125 0 FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE R Let noble thoughts come to us from every side VOL 51 ISSUE 17 06 07 Top universities await John Lyon students after excellent A Level results Glasgow Life Museums become the first to repatriate artefacts to India Tamil actor Arya completes 1,540km London Edinburgh London cycling event B J P offered C M’s post, alleges Delhi deputy C M Sisodia Diaspora celebrates ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ at Navnat Centre in Hayes SE E PAGE 17 27 AUG - 2 SEP 2022 t e. h Yo u r amb i t i o n O u r e x p e r t is e Legal advice you can trust P Man Modhwadia nquiries@axiomdwfm.com089516989 gnesh +44 (0) 20 8951 enquiries@axiomdwfm.com6989 axiomdwfm.com ragn o hwadia Managing Partner Full story on page 13 Tory leadership candidate Rishi Sunak meets party members A F G H A N R E F U G E E S I N U K S T R U G G L I N G T O B U I L D N E W L I V E S A s t h e f i n a l d a y o f l e a d e r s h i p c o n t e s t draws closer, candidate Rishi Sunak is seen meeting the members of Conser vative party, at Conservative Friends of India’s reception in Dhamecha Lohana Centre in Harrow and a member’s house in Moor Park H e w a s a l s o s e e n c e l e b r a t i n g Janmashtami festival with wife Akshata at Bhaktivedanta Manor in Watford. E d i o r a c r e d i : r a s i d a s l m Nischal Sanghavi L a s t y e a r o n 1 5 t h A u g u s t , when India was celebrating it's independence, Afghan istan has been taken over by Taliban. In the next 15 days, many Afghans were forced to find refuge away from home Many of them w e r e g i v e n s h e l t e r i n t h e U K W h i l e t h e y w e r e welcomed in the country, t h e i r c o n d i t i o n o n l y detoriates there. Many families have been a c c o m m o d a t e d i n s m a l l h o t e l r o o m s f o r t h e p a s t y e a r w h i l e t h e i r v i s i t o r s w e r e s c r e e n e d b y t h e authorities Continued on page 26
“The continued success of Premier League football e n a b l e s u s t o p r o v i d e u n p r e c e d e n t e d i n v e s t m e n t in communities and wider football As we look to the future, we are committed to investing more than ever, to help develop the game and p r o v i d e o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o people of all ages ” A c r o s s E n g l a n d a n d Wa l e s , P r e m i e r L e a g u e i n v e s t m e n t s u p p o r t s t h e community organisations of all 92 Premier League and E n g l i s h Fo o t b a l l L e a g u e clubs, plus the 68 National League clubs O v e r t h e n e x t t h r e e years, the League will contin ue its world leading levels of support by contributing £1 6 billion to communities and the wider game During the Trophy Tour, the League will be announc ing new f inancial commit ments to benef it fans and communities This includes i n c r e a s e d i n v e s t m e n t i n t o t h e P r e m i e r L e a g u e Fa n s ’ Fund, with £5m available to support fan engagement pro jects across the top four divi sions of the football pyramid The League is also investing an additional £13 5 million into the Football Foundation to create small sided pitches in the heart of communities that need them the most The tour will also give an opportunity to highlight new Premier League investment into women ’ s and girls’ foot ball, including the Emerging Ta le nt Ce nt re s a n n o u n c e d earlier this summer with Keith Vaz DR P E
7) And the worst? Some days can be ver y stressful and, as much as I keep my focus, unexpected sit uations arise that need immediate atten tion and solution My stress threshold in general is ver y high; however, I know that I still have to work on myself to become better at it to do justice to my ever increasing responsibilities and to myself
8) What are your long term goals? I believe that ever y goal needs to have a purpose My long term goal is to have multiple, successful entrepreneurial ven tures which are driven by a strong sense of purpose and make a positive impact on the global society My happiness comes from my work and supporting others who come asking for help
9) If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change? The Prime Minster is faced ever y day with so many challenges Without worr ying about my vote bank, I would want to i m p l e m e n t o v e r n i g h t changes towards any policy that hinders a fairer society
10) If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why I would have loved to be stuck on a desert island with Steve Jobs, just to get an i n s i g h t i n t o h o w h e t h o u g h t , h o w h i s b r a i n worked and how he anal ysed information It would have been a ver y fast track l e a r n i n g p r o c e s s fo r a n entrepreneur like myself Entrepreneur a r t m e n t o f He a l t h h a s o r d e r e d a n i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n t o t h e f igures amid concern that t h e d e a t h s a r e l i n ke d t o delays to and deferment of t r e a t m e n t fo r c o n d i t i o n s such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease O v e r t h e p a s t t w o m o n t h s , t h e n u m b e r o f e xc e s s d e a t h s n o t f r o m Covid dwarfs the number linked to the virus It comes a m i d r e n e w e d c a l l s fo r C o v i d m e a s u r e s s u c h a s compulsor y face masks in the winter But the f igures suggest the countr y is facing a n e w s i le nt h e a lt h c r i s i s l i n ke d t o t h e p a n d e m i c response rather than to the virus itself T h e B r i t i s h He a r t Fo u n d a t i o n s a i d i t w a s “deeply concerned” by the f indings, while the Stroke Association said it had been anticipating a rise in deaths for a while Figures released recently showed that excess deaths are currently 14 4 per cent h i g h e r t h a n t h e f i v e y e a r average, equating to 1,350 more deaths than usual in the week ending Aug 5 A l t h o u g h 4 6 9 d e a t h s were because of Covid, the remaining 881 have not been explained and the ONS does n o t b r e a k d o w n t h e remaining deaths by cause Since the beginning of June, the ONS has recorded nearly 10,000 more deaths than the f ive year average around 1,089 a week none of which is linked to Covid T h e f i g u r e i s m o r e t h a n three times the number of people who died because of t h e v i r u s o v e r t h e s a m e period, which stood at 2,811 Even analysis that takes into account ageing population c h a n g e s h a s i d e n t i f i e d a substantial ongoing excess There were 103 Covid d e a t h s i n E n g l a n d o n August 11 and the seven day average is currently around 111 fatalities per day M a n y a p p o i n t m e n t s a n d t r e a t m e n t s w e r e c a n c e l l e d a s t h e N H S b a t t l e d t h e p a n d e m i c throughout 2020 and last y e a r, l e a d i n g t o a h u g e b a c k l o g t h a t t h e h e a l t h ser vice is still struggling to bring down
Hu m a y un Is l am , 45 of Bradford, has been nam ed as B E A P Com m un it y Pa r t n er s hip’s Com m un it y Captain in recognit ion of his incredible work in Bradford through the centre, helping t o a d d re s s hi gh l e ve l s of d e pr iv a t io n in t he ne i gh b ou r hoo d , p a r t ic ul ar l y a m o ng s t t he B a n g l a de s h i Com munity Humayun has also been pivotal in helping the club diversify its fanbase through his leadership of the Bangla B a n t a m s s u p p o r t e r g r o u p , which has engaged local peo ple in match day experiences that have led to an increase in South Asian female attendees at games
02 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian-voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 MORTGAGESRemortgagesBuytoLetResidential ALFINANCIA PROTECTIONIncomeProtectionCriticalIllnessLifeInsurance SERVICES mortgage@majorestate.co77HighStreet,Wealdston Call: 020 Mortgage8424Ad Dinesh S C Please conta om ~ majorestate.com ne, Harrow, HA3 5DQ 4 8686 / 07956 810647 dviser Shonchhatra act: More people now die due to lockdown effects than Covid F i g u res fo r exce s s d ea th s from th e Off ice for National Statistics (ONS) sh ow that around 1, 000 m ore people th a n u su a l a re c ur ren tly d y in g e ac h w e ek fr om co nd itions other than the v irus T h e D e p
Humayun Islam named Bradford City AFC’s Community Captain as part of the Premier League’s 30th-anniversary celebrations
Dr Poo nam Gupta OBE is a leading UK entrepreneur and CEO of one of Scotland’s most successful exp ort businesses, PG Paper Her port folio of com panies has an annual turno ver of circa $100 million, oper ating in ov er 60 countries, w ith off ices in India, US A, Ch ina, Belg ium, Turkey and the United A rab Em irates She led a successful Scottish Chambers Task Force to India in 2019 and has been recognised as one of the ‘ 100 Most Influential in UK India Relations’ by India Inc Group Poonam is Vice President of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, Chair of the Manufacturing Sector Committee of FICCI UK Council, the largest and oldest apex business organisation in India Poonam’s entrepreneurial and business efforts have also been acknowledged by her peer group and the industr y at large; for which she has received several business awards, most recently Ernst & Young’s ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2019 She was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s New Year Honours List in 2016 for ser vices to charity and business Poonam is a benefactor of several local, national and inter national charities; with a particular focus on woman centric issues, disadvantaged chil dren, gender equality and animal conser vation Since Januar y 2021, Poonam has been an Ambassador for Young Entreprise Scotland 1) Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in? I consider it my privilege that I am part of 2 countries I was born and brought up in Delhi and have been living in Scotland for the past 20 years I feel at home both in Delhi and in Kilmacolm I am glad I have had this chance to experience both coun tries and cultures and have friends in both 2) What are your proudest achievements? For me, ever y achievement sets the next target I started my life in the UK from practically nothing and have built over time multiple businesses which have been resilient through some of the tough est times, including Covid 19 I continue on my entrepreneurial journey and have i nv e s t e d i n d i v e r s e i n d u s t r ie s B e s i d e s being a mother of two lovely girls who make me proud, I feel that being able to establish myself as an entrepreneur and being able to help others are my achieve ments 3) What inspires you? The possibilities that remain to be captured as the world is changing faster than ever before are highly inspirational to me For me, it is always about challenging myself, learning from my mistakes and growing as a person and utilise my learn ings to take on the next challenge Life is too short and I want to see how far I can push myself and what ceilings I can break next 4) What has been biggest obstacle in your career? Although I believe that ever y obstacle could be a potential excuse to limit myself, I have faced multiple challenges, both per sonally and professionally during my life time so far, including a serious health scare Sometimes obstacles are basically f inding the right people who would come along the journey to help and support my entrepreneurial ventures Ideas become v i a b l e b u s i n e s s e s w i t h t h e r i g h t t e a m behind them I see the biggest obstacle to grow is f inding the right people at the right time
6) What is the best aspect about your current role? I am an entrepreneur and a CEO What I love most about my role as the CEO of my company is challenging and getting the best out of my team and see them grow Over the years, I have put ever ything that I have learned to use and learn further as I am going for ward in my journey I really enjoy the fact that I am s t i l l g r o w i n g a s a p e r s o n b y l e a r n i n g through doing It keeps my mind fresh and challenged
The Community Captain a c c ol a d e i s b e i n g g i v e n t o more than 100 members of the public who have made an outstanding contribution to their club and local commu nity, as part of the Premier L e a g u e ’ s 3 0 t h a n n i v e r s a r y celebrations P r e s e n t a t i o n s t o t h e C a p t a i n s fo r m p a r t o f t h e Premier League Trophy Tour, which is visiting more than 50 professional, non league a n d w o m e n ’ s c l u b s a c r o s s E n g l a n d a n d Wa l e s w h o r e c e i v e f u n d i n g f r o m t h e Premier League Humayun was awarded a P L 3 0 C o m m u n i t y C a p t a i n a r m b a n d a n d p e n n a n t b y Monika Stube, Bradford City Women’s midf ielder, at the BEAP Midland Road Sports Complex, which was recently o p e n e d b y Br a d fo r d Ci t y A F C’s m a n a g e r M a r k Hughes The facility received a £600,000 grant from the Premier League, The FA and G o v e r n m e n t 's Fo o t b a l l Foundation, as well as addi tional funding from Power to Change, Sport England and Br a d fo r d Me t r o p o l i t a n District Council I a n O r m o n d r o y d , w h o presented the award ceremo ny, said, “Congratulations to Hu m a y u n I s l a m o n t h e a w a r d o f t h e C o m m u n i t y C a p t a i n f ro m t h e P re m ie r League The new facility at B E A P C o m m u n i t y Pa r t n e r s h i p i s s u p e r b a n d f a n t a s t i c fo r t h e l o c a l M a n n i n g h a m c o m m u n i t y, which is one of the most deprived wards in the coun tr y With it being next to the fo o t b a l l c l u b i t i s a g r e a t facility for all of the commu nity to use " Hu m a y u n s a i d , “I a m honoured and over whelmed to receive this accolade For me, this award is all about the local community and the work we do at BEAP to bring p e o ple f ro m d i v e r s e b a c k grounds together all for the love of sport I am delighted to see Bangla Bantams be recognised in this way, just a f r e e k i c k a w a y f r o m o u r beloved Bradford City " P r e m i e r L e a g u e C h i e f Exe c u t i v e R ic h a rd M a s t e r s said, “As we mark 30 years s i n c e t h e P r e m i e r L e a g u e f irst kicked off, it is impor tant we celebrate the unsung heroes who deliver brilliant work in their communities These people whether they a r e p a r t i c i p a n t s , c o a c h e s , v o l u n t e e r s o r l o n g t i m e employees are the lifeblood of their clubs and their com munities
O ONA M GU P TA OB
5) Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date? Ever yone who has believed in me and helped me, whether it was through posi tive thinking or mentorship, has influ enced my career This includes my chil dren and my family Both my children have been a great support to me since a ver y young age Had they been any differ ent than what they are, my life would have been different from what it is today
4HN Tel: 020 7749 4080 • Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup com Website: www abplgroup com
Thought for the week Political Sketchbook Is UK’s loss now India’s gain?
by Asian Business
The survey report says better educated parents were more likely to spend some time every week helping their children with their education Also, Asian households spend about 15% of their income on supplemental education services Vietnam follows India closely Vietnamese parents spend around 10 2 hours per week by helping children in their studies and homework Indonesia comes third among Asian countries with parents spending 8 6 hours per week to help their children with education, followed closely by Malaysia ranking fourth in Asia and spending 8 hours per week to support the education of their children If the tuition fees increases to £24,000, with the cost of liv ing soaring and reducing student finance loans and assistance, it will be impossible for many families to provide higher educa tion despite the tradition With that, international students’ fees will also increase, making UK a non favourable destina tion for other students May be it will be a good opportunity for the UK students to choose India to study at a much cheaper cost The country boasts of some fantastic colleges and universities, infrastruc ture, and education quality, which will gain further name from international students arriving to study as well as help India establish itself as a core Education destination, at par with medical tourism, fintech and pharmaceutical mecca
But how do you actually find the best possible path?
The A level results have come out last week a beginning of a new life for many students, as they join Universities, a way for ward in the career goals they have Many professional services, including the NHS is encouraging students to join their services and train, as they struggle with workforce post Brexit The Guardian pointed out that it’s been a rollercoaster few years for English A level students The results were based on exams until 2019; relied on an algorithm in 2020, which resulted in major controversy and a U turn; then switched to teacher assessment in 2021 and then back to exams for 2022 Almost three in five private, fee paying students (58%) achieved either an A* or an A, compared with 35% of those attending academies and 30 7% of those in state comprehensives While that is a smaller gap than in 2021, it is worse than in 2019 They further reported, while boys and girls saw their grades drop significantly, girls fared worse in terms of grade deflation
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Explore: learn about and test out promising longer term paths, until you feel ready to bet on one for a few years (ages 18 240 Invest: take a bet on a longer term path by building the career capital that will most accelerate you in it It’s normally better to aim a little too high than too low but make sure you have a backup plan (ages 25 35)
Your career is your biggest opportunity to make a dif ference But how can you make the most of it?
China’s concerns regarding the Ukraine crisis, which sounded more like China’s talking points on Xi Jinping’s new security proposal called the Global Security Initiative There was anoth er statement issued by the Chinese foreign ministry, which highlighted a statement from Wang that India and China “have maintained communication and exchanges, effectively man aged differences, and bilateral relations have generally shown a recovery momentum ”
Asian Voice is
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For me this is my work in Government, journalism and my www campaignforamillion com and around that my chairmanship of Loomba Trust (with Lord Bilimoria) CityHindus and the India League (www theindialeague org) I wish you all well in your exams And if you want men toring my TikTok is https://www tiktok com/@greatin vestments and I do regular live sessions Alpesh Patel
INDIA OFFICE Bureau Chief: Nilesh Parmar (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt Ltd 207 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp Jain Derasar, Nr Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad 380 015 Tel: +91 79 2646 5960 Email: gs ahd@abplgroup com © Asian Business Pub cat ons 03AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www asian voice com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 The bad news is time flies The good news is you’re the pilot Michael Altsh uler Make Your Life Extraordinary It’s exam results tim e I reg ularly comm unicate with young p eople throug h my TikTok (no w 70k followers) via regular liv e sessio ns wh ich are essentially mentoring Questions w hich come up a lot relate to their careers and their futures I found an outstanding Oxford University backed website with excellent career advice on making your lives extraordinary It’s called 80,000 hours and here are some of the top tips quoted from there www 80000hours org
t u n a t e l y , t h e 1 5 t h r o u n d o f I n d i a
The statement noted that Wang said that India and China “should take concrete actions to follow through on the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries that ‘China and India are partners, and are not threats to each other but opportunities for each other’s development ” A troubling aspect of the Chinese statement comes from the fact that it says that Jaishankar said that there has been “positive progress in aspects such as safeguarding sta bility along the borders, promoting practical cooperation and facilitating personnel exchanges ” That there is no mention of the linkage between the normalcy on the border and the peace and tranquility in the relationship is worrisome The state ment’s attribution to Jaishankar that “India will continue upholding strategic autonomy and an independent position on international affairs” is particularly concerning since these are not mentioned by the Indian statement
Units 207 208 Harrow Business Centre 429 433 Pinner Road North Harrow
Deploy: use the career capital you ’ ve built to support the most effective solutions to the most pressing prob lems at the time (Age 36 onwards )
As GCSE results day (25 August) approaches, teenagers are anxious to finally find out if it was all worth it Results day is often full of emotions, from delight to disap pointment, for both students and teachers who can also face huge pressure if their next step is heavily reliant on results and then there are parents’ expectations to live up to, too Dr Lisette Johnston, said, if you want to open the results on your own, you may be tempted to take your envelope home, but try to open that dreaded envelope while still at school if you can; you’ll get instant support and advice from teachers and careers advisers if your results impact your future More pupils will fail their GCSEs this year and top grades are expected to fall as results return to pre pandemic levels; an education expert has predicted, according to a daily There could be 230,000 fewer top grades in the UK com pared with 2021, but 230,000 more than 2019, according to Prof Alan Smithers, director of the centre for education and employment research at the University of Buckingham, The Guardian reported But as the students brave their emotions and prepare for the future, University bosses in the UK have asked the govern ment to raise tuition fees to £24000 from £9000 Now here is the problem Asian parents, as we have seen in case of Rishi Sunak too, will support their children in achieving their dreams, may how much ever be the cost of education They will also contribute time and efforts behind the children Global Nation Inquirer pointed out according to a survey by Varkey Foundation, India tops the list of Asian countries and also globally with parents taking education under serious consideration for the growth and development of their chil dren Parents in India dedicate around 12 hours per week to help children in their studies, according to the survey
Across all subjects in England, 44 3% of students achieved an A grade or above last year; that fell back to 35 9% this year, an 8 4 percentage point drop However, girls’ grades fell further, down by 9 5 percentage points compared with seven among boys
The National Union of Students Vice President Further Education, Bernie Savage, in a statement told Asian Voice, “Congratulations to every single student getting their results today This cohort has faced so many barriers, so to have over come them is a massive achievement If you didn’t get the grades you wanted, you should still be incredibly proud and know there are lots of options open to you
According to the statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang spent much of his time with Jaishankar speaking about
“Students worked for these results under the toughest studying conditions we ’ ve ever seen, and now their future is threatened by the cost of living crisis Students are a cross sec tion of society they’re of all ages; they’re workers, parents, carers, migrants, refugees and they deserve a leg up right now “That’s why we ’ re calling on the government to ensure all students can access cost of living support, so that they can focus on what’s important: achieving their goals and gaining an education that will help them make the world a little better for us all ”
China’s statement on the June 22 meeting between Wang and the Indian ambassador to China, Pradeep Kumar Rawat, is similar The statement attributed to Rawat a comment that “India will firmly pursue an independent foreign policy, and is ready to work with China to follow through on the strategic c o n s e n s u s r e a c h e d b y t h e l e a d e r s o f t h e t w o c o u n t r i e s , s t r e n g t h e n c o m m u n i c a t i o n , p r o p e r l y h a n d l e d i f f e r e n c e s , enhance mutual trust, and promote better development of bilateral cooperation ” Wang used the opportunity to also pro pose its “four pronged perseverance, ” including persevering in “the important strategic consensus ” arrived at by the two lead ers China may score well on rhetoric, but the reality is that after more than two years, there is still a large number of troops on the border The 16th China Corps Commander Level Meeting was held at Chushul Moldo border meeting point on July 17, after a gap of four months A joint statement on the Indian MEA website noted that the two sides agreed that “the resolution of remaining issues would help in restoration of peace and tranquility along the LAC in the Western Sector and enable progress in bilateral relations ” If Prime Minister Narendra Modi could meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the SCO summit in Uzbekistan next month, they will be able to discuss the outstanding issues and find a solution to the dis pute published Publications Ltd Middlesex HA1 India- China relations remain in a limbo
Think like a scientist: make some best guesses at the most promising long term paths, identify key uncertainties, then update your guesses every 1 3 years
Amid geopolitical tensions threatening global economic recov ery, China underlined that Beijing and New Delhi must pro mote cooperation and mutual trust among each other But sources said that India China ties cannot progress meaningful ly unless Beijing ends its incursion across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh and restores the status quo ante prior to the movement of its forces across the LAC in May 2020 U n f o r C C r s Commander level talks failed to provide any breakthrough But the Beijing based news organisation did try to put a positive gloss on the talks, pointing out that the meeting concluded highlighting the positive atmosphere since the 14th round of talk, "as the two sides reached consensus on agreeing to main tain dialogue via military and diplomatic channels to reach a mutually acceptable resolution to the remaining issues at the earliest time " However, in India, policy makers are looking not at words but at action on the ground marked by disengagement from the border and restoration of the status quo ante as the basis for reviving ties and leveraging the new geopolitical situ ation arising out of Russia's attack on Ukraine Despite frequent meetings between the sides, relations are in a state of limbo India and China have not made much progress on their border stand off There are still more than 60,000 troops on each side of the LAC) and the potential for an a c c i d e n t a l r e s u m p t i o n o f c o n f l i c t c a n n o t b e e m p h a s i z e d enough India’s Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on July 7 in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of the G 20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting According to a statement released by the MEA after the Bali meeting, the Indian minister raised the border issue and “called for an early resolution of all the outstanding issues along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh ” Jaishankar used the opportunity to reiterate the importance of maintaining momentum and “ com plete disengagement” in order to “restore peace and tranquility in the border areas ” He called on China for full compliance with the various bilateral agreements and protocols agreed to previously, as well as the different “understandings reached between the two Ministers during their previous conversa tions ” The two ministers also agreed to continue conversa tions through different channels including through senior commander meetings Jaishankar nevertheless restated the need for “three points mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests ” These were earlier stated by the Indian minister at the 12th India ASEAN Ministerial Session of the Delhi Dialogue in June
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Many social interventions don’t have much effect when rigorously measured, but some are enormously effective This means that by finding a more effective solution to your chosen problem, you can often make 10 or 100 times as much progress per year of work To find these solutions, we advocate a ‘hits based approach’: find rules of thumb that increase the chance of the solution being among the most effective in an area, even if it also has a good chance of not working This often means working on research, policy change, or movement build ing Your ‘leverage’ is how many resources (e g money, attention, skill) you ’ re able to mobilise toward the solu tion To get more leverage on the most pressing problems, we often encourage people to work in government and policy; to pursue careers where they can mobilise others (e g media); to help people or organisations that have a lot of leverage; or to use their strengths to contribute indi rectly through donations or community building Most people only reach their peak productivity between the ages of 40 60, so we also encourage people to invest in their skills, connections, reputation etc to have more leverage in the future
Many global issues should get more attention, but as individuals we should look for the biggest gaps in existing efforts To do that, you can compare issues in terms of scale, neglectedness, and tractability
d i r e
Mum & newborn nearly die due to NHS’s lack of testing
pital after her waters broke at 34 weeks and was told she would be induced if she did n't start her labour naturally within 24 hours The next d a y P r e y a s t a r t e d h a v i n g contractions but knew this was not like her first labour P r e y a , w h o i s B r i t i s h Indian, had sepsis caused by Group B strep and the doc tors knew her baby was in trouble too She was rushed into theatre for an emergen cy C section under general anaesthetic Preya was unconscious when her daughter arrived Little Uma needed resusci tating numerous times in the minutes after she was born and was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit Preya said she and her husband were robbed of the n e w b o r n b u b b l e p a r e n t s should get when their chil dren are born
t f r o m 1
From 20 July, the law changed to enable health c a r e p r o f e s s i o n a l s o t h e r t h a n d o c t o r s t o c o m p l e t e D V L A m e d i c a l q u e s t i o n naires following notification of a medical condition that may affect an individual’s driving A driver must tell the DVLA if they have a driving licence and you develop a “notifiable” medical condi tion or disability According to Gov uk, Notifiable condi tions can include: Diabetes or taking insulin, Syncope (fainting), Heart conditions (including atrial fibrillation a n d p a c e m a k e r s ) , S l e e p a p n o e a , E p i l e p s y , S t r o k e s and Glaucoma S/he must also give up his/her licence if the doctor tells them to stop driving for 3 months or more or if the m e d i c a l c o n d i t i o n a f f e c t s their ability to drive safely
Liz's 2009 paper asked for patients to be charged for GP consultations
04 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian-voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 NORTH/MIDLANDS
Polls hav e con sist ent ly put C o n s e r v a t iv e l e a d e r sh i p f r o n t r u n n e r L iz T r u ss a s cle ar fa vour it e t o w in t he r ace for No 10, wit h polling e xpe rt Sir John Curt ice say in g he would be “ e xt raor di n ar ily surpr ise d” if she d oes n ot ta ke office T r u s s h a s n o w b e e n accused of showing “her true colours” in a 2009 paper pro moting government spend ing cuts including slashing doctors’ pay Truss called for patients to be charged to see their GP and for doctors’ pay to be slashed by 10% in a controversial report she co a u t h o r e w h e n s h w a s y c Reform think tank L a b o r s a i T r s s ’ s r e r 3 y e a r s a , e n t i t l e “ B a c k t o B l a c k ” , A Truss’s track record shows her true colours She is out of touch and out of step with the public "
, revealed that “the reality of h e r a g e n d a i s d e v a s t a t i n g cuts” In the document, the s e v e n a u t h o r s , i n c l u d i n g T r u s s , r e c o m m e n d e d c u t ting £28bn in a year by intro d u c i n g “ u s e r c h a r g e s f o r GPs” and reducing the pay of registrars, consultants, GPs and managers by 10% The report also called for t h e a b o l i t i o n o f u n i v e r s a l child benefit, the removal of the winter fuel payment, and the axing of several major military procurement pro j e c t s i n c l u d i n g t h e R o y a l Navy’s planned aircraft car riers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, w h i c h w e r e d e s c r i b e d a s “inappropriate defence pro jects” L a b o u r d e p u t y l e a d e r
Drivers need to inform DVLA for any medical conditions according to new law T h e D ri v e r an d V e h i cl e L i c ens i ng A g enc y h as w a rne d m o to r is ts th e y could face a £1, 000 fine if they get behind th e wh eel w i th o u t d ec l ari ng c ert ai n medical conditions
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The re is a one in 500 cha nce t h a t a n in t e r r a c ia l co u p le will have t wins wit h d iffer e nt sk in colours, a ccor ding t o popula tion g ene ticist Dr J i m W il so n f r o m t h e Un iver sit y of Edin burg h When Ayon and Azirah w e r e b o r n a t N o t t i n g h a m City Hospital in April this y e a r m u m C h a n t e l l e B r o u g h t o n , f r o m B u l w e l l , said she was shocked T h e 2 9 y e a r o l d ' s s o n
Preya Vaja has been left w ith P T S D a nd p o s t n ata l depression after she and her young d au ghter U ma alm ost died d uring childbirth Bo th mu m and d aug hter had sep sis caused by Group B S trep an infection carried by one in four wo men and easily detected by a sw ab test cost ing just £ 15 Group B Strep kills one baby a week in the UK and leaves another 50 each year with a life changing disabili ty But despite the number of deaths the NHS does not provide the test as part of its routine maternity care Today a new study in England led by the UKHSA has found that Black and A s i a n b a b i e s f a c e h i g h e r rates of group B Strep dis ease P r e y a , f r o m L e i c e s t e r , said she was taken into hos
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Favourite breakfast described by Sunak, removed from menu long back Rish i Sunak has rev ealed h i s g o t o M c D o n a l d’ s breakf ast o rder, on a TV a p p ea r an c e, a da y af t er being pict ured at a br anch of McDo nald’s Ho wev er, th e f ast fo od ch ain co n f ir med it sto pp ed selling th e it em two year s ag o He told the TV show hosts that his trip had been at about 7 45am, so he had ordered a bacon roll with ketchup, and pancakes He continued: “If I’m with my daughters then we get the w r a p W i t h m y e l d e s t daughter if I’m with her, then a wrap with a hash brown and everything in it is what we do ” B u t a M c D o n a l d ’ s spokesman has said that b r e a k f a s t w r a p s w e r e removed from its menu in M a r c h 2 0 2 0 , b e f o r e t h e m o v e w a s m a d e p e r m a nent earlier this year A source from Sunak’s campaign told that the for m e r C h a n c e l l o r o f t h e E x c h e q u e r a n d h i s c h i l d r e n o r d e r e d t h e w r a p s p r i o r t o t h e i r r e m o v a l from the menu, adding, “I t h i n k g i v e n h e ’ s b a r e l y seen his kids in the last two and a half years, it’s l i k e l y h e h a s n ’ t b e e n t o McDonald’s in that time ” Sunak’s appearance at the fast food outlet has been branded by some a bid to appear more rele vant to everyday voters a f t e r a c a m p a i g n t r a i l blunder saw him derided f o r w e a r i n g £ 4 9 0 s u e d e Prada suede loafers to a building site in Teesside last month
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Ayon was born with fair skin and green eyes, meanwhile h e r d a u g h t e r A z i r a h h a d dark skin and brown eyes "It was a shock how different t h e y a p p e a r e d , t h e y ' r e unique," Chantelle recalled Mum Chantelle says she looks white but is mixed race d u e t o h a v i n g a N i g e r i a n m a t e r n a l g r a n d d a d , w h i l s t dad Ashton is half Jamaican and half Scottish With the twins now four months old, Chantelle says the pair s complexions con trast more than when they were first born She said dad Ashton, a 2 9 y e a r o l d c o n s t r u c t i o n worker, jokes and asks about t h e m b e i n g t h e d e l i v e r y d r i v e r ' s c h i l d r e n A s h t o n said Ayon and Azirah are also different in terms of personality D e s p i t e m a n y p e o p l e ' s amazement at the twins, the phenomenon is not actually so unusual, according to one expert Amol Rajan to replace Jeremy Paxman as University Challenge host
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While in some cases you will still be allowed to drive, y o u m u s t l e t t h e D V L A know if your ability to drive s a f e l y i s a f f e c t e d I n t h e result of an accident, drivers that fail to do so could face prosecution
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A mol Rajan has confirm ed t h at h e w il l b e re p lac i ng J e rem y P a xm a n a s U niv ers ity Ch allenge h ost P axman announced that he w as leaving after 28 years R a j a n , w r i t i n g o n Instagram on Thursday, said he was “extremely humbled and excited” “This is a proper dream come true” He said he could “hon e s t l y s a y U n i v e r s i t y C h a l l e n g e i s m y f a v o u r i t e show I love it The music, the students, the format, the history, the shameless intel lectual ambition And I love being a quizmaster, as my m a t e s c a n a t t e s t S o t h i s feels massively humbling” “ J e r e m y P a x m a n h a s b e e n a g i a n t i n B r i t i s h b r o a d c a s t i n g a n d c u l t u r e ever since I can remember H e h a s t o t a l a u t h o r i t y behind that desk: something I will have to earn Thanks largely to him, the show, and format (which was imported from America 60 years ago) is stronger than ever ”
05AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 Boreen coug for three w r m ? k whingeekss t yContac d a cae hoou’vIf y nhs.uk/cacanc aS wHr NYoou ed boult ct ibu y nobabls prIt’ ors or mYweek /
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Fo r th e f a mil y o f Ro ha n Godh ania , 16 , ke en pianist and ch ess p lay er, th e mor n ing o f August 15, 2020, was no d if fer ent to a ny othe r weekend T he ta lente d 16 y e a r o l d s ch o o lb o y h a d sp ent the d ay e njoying h is su m m e r h o l i d a y s a t h is h o m e i n E a l in g , W e s t Lond on, be fore h e be gan to v om it l a te r t ha t e v ening , with h is par ents suspe cting a n a l l e r g ic r e a c ti o n t o a prot ein sh ake Just 48 hours later, his family were given the dev astating news that the tal e n t e d b o y c o u l d n o t b e saved after suffering severe b r a i n s w e l l i n g H e h a d “ g r a d u a l l y d e t e r i o r a t e d ” over the course of two days, and he passed away at West M i d d l e s e x H o s p i t a l a t 5 03pm on August 18, after a brain stem test conclud ed that he had died H i s p a r e n t s , P u s h p a a n d H i t e n d r a G o d h a n i a , were then left with the dif ficult decision to donate his o r g a n s i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r the traumatic experience of l o s i n g t h e i r s o n D e s p i t e R o h a n ’ s c a u s e o f d e a t h being unknown, the family felt “ pressure ” to grant use of his organs, although it had not been established what had caused his sud den and unexpected pass ing T h e i r g r i e f w a s c o m pounded 13 months later after they received a call f r o m N H S B l o o d a n d Transplant to inform them t h a t t h e r e c i p i e n t o f h i s organs had been rushed to hospital with seizures This was the first time the fami ly had heard of the disease that killed their son, a rare g e n e t i c d i s o r d e r c a l l e d ornithine transcarbamylase ( O T C d e f i c i e n c y ) w h i c h causes ammonia to build up in the blood B o t h R o h a n a n d t h e recipient’s case had been referred to the same inde pendent specialist, who by coincidence had managed to put two and two togeth e r N o w t h e f a m i l y a r e demanding to know why t h e i r s o n ’ s o r g a n s w e r e donated given that his sud d e n d e t e r i o r a t i o n a n d death had remained unex plained T h e s c h o o l b o y w a s admitted to the intensive care unit at midnight on August 17, with the family s t i l l c o m p l e t e l y u n a w a r e that there was a possibility he could die After he was fully sedated, his parents returned home for a few hours rest, only to be called at 5am to say that he had now been intubated on a ventilator I t w a s o n l y a f t e r t h e
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The proportion of A and A* grades awarded to private s c h o o l p u p i l s f e l l b y 1 2 4 percentage points to 58 per c e n t , w h i l s t a t comprehensive schools top grades fell by 8 7 percentage points to 30 7 per cent Last year, schools award ed teacher assessed grades following the cancellation of exams because of Covid dis ruption This saw a rise in top grades, with the propor tion of As and A*s handed out at private schools rising b y 9 3 p e r c e n t a g e p o i n t s compared with a 6 2 per centage point rise for com prehensives B a r n a b y L e n o n , t h e c h a i r m a n o f t h e I n d e p e n d e n t S c h o o l s ’ Council, said the fall was n o t b e c a u s e p r i v a t e s c h o o l s h a d b e e n o v e r l y g e n e r o u s i n p r o d u c i n g t e a c h e r a s s e s s e d g r a d e s the previous year H e a d d e d : “ O f q u a l l o o k e d a t t h a t q u e s t i o n themselves last year, they looked closely at schools w h o m i g h t h a v e b e e n t h o u g h t t o b e o v e r predicting and concluded they were satisfied that the g r a d e s t h a t w e r e a w a r d e d were correct " T h e S u t t o n T r u s t , a n e d u c a t i o n c h a r i t y , raised concerns that regional gaps were g r o w i n g a n d t h e differences in levels o f a c h i e v e m e n t a t p r i v a t e s c h o o l s c o m p a r e d w i t h s t a t e s c h o o l s a n d c o l l e g e s w e r e s t i l l above 2019 levels In fact, for the first time on record, teenagers from t h e m o s t a f f l u e n t backgrounds were the least likely of any socio economic g r o u p t o h a v e r e c e i v e d a university offer P r e s t i g i o u s u n i v e r s i t i e s s u c h a s O x f o r d a n d C a m b r i d g e h a v e a l s o p l e d g e d t o a d m i t m o r e s t u d e n t s f r o m disadvantaged backgrounds, l e a d i n g t o f e a r s o f d i s c r i m i n a t i o n a g a i n s t p u p i l s f r o m f e e p a y i n g schools
still above 2019 levels
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Top universities await John Lyon students after w ill once again be their around country to after picked up their quite brilliant It is encourag ing to learn that whilst picture shows results, John Lyon continues to see excellent results year His excellent sense has equip ped him w ith abundant key He is particu larly concerned with stud and has champ the sch stud scheme Vinay said, “I’m delighted with my results I have had the privilege of serving as Head Boy this year and I am so proud of my cohort for t h t r e s u l t s I w o u l d l i k e t o t h a n k t h e school for all their support the teachers have been noth ing short of brilliant I am now looking forward to uni versity life at Warwick ” H a r s h H i n g o r a n i h a s been awarded A* A* A and will be studying mechanical and acoustical engineering at University of Southampton As Deputy Head Boy he has b e e n r e s p o n s i b l e f o r c o o r d i n a t i n g p r e f e c t t e a m ’ s work with younger members of the school, focusing his s u p p o r t o n s c i e n c e a n d i n t e r a c t i v e l e a r n i n g O n a more practical level, he also led a group of students on a Greenpower project to build and race a motor powered car Harsh told us, “I’m abso lutely thrilled! The support f r o m t h e s c h o o l h a s b e e n immense I am grateful for my lessons, the opportuni ties afforded to me and the university applications pro cess I’m now eagerly looking forward to a new setting on the south coast my first t i m e l i v i n g a w a y f r o m London!” Fares Shehata achieved straight A* A* A* A* and will go on to study computer sci ence Fares, a senior prefect, was a member of the Head Boy team, responsible for co ordinating Excellence events and STEAM activities Fares told the newsweek ly, “I feel very proud of my r e s u l t s a n d I ’ m e x t r e m e l y relieved they are as good as expected I am happy to see my hard work has paid off The support of teachers defi nitely enabled my straight A* results The sixth form team h a v e c o n t i n u o u s l y a d v i s e d on the best choices to make and it this has proved to be most useful Many thanks to my parents for trusting me to work hard ” A y a a n H a n e e f w a s awarded A* A* A and will t a k e u p a p l a c e a t t h e L o n d o n S c h o o l o f Economics, currently third in the UK university stand ings, to study philosophy and economics Ayaan, who has played tennis at internation al level and reached the top 100 in the UK, volunteered at a primary school, assisting young children with maths though a John Lyon partner ship He has also generously fundraised for a number of important global issues and i n i t i a t i v e s , i n c l u d i n g t h e impact of Covid on vulnera ble communities “I am thrilled that my two years of hard work has p a i d o f f T h e s c h o o l h a s guided me very well and the staff have been very support ive, especially during Covid a n d l o c k d o w n s I ’ m r e a l l y e x c i t e d t o s t a r t u n i v e r s i y and I would like to thank my mum and dad for pushing me and helping me through out my school life,” he said Dev Patel achieved A A A and an additional A in the E P Q ( E x t e n d e d P r o j e c t Q u a l i f i c a t i o n ) H e w i l l b e heading across the capital to t h e L o n d o n S c h o o l o f Economics to study politics During his time at school, D e v w a s a p r e f e c t w h o helped organise events and school tours He has a partic ular interest in UK voting patterns and is also a keen footballer, representing the school on a number of occa sions Dev said, “I was so happy and relieved when I opened my results I’m very grateful for the support of my teach ers throughout my time at John Lyon together with my parents, they have helped me achieved my potential ”
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Ayaan with Head of Sixth Form Stephen Mepham Harsh Patrick and Vinay looking at their results
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Harsh Patrick and Vinay looking at their results
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06 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022
Eighty-five students at Brampton Manor set to embark at Oxbridge B rampton M anor Ac ademy i n E a s t Ha m , i n e a s t Lond on , has regula rly seen i ts s tude nts s ecure plac es a t e i th e r C a m b r i d ge o r Oxford, and this y ear, 85 out of 470 w ill follow T h e s c h o o l p i c k e d u p c o n s i d e r a b l e a t t e n t i o n o n Twitter as one of the plat f o r m ’ s t o p t r e n applauding individu al students on their results accrued hundreds of likes Nearly 90% of year 13s at the academy 430 students a A A grades Executive principal, Dr Dayo Olukoshi OBE, said: “ W a proud of what our students have achieved They have shown incredible resilience ensure the disruption expe rienced over the past couple of years has not halted path students achieve
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with sufficient effort and determination ” I n 2 0 2 1 , 5 5 O x b r i d g e offers were held by students a t t h e a c a d e m y , w i t h 5 1 received in 2020
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New drive to bring in thousands of overseas workers O v e r se a s r e c r u i t s a r e exp ected to be bro ught in on a “ ma ss scal e ” as t he hea lth se rvi ce strug gles t o fil l va ca ncie s T h e g o v e r n m e n t i s working on plans to recruit thousands of foreign work ers from countries such as India and the Philippines to plug staffing gaps in the health and social care sec tor, according to reports N u r s e s a n d o t h e r healthcare staff are needed b e f o r e t h e w i n t e r , w h e n s e r v i c e s w i l l c o m e u n d e r even greater pressure Steve Barclay, the health secre t a r y , h a s i n s t r u c t e d a n international taskforce to help achieve this P a p e r w o r k r e l a ti n g t o the new drive for overseas workers, seen by the news paper, said ministers had decided that “international recruitment” was one solu tion to the staffing short fall The health and care visa could be used to bring in staff to fill some of the 160,000 vacancies P o s t B r e x i t i m m i g r a t i o n r u l e s r e q u e s t e d a n d implemented by the British government have made it m o r e c o m p l i c a t e d a n d costly for European health care workers to move to the UK The problem is being compounded by a slump in a c c e p t a n c e s o n n u r s i n g d e g r e e s t h i s y e a r , w h i c h u n i o n s h a v e w a r n e d w i l l worsen the staffing crisis in health and social care Projections suggest an extra 475,000 jobs will be needed in health and an extra 490,000 jobs in social care by the early part of the next decade
recipient’s treatment team at the Royal Free hospital contacted the same expert involved in Rohan’s case that the two were connect ed and his official cause of d e a t h w a s r e c o r d e d a s OTC deficiency His family n o w s a y t h e y f e e l “betrayed” as the process of immediately donating his o r g a n s r o b b e d t h e m o f t h e i r c h a n c e t o d i s c o v e r w h a t h a d h a p p e n e d t o their son, and put another individual at risk The second anniversary of his death will be made the more difficult his fami ly say, as his friends go to collect their A Level results and make plans for univer s i t y i n S e p t e m b e r T h e y and a few other close fami ly friends have organised a vigil in Rohan’s memory o u t s i d e t h e W e s t Middlesex Hospital, where they can gather together and remember his life As his funeral was restricted b y C o v i d 1 9 r e g u l a t i o n s , this will be the first time several of them can come t o g e t h e r a n d r e m e m b e r the talented schoolboy
Family feels betrayed after donating 16 year old's organs
The transfer of ownership ceremony took place after Glasgow City Council’s City Administration Committee approved a recommendation made in A Repatriation and Spoliation to return 51 items to India, Nigeria and the Cheyenne River and Pine Ridge Lakota Sioux tribes in South Dakota, US H C I L Glasgow Life Museums have been working on the repatriation of the Indian artefacts since January 2021 The antiquities include a ceremonial Indo Persian tal war (sword) which is believed to date back to the 14th century and an 11th century carved stone door jamb taken from a Hindu temple in Kanpur Six of the objects were removed from temples and shrines in different states in Northern India during the 19th century, while the seventh was purchased fol lowing a theft from the owner All seven artefacts were gifted to Glasgow’s collections D u n c a n D o r n a n , H e a d o f M u s e u m s a n d Collections, Glasgow Life, said, “Glasgow has led repa triation efforts in the UK since 1998, when the city agreed to return the Lakota Sacred Ghost Dance shirt to the Wounded Knee Survivors’ Association The transfer of owner ship of the Indian antiquities sym b o l i s e s a s i g n i f i c a n t s t e p f o r Glasgow, with the city continuing its positive repatriation history by ensuring these cultural artefacts are placed back in the hands of their legitimate owners
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Glasgow Life Museums become the first to repatriate artefacts to India
Glasg ow Life M useum s hav e sig ned an agreement with India wh ich w ill see it become the first U K museu m services to repatriate artefacts to India A transfer of ownership ceremony to return seven Indian antiquities was held on August 19, 2022, which was attended by Glasgow Life, the charity which manages the city’s museum collections and dig nitaries from the High Commission of India Following the meeting at Kelvingrove Art Gallery a M Archaeological Survey of India delegates were given Commission General Edinburgh
of India,
Bailie Annette Christie, Chair of Glasgow Life and C o n v e n o r f o r C u l t u r e , S p o r t a n d I n t e r n a t i o n a l Relations for Glasgow City Council, said, “The repatri ation of these objects is of great historical and cultural importance to both Glasgow and India, so it’s a privi lege to welcome Indian dignitaries to our city for such a momentous occasion “The agreement reached with the Government of India is another example of Glasgow’s commitment to addressing past wrongs and remaining transparent when explaining how objects arrived in the city’s museum collections ” Sujit Ghosh, Acting High Commissioner, High Commission of India, said, “We are delighted that our partnership with Glasgow Life has resulted in a deci sion to restitute Indian artefacts from Glasgow muse ums to India These artefacts are an integral part of our civilisational heritage and will now be sent back home We express our appreciation to all the stake holders who made this possible, especially Glasgow Life and Glasgow City Council ”
Priti Raichura have been interviewing those who were in Uganda Rajiv is one of the first British Asian reporters who has remained in the industry and continues to do a remarkable job in telling powerful stories They spoke mov i n g l y a b o u t t h e i r m e m o r i e s o f Uganda, the good ones and the bad Some of the interview clips will be played on the night Priti & R a j i v h a v e a l s o b e e n v i s i t i n g schools across Leicester to raise a w a r e n e s s a b o u t t h e e x p u l s i o n The children have been fascinated and keen to ask lots of interesting a n d s e a r c h i n g q u e s t i o n s T h e e v e n i n g , U g a n d a n E x o d u s Movement of The People, will be a fitting tribute to a generation who left the Pearl of Africa 50 years ago Their resilience and determination s h o u l d n e v e r b e f o r g o t t e n A l l money raised on the night will be donated to the Auro Foundation which operates a vocational college in Eastern Uganda giving students practical skills to become self suffi cient The event will take place at Winstanley House in Leicester on Saturday, 10 September 2022 For tickets and more informa tion contact Rajiv Popat on 07973 461165 or Priti Raichura on 07866 727181 Event organiser Rajiv Popat
of India, London; and BijaySelvaraj, Consul General of the Consulate
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Dhiren Katwa A f u n dr ai s e r e v en t i n Leicester next month to mark the 50th anniver s ary of the Ugandan exo dus is expec ted to bring together scores of people from home and abroad T h e e x p u l s i o n w a s devasting and traumatic for those who witnessed horrific scenes in the days and weeks that followed the announce ment More than 70,000 people migrated to various parts of the world and indeed Britain Cities like Leicester became a new home for those who were forced to flee a country they loved Many came with nothing but have not only turned their lives around, they've helped to contribute massively to the local and national economy We only have to look at Belgrave Road, also known as the Golden Mile, to see how businessmen and women from Uganda have trans formed the area Every year, the biggest Diwali festivities outside of India take place in Belgrave, thanks t o t h e h a r d w o r k o f U g a n d a n Asians The area is now a mecca for shoppers from around the UK It’s a success story that will be cele b r a t e d i n s t y l e w i t h A f r i c a n d a n c e r s , S w a h i l i & B o l l y w o o d singers and mouth watering cui sine with an East African twist Lord Jitesh Gadhia will be a g u e s t s p e a k e r a s p e o p l e c o m e together to remember and reunite
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“Credit must be given to the High Commission of India and British High Commission for their coopera tion and support We look forward to continuing our work with the Indian authorities to deliver the safe return of these artefacts ”
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Uganda fundraiser event in Leicester
07AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 I do t o’go n o y o tS S an ome e me pecs mor mto essvr a a home isi vr e ecsa ey W a Sp e visi .uk/Ho escouk/Hoevrta sp e eoootrtr f oy r p fp s s eople who ar p it a c e unab . See if y ou should kno t hyTt hough is t or o eligible f t ot ge li ble t me ow co.uk/HomeVecsaversails visit sptor full deF Visits
Over the last 8 months, ITV news reporter Rajiv Popat and entrepreneur a n d r a d i o b r o a d c a s t e r
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t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o v i e w t h e o b j e c t s a t G l a s g o w Museums Resource Centre, where they are safely stored The delegation included: Sujit Ghosh, Acting H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r , H i g h C o m m i s s i o n o f I n d i a , L o n d o n ; J a s p r e e t S u k h i j a , F i r s t S e c r e t a r y , H i g h
Rohit Vadhwana Ga l l u p d i d a s u r v e y o f t h e American workfo rce The re sult showed tha t 33% of the wo rk f orce wa s 'a ctiv ely enga ge d', mea ning g enuinely inte re ste d and com mitt ed to t heir wo rk, but 16% of th e wo rkf orce was ' actively dise n g ag ed ' , which me ans ge nuine ly disinter este d and dis likes th eir job The re maining 51% o f the workfor ce was just 'e ngag ed ' , im plying t hat the y were pr esent in th e wor kspa ce , neithe r com mitt ed nor d isliking
The studies done by Gallup found that 33% of active ly engaged workers and professionals bring positive changes to revolutionize businesses They contribute positively to increasing productivity and efficiency The 16% of actively disengaged people hate their job, but still, continue only because they have some kind of compulsion to do so These people sometimes bring a negative impact on the overall productivity and work culture They block constructive suggestions and always find difficulties in pursuing anything innovative They are dangerous for the growth and progress of the corpo ration However, the majority of the workers i e 51% were just present for the job, meaning spending their time without any commitment or interest in the work They even don't bother to bring negative impact or block any growth These people are working in the organisation without contributing much They don't deny the given job but also don't take up anything on their own They mostly complete the job but at a very slow pace and without much attention to efficiency and accuracy This is the lot of the workers who would say, 'no one told me to do it, or, it's not my job' They never take responsibil ity and never take any proactive steps Finding excuses and reasons for incompetence is their best skill
online deal H o m e Ba rg a in s s h o p p ers w ere left gobsmacked after seeing bottles of posh show er g el worth £ 60 being sold for just 99p Barg ain stores o f te n s el l p ro d u c ts th a t a p p ea r si m i l ar to m o r e e xp e ns i v e i te m s, bu t t h is o ne is the real deal One customer was keen to share the news on social media to make other shop pers aware of the fantastic deal Stacey Betts spotted bottles of Kiwi Botanicals Nourishing Shower Gel for Women in Manuka Honey s c e n t b e i n g s o l d f o r l e s s than a pound T h e s e b o t t l e s u s u a l l y have an RRP of £60 saving you a whopping £59 01 The woman shared the news in F a c e b o o k g r o u p E x t r e m e Couponing and Bargains H o w e v e r , t h e r e w e r e many who were horrified at the thought of splashing out £60 on a bottle of shower gel Claire Nicol said: "Who would buy a bottle of show er gel for £60? Even Molton b r o w n d o e s n ’ t c o s t t h a t J u l i e F i n l a y s a i d : " T h o s e original prices are mad! just p r o v e s t o m e h o w m u c h profit these big companies are making and what fools we are to cough up the full amount!" Chemical leak in East London based primary school A large emergenc y response de s c en de d on a n ea s t Lo n d on pr i m a r y s c ho ol af ter se ve ra l m em b ers of staff began feeling unw ell i n a po t en t i a l c he m i c al lea k Ambulance, police and f i r e c r e w s w e r e s e n t t o P r i n c e s s M a y P r i m a r y School in Stoke Newington recently following reports People affected were being a s s e s s e d b y p a r a m e d i c s with several coming down with headaches, while thir ty people had been evacuat ed from the building Emergency responders were first called just after 11 20am, prompting a wide range of resources to be s e
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08 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian-voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022
The nostalgic South Asian sweet shop now has over 20 stores across UK M r M o h am m ed A l i K h a n o p e ne d th e d o o r s o f h is h umble South A sian sw eet s h o p in L o nd o n i n t h e 1 96 0 s S in c e th e n i t h as g row n to become one of th e m o st l o v ed s h o p s fo r t h e com munity full o f a v ariety o f Ind ian sw eets you could n't get anywh ere else F o u n d e r K h a n n a m e d the business after the city in India where he was born The story goes that he start ed from humble dwellings in H i g h H o l b o r n i n 1 9 6 4 before opening up his first s t o r e i n 1 9 6 5 i n E u s t o n , Drummond Street a store you can still visit today Mr Khan also sold his h o m e m a d e s w e e t s f r o m f a m i l y r e c i p e s i n I n d i a b e f o r e h e m o v e d t o London, now Ambala has become one of the most p r e s t i g i o u s c o n f e c t i o n e r y and savoury brands in the world Muslim History Tours f o u n d e r , A b d u l M a a l i k T a i l o r r e v e a l e d : " I i n t e r viewed the owner ’ s son for the Camden tour It all start e d o f f f r o m a f l a t i n H o l b o r n , a n d t h e o w n e r used to travel to different p a r t s o f L o n d o n w i t h a steam pot and serving spoon over his shoulder by the bus! The son also told me the queues used to stretch all t h e w a y d o w n t o E u s t o n Station at Eid time This was c o n f i r m e d b y a n a d u l t attendee on my tour who remembers as a child wait by the station!"
For many other South Asians like myself, Ambala is a store we grew up with W h e t h e r i t w a s t o t r e a t yourself to a few pieces of s w e e t s w h e n y o u s p o t a store, or to take to some o n e s h o u s e a s a g i f t Ambala was a regular trip Over the 70s and 80s, t h e b u s i n e s s e x p a n d e d and now it has over 20 stores across the country with more than half of those just in London i n c l u d i n g S o u t h a l l , T o o t i n g , W h i t e c h a p e l and Walthamstow A n E a s t L o n d o n e r said the shop felt like a con n e c t i o n t o P a k i s t a n : " W e m o v e d t o E n g l a n d ( E a s t Ham) from Pakistan when I w a s s e v e n y e a r s o l d a n d there was an Ambala shop n e a r b y I r e m e m b e r h o w happy my parents were find i n g t h e s h o p , b e c a u s e i t reminded them of home It f e l t l i k e t h e s h o p w a s a source of comfort in a new strange country " Labour's lead in polls with decade's highest margin
The government’s rent ing bill also plans to abolish “ no fault” section 21 notices a step regarded as positive by housing campaigners and widely welcomed by them A spokesperson for the L o n d o n R e n t e r s U n i o n , which organises tenants in the capital, said: “Rents in London and many parts of Britain have increased 15 per cent in the past year, and our members are reporting staggering rent rises of as much as 20 per cent, 30 per cent or even 50 per cent Landlords and estate agents are clearly using the cost of living crisis as an excuse to squeeze tenants and boost profits
As the cost o f liv ing crisis co n ti nu e s to w o r se n f o r households across the coun try , th e p o l l co n d u ct ed be tw ee n A u g u st 1 6 1 7 , fo u nd 4 3 p er cen t w o u ld vote for Labour T h e T o r i e s l a g g e d behind with 28, followed by the Lib Dems with 11, the Greens with seven, and the SNP with five L a b o u r ’ s l e a d i s t h e l a r g e s t i t h a s h a d s i n c e F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 3 a n d i s a n increase of five per cent on the last poll which was con ducted between August 9 10 L a b o u r h a s l e d t h e Tories in YouGov’s polling since December 9, 2021 and in a further worrying sign for the Government, one in ten of those who voted for Boris Johnson in 2019, have now said they would vote for the Opposition The poll comes ahead of the announcement of the n e w p r i m e m i n i s t e r o n September 5, although a Sky News poll published during the week showed that Liz Truss had a 32 point lead over her rival, Rishi Sunak A sample of size of 1,696 was asked for the poll A d a m M c D o n n e l l , YouGov’s research director, said: “These latest results should be very worrying for the Conservative Party and indicate that the next prime minister will have work to do in restoring public trust on handling the cost of liv ing crisis "
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Patient visited hospital accident and emergency department for resolving dandruff One o f the at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital's emer g ency consultants revealed th e v i si t as h e s p oke ou t about the pressures h is staff w ere under Consultant Dave Kirby, the deputy medical director a t t h e B e d f o r threshold at which society seeks medical care has con tinued to reduce "Now people want to see a doctor, a nurse a macist about pretty much anything There's no such thing as a quiet time of day H Luton Borough Council's social care review group s e d t h e p e r f o r mance of the emergency d e p a r t m e n t , w h i c h i s undergoing a £25m reno vation Mr Kirby said patient n u m b e r s h a d r o c k e t e d from one or two an hour to 15 or 20 an hour at night time A s k e d a b o u t a v e r a g e w a i t i n g t i m e s , M r K i r b y replied: "It depends on how many people turn up, the c u b i c l e s p a c e a v a i l a b i l i t y , and a patient's condition If y o u ' r e d e s p e r a t e l y s i c k , there's no waiting time "If you arrive with dan d r u f f , l i k e s o m e o n e t w o weeks ago, you'll wait a long time It varies between half an hour and three to three and a half hours Mr Kirby said there had been a big rise in alcohol a n d d r u g r e l a t e d p r o b lems, and in paediatric c a s e s , t o g e t h e r w i t h a massive increase in men tal health issues D a v i d C a r t e r , t h e c h i e f e x e c u t i v e o f t h e B e d f o r d s h i r e H o s p i t a l s NHS Foundation Trust, said, "We're not happy w i t h t h e c u r r e n t p e r f o r mance level We need to get that back up The good news is the £25m we're spending will provide significant extra capacity, with more space and cubicles to meet grow ing demand "
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Government's new reforms beneficial for landlords H ousing camp aigners have so unded the alarm o ver go v ernment plans to make it easier fo r landlo rds to evict tenants who fall behind o n their rent The government wants to change the law so that evictions can take place if s o m e o n e r e p e a t e d l y f a l l s into arrears even if they catch up on payments
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While it's very clear that the professionals who are actively engaged are the most preferred ones and those who are actively disengaged must be avoided, the fact is that the organisation suffers most from the third kind of lot which is neither actively engaged nor actively dis engaged Their non commital attitude and below stan dard performance bring the overall efficiency of the organisation down They stay in the firm to pay their bills and get a salary, keeping in mind their own comfort rather than the progress of the institution In case you are also part of any organisation, having a chance to look at a large number of co workers, observe their attitude and analyse in terms of these three categories Also it will be useful to look at your own way of working, and bringing the performance to the 'actively engaged' standards so that you and the employer both are benefitted most out of it
d s h i r e t r u s t , s a i d : " T h e t o l e r a n c e a n d
The p l a n , p a r t o f t h e R e n t e r s R e f o r m B i l l , c o m e s a s homelessness services brace for a surge in people falling b e h i n d o n p a y m e n t s t h i s winter due to skyrocketing energy prices Under the current rules a court will only grant a pos session order to a landlord if their tenant is two months behind on their rent when t h e i r c a s e i s h e a r d T h i s g i v e s t i m e f o r t e n a n t s t o make up lost rent ahead of the hearing, to avoid being made homeless U n d e r t h e n e w l a w , which was lobbied for by landlords, courts will have to grant a possession order if someone falls significant ly behind their rent three times in a three year period even if they are paid up w h e n t h e c a s e c o m e s t o court
Shoppers amazed at an n t t o t h e s c h o o l o n Barretts Grove Footage from the scene shows at least three ambu lances, two fire engines and three police cars attending I n a s t a t e m e n t , a London Ambulance Service s a i d : " W e w e r e c a l e d a t 1 1 2 3 a m t o e p o s o f a n incident at Princess May Primary School, Hackney W e s e n t a n u m b e r o f r e s o u r c e s t o t h e s c e n e , including two ambulance crews, a medic in a fast response car, an incident response officer and mem bers of our hazardous area response team (HART) "
Perks of being 'actively engaged' (Expressed opinions are personal)
The government says it has come forward with the p l a n i n r e s p o n s e t o c o n cerns raised by landlords, and that it does not want t h e m f a c i n g “ u n d u e b u r dens”
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I I s, that sense ing at home w r er I . Even w n I ed t away, I’ ways come back. Because I know ar nd ery c r I’ find mem ies I’ve yet make, times I’ ver f t Lo in t crowd at t p l, y make me el like o in a m lion. Discover free activities Make a date with London 09AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022
The events that I bring to you are the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan on 6th and 9th August 1945 Germany had already surrendered on 8th May 1945 This gave the western nations (the Allies) the opportunity to focus all their fire power on Japan Of course, if the Allies wanted, they could have used the nuclear bombs on mainland Europe, but the inherent racism in Europe and the USA guided them to test their new technology on those who they considered inferior On 6th August 1945 they dropped ‘Little Boy’ (name given to the 1st nuke) on Hiroshima The esti mated death toll was 129000, most of them civilians Three days later they dropped ‘Fat Boy’ (name of the next nuke) on Nagasaki where some 226000 people died, again mostly civilians In total the Allies had selected four targets, Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata, and Nagasaki all chosen because they were large urban centres The war strategy of the Allies was to devastate urban centres, even if it meant killing the civilian population So the next time any western nation dares to talk about ‘not targeting civilians’, just remind them of this fact President Truman then warned Japan: "If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth Behind this air attack will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and power as they have not yet seen and with the fighting skill of which they are already well aware " American hell fire was now a reality We should always remember it was the USA (with h e l p f r o m U K a n d C a n a d a ) t h a t u s e d n u c l e a r weapons for the first time It was the west that start ed the nuclear arms race because it became clear in 1945 that unless you also possess a nuclear capability, you can never trust any western nation not to use such power against you Today, thanks to the mad ness of western nations, in particular USA, France, and UK, the world now has more than 13000 nuclear bombs Each bomb many times more powerful than the ones exploded at Hiroshima and Nagasaki
A r y a , w h o u n d e r t o o k the challenge as part of a team called Ryders, put out a video to give an idea of t h e c h a l l e n g e t h e y w e r e about to face up to Actor Suriya of ‘Jai Bhim‘ fame had unveiled the team’s jer sey for the event To complete the chal lenge, the team, comprising 12 members, rode a gruel ing 1,540 km at an eleva t i o n I t h a d t o b i k e f o r a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 2 5 h o u r s A p a r t f r o m r i s i n g u p t o such challenges, the actor will soon be seen on the screens in Shakti Soundar Rajan’s ‘Captain’
The attack on the India born British American novelist and author, Salman Rushdie on August 12 at a literary event in New York, serves as a stark reminder that freedom of speech is a right, and we dare not take it for granted
While flu epidemic is common health hazard every w i n t e r , C o v i d h a s c o m p l i c a t e d t h e r i s k , m a k i n g o u r immune system weak, thus more liable to suffer from whatever nasty bugs winter may throw at us! Elderly, dis able and those with chronic illness will be first to be hospi talized It is estimated that 20,000 more deaths may be record ed this winter, compared to normal annual figure This may put unintended pressure on our ailing NHS our politi cians are unable and unwilling to bring it in line with most e f f i c i e n t N H S t h a t p e o p l e o f F r a n c e , G e r m a n y a n d Scandinavian countries enjoy They work on different principles, some use insurance while others allow patients to go private if they are able and willing to pay the differ ence between NHS and private cost We are brain washed into believing that NHS is free at the point of delivery, even though we are obliged to pay hefty sum for our dental treatment, exceeding £500 in many cases, besides paying for eye test and prescription charges I find it difficult to understand why this anomaly! I h o p e w h e n t h e n e x t g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n d a t e i s announced, all political parties will make it clear in their manifesto how they are going to fund and improve NHS that legs behind most EU countries in waiting time and efficiency! After all overburden NHS is a death sentence to elderly Bhu pendra M Gandhi
The fact that a work of literature may contain elements that some readers may find offensive, surely doesn't entitle critics to ban others from reading it and certainly doesn't jus tify passing a sentence of death on the writer, whether in his/her presence or absence Arbitrary and oppressive restrictions on the right to express ourselves are reasserting themselves worldwide, especially in totalitarian states and ones ruled or dominated by clerics We mustn t let the vile attempt on the life of a gifted, tal ented and courageous writer deter us from giving expression to our own creative energies Salman Rushdie has faced several death threats ever since his novel 'The Satanic Verses' was published in 1988, as many Muslims considered it to be blasphemous Ju bel D'Cruz Mum bai, India
It was a lovely sunny morning on 15 August and many devo tees and well wishers to show their love and respect to India’s 75th Independence anniversary went to the Sanatan Mandir to attend India’s flag hoisting ceremony The priest performed a puja of the tricolour, chanting of holy tradi tional mantra After finishing the puja, a procession with beating drums headed outside by singing patriotic song of India and the priest held the India flag on a Thali (plate) At Vallabh Chalk, India’s flag was hoisted followed by salute and India’s national anthem Devotees spoke about significance and importance of freedom struggle and how it was achieved by untold sacrifices of selfless leaders In the evening my friend Mahendrabhai and Kalaben Patel, Yashubhai and Vinodaben Patel and I went to Scarborough (Toronto) civic centre to attend another very well organised 75th anniversary of India’s independence where Toronto Mayor Respected John Tory was the chief guest He hoisted the Indian flag and all attendees sang Indian and Canadian national anthems Suresh and Bh av na Patel M arkham , Canad a Tamil actor completes 1,540 km cycling event
Booming India Since its independence in 1947, India has spectacularly managed to progress from a “third world country” to a rapidly developing one in 2022 Asian Voice must be con gratulated for turning the spotlight on the country’s many remarkable achievements over the last 75 years as India continues to roar ahead on all fronts In the words of the late American president Ronald Reagan “ you ain’t seen nothing yet ” y Otter Tam i l a ct or A ry a w ho i s known for hi s fitnes s and hi s l o ve f o r c y c l i n g, announ ced he had s uc cess f ul l y c o m p l et e d th e L o n d o n E d i n b u r g h London 1,540 k m c yc li ng event with his team Expressing his joy on Twitter, the actor exulted: “ S u c c e s s f u l ( l y ) c o m p l e t e d L o n d o n E d i n b u r g h London 1,540 km cycling event with my team One of t h e m o s t c h a l l e n g i n g e n d e a v o u r s i n m y l i f e Thanks to my family and f r i e n d s f o r t h e i r s u p p o r t and belief! Ready for the next challenge!”
n E n g l a n d a n d Wales, according to the lat est population estimates D i a n a F a w c e t t , c h i e f e x e c u t i v e o f t h e c h a r i t y , s a i d : “ T h i s s t e e p r i s e i n
Record number of blackmail cases reported to police
Last year in En gland and Wales , a record number of bl a c k ma i l of f en c e s we r e reported to polic e, figures show Charity Victim Support is urging the Government and police to take on the rising number of “sextor tion” cases seriously In the year to March, Home Office figures show p o l i c e f o r c e s a c r o s s England and Wales record e d 2 2 , 0 6 4 b l a c k m a i l offences, more than double t h e n u m b e r i n 2 0 1 9 2 0 , before the coronavirus pan demic Cumbria Constabulary recorded 6 7 offences for e v e r y 1 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e l a s t year the highest rate of all f o r c e s i reports of blackmail is seri only 1% of cases resulting in a charge, we risk victims losing trust in the criminal justice system “It is essential that vic tims of blackmail are given p a c t i c a l a n d e m o t i o n a l support to help them recov er and seek justice “Police forces and the Government must take this crime seriously and get to the bottom of why we ’ re seeing this increase ” A H o m e O f f i c e spokesperson said: “We are supporting police by fund ing crime prevention mea sures, including equipping police with better technolo gy to help catch more crim inals “We are working with partners across the criminal justice system to increase the number of cases being charged and prosecuted ”
Could coming winter be the ultimate test for NHS?
Enlightening the Power of Speech R i g V e da s a y s , “ O n e s ho u l d r e s p e c t h is m otherland, his cul ture and his mo ther tongue bec ause they are givers of hap piness” Languag e is the road ma p of cul ture, it te lls y ou where its p eopl e c ome from. Mothe r tongu e e nc omp asses m ore than jus t a la ng uage and inclu des a person ’ s p ersonal, so cial a nd c ultural identity “Learn Gujara ti”, a sp ecial initia tive by Gujarat Sa mac har, written by the ir C onsulting Editor, Jyo tsnaben Sha h, to revive and spread the val ue of the m other tong ue and culture to our co ming ge neration. Com e jo in this ca mpa ign to em power the im porta nce of the Gu jarati langua ge For mo re details, check pa ge no 05 of this week's Gujarat Sama char
So where are we in August 2022? Ukraine is on fire The same Allies are involved in a proxy war against their new target Russia However, this time the ‘ enemy ’ is not without its own power to cause mayhem to the nexus of European Allies The bear has been poked time and again, and if there is one thing the west should be mindful about, Russia is not Japan of 1945 It has the capability, and it has a leader who can and would embark on a nuclear war if push comes to shove It does not matter which side you support One thing is for sure, a miscalculation by the west will result in hell fire raining down on every major urban centre in Europe In 1945 Germany and Japan were brought to their knees by weapons of mass destruction and over whelming power Today the USA enjoys a partner ship and a friendship with those very same nations Let us hope we don’t have to invite our mutual destruction before we can find a way to be on better terms with Russia Remember, war does not determine who is right, it only leaves behind those who will write their ver sion of history
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Independence Day celebration
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10 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 We are grateful to all letter writers for more and more versatile letters well within word limit Please keep contributing as always If you are new, then write to Shefali at shefali.saxena@abplgroup.com • Kapil D udakia American Hell Fire-Lest we Forget K A P I L’ S K H I C H A D I
Attack on Rushdie
The month of August has bec ome central to the his tory of humanity Look back over 5000 years and you w ill be abl e to pick out even ts that have changed humanity and the destin y of the world
It seems we are going through one crisis after another and at this crucial time, the government is in hibernation when it should be most active and looking after the long suffer ing public First it was Brexit, then Covid followed by elec tion of the leader of the Conservative party, still in progress, thus a new, inexperienced PM will take charge at one of the most crucial time in nation’s history!
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One year under Taliban: Remember the Afghan people Ruchi Ghanashyam
11AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www asian voice com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022
Nearly every Afghan embassy said that the Taliban have “failed” to deliver in the past year and have called for reimposing the travel ban on the Taliban leadership by United Nations India has a civilizational relationship with the people of Afghanistan Many of us grew up with the image of the Pathan in Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Kabuliwala' India has, therefore, continued its humanitarian support to Afghanistan In order to closely monitor and coordinate the efforts of vari ous stakeholders for the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance and in continua tion of the engagement with the Afghan people, an Indian technical team reached K a b u l i n J u n e t h i s y e a r a n d h a s b e e n deployed in the Embassy there, an MEA statement announcement
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In May, the Taliban decreed women to cover their faces in pub lic and instructed them to remain in their homes except in cases of necessity Women are banned from travelling long distances without a male chaperone, and unchaper oned women are increasingly being denied access to essential services In a statement, t h e E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r o f U N W o m e n bemoaned that decades of progress on gen der equality and women ’ s rights have been wiped out in mere months She was harsh on the “Taliban’s meticulously constructed p o l i c i e s o f i n e q u a l i t y ” t h a t h a v e s e t Afghanistan apart as the only country in the world where girls are banned from going to high school The Taliban blame a lack of female teachers and the need to arrange the segre gation of facilities While primary school education has been permitted for girls, and some public universities reopened for both men and women in February, women's par ticipation in the labour force has dropped since the Taliban takeover last summer, according to the World Bank I t w a s t e r r o r i s m e m a n a t i n g f r o m
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Ayear ago, as we in India, celebrated the 75th year of India’s independence, the Taliban were preparing to move into Kabul The rest of that joyous day was spent watching in horror as US forces made a c h a o t i c w i t h d r a w a l f r o m A f s leaving behind military equipment worth b i l l i o n s W o r s e w a s t h e s e n s e t h a t t h e Afghan people had just been left to their own fate, abandoned by the rest of the world to face the onslaught of the Taliban who rolled into Kabul almost in tandem with the withdrawal of the American troops The culmination of the horrors of the day were videos of people falling down aero planes flying westerners out of the country, as desperate Afghans who had tried to stow away on the aircraft wheels fell down when the wheels were pulled in There were fears in India too A large number of people worked on the many Indian development and infrastructure pro jects and there was concern for their safety There was also concern about the use of the abandoned US military equipment Given the deep links of the Taliban with Pakistan, especially the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), it was a fair assumption that India would feel the heat Much that has happened in Afghanistan over the last one year is reminiscent of the brutal Taliban rule in the late 1990s Crack down on protesters, reports of detained and beaten journalists, restrictions on the rights o f w o m e n , a n d r e s t l i s m e n t t Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice have aroused much con cern H u n a c c A c c r i M e International Rescue Committee (IRC), 43% percent of Afghans are living on less than one meal a day 90% surveyed, reported food as their primary need After one year under Taliban 2 0, Afghanistan has become an isolated nation, increasingly impover ished UN Women and others have highlight ed that over the past 12 months, human rights violations against women and girls h a v e m o s i y D s promises that women would be allowed to exercise their rights within Sharia law including the right to work and study T a l i b a n h a v e s y t i c a l l y d women and girls from public life Women hold no cabinet positions in the de facto administration, which has also abolished the Ministry of Women’s Affairs effective ly eliminating women ’ s right to political participation Taliban has also banned girls from attending school past the sixth grade and barred women from working most jobs outside the home
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Mrs Ruchi Ghanashyam is the former High Commissioner of India to the UK With a career in Indian Foreign Service for over 38 y e a r s , s h e h a s b e e n p o s t e d i n m a n y countries including South Africa, Ghana, before arriving in the UK She was only the second woman High Commissioner to the UK since India’s independence and during her tenure, she witnessed a number of significant developments in the UK India relations
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Taliban controlled Afghanistan that result ed in the US led invasion of Afghanistan With the return of the Taliban, the world worried about Afghanistan becoming a safe haven for the growth of terrorism once again These fears were fanned when the Taliban’s new thirty three member care taker cabinet included men considered ter rorists by the United States and sanctioned by the United Nations In 2021, a report by a UN team monitoring the Taliban said that the group still has strong ties with al Qaeda, while adding that the Taliban had started to “tighten [their] control over al Qaeda by gathering information on foreign t e r r o r i s t f i g h t e r s a n d r e g i s t e r i n g a n d restricting them ” Media reports claim that Taliban continue to provide al Qaeda with protection in exchange for resources and training and that between two hundred and five hundred al Qaeda fighters could be in Afghanistan The leaders are believed to be based in regions along the Afghanistan P a k i s t a n b o r d e r A p p r e h e n s i o n s a b o u t Taliban sheltering/working with terrorist groups were reinforced after the killing of Al Qaeda leader, Ayman Al Zawahiri in a US d r o n e s t r i k e , t h o u g h T a l i b a n d o n o t acknowledge either Zawahiri’s killing or his presence in Kabul The situation is wors ened by the fight between Taliban and their rival, the Islamic State Khorasan, a terrorist g r o u p w i t h u p t o 2 , 2 0 0 m e m b e r s i n Afghanistan, which has claimed or been credited with bombings and killings M a j o r i t y o f t h e e m b a s s i e s o f Afghanistan, including the one in New Delhi, continue to function under the ban ner of the former Republic while engaging with the Taliban’s acting government in Kabul to carry out humanitarian assistance and meet the demands of their diaspora In a statement issued to the Taliban interim government in Kabul, the Afghan missions stated that they will continue to follow the erstwhile ‘Republic’ and use the tricolour flag, while blaming the Taliban for bringing back “draconian policies and directives”
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The puppies are expected to complete the initial four months training in taking commands and then undergo rigorous training over the next couple of months
Swati Bedekar, who runs Vatsalya Foundation in Vadodara, reached out to the residents of remote hamlets in Kupwara district of strife torn Kashmir and given training to women in making biodegradable sanitary pads and set up a small manufacturing unit in Dudi Machhil village About 20 women work in the unit there and they make about 100 pads a day,” Swati said Swati reached Dudi Machhil village in July and realized that most women there hadn't even heard of sanitary pads “They use cotton clothes during the menstruation period and often suffer from
On 25 December 1999, Tungnath Chaturvedi walked up to the booking window of the Mathura Cantonment railway station to buy two tickets to Moradabad The cost of one ticket was Rs 35 at the time Chaturvedi gave the clerk at the window a hundred rupee note But instead of getting back 30 rupees, he was given just Rs 10 “I was given a handwritten ticket as there were no computers at the time,” Chaturvedi, a lawyer from Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, said “The booking clerk charged us Rs 20 extra and refused to return the remaining amount even though I brought it to his notice immediately ” Chaturvedi then filed a complaint with the district consumer forum against “North East Railway” (Gorakhpur) and “booking clerk”, and included the Mathura Cantonment railway station as a party What followed was a seemingly endless legal battle spread across more than a hundred court hearings But now, almost 22 years after he sued them for Rs 20, Chaturvedi has finally won A consumer court in Mathura ruled in his favour on 5 August (Agency) Woman ties rakhi to injured leopard
The Mudhol hound is the first Indian breed to be inducted into PM Narendra Modi’s SPG for security purposes In April, Canine Research and Information Centre (Mudhol hound), Timmapur, (CRIC), Bagalkot, handed over two two month old Mudhol hound puppies to the PM’s SPG
It’s a very remote place so sanitary pads wouldn’t be easily available there,” said Bedekar, who understood that the menstrual cycles were always a nightmare for the womenfolk in the Valley The pads aren’t just used by them but also sold to the women staying in the adjacent villages, said Bedekar, whose NGO collaborated with the Army for support of this project The unit helps women in earning some money and the pads keep them free of infection too,” she added (The Times of India)
The search operation covered more than 30 premises spread over Jalna, Aurangabad, Nashik and Mumbai, according to an official release from the ministry of finance (Agency) Mudhol hounds to join PM Modi’s SPG
Faiz Ashraf Ali, a travel enthusiast, embarked on his solo cycle expedition from Kerala to London as part of the "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" celebrations The 34 year old will be covering 30,000 km and 35 countries on a bicycle. This Keralite had quit his well paid job in the IT sector to realise his globetrotting dreams, inter continent expedition is his long cherished passion Eco Wheelers, organised by the team with the slogan "From Heart to Heart', envisaged to spread the message of love and peace among the world countries. After reaching Mumbai by cycle, Ali would board a flight to Oman and from there he would continue his journey and travel through countries including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. As Pakistan and China did not grant him visa, the cyclist would exclude these countries during his trip He would also pedal through European countries including Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Austria, Italy, Germany, and France before reaching London. His first such solo trip was to Singapore from Kozhikode in 2019 A UAE based travel and luggage accessories company is sponsoring the bicycle
The photo shows the woman wearing pink saree, with her head covered, tying a rakhi to injured leopard moments before it is handed over to the local forest department Since being shared, the post has garnered over 900 likes on Twitter More than 90 users re tweeted the post so far Users praised the woman in the comment section for giving such a wonderful message to people around "That is how it should be We need to coexist with forests and wildlife God made all types of life and the world is not only for human beings, wrote a user Another said, Tying a rakhi is symbolic the love and affection is so beautiful as shown by the lady and a big applause to all the staff who take care of our forests " (Agency) Taxmen dress up as baraatis, seize black money
12 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022
Sushant Handage, head, CRIC, Bagalkot said that in 2016 they had handed over the hounds to the Remount Veterinary Centre and College, Meerut, for a feasibility trial for induction into the military Thereafter the IAF, forest and police departments too inducted them for rescue operations After the PM made a pitch for Indian breed dogs in one of his Mann ki Baat addresses, the SPG approached the Veterinary University in Bidar requesting for two hounds After pre assessment tests, they took two puppies on April 25 Handage says the PM’s security team assessed the Rajapalayam dog breed from Tamil Nadu and Rampur greyhound from UP, but finally chose the Mudhol hounds The physical strength and hunting skills of the hounds gave them an edge over the other two breeds, he added (Agency) Dad drags 3 girls in front of train, jumps in, all die A 35 year old man threw his three daughters in front of a goods train and then jumped in himself near Naikhedi station in Ujjain, apparently because he was rebuked by his family for having an affair All of them were cut to pieces People standing at a nearby petrol pump watched in horror as the man walked with the girls towards the tracks and then dragged them to their death as the train hurtled towards them Onlookers informed police, who picked up the grisly remains from the tracks A short distance away stood a motorcycle and the children’s school bags Based on the registration number, the man was identified as Ravi Panchal, a resident of Ujjain (Agency)
A shocking video of a person pulling a leopard by its tail has surfaced online In the 20 second clip shared by Indian Forest Services (IFS) officer Parveen Kaswan on Twitter, a man is seen holding the leopard by its tail and one of its hind legs The animal is seen trying to free itself from his clutches but fails as onlookers are seen filming the act from a distance The leopard died, a text on the video said The location where the video was shot could not be ascertained, according to Kaswan who denounced the act and stressed that wild animals should not be treated this way "This is not the way to handle or treat wildlife friends They are also living beings Be careful," he wrote Since being posted, the clip has received more than 73,000 views Many were appalled seeing the leopard being treated this way by the man and expressed their dismay (Agency) Kashmiri women being trained to make sanitary pads
Drunk man drives away car with woman and child
A photo that is winning hearts all over the internet shows a woman tying rakhi to a leopard in Rajasthan Her novel gesture and unconditional love to the animal is winning hearts on social media
Kerala cyclist pedals to London with message of peace
Man pulls leopard by tail in shocking video
In a freak incident, a history sheeter in an inebriated state took away a car as the man driving it got out of it, even as his wife and child were in the vehicle The incident happened in the Kottayam district of Kerala The history sheeter, Ashley, who came out of a nearby bar, got into the car parked with the engine on and drove away causing an accident resulting in minor injuries to the mother and child, police said “The two and half year old was sitting in the driving seat as her father went to a nearby shop The car engine was on as the AC was functioning Ashley, who was drunk, opened the door on the driving seat and started driving the car, ” police said The woman raised an alarm and asked Ashley to stop the vehicle but he didn’t, police said, adding that he drove over 500 metres before being involved in an accident Police said he hit a wayside eatery before ramming into an electricity board’s transformer The mother and the child suffered only minor injuries, thanks to the airbag in the car, police said The accused was arrested and remanded to judicial custody, police said (Agency) A 20 year battle for Rs 20
The over 200 strong contingent of I T officers and staff entered Jalna in Marathwada region dressed as members of a wedding procession in decked up vehicles ‘Rahul weds Anjali’ and ‘Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge’ read the messages emblazoned on their cars Their targets were two steel bar manufacturing units suspected of concealing wealth of over £10 million When they finally reached the town undetected, they seized cash totalling £5 6 million and bullion and jewellery worth £1 4 million
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The Rotary International is also supporting Ali's ride (Agency)
Southwest Hertfordshire Conservative party members meet Rishi Sunak at Subhash and Rekha Thakrar’s residence S ubh ash Thakrar and w ife Rekh a hosted Tory p arty lead ership cand idate Rishi S unak at their residence in M oor P ark on Friday 19 A u g u st , o n t h e au s p ic i o u s d a y of J anm ash tami fes tiv al. T he gath ering to o k p l ac e i n th e i r g ar d en f o r m e m be rs of S outh west Hertford shire Conservativ e party as well as som e key inv ited gu ests. While Mrs Thakrar welcomed Mr Sunak with positive feedback about his role as UK’s e x - C h a n c e l l o r , d a u g h t e r K a v i t a t i e d a r a k h i o n h i m , e s p e c i a l l y brought from the B r a h m a K u m a r i Mission to bless him. Welcoming g u e s t s , M r T h a k r a r e m p h as i s e d o n t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f hosting the Tory party leadership candidate on the holy festival of Janmashtami. Mr Sunak then took questions from the a u d i e n c e a b o u t i n n o v a t i o n s , H S 2 , B B C license, trade and investment with Africa, immigration, community dialogues and UKIndia relationship.
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Gagan Mohindra MP, who was present at the gathering, emphasised on the importance of voting for the leadership contest, which closes on 2 September. Kavita tying a on Rishi Sunak as Mr and Mrs Thakrar look on Subhash Thakrar welcoming Rishi
Amara Karan: Cosmopolitan Candour (Part One) “I always push the boundaries, trying to be characters who are witty, interesting and true to me”
AMARA KARAN
Landmark court ruling on lying workers who falsify CVs Br it a i n ’ s m o s t se nior judg es h av e r u l e d s a l a r ie s ob t a ine d f r a ud u lently ar e consid er e d p ro ce e d s o f cr ime T h e S u p r e m e Court has ordered Jon Andrewes, 68, t h e f o r m e r c h i e f executive of a hospice, to give back almost £100,000 after he forged qualifica t i o n s i n c l u d i n g P h D s t o cover the reality was an unqualified builder Five judges overturned a Court of Appeal ruling t h e c h a r i t y c o u l d n o t recover any of his salary E m p l o y m e n t l a w y e r Matt Gingell, a founding p a r t n e r o f L o m b a r d s , today warned the criminal case sets a gloomy prece d e n t f o r C V a n d s a l a r y liars M r G i n g e l l , w h o h a s b e e n p r a c t i s i n g e m p l o y ment law for 20 years, also s t r e s s e d b o s s e s a l r e a d y h a v e t h e r i g h t t o s a c k workers exposed as liars or for ‘stretching the truth’ on CVs In the Andrewes case, he was jailed for two years at Exeter crown court in 2017 after pleading guilty to fraud over his faked CV It led to him being made c h a i r m a n o f t w o N H S t r u s t s a n d h e r a n S t M a r g a r e t ’ s H o s p i c e i n Taunton Andrewes held the job at the hospice from 2004 until his brazen lies were uncovered Until then, he h a d c o m b i n e d a n n u a l e a r n i n g s o f m o r e t h a n £100,000 from three roles, all obtained on the back of a CV that claimed he had a P h D f r o m P l y m o u t h U n i v e r s i t y , a l o n g w i t h a string of other degrees and range of job related expe r i e n c e H e e v e n i n s i s t e d colleagues call him Dr Jon Andrewes T h e S u p r e m e C o u r t ruled a confiscation order for the full amount earned by Andrewes over his 10 years as head of the hos p i c e , £ 6 4 3 , 6 0 2 9 1 , w o u l d not be fair Judges added a ‘middle’ way was needed to reflect h o w A n d r e w e s h a d p e r formed services for which he had been paid, which they said counted towards ‘restoration’ They added: ‘Andrewes did a good job as chief executive and was r e g u l a r l y a p p r a i s e d a s either strong or outstand ing ’
New study questions NHS guidance on Covid infection control Th e m a jo r i t y o f p e o p l e infe cted with Cov id 19 a re st il l inf e c ti o u s f iv e d a ys a f t e r t h e i r sy m p t o m s be gin, new r esea rch sug gests In the first real world s t u d y o f i t s k i n d , researchers from Imperial College London also found that a quarter of partici pants were still capable of passing on the virus after seven days The findings call into question NHS guidance on i n f e c t i o n c o n t r o l , w h i c h recommends that people s h o u l d r e m a i n a t h o m e a n d a v o i d c o n t a c t w i t h others for five days There is no longer a legal require ment to self isolate Dr Seran Hakki, one of t h e s t u d y ’ s c o a u t h o r s , said there was a “lack of c l a r i t y a r o u n d h o w t o come out of self isolation safely” The study followed 57 people who were exposed to an infected household m e m b e r b e t w e e n September 2020 to March 2021 and May to October 2021 The participants took d a i l y t e s t s , w h i c h w e r e then assessed in a lab to determine how infectious their samples were D u e t o m i s s i n g d a t a among some participants, the duration of infectious ness was eventually mea sured in 42 people There were 38 with a confirmed date of when their symp t o m s s t a r t e d a n d t h r e e were asymptomatic B a s e d o n t h e i r f i n d ings, the researchers rec ommend that people with C o v i d 1 9 i s o l a t e f o r f i v e d a y s a f t e r s y m p t o m s begin, then complete later al flow tests from the sixth day If these tests are nega tive two days in a row, it is safe to leave isolation, they say T h e s t u d y d i d n o t assess the Omicron vari ants currently in circula tion There is some evi dence that Omicron vari ants have a lower viral load and shed for less time than o t h e r v a r i a n t s , t h e researchers said
14 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 www.asian-voice.com
Sunetra Senior Incandescent, funny and incredibly c an n y, p ro m i ne nt mu lti d i me n sional ac tress, Amara Karan, do es n’t simply excel as exceptional talent but furth er leads by socially co nscious c o s mo p o li t an e xa mp le S h e h as played a myriad o f memo rable yet playfu lly profo und ro les, bu ilding a strikingly diverse professio nal p ortfo lio Her debut, breako ut role was th e p l u c ky , Ri t a, i n W e s A nd er s o n ’ s mu ch lo v ed i n di e s e ns a ti o n : T h e D ar j ee li n g L im i te d ( 2 0 07 ) I n i t, Amara plays th e magnetic love inter est and stewardess o n th e titu lar train Th e plo t centres on th ree American bro th ers who attempt to reconnect th rough a sentimental jou rney across th e beautiful rural p lanes of India, inspiring p urifying internal reflection Of course, this proves no t so straigh t forward where K aran ’ s character h as been p raised fo r su bverting th e meek S o u t h As i a n f em al e s t er eo t yp e i n additi on to the film’ s generally enjo y able subversive p lo t Her renditio n o f Rita is bo ld, emo ti onally dark and autonomous From this point, the sparky actress simply continued to defy socio cul tural expectations as she also chal lenged herself personally with every edgy indie performance This is seen in the niche iconic British comedies w h i c h p r e d o m i n a n t l y f o r m e d t h e early arc of her career: from her per formance as posh girl, Peaches, in St T r i n i a n s ( 2 o o 7 ) , a l o n g s i d e R u s s e l l Brand, every bit as rebellious as her f e l l o w c l a s s m a t e s , t o p l a y i n g t h e earnest, Sangeet, in the psychological c o m e d y , A F a n t a s t i c F e a r o f E v e r y t h i n g ( 2 0 1 2 ) o p p o s i t e S i m o n Pegg, Amara brings refreshing depth and charisma to the smart fun having p i e c e s t h a t d e f i n e d t h e i r t i m e : “ I always push the boundaries,” she told us “I try to be characters who are witty, interesting and true to me ” Indeed, inclusivity is candid; as well as pushing against racial stereo types, and bright representation, it also actively surges towards higher progressive vision As if to underpin her own momentum, such social phi losophy is reflected in the actress’ more recent roles which aptly high light the evolving state of contempo rary multiculturalism Amara recently p l a y e d h i g h p r o f i l e p o l i t i c a l c a m p a i g n e r , G i n a M i l l e r , w h o i s o f Guyanese descent, in Tim walker’s play, Bloody Difficult Women, sym bolically flying the flag for an ethni cally open society alongside that of the European Union The produc tion, which ran at the trendy Riverside Studios, was penned by broadcaster and journalist, Walker, and depicted the passionate though polarised poli tics of Theresa May and Gina Miller and the common misogyny that final ly besieged them both Amara com mented: “As a South Asian actress, it was amazing to play such an influen tial real life role model What Miller did for British politics is remarkable and exciting She’s a rare gem who is courageous, strong, works extremely hard and propels the principles of big thinking Society needs these ideas to guide it I learned a lot about Miller while researching for the part Like everybody else, I’d seen her in the media take the Secretary of State for Exiting the European (aka Brexit) to court many times She seriously put her life at risk to further the cause of the country and British democracy: I was moved to tears by her drive As the playwright is a friend of hers, I actually got to meet her in person as well! It was a privilege to play some one of such magnitude We’ve cele brated so many of our white counter parts; what a significant development to explore alternative minority tri umphs!” Indeed, here, also arises the big question: is the ultimate barome t e r o f c o s m o p o l i t a n i s m c o m p l e t e colour blindness? A place in collective consciousness where talented individ uals of any cultural background could c o n v e n t i o n a l l y p l a y a n y l e g e n d a r y white role? ‘Partly’ Amara suggests: “I have dreamt of the day when I’d be able to play a non race specific role,” she shared with us, “but it was not exactly what I’d imagined I am my own person but also enjoy repre s e n t i n g t h e S o u t h A s i a n d i a s p o r a Yes, we are individual human beings but our bodies are inevitably fused with space and time; cultural and social histories are signalled visually via appearance Perhaps it is better to embrace this rather than culturally homogenise or pretend that those differences do not exist As result, it’s as much about being able to choose as contend for any big acting role The beauty is in the specifics and this being consummately acknowledged ” Indeed, to be entirely evacuated of rich resonant identity can feel exactly so; empty and unfinished This can itself become an obfuscation of race, imi t a t i n g r e d u c t i v e d a t e d binaries over redemptive o p p o s i t i o n t o t h e m I t s e e m s t h e n t h a t s o c i e t y needs to redo the concept of individuality as deeply complex; honouring peo ple not simply as demo cratic equals but at once vibrant custodians of their o w n i n t i m a t e i n t e r c o n nected truth This surely reflects an advanced future where the notion of race is fundamentally reinvented; free of superficial empiri cism but full of the varied e x p e r i e n t i a l c o l o u r t h a t encapsulates the vast spec trum of our modern world In short, we want to aim to be at a higher mindset where e v e r y o n e i s v i e w e d a s e x p a n s i v e l y unique As a result, in lieu of just towing the line with just colour blind casting, perhaps the transformative representative practice lies in what can be called: Holistic Casting A pro cess of casting moving forward that is fair but socially sensitive, champi oning inclusive change by showing the presence of race as both meaning ful and malleable: essentially loyal to the persistent flux that is the nature of peripatetic life This can already be seen in David Lowery’s The Green K n i g h t ( 2 0 2 1 ) s t a r r i n g D e v P a t e l Patel’s Indian descent is used cleverly i n t h e f i l m t o n e w l y p o r t r a y t h e English figurehead of Sir Gawain: one of the traditionally white knights of Arthur’s roundtable Far from being a vapid symbol of multicultural virtue, the daring choice of a South Asian p r o t a g o n i s t t h o r o u g h l y c h a l l e n g e s the myopic imagining of British his tory as limited only to a dominant UK As one article on Screen Rant specifically states: “in the 12th centu ry, Europe was nowhere near being an isolated continent, as trade was a very important part to sustaining the life of its kingdoms and people It's not unreasonable to assume that, if King Arthur was a real, historical fig ure, he would have been surrounded by and interacted with people from different walks of life ” I n e f f e c t , t h e r e m u s t b e t e r raforming of our very consciousness: an inner conceptual revolution that manifests the workable infrastruc tural equality To be continued next week T: @amarakaran
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h o r o f the Last King of Scotland, a story about Idi Amin, and co author of ‘Tide of Fortune: A Family Tale’ w i t h M a n u b h a i Madhvani The panel discussion will reflect the latest exhibition a t A r u n d e l l s ‘ E x o d u s : t h e U g a n d a A s i a n s ’ C r i s i s o f 1 9 7 2 ’ , w h i c h t e l l s t h e r e m a r k a b l e s t o r y o f t h e expulsion of the Asian com m u n i t y f r o m U g a n d a , t h e initial resistance from some political elements to their admission to Britain even t h o u g h t h e y w e r e B r i t i s h passport holders
g e n e r o u s s u p p o r t o f t h e A h l u w a l i a F a m i l y
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Regular screening could stop cancer before it starts. Bowel cancer is one of the most common cancers and regular screening can help prevent it. The free NHS bowel cancer screening kit is available to everyone in London aged 56–74. The kits are for people with no symptoms and most get the all clear. To learn more, visit healthylondon.org/BCS
Dr Sas, Colorectal surgeon
The Uganda Asians Crisis 50 Years On: From Controversy to Success
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bition: Rt Hon Shailesh Vara MP, Cllr Ravi Govindia and t h e f o u n d e r o f V o l c a n o e s Safaris and former govern m e n t s p e c i a l a d v i s e r , Praveen Moman T i c k e t s a n d f u r t h e r d e t a i l s a r e a v a i l a b l e h e r e : https://arundells org/events/ ugandaasianscrisis/ 15AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022
Theatre
o v e r n m e n t o f E d w a r d Heath to
On T hur s d ay 1 Se p te m b e r th e S ir E d wa r d H e a th Cha r i t ab l e F oun d a ti on i s hos t ing a pan e l di s c us s ion with dis tinguis hed gues ts to examine the f orc ed expuls ion of the As ian c om munity from Ug an d a b y P re s id en t I di Am in Dada in 1972, the expe rienc es of thos e who c ame to Brita in and the c ontribution they have m ade t o Britain The event will be hosted f r o m 5 : 3 0 p m a t A r u n d e l l s , t h e h o m e o f S i r E d w a r d H e a t h , f o r m e r P r i m e M i n i s t e r o f t h e U n i t e d K i n g d o m w h o w e l c o m e d over 28,000 Ugandan Asian r e f u g e e s w i t h o p e n a r m s despite some fierce political and public opposition The panel discussion will comple ment an exhibition on the U g a n d a A s i a n s C r i s i s a t A r u n d e l l s w h i c h w i l l r u n from 12th August until 2nd November 2022 T h e e v e n i n g ’ s p r o c e e d ings will bring together key c o n t e m p o r a r y p l a y e r s t o examine the mass expulsion of Uganda’s Asian communi t y , t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e s i n Britain, the political battle f o r a c c e p t a n c e a n d t h e l e s s o n s l e a r n e d f o r p o l i c y today The panel will be mod erated by Praveen Moman, conservationist, founder of Volcanoes Safaris, and for mer UK Government Special Adviser The panel will als o incl ude: u Her Excellency Nimisha Madhvani, the Republic o f U g a n d a ’ s H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r t o t h e U n i t e d K i n g d o m ( f o r m e r l y U g a n d a ’ s A m b a s s a d o r t o t h e N o r d i c c o u n t r i e s Notably, Her Excellency was also a victim of the expulsion u Rt Hon Lord (David) Hunt, Chairman of the Young C o n s e r v a t i v e s i n 1 9 7 2 , who led the opposition to E n o c h P o w e l l a n d h i s allies’ attempts to derail the Government’s policy at the Party Conference u Cllr Ravi Govindia, the h i g h l y r e s p e c t e d C o n s e r v a t i v e l e a d e r o f W a n d s w o r t h C o u n c i l (2010 2022) Notably, Cllr Govindia was in a West C o u n t r y r e s e t t l e m e n t Camp before reading law at University u Y a s m i n A l i b h a i B r o w n , r e n o w n e d j o u r n a l i s t , author and broadcaster, regular columnist for the i n e w s p a p e r a n d t h e E v e n i n g S t a n d a r d , a n d f o u n d i n g m e m b e r o f B r i t i s h M u s l i m s f o r Secular Democracy u G i l e s F o d e n , a c c l a i m e d n o v e l i s t a n d a u t and the courageous decision by the G honour Britain’s humanitarian obligations and how from arriving virtu ally penniless, the communi ty have made new suc Britain over the last 50 years and Verma is also making of for the and the tion
Advisory Group on the exhi
The exhibition has been made possible through the Foundation and of the Rumi Foundation
“If you receive a bowel usescreeningcancerkit,itassoon as possible. You could stop cancer before it starts.”
film director Jatinder
1 million unemployed people h a v e f o u n d w o r k d u r i n g s i m i l a r p e r i o d s e a c h y e a r since 2001 On 28 July,
e u p t o
e t t e r o f f i n f u l l
t h e w o r l d ’ s m o s t w a n t e d w o m a n f o r a d e c a d e
seekers’
Four stabbed in Brixton
p l e c a n
l eader a n d n o t or i ou s 'W h it e W i d ow S a m a n t ha Le wt hwaite All have the internation a l p o l i c i n g a g e n c y ’ s r e d notice against their names a request to their counterparts around the world to aid in their immediate capture Interpol’s full list runs around 7,000 names long, w i t h m o r e t h a n 6 , 0 0 0 o f those being males T h e l i s t i n c l u d e s 1 5 British nationals wanted by crime agencies around the world The list includes 48 year old Masood Ul Haq, who has a d u a l n a t i o n a l i t y w i t h B r i t a i n a n d P a k i s t a n , i s w a n t e d f o r s e v e r a l c r i m e s including heading a terrorist organisation as well as ter rorist activities Another person on the l i s t S a m a n t h a L e w t h r a i t e
or
f l a g s h i p j o b s s c h e m e a p p e a r s t o h a v e f a i l e d , d e s p i t e h i s c l a i m t h a t i t
Rather than go to the nearest doctor, the holiday m a k e r c h a t t e d a b o u t t h e issue with her family and they decided to avoid get t i n g m e d i c a l a t t e n t i o n a s Sirin didn't think it could get much worse She was wrong T h e n e x t day the beauti c i a n ' s e n t i r e f a c e b e g a n peeling, leaving her covered in p a t c h e s o f t a n n e d a n d pink skin It has now b e e n s e v e n w e e k s s i n c e t h e i n c i d e n t , and Sirin's skin has cleared with only a few patches of d i s c o l o u r a t i o n o n h e r cheeks As mentioned, this inci dent was caused by just 21ºC w e a t h e r , w h e r e a s t h e U K r e a c h e d r e c o r d b r e a k i n g temperatures of up to 40ºC amid the recent heatwave
a m o n t h a f t e r t h e g o v e r n ment’s triumphant claims A D W P s p o k e s p e r s o n said:
erpol’s
work T h e W a y t o W o r k
work
and Pensions on
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Figures from the the
Tuition fees at Universities to rise for UK students U niv ersity ch iefs are repo rtedly calling for tuition fees for UK stu dents to rise from their current £9,250 to ne are r t h e £ 24, 0 00 a year th at foreign stud ents p ay T h e ca m p u s v i c e c h an ce ll or s ar e increasingly loo king to I nd ia n an d C h i n es e st u d en ts T h i s i s b ec au s e o f the U K rate h av ing b een fr o ze n s i nc e 2 0 1 2 , wh en it was contro versially h i ke d u p f ro m ar o un d £3 ,0 00 W h i l e t h e n u m b e r o f British applicants has fallen by 13 per cent, the foreign intake is up 7 per cent in the p a s t y e a r “ Y o u c a n n o t expect to run universities on a fee level of £9,250 a year, ” according to Sir David Bell, v i c e c h a n c e l l o r a t t h e University of Sunderland He added that for stan dards at post 18 institutions to be kept up, more money would be needed The point w a s e c h o e d b y C o l i n Riordan, vice chancellor of Cardiff University, who said that government interven tion over the fees was neces sary to keep it “viable”
a target of 500,000 when,
The government is also facing questions about why it set on nearly the official lenged the Department for Work why it had not explained how its target was set measured, “Way to Work success fully supported half a mil lion people into work, help ing employers fill the vacan cies the economy needed to recover, and lifting incomes a s p o b £ 6 , 0 b time work than out of work on benefits
wa
e p s o n
Foreign Secretary urged to intervene in sentence of UK student in Saudi Salm a al Shehab, a 3 4 year old Saudi national who liv es in th e U K, w as arrested on a v isit to see fam ily at the start o f la st y ear fo r u s i ng Tw itter T h e P h D s t u d e n t w a s i n i t i a l l y s e n t e n c e d t o s i x years in prison but this was increased to 34 years this week following an appeal This was reported to be the longest known sentence to be given to a women ’ s r i g h t s a c t i v i s t i n S a u d i Arabia T h e f o r e i g n s e c r e t a r y h a s n o w b e e n u r g e d t o intervene in this case of a L e e d s U n i v e r s i t y s t u d e n t who has been jailed for three decades Hilary Benn, the L a b o u r M P f o r L e e d s Central, has written to Liz Truss calling on her to inter vene in Ms al Shehab’s case Judges accused Ms al Shehab of “disturbing pub lic order” and “destabilising the social fabric” claims stemming solely from her s o c i a l m e d i a a c t i v i t y , a c c o r d i n g t o a n o f f i c i a l charge sheet A special court for ter rorism and national security c r i m e s h a n d e d d o w n t h e u n u s u a l l y h a r s h 3 4 y e a r sentence, which is to be fol lowed by a 34 year travel ban L e e d s U n i v e r s i t y s a i d Ms al Shehab was a student in the final year of doctoral s t u d i e s a t t h e m e d i c a l school and it was “deeply concerned” to hear about the development
Office f o r N a t i o n a l S t a t i s t i c s released recently show that
average,
Number of young diabetes amputees treble T he NHS says p eop le with d iabetes are 1 5 times mo re likely to hav e am putations L uc y Naz ee r, o f F ri m l ey, Hants, g ot Type 1 d iabetes at 1 4 and lost both legs by the age of 35 The number of young people who have amputa tions due to diabetes has trebled in the last 10 years Records show that in the last year alone, 17 people below the age of 29 have had limbs removed up from six in 2011 12, and just two in 2009 10 But it is feared the figure is far worse because the pan demic has caused a backlog i n d i a g n o s i s a n d a m p u t a tions Lucy Nazeer, who had Type 1 diabetes at 14, lost both legs by 35 She said: “I wish someone had told me when I was younger that if I didn’t look after myself this would happen ” T h e N H S s a y s p e o p l e with diabetes are 15 times more likely to have amputa tions, as their bodies cannot repair tissue damage as well as before Type 1 increases the risk more than Type 2 E s t h e r W a l d e n , o f D i a b e t e s U K , s a i d : “ T h e number of people with dia betes is increasing rapidly W e e s t i m a t e t h e c u r r e n t total to be about 4 9 mil lion ” Diabetes related ampu tations overall have risen by a third in 10 years, to 2,912 in the last year, according to the NHS 15 Britons in the Interpol's most wanted list Int most nted list includes 15 Br it ish crimina ls on t he run for crime s includ ing a wanted te rrorist , The White Widow is , White Widow was once mar ried to 7/7 suicide bomber G L mum of several children Among others in the list, P J Egglishaw, described as bald ing, Egglishaw He is wanted for several charges including m o n e y l a u n d e r i n g o v e r 1 m i l l i o n A u s t r a l i a n D o l l a r s and dishonestly obtaining a g a i n f r o m t h e Commonwealth UK heatwave makes woman's forehead plastic-like B eau ti c ia n S i ri n M u rad w as enjoying her ho l i day i n Bulg ari a i n Ju ne wh en a v is i t to S u nn y Beach went aw ry The 25 year old drifted off by a pool in the 21ºC weather without p u t t i n g s u n screen on and woke up half an hour later Although her face was slightly sore and red after the nap, she didn't think too much of it and continued relaxing during her time off B u t t h e n e x t d a y s h e realised she was paying the p r i c e a s w e l l a s a n extremely painful and red face, Sirin's skin was so tight that when she furrowed her eyebrows it looked like plas tic
AKA
Now that is in a normal year And we know that pressure are going to be much greater for people and unless we do s o m e t h i n g t o h e l p p e o p l e with energy costs there will be an unprecedented num ber of people who won’t be able to heat their homes “So this is going to have a major effect in terms of peo ple being sicker but also in terms of driving demand ” M r T a y l o r s a i d : “ N H S l e a d e r s h a v e m a d e t h i s unprecedented intervention a s t h e y k n o w t h a t f u e l poverty will inevitably lead to significant extra demand o n w h a t a r e a l r e a d y v e r y fragile services,” he added “Health leaders are clear that, unless urgent action is taken by the Government, t h i s w i l l c a u s e a p u b l i c health emergency "
nor mal occupation
16 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 www.asian-voice.com
N HS le a d er s ha v e w a rn e d t he cost of living crisis will lead t o “ un preced ent ed” risk of d eat h fr om cold we at her t his win te r un le ss m in ist er s int er ven e on en er gy cost s Research has shown up to 10,000 people die from under heated homes in an a v e r a g e y e a r , M a t t h e w Taylor, the chief executive of t h e N H S C o n f e d e r a t i o n said The NHS confederation, w h i c h r e p r e s e n t s h e a l t h bosses, and more than 100 NHS leaders have written to ministers to warn about the dire situation M r T a y l o r t o l d B B C Radio 4 ’ s Today programme: “ R e s e a r c h s u g g e s t s t h a t a failure to heat our homes can contribute about 10,000 a d d i t i o n a l d e a t h s a y e a r
h i l i p
sup p o r t 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e i n t o
number of unemployed people finding work actually f e l l b y 1 4 8 , 0 0 0 c o m p a r e d with the six months before Way to Work began, despite r e c o r d n u m b e r s o f j o b vacancies
i n d s a y a n d a
t h e r e i s
A man in his 30s who had been knifed was treated at t h e s c en e b ef o r e b ei n g rush ed to hosp ital A second m an , w h o a ls o h ad st ab wo u nd s , wa s a rr es t ed o n s u s p i c i o n o f a tte m p te d murder He was treated i n h ospital before being taken into custody P o l i c e t h e n s t o p p e d a vehicle driving away from the scene on Coldharbour L a n e T h r e e m e n w e r e a r r e s t e d o n s u s p i c i o n o f attempted murder with one tasered Two had stab wounds and were taken to hospital A further three males were arrested at the scene on sus picion of attempted mur der T h e r e a r e m u l t i p l e crime scenes in place and enquiries are ongoing T h e p o l i c e h a v e appealed for witnesses after a t o t a l f o u r p e o p l e w e r e stabbed in a street fight in Brixton as the spate of vio l e n c e a c r o s s t h e C a p i t a l continues
t h e
Johnson's job scheme was a failure A t th e e nd o f Ja nu a ry, Jo hnson anno unced that a “ Way to Work driv e ” wou ld h elp 500 ,00 0 into employ m ent from Universal C redit i n ten si v e w o rk s ear ch o r jo bseeker’s allowance, at a t i m e w h e n t h ere w er e a reco rd 1 2 millio n vacancies In fact, Boris Johnson’s helped half a million people into scheme set a target to employment by cutting job benefits after four weeks unless they applied for outside their
I f t u i t i o n f e e s had kept pace with inflation, they would n o w b e a t a r o u n d £ 1 2 , 0 0 0 a y e a r a r o u n d f o u r t i m e s the amount charged for the 2011 intake A department for edu c a t i o n s p o k e s m a n s a i d : “ T h e s t u d e n t finance system must be fair for students, universities and the t a x p a y e r , a n d i t i s right that we have frozen tuition fees to reduce the burden of debt on gradu ates “To support universities, we ’ re providing £750million extra funding over the next t h r e e y e a r s ” T h e y a d d e d that giving a space to an international student does not take a space away from a British one NHS boss warns of ‘unprecedented’ risk of death from cold homes
s t a t i s t i c s w a t c h d o g c h a l
n d i n g
t
UK’s first Indian MP Dadabhai Naoroji’s residence commemorated with a blue plaque
“ I n d i a i s t o d a y t h e f a s t e s t g r o w i n g economy in the world India’s growth is also generating economic opportunities for the world at large India is at the forefront in f i n d i n g s o l u t i o n s f o r t h e c h a l l e n g e s t h e world is facing at this moment It is one of t h e l e a d i n g c e n t r e s o f r e s e a r c h a n d d e v e l o p m e n t , i n n o v a t i o n , a n d c r e a t i o n While celebrating 75 years of independence, the vision of the next 25 years will help us to realise the full potential of developed India
d i a n c o m m u n i t y i n L o n d o n F e l l o w Indian nationalists Romesh Chunder Dutt and Sister Nivedita are known to have been guests at the house Over 100 cyclists participate in Tiranga Ride to celebrate India’s Independence Day Over 10 0 cyclists, includ ing young children and f ami lies , jo ined a j ubi lant cro w d at C arniv al Fields P ark in Maiden Place, L ower E a rle y, t o m ar k 7 5 Y ear s o f I nd i an I n d
www.asian voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022
E n t h r a l l i n g p e r f o r m a n c e s w h i c h r e p r e s e n t e d v a r i o u s r e g i o n s o f I n d i a including Bhangra, Ghoomar, Bihu were e n j o y e d b y t h e a u d i e n c e T h e K h o K h o Federation of England demonstrated the t r a d i t i o n a l I n d i a n s p o r t K h o K h o T r a d i t i o n a l K a r n a t a k a G a m e s a t t r a c t e d many to visit their stall too Heritage Beng al Global promoted U NESCO’s heritag e tag for Durg a Puja Heritage Bengal Global (HBG), a not for profit organisation represented by Bengalis w i t h r o o t s i n I n d i a , t o o k p a r t i n t h i s c e l e b r a t i o n , h i g h l i g h t i n g t h e U N E S C O heritage tag of Bengal’s Durga Puja, besides showcasing the traditional handloom and legacy of sweets from the region Kantha stitch embroidery, the origin of which dates back to the early 20th century in unified Bengal was the theme for the HBG members to dress up in colourful attire for the occasion The members and supporters put up a delectable and authentic Bengali sweet stall at the event and distributed some mouth watering dishes Yasmita Choudhury was credited with bhapa doi (baked yoghurt), S h a r m i ’ s k i t c h e n w i t h r a s h o m a l a i (rasmalai)and Meltz Sweets got some juicy p a n t u a ( g u l a b j a m u n ) , w h i c h w e r e distributed free to the visitors As part of the celebration a photo shoot contest was also held at the event, on a beautiful Durga themed photo frame created by HBG Vice President Mahua Bej, who also displayed a gorgeous alpona in front of the stall The excitement of the crowd to click their photo with the frame, standing behind the alpona and in front of Goddess Durga’s painting that was installed at the stall, was palpable The photography contest will be j u d g e d b y t h e a c c l a i m e d K o l k a t a b a s e d photo journalist Kounteya Sinha HBG director Anirban Mukhopadhyay said, “We are grateful to the Acting High C o m m i s s i o n e r f o r h i s c o n s t a n t encouragement and support and without which we would possibly to be part of this event We want to use every opportunity globally, to promote Durga Puja as a global tourism destination ”
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Members of Heritage Bengal Global displaying the arts and culture from Bengal
o n d o n r e s i d e n c e
a s h i n g t o n
Bob Blackman, MP said, “As we look forward to the largest democracy in the world and the oldest democracy in the world signed a mutual cooperation agreement and by Diwali, we will have the heads of the free t r a d e a g r e e m e n t b e t w e e n t h e U n i t e d Kingdom and India The European Union has been trying to do a trade deal with India for the last 25 years without success India and the UK have a shared past and shared future, they are two great nations with a bright future What a remarkable position it is that an Indian MP can be in the last two to b e c o m e P r i m e m i n i s t e r o f t h i s c o u n t r y Whoever is elected on the 5th of September as the leader of the Conservative party, will be a true friend of India ” V i r e n d r a S h a r m a , M P s a i d , “ I n d i a n diaspora has achieved everything in Britain W e b r o u g h t h e r e t h e v a l u e s f r o m o u r Sanatan Dharma I am glad that the diaspora along with many other communities work together to bring peace and prosperity to all in the world This is the most important message that Prime Minister Mr Modi is conveying to the world Film Actor and Member of Parliament from Gorakhpur (UP, India) Ravi Kishan, who was present, said, “I came here with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message to you that love your tricolour flag, love India, love that soil, culture Never forget our culture and Sanatan Dharm ”
u
r , h o w e v e r , w h e
‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebration w a s o r g a n i s e d b y t h e I n d i a n H i g h Commission and the diaspora on 21 August Sunday at the Navnat Centre in Hayes Patriotism was at its peak as India’s Acting High Commissioner to London Sujit Ghosh hoisted the tricolour After the National Anthem, everyone chanted “Bharat Mata ki J a y ” a n d “ V a n d e M a t a r a m ” , a s t h e v e n u e converted to a mini India with variety of programmes and free food stalls, offering a diverse range of culture and cuisines from different parts of India In his inaugural speech, Mr Ghosh said, “At the time of our independence, many of t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l l e a d e r s w e r e s c e p t i c a l about our success as a democratic country b u t w e I n d i a n s p r o v e t h e m w r o n g Democracy has not only flourished in India, but it has been enriched too Diversity, i n c l u s i v e n e s s , r u r a l i s m a n d h a r m o n i c c o e x i s t e n c e f o r m t h e v e r y c o r e o f o u r civilisational DNA
The idea to celebrate this milestone was coined by Ritesh Nigam He stressed the i m p o r t a n c e o f c e l e b r a t i n g f r e e d o m i n a s o c i a l m e d i a p o s t t h a t m a n y i n t h e community have liked The evening concluded with a chorus s i n g i n g o f I n d i a ' s N a t i o n a l A n t h e m a n d patriotic songs, which inspired audiences of all ages O r g a n i s e r s s h a r e d t h e i r h e a r t f e l t gratitude towards all who participated in t h i s c o m m u n i t y e v e n t , m a k i n g i t a n u n f o r g e t t a b l e e v e n i n g t o r e m e m b e r a n d promised to return next year as a bigger event 72 Anerley Park, Penge, where Dadabhai Naoroji lived for the longest time during his London stints
R es idenc e of Dadabhai Naoroj i, who became UK’ s fi rs t Indian MP i n 189 2, has been commemorated with a blue plaque, where he lived around the 2 0th c entury Dub bed as the ‘grand old man of India’ a n d d e s c ri b e d i n hi s T i me s obituary as ‘ the father of Indian nationalism’, Naoroji spent over t h re e d ec a d e s i n London It is believed, he is celebrated with a b lue plaque to mark the 7 5 th a n n i ve r s a ry of I ndi an independence B o r n o n 4 S e p t e m b e r 1 8 2 5 i n Navsari into a Gujarati s p e a k i n g P a r s i f a m i l y a n d e d u c a t e d a t t h e Elphinstone College in M u m b a i a n d b e c a m e t h e f i r s t I n d i a n t o b e made a professor there in 1854 He founded a reforming newspaper, Rast Goftar, in 1851; t h e f o l l o w i n g y e a r h e w a s a m o n g t h e f o u n d e r m e m b e r s o f t h e B o m b a y A s s o c i a t i o n , w h i c h w a s a f o c u s f o r g r i e v a n c e s a g a i n s t B r i t i s h r u l e H e w a s p a t r o n i s e d b y t h e M a h a r a j a o f B a r o d a , Sayajirao Gaekwad III and started his career life as Dewan (Minister) to the Maharaja in 1874 In 1886, after a string of political roles in India, Naoroji returned to London to stand for Parliament in the general election as Liberal candidate for Holborn Despite the e n d o r s e m e n t o f F l o r e n c e N i g h t i n g a l e , a m o n g o t h e r s , h e w a s d e f e a t e d i n t h i s s t r o n g l y T o r y c o n s t i t u e n c y H e w a s propelled into the national spotlight nearly t w o y e a r s l a t e n P r i m e Minister Lord Salisbury referred to this contest as evidence that the time had not come when ‘ a British constituency would elect a black man ’ Elected for the Liberal party in Finsbury Central at the 1892 general election, he was the first British Indian MP He refused to t a k e t h e o a t h o n t h e B i b l e a s h e w a s Zorostrian, so was allowed to take the oath of office in the name of God on his copy of the Khordeh Avesta During his time he put his efforts towards improving the situation in India He had a very clear vision and was an effective communicator He s e t f o r t h h i s v i e w s a b o u t t h e situation in India over the course of the history of the governance of the country and the way in w h i c h t h e c o l o n i a l r u l e r s r u l e I n Parliament, he spoke on Irish Home Rule and the condition of the Indian people He was also a notable Freemason In 1906, Naoroji was again elected president of the Indian National Congress Naoroji was a s t a u n c h m o d e r a t e w i t h i n t h e C o n g r e s s , during the phase when opinion in the party was s p l i t b e t w e e n t h e moderates and extremists Such was the respect commanded by him that assertive n a t i o n a l i s t s c o u l d n o t o p p o s e h i s candidature and the rift was avoided for the time being Naoroji was a mentor to bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Mahatma Gandhi He was married to Gulbai at the age of 11 Naoroji spent seven spells in England, five of them in London, and over three decades in the capital all told, living at and working from a succession of addresses He also travelled widely within the UK to air his views about British rule in India Naoroji returned to India in 1907 and died in Mumbai in on 30 June 1917 I n A u g u s t 1 8 9 7 N a o r o j i m o v e d t o Washington House, 72 Anerley Park, Penge, at a time when his thoughts were turning increasingly towards full independence for India Naoroji left the address in 1904 or 1 9 0 5 , m a k i n g i t h i s l o n g s s a L W H o s e functioned as an important centre for the I n ep e nd e nc e o n M o nd ay th e 1 5t h o f A ugust Th e cyclists g athered at th e Reading U niv ersity ground s d ressed u p in vibrant colours of the Indian Flag popu larly known as T irang a ( Hind i wo rd fo r Tri co lor) to celebrate the Tiranga Rid e Pedalling across University grounds and t h r o u g h E a r l e y r o a d s , c y c l i s t s r e a c h e d Maiden Place, greeted by more than 200 spectators waving Indian flags with huge patriotic cheers
“This year also marks 75 years of the e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f d i p l o m a t i c r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n I n d i a a n d t h e U K T h e I n d i a n diaspora has played an important role in e n r i c h i n g B r i t i s h c u l t u r e , s o c i e t y a n d politics The accomplishments of the Indian diaspora in the economic, professional and educational domains are noteworthy and inspire us all The Indian diaspora acts as a living bridge between their Karmabhumi and Matrubhumi ”
Acting High Commissioner of India to the UK Sujit Ghosh addressing the gathering
Diaspora celebrates ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ at Navnat Centre in Hayes
Virendra Sharma MP and CB Patel, Editor in Chief of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar participating in the photo completion at HBG's stall with another guest (left)
Diaspora celebrating Indian independence day at Navnat Centre
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rev ealed N e a r l y 5 0 0 A l b a n i a n i n c l u d i n g i n d i v i d u a l s c o n v i c t e d o f r a p e , facilitating illegal entry to t h e U K , t r a f f i c k i n g a n d dealing Class A drugs were
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Nurseries hit by cost crisis Wi th frig htening levels o f inflatio n and soaring energy bills, nurseries are facing a “ r eal c ri s i s ” , ac c o rd i ng to o ne lead ing ind ustry exp ert Considering the soaring energy bills, households will be protected to some extent by the price cap set by the regulator Ofgem, however, b u s i n e s s e s d o n o t r e c e i v e this same protection O n W e d n e s d a y i t w a s announced that in the 12 months to July, inflation hit 10 1 per cent, hitting double digits for the first time since 1982 To try to make up some o f t h e s h o r t f a l l f r o m g o v e r n m e n t f u n d i n g a n d r i s i n g c o s t s , e a r l y y e a r s childcare providers say they a r e “ h a v i n g t o l o o k a t ” whether they should raise overall fees as well as up the cost of facilities such as on s i t e m e a l s f o r c h i l d r e n , J o n a t h a n B r o a d b e r y , D i r e c t o r o f P o l i c y a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n s a t t h e N a t i o n a l D a y N u r s e r i e s Association, said Scotland accident kills three Indians Three Indian nationals, includi ng two Leicester University students and a g rad uat e fr om the s a me i ns ti tu te, died in a car lorry collision in western Scotland las t week while another stu d e n t, a l s o I n di a n , w a s c ri t i c a ll y i njured in the accident and i s battling for life at a hospi tal in Glasgow It is believed that the group of four friends Girish Subramanyam (23) from Bengaluru; Pavan Bashetty (23) and Sai Varma Chilakamari (24) f r o m H y d e r a b a d ; a n d S u d h a k a r Modepalli (30) from Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district were holidaying in Scotland when the tragedy took place last Friday (August 19) in the Appin area of Argyll in the Scottish West H i g h l a n d s n e a r C a s t l e S t a l k e r , a majestic Scottish castle surrounded by water, located around 40 minutes north of the popular seaside town of Oban While Girish, Pavan and Sudhakar died on the spot, a critically injured Sai was taken in an air ambulance to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow
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The World Goa Day in London was organised b y A m i g o s N i t e o n S a t u r d a y 2 0 A u g u s t a t t h e L o n d o n B a r S t o c k Exchange
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Foreign criminals deported since January, Home Office says S January, a total of have the Office has deported J u n e , a p e s o n sentenced to 18 years in jail f o r c o c a i n e d r u g s y worth more than £2 million was returned on a charter f l i h t , a o n s i e a n h e person sentenced to three child sex offences A l e f t t h e U K o n both charter and scheduled flights in July H o m e S e c r e t a r y P r i t i P a t e l s a i d i t s h o w s t h e g o v e r n m e n t “ w i l l s t o p a t n o t h i n g t o r e m o v e t h o s e with no right to be here” “ I w a n t t o b e c r y s t a l clear though that leave must be swiftly l i c rightly expect us to crack down hard on those abusing the system which is why our n e w N a t i o n a l i t y a n d Borders Act will help end t h e c y c l e o f l a s t m i n u t e claims and appeals that can delay removals ”
T h e e v e n t s t a r t e d with a solo performance on t h e V i o l i n b y t h e G o a n y o u n g s t e r , J o a n r o G o m e s , grand nephew of late Tony G o m e s , B o l l y w o o d ’ s f i r s t guitarist There was a mix line up of Goan artists like Risma Leitao, Noywen Fernandes ( o n e m a n b a n d ) , a n d D J Velfern Fernandes There were also two performances by Alida Fernandes, Jessica Da Silva, Milena Dias and M a r i o R o d r i g u e s o n Ghumot G o a ’ s c o m e d y k i n g A g o s t i n h o a n d c o m e d y q u e e n J a n e t f o r m e d t w o c o m e d y a c t s a n d B l a d w i n Dasilva and Brandon Rato performed one comedy act too L o n d o n b a s e d G o a ' s famous konkani performers Tommy Afonso (Jr Nelson), Bab Andrew D'souza, Joao D e Z u a r i , P r i n c e w e l l , Fernandes, Andrea D'souza, A l i s t o n B a r e t o , N e r i s s a B a r e t o , S e b a s t i a n F e r n a n d e s , E l e a n o r a F e r n a n d e s a n d S w i n t o n F e r n a n d e s s a n g k o n k a n i s o n g s A l l t h e K o n k a n i a r t i s t s w e r e b a c k e d b y London based Goan music director, Framton De Sa Rene Barreto (Founder of World Goa Day), Chief G u e s t a n d R e v F r L u c a s Rodrigues (Chaplain to the Goan Community, Swindon a n d P a r i s h P r i e s t o f S t Peters Catholic Church & Sacred Heart Church), the g u e s t o f h o n o u r f o r t h e evening spoke at the event Four prominent Goans in the UK Rene Barreto ( F o u n d e r o f W o r l d G o a Day), Fr Lucas Rodrigues ( C h a p l a i n t o t h e G o a n Community, Swindon and Parish Priest of St Peters Catholic Church & Sacred H e a r t C h u r c h ) , C l a y t o n A n t o n i o B a r r e t o ( S e n i o r O f f i c e r , I n d i a n H i g h Commission who is helping in bridging the gap between I n d i a n H i g h C o m m i s s i o n and the Goan diaspora and t h e G o a n A s s o c i a t i o n s i n U K ) a n d F l a v i o G r a c i a s (Chair of the Trustees of the G o a n W e l f a r e S o c i e t y U K ) were felicitated The event was attended by Goans from all walks of life in UK and was packed to c a p a c i t y W h e n e v e r t h e o p p o r t u n i t y c a m e , t h e crowds took to the floor to dance
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18 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 British man found drowned in Italy after saving son A r a n Cha d a , f r om L eic e s te rs hi re who jum pe d f rom a boat to s ave his son has be en f ound in Ital y He w e nt on ho l id a y t o L a k e Garda with his partner and t wo c hildren las t month Since disappearing under the water on 22 July, he had been missing The local coast g u a r d i n f o r m e d t h a t volunteers found Mr Chada s b o d y a t a d e p t h o f 3 1 6 m ( 1 , 0 3 7 f t ) a n d a d i s t a n c e o f 800m (2,625ft) from Limone on Tuesday I t i s b e l i e v e d t h a t t h e h o l i d a y w a s o r g a n i s e d t o c e l e b r a t e M r C h a d a ' s birthday, when he was due to turn 52 T h e u n f o r t u n a t e i n c i d e n t t o o k p l a c e o n a rented boat when Mr Chada's son got into trouble off the coast of the resort of Limone T h a n k s t o t h e p r o f e s s i o n a l i s m s h o w n i n t h i s c o n t e x t a n d t h e equipment supplied to them, the volunteers of Lake Garda managed to locate the body o f M r C h a d a o n T u e s d a y afternoon, 16 August 2022," the coastguard said A w i t n e s s t o l d l o c a l m e d i a : " T h e m o t h e r s c r e a m e d a n d t h e f a t h e r jumped into the water " A F o r e i g n , C o m m o n w e a l t h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t O f f i c e spokesperson added: We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in N o r t h I t a l y a n d a r e i n c o n t a c t w i t h t h e l o c a l authorities "
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medical d i r e c t o r o f M S I Reproductive Choices, one
Students will struggle with rising prices, experts warn Experts warned that m any stu dents w ho will start at U n i v er si ty i n S ep te m be r mig ht have to strugg le w ith rising prices as th e co st o f living is on the rise S t u d e n t s w h o a r e i n n e e d o f f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r t will face a shortfall of almost £1,000, due to inflation J a k e B u t l e r , o f t h e c a m p a i g n g r o u p S a v e t h e S t u d e n t , s a i d t h e G o v e r n m e n t s h o u l d i n c r e a s e t h e m a i n t e n a n c e loan in line with inflation “First year students are never great at budgeting at first, but the rising cost of l i v i n g w i l l m a k e i t e v e n
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D u e t o ne w G o v ern m en t f u nd i n g , s ev e re c u ts to bu s serv ices in Eng land hav e been av oided T o keep s erv i ce s ru n ni ng , th e D ep a rtm e nt f o r T ra ns p o rt ( Df T ) announced that up to £ 1 3 0 m i ll i o n w i ll b e made av ailable T r a n s p o r t S e c r e t a r y G r a n t S h a p p s s a i d : “ T h i s funding will ensure millions a c r o s s t h e c o u n t r y c a n c o n t i n u e t o u s e v i t a l b u s services, and brings the total we ’ ve provided to the sector throughout the pandemic to almost £2 billion “At a time when people a r e w o r r i e d a b o u t r i s i n g c o s t s , i t ’ s m o r e important than ever we save these bus routes for the millions who rely on them for work, school and shopping ” It comes after four Labour mayors warned t h a t b u s o p e r a t o r s p l a n n e d t o c a n c e l h u n d r e d s o f r o u t e s unless Government support i n t r o d u c e d d u r i n g t h e p a n d e m i c c o n t i n u e d a f t e r the current package expires in October
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Diaspora celebrates World Goa Day World Goa Day w as institut ed to m ark th e anniv ersary of the day 20 th Augu st 1992 wh en the Ind ian Parliam ent formally accord ed Konkani with the status of natio nal l ang ua g e th r o u g h t h e 71stAm endm ent to the eig ht schedule of the co nstitution of India After the am end ment to the eight schedule of th e constitution of India, Konkani finally g ot its d ue re co g ni ti o n nat io n al ly, a milestone for the state that had Ko nkani as its official s tat e l ang u ag e and als o Konkani was reco gnised as one of the official lang uag es o f Ind i a sinc e 4 Febru ary 198 7 It is that time of the year when most Goans and Goan a s s o c i a t i o n s a c r o s s t h e world over come together to celebrate an occasion that binds them with one com m o n g o a l t o c e l e b r a t e ‘Goenkarponn’
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the UK’s leading abortion providers, said the situation w a s “ v e r y d i s t u r b i n g a n d chilling” A s p e r t h e r e c e n t government data, procuring a n i l l e g a l a b o r t i o n , t h e intentional destruction of a v i a b l e u n b o r n c h i l d a r e p u n i s h a b l e b y l i f e i m p r i s o n m e n t , w h i l e concealing an infant death p r e b i r t h c a r r i e s a t h r e e year prison sentence
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Rise in Britons investigated over illegal abortions S uspecting illegal abortions, a rise has been witnessed in nu m bers o f Bri tons being inv estigated by th e p olice, new figures show According to the latest H o m e O f f i c rose from were up from cases Lord, of Dr Lord, the co chair of t h e B r i t i s h S o c i e t y o f A b o r t i o n C a r e P r o v i d e r s , said: “These archaic laws are completely unfit for purpose and we are calling for them t o b e r e p e a l e d a n d f o r abortion care to be managed t h r o u g h h e a l t h c a r e regulation like every other m e d i c a l t r e a t m e n t Abortions are unique in that they are criminalised ” “We fear most cases will involve investigations into women It does seem to be an upward trend It is very disturbing and chilling “Women face the cruelty a n d d i s t r e s s o f b e i n g i n v e s t i g a t e d a f t e r a p r e g n a n c y l o s s o r a f t e r e n d i n g t h e i r p r e g n a n c y , often waiting for years to know whether they will be charged and face trial ,he added
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A 47 year old man was arrested in connection with a road traffic offence and released pending further inquiry The Consulate General of India in Edinburgh has been in touch with all the bereaved families in India and will be assisting with flying the bodies back home
removed so we can make our streets safer,” she said “ T h e B r i t i s h p u b
New £130m funding saved bus services
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harder for them to adjust,” he said “Food and energy prices are going to hurt the most ” A c c o r d i n g t o r e s e a r c h f r o m t h e A s s o c i a t i o n o f I n v e s t m e n t C o m p a n i e s , a t r a d e b o d y , o n a v e r a g e , parents who contribute to university costs expect to pay £9,025 a year However, more than three quarters said inflation had made it more difficult to help their children with the cost A s p o k e s m a n f o r t h e Department for Education said: “We have continued to increase support for living costs on an annual basis for students from the lowest i n c o m e h o u s e h o l d s s i n c e the start of the pandemic, and they now have access to the plargest ever amounts in cash terms " W e a l s o a s k e d t h e O f f i c e f o r S t d e n s t o protect the £256m available t o s p p o d i s a d a n a g e d students and those in need f o r t h e c u r r e n t i n a n c a year which is in addition t o a a i a b o s o disadvantaged students and t h o s i n e e c a c a a r w h i c h i s i n a d d i t i o n t o universities’ own hardship funds ”
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Is Now the Ti me to Buy the Market Bottom?
Middle class famili es wh ose prop erties have increased in value are now paying inh eritance tax (PA) Inheritance tax is “ no lo nger ju st fo r th e rich” , experts h ave warned, as increas ing nu mbers o f Britons face six figure bills The Treasury brought in £2 4 bn in inheritance tax receipts in three months to July, £300 mn higher than the figure for the same period last year The standard inheritance tax rate is 40 per cent, which is only charged on the portion of an estate that is above the tax free threshold of £325,000 The value of an estate includes the property, money and possessions of someone who has died If the value of an estate is below £325,000, there is normally no inheritance tax to pay It is also possible to bypass the tax by leaving everything above the £325,000 threshold to a spouse, a civil partner, a charity or a community amateur sports club The threshold has stayed the same since April 2011, but property prices have soared, meaning increasing numbers of people are paying more tax when they die
One of the best ways to judge the bottom is to see how banks, funds, and governments are acting A recent chart from Larry Williams suggests they are bullish and have been actively buying while retail investors are unloading He's calling a rally in August
Calls for imm ed iate gov ern m en t i nt erv ent io n a re becoming urg ent, as more and more UK businesses are hav ing to sh ut dow n over the cost of liv ing crisis D o w n i n g S t r e e t s e e m s to be in a state of paralysis r i g h t n o w , w i t h B o r i s J o h n s o n o n h o l i d a y j u s t weeks before his successor is e l e c t e d , a n d l i t t l e a c t i o n coming from the rest of the government despite promis es to draw up new cost of living support M a r t i n M c T a g u e , t h e n a t i o n a l c h a i r o f t h e F e d e r a t i o n o f S m a l l Businesses, has warned that the “toxic cocktail” of rising taxes, energy costs, inflation a n d s h r i n k i n g e c o n o m i c g r o w t h m e a n s “ a c t i o n i s needed right now ” “The cost of living crisis c a n ’ t b e s o l v e d w i t h o u t addressing the cost of doing business,” he claimed The Royal Crown Chinese take away in Scotland is expect ing to close after its energy b i l l s o a r e d b y £ 1 0 , 0 0 0 Owner Martin Tang said he faces closure of the 40 year old shop because “ every time I turn on a burner to cook s o m e t h i n g , I ’ m l o s i n g money This is enough to kill off my business ” M o l l y B r o w n ’ s D o g F r i e n d l y T e a m R o o m i s shutting in September after a n e l e c t r i c i t y b i l l c o s t i n g £4,000 for 10 weeks came in T h e o w n e r , R i c h a r d Stewart Brown said: “As we w e r e w o r k i n g t o r e c o v e r f r o m b e i n g s h u t i n l o c k down, we like everyone else, d i s c o v e r e d t h a t o u r c o s t s h a d j u s t e x p l o d e d a n d i n addition to that instead of being one of seven cafes on the promenade, we are now one of 17 on the road and that doesn’t include other cafes in the town I t a l i a n r e s t a u r a n t Santoni is closing after five y e a r s d u e t o t h e £ 2 , 0 0 0 monthly energy bill expect e d t o h i t t h i s w i n t e r I t s owner Marco Di Rienzo said that it was closing despite still being popular, due to the worsening cost of living crisis and soaring prices
Plenty of shares out there could comfortably beat 9% even during a bear market Concl us ion It's notoriously hard to time the market However, what we do know is that it will bounce back eventually For investors with a sensible, long term strategy, it could be a great time to invest in solid companies with strong fundamentals
inheritance tax T his is the first time the C o ns u m er P ri c es I nd e x (C PI) has h it d ouble d igits since F ebruary 1 98 2, wh en it reached 10 4 per cent A s o f Ju ne, the CP I was sitting at 9 4 p e r c en t bu t f i g u res sho w it rose to 10 1 p er cent in th e 1 2 month s to July, the O ff i ce fo r N ati o na l S tatistics (ONS ) said T h e r e w a s a n o v e r a l l i n c r e a s e o f 2 3 p e r c e n t between June and July 2022 in the price of food and n o n a l c o h o l i c d r i n k s A l l t h e 1 1 f o o d a n d n o n a l c o h o l i c b e v e r a g e c l a s s e s made upward contributions to the change in the annual i n f l a t i o n r a t e , w i t h t h e l a r g e s t u p w a r d c o n t r i b u t i o n s o f 0 0 4 percentage points coming from bread and cereals, and from milk, cheese and eggs T h e r e h a s b e e n a noteworthy rise in the cost of milk, cheddar cheese and yogurt or fromage frais M e a t p r i c e s i n c r e a s e d by 0 03 percentage points, with a notable rise in the c o s t o f c o o k e d h a m a n d bacon Potatoes, as well as s u g a r , j a m , s y r u p s , c h o c o l a t e a n d c o n f e c t i o
19AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022
The confid ence of UK con su mer about future h as hit a reco rd lo w in Aug ust d ue to th e s o ari n g co s t o f l i v i ng and bl eak e co n o m i c prosp ects A "sense of exas peration" about th e econo my was the big gest driver behind the fall, according to GfK's Consumer C onfid ence ind ex Recent data showed that prices ro se at the fastest pace in 40 years in July and the U K is heading for reces sio n Meanwhile, retail sales volumes fell by 1 2% in the three months to July The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said people were con tinuing to cut back on non essential spending, in partic ular clothing and household goods R a c h e l B a r b e r , l e g a l partner and retail specialist a t a c c o u n t a n c y f i r m Deloitte said that because people are pessimistic about the state of the economy, many people "are now post p o n i n g m a j o r p u r c h a s e s such as electricals and furni t u r e " F u e l s a l e s a l s o declined in July as people cut down on travel, deterred by petrol and diesel prices as well as the recent hot weath er S a l e s v o l u m e s n u d g e d up slightly in July, by 0 3%, after a small fall in June, but o v e r a l l f i g u r e s s h o w s a l e s have been on a downward trend since summer 2021 The GfK con s u m e r c o n f i d e n c e b a r o m e t e r , w h i c h s u r v e y s t h e p u b l i c a b o u t t h e i r o p i n i o n of the economy, was at its lowest level this month since records began i n 1 9 7 4 T h e s e f i n d i n g s point to a sense of capitula t i o n , o f f i n a n c i a l e v e n t s moving far beyond the con trol of ordinary people", said J o e S t a t o n , G f K ' s c l i e n t strategy director T h e B a n k o f E n g l a n d now expects the UK econo m y t o f a l l i n t o r e c e s s i o n later this year and forecasts the downturn will last for 15 months The cost of living c r i s i s i s b e i n g d r i v e n b y higher fuel, energy and food prices These increases are putting a squeeze on peo ple s finances, as wages fail to keep up Energy and fuel prices had been rising even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine a s e c o n o m i e s s t a r t e d t o r e c o v e r f r o m t h e c o r o n a v i r u s p a n d e m i c , a n d t h e c o n f l i c t h a s p u s h e d u p prices further
Another Wall Street veteran, Ed Yardeni, indicates the market can't recover until we see clear signs that inflation has been contained Ref rain f rom t im ing the m arket altogether? Of course, investors could be best served by using the bear market to add quality stocks they believe in instead of trying to time the market Selling at the top and buying back in at the bottom is a challenging task for analysts awash with informa tion, let alone for retail investors Investing during these times is difficult Stock market declines are just part of the process As always, avoid panic sell ing and focus on the long term Of course, for anyone sitting on cash reserves, inflation could force them into the market
UK hits 40 now face six figure n e r y , a l s o g o t more expensive Food and non alcoholic d r i n k s r e p r e s e n t e d t h e largest upward movement of 0 26 percentage points T h e s e c o n d l a r g e s t c o n t r i b u t i o n c a m e f r o m recreation and culture with a n i n c r e a s e o f 0 0 9 percentage points T h i s c o m e s a f t e r separate figures from the ONS showed that average pay has fallen by three per c e n t i n t h e b i g g e s t d r o p since records began in 2001 T h e d a t a s h o w e d t h a t average wages rose by 4 7 per cent between April and June but this was lagging behind inflation, meaning the “real value” of pay fell by 3 per cent The Bank of England predicted inflation will hit 13 per cent later this year when the energy price c a p i s r e v i e w e d , w i t h average energy bills forecast to reach £4,200 in 2023 A s i n f l a t i o n i s r i s i n g f a s t e r t h a n w a g e s a r e g r o w i n g , l i f e i s g e t t i n g m o r e e x p e n s i v e T o d a y ’ s i n f l a t i o n f i g u r e s s e r v e t o widen the gap between pay g r o w t h a n d i n f l a t i o n w h i c h w a s a t i t s b i g g e s t since records began over 20 y e a r s a g o R i s i n g e n e r g y costs are one of the main c u l p r i t s f o r t h e s p i k e i n i n f l a t i o n , w i t h s o a r i n g w h o l e s a l e p r i c e s a n d t h e i n c r e a s i n g c o s t o f o t h e r i t e m s a n d s e r v i c e s f o r businesses Importance of SMEs to the British economy
inflation
Dear Financial Voice Reader, Alpesh Patel OBE
Some experts believe that we are not out of the woods yet Inflation, Ukraine, and supply chain problems are all still swirling Additionally, there is a feeling that many investors weren't quite ready to give up on tech stocks, despite heavy loss es this year If a recession materializes, that might change The economy is suspended in a strange place Spending is high, but consumer confidence is low Throw interest rate wor ries on top of that, and we should expect a slowdown
New research re veal s how importa nt smal l and medium e nter prise s are for the B ritish econ omy, as busine sses t ha t empl oy upto 249 empl oyees contrib ut e more than £2 trill ion in t ur nover and employ 44% of the Br it ish work force The study revealed that the Hospitality Industry has the high est proportion of SMEs out of any industry Out of the 200,645 businesses operating in the industry, 140,050 are small or medi um sized, which equals roughly 69 8% The Hospitality Industry is made up of accommodation and food services including hotels and restaurants The industry with the second highest percentage of SMEs is Wholesale and Retail Trade This industry, which also includes mechanic shops that repair vehicles, has more than 500,000 busi nesses, and more than four in 10 (43%) are small or medium sized Real Estate Industry has the third highest proportion of SMEs, with 35 4% of all enterprises having below 250 employees The industry has 134,095 businesses operating in the UK, and 47,740 are small or medium sized In fourth is the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Industry, which has more than 150,000 businesses running in the country, and roughly 50,000 (33%) are SMEs The industry counting the fifth highest percentage of SMEs is Manufacturing, with 32% of the enterprises operating in this industry being small or medium sized, which is 87,210 out of the 270,000 businesses
Another way to call the bottom is to look at short seller activity Short sellers have taken in $300 billion of profit this year, but now they're pulling back on those bets, which might be a sign that they don t feel the market has more room to drop Some commentators feel that 3,500 is the bottom This thesis hinges on confidence that the Fed has everything under control and that they are "clipping the wings'' of an overheated econo my The market has been hovering around 3,700 for the last month, so if we're not at the bottom, we're mighty close While a lot of the chatter is about the potential of a reces sion, there's nothing to say that we can't have a huge rally before that Th e case agai nst the bottom
Inflation is slowing Corporate and consumer spending is strong Have we reached the bottom of the market, or is there more to fall? The S&P 500 hasn't had an H1 this bad since the 1970s But that represents an opportunity for investors: in the H2 of that same year, the market recovered and actually finished up In the past six bear markets, the S&P 500 dropped by 41% So far this year, it's down over 20% The question is whether it will drop another 20% or rally back by the end of the year? Th e case for the bottom
year-high Many businesses face closure over cost of living crisis UK consumer confidence hits record low More Britons
Ab out 1,9 00 workers of UK's largest c ontainer port are on strike demanding pay revision The worker s under the b an ner Unite s aid c rane drivers , m achine oper ators a nd st eve dores are taking part in the firs t str ike t o disrupt the port in 31 y ears, foll owing a more t han nine one vote in favour Unite national officer Robert Morton said: "The sup ply chain will be severely disrupted, I accept that That's one of the unfortunate parts of things like this It could be over this afternoon if the employer agreed to meet us for real time negotiations The last message they gave to us is that 'yes, we will meet you, but no, we will not move our position one inch' That's the wrong approach " He added: "If we don't achieve what we're trying to achieve, there will be more strikes The union is asking for a pay rise in line with inflation which currently stands at 12 3% Workers had previously been offered a 7% increase, as well as a £500 lump sum payment This offer has not been put towards members, but Morton said that is because "at the beginning of the negotiations we asked them what they wanted and they said, 'we want you to go and negotiate and come back with at least the rate of inflation If it's anything less than that, then don't bring it back' " Morton said a "figure between 7% and 12 3% will be acceptable to my membership"
Many analysts are worried that central banks are losing the battle with inflation Worse still, fuel costs, supply chain issues, and commodity prices are beyond their control, meaning tools that worked in the past, such as quantitative easy, will be inef fectual Indeed, while some are calling a recession, analysts at Morgan Stanley suggest stagflation and a 5% to 10% drop in equities are more likely Others suggest that we haven't even hit the "capitulation" stage of the crash yet If investors throw in the towel, expect further dips before it improves Manuel Bley at The Dow Theory suggests we can't call capitulation until at least two of three markets close below these numbers: S&P 500 (3553), Dow (28,407), and NYSE Composite (13,532) None of these indexes are there quite yet The Buffett Indicator is always worth paying attention to However, the bad news is that it suggests we are far from the bottom
Port workers' strike to affect supply chain
h a v e s o f t e n e d c o m m o d i t y p r i c e s ,
bn from
r e v
food and fuel)
Fo ur m on t h s a f te r t h e B o m b a y St o c k M a r k e t Index ( sens ex) rec orded i ts hi gh e s t l e v el f or t h e current fis cal, it reclaim ed th e ps y c ho l og i c a l l y i m po rt a nt 6 0k l ev e l a n d closed j us t about ha lf a per c en t of f t hat FY2 3 pe ak Wi th c rude pri ces s liding, monthly inflation numb ers s h ow i n g a d e c l i n e a n d f or e i g n f u n d s m a k i n g a comebac k into Indi a, the in dex add ed a nothe r 418 po i n t s , i ts f o u rt h c o n s e c ut i v e s e s s i on o f gains , to close at 60,2 60 On April 4, the sensex had ended at 60,612 points A t i t s c u r r e n t c l o s e , t h e sensex is about 3% away from its lifetime high of 62,245 points, recorded on October 19, 2021 “ I n d i a h a s b e e n a n o u t p e r f o r m e r o v e r t h e l a s t 4 5 d a y s relative to both EM ( e m e r g i n g m a r k e t ) and DM (developed market) peers, ” said E m k a y G l o b a l F i n a n c i a l S e r v i c e s head (sales trading) S H a r i h a r a n T h e r e c e n t i n f l o w s f r o m foreign portfolio investors ( F P I s ) c a m e a f t e r n i n e consecutive months of net outflows In the past few weeks, investors on Dalal Street a l s o g o t a b o o s t f r o m s l i d i n g c r u d e o i l p r i c e s After scaling a multi year high at around $125 per barrel in early June, Brent crude prices are now down by about 25% It is the biggest import item for India and petro p r o d u c t s a r e a m a j o r c o n t r i b u t o r t o i n f l a t i o n n u m b e r s C o n s e q u e n t l y , t h e s l i d e h a s e n t h u s e d m a r k e t p l a y e r s w i t h t h e hope
r
There is something called established use, whereby if a property has been in the same position for more than 4 years, and you have the documentation to prove this, you can gain planning on this basis T h i s p r o c e s s h a s s t a r t e d i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h t h e refinance This takes the edge of the issue, and gives one breathing space whilst the underlying problem is still being resolved Both of the properties concerned are in North West London and are worth in excess of £750K But a deal is as good as the weakest link; and if it doesn’t fit into the criteria of most tick box lenders it’s a no go
Japanese bank begins operations at GIFT City in Gandhinagar
India's stock market on positive stride
Jhunjhunwala's demise won't affect Akasa airline's funding that the worst may be over for India in terms of some of its macroeconomic deficit and B a n k h a s announce d that it has begun ope rations fr om G u ja r a t In t e r n a t i on a l Fi n a n ce Te c City (GIFT City) in Ga ndhin agar, the capit al city of Gujara t state In May t hi s y e a r , t h e b a n k r e c e iv e d f in a l a pp r ov a l fr o m t h e I n t e r n a t i on a l Fin an cia l Se rv ice s Ce n tr e s Aut ho ri ty (IFSCA) as wel l as the fina ncial services agency of Japan to open t he br anch Going forward, t he ban k wil l strive to fur t he r l e v e r ag e it s e n h an ce d off ice foo t p r in t t o p r ov i d e a n e v e n m or e exten sive a nd enriched suite of finan cial ser vices t o me et t he diverse needs of its cust omer s, accordin g to a stat eme nt issued b y MUFG Bank With the latest one at GIFT City, its t o t a l n u m b e r o f b r a n c h e s i n I n d i a reached six The other centres are New D e l h i , C h e n n a i , B e n g a l u r u , a n d Neemrana Since the pandemic, there has been a greater influx of foreign banks setting up offices at GIFT City in G a n d h i n a g a r , a s t h e c o u n t r y ’ s f i r s t international financial services centre (IFSC) catches global attention I n s t i t u t i o n s s u c h a s S t a n d a r d Chartered Bank, Hongkong & Shanghai Bank Corporation Ltd, Citibank NA, B a r c l a y s B a n k , D e u t s c h e B a n k , a n d J P M o r g a n C h a s e B a n k N a t i o n a l Association have set up IFSC Banking Units (IBUs) here While some have started operations, a few others are e x p e c t e d t o c o m m e n c e t r a n s a c t i o n s s o o n T h e B a n k o f A m e r i c a Corporation, a US based multinational investment bank and financial services company, was among the early entrants into GIFT City, having set up a delivery centre in the SEZ B y J a n u a r y 2 0 2 1 , t o t a l b a n k i n g transactions had already reached $51 billion at GIFT city With GIFT City offering opportunities to foreign banks t o b o o k I n d i a l i n k e d o f f s h o r e businesses, more players are setting foot here S h a s h a n k J o s h i , D e p u t y C E O o f India for MUFG Bank, said, “We are f u l l y c o m m i t t e d t o l e v e r a g i n g o u r presence in GIFT City to contribute to India’s vision of being a gateway to the w o r l d T h e b a n k w i l l h a r n e s s i t s c a p a b i l i t i e s a n d r e l a t i o n s h i p s t o facilitate greater business collaboration and synergies between India and Japan "
16 6% from
food
single digits in July
Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd
f o o d p r o d u
t
earlier 15 9% The data
8 4% a 16 month low Vegetable prices cooled amid fresh supplies with tomato prices falling s h a r p l y P o t a t o p r i c e s r e m a i n e d s t u b b o r n , r i s i n g 5 3 5 % I n f l a t i o n i n f r u i t r o s e 2 9 4 % E d i b l e o i l p r i c e s , w h i c h h a d s o a r e d d u e t o s u p p l y
Akasa Ai r, the s tartup budget airlin e launched in In dia on August 7 wi th late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala as its bigg est inv es tor, has said it remain s “well capitalised” and will in duct the ordered 72 ai rcraft ov er the next fi ve years It wi ll also place a “sig ni fican tly larger” ai rcraft order in the next 18 months, Akasa foun der CEO Vinay Dube said The airline i nducted its third B oei ng 737 MAX recently Industry insiders say the Jhunjhunwala family holds about 47% stake in Akasa, followed by nearly 30% with founder CEO Vinay Dube & family, and the rest with other investors and staff The biggest investor’s demise was being seen as a setback to the newborn startup Akasa has sought to allay concerns about its funding “We will continue to grow our fleet by adding one new aircraft every two weeks we at Akasa Air continue to mourn the passing of Jhunjhunwala this is a deep personal loss Thanks in no small part to Jhunjhunwala, Akasa is a well capitalised airline with the financial means to induct 72 aircraft over the next five years In fact, our financial platform is strong enough to allow Akasa to place an aircraft order in the next 18 months that will be significantly larger than our first In simple terms, our growth is secure, ” Dube said “We are also thankful that Jhunjhunwala supported us in recruiting some of the best aviation talent in the country He wanted us to have a top notch leadership team that made all day to day decisions at the airline without having to fall back on him or any other investor Anyone that saw him on our inaugural flight on August 7 knows how proud he was of each Akasa employee and partner On our part, we couldn’t be prouder and more fortunate to have known him,” Dube added “He was a true believer in India’s potential,” Dube further added
May
The retail inflation moderated to a five month low in July on the back of easing of food prices, bringing much needed relief for policymakers battling price pressures but the overall number still remained above the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) upper tolerance level for the seventh consecutive month The central bank has raised interest rates sharply to tame price pressures Globally, inflation has emerged as a a r p l y hike interest rates to rein in prices A d an i L o g i st i cs , th e w h o l ly o w n ed su bsidiary of Ad ani Ports and S pecial Ec o no m ic Zo n e L td h as si g n ed a definitiv e ag reem ent to acqu ire IC D Tumb (Vapi) from Nav kar Corporation for £83 5 m illion The d eal comp rises the acquisitio n of the operational IC D (I n lan d C o nt ai ne r De p o t) w i th a capacity to hand le 0 5 million TEUs (twenty foo t equiv alent unit), A d ani Logistics L td (A LL ) said in a statement It has also acquired 129 acre land a n d r e p l a c e m e n t c o s t s o f e x i s t i n g assets The deal is subject to regulatory and lender’s approvals and is expected to close by September “ICD Tumb’s strategic positioning in the middle of one of the busiest industrial zones and access to the dedicated freight corridor allows it to meaningfully serve the vast hinterland with access to two of the busiest ports on both sides, Hazira and Nhava Sheva,” said Karan Adani, CEO, and whole time director, APSEZ The 129 acres of land provides an additional expansion path to increase capacity and cargo in near future as a d d i t i o n a l i n d u s t r i a l c o r r i d o r s a n d logistic parks get added along these DFC routes “In addition to cargo moving by rail being 5x greener than that moving by r o a d , a n o t h e r p r i m e b e n e f i t o f t h e access to the DFC is the savings in average transit times that is expected to be 10 hours by rail versus 24 hours by road This acquisition fits well with our t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s t r a t e g y t o w a r d s becoming a transport utility We are confident to grow the volumes at the ICD at high double digits as we build out a sustainable world class multi modal supply chain solution for the nation,” he added 'ReNe w Power' based in India 's Gurgaon h a s r a is e d a $ 1 b i l l i on pr o je c t l o a n t h r o ug h e x t e r n a l co mm e r ci a l b o r ro win g s (E CB ) , t y in g up wi t h 1 2 int erna tiona l ba nks for the finance The compa ny said it is t he single l argest p roj ect fun din g in Indi an re ne wab l e e nergy ReNew will use the funding for its upcoming hybrid round the cock (RTC) battery enabled project “The interest rate, after hedging, is expected to be l o w e r t h a n t h e c o m p a n y ’ s c u r r e n t a v e r a g e c o s t o f d e b t o n i t s b a l a n c e sheet,” it said in a statement The company has signed a power p u r c h a s e a g r e e m e n t w i t h t h e S o l a r Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for the battery project at Rs 2 90 per unit with 3 per cent escalation annually for 15 years It will set up wind and solar p r o j e c t s i n t h e I n d i a n s t a t e s o f Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra under RTC In April, Mitsui & Co ltd picked up 49 per cent stake in the RTC project “ReNew has shown continued a b i l i t y t o a c c e s s f i n a n c i n g a t m u c h l o w e r r a t e s t h a n s e v e r a l y e a r s a g o , d e s p i t e t h e c u r r e n t v o l a t i l i t y i n t h e currency markets and a rising interest rate environment,” said Sumant Sinha, founder, chairman and CEO of ReNew R e N e w , w h i c h i s p r o m o t e d b y Goldman Sachs, was listed through the S P A C m o d e a t N A S D A Q l a s t y e a r , becoming the first Indian renewable company to do so The company has a total renewable energy portfolio of 12 8 GW
m a j o r p o l i c y c h a l l e n g e w h i c h h a s p r o m p t e d c e n t r a l b a n k s t o s h
a c c o r d i n g t o t h e o f f i c i a l statement
'ReNew
r
m
inflation Ja p a n e se l e n d e r , MU F G
The inflation number was revised to the showed inflation dipping to while core inflation (minus slowed to constraints, have cooled sharply as government measures to rein in prices helped Fears of a global slowdown which is having a cooling impact on domestic prices
20 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian-voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 FINANCE & REAL ESTATE
raises
India's Power' $1 global banks India's inflation on the downward journey
f u n d a m e n t a l s l i k e t r a d e
We a re cur re ntl y d ea lin g with fina ncing some ‘ ill e gal ’ conve rsions Ba ck in the day when pl anning was more rel axed than n ow, man y deve lopers were of the opinion they could simpl y crack on with the work, an d appl y for wha t’s k nown as establ ished use This is was the way to get what you wanted with the least amount of resistance This worked back then; I’m talking a couple of decades ago However, it would be a very unwise strategy to follow in the current environment The council are a lot more s t r i n g e n t , a n d e v e n a t t i m e s s e e m t o e x c e e d t h e i r boundaries In my experience they assert things that are not true, and then ask you to prove otherwise; leaving the onus of proof upon you Nonetheless, we are where we are with these current conversions In life, as in property, there is little point in looking backwards Should, would and could, have little relevance here Therefore, the matter was placed before us to resolve The issue has to be regularised as they want funds from the assets They require the funds first, as regularisation will take time; and no one knows how much time The challenge was to find a lender who would lend on the assets as is The obvious choice was a bridge, this is the function of a bridge, to take you from one place to another; not a place where one wants to hang out on too long In terms of property it is at times used whilst the planning state of the property is altered However, the client did not even like the sound of the word, understandably Fortunately, we have a very close connection with an aggressive lender, right down to the owner who started lending at the age of 19 and now has an estimated worth of £2bn We presented the scenario and got the deal authorised on a 5 year fixed rate product, when most lenders wouldn’t even take a cursory look at the case This will give them enough breathing space to sort out the issue out once and for all In parallel, we have recommended a good planning consultant who has the ability to solve issues with a sniper, rather than a shot gun
A deal is as good as its weakest link
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India's Wh olesale price inflation has been m oderated to a fiv e m onth low in Ju ly on the back of easing food and c o m m o d it y p ri c es , p ro v id in g s o m e relief from stubborn price p ressu res but stayed in d ouble digits for the 16th m onth in a row Data released by India's Ministry of C o m m e r c e a n d I n d u s t r y s h o w e d i n f l a t i o n , a s m e a s u r e d b y t h e Wholesale Price Index (WPI), rose an annual 13 9% in July, lower than the 1 5 2 % i n t h e p i o u s m o n t h T h e inflation rate was at 11 6% in July 2021 I n f l a t i o n i n J u l y , 2 0 2 2 i s p i a i l y contributed by rise in prices of mineral oils, food articles, crude petroleum and natural gas, basic metals, electricity, chemicals and chemical products, and c s a s a corresponding month of the previous y e a r ,
Adani Logistics acquires Inland Container Depot
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SIKH GIRL IN PAK ABDUCTED, CONVERTED TO ISLAM
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Pak PM wants ‘just and peaceful’ resolution with India on Kashmir Lanka launches tour packages for Indian travellers I S L A M A B A D : P ak i st an P r im e M i ns te r Shehbaz Sh arif affirmed that his country aspires peaceful bilateral ties w ith India He also talked about resolving all issues includ ing " a just and peaceful resolution o f the Jam mu and Kashmir dispu te in accord ance with the relev ant U NSC resolu tions " S h e h b a z ' s r e m a r k s c a m e d u r i n g h i s m e e t i n g w i t h t h e n e w l y a p p o i n t e d Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan Neil Hawkins "A just and peaceful resolu tion of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolu tions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people is indispensable for peace and stability in t h e r e g i o n , " s a i d S h e h b a z a c c o r d i n g t o reports T h e r e p o r t s a l s o r e p o r t e d t h a t t h e Pakistan PM
21AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022
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CHINESE SHIP LEAVES LANKA AFTER CONTROVERSIAL VISIT
IS L A M A BA D : Former Pakistan prime minis ter Im ran Khan h as been charg ed und er anti terrorism legislation after he gave a fiery sp eec h to su p po rters at the w eekend in which he vow ed to sue po lice o fficers and a female judg e and alleged a clo se aide had been tortured after his arrest K h a n w i l l h a v e t o “ f a c e t h e l a w f o r threatening and hurling abuses”, tweeted the interior minister, Rana Sanaullah Hundreds of Khan’s supporters gathered outside his hilltop mansion in the capital, Islamabad, on Monday, vowing to prevent his arrest The protesters chanted slogans against t h e g o v e r n m e n t o f t h e p r i m e m i n i s t e r Shehbaz Sharif which took over after Khan was ousted in a confidence vote in April A court in Islamabad issued a so called “ pro tective bail” for Khan for the next three days, preventing police from arresting him over the charges until at least Thursday
I SLA MA BA D :
The Pakist an govern me nt was on the back foot a fte r coming under fir e from one of its own top leade rs following the lat est hike in the pe trol price The coa lition g ove rn ment l ed b y PML N incre ase d the price of petr ol and reduce d those of high speed diesel an d k erose ne for the nex t fortn ight PML N vice president Maryam Nawaz took to twitter and said former premier and p a r t y c h i e f N a w a z S h a r i f h a d s t r o n g l y opposed the decision to raise the price of petrol She said Sharif, who is living in London, “left a meeting” held to discuss the issue of price hike Finance minister Miftah Ismail in response was on the defensive, say ing that the revision does not include any new taxes “The increase or decrease in prices is according to the purchasing by Pakistan State Oil (PSO),” he tweeted Ismail explained that the country’s Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) takes the average Platt prices, adds freight and the premium paid by the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) company on top of these prices, and multiplies that by the exchange rate “We have not added any new tax or levy to the price The price of petrol has gone up (and diesel has gone down) because the cost paid by PSO in the previous fortnight was more than the cost estimated by Ogra and also because the premium paid by PSO on petrol i n c r e a s e d a n d t h a t o f d i e s e l r e m a i n e d u n c h a n g e d , ” I s m a i l s a i d L a t e r , I s m a i l addressed a press meet where he confirmed being part of the meeting that discussed fuel prices, but refused to give details US refuses to release $3.5 bn in frozen Afghan funds
A Hindu sanitation worker has been arrested in Pakistan for allegedly committing blasphemy by burning pages of a religious book following a series of protests by an extremist group a senior police official said Ashok Kumar was arrested after the extremist group Tehreek e Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) staged protests in front of a building housing Hindu families over the alleged blasphemy incident that took place in Hyderabad city A Hindu community leader in Hyderabad said the police had arrested Kumar without carrying out a proper investigation The Hindu families living in a building where the incident occurred are scared after the protests organised by the TLP and held outside their building on Sunday,” he said
A high tech Chinese research ship docked at the strategically important Hambantota port departed from Sri Lankan waters on Monday after a controversial six day visit The ballistic missile and satellite tracking ship Yuan Wang 5 ship was originally scheduled to arrive at the Chinese run port on August 11 but it was delayed in absence of permission by Lankan authorities following security concerns raised by India The Chinese ship arrived in Hambantota on August 16 It was docked there for replenishment The ship left the port on Monday, harbour master Nirmal Silva said in brief stressed on the of the even mentioned the influence of the the praised India for its independent foreign policy He also slammed the Western world for criticizing India for buying Russian oil Imran Khan has condemned US led for eign countries for a conspiring against him as the former PM was disgracefully ousted from office in April after he lost the vote of n o c o i e n c e W h i l e a t t a c k i n g U S President Joe Biden, Khan on many occa sions praised India for not towing to the demands of the West He praised India for continuing to purchase Russian oil despite being a "strategic ally" of the US Imran Khan's political party Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) played out a video clip in Lahore of India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar where he said that New Delhi will do what is best for their peo ple M e a n w h i l e , S h e h b a z r e i t e r a t e d Pakistan's strong commitment to expand ing cooperation with Australia in a wide range of fields, including trade, investment, agriculture, and livestock
The Pakistan government has made currency declaration by all international passengers mandatory as part of the measures to curb money laundering to fulfil the condition set by the global money laundering and terror financing watchdog FATF according to a media report The notification issued by the Civil Aviation Authority came as a team of Financial Action Task Force is expected to arrive in Pakistan next month for on site visit to verify steps taken by Islamabad to curb money laundering and terror financing No international passenger would be able to board the flight or leave the airport without submitting the declaration The passengers would be required to submit the currency declaration form to the customs staff before checking in for the flight, the notification said Pakistan has been on the grey list of the Paris based FATF since 2018
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Former Pak PM Imran Khan charged under anti-terror law Pak govt under fire for petrol price hike Shehbaz Sharif
C OL OM BO: Sri Lan ka's touris m mini stry has re cen tly launched ne w pack ages to encourage In dian touris ts A total of f ive new pack ages h as be en rele ase d by Sri Lan ka Touris m for In dian touri sts tra vel l i n g t o S r i L a n k a , w h i ch a i m s t o l i f t tourism that ha s see n a ra pid drop s in ce the Easte r a ttack s this y ear The number of In dian touris ts dropped to 9,30 0 af ter the at ta ck s , fr om 2 3 mi ll i on i n 2018 T he attacks on A pril 21, 20 19 had lef t 258 dea d, an d ev er s in ce tha t cata stro phic ev en t, tourism had decli ned in the country by almost 70 pe r ce nt T h e n e w i n i t i a t i v e t o a t t r a c t m o r e Indian tourists has been launched by Sri Lanka Tourism, in collaboration with Sri Lankan Airlines, Hotels Association of Sri Lanka, and also inbound tour operators The packages basically offer discounted rates for exploring the beautiful country, and the dis counts range from 30 to 60 per cent Also, the packages include airfare, accommoda tion, transport, and other facilities The tour packages are being extended to 12 Indian cities with 123 flights every week, and you can get a combination of the best of S r i L a n k a , s u c h a s C o l o m b o , K n a d y , N u w a r a , E l i y a , S i g i r i y a , a n d t h e S o u t h Coast You can pick your favourite option from the range of budgets listed, and the o f f e r i s o n
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W a sh in g ton : Th e Bi d e n a d mi n i stra ti on ha s rule d out relea sing $3 5 b illion in funds held in the US b ack to Afgha nistan’s central ba nk an y ti me soon , fol low in g the di scov e ry tha t a l Qaida ’ s lea der had tak en refuge in Ka bul appar e ntly wi th the protecti on of the Talib an govern me nt The position on the funds wa s outli ned o n t he a n n i v e r sa r y o f t he ta k e ov e r of Afghani sta n by the Talib an m ilitia a nd j ust ove r two we eks after an Ame rica n drone stri ke k illed Aym an a l Za wahri, the Qa ida leade r, on the b al cony of a house tied to a faction of the Talib an coalition i n a n en cla ve of the Afghan ca pi ta l Thomas West, the US government’s spe cial representative for Afghanistan said “We do not see recapitalisation of the DAB as a near term option, added that US officials have engaged for months with the central bank about how to shore up Afghanistan’s economy but have not secured persuasive guarantees that the money would not fall into terrorist hands “We do not have confidence that that institution has the safeguards and monitor ing in place to manage assets responsibly,” West said in a statement “And needless to say, the Taliban’s sheltering of al Qaida lead er Ayman al Zawahri reinforces deep con cerns we have regarding diversion of funds to terrorist groups ” Ned Price, the state depart ment spokesman, said the administration was searching for alternative ways to use the money to help Afghans at a time when mil lions are afflicted by a growing hunger crisis The issue of the frozen money remains one of the most sensitive questions a year after President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw the last US troops from Afghanistan, leading to the fall of the Western backed government and the return of Taliban to power
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A police report of the rally cited Khan’s comments that he “would not spare ” Islamabad’s police chief and a female judge for the arrest of his aide “The purpose of the speech was to spread terror amongst the police and the judiciary and prevent them from doing their duty,” police said in the report Under Pakistan’s legal system, police file what is known as a first information report about the charges against an accused to a magistrate judge, who allows the investiga tion to move forward Typically, police then arrest and question the accused The use of anti terrorism laws as the basis of cases against political leaders is not uncommon in Pakistan, where Khan’s government also used them against opponents and critics At his latest rally on Sunday night he accused “neutrals” a term he uses to allude to Pakistan’s powerful military of being responsible for a crackdown on his party and workers “A plan has been made to place our party against the wall I assure you, that the Sri Lankan situation is going to happen h e r e , ” K h a n t h r e a t e n e d , r e f e r e n c i n g t h e recent economic protests that toppled that island nation’s government “Now we are following law and constitution But when a political party strays from that path, the sit uation inside Pakistan, who will stop the public? There are 220 million people ” PTI w e n t t o c o u r t t o c h a l l e n g e t h e c h a r g e s against Khan Khan secu res p rotective bail
Tensions escalated sharply on Saturday when Pakistan’s media watchdog banned television channels from broadcasting live a d d r e s s e s b y K h a n a f t e r h i s r a l l y i n Islamabad
A Sikh teacher in Peer Baba, Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was reportedly abducted and converted to Islam triggering protests Dina Kaur daughter of Gurcharan Singh was abducted at gunpoint raped and married to her abductor on August 20 Her family approached the police but no case was registered Gurcharan Singh claimed the crime had been committed in connivance with the District Police Officer (DPO) and Station House Officer (SHO) of Buner district They tortured her and forced her to get converted They misled us the entire day, he said Livid, the Sikh community in the district organised massive protests A video of one such protest went viral WORKER HELD IN PAK OVER ALLEGED BLASPHEMY
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The Islamabad high court, meanwhile granted protective bail to Khan in the terror ism case Khan’s lawyers filed a petition seeking pre arrest bail on his behalf The petition stated that Khan was a “target of the ruling party for his fearless criticism, and extremely bold and blunt stance against corruption and corrupt politicians ” Noting that the govern ment had registered a total of 17 FIRs against Khan, the plea alleged that the government had decided to “ cross all limits” to arrest Imran “under false accusations” and was “hell bent to sort out the petitioner and his party at all costs”
l y v a l i d f r o m J u n e 1 0 t o September 30, 2019 Sri Lanka Tourism is a l s o d o i n g p r o m o t i o n s i n D e l h i a n d Mumbai to attract potential travellers
NE W Y OR K: A statue of Mahatma Gandhi outsi de a temple i n New Y ork City has been destroyed b y six men in a second attack on the memorial within two weeks In the l a te s t i nc i d e n t, t he l i f e s i z e d s t a tu e, s tanding outsi de the Tuls i Mandir in South R i chm ond H i ll, wa s s ma she d to p ie ce s using a sledgehammer The suspects also spray painted “kutta,” (dog in Hindi), “Grandpi” and “Dog” on the road outside the 111th Street temple, cops said “To know that Gandhi represents peace and somebody would come and just target the statue and vandalize it, it’s very sad,” the temple’s founder, Pandit Maharaj said On August 3, the same statue had been k n o c k e d o v e r , p r o m p t i n g c o m m u n i t y outrage and press conferences against the hate crimes across the country, New York Post reported According to the police, the suspects fled from the scene in two cars, a white Mercedes Benz and a darker car, possibly a Toyota Camry that is possibly used as a livery cab “We are deeply saddened to learn of the vandalism at the Tulsi Mandir This is not t h e f i r s t t i m e s o m e t h i n g l i k e t h i s h a s happened, and it must stop We must work together to send a clear message that hate crimes towards any religion will not be tolerated,” the Cityline Ozone Park Civilian Patrol tweeted I t f u r t h e r s a i d , “ A s u s u a l , C O P C P volunteers were out last night, patrolling the community and keeping an eye out We increased our presence at Tulsi Mandir and were happy to see the 106 Precinct there as well A big thank you to our four volunteers who were out for 7 hours overnight ” “Hindu hate is on the rise,” the area ’ s Assembly member Jenifer Rajkumar said adding that donors have offered to pay for a replacement “It’s outrageous Gandhi is a symbol of peace all around the world ” In a statement, the Assembly member the first Hindu American elected official in New York State called for the perpetrators to b e “ a p p r e h e n d e d s w i f t l y , c h a r g e d , a n d prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law ” “We always knew that defeating hate would not be accomplished in one day, one week, or even one year We are committed to this fight for the long term, and will use t h e H i n d u p r i n c i p l e s o f a h i m s a ( n o n violence) and satyagraha (soul force) that guided Gandhi himself and later the great American civil rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr ” T h e N e w Y o r k P o l i c e D e p a r t m e n t ’ s
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MOGADISHU HOTEL SIEGE ENDS; 21 KILLED, 106 HOSTAGES FREED Somali forces have ended a deadly siege at a hotel in the capital Mogadishu which saw more than 21people killed and dozens of hostages freed, authorities said Elite armed forces in the Horn of Africa nation battled al Qaida linked militants for 30 hours, after the jihadis blasted and shot their way into the Hayat Hotel on Friday “We have confirmed so far 21 dead people and 117 others injured ” Ali Haji the minister for health said The al Qaida linked al Shabaab group which has been fighting to topple the Somali government for more than a decade claimed responsibility for the attack It wants to establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law
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Odinga rejects Kenya election results, vows court challenge
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TO KY O : Japan has la unched a drive to ge t youn g people to dr ink m ore a lcohol This comes a ft er var ious people stoppe d dr inkin g dur ing t he cor on av ir us pan demic, which ha s le d to le ss r eve nue for the N ation al Ta x Agen cy Now, t he age ncy has urge d people age d 20 to 39 to submit ide as for str ate gies t o in cr ease alcohol con sum ption, includ in g promotin g d rink in g a t home C onte stan ts to the "Sak e Viv a!" cont est have time till Septe mbe r 9 t o come up with ide as, with t he winnin g pla n be ing an nounce d in Nove mbe r an d adopt ed by the N TA Intake of alcohol in Japan has come down by 25 per cent in the last quarter century, for reasons including an ageing population The trend was intensified by the pandemic as young people stopped going out to restaurants and socialising Last year, taxes from alcohol sales saw their biggest fall in three decades In that year consumption of beer, which was the worst affected drink, was down by over 20 per cent Earlier this month, an NTA official said that the move to working from home had also impacted drinking and taxes According to the World Health Organisation alcohol consumption per head is less in Japan than in the UK, although still more than in China
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T O R O N T O : Ca n ad ia arged with first degree murder in the am an S M the Sikh man acqui in I a K anish ka terrorist mbing case that killed 331 peop le On July 15, Malik was shot dead in Surrey, British C o l u m b i a M a l i k a n c o accused Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted in 2005 of m a s s a n conspiracy charges related t o t h e w o b o b n s 9 8 5 T 9 8 5 A b b s c Canadian history and in the history of the airline Tanner Fox, a 21 year old from Abbotsford, British Columbia and 23 year old J o s e L o p e z , f r o m t h e Vancouver suburb of New W e s t m i n s t e r , w e r e b o t h a r r e s t e d , s a i d t h e R o y a l Canadian Mounted Police P o l i c e w e r e t i g h t l i p p e d , only saying the two were arrested peacefully in their r e s p e c t i v e c i t i e s a n d t h a t c o l l a b o r a t i o n b e t w e e n police helped lead to the arrests “Through conventional i n v e s t i g a t i v e t e c h n i q u e s and amazing police work, we were able to identify and a r r e s t t w o s u s p e c t s i n relation to this homicide B o t h o f t h e s e i n d i v i d u a l s are known to police,” said s u p e r i n t e n d e n t M a n d e e p Mooker, a spokesperson for t h e I n t e g r a t e d H o m i c i d e Investigation Team (IHIT) M a l i k ' s s o n J a s p r e e t Singh Malik said his family took the news with mixed e m o t i o n s “ N o m a t t e r w h e r e t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n g o e s a n d n o m a t t e r h o w these charges turn out, we have lost a great man, ” said Jaspreet Jaspreet said police have n o t t o l d t h e f a m i l y a n y more than it has divulged publicly, and did not want t o s p e c u l a t e o n w h y h i s f a t h e r w a s t a r g e t e d T h e IHIT says the probe into the s l a y i n g o f c o n t r o v e r s i a l Surrey businessman Malik c o n t i n u e s d e s p i t e f i r s t degree murder charges Fox a n d L o p e z a p p e a r e d i n Surrey provincial court and h a v e b e e n r e m a n d e d i n c u s t o d y u n t i l t h e i r n e x t court date M a l i k w a s s h o t w h i l e sitting in his car at a Surrey business complex, of which he was the strata president, on July 14 A suspect vehicle was found on fire nearby, according to RCMP, who at the time said the shooting appeared targeted K I S U M K E N Y In a t e le a K enyan pre sidentia l candidate Raila Odinga has s poke n for the fir st tim e si he lost the e lection saying hi s coalition "totally and without r eser vati ons r eject the preside ntial r esults our view, there is neither a legally and validly declared winner nor a president elect," the former Kenyan prime minister said of the results announced by the electoral c o m William Ruto winner of the presidential election with 50 49% of the vote and Odinga second with 48 85% Odinga took the stage moments after four dissenting election commissioners held a press conference at a different location to accuse the chairman of misconduct The aggregation of the vote percentages each candidate received was of "mathematical absurdity," said the Independent Electoral a n B C considered the figures presented by the chairman, Wafula Chebukati, as null and void, saying he would all constitutional and legal options available to us " It is Odinga's fifth attempt at the presidency and he has said he will be contesting for the last time He is part of Kenya's political dynasty; his father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was the first vice president of independent Kenya and he is fondly known as "Baba" by Kenyans Japan urges young people to consume more alcohol
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SINGAPORE TO DECRIMINALISE GAY SEX
Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the i n c i d e n t a n d h a s b e e n n o t i f i e d o f t h e August 3 vandalism, according to New York Post
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NE W Y ORK : Ind ian diasp ora participating in th e annual Ind ia Day parade held in New York to celebrate the 75th anniversary of independence achiev ed a milestone as the ev ent se t tw o G u in nes s Wo rl d Re co rd s re sp ec ti v el y f o r th e m o s t n u m be r o f different flags flown simultaneously and the la rg es t e ns em bl e o f m u si c al i ns tru m e nt
o m m i s s i o n v i c e c h a i r J u l i a n a C h e r e r a , h i g h l i g h t i n g t h a t t h e n u m b e r o f v o t e s t o t a l e d 1 0 0 1 % , a discrepancy of 0 01% Odinga
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TURKEY, ISRAEL TO RESTORE FULL DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS
US FIRST LADY TESTS COVID +VE US first lady Jill Biden tested positive for Covid 19 after developing cold like symptoms last week, her communications director Elizabeth Alexander said After testing negative earlier as part of her regular testing cadence, a later PCR test taken after she developed symptoms came back positive, the spokeswoman said President Joe Biden tested negative on an antigen test, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said on Twitter Jill Biden is experiencing mild symptoms and has been prescribed a course of Paxlovid, Alexander said The first lady is currently in South Carolina where the Bidens have been on vacation She will return home after she receives two consecutive negative Covid 19 tests, Alexander said
Singapore will decriminalise sex between men but has no plans to change the legal definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman PM Lee Hsien Loong LGBTQ groups welcomed Lee’s decision to repeal Section 377A of the penal code a colonial era law that criminalises sex between men but also cautioned that ruling out same sex marriage would help to perpetuate discrimination In his annual national day rally speech Lee said Singaporean society, especially young people in the city state, were becoming more accepting of gay people I believe this is the right thing to do, and something that most Singaporeans will now accept, he said
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Records, the most number of flags flown simultaneously and the largest ensemble of the damru, the twin headed drum Kenny Desai, FIA president hailed Prime Minister N a r e n d r a M o d i ’ s v i s i o n a n d e f f o r t s t o celebrate India’s 75 years of Independence ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ He also said FIA tried to do their bit by attempting the records and making their motherland shine in their homeland FIA chairman Ankur Vaidya said that these records are dedicated to the global I n d i a n c o m m u n i t y a n d t h a n k e d t h e diaspora community for their support in making the event a success The display of flags of countries across the globe was in honour of the Tiranga or the Indian flag, symbolising India’s universality
Turkey and Israel have agreed to restore full diplomatic relations following improvement in relations between the two countries The two countries will return ambassadors to each other s countries following a gradual improvement in relations The announcement was made following a conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan It comes after four years after the two countries expelled ambassadors over the killing of 60 Palestinians by Israeli forces during protests on the Gaza border against the opening of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem
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The official said that many people may have come to question whether they need to continue the habit of drinking with colleagues to deepen communication If the new normal takes root, that will be an additional headwind for tax revenue "
22 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022
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A metal object believed to have fallen from a trans Atlantic jet came crashing down outside the Maine State House, landing with a loud bang just feet from a Capitol Police worker, officials said The FAA believes the metal sleeve weighing 6 to 7 pounds came from a wing flap of a large passenger jet No one was hurt in brief
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11 convicts walk out of jail in Bilkis Bano rape case
The hus ban d of a plai nti ff in the Shri ngar Gauri Gyan vapi case f iled a n FIR with Vara nas i police, alleg ing that he had receiv ed d eath thr eats “ sa r tan s e j uda” (behea din g), f rom a Pa kis tani phon e n um be r twice on March 19 and July 20 Police guards we re poste d round the clock to prote ct the plain tiff an d her family , gi ven the s en siti vity of the cas e This happe ned a day be fore the d istri ct judg e ’ s court res ume d hea ring the cas e i n which f ive women file d a law suit i n 2021 plea din g permi ss ion to offe r daily pray ers to goddes s Shri ngar Gauri an d other dei ties wh ose i dols are i n Va ran asi ’ s Gyan vapi mos que complex Sohan Lal Arya, husband of plaintiff Laxmi Devi, said that he has been threatened twice by someone calling from a Pakistani mobile number “The caller threatened to behead me, referencing Kanhaiya (Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal Sahu was beheaded for social media posts deemed blasphemous) The caller is pressuring us to withdraw the case, ” he alleged Police officer Anil Sahu confirmed that an FIR was lodged against unidentified person/s based on Arya’s complaint Arya said the family initially ignored the calls, but decided to report to police when his wife discovered a missed call while surf ing the phone’s call list The call was made on August 3 from a Pakistani number They took up the matter with the police commissioner and dis trict magistrate, and were directed to lodge a police complaint
23AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 Diamantaire from Surat to light up homes of 750 unsung heroes across India S R K Kn o wl e d g e Fo un d a t i on (SRKKF), the communit y we lfare ar m of Shree Ramkrishna Ex port s Pvt Lt d (SRK), a le ader in the world o f d ia m on d s , a n n o un c e d a t a n Independe nce D ay even t in Surat t ha t t he y w oul d in st a l l r o oft op sol ar pane ls at the home s of 750 m a r t y r e d s ol d i e r s a n d un s un g heroes across India SRKKF under the leadership of f o u n d e r c h a i r m a n G o v i n d b h a i D h o l a k i a o r g a n i s e d a n e v e n t , named ‘Rashtra ki Roshni’ at SRK Sports Park, Surat to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence A parade escorted the chief guest, C o m m a n d a n t C h e t a n K u m a r Cheetah of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) I n s p i r e d b y P r i m e M i n i s t e r Narendra Modi’s initiative of cele brating 75 years of India’s glory with the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ campaign, SRKKF, during ‘Rashtra ki Roshni’, pledged to continue h e l p i n g a n d e m p o w e r i n g t h e a f f e c t e d f a m i l i e s o f u n s u n g h e r o e s a n d c o m m i t t e d t o t h e i n s t a l l a t i o n o f r e s i dential solar rooftop at their homes The i n i t i a t i v e i s s a i d t o i m p a c t 3 0 0 0 + l i v e s while addressing the needs of energy day a n d n i g h t O n c e complete, this would be a pioneer ing initiative by a community wel fare organisation The 750 KW rooftop solar sys tems will be used to power 750 homes With this, the residents will be able to save Rs 2,000 per month over 25 years SRKKF is accelerat i n g p r o g r e s s t o w a r d s t h e S u s t a i n a b l e D e v e l o p m e n t G o a l s (SDGs), and this initiative is a small step towards a green future among the various other initiatives In March this year, Govindbhai announced plans to make Dudhala i n A m r e l i d i s t r i c t o f G u j a r a t a g r e e n v i l l a g e b y i n s t a l l i n g s o l a r panels at all the homes Earlier in 2 0 1 6 a t N a d a b e t , S R K K F h a d organised an event named “Hum C h a l e t o h H i n d u s t a n C h a l e ” t o felicitate our brave army jawans G o v i n d b h a i r e m a r k e d , “ O u r unsung heroes are doing so much for us We should take inspiration from them to always contribute to the development and growth of our nation As responsible citizens o f I n d i a , w e , t h e S R K F a m i l y , thought of what should we do for our unsung heroes which could benefit them for a lifetime and came up with the idea of providing solar energy to their homes ” Till date, over 3,008,160 people have received financial support for various educational scholarships a n d m e d i c a l e x i g e n c i e s G o v i n d b h a i i n s t i t u t e d t h e ‘Santokbaa Humanitarian Award’ in 2006 in the fond memory and honour of his late mother, Smt Santokbaa The award till date has been conferred on 13 eminent per sonalities from distinctive back grounds ‘Sidelined’ Anand Sharma quits key Himachal Cong post R e v olt i n g f or “ b e i n g s i de l i ne d ” from the party’s consultation pro c ess for the upcomi ng assembly e le ct ion s i n H i ma ch al Pra de sh , s enior Congress leader and lead i ng light of G 2 3 diss ident group Anand Sharma res igned from a key party panel a development s et to sour the mood of the oppo s ition party in the state Sharma wrote to Congress presi dent Sonia G andhi, li sting his grievances and i nti mating about his deci sion to q uit as the chief of the party steer i ng committee in H imachal H e, however, said he will campai gn for the party in his home state G i v e n t h a t e l e c t i o n t o t h e Congress president’s post is due in S e p t e m b e r , S h a r m a ’ s a c t i o n i s viewed as the ‘G 23 ’ signalling its displeasure over the state of affairs in the party It remains to be seen if Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Azad and Sharma raise the issue with the C o n g r e s s W o r k i n g C o m m i t t e e ( C W C ) w h e n i t m e e t s s o o n t o decide on the poll schedule and if the dissident bloc fields a candi date in the internal elections After a string of election losses in the last three years, Congress is looking to oust BJP from power in the hill state, and is hopeful that it can finally end its streak of defeats against the arch rival Sharma is a n g r y w i t h " a c o u p l e o f A I C C m a n a g e r s " r u n n i n g t h e s t a t e show, some state leaders said his action has the support of a section of the state unit that shares his concern A senior state leader said the party should listen to Sharma a n d a d d r e s s h i s g r i e v a n c e s , i n what marked a surprise backing in HP for Sharma’s rebellion When the HP Congress was reconstitut ed in April, Sharma was named t h e c h a i r m a n o f t h e " s t e e r i n g committee", which is one of the poll related panels that the party uses to accommodate leaders to placate individuals and for public messaging Anand Sharma 2 killed in stampede at Mathura temple during
Two devotees were killed and seven others injured in the fam ous Bankey B ihari te mple during Janm ashtami c elebr ations, offic ial s said Dis trict M agistr ate Na vneet Singh Chahal s aid "Prima fa cie, the c aus e of death is s uf focation due to a he avy rush during the 'mangala aarti'” Nirm ala D evi, 55 year old wom an f rom Noida a nd Ram Pras ad, 65 year ol d devo t ee fr om Jabalpur , die d in the inc i dent, a senior off ic ial said Chahal said he and Abhishek Yadav, Senior Superintendent of Police, had checked all arrange ments one hour prior to the aarti but a sudden heavy rush of pilgrims and the chaos caused after a devo tee fainted at exit gate number one primarily led to the tragedy While the unconscious devotee was res cued by police, some stumbled and fell while others stepped over them, the official said CM Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the loss of lives in the inci dent and directed officials to ensure that all necessary help is provided to the injured, according to an official statement issued in Lucknow He also directed the home department to ensure proper arrangements were made at religious places during fes tivals to prevent any untoward inci dents, the statement said Martand Prakash Singh, Superintendent of Police, said "five of the injured were discharged, while two others remain h o s p i t a l i s e d ’ T h e s i t u a t i o n w a s b r o u g h t u n d e r c o n t r o l a n d t h e injured were rushed to a hospital Amit Gupta, DG, Agra zone, Rajiv Krishna and Commissioner, Agra division, visited the site and also met with the injured at the h o s p i t a l S h a s h a n k G o s w a m i , a t e m p l e p r i e s t , s a i d t h e i n c i d e n t took place at the time of the 'man gala aarti' around 1 45 am when the c o u r t y a r d w a s j a m p a c k e d w i t h devotees Timely intervention and administration of first aid to the injured helped save many lives, the officials said
Eleven men convicted in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gang rape and murder case walked out of the Godhra sub jail after the remission of their sen tences After 15 years in jail, the 11 men were set free which generated mixed reactions with celebrations among the family of the now freed convicts and concern among the family members of Bilkis Bano and those aiding her Bilkis’s husband Yakub Patel said that he had come to know about the release of the convicts only from the media He said, “ we did not know anything about it We have fear in our minds now We were always afraid, but it has increased further He pointed out t h a t a f t e r t h e c o n v i c t i o n w a s upheld by SC, they were trying to rebuild their lives We were staying at different places for several years and were planning to settle at one place when this happened We are very unhappy with the decision Also, Bilkis was shocked at the decision and was not willing to speak to anybody When asked if they would challenge the decision of releasing the convicts, he said that they could not decide on it as they did not have any information “We do not have any papers as yet and no intimation about it We are trying to get more details and till then cannot say anything ”
Bangladesh PM Hasina set to arrive in Delhi on Sept 5 Bangladesh Prime Mini ster Sh e i kh H as i n a i s s e t t o arri ve in I ndia on Septemb er 5 for a four day vis it her first si nce the s tart of the pandemic Sourc es s aid an advanc e team from Dhaka, in cludi ng foreign m ini stry and security offic ials , is in India to discuss the logi stics and protocol for the visit According to sources, Hasina will be in India between September 5 and 8 She is likely to arrive on September 5 and hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Indian leaders, before heading to Jaipur and Ajmer Sharif She will return to Dhaka on September 8 During her visit, Hasina and Modi are expected to jointly inaugurate a “Swadhinata Sarak” from Bangladesh to India through virtual mode Trade, connectivity and defence ties are expected to domi nate the conversation between the two sides when the leaders meet for bilateral talks on September 6 B e s i d e s , b o r d e r m a n a g e m e n t , r i v e r s h a r i n g , a n d development cooperation will also be part of the dis cussions, sources said While Hasina last visited India in 2019, Modi went to Bangladesh in March last year for the com memoration of 50 years of Bangladesh’s war of liber a t i o n a n d t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f d i p l o m a t i c t i e s between the two countries Officials said India and Bangladesh share bonds of history, language, culture, and a multitude of other commonalities “The excel lent bilateral ties reflect an all encompassing part nership based on sovereignty, equality, trust, and understanding that goes far beyond a strategic part nership,” an official said Meanwhile, ahead of her visit, Hasina said that the Hindu community in Bangladesh has the same rights as she has Interacting with Hindu community leaders, she urged believers of other faiths not to think of themselves as minorities, saying that every one, irrespective of their religion, will enjoy equal rights in Bangladesh, a Muslim majority country
Janmashtami festivities
Death threat to husband of Gyanvapi case petitioner Sheikh Hasina
Panchmahal district collector Sujal Mayatra said that the con victs were set free based on the rec o m m e n d a t i o n o f a c o m m i t t e e formed a few months ago to con sider their release under the state g o v e r n m e n t ’ s r e m i s s i o n p o l i c y T h e c o m m i t t e e r e c o m m e n d e d that the 11 convicts be considered under the remission policy of the state which the Gujarat govern m e n t a c c e p t e d T h e c o m m i t t e e was formed under the direction of the apex court
BJP, Cong set poll strategies in Karnataka
HC ORDERS STATUS QUO IN AIADMK LEADERSHIP ISSUE
Stalin meets PM Modi, President and V-P in Delhi
ROW OVER BENGAL BJP CHIEF'S MESSAGE
On the other hand, the opposition Congress is bursting with confidence It is confident that t h e a n t i i n c u m b e n c y f a c t o r a n d g r o w i n g inflation will be a stumbling bloc for the saffron party in the upcoming elections
Durga Puja has not been celebrated in a grand way in Bengal for the last two years because of restrictions put in place because of Covid Since protocols have been eased this t i m e , t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n i s planning a mega celebration Durga Puja is held in over 20,000 places in West Bengal E a c h y e a r , t h e s t a t e g o v e r n m e n t p r o v i d e s d o n a t i o n s t o t h e p u j a organising clubs and plans to do that this year as well Artists a n d s c u l p t o r s i n K o l k a t a ’ s Kumartuli area where the idols are prepared are gearing up as t h i s y e a r t h e y h a v e r e c e i v e d more orders compared to the previous two
Posters with Abhishek's image create flutter in Bengal K O L K A T A : A f lu t ter w as c rea ted af ter p o st ers o f Abhishek Banerjee, the National General Secretary of Trinamool C o ng res s ( T M C ) , s u rf ac ed in Hazra and Rashbehari areas of s o ut h K o l kat a T h e p os t ers state d th at a ne w Tri nam o ol Congress will co me up in th e next six m onths S u r p r i s i n g l y , M a m a t a Banerjee was missing from the posters There was just a TMC l o g o a n d A b h i s h e k B a n e r j e e ’ s image "In the next 6 months, a new TMC will come up Just like the one desired by the people" read the poster The posters first came up in Hazra, which is considered to be the fortress of TMC and is also important to the party as it was t h e r e s i d e n c e o f M a m a t a Banerjee Questions were raised about what exactly a new TMC in 6 months' means The biggest question being asked is whether all is well inside the Trinamool Congress? R e a c t i n g t o t h e p o s t e r s , Rajya Sabha MP Dr Shantanu S e n r e f u t e d a l l c l a i m s o f anything being unwell within the TMC " T h e r e i s n o i n t e r n a l d i f f e r e n c e , i t i s n o t B J P t h a t t h e r e w i l l b e f a c t i o n a l i s m Mamata Banerjee is our leader and Abhishek Banerjee himself has stated this on all occasions I know it was not done by the p a r t y o r b y a n y l e a d e r , " Shantanu Sen said K Palaniswami
SOUTH INDIA PUNJAB WEST BENGAL 24 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022
TheCongress leaders and workers, who were demoralised with infighting are now assembled behind Opposition leader Siddaramaiah Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief D K Shivakumar have declared that they will bury the h a t c h e t u n t i l t h e e l e c t i o n s a r e o v e r i n t h e p r e s e n c e o f f o r m e r C o n g r e s s c h i e f R a h u l Gandhi While the Congress is banking on the a n t i i n c u m b e n c y f a c t o r , a n i n t e r n a l s u r v e y conducted by the BJP shows some worrying trends
West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar courted controversy by asking party workers to carry sticks with flags and resist if attempts are made to stop them during the party s September 7 protest march to the state secretariat His call drew sharp criticism from the ruling Trinamool Congress which accused the saffron party of trying to vitiate the state s peaceful atmosphere Addressing a party rally at Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas district, he said there would be stiff resistance if attempts are made to stop the march "On September 7 we will march to Nabanna (state secretariat) to protest the corrupt TMC regime in the state But if we are stopped, there would be stiff resistance I request all of you to carry sticks along with flags," he said in brief
B E NG A LUR U : It is going to b e a fight between ag g re s s i v e H i n d ut va a ge n d a a n d c o m mo n minimum programme and development in the up c om i n g As s e m b ly el e c ti o n s i n K a rn a ta k a scheduled in less than ei ght months time Thi s will b e the first Assembly election where the saffron party will be fighting without the lead ro le of f o rm e r c hi e f mi n i s t e r B S Yediyurappayurappa
Former Punjab minister arrested in tender allotment scam Durga Puja 2022: big plans in Bengal after UNESCO heritage tag
In a setback to AIADMK interim General Secretary Edappady K Palaniswami (EPS), the Madras High Court ordered maintaining status quo as was the case on June 23 in the matter relating to the conduct of the July 11 General Council meet The general council, AIADMK's highest decision making body, 'expelled' rival leader O Panneerselvam and some of his associates from the party amid his leadership tussle with Palaniswami, who was picked as the interim general secretary of the party by the GC members The order passed by Justice G Jayachandran in effect held invalid the July 11 GC meeting The judge held that the co ordinator and the joint co ordinator alone shall convene the GC meeting He also suggested nomination of an observer to conduct the meeting The court was passing orders on the civil suits from O Panneerselvam and GC member Vairamuthu Later, the counsel appearing for Panneerselvam said the court has said the Coordinator and Joint Coordinator posts, held by OPS and Palaniswami, respectively earlier, "had not lapsed"
K O L K A T A : T h e f es ti v al o f Durga Puja is alw ays a big deal in West Bengal Th is time it is g ett in g b i g g er W h i le th e f es ti v i t ie s o ff i c ia ll y beg in o n Octo ber 1 , the celebrations in t h e s ta te w i ll s tar t o n S eptem ber 1 as the Trinamool C o ng r es s g o v ern m en t w i ll o rganise a big thanksg iving rally for UNESC O wh ich has g iven a h eritage tag to the festiv al C h i e f m i n i s t e r M a m a t a Banerjee herself will walk in t h a t r a l l y U N E S C O representatives have also been invited to the programme On August 22, the chief minister will hold a meeting with the police, administration, and puja committees of Kolkata on the preparations She will also, for the first time, virtually speak to the puja committees in various districts
CHANDIGARH AIRPORT TO BE NAMED AFTER BHAGAT SINGH Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann announced that his state and Haryana had agreed to name the Chandigarh International Airport in Mohali after freedom fighter Bhagat Singh Punjab and Haryana have arrived at a consensus on this Mann said that he held a meeting with Haryana deputy CM Dushyant Chautala on this issue After the meeting, Chautala said Bhagat Singh was a martyr of the country’s freedom struggle who inspired youths of every generation Chautala said since BJP governed Haryana had an equal share in the construction of the new airport, the name of “Panchkula” city should be added to its name The deputy CM said he had sent a recommendation on the matter on behalf of Haryana to the Punjab government, adding the same request would be sent to the Centre
New Delhi: Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin met P rim e M inister Narendra M odi in New Delhi after calling on newly elected President Dro upadi M urm u at the Rash trapati Bhav an and Vi ce Pres ident J ag deep Dh ankhar Before his meeting w ith th e Prim e Minister, Stalin said that “ he wo uld raise issu es such as exemption f ro m N EE T f o r T a m il Nad u and th e National Edu catio n Po licy on which the S tate has a differing v iew Also would d iscuss th e Cauvery and the Mekedatu d am issues, am ong others, with P M Mo di He ad ded th at while a num ber of schemes are in prog ress, sev eral schemes h av e not p rog ressed as d esired I will raise them as w ell ” S t a l i n t h a n k e d P M M o d i f o r inaugurating the 44th Chess Olympiad in C h e n n a i H e s a i d “ I w a s u n a b l e t o personally invite the Prime Minister for the Chess Olympiad as I was down with Covid 19 and was admitted to hospital He graciously accepted my invitation over the phone and inaugurated the event” S t a l i n a l s o h a d a m e e t i n g w i t h President Murmu The Chief Minister said that though he was invited to the President’s swearing in, he was unable to attend and had congratulated Murmu personally Stalin gave the three leaders gift boxes of rice and millet varieties unique to Tamil Nadu He also gave them a coffee table book ‘Home of Chess’ on the recently concluded Chess Olympiad M K Stalin & Narendra Modi C HA NDI GA RH : Form er Fo od and Supply m inister Bharat Bhushan Ashu has been arrested by a team o f P u n ja b V ig il an ce Bu reau fro m L ud h iana , fo r irreg u larities in the te nd er allo tm en t s cam He is the seco nd minister from th e p rev iou s C ongress g ov ernm ent to h a v e be en arr es ted b y t h e A A P g o v ern m en t o n ch a rg e s o f corrup tion T h e m i n i s t e r w a s p i c k e d u p w i t h i n h o u r s o f h a v i n g s t a g e d a d h a r n a a l o n g w i t h h i s C o n g r e s s party colleagues outside the office of Vigilance Bureau in Mohali He was arrested from a salon in Ludhiana Ashu, at the dharna, had said he was innocent and that the Vigilance Bureau should arrest him if they had any incriminating evidence against him Though initially the name of the minister was not mentioned as a n a c c u s e d i n t h e p r e f e r e n t i a l a l l o t m e n t o f tenders for labour, c a r t a g e a n d t r a n s p o r t a t i o n o f f o o d g r a i n s , t h e i n t e r r o g a t i o n o f t h e c o n t r a c t o r a w a r d e d t h e contract, Telu Ram, had proved the involvement of the former minister in the scam T e n d e r s w e r e a l l o t t e d t o t h e contractor by changing the tender a l l o t m e n t r u l e s S o u r c e s i n t h e Vigilance Bureau said that when the team of Vigilance Bureau went to arrest the former minister, he called MP Ravneet Bittu to the salon “ S i n c e t h e l a t t e r m i s b e h a v e d with the officials, we are writing to t h e C o m m i s s i o n e r o f P o l i c e , Ludhiana, to register a case against t h e M P f o r o b s t r u c t i n g t h e g o v e r n m e n t o f f i c e r s f r o m performing their duty,” a top officer in Vigilance Bureau said Sidhu Moosewala's parents to start protest seeking justice for her son M A NS A : Late Pu njabi singer Sidh u M oosewala's mother Charan Kaur announced to start a protest seeking justice for her son She said around four m onths have passed since th e murder and th ey h av e giv en enough time, but p olice h av e failed to nab th e real culprits behind the g hastly crim e Charan Kaur along with Moosewala s father Balkaur Singh was addressing the late singer's fans at their home in Musa village of Mansa district “We fully cooperated with the police and the government but nobody has done anything to deliver justice to us It would had been better if we had not performed the cremation of our son till police arrested all the accused involved in his murder,” she said Further, she also said that while everyone was calling her sherni (tigress), she was not that brave “But I have now become a sherni to get justice for my son Whether anyone comes or not, we two will sit and stage protest demanding justice,” she asserted Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead on May 29 at Jahawarke village of Mansa district while he was travelling in his vehicle L a t e r , g a n g s t e r L a w r e n c e B i s h n o i a n d h i s a c c o m p l i c e , Canada based Goldy Brar, had claimed responsibility for the murder While Bishnoi is now in the custody of Punjab Police, Goldy Brar remains elusive
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25AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022
Russia detains IS bomber who was planning to attack BJP leaders in India T he Federal Security Serv ice ( FSB) of Russia has d etained a n I sl am i c S tat e bo m ber w ho, it said , was planning to travel to India to carry out a s ui ci d e attac k o n a ru lin g p a rty " r ep re se nta ti v e " f or i n su l t t o P ro p h et M ohamm ad I n a v i d e o c o n f e s s i o n s h a r e d b y t h e R u s s i a n authorities, the alleged ter r o r i s t , M a s h r a b k h o n Azamov, who is an Uzbek national, said he arrived in R u s s i a a f t e r t r a i n i n g i n Turkey and was supposed to soon meet people in India for carrying out a suicide attack at the behest of the terrorist group There was no imme diate reaction from the MEA a l t h o u g h o f f i c i a l s o u r c e s here said they were closely following the case Sources in intelligence agencies con firmed the arrest of Azamov b y F S B , i d e n t i f y i n g t h e Islamic State terrorist as son of Tokhir Ugli Diplomatic sources said there was no clarity yet about exactly who in the Indian ruling party he was planning t o t a r g e t F o r m e r B J P spokesperson Nupur Sharma had created a furore with her c o n t r o v e r s i a l r e m a r k s against the Prophet, but it w a s n o t c l e a r w h e t h e r A z a m o v h a d p l a n n e d t o eliminate her, already being sheltered at a secret location b e c a u s e o f t h e m u l t i p l e beheading threats by radi cals, or someone else belong ing to India's ruling party The arrest of of the IS terrorist for "avenging the i n s u l t t o P r o p h e t " c o m e s barely three months after the I s l a m i c S t a t e i n K h u r a s a n P r o v i n c e ( I S K P ) r e l e a s e d same issue with pictures of P N Modi with a T titled 'The polytheists are the brothers of the polytheists' a S a J drive in Delhi's Jahangirpuri where a part of a mosque was d e m o l i s h e b y t h e c i v i c authorities "I, Azamov, born in 1992, in April 2022 made a vow to the Emir of the ISIS named Yusuf Tajike In 2022, I underwent special training in Turkey In 2022, by the command of Yusuf Tajiki I arrived in Russia from where I was supposed to leave for India In India, I was sup posed to be met and given everything necessary to com mit a terrorist attack by the command of ISIS for insult i n g t h e P r o p h e t Muhammad," said Azamov, as per the English translation of his confession
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My only fault is that I am Kejriwal’s educa tion minister and believe only in working,” Sisodia said Talking about the raid at his residence, S i s o d i a s a i d t h e C B I t e a m t h o r o u g h l y s e a r c h e d e v e r y r o o m o f h i s h o u s e a n d looked through every bed and almirah, mattress and pillow, sarees and clothes “See, it is their job If you send a team, it will search everything I don’t mind that,” he said In retrospect, does he miss his days of social activism? “There is a limit to what you can do as an activist It reached a satu ration point, and after that we could only w r i t e b o o k s o r r e s e a r c h p a p e r s b u t wouldn’t have been able to do anything to b r i n g a b o u t a c h a n g e T h a t ’ s w h y w e entered politics and have worked for seven years now to test its limits,” he said Earlier, the CBI has named as the accused number 1 of the 15 accused in the FIR registered in connection with the alleged irregularities into the now with drawn Delhi liquor policy According to the FIR, the accused have been booked for “ c r i m i n a l c o n s p i r a c y , f a l s i f i c a t i o n o f account and undue advantage”, punish able under Section 120 B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) and 477A (falsifica tion of accounts) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 (taking undue advantage to influence public servant by corrupt or illegal means or by exercise of personal influence) of the Prevention of Corruption Act
The deputy CM, who holds the charge of 18 departments, said if the BJP led cen tral government was really interested in getting complaints of corruption investi gated by the CBI, it should also probe his charges against the LG “Their intention is to stop (CM) Arvind Kejriwal from working and that’s why they are making their people file frivolous complaints and put his health minister and his education minister in jail
BJP offered CM’s post, alleges Delhi deputy CM Sisodia Manish Sisodia
Gadkari, Chouhan dropped from BJP parliamentary board
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Arvind Kejriwal is on a two day visit to Gujarat to reach out to voters ahead of the assembly polls later this year, said he was surprised when someone came to him with a message that he has two offers from the BJP The messenger said one was that all big cases registered against you by CBI ED will be taken back The other offer was that I break the party and they will make me chief minister,” the AAP leader alleged “I gave a clear answer to them, saying Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is my political guru and I have learnt politics from him I have not come into politics to be CM or PM,” Sisodia said Asked who made him the alleged offer, Sisodia said, “The persons said that they were entrusted with the task of facilitating leaders like Mukul Roy, Shuvendu Adhikari, Himanta Biswa Sarma and B J Panda to join the BJP Meanwhile, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said that Sisodia deserves the Bharat Ratna for improving education standard in Delhi schools, but instead he is being hounded by the Centre due to political motives “Don't you feel ashamed to make the CBI conduct raids on a man who did wonders in five years, did what existing political parties could not do in 70 years and made govern ment schools the best Such a man should g e t t h e B h a r a t R a t n a , ” t h e D e l h i C M remarked while talking to the media in Ahmedabad Kejriwal, who is also the AAP convener, also expressed apprehension that Sisodia may be arrested soon “Manish Sisodia may be arrested; who knows I may also be arrested All this is being done in view of the Gujarat assembly elections,” he said Making yet another poll promise, Kejriwal announced that if AAP is voted to power in Gujarat, every person will get free and good quality healthcare and education I have no thing to hide: Sisodia Sisodia asserted on Sunday that the contentious excise policy of Delhi was the best in the country and he stands by it He added that the Kejriwal model of gover nance and work won’t stop no matter how many of his ministers are investigated and jailed “I still stand by the policy You imple ment it properly and see the results The hindrance created by the U turn taken by the then lieutenant governor caused all the problems in its implementation,” Sisodia said, adding that he welcomed the CBI probe against him but the investigating agency should “fairly probe” his complaint on the issue too
India’s ruling party, BJP dropped two senior leaders, former party chief and current union transport minister Nitin Gadkari and MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, from the Parliamentary Board and brought in new faces for its current priorities with expansion in both social and geo graphical terms The new inclusions include for mer Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa, the veteran leader of politically crucial Lingayats; union s h i p p i n g m i n i s t e r a n d f o r m e r A s s a m C M Sarbananda Sonowal, first tribal from northeast; c h a i r m a n o f N a t i o n a l C o m m i s s i o n f o r
Minorities, Iqbal Singh Lalpura, first Sikh to have made it; Sudha Yadav, wife of a Kargil mar tyr K Laxman, head of party OBC unit who belongs to Telangana; and Satyanarayan Jatiya, known Dalit face from Madhya Pradesh This h a s t a k e n t h e t o t a l s t r e n g t h o f t h e Parliamentary Board to 11 and is marked by an increase in the number of persons representing the "reserved" categories in relation to those from sections who are not eligible for quota
The omission of the Union minister came along with the appointment of Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, to the Central Election Committee which had also been recon stituted after former Union minister Shahnawaz Hussain and others dropped Chauhan's exclu sion was not unexpected Although a veteran in his independent right, the MP CM, a prominent OBC face, has lost a part of the aura he had enjoyed after leading the party in back to back victories before the loss, Now he is on the same rung as UP CM Yogi Adityanath whose support ers had also appeared to be hopeful of a hard charging Hindutva figure getting a seat on the top decision making body Apart from the con sideration for the support for Lingayats, the m a i n s t a y o f t h e p a r t y i n K a r n a t a k a , Yediyurappa, may help to balance equations in the faction ridden state unit
Delhi deputy chief minister Manish S iso dia on Monday alleg ed that he w as “ o ffered the CM s post” by the BJP and w ithd rawal of all cases ag ainst h im if he qu it A AP and joined the saffron p arty Sisodia’s allegations came days after his house was raided by the CBI over accusa tions of corruption in the implementation of the Delhi excise policy Sisodia is among 15 people and entities named in an FIR reg i s t e alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi excise policy S s C M
Beloved Daughter of Maheshbhai & Nitiben Gheewala, and Devoted Wife of Alykumar Kanji & Loving mother of Kush Kanji Cherished Granddaughter of Late Shree Shamjibhai & Late Shreemati Ramkuverba Gheewala & Late Shree Ratilalbhai & Shreemati Nirmalaben Jobanputra ‘Gujarat Samachar Asian Voice’ family prays to God to help Parulben’s soul rest in peace and give her family members the strength to face the sad demise
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According to the 2011 revision, J&K has 6,600,921 voters, the government said, and that number has gone up to 7,602,397 “This increase is mainly due to new voters who have attained the age of 18 ”
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In a statement explaining the yet to start exercise of revising J&K’s electoral rolls, the government said the revision will cover only residents of the UT and a rise in n u m b e r s i s e x p e c t e d a s y o u n g p e o p l e attaining the voting age of 18 (as on October 1, 2022) will be included on the voters list “ M e d i a r e p o r t s t h a t m o r e t h a n 25,00,000 additions will be made once the p r o c e s s o f s u m m a r y r e v i s i o n o f t h e electoral rolls starts is a misrepresentation o f f a c t s b y v e s t e d i n t e r e s t s , ” i t s a i d
L o o k i n g t o t h e c u r r e n t s i t u a t i o n f o r Afghan asylum seekers in UK it can be said that, it has been one year of the fall of Kabul to the Taliban but, Afghan refugees in UK are still struggling to build new lives For many families, these difficulties are compounded by trauma from years of conflict, along with anxieties over loved ones still in Afghanistan But, inspite of struggles and problems, there is a hope and future for them, especially for their children who have already started going to the schools in UK
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It i s with great sorrow and a heavy hea rt that we an noun ce the pe aceful passin g of Parulben Gheewala
to build new lives Revised J&K poll rolls may expand with 25,00,000 new voters J& K's electora te could swell by 20 t o 2 5, 0 0 , 0 0 0 n e w v o t e r s a f t e r t he ong oing spe cia l summa ry re vision of e lect or al rolls, accoun ting for not just t hose who ha ve t urne d 18 sin ce the la st u p d a t e in 2 0 1 9 b ut a ls o t he p o t e n t i a l a d d it i o n of pe op le f r o m o t h e r s t a t e s l iv i n g i n t he U n i on Te rrit ory an
Cont in ued from pa ge 1 W h a t 's m o r e , t h e p r os pe c t s of jo b s a n d e ducation do not se em to be a part of their n ear future
Vikram Doraiswami is India's new high commissioner to UK Vikram K Doraisw am i, an IFS officer o f 1992 batch , cu r ren tly s erv in g a s In d i an Hi g h C o m m i s si o n er t o Bang lad es h, has been ap poi nted as India's new hig h co mmissioner to the U nited K ing dom, considered an im p ortan t p os ting i n v i ew of g row i ng strateg i c ti es betw een the two countries "He is expected to take up the assignment shortly," the Ministry of External Affairs said The overall ties between India and Bangladesh witnessed a major expansion during Doraiswami's tenure in Dhaka that began in October 2020 India's high commissioner to the UK Gaitri Issar Kumar retired from service on June 30 Roh it Vadhwana takes charge as th e acting h igh comm iss ioner in Kenya Virendra Kumar Paul, the 1991 batch IFS officer who was serving as the Indian high commissioner to Kenya has been appointed as India's Ambassador to Turkey Before leaving for Ankara, he was given a sent off by high commission officials led by India's deputy high commissioner Rohit Wadhwana Rohit Vadhwana will take charge as acting high commissioner to Kenya Namgya C Khampa has been appointed as the new high commissioner of India to Kenya She will be taking charge in mid September Earlier, Rohit Vadhwana was the First Secretary (Economic and Commerce Wing) in the Indian high commission in the UK with the additional charge of the department of Press and Information Recently, after his promotion, he has been appointed as the deputy high commissioner of India to the Republic of Kenya, India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Environment Agency and the UN Habitat, organizations headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya With the Dr Paul's departure, Rohit Vadhwana will make India proud as acting high commissioner
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T h e J & K g o v e r n m e n t , m e a n w h i l e , d i s m i s s e d a l l e g a t i o n s t h a t n o n n a t i v e people of the Union Territory would be a m o n g t h e m a j o r i t y o f 2 5 , 0 0 , 0 0 0 n e w voters to be added to the revised electoral rolls It said such reports have been doing the rounds, misrepresenting facts
Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) on 6 J a n u a r y 2 0 2 2 B y A u g u s t a r o u n d 7 , 0 0 0 Afghans brought to Britain during the mass evacuation had been moved into homes leaving 10,000 still housed temporarily in hotels awaiting permanent housing Most of these refugees fled their home country with just little more than the clothes they were wearing and a trauma of their experiences Currently, large refugee families are crowded in small hotel rooms where they cannot cook their own food T c s c s g tensions for this refugees There is also a h e i g h t e n e d r i s k o f d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e , surveillance and constraints on their freedom of movement Women, especially are more t r a u m a t i s e d a n d d i s t r e s s e d a s t r a d i t i o n a l g e n d e r r o l e s a n d n o m o n e y a n d s o c i a l support gives them a feeling of being trapped U K i s c u r r e n t l y p a y i n g a m a s s i v e £ 1 million everyday to hotels, for temporarily housing this 10,000 Afghan refugees This is in addition to the £3 million spent per day housing other migrants in hotels, including t h o s e w h o c r o s s t h e E n g l i s h C h a n n e l illegally
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To gain a be tter insight in to what t he past yea r had be en an d wha t the future holds for the Afghan refugees, Asia n Voice r eached out to a few people It has been a year since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, two decades after they were held back by a US backed administration
Afghan refugees in UK struggling d now e ligible to v ote , chief ele ctora l officer Hirde sh Kumar said “ W e x c i n m a s s i changes in the rolls given the fact that a special summary revision is taking place for the first time since January 1, 2019, ” the CEO told reporters, triggering a howl of protest from mainstream regional parties that fear BJP would “import” voters to win elections In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the then u n d i v i d e d s t a t e o f J & K h a d 7 8 , 4 0 , 0 0 0 registered voters Excluding what is now the UT of Ladakh, the number would have been 76,70,000 An addition of 20 to 25,00,000 voters would hence constitute an increase by about 26 to 33% over a three year period B e t w e e n 2 0 1 4 a n d 2 0 1 9 , t h e i n c r e a s e i n voters had been about 650,000 “After the nullification of Article 370, many people who were not enlisted as voters in the erstwhile state of J&K are now eligible to do so Besides, anyone from any part of the country ordinarily living here can choose to get enlisted as a voter in accordance with the p r o v i s i o n s o f t h e R e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h e People Act, 1951, ” Kumar said He clarified that a domicile certificate wasn’t necessary to become a voter as long as the applicant was legally based in J&K for w o r k , b u s i n e s s o r e d u c a t i o n “ T h e i r documents will be properly scrutinised by the authorities before a decision is taken to reject or accept the claim,” he said The cut off for age eligibility is October 1 National Conference vicepresident and ex CM Omar Abdullah questioned if BJP was “ so insecure about support from genuine v o t e r s o f J & K ” t h a t i t n e e d e d t o g e t “temporary voters to win seats” “None of these things will help the BJP when the people of J&K are given a chance to exercise their franchise,” he tweeted PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, another ex CM, termed the roll revision an exercise to “disempower" the local population “GOI's decision to defer polls in J&K preceded by egregious gerrymandering tilting the balance in BJP's favour, and now allowing non locals to vote is obviously to influence election results Real aim is to continue ruling J&K with an iron fist,” she said P e o p l e s C o n f e r e n c e c h i e f S a j a d G a n i L o n e j o i n e d i n t h e d i a t r i b e , c a l l i n g i t a “dangerous” and “disastrous” move “I don't know what they want to achieve This is much more than mischief Democracy is a relic, especially in the context of Kashmir Please remember 1987 We are yet to come out of that Don't replay 1987," he tweeted, referring to alleged rigging in the assembly polls that year being the trigger for terror in the Valley Govt dismi sses allegations
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Chines e Pres ident Xi Jinping coul d m eet his Rus sian c ounterpart V ladimir Put in f or the Shanghai Coope rat ion Or ganis ation (SCO) summ it in Uzb ekis tan next m onth There is ho pe t h at t h e e ve n t m a y a l s o c r e a t e a n opening f or a bilater al be tween Xi a nd Prim e Minister Nar endr a Modi on its margins India and China are yet to of ficiall y confirm in person participat ion of t heir l eaders f or the event that wil l be hel d in Sam arkand during Septe mber 15 16 Modi, who travelled abroad for several multilateral and bilateral meetings this year, Xi has not stepped out of China since January 2020 Xi could travel to Samarkand for the meeting of the regional security bloc and have bilateral relations with Putin in the middle of mounting tensions with the US over Taiwan However, Putin is eager for an in person summit in Samarkand that will focus, among other things, on the security and human rights situation in Afghanistan Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif is likely to travel to Uzbekistan for the summit If all leaders do participate in person, Modi will almost certainly have a bilateral meeting with Putin and possibly with X i t o o W h i l e t h e b o r d e r d i s e n g a g e m e n t process with China in eastern Ladakh is still not complete China’s decision to twice block a UN ban o n P a k i s t a n b a s e d a n d I n d i a f o c u s e d terrorists has not gone down well with India a n d w i l l w e i g h o n t h e m i n d s o f I n d i a n authorities while preparing for the possible summit meeting with Xi Terrorism is going to be among the major issues that Modi will look to address during the SCO summit and, like he did at the virtual Brics summit in June, call for member states to respect each other’s security concerns At the Brics meeting, Modi had also called for mutual support in efforts to designate terrorists
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The crime rate has also shot up drastically A fg hans flee ing Afgha nistan Following the Taliban takeover, Afghans became the largest group of applicants for asylum in Europe In fact, the fleeing Afghans have taken shelter in more than 40 countries on six continents, including 25 in Europe The countries with the most arrivals include the US, where more than 75,000 Afghan nationals have arrived EU countries committed to take in up to 40,000 Afghan nationals, many of whom have already reached Europe Since August, nearly 3,000 Afghans have been evacuated by France, more than 5,000 by Germany The United Kingdom has given shelter to over 16,000 But thousands more, such as human r i g h t s a c t i v i s t s , a r t i s t s , s c i e n t i s t s a n d journalists, are still trapped in the country They fear Taliban reprisals and are seeking to reach Europe by any means Sit uation in UK T h e U K f o r m a l l y o p e n e t h A n
Providing permanent residences R e f u g e e s M i n i s t e r L o r d H a r r i n g t o n called on local councils across the country to push harder in moving refugee families from t e m p o r a r y h o u s i n g i n t o p e r m a n e n t accommodation, warning in a letter that more than 2,000 properties were needed to h o u s e t h e r e m a i n i n g 1 0 , 0 0 0 A f g h a n s , i n c l u d i n g m o r e t h a n 5 0 0 f o u r b e d r o o m homes According to the Home Office, there is a “challenge” overall in finding local housing to accommodate the vast numbers of asylum seekers “not just for Afghans and those in need of protection but also British citizens who are also on a waiting list for homes ” The government has therefore offered permanent homes to asylum seekers in Scotland and Wales However, despite many Afghans being unhappy with remaining in hotels for such a long time, they are reluctant to move to Scotland or Wales on the assumption it is too cold there There is also an erroneous belief that they do not speak English There have also been security concerns raised about the vast number of Afghans evacuated in the wake of the unilateral American withdrawal from the country, with the UK Border Force admitting last year that many Afghans were arriving in the country with forged identity documents
Xi-Modi meet may be held on margins of SCO summit
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The Talibans now hold a firm grip on power in A f g h a n i s t a n T h e y c o n t r o l m o s t o f t h e country and face no strong opposition One of the most significant change in last one year is that lives of women and girls in Afghanistan h a v e c h a n g e d d r a m a t i c a l l y G i r l s a r e n o longer permitted to attend secondary school Women are blocked from working in most sectors And they are under orders to cover themselves in public Serious human rights v i o l a t i o n c o n t i n u e d u n a b a t e d , e s p e c i a l l y against women, children and minorities
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26 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww asian voice com
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Eye test could help detect autism in children: Study
An Indian kitchen is a magical place It is stocked w i t h e s s e n t i a l h e r b s a n d spices that we generally use in our cooking and are a storehouse of antioxidants along with anti inflamma tory, anti tumorigenic, and a n t i c a r c i n o g e n i c p r o p e r ties
27AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com Available from Superdrug, Holland & Barrett, Lloydspharmacy, GNC, supermarkets, health stores independent pharmacies, www vitabiotics com CALCIUM + Magnesium + Vit D3 MOST TRUSTED UVITAMINS K’ S AWA R D W I N N I N G N O.1 S K I N, H A I R , N A I L S B e a u t y T a b l e t s Most trusted for pregnancy TA B L E T S For all women over 40 years M e n o p a u s e Ta b l e t s HEALTH & VITALITY GTablets entle IRON+Vitamin syrup sponsored by: 26 Aug 2 Sep 2022 Detox your body with these Ayurveda tips Your body requires d etoxi f ic at io n e v er y n o w a nd th en; as a w ay to reset your system It inclu des resting, cl eansi ng a nd no u ris h ing th e b o d y i ns i d e o u t, remo ving and elim inating to xins from the bod y and th en feed ing it with h ealthy nu tr i ent s De to xi ng yo u r body can help protect you f ro m d i s ea se an d re new yo u r ab i li ty to m ai n tai n your health using a rang e of m et h o d s in cl u d i ng y o g a, meditation, and m ore Ayurvedic experts sug gest breathing in the fresh m o r n i n g a i r e v e r y d a y , practicing pranayama and d r i n k s t r u c t u r e w a t e r i n s t e a d o f R O w a t e r Keeping yourself hydrated is important to remove tox ins from the body Take a daily dose of sunlight and absorb the energy C o n s u m e a c o l o u r f u l d i e t r i f e w i t h s a l a d a n d green vegetables, and puls es Increase the intake of buttermilk in the summers and avoid drinking water immediately after or before y o u r m e a l Y o u r e v e n i n g snacks should ideally con s i s t o f m a k h a n a , r o a s t e d p e a n u t s a n d d r y f r u i t s Switch to jaggery and natu ral sugar like dates, figs, etc Have dinner before 8 pm and it should be simple with green veggies, salad and bhakri This will give y o u r b o d y t h e t i m e t o digest and heal Follow this routine before the festive s e a s o n s o y o u c a n h a v e sweets and namkeens guilt free Listen to your body and its needs ” Ayurvedic experts also suggest: Detox your body by having ash gourd juice for 7 days on empty stom ach, do an enema once a month; only after a natural bowel movement, preferred in the morning, use plain water, and don’t add any t h i n g E a t m i n d f u l l y a n d joyfully and ensure that the eating habits should be sus tainable; avoid binge eat ing, keto diet, intermittent f a s t i n g , p i l l s o r s u p p l e ments Switch to an alka line diet, eat healthy fats, low calories, and include a lot of fruits and vegetables
Hormonal imbalances cause thy roid related problems in women like polycystic ovarian syndrome also called PCOS and PCOD This can lead to problems with fertility and conceiving Yoga helps you in managing your hormone and reg ulating menstruation F i t n e s s i n c r e a s e s e n e r g y When you are fit and active, it will keep the body functioning s m o o t h l y a n d e f f i c i e n t l y A n active body translates to regulat ed monthly periods for women which play a major role in your fertility levels Healthy body Yoga is the earliest known practice for bring ing holistic well being both for the mind and body Too much amount of mental stress can also c a u s e h e a l t h i s s u e s w h i c h c a n prove to be problematic especially when you are planning to con ceive P r a c t i s e t h e f o l l o w i n g f o u r Yoga asanas to improve fertility and boost your chance of concep tion: Baddha Konas ana or C ob ble r P os e or the b oun d an gle pos e Method: Begin by assuming Dandasana Fold your legs and b r i n g t h e s o l e s o f y o u r f e e t together Pull your heels closer to y o u r p e l v i s G e n t l y p u s h y o u r knees down Empty air from your stomach, lean your upper body forward and place your forehead on the floor Cha kras ana or whe el pose Method: Lie down on your back Fold your legs at your knees a n d e n s u r e t h a t y o u r f e e t a r e placed firmly on the floor Bend your arms at the elbows with your palms facing the sky Rotate your arms at the shoulders and place your palms on the floor on either side beside your head Inhale, put pressure on your palms and legs and lift your entire body up to form an arch Relax your neck and allow your head to fall gently behind Dhanuras an a or b ow pos e Method: Begin by lying down o n y o u r s t o m a c h B e n d y o u r knees and hold your ankles with your palms Have a strong grip Lift your legs and arms as high as you can Look up and hold the posture for a while Pas chi motta nas ana or se ated for w ard b end ing pose M e t h o d : B e g i n w i t h D a n d a s a n a E n s u r e t h a t y o u r knees are slightly bent while your legs are stretched out forward Extend your arms upward and keep your spine erect Exhale and empty your stomach of air With the exhale, bend forward at the hip and place your upper body on y o u r l o w e r b o d y L o w e r y o u r arms and grip your big toes with your fingers Try to touch your knees with your nose Hold the asana for a while
A stud y conducted by scien t is ts at Was h i ng to n S tate U niv ersity (WSU ) states that m easuring how the pupils of the eyes ch ange in reaction to lig ht, known as th e pupil lary lig ht reflex, co uld be u sed to screen early infants f o r au t is m F i rs t au th o r G eo r g i na L y nc h s ai d th e p r o o f o f c o nc e p t s tu d y b ui ld s o n earl ier wo rk to s u p p o rt t h e co n ti nu e d d ev elopm ent of a po rtable tech nology that could pro v ide a quick and easy way to screen children for autism
The alkaline diet boosts the PH level of fluids in the body and reduces acidity, thereby improving overall health by removing toxins and detoxing the body Kitchen superfoods that improve digestion and boost immunity
A s s i s t a n t p r o f e s s o r i n WSU, Lynch said, “We know that when we intervene as early as ages 18 to 24 months it has a long term impact on their outcomes Intervening during that critical window c o u l d b e t h e d i f f e r e n c e between a child acquiring v e r b a l s p e e c h a n d s t a y i n g n o n v e r b a l Y e t , a f t e r 2 0 years of trying we still have not changed the average age of diagnosis here in the US, which is four years old ” Published in the journal Neurological Sciences, the s t u d y t e s t e d 3 6 c h i l d r e n aged six to 17 who had been p r e v i o u s l y d i a g n o s e d w i t h autism along with a group of 24 typically developing chil dren who served as controls C h i l d r e n ' s p u p i l l a r y l i g h t r e f l e x e s w e r e t e s t e d b y t r a i n e d c l i n i c a l p r o v i d e r s using a handheld monocular pupillometer device, which measures one eye at a time A n a l y z i n g t h e r e s u l t s , t h e researchers found that chil d r e n w i t h a u t i s m s h o w e d significant differences in the time it took for their pupils to constrict in response to light Their pupils also took l o n g e r t o r e t u r n t o t h e i r original size after the light was removed "What we did with this study is we demonstrated the parameters of interest that matter the speed of constriction and return to baseline," Lynch said "And w e d e m o n s t r a t e d i t w i t h m o n o c u l a r t e c h n o l o g y because we knew there is no s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e between eyes in terms of the p u p i l l a r y r e s p o n s e i n autism, unlike in head injury o r c o n c u s s i o n where it s com m o n t o s e e u n e q u a l p u p i l sizes "Even as a clinician, I n o t i c e d t h i s s t a t e i n k i d s with ASD where their pupils were very dilated even in the p r e s e n c e o f b r i g h t l i g h t , " Lynch said "That system is modulated in the brain by cranial nerves rooted in the brainstem, and adjacent cra nial nerves affect your abili ty to acquire speech and lan guage The pupillary light reflex tests the integrity of that system, so it seemed logical to try this very sim ple, noninvasive measure to d e t e r m i n e w h e t h e r t h e r e w e r e d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n t y p i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t a n d autism ”
In her recent Instagram p o s t , A y u r v e d a e x p e r t D r Dixa Bhavsar talks about the three natural healers found in every Indian kitchen She also explains the benefits of each of these ingredients 1 G i n g e r : D r y g i n g e r ( s h o n t h ) i s k n o w n a s V i s h w a b h e s a j a ( U n i v e r s a l m e d i c i n e ) B l o a t i n g , j o i n t p a i n , m e n s t r u a l c r a m p s , stomach pain, gastric trou ble, you name any ailment and ginger is your remedy How to Use: It can be used as a tea (ginger boiled in water), can be added to m i l k o r a s a m i x t u r e f o r immunity, cold and cough 1 t s p g i n g e r p o w d e r m i x e d with 1 tsp of turmeric and honey works best for respi ratory ailments as well as immunity 2 Desi cow ghee: The best fat on earth that helps y o u w i t h a l m o s t e v e r y known disorder be it physi cal or mental and is easily available is cow's ghee It is Satmya to everyone as we consume it right from our birth Not just by its con sumption, but it can provide y o u h e a l t h b e n e f i t s e v e n when used as an ointment o n t h e s k i n , i n h a i r , o n wounds (caused by burns) or as nasal drops I t ' s c o l d i n n a t u r e , s w e e t i n t a s t e , a l l e v i a t e s v a t a and pitta and is considered aus picious I t i m p r o v e s digestion, nour i s h e s y o u r t i s s u e s , s t r e n g t h ens muscles, improves voice, memory, lustre, hair, skin, fertility, immunity, intelli gence, wisdom and more It is one such food that can be consumed by everyone at all times It should be used regu larly either in food, external ly or as nasya 3 Mint (Pudina): It is best for all seasons It helps w i t h c o l d , c o u g h , a c i d i t y , g a s , b l o a t i n g , i n d i g e s t i o n , detox, acne, sinusitis, con stipation and more A Mint tea is all you need and you are good to f i g h t a n y t h i n g a n d e v e r y thing be it your bad mood, upset stomach, loss of ener gy or a simple cold J u s t b o i l 7 1 0 m i n t leaves in a glass of water for 5 minutes, strain and have it first thing in the morning It'll pacify all your ailments
T he ben efits of Yoga are w ell k nown worldwi de It is a holisti c a nd s afe s oluti on to eff ecti vely i mprove your ferti lity levels a nd to boos t your ch ance of concep t io n H ea lth ex per ts s tat e th at pra cti sin g yoga is guaran teed to pe rk up your mood and regulate y ou r e mo t i o n s a s t he b r a i n b e co me s a c ti v a te d t o r e l e a s e chemicals s uch as dopamine , ox y tocin , seroton in, an d e ndorphi ns P r a c t i s i n g y o g a c a n r e d u c e stress and anxiety which impact fertility levels Along with yoga postures, you can also perform b r e a t h i n g t e c h n i q u e s l i k e B r a h m a r i p r a n a y a m a , a n d Kapalbhati pranayama I n t h i s a r t i c l e , w e d i s c u s s some of the ways that practising yoga can help improve your fertil ity B a l a n c e s y o u r h o r m o n e s
Yoga asanas to improve fertility
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Meanwhile, on the work front, Sonam will be next seen in her upcoming film ‘Blind' directed by Shome Makhija, starring Purab Kohli, Vinay Pathak and Lillete Dubey in prominent roles The film is expected to release later this year
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Actor Sonam Kapoor and her businessman husband Anand Ahuja are now proud parents to a baby boy Their son was born on August 20, as shared in a note by the new parents to their friends Actor Neetu Kapoor took to Instagram to share her good wishes with Sonam’s parents Anil and Sunita Kapoor. S h e a l s o s h a r e t h e n e w b i e parents’ note on her Insta Stories It read, “On 20 08 2022, we welcomed our beautiful baby boy with bowed heads and hearts Thank you to all of the doctors, nurses, friends and family who have supported us on this journey It’s only the beginning but we know our lives are forever changed Sonam and Anand ” Filmmaker Farah Khan shared the same note on her social media too Sonam and Anand have not yet shared any messages on their social media They tied the knot in 2018, in a traditional ceremony In M a c h 2 0 2 2 , t h e c o a n n o c x c i together
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Aday after Jacqueline Fernandez was named an accused in a £20 million extortion case connected to conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, her lawyer claimed she is innocent. In a statement, her legal team added that Jacqueline is actually a victim of the crime and should not be treated as an accused. T h e E n f o r c e m e n t D i r e c t o r a t e ( E D ) h a s a l l e g e d t h a t Chandrashekhar used the money to purchase gifts for Jacqueline, which he had extorted by cheating h i g h p r o f i l e p e o p l e , including former Fortis H e a l t h c a r e p r o m o t e r Shivinder Mohan Singh’s wife Aditi Singh The ED h a d s a i d i n a s t a t e m e n t “Sukesh Chandrasekhar h g i v e n v a r i o u s g i f t s w £571,000 to Jacqueline from the p r o c e e d s o f c r i m e g e n e r a t e d b y criminal activities including extortion ” S h e w a s q u e s t i o n e d a f t e r p i c t u r e s emerged that appeared to show she was in a relationship with Sukesh According to a media report, her lawyer Prashant Patil said, “You have to understand the humanitarian side of this When any person is innocent, and if she is charged with a fake offence, it definitely is painful and not fair Without hearing Jacqueline’s side of the story, it’s not fair to prosecute her with such untrue allegations Nobody has bothered to the evidence filed by the ” H e a d d e d , “ T h e e n t i r e evidence reflects that she is innocent Be it a common man or a celebrity, every person has a right to live w i t h d i g n i t y S h e h a s worked immensely hard in life to achieve what she has achieved in her p r o f e s s i o n S u c h frivolous allegations only t a r n i s h t h e i m a g e unnecessarily ” I n a n o t h e r s t a t e m e n t , l claimed that Jackie was ctim here and stressed that she has been willingly cooperating w i t h t h e a u t h o r i t i e s H e s a i d , “ S h e h a s handed over all the information to the best of her ability to the ED The agencies have failed to appreciate that she was cheated and conned into this matter She is a victim of a larger criminal conspiracy ”
She is innocent and charged with a fake offence: Jacqueline's lawyer
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Actor Ranveer Singh has asked for two weeks time after Mumbai police summoned him in the nude photosho case He was required to appear at Chembur police station but has asked for an extension Mumbai Police said in a statement, “Chembur police station had summoned actor Ranveer Singh asking him to appear tomorrow The actor has sought two weeks time to appear, now fresh summons will be sent by Chembur police after fixing a new date : Mumbai Police.” T h e p o l i c e w o u l d b e r e c o r d R a n v e e r S i n g h ’ s s t a t e m e n t i n r e g i s t e r e d a g a i n s t h i m f o r p o s t i n g n u d e photographs of himself on social media, an official said
Anurag Kashyap opened up about how his daughter Aaliyah Kashyap started suffering from anxiety after getting threats on social media The filmmaker deleted his Twitter account in 2019, after days of fighting with trolls who attacked him for criticising the central government’s decision to scrap Article 370 M e a n w h i l e , A a l i y a h b e c a m e t h e subject of online trolling earlier this year after she poste i n l i n g e r i e o n s o c i a Opening up about the i threats on his daughter s a i d , “ I h a v e a n daughter She really is e x p r e s s i n g h e r s e l f b u anxiety bothers me An h e r a n x i e t y s t a r t e d after those threats and everything and to the US, and she came back here Other than her anxiety issues, she is just amazing ” S w i t h T a n m a y B h a t t , h e added, “I’m so proud of her because there are things that we are not able to discuss with her parents But she does that with the whole tribe At this age, she talks to everybody, about everything In our team, we had to deal with it while keeping it inside ” Kashyap also said that he never tried to shield Aaliyah from the spotlight s never interested in and always wanted to never expected it to be drew a lot of attention unnecessary attention as much box office as I t a t t e n t i o n , i t w o u l d a v e g o t t e n compensated ” Anurag s h a r e d A a l i y a h w i t h his ex wife and film e d i t o r A a r t i B a j a j Aaliyah is currently in Mumbai and also runs a vlog channel on YouTube Ranveer Singh seeks time after Mumbai police summon him
28 www.asian-voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly
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Police personnel also visited Ranveer’s residence ve him a notice to join the probe, but e i n f o r m e d t h a t h e w a s n o t i n Mumbai The actor later told the police that he would return on August 16 The notice was served to him that day a n d h e w a s c a l l e d t o r e c o r d a statement on August 22 An FIR was registered against Ranveer at Chembur police station l a s t m o n t h o n t h e b a s i s o f a complaint filed by an office bearer of a non profit organization The actor “hurt the sentiments of women in e n e r a l a n d i n s u l t e d t h e i r m o d e s t y ough his photographs ” h e a c t o r s p a r k e d c o n t r o v e r s y a f t e r posting the images online from his photo shoot for Paper Magazine
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Akshay will be next seen in ‘Cuttputlli’, which will be directly released on the OTT platform, Disney+ Hotstar on September 2 He also has ‘Ram Setu’ and the Hindi remake of Suriya's hit Tamil film ‘Soorarai Pottru’
Really affected by being trolled constantly Ananya Panday 29AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 MON 29 AUG FRI 2 SEP 2022 6:00 DHARTI NO CHHEDO GHAR 9:00 SHUBH PRABHAT 9:30 SUR PRABHAT 10:00 DESHI BEATS 17:30 RASOI SHOW (O) 18:00 RASOI SHOW (O) 18:30 SURI (O) 19:00 JODE REJO RAAJ (O) 19:30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU (O) 20:00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI (O) 20:30 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU (O) 21:00 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM (O) 21:30 GEETA (O) 22:00 GEETA (O) SATURDAY 3 SEP 2022 6:00 CHUNDADI ODHU NE SAAJAN SAMBHARE 9:00 SHUBH PRABHAT 9:30 SUR PRABHAT 10:00 DESHI BEATS 17:30 RASOI SHOW (O) 18:00 RASOI SHOW (O) 18:30 SURI (O) 19:00 JODE REJO RAAJ (O) 19:30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU (O) 20:00 RASHI RIKSHAWALI (O) 20:30 MOTI BAA NI NANI VAHU (O) 21:00 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM (O) 21:30 GEETA (O) 22:00 GEETA (O) SUNDAY 4 SEP 2022 6:00 LOVE NI BHAVAI 9:00 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU ® 10:30 SORATHNI MRS SINGHAM ® 12:00 DALDU CHORAYU DHIRE DHIRE 18:30 MARU MAN MOHI GAYU (R) 20:00 RASHI RICKSHAWALI ® MON 29 AUG FRI 2 SEP 2022 16:30 RASOI SHOW DESI FLAVOURS 17:30 CHHUTA CHHEDA 18:00 SASURAL SIMAR KA 18:30 SHAKTI 19:00 DESI BEATS 19:30 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20:00 SWARAN GHAR 20:30 KAWACH MAMTA KA 21:00 AJNABI BANE HUMSAFAR 21:30 SASURAL SIMAR KA 2 SATURDAY 3 SEP 2022 16:30 RASOI SHOW DESI FLAVOURS 17:30 SASURAL SIMAR KA 2 19:30 BHAGYA KA LIKHA 20:00 DESI BEAT RESET 20:30 DANCE DEEWANE JUNIORS 22:00 SASURAL SIMAR KA 2 SUNDAY 4 SEP 2022 16:30 RASOI SHOW DESI FLAVOURS 17:30 SWARAN GHAR 19:30 THE ANUPAM KHER SHOW SEASON 2 20:30 DANCE DEEWANE JUNIORS 22:00 COMEDY NIGHTS WITH KAPIL
In a statement, the Filmfare Awards has withdrawn actress Kangana Ranaut’s nomination after she said she will sue the leading magazine She was nominated for the Best Actress Awards for her film ‘Thalaivii’ In a fresh statement, the association has also called the actor’s accusations “false” In a statement, they s a i d , “ A s i s c u s t o m a r y d u r i n g t h e a w a r d s , F i l m f a r e ’ s E x e c u t i v e E d i t o r i n f o r m e d K a n g a n a a b o u t h e r nomination in the Best Actor in a Leading Role, Female category and asked for her address to send across the invitation ” They also shared an excerpt from their message to Kangana, which read, “Hello Kangana, heartiest congratulations on your nomination for the Filmfare Awards It’ll be a pleasure to have you there, do confirm your presence at the awards ceremony on August 30 at Jio World Convention Centre at BKC, Mumbai It’ll help us plot your seats P S Please send us your residential address so that we can send you the invite Regards ’ “At no time was there any insinuation of an award being given to her or any request for p e r f o r m a n c e a t t h e e v e n t m a d e , ” t h e statement continued “This is a patently false accusation being made by Kangana Our invitation to her was our effort in bringing together everyone in a collective celebration of what brings this nation together, i e Indian Cinema Filmfare A w a r d s a r e a c e l e b r a t i o n o f c i n e m a t i c excellence and are awarded irrespective of the fact that a nominee attends or performs at the function Further, Kangana, a 5 time Filmfare Awardee, was given the award twice in absentia (2014 & 2015) Despite knowing that she would neither attend nor perform ” They added, “Given the irresponsible remarks made by Kangana about Filmfare Awards, we are withdrawing her Best Actress nomination for the movie Thalaivii We reserve all rights to pursue any legal action against her m a l i c i o u s a n d d e f a m a t o r y s t a t e m e n t s tarnishing our reputation and goodwill ” E a r l i e r , K a n g a n a s a i d , “ I ' v e b a n n e d u n e t h i c a l , c o r r u p t a n d t o t a l l y u n f a i r practices like @filmfare since 2014, but since I have been getting many calls from them for attending their award function this year as they want to give me award for Thalaivii I am shocked to know that they are still nominating me It is beneath my dignity, work ethics and value system to encourage such corrupt practices in any way, that is why I have decided to sue @filmfare thanks ” R e a c t i n g t o t h e s t a t e m e n t f r o m t h e magazine, Kangana wrote, “@filmfare has f i n a l l y w i t h d r e w m y b e t s a c t r e s s n o m i n a t i o n s , t h a n k s t o e v e r y o n e w h o supported me in this fight against corrupt system but this doesn't stop me from taking legal action against them my endeavour is to put an end to these unethical practices and stop such malicious award shows see you in court @filmfare ”
It’s my fault: Akshay Kumar on ‘Raksha Bandhan’ box office fail
Recently, actor Akshay Kumar opened up about the failure of his latest films. His last three films, ‘Bachchhan Paandey’, ‘Samrat Prithviraj’, and now ‘Raksha Bandhan’ have performed poorly at the theatres. The latest movie was also met with boycott trends on social media. Speaking during the trailer launch of his next film ‘Cuttputlli’, Akshay admitted that he needs to understand the demand of the audience He said, “Films are not working, it is our fault, my fault I have to make changes, understand what the audien wants and there is nobody else to be blamed for it me ”
Ranbir takes a 'distasteful' shot at Alia’s weight Ranbir Kapoor was recently criticised for making an “insensitive” joke on wife and ace actor Alia Bhatt’s recent pregnancy related weight gain during a live interaction. Both the actors were promoting their first collaboration, ‘Barhmastra’ last week, when Ranbir pointed to Alia’s pregnant belly and commented on her weight gain Some social media users questioned the actor’s sense of humour, and called his body shaming “distasteful” I n a r e c e n t i n t e r a c t i o n , t h e actors were seen d i s c u s s i n g w h y t h e y a r e n o t p r o m o t i n g t h e i r film ‘Brahmastra’ extensively They were joined by the film’s director A y a n M u k e r j i A l i a h a d s a i d , “ W e w i l l d o i t (promote the film extensively) If you are asking why we are not phailoed (spreading) everywhere right now our focus is ” when Ranbir Kapoor chimed in and said as he looked at Alia’s pregnancy belly, “Well, I can see somebody has phailoed ” After Alia looked shocked, Ranbir patted her back and said, “Joke ” Fans reacted to the clip, and wrote “This is sad to watch ” Another person wrote, “That wasn’t funny at all ” A fan called it a “disgusting joke”, while another said, “Alia deserves better ” A fan also wrote, “That was a disgusting joke to say to a p r e g n a n t w o m a n ” O n e a l s o s a i d , “ I t w a s distasteful and not very mature ” Alia and Ranbir married on April 14, 2022, at their home in Mumbai They recently unveiled a teaser of the ‘Brahmastra’ song ‘Dance Ka Bhoot' The much awaited film is slated to release on September 9 It also stars actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna, and Mouni Roy in pivotal roles
During the media interaction, when asked if actors are now taking up OTT projects over theatrical release to create a safe space for themselves amid failure at the box office, the actor said, “It is not safe, that also requires people to say if they like the trailer or not Nothing is safe, it is not our safety net Even re people are watching, the media is watching it, the ritics are watching it, the audience is watching it, they give feedback whether they like it or not So, there’s nothing like creating a safe space, you have to work hard, period ” He also mentioned, “During the pandemic, many films were made, while some released, many couldn’t be released because theatres were shut, and there were many issues during the lockdown Hum kaam karte rahein, filmein jamaa hoti rahi I have four films ady which we couldn’t release in the last two years, if e was no pandemic this wouldn’t be the scenario, there would be at least two to four months gap between my films ”
* Schedule is subject to change * Schedule is subject to change TV Listing Actress Ananya Panday is currently busy promoting ‘Liger’ with co star Vijay Deverakonda Ahead of her first pan India film, the actress spoke candidly in an interview about “being trolled constantly” She said she gets “really affected” by it on some days. Ananya also shared her reaction to reading “negative stuff” about herself. “I don’t think the feeling of being trolled constantly will ever get resolved inside me There are days when something really affects me I feel really bad when I read negative stuff about me But there are moments when I get over it and feel strong I feel I can deal with it I think I am just trying to focus more on improving myself as an actor and giving people a chance to doubt me, ” Ananya said Directed by Puri Jagannadh, ‘Liger’ will release in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages American boxer Mike Tyson makes a cameo in the film, which also features Ramya Krishnan in an important role On the work front, Ananya was last seen in ‘Gehraiyaan’ alongside Deepika Padukone Ananya has ‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’ with actors Siddhant Chaturvedi and Adarsh Gourav in the pipeline Backed by Excel Entertainment and Tiger Baby, the film will mark the directorial debut of Arjun Varain Singh, and is billed as a coming of age story of three friends in Mumbai It is written by Arjun, Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti, and produced by Zoya, Reema, Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar
Filmfare Awards withdraw Kangana’s nomination following 'false accusations'
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people can imagine how many sim cards a single person can buy in his name Not only that, but Nithya Menen’s mother told me that she is engaged to someone else But her father told me that she is not engaged to anyone I was very con fused when they said different things ” He added that the actor and her f a m i l y w e r e p l a n n i n g t o f i l e a c a s e against him “I came to know that they were going to file a sexual harassment case against me Also, I have been doing my duties without interfering in any matters after my father's death If I had known this, I wouldn't have fallen in love with her and followed her around,” Santosh said On the work front, Nithya’s latest f i l m ’ 1 9 ( 1 ) ( a ) ’ a l s o f e a t u r e s V i j a y Sethupathi and Indrajith Sukumaran It w a s r e c e n t l y r e l e a s e d o n H o t s t a r + D i s n e y S h e w i l l b e s e e n n e x t i n ‘Thiruchitrambalam’ with Dhanush
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30 AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweeklywww.asian voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022
Film producers Shhailendra Kkumar, Sujayy Kuttiy, Krishna Kumar B and Suraj Sharma have announced their much talked about magnum opus ‘1770’, based on Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Bengali novel ‘Anandamath’ Produced under the banner of SS1 Entertainment and PK Entertainment, this multilingual film will be helmed by acclaimed director Ashwin Gangaraju Ashwin has assisted ace filmmaker SS Rajamouli in ‘Eega’ and ‘Baahubali’, and made his directorial debut in 2021, with the c r i t i c a l l y a c c l a i m e d f i l m ‘ A a k a s h v a a n i ’ Ashwin said, “This subject was a huge chal l e n g e f o r m e , b u t w i t h l e g e n d a r y V Vijayendra Prasad sir writing the adapted story and screenplay, I think what we have on paper is a blockbuster cinematic experi ence ” He added, “As a filmmaker, I’m more drawn towards the stories which have peri odic setups, bigger emotions, scope for larger than life action, etc and this is something that sits in perfectly for me Initially, I was a little sceptical, but I spoke to Ram Kamal Mukherjee, and after listening to his vision I gained confidence ” He added, “I met producers Shhailendra ji, Sujayy Kuttiy sir, Krishna Kumar sir and Suraj Sharma in Mumbai shortly after that We had a prolonged discussion on the film and how they want to take it forward Their warmth and attitude of working as a team made me connect with them instantly ” The film will be made in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannad and Bengali The t e a m w i l l l o c k t h e m a i n l e a d b e f o r e Dussehra, and by Diwali, they will announce the cast of the film Ashwin along with his team has started researching the period and trying to create a visual that is unique
Kajal Aggarwal calls husband Gautam Kitchlu 'best papa in the whole world' Actor Kajal Aggarwal took to her social media to wish husband Gautam Kitchlu on his birthday She shared a few photos with him and son Neil, and called him her “partner in crime” Sharing a family photo as the parents held their baby, Kajal wrote, “Happiest birthday to the best papa in the whole world we love you! @kitchlug ” In another photo, Kajal shared how Gautam is her ‘BFF’ She wrote in the caption, “My partner in crime, my bff, my 3am and 12 noon ! Have the happiest birthday with everything that your heart d e s i r e s n o w a n d f o r e v e r ” K a j a l a n d Gautam got married in November 2020 The couple welcomed their son Neil in April 2022 On the work front, Kajal’s next big project is ‘Indian 2 ’ The Kamal Haasan film has been through many obstacles and has been in the making since 2019 After an accident on the set of the film in February 2020, where three crew mem bers lost their life, the film’s shoot has been on a halt Soon after the accident, the pandemic began, hence pushing the shoot even further Kajal, who was present on the set at t h e t i m e o f t h e a c c i d e n t , s h a r e d o n T w i t t e r , “ W o r d s c a n n o t d e s c r i b t h h e a r t a c h e I f e e l a t t h e u n x p c t e d , untimely loss of my colleagues from last night Krishna, Chandran and Madhu Sending love, strength and my deepest condolences to your families May god give strength in this moment of desola tion #Indian2 @LycaProductions ” She added, “In so much shock, denial, trauma from the monstrous crane accident last night All it took was a fraction of a sec ond to stay alive and type this tweet Just that one moment Gratitude So much learning and appreciation for the value of time and life ” ‘Indian 2' is set to resume its shoot in September now In a recent Instagram LIVE, Kajal confirmed that she will be r e s u m i n g t h e s h o o t “ I a m g o i n g t o r e s u m e s h o o t i n g f o r I n d i a n 2 f r o m September 13, ” she said Helmed by Shankar, the film was shelved temporarily due to an alleged disagreement between the director and L y c a P r o d u c t i o n s b u t K a m a l H a s a n later hinted that the film is back on track Rajamouli protégé Ashwin to direct magnum opus ‘1770’
Following the immense success of actors Rashmika Mandanna and Allu Arjun starrer ‘Pushpa The Rise’, the crew has returned with the much anticipated sequel, ‘Pushpa The Rule’ The movie commenced filming this week. S h a r i n g t h e u p d a t e o n s o c i a l media, the makers of ‘Pushpa’ series, M y t h r i M o v i e M a k e r s a n n o u n c e d , “PushpaRaj is back! This time to Rule # P u s h p a T h e R u l e P o o j a C e r e m o n y tomorrow ” They further called the film ‘India's most anticipated sequel’ in the cap t i o n T h e y a l s o t a g g e d A l l u A r j u n a n d Rashmika in the post S o o n a f r t h e a n n o n c e m e n t , f a n s rushed to the comment section and shared their excitement about the movie A fan wrote, “We are making history ” “Pushpa is coming to set fire again,” commented anoth e r o n e P r e v i o u s l y , A l l u A r , appeared to be from Pushpa 2 Directed by Sukumar, ‘Pushpa The Rise’ featured Allu Arjun as a lorry driver who smuggled red sandalwood Released almost a year ago, the film was a major box office suc cess in the post pandemic era It managed to gross more than £30 million worldwide Originally filmed in Telugu, the movie was dubbed and released in multiple languages Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada It was Allu Arjun’s first pan India release Meanwhile, the sequel of the movie, ‘Pushpa The Rule’ is set for a December 2022 release in theatres The upcoming instal ment will be based on the face off between Allu Arjun and Fahadh Faasil, who was intro duced as the antagonist towards the end of t h e p r e q u e l I t w i l l a l s o s t a r R a s h m i k a Mandanna reviving her character as Allu Arjun’s love interest, Srivalli
Rashmika Mandanna, Allu Arjun start shooting for ‘Pushpa 2’
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Stalked by a film reviewer for 6 years: Nithya Menen Actress Nithya Menen recently opened up about being harassed by a film reviewer for six years Speaking in a media interaction lately, she said the person frequently called her and her parents from “more than 30 mobile numbers” W h i l e p r o m o t i n g h e r M a l a y a l a m film '19(1)(a)’, Nithya spoke about her alleged stalker Santosh Varkey wanting to marry her She reportedly said he has been saying a lot of things about her and for six years, he would constantly call her and her parents Nithya added that she even asked her parents to block all the numbers Santosh has now responded to her allegations and said he was “confused” by what the actor’s mother and father had told him about her being engaged He said, “She said that I tortured her by calling from more than 30 numbers But
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However, Davis said that even if India doesn’t pick RRR as its representative at the Academy Awards, “it should be on voters’ minds here in America for the Academy Awards ” Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor shared the video on Twitter and wrote, “A proud moment excited and looking forward to the Oscar nomination ” ‘RRR’, which told a fictional story about two freedom fighters Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju broke box office records in India a f t e r i t s t h e a t r i c a l r e l e a s e i n M a r c h , b u t w a s discovered by Western audiences particularly in the US after it debuted on streaming The film, s t a r r i n g J r N T R a n d R a m C h a r a n h a s b e e n endorsed by Hollywood directors such as James Gunn and Scott Derrickson Even Joe Russo spoke highly about the film
In an interview, Hollywood actress Jameela Jamil said that people mistake her for actor Priyanka Chopra, adding it to be the “honour of her life” She also said that she wishe more “Indian sex symbols” such as actors Mindy Ka and Pri In the interview with Vogue, Jameela said people mistake her for Priyanka all the time She “I spent a lot of my youth trying to be invisible and stand out As I get older, I realize time is running o We need to celebrate life as much as we can So now, every day is a party That, and the fact that I get mistaken for Priyanka Chopra all the time honestly the honour of my life but I also have to always represent her well out there on the streets ”
Much to the delight of Indian fans, US talk show host Jimmy Fallon and singer actor Demi Lovato recently recreated Sidharth Malhotra and Katrina Kaif starrer song ‘Kaala Chashma’. Demi took to her Instagram account last week to share a behind the scenes video of her appearance on the show. The video started with Jimmy joining her and her punk band for a party as ‘Kaala Chashma’ played in the background He says, “We are having a party Come on, break a leg!” before he falls on the floor While Demi and the other band members looked concerned for Jimmy, it later merges that all of them were putting on a show as the talk show h o s t s t a r t s d a n c i n g t o t h e e n e r g e t i c song Amongst several fans who loved the clip, actor Sidharth Malhotra too reacted to the video He tweeted, “Hey what fun! H a p p y t o s e e @ j i m m y f a l l o n & @ddlovato grooving on #KalaChashma
Famous film critic seeks Oscar nomination for Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’
Harnaaz Sandhu makes Trevor Noah dance to B-Town tunes
He further called the SS Rajamouli film “ a monument to action cinema” and said the action drama reminds him of George Miller’s ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ But he added, “The only hump to get over right now is that it’s in Telugu and all the I n d i a n s u b m i s s i o n s t y p i c a l l y a r e i n H i n d i ”
Jimmy Fallon, Demi Lovato dance to ‘Kaala Chashma’
Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu shared a clip from her appearance on ‘The Daily Show with Trevor Noah’ In the clip, she is seen teaching him Bollywood dance steps Harnaaz wore a red off shoulder dress and paired it with shiny white stilettos for the segment Sharing the clip, Harnaaz wrote, “It was such a pleasure t o s h a r e t h e s t a g e w i t h o n e a n d o n l y @ t r e v o r n o a h Thankyou @thedailyshow for having me on your show! @trevornoah remember it’s all in the hips! Bollywood is watching!” In the video, Harnaaz says, "I am gonna teach you four simple steps Bollywood is all about face, neck, hands and hips It's gonna be easy Trust me " While trying to copy Harnaaz, Trevor says, "What's happening there " Harnaaz corrects him while he grooves "More hips it's all about hips,” she says Fans were delighted with the segment and showered love in the comment section One wrote, “Haha! This is gonna be epic ” Another wrote, “Aww! At least he tried ” Harnaaz is the third Indian woman to win the Miss U n i v e r s e c r o w n B e f o r e h e r , L a r a D u t t a b e c a m e M i s s Universe in 2000 and Sushmita Sen in 1994 She will soon be seen in the Punjabi film ‘Bai Ji Kuttan Ge’, alongside Dev Kharoud, Nanak Singh, and Gurpreet Ghuggi The film is directed by Smeep Kang
Jameela Jamil says people mistake her for actor Priyanka Chopra
31AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www.asian-voice.com 27 Aug 2 Sep 2022 CROSS-PLATFORM
Talking about the need for diversity in films, she said, “First of all, we need to diversify the hat are being told I think thanks to people like Mindy and Priyanka [Chopra] and even me, I think that is ing People are starting to see value in our stories er, I would love to see more Indian sex symbols in wide movies Our representation conversation now o go beyond just race or gender We also need to about disability as it’s a conversation that no one is ver having ” J a m e e l a w i l l b e s e e n n e x t i n ‘ P i t c h P e r f e c t : Bumper’ in Berlin It will premiere on Peacock on November 23 It will also star actors, Adam DeVine, and Flula Borg She is best known for playing the role of Tahani Al Jamil in the NBC show ‘The Good Place’
Fans of Kala Chashma flooded the comments section on Demi's post One wrote, "Omg (oh my God) the audio used is from the Kala Chashma song ILY (I l o v e y o u ) D e m i , " w h i l e a n o t h e r c o m m e n t e d , " H i n d i s o n g ( K a l a Chashma) at the background makes it special!" A third one wrote, "Not Demi u s i n g a u d i o f r o m a n I n d i a n s o n g q u e e n " S o m e o t h e r s m a d e p u n s o n J i m m y F a l l o n ' s n a m e O n e w r o t e , " J i m m y F a l l e n , " w h i l e a n o t h e r commented, "Jimmy fall on the floor ” Recreated by Badshah, Amar Arshi and Neha Kakkar in the 2016 movie, the song was originally composed by Prem Hardeep and Kam Dhillon in the late 90s The song became an instant hit and a popular wedding number
Lauren Gottlieb makes official her relationship with beau Tobias Jones Actor dancer Lauren Gottlieb has finally made her relationship wit video creator Tobias Jones official on Instagram She wrote, “I have never known a love like this It feels like coming home I’m completely at peace I always dreamt of having a true partner in life We definitely found our perfect match ” She, however, added that they are in no mood to get engaged yet “We are truly very happy and enjoying being with each other Will surely tell you when it’s meant to happen Ironically, when we are out shopping together or checking into hotels, everyone around us calls us husband and wife!” The two met each other on Instagram in March, last year and soon slid into each other’s
International film critic Clayton Davis hopes the Film Federation of India makes a “sound decision” while deciding its Oscar contender in the upcoming award season, and choose ‘RRR’ over ‘The Kashmir Files’ In his web series ‘The Take’, the celebrated film critic said, “The film ‘RRR’ which is a three hour action epic is the biggest film in India’s history There is generally a lot of buzz at the moment because India is in the process of choosing a film to be selected to represent them at the Academy Award ceremony. ‘RRR’ has lit up social media with its star Jr NTR thirst traps, and visual effects.”
Thank you for the love ”
D M s A f t e r w o r k i n g t o g e t h e r o n a oject, they “tried to find any excuse to work together” despite Gottlieb being in the US at that time while he stayed in the UK She shares, “ T J i s t h e f u l l p a c k a g e ! T h e p e r f e c t b a l a n c e o f c o n f i d e n t , k i n d , c a r i n g , f u n n y , p l a y f u l , professional, hardworking ” S h e r e v e a l e d t h a t t h e t w o o cially started dating in July last year and have been in a long distance relationship since then “We are both so busy so we will make time to see each other once a month All I know is that I worked really hard over the past couple of years to understand myself, to love myself completely so the love of my life could match that love, and I’ve found it Now we both have the perfect work, and love balance in our lives,” she added
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Praggu beats World No. 1 Carlsen for third time
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After h aving beaten Wo rld No 1 Magnu s Carlsen twice this year a t t h e A i rth i ng s M as t er s i n F ebruary and at the Chessable M a st er s in M ay P raggnanandhaa got the better o f Carlsen 4 2 in the seventh a n d f i n al ro u nd o f t h e F T X Crypto Cup in Miami o n S unday an online event which i s part o f t h e M eltw ater Ch a mp i o ns Ch ess T our T h e s u p e r b s h o w n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g , P r a g g u finished second, taking home $37,000 in prize money Carlsen w o n t h e t o u r n a m e n t a s h e topped the table with 16 points a s o p p o s e d t o P r a g g u ’ s 1 5 Praggu said that there is always an extra impetus to win when he takes on Carlsen “It is a big motivation each time I play him b e c a u s e h e i s s u c h a t o u g h player You have to be on top of your game facing Carlsen,” he said Carlsen went into the last round with a two point lead and needed only a win or draw in the first four rapid games to b e c o m e t h e c h a m p i o n T h e encounter began with the first two rapid games in which the two p l a y e r s s p l i t p o i n t s T h e 3 1 y e a r o l d w o r l d c h a m p i o n w o n t h e t h i r d r a p i d game and with it the title Having lost a chance to clinch the title, Praggu achieved the next best thing finish the event on a h i g h T h e 1 7 y e a r o l d I n d i a n won the fourth rapid clash in 51 moves to take the encounter i n t o t h e t i e b r e a k e r s P r a g g u won both tie breaker games to eventually win the match P r a g g n a n a n d h a a r e v e a l e d t h a t h i s m o t i v a t i o n l e v e l s dipped after losing a chance to w i n t h e e v e n t f o l l o w i n g t h e reversal in the third rapid game “It was disappointing to not bag t h e t o u r n a m e n t a f t e r h a v i n g done well in the initial rounds But I tried to have fun in the r e m a i n i n g g a m e s ( a g a i n s t Carlsen) and I am happy to have won against him and eventually finish second,” Praggu said F o r P r a g g u ’ s l o n g t i m e c o a c h R B R a m e s h , t h e youngster’s resilience stood out “Praggu showed nerves of steel a n d m a d e f e w e r m i s t a k e s during difficult situations The best quality about him is his ability to make a comeback after a loss He is learning a lot by taking on players of such high quality It will do a world of good for him going forward,” Ramesh said GM R Praggnanandhaa & Magnus Carlsen Ch en na i l ad S a nk ar M u th u s am y Su bramanian i s th e new ju nior world No 1 in the boys singles category, acco rding to th e l at es t r an ki n gs re le as e d b y th e B adm i n to n W o rl d F e de ra ti o n ( B W F ) Sankar is the first shu ttler from Tamil Nadu to achieve this feat and fourth Indian bo y after Aditya Josh i (Madh ya Pradesh) in 2014, S i ri l V er ma o f T e la ng an a i n 2 01 6 an d Lakshya Sen fro m Uttarakh and in 201 7 Among them only Sen made it big on the senior circuit Sankar benefited from BWF’s decision to defreeze ranking points this August Ranking points were frozen after the All England Championships in March 2020 due to the pandemic Sankar said he w a s e x p e c t i n g t h i s d e v e l o p m e n t “ I a m thrilled to become No 1 at the junior level We were expecting this as BWF takes three tournaments from the senior category to decide rankings,” said Sankar who was No 2 a few weeks back With Tasnim Mir of Gujarat already the world No 1 among girls, there are two No 1s from India at the junior level Only Saina Nehwal in 2015 and Kidambi Srikanth in 2 0 1 8 a c h i e v e d t h i s f e a t i n t h e s e n i o r category PV Sindhu’s best rank was world No 2 Eighteen year old Sankar trains at t h e F i r e b a l l A c a d e m y i n C h e n n a i w i t h Aravindan Samiappan In fact, Aravindan became Sankar’s personal coach 10 years ago The teen started learning the nuances of the game at Fireball in 2009 Sankar won the Junior White Nights tournament in Russia and the Iran Junior International series in 2021 He finished runner up to Varun Kapur, another promising shuttler, at the Uganda International Sankar’s target is to qualify for the 2024 Olympics “My aim is to compete in the 2 0 2 4 a n d 2 0 2 8 O l y m p i c s I k n o w i t i s difficult but I will work hard to achieve that,” said Sankar Sankar is a huge fan of multiple world and Olympic champion Lin Dan of China “I love his style and I want to p l a y h i m , ” s a i d S a n k a r , w h o i s a l s o a southpaw like his idol Gold rush for Indian para shuttlers in Thailand Indian p ara sh utt ler s Pr amo d Bhagat and S uk ant K adam cl aim ed th e g o l d af t er beat in g In do nes ia’s D wi yo ko D w iyo ko and Fredy Setiawan in the men ’ s do ubles f in al o f t h e Th ail and P ara Badmint o n International t our nament in P att aya o n Satur day The Indian du o def eated th e Indonesian pair 21 18, 21 13 in t he summ it clash of SL3 SL4 catego ry I n t h e m e n ’ s s i n g l e s , B h a g a t a n d Kadam had to settle for a silver medal each after losing their respective finals In women ’ s singles, Mandeep Kaur got the better off compatriot Manasi 20 22, 21 19, 21 14 in SL3 finals to claim the gold medal, while Manisha Ramadass also bagged the yellow metal after beating Japan’s Kaede Kameyama 20 22, 21 12, 21 19 in SU5 final Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan also won t h e g o l d w i t h a 2 1 9 , 2 4 2 2 w i n o v e r England’s Rachel Choong 21 9, 24 22 in SH6 final 21) and the Lor d’s (Se ptember 24 ) J h u l a n , w h o l a s t p l a y e d f o r I n d i a d u r i n g t h e O D I W o r l d C u p i n N e w Zealand in March this year, will be given a “ proper farewell” as she could not say “ g o o d b y e o n t h e f i e l d ” , r e p o r t s s a i d quoting a Board official Jhulan sustained a side strain ahead of I n d i a ’ s f i n a l W o r l d C u p g r o u p g a m e against South Africa and missed the Sri L a n k a t o u r i n J u l y A c c o r d i n g t o t h e report, Jhulan is keeping her “options open ” for the inaugural Women’s IPL slated from next year and she’s also in t a l k s w i t h t h e m e n ’ s f r a n c h i s e s f o r a “ m e n t o r i n g r o l e ” H a v i n g m a d e h e r international debut in 2002, Jhulan called it quits from T20Is in 2018, and played her last Test match in October 2021 A veteran of six Women’s ODI World Cups, Jhulan has played 12 Tests, 68 T20 internationals and 201 ODIs
Chennai shuttler Sankar is new junior world No 1 Jhulan Goswami set to retire at Lord’s on Sept 24 Shubman G ill struck a mai den O DI c entury to steer India to a nervy 13 run victory over hosts Z i m ba b w e o M on da y a nd c omplete a clean s weep of their t hr e s s at he H arare Sports Club Gill hammered 130 runs off 97 balls as India recovered from a s s 2 8 9 winning the toss and electing to b a s , b Zimbabwe out for 276 in the l a s h e h s innings Zimbabwe were in the hunt all the way thanks to Sikandar Raza’s sixth ODI century as he scored 115 from 95 balls, but when he fell in the penultimate over, their chances of a first victory over India since 2010 India won by 10 the i 1 4 6 b s remaining in Saturday’s second game Gill showed expert timing as he drove the home attack to all corners and quickly lifted the run rate after India were 84 2 in the 21st over He put on a 140 run partnership for the second wicket with Ishan Kishan, who s c o r e d 5 0 , b u t a f t e r t h a t w a t c h e d a s u c c e s s i o n o f partners depart cheaply as Brad Evans completed his first five w i c k e t h a u l i n i n t e r n a t i o n a l cricket with figures of 5 54 in his 10 overs Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams showed aggressive intent in the home’s team reply, scoring 45 runs off 46 balls, but at 169 7 they looked out of the contest That was until Raza and Evans (28) put on 104 for the eighth wicket to drag them back into i t , b u t w h e n t h e y w e r e o u t within five balls of each other with the victory line in sight, India were able to grab the win Seamer Avesh Khan took the last wicket and was the pick of the visitors’ attack with 3 66
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Former Indian all rounder Irfan Pathan said that pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel not playing in Asia Cup 2022 will be a matter of relief for other teams Star pacer Bumrah and Patel were not available for selection in Asia Cup 2022 owing to injuries They are currently undergoing rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru Harshal Patel is India’s second highest wicket taker in T20I cricket this year with 19 scalps with veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar at the top with 20 wickets
AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly www asian voice com27 Aug 2 Sep 202232
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Bumrah has only played three T20Is this year and he has taken three wickets Pathan’s tweet followed a post on social media by legendary Pakistan bowler Waqar Younis who had said in a tweet that star Pakistani pacer Shaheen Afridi s injury will be a relief for the Indian top order
ICC ALLOWS LONGER WINDOW FOR IPL
IRFAN HITS BACK AT WAQAR AT SHAHEEN TWEET
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The Kolkata Knight Riders roped in Chandrakant Pandit as their new head coach Pandit replaces New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum, who stepped down after taking over as the coach of the England Test side in May this year Interestingly, Pandit will be KKR’s first Indian head coach after the spell of five foreign coaches at the helm of the team’s affairs in briefIndia win series against Zimbabwe
The 36 year old southpaw is rather happy that skipper Rahul will get the much needed game time ahead of the all important Asia Cup It is a very good news that KL (Rahul) is back and will be leading the side as well He is one of the main players of this Indian team It will be a good outing for him before the Asia Cup gets underway I am sure he will gain a lot from this tour,” Dhawan said
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He might have been relegated to vice captaincy after KL Rahul s late inclusion but team's senior most player Shikhar Dhawan is always ready to lend a helping hand to the youngsters who seek out for him Dhawan was all set to lead the team in a three match ODI series but now that he will be performing the duties of a deputy, he is ready to to put his best foot forward “I quite enjoy sharing my experience with the youngsters in the team I first came here in 2014 (actually 2013) when Duncan Fletcher was the Indian coach If they (youngsters) reach out to me for any suggestions I am (always) there to answer them,” Dhawan told reporters at a media conference
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The Indian Premier League got bigger last year with the inclusion of two new teams Now it’s time to get longer as well A two and a half month window has been made available for the lucrative franchise league between mid March to the beginning of June an increase of 15 days to the existing window The decision was announced by ICC as part of the Future Tours and Programmes (FTP) cycle from 2023 27 The landscape around the game is continuing to evolve and we will work closely with members as we collectively adapt to that ICC general manager of cricket Wasim Khan said We are committed to growing the game and giving more fans more opportunities to enjoy cricket, but are very mindful of the need to balance that ambition with the welfare of players ” Khan added In 2025, the second half of the Pakistan Super League will clash with IPL due to the cramped schedule and it will be interesting to see how BCCI and PCB find a solution to the problem The Indian team will play 138 bilateral international matches during this five year phase between May 2023 to April 2027 They will take part in 38 Tests, 39 ODIs and 61 T20Is the rise in the number of T20s a clear indication of the direction where the game is heading The ODI bilaterals will mostly be three match series
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V e t e r a n I nd i a n f a st bo w l e r Jh u l a n G o sw a mi , t h e l e a d i ng w i ck e t t a ke r i n women ’ s i nternati onal cri cket, i s a ll se t to r e t i r e a t t h e h a l l o we d L o r d ’ s d u r i n g I nd i a ’ s t h i r d a n d f i na l O D I a g a i n st E ngl and o n Septe mbe r 24 , acco rdi ng to a r eport The 39 y ea r old pa ce r wa s name d i n th e 17 me mber India n ODI squad f or t he th ree matches at Hove (Se pte mber 18), Ca nte rbu ry (Sep tember
