h a c k e r a y ) w i t h t h e ‘flaming torch’ symbol

The Thackeray faction in its SLP told the SC that the EC failed t o a p p r e c i a t e t h a t i t e n j o y e d overwhelming support in the rank and file of the party It said among primary members of Shiv Sena, the T h a c k e r a y - f a c t i o n e n j o y e d t h e s u p p o r t o f 1 9 , 4 1 , 8 1 5 m e m b e r s , while Shinde faction has support of 4,48,318 members “ T h e p e t i t i o n e r h a s a n o v e r w h e l m i n g m a j o r i t y i n t h e Pratinidhi Sabha which is the apex representative body representing the wishes of the primary members a n d o t h e r s t a k e h o l d e r s o f t h e party Petitioner enjoys support of 160 members out of approximately 2 0 0 - o d d m e m b e r s i n t h e Pratinidhi Sabha,” the SLP said

Worry for India as China begins new rail line near LAC

A new concern for India i s raised as China has planned to construct a new rail line that will operate near the Line of Actual Control ( LAC) and through the disputed Aksai Chin region, according to a report

T h e g o v e r n m e n t o f t h e T i b e t

Autonomous Region (TAR) has unveiled a new railway plan that calls for the train line to run close to the line of actual control (LAC) and through the contentious Aksai Chin region

C h i n e s e a c t i v i t y n e a r t h e L A C i s a matter of concern for both India and Tibet

On January 12, Army Chief General Manoj Pande said that there has been a 'slight increase' in the number of Chinese troops at the LAC

Around 38,000 square km of Aksai Chin were unlawfully acquired in the 1950s, and

during the 1962 India-China war, China strengthened its military control over the region The region continued to be a source of conflict between the two nations

Tibet's 'medium to long-term railway plan will help expand the TAR rail network to 4,000 km by 2025 from the current 1,400 km, the railway technology reported

Tibet demanded an independent United Nations fact-finding mission on February 13, the 110th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence According to Tibet Rights Collective, the request was to make China responsible for the maltreatment of the Tibetan people and culture (TRC)

Designed to start in Shigatse, Tibet, the proposed rail line will run northwest along the Nepal border before piercing north via Aksai Chin and ending at Hotan, Xinjiang

88 per cent voting in Tripura assembly poll

Ne ar ly 88 per cen t of votin g wa s re corded in t h e o n e - d a y T r ip u r a a s se m b ly e le c t i o n s, which wer e "larg ely pea ce ful", a senior EC official said The elections to t he 6 0-member a ssem bly were he ld a cr oss the n orthe aste rn sta te " I n t h e a s s e m b l y e l e c t i o n s , w h i c h continued until 8 30 or 9 p m on Thursday, an average of 87 63% of eligible voters cast b a l l o t s T h e a m o u n t d i d n ' t i n c l u d e t h e number of ballots cast via mail," Subhasish Bandhopadhyay, the additional CEO, told reporters

O f t h e t o t a l 2 8 , 1 4 , 0 0 0 v o t e r s , o v e r 24,66,000 have exercised their franchise, he s a i d T h e M a n u a s s e m b l y s e a t i n S o u t h T r i p u r a a c h i e v e d t h e h i g h e s t v o t i n g p e r c e n t a g e a t 9 2 0 9 , w h i l e t h e T o w n

Bardowali assembly constituency recorded the lowest voter participation at 80%, where Chief Minister Manik Saha is running against Congress nominee Asish Kumar Saha

"The polling was largely peaceful, barring a few incidents in some areas Five people were injured and six were arrested based on five specific FIRs during the polling day," Inspector General (IG) police G K Rao told m e d i a R a j i b B h a t t a c h a r j e e , t h e s t a t e president of the BJP, hailed the security forces a n d t h e E l e c t i o n C o m m i s s i o n f o r guaranteeing "free and fair" and "peaceful" e l e c t i o n s a n d c o n g r a t u l a t e d v o t e r s f o r participating in the process

T h e C P I ( M ) a n d t h e C o n g r e s s a l s o thanked electors for participating in the elections

Sonia Gokani sworn in as first woman CJ of Gujarat HC

Just a few day s be fore r etiring on Fe bruary 25 , Just ice Sonia Gokan i was sworn in as t he C hi e f Ju st i ce o f t h e G uj a r a t h i gh co u r t , be coming the fir st femal e judge to be el evat ed to the position at the high court

Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to Justice Gokani at Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary, Judge of Supreme Court

J u s t i c e B e l a T r i v e d i , C h i e f M i n i s t e r

Bhupendra Patel and state Law and Justice Minister Rishikesh Patel were present on the occasion

O n F e b r u a r y 1 2 , t h e C e n t r e a c c e p t e d

J u s t i c e G o k a n i ' s a p p o i n t m e n t , a n d a s o f

February 13 she had assumed the title of Chief J u s t i c e ( D e s i g n a t e ) H e r a p p o i n t m e n t

c o i n c i d e d w i t h J u s t i c e A r a v i n d K u m a r ' s

promotion to the position of Supreme Court

judge Justice Gokani, joins as the 28th Chief Justice of Gujarat high court, will retire on February 25, making her tenure the shortest She was elevated to the position of Gujarat High Court Additional Judge on February 17, 2011, and was confirmed as a permanent judge on January 28, 2013 She was born in Jamnagar on February 26, 1961

She joined the judiciary directly as a judge a t t h e c i t y c i v i l a n d s e s s i o n s c o u r t i n Ahmedabad on July 10, 1995, and presided over many civil and criminal matters From 2003 through 2008, Judge Gokani presided over significant cases as a judge for the special court established in accordance with antit e r r o r r e g u l a t i o n s A l s o , s h e s e r v e d a s a

special judge in cases that the Central Bureau of Investigation looked into

Uddhav Thackeray & Eknath Shinde

Try these Yoga poses to deal with possible insomnia

We’ve all experienced sleeplessnes s at least o nce in ou r lifeti me Mo st p eo ple need at least si x to eigh t h ou rs of sleep at nigh t to see health y and feel go od However, 30 p er cent of adu lts over 45 repo rt getting less than sixh ou r sleep Exp erts believe sleep deprivation i s associated wi th an increased ris k o f exciting, depressi on, card i o va s c u la r di s e as e s, d i abetes and o besity, as well as a weakened immune system and increased inflammatio n i n the body

Experiencing changes in your sleep pattern as you age is quite normal As one age, sleep gets lighter One of the best ways to promote g o o d s l e e p i s t o p r a c t i c e yoga This article discusses

y o g a m o v e s t o p r a c t i c e before going to bed

Balasana R e s t y o u r c h e s t a n d belly on one or two stacked p i l l o w s w i t h k n e e s w i d e apart and big toes touching Rest an ear on the pillow, e y e s c l o s e d , a n d j a w a n d belly relaxed Your arms can rest on the sides of the pil-

low or underneath Focus your attention on the nostrils and enjoy the sensation o f b r e a t h f l o w i n g i n a n d out

Pawanmuktasana

Lying flat on your back w i t h a n o p t i o n a l p i l l o w b e h i n d y o u r h e a d Straighten and extend one leg before you and bend the

o t h e r , h u g g i n g i t t o w a r d your side body as if your k n e e c o u l d t o u c h y o u r a r m p i t I n t e r l a c e f i n g e r s around your shin or behind the knee of your bent leg W i t h c l o s e d e y e s a n d a r e l a x e d j a w , b r e a t h e i n t o your belly Stay for as long a s y o u ’ d l i k e a n d t h e n switch sides S leeping Swan Sit on the floor with a pillow in front of you Bend the left knee, bringing the sole of the left foot to the right inner thigh Lift your butt and extend your right leg behind you Staying centred, gently hinge forward from hips, placing the head on the pillow Extend arms f o r w a r d , e l b o w s s l i g h t l y bent

5 types of hypertension and tips to manage them

M o re o f t e n th a n no t, h yp er t e ns i o n is as ympto matic , wh ich is why i t' s c al l ed t h e s il en t kil l e r A ls o kno w n as h igh bl o o d p re s s u r e , it is w h e n y o u r bl ood p ressu re or the f orce of yo ur blo od p us hing against t h e w a l l s o f y o u r bl o o d ves sels rem ains co nsistently h igh Du e to this, your h eart a n d bl o o d ve s s e l s h av e t o w ork extra hard to p ump the b l o o d, m a k in g t h e m l e s s ef ficient If persistent, it c an l ead to tis sue damage inside th e arteries, pu tting one at risk of heart attack o r stro ke

As discussed by experts in a health piece by Hindustan T i m e s , t h e r e a r e d i f f e r e n t types of hypertension - from primary to resistant If your blood pressure is constantly high, it would be advisable to g e t i t c h e c k e d a n d s t a r t treatment

This article discusses the d i f f e r e n t t y p e s o f h y p e r t e n s i o n a n d w a y s t o manage them

Primary h ypertension

I t i s t y p i c a l l y a s y m p t o m a t i c a n d i s identified by routine blood p r e s s u r e c h e c k s o r c o m m u n i t y s c r e e n i n g T h e

I n d i a n M i n i s t r y o f H e a l t h a n d F a m i l y W e l f a r e G u i d e l i n e s i n d i c a t e s t h a t p a t i e n t s w i t h r i s k f a c t o r s s u c h a s o b e s i t y , d i a b e t e s m e l l i t u s , a h i s t o r y o f c a r d i o v a s c u l a r d i s e a s e , individuals older than 60, and c u r r e n t s m o k e r s s h o u l d undergo routine screenings

Secondary h ypertens io n This condition typically results from a known factor that abruptly worsens blood p r e s s u r e I t i s a s e c o n d a r y diagnosis of obstructive sleep a p n e a , a l d o s t e r o n i s m , r e n o v a s c u l a r h y p e r t e n s i o n , and renal illness

Gestational h ypertension

I t i s a c o n d i t i o n t h a t affects pregnant women and raises the risk of maternal death and fetal defects It can o c c u r w i t h o r w i t h o u t a preeclampsia diagnosis

W hite co at h yp ertens io n

Also known as isolated

clinic hypertension, it is c h a r a c t e r i s e d b y i n c r e a s e d o f f i c e b l o o d p r e s s u r e r e a d i n g s b u t n o r m a l r e s u l t s o u t s i d e the office Res is tant Hypertens io n When three or more a n t i h y p e r t e n s i v e d r u g s , i n c l u d i n g d i u r e t i c s , h a v e failed to control a patient's h y p e r t e n s i o n d e s p i t e t r e a t m e n t , n o n c o m p l i a n c e w i t h t h e r a p y a n d s u b p a r antihypertensive therapy are ruled out as causes

T h e be s t w ay s t o m a na g e hypertension are:

T o c h o o s e t h e b e s t t h e r a p e u t i c a g e n t f o r h y p e r t e n s i o n c o n t r o l , e a c h patient's profile and reaction t o t r e a t m e n t m u s t b e considered

A R B s ( A n g i o t e n s i n r e c e p t o r b l o c k e r s ) c a n b e used alone or in conjunction with CCBs (Calcium channel b l o c k e r s ) t o l o w e r b l o o d p r e s s u r e i n d i a b e t i c individuals

A R B a n d C C B c o m b i n a t i o n t h e r a p y i s advised to treat hypertensive p a t i e n t s t o i m p r o v e b l o o d pressure control, lower the risk of problems, and improve

patient compliance To lower p a t i e n t m o r t a l i t y , combination therapy must be recommended in patients at r i s k f o r C V D s , r e n a l disorders, or cerebrovascular disorders

Based on the selection of therapeutic agents and their r i s k p r o f i l e , m o n i t o r i n g o f e l e c t r o l y t e l e v e l s , s e r u m p o t a s s i u m , a n d c r e a t i n i n e l e v e l s , a s w e l l a s r o u t i n e e v a l u a t i o n o f k i d n e y f u n c t i o n , i s a d v i s e d f o r p a t i e n t s w i t h d i a b e t e s a n d hypertension For renal and cardiovascular protection in people under 60, it is advised to keep blood pressure levels below 130/80 mmHg in CKD patients

It is advised that people with Diabetes Mellitus and h y p e r t e n s i o n u n d e r g o 2 4h o u r a m b u l a t o r y b l o o d pressure monitoring to keep their readings between 120 a n d 1 3 0 m m H g D i g i t a l equipment may be preferred for measurements performed a t h o m e , b u t a n a n e r o i d sphygmomanometer should always be used instead Age a n d c o n c o m i t a n t d i s e a s e s h a v e a n i m p a c t o n b l o o d pressure thresholds

Tips to correct Electrolyte imbalance

E l e c t r o l y te im b al a n c e c a n res ult from heavy sw eating, vo miting, or diarrheal illness th at caus es bodily flu id lo ss K i dn ey il l n es s i s a n o t h er c a u s e o f a n e l ec t r o l y te imbalance W hat exactly are e l e c t ro l yt e s ? So diu m , p o t as s iu m , c a l c iu m , m a g ne s iu m , c h l o r id e, p h os p hat e, and bicarb onate are the main elec tro lytes in th e body and p lay impo rtant f unctions Depending on the e l e c t ro l yt e t h a t i s o u t o f

b al a n c e, s y m p t o m s o f e l ec t r o l y t e im b a l an c e s c a n vary, but som e frequent ones in c l u de w e a kn e s s , exhaus tio n, c ram ps o r s pasm s in th e m usc les, an irregular h e a rt b e at , c o n f u s io n, a nd seizures

“When you lose a lot of b o d y f l u i d s , l i k e t h r o u g h e x c e s s i v e s w e a t i n g o r v o m i t i n g , y o u d e v e l o p a n e l e c t r o l y t e i m b a l a n c e I r e a l i s e t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f m a i n t a i n i n g e l e c t r o l y t e

balance for my body's correct operation as someone who v a l u e s t h e i r h e a l t h a n d fitness An imbalance of these minerals can lead to several health issues that can be quite concerning, so it's essential to keep an eye out for any signs that your body might need m o r e e l e c t r o l y t e s , " s a y s

Nutritionist Bhakti Kapoor in her recent Instagram post Wh at to do in case you have electro lyte imbalance

Replenishing electrolytes

A cco rd ing to cli nic al trial res u lt s, i m m u n o th er ap y af ter s u rg e ry i n cr eas ed bl ad d e r c a nc er p ati e nts ' ch ance of stayi ng canc erfree com pared to pati ents w h o rec ei v e d a p la ce bo Results of th e stud y were sh a red at th e A m eri c an Society o f C linical Oncology (ASC O) 20 23 Genitorurinary Cancers Sympo siu m

C o - D i r e c t o r o f t h e

C e n t e r o f E x c e l l e n c e f o r

Bladder Cancer at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai, Matthew Galsky, MD, presented three-year followup results from the Phase 3

C h e c k M a t e 2 7 4 t r i a l

P a t i e n t s o n t r i a l h a d urothelial bladder or upper u r i n a r y t r a c t c a n c e r a n d tumour features indicating a high risk for recurrence

D r G a l s k y s a i d , “ A d j u v a n t n i v o l u m a b became a standard of care based on the initial results o f C h e c k M a t e 2 7 4 T h e s e

r e s u l t s , s h o w i n g p a t i e n t s ' c o n t i n u e d s u r v i v a l t h r e e years out, reinforce adjuvant nivolumab as a standard of c a r e f o r p a t i e n t s w i t h m u s c l e - i n v a s i v e u r o t h e l i a l c a n c e r o f t h e b l a d d e r o r u p p e r u r i n a r y t r a c t Normally, patients with this cancer face a high chance of r e c u r r e n c e , e s p e c i a l l y within the first three years after surgical removal of the bladder or kidney ”

Half of the 699 patients i n t h e t r i a l r e c e i v e d nivolumab, and the other half received a placebo every t w o w e e k s f o r o n e y e a r Adjuvant nivolumab versus placebo was not associated w i t h a d e t r i m e n t t o t h e quality of life This trial was c o n d u c t e d w i t h s u p p o r t from Bristol Myers Squibb, t h e m a k e r o f t h e i m m u n o t h e r a p y , i n c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h O N O P h a r m a c e u t i c a l C o m p a n y Ltd

Mothers with depression take longer to respond to their child

Women who are depresse d fre quentl y t ake mor e time to r e sp on d t o t h e ir ch il dr e n dur in g back-and-fort h conv e r sa t io n s, a cc or d in g t o a r e ce n t U n iv e r s it y o f Missouri st udy The r esul ts form the ba sis for additional r e se a r c h t o a sc e r t a in whe ther the childre n ’ s la ngua ge deve lopme nt, vocabular y or aca demic out comes are impacted in the long r un by the shorter re sponse t ime

Assistant professor in the M U S c h o o l o f H e a l t h

Professions, Nicholas Smith a n d h i s t e a m l i s t e n e d t o a u d i o r e c o r d i n g s o f m o r e

is best done through enriched f l u i d s b y m o u t h , a s electrolytes follow water and are eventually absorbed into the blood Great sources of e l e c t r o l y t e s t h a t c a n h e l p w i t h h y d r a t i o n a n d e l e c t r o l y t e b a l a n c e a r e c o c o n u t w a t e r , m i l k , f r u i t juice, and sports beverages," says Bhakti She says most people can m a i n t a i n t h e i r e l e c t r o l y t e

levels with a balanced diet and adequate water intake

than 100 families involved in the Early Head Start program, a federal child develo p m e n t p r o g r a m f o r c h i ldren whose family income is a t o r b e l o w t h e f e d e r a l poverty line

Smith said, “We found that the time gap in between responses, in general, gets shorter between mother and child as the child ages, and w e a l s o f o u n d t h e m o m ’ s timing tended to predict the child’s timing and vice versa

Mothers and children are in s y n c C h i l d r e n w h o w e r e slower to respond to their mom often had moms who were slower to respond to the child, and children who w e r e f a s t e r t o r e s p o n d t o their mom had moms who were faster to respond to the child ”

He added, “The significant new finding was that the moms who were more d e p r e s s e d l o o k l o n g e r t o respond to their child than m o m s w h o w e r e l e s s depressed ” In the longitudin a l s t u d y , u s i n g a u d i o recordings, they compared the response time of backand-forth dialogue between mothers and their children when they were 14 months o l d a n d 3 6 m o n t h s o l d Smith plans to further study the dialogue response timing f o r t h e s a m e i n d i v i d u a l s recorded in this study when t h e c h i l d r e n w e r e i n p r ekindergarten and also when they were in fifth grade to examine how these effects play out later on in the children’s development

Immunotherapy can benefit high-risk bladder patients after surgery

Deepika Padukone is one of the celebrities to be spotted flying economy class In a small video posted by a fan on their social media account, the actor can be seen walking swiftly through the aisle, as directed by one of the crew members

Deepika kept a low profile and walked swiftly without greeting any co-passengers But eagle-eyed fans were ready with their cellphone cameras and recorded the actor as she made her way through the flight, followed by her bodyguard In the video posted by a fan club of Deepika on Twitter, she can be seen wearing a bright orange and blue jacket and matching cap along with oversized sunglasses As she made her way through the cabin door, a fan called her and said,

Anurag Kashyap faces

"Hi Deepika!" but the actor didn't seem to notice The actress recently launched a skincare line called 8 2 E S h e s h a r

‘

P a t h a a n ’ c o - s t a r S h a h R u k h K h a n a s t h e y t r i e d different products Fans also spotted her with Shah Rukh’s son AbRam in the making video of the song

‘Besharam Rang ’

D e e p i k a w a s l a s t s e e n o n t h e w o r k f r o n t i n

‘Pathaan’, which revolves around the titular spy played by Shah Rukh, who comes out of exile to stop John Abraham’s Jim-led terrorist group Outfit X from launching a debilitating attack on India Deepika plays the female lead, while Ashutosh Rana and Dimple Kapadia also have prominent roles in the film

flak for praising ‘Bakasuran’

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap is facing flak from Twitter users for his praises of w they’ve tagged as t “most regressive movie” ‘Bakasuran

Anurag took to Twitter to share the Mohan G directorial posters

He captioned the post, “#Bakasuran

Hearing good word of mouth for this m in South…Congrats friend @natty nata @selvaraghavan.” Natarajan

Subramaniam commented, “Thank you so so much Anuraag… (folded hands emojis).”

The tweet didn’t go down well w i t h t h e t w i t t e r a t t i a n d t h e y c r i t i c i s e d A n u r a g f o r l a u d i n g t h e

movie One user wrote, “Promoting a pathetic movie just because Natraj is y o u r f r i e n d ? ? U n e x p e c t e d s i r ”

Another wrote, “Seriously Anurag?!

How could one celebrate the likes of Vetrimaran, Pa Ranjith, and also this p a t r i a r c h a l c a s t e i s t m o v i e ” A comment read, “Promoting a movie that essentially pushes women back

to the kitchen and promotes a what were you wearing to provoke men Wow your bar has o low now??”

Unexpected from u s i r m o s t e g r e s s i v e m o v i e b l a m i n g w o m e n o r s e x u a l o f f e n s e s k i n d l y w a t c h i t a n d emove the tweet," id a Twitter user e a r A n u r a g , y o u o n e o f t h e r a r e directors Kindly m o t e r e g r e s s i v e movies just because natty is your

f r i e n d H e m a y b e a g o o d

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

r e g r e s s i v e , " c o m m e n t e d a n o t h e r

person ‘ B a k a s u r a n ’ h a s t r i g g e r e d a controversy, with many feeling the movie sends the wrong message The H i n d u s t a n T i m e s r e v i e w o f t h e m o v i e s a i d i t i s f i l l e d w i t h

“problematic references, and it only victimises the women even more ”

‘ B a k a s u r a n ’ s t a r s S e l v a r a g h a v a n ,

Tharakshi, Natarajan Subramaniam and Gunanithi among others The movie was released last week

Deepika spotted flying economy class

Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali un and first look of his upcoming Netflix series ‘Heeramandi,’ his most ambitious project to date In conversation with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, Bhansali spoke about the upcoming collaboration and his 2022 blockbuster ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi ’ H

Natasa, Hardik Pandya tie the knot again in Udaipur

Serbian

dancer Natasa Stankovic and cricketer Hardik Pandya tied the knot not once but twice in two separate ceremonies in Udaipur this month After a fun Christian wedding on Valentine’s Day, the two now shared photos from their dreamy royal Hindu wedding ceremony on Instagram Sharing the photos, they wrote in a joint post, “Now and forever ”

For the varmala ceremony, Hardik opted for a creamembroidered sherwani and a sleek dupatta Natasa wore a heavy embroidered golden lehenga with a red dupatta For the Pheras, she changed into a bright red saree paired with a statement blouse She elevated her look with dewy makeup and polki jewellery

The first picture featured them looking up at the sky as hundreds of flower petals were showered during their varmala ceremony The next one captured Natasa s entry ahead of the ceremony as she arrived with her head covered with a red veil The post also featured several other sweet moments from the ceremony One had Hardik putting sindoor on Natasa's forehead The last one had the bride and groom posing

together during the golden hour

For their white wedding, they shared pictures on social media and wrote, “We celebrated Valentine’s Day on this island of love by renewing the vows we took three years ago

We are truly blessed to have our family and friends with us to celebrate our love ” Natasa was a typical Christian bride in a white gown and paired her look with a pearl necklace with her hair tied in a bun She also carried a bouquet of white flowers They exchanged kisses with their son Agastya Hardik and Natasa got engaged on January 1 in 2020, on a yacht They tied the knot in a private ceremony at home during the Covid lockdown They welcomed their son Agastya in July 2020

ealed that everyone had vised him not to make the vie saying it would not peal to audiences Starring Alia Bhatt as the a d c h a r a c t e r , ‘ G a n g u b a i a t h i a w a d i ’ f e a t u r e d t h e c t o r a s a y o u n g w o m a n r o m G u j a r a t w h o i s s o l d n t o p r o s t i t u t i o n i n t h e K a m a t h i p u r a r e d l i g h t d i t i t o f M u m b a i e v e n t u a l l y ses to become h e b r o t h e l m a d a m a n d r e p r e s e n t s t h e d i s t r i c t t o r o t e c t t h e hts of the other tutes The film also starred Ajay Devgn, Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz, Indira Tiwari, Seema Pahwa and Jim Sarbh

The filmmaker on a panel with Sarandos said, "People told me not to make Gangubai It's a female-centric film, it's a female protagonist In India, they do not got a female-[led] subject The box office has never worked She's playing a sex worker and then there's no hero All the tick marks you would put to understand the audience and the scenario, I have ticked all the wrong boxes But it worked That's the belief ”

The film was announced in 2019 and eventually got delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic Ajay, who had worked with Sanjay, had a special appearance in the film as gangster Rahim Lala

A f t e r p r e m i e r i n g a t t h e 7 2 n d B e r l i n International Film Festival, ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi' was released in theatres on February 25, 2022 Alia's performance was lauded by fans and critics and the film earned over 150 crore at the domestic box office Sanjay also composed the movie's score; songs like ‘Meri Jaan’ and ‘Dholida’ were praised for the music and their choreography

Meanwhile, his period drama ‘Heeramandi’ boasts of a stellar cast, including Sonakshi Sinha, Manisha Koirala, Richa Chadha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sanjeeda Shaikh and Sharmin Segal Set in Lahore, the series follows the lives of the courtesans of that e r a T h e s e r i e s w i l l b e o u t o n t h e s t r e a m i n g platform sometime this year

I was asked not to make

‘Gangubai Kathiawadi,’ says Sanjay Bhansali

Kartik Aaryan breaks silence on sighting with Sara at Udaipur

Kartik Aaryan finally broke his silence on his recently emerged picture with actress Sara Ali Khan in Udaipur The two actors were spotted sharing a conversation a little over a week ago Now, in a new interview, Kartik addressed the photo

In an interview, Kartik said, "We happened to be at the same place Toh bas waha se kisine photo kheech li thi Waha bohut saare logo the jo already kheech rahe the I was surprised ki ek do hi photo hai (So somebody there clicked a picture There were many people there who were already clicking pictures I was surprised that there are only one or two photos) ”

When asked if they were doing a film together, Kartik hesitated briefly before saying, "As of now aesa kuch announcement nahi hai Aur as of now toh abhi pata nahi mujhe (As of now there is no such announcement And as of now I don't know anything) ”

In the online photo, Kartik was seen in a checked shirt, while Sara opted for a white crop top and black tights Later, Sara shared a

Boy jumps barricades to meet Akshay, ignoring security the actor hugs him

Actor Akshay Kumar is currently busy promoting his upcoming family entertainer film ‘Selfiee ’ He arrived at one of the events in Mumbai and greeted his fans by shaking hands. The actor wore a black T-shirt, matching pants, and shoes.

In a new video posted on Instagram, one of the fans jumped the barricade near Akshay and slipped The actor’s security team immediately pushed him to the ground and gestured for him to stay away However, Akshay walked towards them, asking them to stop He then pulled the fan closer to him and hugged him He also briefly talked with the boy before he walked away smiling

The video was shared with the caption, “Earlier in the day when @akshaykumar was attending an event to promote his upcoming film, #Selfie, a fan jumped the barricades to meet the actor See what he does next ”

Earlier in the day, Akshay unveiled the third track ‘Kudi Chamkeeli’ from the movie Taking to Instagram, Akshay shared a f u l l s o n g v i d e o a n d c a p t i o n e d i t , " H e e r e k i c h a m a k b h i i s s

#KudiChamkeeli ke saamne fail hai

F u l l S o n g O u t N o w ! # S e l f i e e i n cinemas on 24th Feb " Sung and written b y Y o Y o H o n e y S i n g h , t h e v i d e o f e a t u r e s A k s h a y a n d D i a n a P e n t y dancing together Helmed by Raj Mehta ‘Selfiee’ st A k s h a y , E m r a a n H a s h m Bharuccha, and Diana Pent lead roles It is all set to hit theatres on February 24, 20

O n t h e w o r k f r o n

Akshay has also wrapped u filming the first schedule his upcoming movie ‘Bad M i y a n C h o t e M i y a n Filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar shared the news on Sunday on Twitter The film, billed a s a n a c t i o n s p e c t a c l e , f e a t u r e s P r i t h v i r a j S u k u m a r a n a s t h e antagonist The cast also involves Tiger Shroff

Swara Bhasker marries

Samajwadi Party leader Fahad Ahmad

Actress Swara Bhasker married boyfriend and Samajwadi Party leader Fahad Ahmad through the Special Marriage Act 1954 Announcing her marriage, the actr the legislation that provides an alternate route to religious laws for marriage. She also shared a video on social media giving a timeline of her relationship with Fahad She also shared more pictures and videos as the newlymarried couple celebrated their union after registering their marriage at a court

Swara revealed that she wo her mom ’ s saree and jewellery f the occasion

O n F r i d a y m o r n i n g , S w a shared a group picture featur her, Fahad and their parents in o frame She also shared solo pictu of her look for the day and those her and Fahad dancing to dhol be outside the court She wrote along with them on Twitter, “So blessed to be supported and cheered by the love of family and friends like family! Wore my mother’s sari & her

jewellery made @FahadZirarAhmad wear c o l o u r : ) a n d w e r e g i s t e r e d u n d e r t h e # S p e c i a l M a r r i a g e A c t N o w t o p r e p f o r

picture collage on Instagram The collage featured the hotel where she was staying, and a peek at her Rajasthani thali Kartik shared a picture of the lakeside in Udaipur and wrote, “Now ”

Kartik was last seen in ‘Shehzada', helmed by Rohit Dhawan The film also stars Kriti Sanon, Manisha Koirala, Paresh Rawal, Ronit Roy, and Sachin Khedekar in the lead roles It hit the theatres on February 17 Apart from this, he also has director Kabir Khan's next untitled film and a romantic musical 'Satyaprem Ki Katha’ with Kiara Advani

On the work front, Sara will be next seen in director Laxman Utekar's next untitled romantic drama film alongside actor Vicky Kaushal She also has ‘Gaslight’ with Vikrant Massey and Chitrangada Singh Fans will see her in Karan Johar's next, ‘Ae Watan Mere Watan ’ She will also be seen in director Anurag Basu's next film, an anthology, ‘Metro In Dino’ alongside Aditya Roy Kapur, Pankaj Tripathi, Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta, Konkana Sen Sharma, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Ali Fazal

Why modern woman is being stereotyped, asks Vidya Balan

Actor Vidya Balan has raised questions about why modern feminism restricts to a stereotypical image Speaking at the launch event of film critic Maithili Rao’s book ‘The Millennial Woman in Bollywood,’ Vidya asked why the modern woman is being “stereotyped ” The actress also spoke about her 2021 film ‘Sherni ’ In the Amit Masurkardirected drama, Vidya is featured as an upright forest officer tasked to resolve the man-animal conflict The film also stars Sharat Saxena, Vijay Raaz, Ila Arun, Brijendra Kala, Neeraj Kabi and Mukul Chaddha

S h a r i n g m o r e p i c t u r e s o f t h e m registering their marriage at the court, she f u r t h e r w r o t e , “ T h r e e c h e e r s f o r t h e

etc ) At least it exists & gives love a chance

The right to love, the right to choose your life partner, the right to marry, the right to ncy these should not be a privilege

ahadZirarAhmad ”

Taking to her Instagram Stories, ara also gave a detailed look at her hendi which had Fahad s name in it aring a solo picture of herself, she ote, “Twas was a big day We kept it der wraps for some lunch months d trust me it was the hardest thing do for an over sharer like me ”

Swara and Fahad will celebrate eir wedding in March The two had e t d u r i n g a r a l l y a n d f r o m a esurfaced tweet it appears she had ven called him a “bhai ”

T h e a c t o r a n n o u n c e d h e r

wedding plans on Thursday as she h a r e d a v i d e o f e a t u r i n g t h e m ogether and wrote, “Sometimes you earch far & wide for something that ht next to you all along We were looking for love, but we found friendship f i r s t A n d t h e n w e f o u n d e a c h o t h e r !

Welcome to my heart @FahadZirarAhmad

It’s chaotic but it’s yours!”

Vidya said, “Why can't a strong woman, a feminist, have a partner, also wish to enjoy traditional things and also wish to take a step back? Why is the modern woman being used as a typical example of what every woman must be? Why is the modern woman being stereotyped? Why empowerment and wanting to live as you please needs to be so exclusive ”

She talked about ‘Sherni’, where she e s s a y e d t h e c h a r a c t e r o f V i d y a V i n c e n t "That's why I loved Sherni so much She took on these men, but in such a subdued manner, not needing to indulge in any c h e s t - t h u m p i n g W h y d o w e n e e d t o pigeonhole women in a certain way we wish t o s e e t h e m a s e m p o w e r e d ? W h y c a n ' t women just be the way they wish rather than how we wish to see them in a modern feminist outlook?" Vidya added

During the question and answer session, V i d y a w a s a s k e d i f a n e n d t o t h e c o n v e r s a t i o n a r o u n d w o m e n ' s empowerment would signal that society has achieved equality The actor said that it would 'take a very long time ’

On the work front, Vidya was last seen last year in ‘Jalsa’ a thriller film directed by Suresh Triveni T-Series and Abundantia Entertainment produced it The film also s t a r s S h e f a l i S h a h J a l s a p r e s e n t e d a captivating tale of conflict between a top journalist (Vidya) and her cook (Shefali) It premiered on Prime Video and received positive reviews

Dhanush stuns fans by singing in Telugu at ‘Sir’ pre-release event

Actor Dhanush surprised his fans by singing in Telugu at the pre-release event of his upcoming bilingual film ‘Sir’ in Hyderabad. A clip from

Malavika Mohanan clarifies her remarks on ‘superstar’ Nayanthara

worldwide last week

Talking about the film, Venky Atluri recently said in a press interaction that some incidents from his student life inspired him to make ‘Vaathi ’ “I fin-

Samantha climbs

600 steps barefoot to seek blessing

at Pazhani

Actor

temple

the event has surfaced on social media and fans can’ stop raving about his voice Some also pointed out how comfortably he sang in the language D h a n u s h wore a white k u r t a w i t h p y j a m a s a t h e e v e n t H e s a n g t h e song ‘Mastaaru Mastaaru’ from his movie It was an i m p r o m p t u p e r f o r m a n c e w h i c h c a u g h t t h e a u d ience by surprise as they k e p t c l a p p i n g f o r h i m t h r o u g h o u t t h e s o n g

Dhanush took some help as he looked up the lyrics on his phone

Reacting to the video, f a n s h a i l e d D h a n u s h ’ s v o i c e a n d h i s e f f o r t l e s s singing in the comments

One user wrote in Telugu

“Doesn’t even sound like

Dhanush What a voice ” “Arre wah #Dhanush just rocked it without instruments Perfect in tune and s p e c i a l l y T e l u g u i n h i s voice is so good Made me l i k e t h i s s o n g , ” a d d e d another one

D i r e c t e d b y V e n k y Atluri, ‘Sir’ has been simultaneously shot in Telugu and Tamil It’s titled ‘Sir’ in Telugu and ‘Vaathi’ in T a m i l B o t h v e r s i o n s o f t h e f i l m w e r e r e l e a

ished my class 12th around 1998 That’s when the priv a t e s c h o o l s w e r e r e a l l y flourishing and were slowly taking over the governm e n t s c h o o l s I t h a d become a big issue back then and even got the government involved to sort this issue Some of these e v e n t s i n s p i r e d m e t o make Vaathi," he said H e a d d e d t h a t t h e film, set in the 1990s, will shine the spotlight on privatisation of the education system and how one man fought against it

T h e f i l m m a r k s D h a n u s h ’ s d e b u t i n t h e T e l u g u i n d u s t r y I t a l s o s t a r s S a m y u k t h a a n d S a m u t h i r a k a n i i n k e y r o l e s M e a n w h i l e , Dhanush is currently filming his upcoming Tamil a c t i o n - t h r i l l e r ' C a p t a i n Miller’, which marks his maiden collaboration with f i l m m a k e r A r u n Matheswaran

Samantha was joined by director Prem Kumar, with whom she worked on the Telugu film ‘Jaanu,’ on the trip For the temple visit, Samantha wore a simple salwar suit She also sported a black face mask In pictures, she was accompanied by Prem Kumar along with her staff In a video clip, she can be seen lighting a camphor on every step as she climbs to the top of the temple Police were also seen in the video managing the crowd at the temple

Meanwhile, the makers of ‘Shaakuntalam’ recently confirmed that the film will now hit screens worldwide on April 14 It was originally supposed to release in cinemas last week Samantha plays the namesake character in the movie, the daughter of Menaka and Viswamithra

Produced and directed by Gunasekhar, the movie w i l l b e r e l e a s e d i n H i n d i , T a m i l , M a l a y a l a m a n d

Kannada This project marks Samantha’s maiden collabo r a t i o n w i t h t h e f i l m m a k e r T h e t r a i l e r o f ‘Shaakuntalam’ was released in January Speaking at the event, an emotional Samantha said her love for cinema hasn’t changed amid all the recent struggles She said she gathered all her courage to attend the event

In her speech, Samantha spoke about her rare autoimmune disease called Myositis which she has been diagnosed with since last November “No matter how many struggles I face in life, one thing won’t change That’s how much I love cinema and cinema loves me back I strongly believe that this love will grow manifold with Shaakuntalam,” she said

On the work front, Sam was last seen on screen in t h e T e l u g u a c t i o n - t h r i l l e r ‘ Y a s h o d a ’ I n t h e f i l m , Samantha plays a surrogate mother who can do anything to protect her child The film turned out to be a hit at the box office and grossed around 40 crore during its theatrical run

Actress Malavika Mohanan urged Nayanthara fans to calm down, clarifying that she didn’t take a dig at her. Malavika has once again found herself in the heart of a controversy over her latest comment on the ‘superstar’ tag for stars ad how it should be gender-neutral In a promotional event for her upcoming Malayalam film ‘Christy’, Malavika said that the superstar tag should be common across genders

T h e c o m m e n t u p s e t Nayan fans, as they felt she h a d t a r g e t e d h e r a s s h e ’ s referred to as Lady Superstar I n a p r o m o t i o n a l c l i p , M a l a v i k a t a l k s a b o u t t h e s u p e r s t a r t a g a n d h o w i t should be gender-neutral “I don’t like the term (superstar) Actors can be called superstar but I don’t (under-

stand) what is lady superstar Y o u d o n ’ t ‘ l a d y ’ t a g S u p e r s t a r i s e n o u g h , ” Malavika said F o l l o w i n g M a l a v i k a ’ s comment, Nayanthara’s fans t o o k t o s o c i a l m e d i a t o e x p r e s s t h e i r d i s p l e a s u r e over the same Following all t h e h u l l a b a l o o , M a l a v i k a t o o k t o T w i t t e r t o c l a r i f y that she wasn’t referring to N a y a n t h a r a , a s s h e h a s immense respect for her and looks up to her journey R e a c t i n g t o a m e d i a report, Malavika wrote, “My comment was about a term t h a t i s u s e d t o d e s c r i b e female actors & not about any specific actor I really r e s p e c t & a d m i r e Nayanthara, and as a senior really look up to her incredib l e j o u r n e y C a n p e o p l e please calm down Especially the tabloid journos (sic) ”

Tamil actor Mayilsamy dies at 57

Well-known Tamil cinema actor Mayilsamy passed away in Chennai on Sunday following a heart attack The news of his death shocked the industry as condolences poured in online.

Deeply saddened My heartfelt condolences to his family, relative, friends and colleagues of the film industry #RipMayilsamy ” A c t o r S a k s h i A g g a r w a l wrote, “Shocked to hear the

Actor Kamal Hassan took to Twitter to share a tribute H e w r o t e , “ M y f r i e n d

Mylaswamy is successful in presenting his own style of comedy acting He is thought by many to be helpful A tribu t e t o a d e a r f r i e n d # M a y i l s a m y ” R S a r a t h Kumar wrote, “Shocked and s h a t t e r e d o n h e a r i n g t h e untimely demise of my good friend, great human being, p h i l a n t h r o p i s t M a y i l s a m y

news Your sense of humor and positive attitude always filled the shooting spot with laughter and happiness RIP # M a y i l s a m y s i r Condolences to family and friends ” Mayilsamy has acted in o v e r 1 0 0 f i l m s , i n c l u d i n g t h o s e s t a r r i n g t o p a c t o r s A j i t h K u m a r , V i j a y a n d K a m a l H a s s a n H e h a s

Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who is gearing up for the release of her upcoming Telugu film ‘Shaakuntalam,’ recently visited the Pazhani temple in Tamil Nadu ahead of the movie's release. She climbed 600 steps barefoot and lit camphor on every step as part of a ritual to reach the temple top.

‘The Romantics’ is a masterclass on the oral history of Indian cinema by Aditya Chopra

Shefali Saxena

The Romantics on Netflix has made two things clear OneAditya Chopra is real Two - The so-called A-list filmmakers of Bollywood have been having a gala time with the press and have been hailed as geniuses, only because Chopra, the real genius was in his never ending hibernation Now that he’s come out of his cocoon, we know why and how YRF Studios is a mammoth business and the most successful one in Indian cinema. Not only did YRF become the largest film studio in the business, but also surpassed the legacy of Raj Kapoor’s RK Studios which is now isolated, with not

Ali Fazal talks about his fist bumps with Tom Cruise

dream come true

Aditya Chopra’s vulnerability in his first ever video interview while decoding his father’s method of filmmaking and eventually his own, is what makes The Romantics truly authentic in the story it is trying to tell Uday Chopra (Yash Chopra’s younger son) who has been away from movies for a long time, also establishes along with his brother Aditya that nepotism doesn’t save careers Aditya said, “My brother is an actor and he's not a very successful actor Now, here is the son of one of the biggest filmmakers, he's the brother of a very big filmmaker Imagine a company like YRF, which has

many people to revive the showman’s magic again.

The Romantics has been directed by Oscar & Emmynominated filmmaker Smriti Mundhra Thanks to Mundhra, the reclusive head of the iconic Yash Raj Films, Aditya Chopra, recorded his first on-camera interview for ‘The Romantics’!

The Netflix docu-series The Romantics is a tribute to the legacy of Yash Chopra, YRF and their cultural impact on India and Indians across the world for the past 50 years The four-part docu-series features 35 leading personalities from the film industry, who have closely worked with YRF through its 50-year glorious existence

While it is duly, a tribute to one of the pioneers of Indian cinema, especially the connoisseur of love and romance who changed the very lens with which women were perceived and showcased on celluloid, the series is more of a masterclass for Gen Z and many other film buffs who wanted to understand the business of cinema and what it takes to build an empire like YRF ‘The Romantics’ teaches us what we will not find in books It’s like the world needed Aditya Chopra to articulate his own cinema, the paradigm shift in filmmaking, an oral history of Hindi films, all in one go like a

probably launched the most newcomers, and we could not

make him a star Why could we not do it for our own? Because the bottom line is, only an audience will decide, ‘I like this person, I want to see this person ’ No one else can decide that ”

If you haven’t watched ‘The Romantics’ yet, watch it with your Gen Z children, grandchildren and friends who have either never seen the craft of Yash Chopra’s legacy, or thoroughly enjoyed it and shaped their lives according to his portrayal of romance on celluloid It is a great watch for diaspora kids who have only known Karan Johar films for a glimpse into India’s culture Here’s a man who’s Karan’s best friend, better than him and more confident in his success and failures, giving you a free oral history of Indian cinema, that no one else can in such a simplistic and articulate manner

Ali Fazal was one of the invitees to attend the Oscar nominees’ luncheon this year as a member of the Academy He was quoted as saying, “My experience at the luncheon was just amazing I got to meet such wonderful talent fr and I have watched all of their work It was a real honour to just have a nice relaxed afternoon with everyone ”

Actor

The 36-year-o adds, “As an Academy member my responsibilitie and the responsibility of a the Indian members, is to be the global stage A it is very evident with the regular nominations that w that Indian talent is getting all across the globe It is only fair to say that Indian Academy members have a responsibility and have a role to play in storytelling across the globe I hope to keep bridging all the gaps between us and the rest of the world”

The actor took to Instagram to share several pictures from the luncheon, including happy moments with this year ’ s nominees from IndiaGuneet Monga and Shaunak Sen

“There are just too many cherished memories from lunch Getting fist bumps from Tom Cruise’s is definitely top of the list and sharing notes with Martin Mcdonagh whose plays I have performed on e Getting to meet ndan Fraser and a lot ther people out e who know my k That was really e to know It is ouraging for an or like me and has en the biggest keaway from the ncheon,” says the tor, who has starred several Hollywood ojects such as urious 7 ’ , ‘Victoria & bdul’ and ‘Death on he Nile ’

Talking about ndian representation s, “I am s They are doing some great work We have had a great representation from India, for instance All That Breathes is one of the best films I have seen, I am not saying this because it is from India and I know the team ”

He added, “In fact, the best work is there in focus at the Oscars from All Quiet on the Western Front, Top Gun sequel, and I met the creators as well as editors of these films The moment is going to be etched in my head for a while ”

Deepika not happy with South Asian representation in Hollywood

Deepika

Padukone is a multi-talented and accomplished person. She has consistently delivered outstanding performances in various roles, and proven her range and versatility as an actress The actress and businesswoman has not only created a loyal fan base in India, but also in the West She has featured in a Hollywood film titled ‘XXX: Return of Xander Cage’ alongside Vin Diesel

The actress has often spoken to the media about how she is not happy with the overall representation of South Asian people in Hollywood Recently, talking about South Asian representation in the West and the kind of roles that she would like to play in Hollywood, Deepiak said, “I think we have a long w a y t o g o w h e n i t c o m e s t o S o u t h A s i a n representation So I think that’s what I am looking for

I am done for all of us- on behalf of all of us- being the Indian doctor in a movie or the Indian Taxi driver I want to be W o n d e r W o m a n , I w a n t t o b e B a t Woman and there’s no reason, and when I say I, I mean we There’s no reason why I want us to be Barbie I want us to be all of those things and there’s no reason why we can’t be And so the choice of or the decision to not do these movies is an intentional decision to say- bring me, bring us something that is worth our talent, worth our while, and worth our energy ” M e a n w h i l e , o n t h e w o r k f r o n t ,

Deepika Padukone has some major projects in the pipeline She is all set to star with Prabhas and Amitabh Bachchan in 'Project K,' the release date of which was announced today She will also feature in the Hindi remake of 'The Intern '

Ranveer Singh hangs out with former basketball players at an NBA game

NBA India’s brand ambassador Ranveer Singh spent the weekend as a spectator after playing at the NBA All-Star Celebrity game. He was seen spending time with former basketball players like Karl Malone, Reggie Miller, Shaquille O’Neal; Marvel stars Jonathan Majors, Michael B Jordan, Simu Liu and filmmaker Spike Lee Singh was dressed in bright colours with a yellow T-shirt, pink puffy jacket, blue pants, and a hat

While on the court, he also got a chance to talk to actord i r e c t o r B e n A f f l e c k o n t h e court Ben was promoting his upcoming Prime Video film ‘Air’ and had come to watch the game Ranveer is a selfacclaimed basketball fan

W h e n n a m e d I n d i a ’ s brand ambassador in 2021, R a n v e e r h a d s a i d i n a n i n t e r v i e w , “ I h a v e b e e n a basketball fan since I was a child It is one of the most e l e c t r i f y i n g s p o r t s i n t h e world and NBA stars have been shaping pop culture for decades now From Michael Jordan to Allen Iverson to LeBron James, the NBA has developed a unique culture within its players and fans The players’ impact on and off the court is something that I admire ”

On the work front, the actor's next project is Karan Johar's ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki P r e m K a h a n i ’ , w h e r e h e

reunites with his ‘Gully Boy’ co-star Alia Bhatt The film will be released in June 2023

Aditya Chopra, Filmmaker and Chairman, Yash Raj Studios

Ranveer Singh with Ben Affleck

in brief India beat Oz, retain Border-Gavaskar trophy

In just 19 1 ove rs on the third day of the second Test at the Arun J a it l e y S t a d i um (D e l hi ) , A ust r a l ia ' s mo ti v a ti on fi zzl e d Aust ralia was dismissed for 113 i n a b ou t 90 m i nu t e s of co m pl e t e l y a b sur d b a t t i n g a g a in s t h ig h -ca l ib e r s p in n e r s Rav indr a Ja deja and R Ashwin , t u r n in g a n i n t r i gu in g T e st match into a l opsided cont est as India cha sed down t he 114-run t a r g e t wi t h si x wi ck e t s remaining to ta ke a 2-0 lea d a nd r e t a i n t he B o r d e r -G a v a sk a r Trophy

A u s t r a l i a s o m e w h a t outperformed the previous Test in Nagpur throughout the first t w o d a y s o f t h i s o n e O n a t r e a c h e r o u s t h i r d - d a y I n d i a n

p i t c h , t h o u g h , J a d e j a w a s waiting to reintroduce them to the abode of terror He took a d v a n t a g e o f t h e o b v i o u s mechanical shortcomings of the Australian batters for the second t i m e i n t h e s e r i e s t o d e l i v e r career-best figures of 7/42 with

Ashwin taking home 3/59 Playing his 100th test, Pujara scored 31 runs (not out) F o r a b r i e f p e r i o d , i t appeared that Australian hitters h a d m a s t e r e d p l a y i n g i n spinning circumstances since, at the close of Day Two; they were

ahead by 62 runs However, they l o s t t h e l e a d f a r t o o f a s t , switching to a deliberate sweeponly strategy as soon as Ashwin edged Travis Head in the first over of the day

“ T h e r e w e r e t i m e s J a d e j a w a s p u t u n d e r p r e s s u r e b u t there was no sense of panic He just kept relying on what he is good at and he kept doing that He went for more than five runs per over earlier but he knew exactly what the batters were trying to do and was confident to put them under pressure and g e t t h e m o u t , ” I n d i a s k i p p e r R o h i t S h a r m a s a i d a f t e r t h e match Playing his 100th test, C h e t e s h w a r P u j a r a s c o r e d 3 1 runs (not out)

India seal semifinal berth with win over Ireland

In d ia a c h ie v e d t h e i r pr im a r y ob j e ct i v e o f m a k i n g t he se mifin als of t he ICC Wome n ’ s T20 Wor ld Cup, but the y didn’ t man age t o t ick a ll t he re quire d box es and as a re sult, wouldn’ t be going in to the semifin als wit h t h e c on fi d e n c e o f a ll ba s e s cov ere d

The rain and strong gusts forced the umpires to take the players off the field, with Ireland 54/2 in 8 2 overs in pursuit of 156 T h e D u c k w o r t h - L e w i s - S t e r n (DLS) par score was 59 at that s t a g e , a n d a s t h e m a t c h w a s subsequently abandoned, India emerged victorious by five runs The underdogs, who had lost their previous three games in the competition, needed a further

102 runs in 70 balls India would still have been favourites, but may have had to endure some a n x i o u s m o m e n t s i f t h e partnership between Gaby Lewis a n d s k i p p e r L a u r a D e l a n y continued for a few more overs

T h a t t h e I n d i a n s h a d t h e u p p e r h a n d w a s d u e t o t h e disparity in fielding If the Irish were a bit more agile and athletic o n t h e f i e l d , i t ’ s n o t inconceivable that they might have had their noses in front w h e n t h e c o n t e s t c a m e t o a premature end

The difference between the two teams came to the fore on the first ball of the chase itself

A m y H u n t e r g u i d e d R e n u k a Thakur’s delivery just past the

Qatari banker confirms bid to take over Man United

O ne o f Qa tar 's l arg e s t banks, Qatar Islam ic Bank, c h a ir m an S h ei kh J as s i m bin Hamad A l Thani, h as a ck no w l ed g ed h e h a d m ad e a bi d t o ac qu i re M anch ester U ni ted Las t F riday was the d eadline set b y th e c lu b an d p r o sp e c ti v e bu y ers w ere u rged to subm it their ideas by that time

A statement confirming the bid from Al Thani said: "Sheikh J a s s i m B i n H a m a d A l T h a n i confirmed his submission of a b i d f o r 1 0 0 p e r c e n t o f M a n c h e s t e r U n i t e d F o o t b a l l Club ”

“The bid promises to put the supporters back at the centre of M a n c h e s t e r U n i t e d F o o t b a l l Club once more, and will seek to restore the Club to its previous glory both on and off the pitch," according to the statement

The bid will be completely d e b t f r e e v i a S h e i k h J a s s i m s Nine Two Foundation, which will look to invest in the football teams, the training centre, the s t a d i u m a n d w i d e r i n f r a s t r u c t u r e , t h e f a n e x p e r i e n c e a n d t h e

communities the Club supports

The vision of the bid is for M a n c h e s t e r U n i t e d F o o t b a l l C l u b t o b e r e n o w n e d f o r f o o t b a l l i n g e x c e l l e n c e , a n d

BRITAIN, CZECHS PULL OUT OF NEW DELHI BOXING WORLDS

regarded as the greatest football club in the world More details of the bid will be released, when appropriate, if and when the bid process develops

A f t e r S i r J i m R a t c l i f f e ' s declaration in January, Al Thani, a lifetime supporter of United and the son of former Qatari P r i m e M i n i s t e r H a m a d b i n J a s s i m A l T h a n i , p o p u l a r l y k n o w n a s H B J , o f f i c i a l l y declared his interest in buying the club The board announced in November that it was selling the club to "explore strategic alternatives ”

The M E N is aware that the p r e s e n t b i d s a r e m e r e l y i n d i c a t i v e a n d t h a t , s h o u l d

bidders advance to the next step of the process, they will enter a "data room" where prospective buyers can view the pertinent financial data Once everyone is aware of the worth of the assets, obligations, etc , they must then submit their offers at this point

circle on the off side There was an easy single on offer, but the two openers decided on a risky second Jemimah Rodrigues sprinted towards the ball, had a quick pick-up and had a decent throw t o w a r d s w i c k e t k e e p e r R i c h a G h o s h T h e s l i g h t h e s i t a t i o n between Hunter and her batting partner Gaby Lewis, meant the former was well short of the c r e a s e w h e n t h e b a i l s w e r e dislodged The Indian fielding contributed an early wicket, and Thakur bowled Orla Prendergast to reduce Ireland to 1 for 2 in the first over itself

On the other hand, the Irish f i e l d e r s w e r e s o s l o p p y t h a t Smriti Mandhana wouldn’t have

b e l i e v e d h e r l u c k T h e l e f thander was dropped on more t h a n o n e o c c a s i o n , w h i l e t h e leaden-footed Irish girls failed to r e a c h h e r v a r i o u s m i s h i t s i n time The left-handed opener ’ s 87 off 56 balls was the fulcrum of India’s batting effort of 155/6 as a l m o s t a l l t h e o t h e r b a t t e r s struggled to score at a run a ball It was only due to a vital cameo by Jemimah at the end, after designated finisher Richa got out without troubling the scorers, w h i c h t o o k I n d i a t o t h e i r eventual score She improvised to hit two boundaries in the 20th over which, in hindsight, could h a v e b e e n t h e d i f f e r e n c e between an Indian win and a major upset

Chetan Sharma quits BCCI chief selector’s post

Ch etan Sharma, the chief selecto r f or the BCC I, resigned after being caugh t in a ch annel' s sting o peratio n m aking cru de remarks Fo llo wing this embarras sing incident f or th e BCC I, his resignation w as ' received' in the antic ip ated manner by Jay Shah, sec retary of th e BC CI "His situation got p rec ariou s He had to leave Th e kind o f stu ff h e is said to h ave s aid in the sting made the players feel very uneasy, a BCC I of fic ial said

In the programme aired last week by the channel, the former India pacer, who played 23 Tests and 65 ODIs, made some unpleasant comments about Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, former Indian captain and ex-BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and several other Indian players

C h e t a n , 5 7 , w a s s e e n d i s c u s s i n g s o m e b e h i n d - t h e - s c e n e s information relating to team selection and selection biases He also questioned the players' physical health Chetan added that he disagreed with the team's management about the injured pacer Jasprit Bumrah's decision to play in the T20I series against Australia in September after recovering from a stress fracture Chetan had been reinstated as chief selector in January this year after the BCCI sacked the entire previous panel in November 2022 in the wake of India’s exit in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in Australia India’s selection panel now comprises Salil Ankola, SS Das, Subroto Banerjee and S Sharath The BCCI is likely to appoint a new chairman of the selection committee soon The new chief selector could be from the North Zone again as Sharma was a North Zone candidate

Akshdeep, Priyanka win race walk gold

Unheralded Akshdeep Singh clinched the men ’ s 20km event gold w i t h a n a

Championships as well as 2024 Paris Olympics on the opening day of the National Open Race Walking Championships The 22-year-old from Punjab clocked 1 hour 19 minutes and 55 seconds to obliterate the earlier national record of 1:20:16 which was in the name of veteran Sandeep Kumar The men ’ s 20km race walk qualifying time for both the World Championships to be held in Budapest in August and 2024 Olympics is 1:20:10 Women’s 20km event national record holder Priyanka Goswami expectedly won gold with a time of 1:28:50 to also qualify for both the World Championships and 2024 Olympics Her national record stands at 1:28:45 which she had set in 2021

In response to growing worries over the Russian-dominated sport s Olympic future, Britain the Czech Republic the United States, and Ireland all decided to boycott the amateur boxing world championships in New Delhi Despite the conflict in Ukraine, the world governing body IBA, which is led by Russian Umar Kremlev and supported by the Russian energy company Gazprom permits the boxers from Russia and Belarus to participate with national flags and anthems Due to IOC-required reforms, the IBA was disqualified from participating in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and boxing is not on the initial schedule for the 2028 Los Angeles Games In a statement GB Boxing stated that it will not compete in the March 15–25 women s championships and that it was considering competing in the men s competition in Tashkent Uzbekistan in May Marek Simak head of the Czech Boxing Association, announced on national radio that his nation s boxers would boycott both championships The United States and Ireland announced their boycotts last week GB Boxing said its decision reflected “concerns about the future of boxing place on the Olympic programme and the recent move by IBA to allow boxers from Russia and Belarus to compete under their national flags, which contravenes resolutions passed by the IOC ”

SHUTTLERS SETTLE FOR BRONZE AFTER LOSS

Despite a gallant performance by two doubles teams, India went down to China 2-3 in the semifinals and settled for bronze in the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship in Dubai On a day when singles shuttlers HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu flattered to deceive, Chirag Shetty-Dhruv Kapila and the young pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand ensured India forced the decider However, the mixed doubles pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto lost to Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin 17-21 13-21 Chirag and Dhruv defeated He Ji Ting and Zhou Hao Dong 21-19 21-19 after Prannoy and Sindhu suffered shock losses to unfancied Chinese opponents in the first two matches Treesa-Gayatri survived anxious moments to beat Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning 21-18, 13-21, 21-19 to make it 2-2 for India

IPL INKS DEAL WITH SAUDI TOURISM

The BCCI has just raked in a new sponsor for the IPL in Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) making it the first time that the T20 league will be sponsored by a government body of a foreign country The partnership was announced in Mumbai, with BCCI secretary Jay Shah, vice-president Rajeev Shukla, and treasurer Ashish Shelar, along with representatives fr om the Saudi Tourism Authority, including Alhasan Aldabbagh, President of APAC, present on the occasion “I would like to welcome Saudi Tourism as an official partner of the IPL It is the second Saudi company after Aramco to become an IPL partner,” Shah said

SULAKSHAN IS TN’S NEW HEAD COACH

Former Mumbai cricketer and coach Sulakshan Kulkarni was appointed as the head coach of the Tamil Nadu senior men's team for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons The 56-yearold, a wicket-keeper-batter, will take over from former India cricketer M Venkataramana

Kulkarni, who coached Mumbai to the Ranji title in the 2012-13 season played 65 first-class matches