AV 27th June 2020

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE Retail tills ring in the new normal SEE PAGE - 7

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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

27 JUNE - 3 JULY 2020 - VOL 53 ISSUE 9

DIABETES IN BRITISH ASIANS LINKED TO CORONAVIRUS DEATHS • •

BAME community to receive coronavirus vaccine same time as frontline workers British Asians have 20% more chances of dying, than White population

Call for justice and a judge-led inquiry into Horizon IT scandal SEE PAGE - 9

Now, world is feeling need for yoga: PM Modi SEE PAGE - 17

FCA names Nikhil Rathi as chief executive SEE PAGE - 18

Lord Bilimoria elected as the first BAME head of CBI SEE PAGE - 18

Rupanjana Dutta Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that Black, Asian and minority ethnic people could be among the first to get a coronavirus vaccine.

Speaking at No 10 briefing, the minister confirmed that two groups have been recommended for priority vaccinations when it is discovered and manufactured.

The joint committee on vaccination and immunisation has said that the frontline health and social care workers and those who are at greater risk of death or serious illness from Covid-19 will be on the list. But Mr

Hancock added that BAME people could also be included in those to get the treatment first.

The Health Secretary reportedly added, “As we learn more about the virus we will continue to take into account which groups may be particularly vulnerable – including, for example, those from ethnic minority backgrounds – so that we can protect the most at risk first, should a vaccine become available, and get this country back on our feet as soon as we possibly can.”

This came after a report published in two phases by Public Health England (PHE) has said that

BAME population is at higher risk of coronavirus deaths, because of their pre-existing health conditions as well as structural racism and social inequalities- that are the key reasons behind higher BAME deaths, exposure and disease progression risk.

The report said, “Racial discrimination affects people’s life chances and the stress associated with being discriminated against based on race/ethnicity affects mental and physical health. Issues of stigma with Covid-19 were identified as negatively impacting health seeking behaviours.

Continued on page 4

India gives forces ‘full freedom’ to give fitting reply to China SEE PAGE - 26

2 UK

AsianVoiceNews

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27 June - 3 July 2020

with Keith Vaz

Mayor of London takes a 10% pay cut amidst shortfall of funds

Dharambir Singh Dharambir Singh is one of the most prominent North Indian Classical musicians based in UK. A student of the legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan he also studied for his MA at the School Of Oriental and African studies at the University of London and is fellow of NESTA (National Endowment for Science Technology and Arts) and FTCL (Fellow Trinity College London). He has been awarded the MBE award for the 2011 and Guru Ratna a lifetime achievement award by MilapFest in 2018. Apart for his extensive performance career Dharambir’s reputation as an educator is unparalleled in England. He worked as a tutor with Leicester Music Service, lecturer at Leeds College Of Music and an adviser at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on their BMus Degree in Indian Music in collaboration with Trinity College Of Music. He founded South Asain Arts-uk in Leeds. He was the founder and the artistic director of SAMYo the first national south Asian music youth orchestra and artistic adviser for Tarang, UK’s first South Asian senior ensemble. He was a trustee with Darbar Heritage. He works as a freelance performer, tutor and consultant.

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

What is the best aspect about your England. After moving to UK in 1979 all my current role? life experiences and acquaintances have been In my current role I am semi-retired and made in UK through varies interactions as a thus it is of much more freedom and very teacher, mentor, lecturer, performer and good for self-exploration musically and adviser. Now whenever I go abroad I want to spiritually. It is a joy once again to have come back and feel safe knowing that I am quality time to mentor some newcomers to well looked after by the NHS and the Rule Of Sitar Music. Being part of a team to present Law. the Opera L'Orfeo with Opera North is very exciting. hat are your proudest achievements?

And the worst?

My proudest moments have been witnessing my students maturing into full musiSome health issues which resulted in getcians. The creation of South Asian Youth ting ICD implanted. Managing things Music Orchestra was one of the most memincluding time management and balancing orable achievements. Receiving MBE was different activities. another very rewarding experience.

What are your long-term goals? (50 What inspires you? words response) I do not believe in setting Goals now as I Watching a musical performance or other have realised that these can be rewarding miraculous arts event inspires me. and at the same time stressful and open to Performing for new audiences and listening dissatisfaction. I live moment to moment them share experience of the music. Being and listen to my inner voice and inspiration. in the company of an enlightened master or Generally, my main Goal is to evolve to the another extraordinary human being is most peak of human potential. inspiring for me.

If you were Prime Minister, what one What has been biggest obstacle in your aspect would you change? career?

I would bring a major shift in the education Initially the typical aspects of an immisystem by emphasizing the Yogic principals grant, with a turban and of a different culof Unity in Diversity and sowing the seeds ture was difficult. Many times, I used to feel of Inner Wellbeing through a variety of that it was an obstacle. In actuality the activities including Yoga and Arts. biggest obstacle has been my own fear which manifested in its many guises.

If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would Who has been the biggest influence on you like to spend your time with and why? your career to date?

I would like to spend time with Swami His holiness Satguru Jagjit Singh, Ustad Vivekanand listening to his knowledge of Vilayat Khan (Sitar Maestro and my teacher) the great Indian Books, philosophy and his and Sadhguru (Jaggi Vasudev of ISHA). I outlook on the modern take on spirituality have been influenced by the principal of and playing music and meditating with Leeds College Of Music, David Holt. him.

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Oxford University backs removal of Rhodes statue On 18th June, the Oxford University’s Oriel College backed the removal of the Victorian imperialist Cecil Rhodes statue. Additionally, it has agreed to set up an independent inquiry into the key issues around the statue in light of the recent Black Lives Matter protests.

However, this turnaround follows a student-led campaign that began four years ago in 2015.

The protests by the Rhodes Must Fall campaign escalated outside the college over the last two weeks forcing the governing body of Oriel College to hold a

meeting.

In a statement to The Guardian, a spokesperson of the Commission noted, “The commission will deal with the issue of the Rhodes legacy and how to improve access and attendance of BAME [black, Asian

and minority ethnic] undergraduate, graduate students and faculty, together with a review of how the college’s 21st century commitment to diversity can sit more easily with its past.”

Cecil Rhodes is defined as an imperialist, businessman and politician who played a dominant role in southern Africa in the late 19th Century, driving the annexation of vast swathes of land

On Wednesday 17th June, the Mayor of London announced that he has taken a 10% pay cut while urging Boris Johnson to bail out local authorities facing funding black holes because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sadiq Khan warned that shortfall of almost £500 million in funds in the capital could result in cuts to the Metropolitan Police, London Fire Brigade (LFB), Transport for London (TfL) and the Greater London Authority (GLA).

The annual salary of the Mayor of London is designated at £152,734 and a 10% reduction will result in Khan taking a cut by almost

Sadiq Khan

£15,300. Additionally, Khan has also announced that owing to coronavirus pay for senior appointments at City Hall has also been frozen.

The announcement follows after reports indicate that TfL's fares income had "dropped by more than 90%" and that local business rates and council tax income had "fallen off a cliff", making this "the

worst possible time for a return to austerity". In a statement to the Sky News, he said, "Unless ministers act, the current number of police officers will need to be reduced and it will be impossible to tackle youth violence or make the changes to the London Fire Brigade that are desperately needed after the awful Grenfell tragedy." In May, the government provided TfL with a £1.6bn bailout after revenue from fares the bulk of its income - fell by 90%. In the wake of the bailout, it was announced that from 22 June the congestion charge will increase by 30% and be enforced seven days a week.

Labour will not scrap shadow International Department position On Thursday 18th June, the Labour Party announced that they will not scrap the Department for International Development.

The announcement emerges after Boris Johnson announced on Tuesday that the government would be abolishing the Department for International Development, and merging it with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office instead.

Reports indicate that Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, will lead the new department with no plans for a second Secretary of State or a Deputy Foreign Secretary.

It is also understood that Anne-Marie Trevelyan will

remain International Development Secretary until early September, when the new department will be formally established. Work is starting immediately on the merger.

In an interview with LabourList, Shadow International Development Secretary Preet Kaur Gill said, “Labour is not prepared to mirror what the government is doing. It’s really important

that we maintain the independence of DfID, that we absolutely recognise its global reach and reputation and expertise that it has and I’m really pleased that Keir is very much committed to that. “It’s unnecessary for the government to take this course of action. That’s going to be our position, and I think it’s really important that we retain that. I think most people will feel confident that we will have an independent DfID.” The Shadow International Development Secretary noted that “many” Tory MPs were unhappy with the merger. “Not only do they feel it’s unnecessary, but they understand that this is a Prime Minister who is just in retreat.”

Nandy questions Foreign Office for paintings portraying imperialism The shadow foreign secretary, has written to responsibility. her counterpart, Dominic Raab, asking him to Former Labour govexpress his views on the paintings illustrated ernments have on the Foreign Office grand staircase. Lisa removed artworks Nandy, has flagged her concerns about murals that they regarded in which the Anglo-Saxon empire is trias no longer appropriate, including a picture umphantly portrayed, including one in which of the prince of Nepal. Beside the murals, is a Africa is depicted as a little naked boy carrying contemporary memorandum presented by a fruit basket.

Goetze to the cabinet described as “a little Swaheli boy”. He said “the boy had been These paintings which conveyed UK’s included to remind us of our obligations, and attitude to imperialism, made the former the possibilities, in the dark continent”.

Labour foreign secretary Robin Cook uncomfortable. Now, in the aftermath of the on-going Black Lives Matter protests, Nandy whose parents were immigrants from India, has raised similar concerns. These paintFINANCIAL A SERVICES ings were commissioned in 1914 and completed in 1921, at PROTECTION MORTGAGES the time of the Versailles Life Insurance Residential Treaty by Sigismund Goetze.

Critical Illness Buy to Let They consist of five large narIncome Protection Remortgages rative paintings designed to show the origin, education, development, expansion and Please conta act: triumph of the British empire.

Dinesh Shonchhatra S The Foreign Office is also Mortgage Ad dviser criticised for the statue of Clive of India on its steps but Call: 020 8424 C 4 8686 / 07956 810647 the FCO claims no responsibility for its position. However, 77 High Street, Wealdston ne, Harrow, HA3 5DQ these murals cannot be dismortgage@majorestate.co om ~ majorestate.com missed as someone’s else’s

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27 June - 3 July 2020

Sunak faces dilemma on triple lock pension policy The financial crisis unfurled by coronavirus pandemic has brought back the debate around the pension scheme.

Campaigners, activists and young people have urged that the old loosen their purse strings to help fund the sustenance for young as the UK collapses into the highest levels of unemployment ever since the great depression with 9 million people being supported by the government’s furlough scheme. And at the heart of this debate is the triple lock policy on the pension scheme.

At present, the state pension increases every year in line with the rising cost of living seen in the CPI measure of inflation, increasing average wages, or 2.5%, whichever of those three is highest. This is known as the triple lock on the pension policy, currently supported by the Tory government.

However, owing to the coronavirus outbreak there can be a huge increase in the state pension if the government continues with the system as it is. Estimates suggest that state pensioners could see an 18% annual bump in the following year in their pension pay. Sunak is believed to be aware of the problem caused by the furlough scheme but denied reports that a decision to scrap the triple lock had already been made. Even before the coronavirus outbreak had ruptured the British economy, the Treasury had been

campaigning to ditch the triple lock on the grounds that an ageing population would make it increasingly unaffordable.

But reports indicate that prime minister and the chancellor are committed to supporting pensioners and the Treasury said it had yet to do a full analysis of the options.

Pension related charities have been arguing that the pension amount is relatively less and nominal for the old in the UK as compared to other international countries. However, the government already has a huge bill on its hands as a result of all the financial schemes and spending policies it has rolled out for businesses and individuals. It will need to save money, or borrow. Some economists expect at least a suspension in the guarantee and are arguing for the reassessment of the policy. But Sunak and his men the government has not been drawn to comment.

In the meantime, last week the Transport of London had also announced that the government will be temporary suspending the freedom pass of old people during the peak hours. This means that all passengers with an older person's freedom pass, 60+ Oyster photocard or English National Concessionary Scheme pass will not be able to use those passes during morning peak hours in order to help support social distancing on the public transport network and help control the coronavirus.

Strength is in unity Boris Johnson’s announcement in House of Commons of a ‘new cautious optimism’ as he eased lockdown from Saturday 4 July has been welcomed with open arms by families and businesses.

Mr Johnson revealed the two metres rule will be abandoned in favour of a ‘one-metre plus’ approach but he gave the green light for pubs, restaurants, cafes and other hospitality businesses to open, which is already being nicknamed as ‘Super Saturday’.

Lord Karan Bilimoria, who has become the first ever BAME President of CBI, on 16 June had urged the government to halve UK social-distancing rules for the sake of hospitality businesses which are otherwise ‘going to get bust’.

Lord Bilimoria said there was a ‘strong argument’ to cut the minimum distance from two metres to one, taking examples from countries where this has already been done.

Lord Bilimoria who himself had contracted coronavirus in March replaces John Allan, Tesco chairman, as the head of the UK’s largest employer organisation and becomes the CBI’s first non-white president, as companies come under scrutiny for a lack of progress in promoting staff from ethnic minorities amid the Black Lives Matter protests.

He promised that the CBI will push for greater BAME representation in British boardrooms, noting that almost 40 per cent of FTSE 100 boards have no director from an ethnic minority. This figure rises above 60 per cent for FTSE 250 companies.

While the campaign to engage more BAME directors remains priority, appointment of Nikhil Rathi as the new

boss of FCA is encouraging for the Asian community.

However, there is a section of the community that feels, with the growing number of Ministers and top bosses from the Indian or Hindu community, perhaps we can see a growing case of Hinduphobia.

Priti Patel, who became the first ever Hindu Home Secretary, was sent a letter signed by 32MPs accusing her of ‘undermining’ Black people’s experiences. Social media warriors also called her not genuinely ethnic. Priti, who father was a corner shop and sub-post office of owner grew up in a Gujarati household. And to find her any less Indian or Hindu than the others, was a provocative insult.

Similarly, a cartoon in The Guardian that depicted her as a cow with a ring through her nose was found shameful by the Hindu Forum of Britain and they told this newspaper how it has created a huge offence.

The racism faced by Blacks is not the same as Asianstrue. But our community cannot forget how the same racism led to expulsion of Indians in Uganda by Idi Amin.

The expulsion took place against a backdrop of Indophobia in Uganda, with Amin accusing a minority of the Asian population of disloyalty, non-integration and commercial malpractice. Amin even defended the expulsion by arguing that he was "giving Uganda back to ethnic Ugandans".At the time of the expulsion, there were approximately 80,000 individuals of Indian descent, mostly Gujaratis in Uganda, of whom 23,000 had had their applications for citizenship both processed and accepted.

One must understand minorities in every country have had their own struggles. But pulling each other down, divide and rule, only weakens the society’s pillars. Strength is always in unity.

India must be fully prepared The killing of 20 Indian soldiers by Chinese troops in Galwan valley along the LAC should settle the debate about whether this is a different, more militaristic China we are dealing with today than in the recent past. The signs are all evident.

Beijing is turning up the heat with most of its neighbours – including Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan – even as it revoked Hong Kong’s autonomy. Prior to the killings of the jawans, Beijing asked its citizens to leave India.

In this situation, New Delhi must make a clear-eyed assessment of this new reality and frame a response factoring it in.

It’s just as well that, in describing the Chinese action as “premeditated and planned,” foreign minister S Jaishankar has chosen to be forthright and called a spade a spade. The ball is in the court of China’s top leadership now. It must realise that it’s on the verge of losing India for at least a generation, if it doesn’t make quick recompense.

By all accounts, Beijing feels confident that it can confront all the major powers simultaneously. Yet, the Chinese Communist Party should know that China is not the first power to be overwhelmed by narcissism and hubris.

Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany believed they were unstoppable in the run-up to the Second World War. Soviet Union too, believed in the late 1970s that America was on decline after its humiliating defeat in Vietnam and a string of socialist revolutions, from Cambodia to Namibia and from Afghanistan to Mozambique. But the tide eventually turned against all the three great powers that ended up in history’s dustbin.

If a war does break out, an excited Pakistan could jump into the fray as well. Once we reset our strategic lens to see the security threat from Pakistan as a subset of that from China, it’s evident that there is a power differential between India and the China-Pakistan axis. To address this, India cannot afford to be isolated. In the medium term, it will need to get into some security arrangement with the US and other democratic nations. (Russia, an old and dependable ally of India can be taken into confidence that this arrangement is not anti-Russia). In the short term, India should strengthen whatever positions it controls on the LAC, based on a realistic assessment, and prepare for any Chinese adventurism. It should also launch a strong diplomatic campaign in world capitals, highlighting Beijing’s aggressive and interventionist positions in territorial disputes with other nations, which threaten world peace.

India’s leadership is fully conscious of the demands at home for retribution similar to the Indian bombing of a terror camp at Balakot in Pakistan last February following a terror attack on Indian soldiers at Pulwama in Kashmir. A rash military response to the unacceptable incident at Galwan could inevitably lead to military escalation at multiple points on the contested frontier where the two armies are standing toe to toe. The economic costs of such an escalation would indeed be substantive and the political consequences severe. That does not mean Delhi should accept the new facts on the ground created by the People’s Liberation Army.

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. –

William Shakespeare

Alpesh Patel

India Proves Herself Superior to China in Every Way As China now officially becomes a pariah State – as the red Dragon encroaches on every territory, with conflicts with the British, Philippines, Japan and India – basically all neighbouring democracies – it is clear this dictatorship of communism is a rogue State with absolute power in the hands of Xi or Pooh Bear as social media prefer to call him.

I am on the side of the British. There was an agreement relating to Hong Kong to protect civil liberties and that has been broken by the Chinese.

There was an agreement with the world not to create deadly chemical viruses. Are you seriously saying it’s a coincidence Wuhan is the centre for Virology in China and the birthplace of the Chinese virus?

There was an agreement with humanity to end slavery – yet Muslims reside in concentration camps on the Western border.

There was an agreement with India not to encroach on territory – that is broken. There is was an agreement with the world, not to dump cheap products – that has been broken – ask Trump and the war of words with America.

I was in Beijing on 9/11. And the next day lecturing at one of the Universities. The room was packed. They wanted to know the impact on world trade. They were not traders – just regular students.

Our values are our own. Not all values are equal. Communism is not Chinese. It is not part of their civilisation or culture. And it will be overthrown.

I visited Tiannamen square a few months ago, and was surprised at the security. You only need security of that level – far more than in our Parliament Square if you truly do not have the consent of your people. They do not.

As Mao Tse Tung said in the ‘Little Red Book’ – the people are not naturally socialist. They have to be unshackled from this dictatorship. This aggressive world destroying, religion destroying, trade destroying, virus like dictatorship which has infiltrated all supply lines and choked and strangled them.

The ordinary people, the people I meet on my trips, are the loveliest, most patriotic you will ever meet. But they are in no way supportive of the Communist Party and its stranglehold of fear.

Social dissent is coming – we shall have to make sure of it. It deserves it. Right and justice deserve it. The apologists for China in the West on the Left think there is an international brotherhood – just as Blunt and Maclean – the traitors did.

India has proven herself superior in every single way to China, in culture, in political system, in civilisation, in international affairs. I am proud to be a British Indian more than ever not a slave in a dictatorship.

Editor: CB Patel Asian Voice is published by Asian Business Publications Ltd Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW. Tel: 020 7749 4080 • Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com Website: www.abplgroup.com

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DIABETES IN BRITISH ASIANS LINKED TO CORONAVIRUS DEATHS Continued from page 1 “Once infected, many of the pre-existing health conditions that increase the risk of having severe infection are more common in death from Covid-19 was identified as negatively impacting how BAME groups took up opportunities to get tested and their likelihood of presenting early for treatment and care. For many BAME groups lack of trust of NHS services and health care treatment resulted in their reluctance to seek care on a timely basis, and late presentation with disease.”

Mr Hancock also said that human trials of a potential vaccine South Asians’ death and increased were taking place at Imperial rate of hospitalisation due to College London and that Astra Covid-19 have been related to high Zeneca had struck a deal to manulevel of diabetes. Prof Ewen facture a second possible vaccine Harrison, professor of surgery and being developed by Oxford data science and honorary consulUniversity. tant surgeon at the University of On Tuesday, the first healthy Edinburgh, the lead author of the volunteer, who asked to be anonystudy pointed out that people from mous, received the coronavirus South Asian background had 20% vaccine developed by Imperial more chances of dying, than white researchers. The clinical team, who population. The study analysed delivered a small dose of the vacdata from 40% of all people admitcine to the participant at a West ted in hospitals with Covid-19 London facility, were closely monbetween 6 February and 8 May in itoring the participant and reportEngland, Scotland and Wales. ed they were in good health, with The paper which is not yet peer no safety concerns, as we went to reviewed said that some ethnicities press.Imperial College London’s are at greater risks than other. It vaccine candidate is being develalso said that increased prevalence oped and trialled as a result of of diabetes in the British South more than £41 million in funding Asian population accounted for from the UK Government and a 18% of their increased risk of death. further £5 million in philanthropic According to Diabetes.co.uk, donations.

People from South Asian commuONS study nities are known to be up to 6 Office for National Statistics times more likely to have type 2 looked at total number of deaths diabetes than the general populainvolving Covid-19 and found that tion. In addition, South Asians 88.6% were of people from a White tend to have poorer diabetes manEthnic group, 6.2 % from an Asian agement, putting them at higher Ethnic group, 4.0% from a Black risk of serious health complicaEthnic group and 0.5 % from and tions.

Other Ethnic group.

South Asians without diabetes According to a research based are also 3 times more likely to on linking deaths to the 2011 cendevelop cardiovascular disease, but sus, the most timely data available, combined with type 2 diabetes, this including people aged 9 years and risk rises even further, particularly over, ONS for the period 2 March for adults with type 2 diabetes aged to 15 May 2020, taking into 20 to 60. account size and age structure of The Study the population, found that the 27 institutions across the UK, mortality rate for deaths involving including universities and public Covid-19 was highest among males health bodies, as well as 260 hospiof Black ethnic background at 255.7 tals, were involved in the study. deaths per 100,000 population and It is hugely significant as it lowest among males of White ethevaluated data from four-in-ten of nic background at 87.0 deaths per all hospital patients with Covid-19.

100,000.

The findings have been made pubFor females, the pattern was lic online ahead of being formally similar with the highest rates published in a medical among those of Black ethnic backjournal. However, it has been ground (119.8) and lowest among revealed that the results were those of White ethnic background passed onto the UK Government's (52.0). scientific advisory group - Sage However males of Bangladeshi, more than a month ago.

Pakistani and Indian ethnic The study tells us only background also had a what happens when significantly higher somebody is admitted risk of death in a hospital, not involving Covidwhether they were 19 (1.5 and 1.6 more likely to catch times, respecthe virus. The study tively) than showed all ethnic White males minorities were once region, more likely to need population denintensive care, partly sity, socio-demodue to the disease graphic and houseMatt Hancock MP becoming more severe. hold characteristics However, it found that all ethwere accounted for; whilst nicities under study were admitted for females in Bangladeshi or to hospital roughly around the Pakistani, Indian, Chinese and same stage of Covid-19, which Mixed ethnic groups the risk of means there was no delay in getdeath involving Covid-19 was ting help between ethnicities or equivalent to White females. access to health care.

Diabetes a slow killer?

The study highlighted, “Ethnic It has also been revealed that

Minorities in hospital with Covid19 were more likely to be admitted to critical care and receive IMV than Whites, despite similar disease severity on admission, similar duration of symptoms, and being younger with fewer comorbidities.

South Asians are at greater risk of dying, due at least in part to a higher prevalence of pre-existing diabetes.”

The paper has been written by Prof Harrison along with 43 other authors including Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi, MRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Manish Pareek of University of Leicester Department of Respiratory Sciences, Naveed Sattar, University of Glasgow - Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical

Sciences, Aziz Sheikh, University of Edinburgh - Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research and Ian P Sinha, University of Liverpool Women’s and Children’s Health.

34,986 patients were enrolled in the study, 30,693 (88%) had ethnicity recorded: South Asian (1,388, 5%), East Asian (266, 1%), Black (1,094, 4%), Other Ethnic Minority (2,398, 8%) (collectively Ethnic Minorities), and White groups (25,547, 83%).

It also found that Ethnic Minorities were younger and more likely to have diabetes (type 1/type 2) but had fewer other comorbidities such as chronic heart disease or dementia than the White group.

No difference was seen between ethnic groups in the time from symptom onset to hospital admission, nor in illness severity at admission. Critical care admission was more common in South Asian (odds ratio 1.28, 95% confidence interval 1.09 to 1.52), Black (1.36, 1.14 to 1.62), and Other Ethnic Minority (1.29, 1.13 to 1.47) groups

compared to the White group, Speaking to Asian Voice excluafter adjusting for age, sex and sively, Dr Krishna said, “BMI is an location. This was broadly index of how much you weigh, unchanged after adjustment for divided by how tall you are. It is deprivation and comorbidities. not a great index of if you are really Patterns were similar for IMV. obese. Rugby players are covered in Higher adjusted mortality was seen muscles and according to BMI they in the South Asian (hazard ratio could be classified as obese.”

1.19, 1.05 to 1.36), but not East Asian For research BMI is an easily (1.00, 0.74 to 1.35), Black (1.05, 0.91 calculable index, that’s what all the to 1.26) or Other Ethnic Minority data is based on. However, there (0.99, 0.89 to 1.10) groups, comare other ways of characterising pared to the White group. 18% (95% this, which is a lot better. But they CI, 9% to 56%) of the excess morare not easily available or scalable. tality in South Asians was mediatHence the government or any such ed by pre-existing diabetes. official sources use BMI as a reliCommenting on the above able measurement. mentioned study, Dr Faye “If you are Asian and Riley, Senior Research obese- you will clearly be Communications at more at risk. But Officer at Diabetes there hasn’t been a UK, told Asian national strategy Voice: “We know

by NHS England that if you are as to what to do South Asian you with very highare more at risk of risk people, and developing type 2 it is left to the diabetes, as you are individual hospimore likely to develtals to decide.” op insulin resistance at Members of Dr Sreedhar a younger age. This minority ethnic groups Krishna research shows us that the in the UK often have lower higher prevalence of diabetes in socioeconomic status, which is in the South Asian population is an turn associated with a greater risk important factor in explaining why of obesity in women and children. people in this group have increased Stressing on the nature of work risk of poorer outcomes with and physical inactivity also leading Covid-19. But it also shows diaup to these disproportionate betes doesn’t fully account for this deaths, Dr Krishna added, additional risk.

“Physical inactivity increases risk of heart attack and stroke.

The nature of your work makes a huge difference. If you are at a desk job and don’t exercise, then you are in serious trouble. The way fat is deposited in Asian person is different from a Caucasian person.

Although Asians get a bad reputation, when we look at the national data, we are not more obese than the general population. In fact, for Asians it is actually lower.”

Research says waist size is usually a better and easier thing to measure when it comes to excess fat. “But underlying heart issues is actually more of a risk factor than obesity.

Frontline workers who died due to Covid-19 Food habits and genetics contribute to that,” he “The research also adds further added. In the UK we get most of weight to the evidence that people our Vitamin D from sunlight expofrom South Asian backgrounds – sure from around late March and and other BAME communities – early April to the end of are at greater risk of dying from September. We need vitamin D to Covid-19. This cannot be allowed help the body absorb calcium and to continue unchallenged. phosphate from our diet. These “Governments across the UK minerals are important for healthy must prioritise the rapid developbones, teeth and muscles. “All ment of the tools and systems Asian people should be taking needed to provide a more personVitamin D.” said Dr Krishna. “Low alised approach to risk assessment Vitamin D is associated with everyfor individuals, alongside the thing from heart disease to suicide development of more robust saferisks. Asians with low Vitamin D guards and support to better proare at high risk of Coronavirus too. tect those who are identified as That’s one of the most important high risk from Covid-19.” factors to look into.“Poverty and Inactivity, abdominal fat and socio-economic factors like living Vitamin D deficiency in crowded houses also add up to these deficits. Nature of your work Dr Sreedhar Krishna, who is a – whether NHS, retail or transport, Consultant Dermatologist in if you are not given PPEs, people Croydon University Hospital, has a from ethnic minorities are less MPhil degree in Public Health in likely to flag it, some of which is University of Cambridge and cultural- that can lead to risking researched on the effects of physiyour health further. cal inactivity on the risk of heart “I feel obesity and Vitamin D attacks. He has also published on deficiency are part of the reasons the relationship between obesity for these disproportionate deaths. and high blood pressure in But not the only reasons.”

Gujaratis.

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27 June - 3 July 2020

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AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

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27 June - 3 July 2020

Asian donors more likely to have Covid-19 ‘convalescent plasma’ which could save lives People from Asian communities who have recovered from Covid-19 are more likely to have the antibodyrich convalescent plasma which can save lives, according to early analysis.

Asian donors, including the man with the highest antibodies of Asian donor so far, are now supporting NHS Blood and Transplant’s for appeal for more people to donate plasma to help people with Covid-19.

NHSBT is collecting convalescent plasma for a major coronavirus treatment trial, and if the trial is successful, widespread use in hospitals. The antibody rich plasma of people who have recovered from Covid19 can be transfused into people who are struggling to develop their own immune response.

New figures, reported into the programme last week, showed the Asian convalescent plasma donors were almost twice as likely to have high antibody levels as white donors. 63% of

Bhairvi Sampat

Asian donors met the threshold, compared to 36% of white donors. The results are from donations made by 592 people between 21 April and May 11.

Inspirational stories Rajeev Verma, 52, a healthcare facilities manager from Wolverhampton, has the highest antibody levels of any Asian donor so far.

He had to spend a few nights in hospital with breathing difficulties.

Rajeev told Asian Voice, “Covid-19 is very dangerous and it can attack anyone regardless of colour or creed. There are so many symptoms that you have to

Rajeev Verma

endure and fight against.

“Donating plasma was a new and pleasant experience, the nurses were very supporting and reassuring and the process took around 35mins. If I can help in the research and save someone's life with my donation, I would do it with great pleasure. It is better to give than to receive.

“I find that some people from the Asian community take a step back when you say you have had coronavirus. I am very open. I think there needs to be more awareness. I would very much support people talking more and feeling able to

donate.”

Bhairvi Sampat, 40, an infection prevention and control nurse specialist from Bexley who works at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, recovered from coronavirus and donated convalescent plasma at Tooting donor centre in south London.

She said, “I was very nervous about donating but it was actually easier than I expected. It felt brilliant afterwards, to know my donation might help someone who is seriously ill.

“I think there needs to be more openness in the Asian community. There’s

17.2 million Brits claim that lockdown will change their eating habits forever Almost a third (32%) of Brits, equating to 17.2 million people, admit that lockdown will change their eating habits for good, with 30% admitting that they have wasted less food since lockdown began, according to new research from HelloFresh.

After looking at cooking habits during lockdown, nearly half of Brits (48%) have said they’d tried up to four new ingredients/recipes in that time, with 36% saying they would be more likely to continue being adventurous with new ingredients postlockdown.

The research found that of those who have used new ingredients during lockdown coconut milk (24%), chickpeas (23%), sweet chili (23%) have been the most popular, with Brits having experimented mostly cooking Italian (20%) cuisine, closely followed by British dishes (20%) and then Chinese (15%).

When asked the reason behind why they’ve chosen to cook using new ingredients or recipes during lockdown, a third (33%)** said it was because they wanted to try a new recipe, compared to nearly a quarter (24%) of those wanting to avoid wasting produce, and 16% who said it was to avoid going to the supermarket.

Of those surveyed, nearly four in ten (39%) said lockdown has made them

more sustainably aware of how they shop.

With the nation showing an increased confidence and interest in being resourceful when it comes to mealtimes, Head Chef at HelloFresh UK, Andre Dupin, said, “It’s great to see that there’s an increased commitment to reducing waste in the kitchen, a sustainable practice HelloFresh enables customers to do.

“In a recent HelloFresh study, we found that customers buying HelloFresh dinners have 21% less food

waste compared to a meal cooked from scratch with ingredients bought at traditional supermarkets.

“We hope these findings will inspire home cooks across the country to incorporate these sustainable changes into their cooking routines post lockdown and continue reducing their food waste with the help of HelloFresh’s conveniently pre-portioned recipes, which are easily delivered directly to customers for their dinner-time enjoyment.”

communities who have Covid-19 have a higher risk of becoming seriously ill.

“We can reassure people that convalescent donation is safe and easy. Your body quickly replaces the antibodies you donate. By donating convalescent plasma, you could save lives.”

Convalescent plasma is being collected at NHSBT’s 23 donor centres around the country including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Luton and Leeds, as well as in pop-up donor centres.

The donation takes about 45 minutes, during which time you can sit back and relax. Your body usually replaces the plasma you’ve donated in 24-48 hours and you can get on with your normal day after donating.

Your body also quickly replaces the antibodies and people can donate plasma as often as every two weeks.

NHS Blood and Transplant is appealing for people who have recovered from Covid-19 or the symptoms, and who live near one of its 23 donor centres, to offer to donate their plasma by calling 0300 123 23 23.

Harrow nursery wins at national Dental Awards

Despite restrictions lifting, many respondents say that lockdown measures will continue to change their shopping habits forever, with nearly four in ten Brits (39%) saying they are more likely3 to continue to use up leftovers to make new meals post lockdown, and 38% of people are likely3 to stop doing as many food shops during the week, a third (33%) also said they’re likely3 to try out new recipes every week using ingredients that are about to go off.

More than 5,000 people living with type 2 diabetes across Coventry and Warwickshire receive vital information packs Charity Diabetes UK and health providers across Coventry and Warwickshire are working together to support people living with type 2 diabetes.

The initiative between NHS Coventry and Rugby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), NHS Warwickshire North CCG and NHS South Warwickshire CCG aims to ensure 5,600 newly diagnosed people have key information available to support them to manage their condition and help them live healthier lives. More than 5,600 packs have been sent directly to people who are registered across 133 GP practices. Each pack contains core Diabetes UK information including the charity’s type 2 diabetes guide, a 15 Healthcare Essentials guide, information if you’ve been recently diagnosed with the condition, how to check your feet and the Diabetes UK helpline number.

Alongside this there is bespoke local information around pharmacy support, local education programmes, Diabetes UK

still some stigma around the virus, a lot of people wouldn’t even sat they had had the virus.

“I would definitely say to other Asian people that they should go it and donate. It’s a simple procedure. You can help people who are less fortunate.”

Asians more likely to have plasma which could save lives than white donors Prof Dave Roberts, NHS Blood and Transplant Associate Medical Director for Blood Donation, said, “These are early results from a relatively small number of donors, but the results are statistically significant. Our donors so far from Asian backgrounds were more likely to have the plasma which could save lives than white donors.

“We are not yet sure why this is the case. The indications from our work so far, and past studies, is that the more seriously ill people become, the more antibodies they made. A Public Health England report suggested people from Asian

community champions, healthy eating and lifestyle support, psychological wellbeing and a selection of online videos for BAME communities, gestational diabetes and keeping active.

NHS Coventry and Rugby CCG has developed this initiative through NHS England diabetes transformation funding and in collaboration with Diabetes UK. Peter Shorrick, Diabetes UK Midlands and East regional head, said: “We are all currently living in very challenging times, but if you are also living with a serious health condition, like type 2 diabetes, then the coronavirus situation may feel even more daunting. “But the more knowledge and information you have to manage diabetes, the more empowered you will be to make the right choices for you to ensure you can be as healthy as possible. “It’s been great to partner up with health providers across the county to ensure people living with type 2 diabetes are supported.”

Little Darling Childcare, a children’s nursery based in Harrow, west London, has been crowned 'Best National Smile Month’ at the prestigious Dental Awards 2020.

This year marks the 21st anniversary of the Dental Awards, the original and most respected awards programme in British dentistry. This prestigious event has recognised the outstanding individuals and teams whose commitment and drive continues to raise standards throughout the UK dentistry profession.

The nursery’s win is even more remarkable as they are the first winner in the history of the award from a non-dental background. The judges’ summary of the award said, “Little Darling Childcare have created oral health education activities which extend across the whole

curriculum and has become embedded in the culture of the nursery. Creating positive habits and behaviours in pre-school children, their families and the staff, this initiative has become an annual event which sets a benchmark for others to follow.”

Sanjay Morzaria, manager of the nursery told Asian Voice, “In Harrow, 42.4% of five-year olds have had a tooth decay. So, the earlier we can instil good oral health behaviours in young children, the better the child’s outcome.”Patrick O’Dwyer, Divisional Director Education Services in Harrow, added, “This is both a unique and outstanding accolade for Little Darling Childcare. And particularly pleasing for Harrow in its local importance as we fight against tooth decay in young children.”

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27 June - 03 July 2020

PRODUCED IN P PAR AR RTNERSHIP TN NERSHIP WITH UK GOVERNMENT On 15 June non-essen ntial tial ret retail shops opened their doors for for the first time in 3 months. A All ll non non-essential retailers are able to reopen provided they ffo ollow the UK Government’s guidelines to make shops ‘Covid-19 secure’’. That means retail outlets have to carry out risk assessment in accordance with guidelines from the Health and Saffety ety Executive.

E Employers are also encouraged to consult staff and union representatives and inffor orm all employees about findings of the risk assessment. Th hose with more than 50 employees need to publish the assessmen ntt on their w website.

Shops also need to ffo ollow hygiene hygiene procedures to keep staff and customers saffe. e. Th his includes regular reminders, frequent hand dw washing, cleaning of surrfaces at self-checkouts, self-check trolleys, fitting rooms or staff handheld services, and how man nyy customers can en nter the premises at a time.

Retailers need to displaayy proper signage to maintain hygiene hygiene and help those with w disabilities to naavigate these measures. Fitting rooms haavve to be closed w wherev herever possible.

Not only are businesses tasked with with keeping customers saffe, e, shoppers are also being urged to ‘exercise restrain nt’ t’ by not trying on clothing or testing goods. o saffer For er workplaces guidance, please see: https://www.go ovv.uk k//guidance/w workingsaffelly-during-coronaavvirus-co ovvid-19

Rupanjana Dutta Surinder Josan, a DIY store and banquet hall owner, spoke to Asian V oice about Voi the steps he is taking to keep his customers saffe. e. While ffor or many it is all new, Surinder has already been taking these steps over the past few few months in his shop.

Surinder owns two family-run businesses in Smethwick, West Midlands.

A hardware store- All Seasons DIY Y,, started by his parents, and Seasons Palace, a banqueting venue for for weddings and parties.

The 55-year-old grew up helping in their family DIY shop, though he wanted a diff ffer erent career path, after a degree in electronics. He was studying ffor or a Master’ Master’s in IT, when his father developed a heart problem, and Surinder had to take charge, streamlining the way the DIY shop ran, and developing two thriving businesses. The whole family is involved in the business, including his wiffe, his children childr (when not studying), his mother, and his father until he died a few few years ago.

When Surinder first heard about coronavvirus in late December, he was afraid for for his banqueting venue. So, in late January or early February, he closed the 200-capacity venue, and convinced customers to move their bookings to 2021. While there was a loss of income, he thought that it was in the best interest of everyone’s saffety ety.

Surinder then faced issues with his shop. “As “As far as the shop goes, the biggest problem is that my mother is elderly - her DNA is part of the shop and asking her to step away away from it was a big no-no. The only way to get her awa w y from it was to close the shop. So, when they announced the pubs and schools were all closed, we bit the bullet and shut it too.”

Putting the time to good use, Surinder decided to

carry out a shop refit. But he put notices up saying y if anyone needed hardware items or urgent repair work, they could help. It started with a few few phone p calls, but soon there was a steady stream of people wanting to buy items.

“It also daw wned on us that hardware stores were allowed to remain open, so we thought: ‘If we’re going to do this, we will haave ve to do it properly,’” he said.

That decision led Surinder and family to put some saffety ety measures measur in place ffor or themsel themselves as well as their customers.

“We moved all the plants we usually have outside into the back garden to stop people crowding around

them. We put lin lines nes outside the sho op.

We allso barricaded the area by th he till, so customers ers come in one by b one, tell us what th hey want, then we go and nd get it. We reduced th he contactless paymen nts minimum from £5 to £1 to make it easier ffor or people to limit conttact.

We also started clean ning the money using wipes.” es.”

They cut down opening pening hours from 9am-7p pm to 10am-4:30pm.

Surinder and his family haave a few few other ch hanges planned ffor or the immediate mediate future, though he admits that he is less clear about the banqueting ven nue. If the government saaid we could open, I have v th hought about how I would do o it and keep people separate. Y You ou could do it with the tab tables, you could do it with ith the toilets, and the kitchen en and even the stage. But h how do you do it on a dancee fl floor?

Unless you draw circlees on it

Surinder Josan

and tell people to stay inside them.

“So, the only way I can think you could do it is if instead of haaving ving 200 people you just havve 6070 and use more of the outdoors as opposed to the indoors. These are some of the thoughts, but I haave ve got to do it, so we are saffee and whoever is with us, the caterers, the guests, are saffee too. The last thing I would want is for for ther there to be an outbreak.”

In the meantime, he plans to off ffer er the un unused space to a local school, free of charge, if they need more room in order to welcome

children back.

With so man many adjustments needed for the ‘new ‘ normal’ normal in shops and venues, Su urinder acknowledges that it can get confusing. fusing.

But he saays ys thatt there ther is a lot of infformati orm mation available, vailab both h from the UK Governmen nment and other organisations, to help businesses es put the right measur easures in place to keep k themselves, their staff ff and their customers saffe. e.

UK Go ovvernment has published Cov ovid-19 secure guidance to support businesses sinesses to reopen and for for work o kers erss to feel feel confident, saffee and empo po ow wered to return to work work.

If you run a business ess and wo ould lik kee to know which which h of the coronaavirus support scchemes you are eligible ffor or, you can use the business support finder der tool too at https://www..go ovv.uk k// businessusinesscoronaavirus-support-finder der.

It tak kes es just minu utes to complete and it will help elp you easilly find support for forr yyour business.

8 UK

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27 June - 3 July 2020

Research notes taking a Advani says article about gap year increase chances luxurious lifestyle during of scoring a first class coronavirus was a satire Official statistics indicate that taking a gap year boosts the chance of achieving a first-class degree. According to the numbers, on average, undergraduate students who deferred their university were more likely to achieve a first-class degree (18 per cent compared with 12 per cent) and more likely to have gone on to obtain a masters or postgraduate degree than those who went straight to university from school.

The numbers come at a time when the Universities fear that thousands of British teenagers will shun

higher education this autumn, costing hundreds of millions of pounds in lost fees, on top of the loss from foreign international students who are most likely to opt out owing to the coronavirus crisis.

According to a survey last month about a fifth of students said they would not enroll in the next academic year if classes were delivered online and other university activities curtailed. This could lead to 120,000 fewer students and a loss of £760 million in fees.

The sector is pushing the message that students should not defer and that

there will still be some faceto-face teaching alongside online lectures. It stresses that the alternatives will not be palatable as there is unlikely to be unfettered global travel and jobs will be scarce. Students who were due to reply to their offers faced uncertainty because of coronavirus. This was consistent across groups who graduated before, during and after the last economic recession in 2008.

However, it was not clarified whether this was causal or because higherachieving students were more likely to take a year out.

The Financial Times had faced considerable flak after publishing an article about how the 1% rich had to make tough choices in observing their luxurious lifestyle during coronavirus pandemic.

Now, journalist Shruti Advani has admitted that the article was slated to be an ironical piece. Speaking to The Times, she said, “It was meant to take the piss out of people like me.

Maybe I’m a shitty satirist.

What can I say?”

In her article she had revealed that she had trebled her order of fresh flowers from Freddie’s Flowers,

something that was “essential” and “the obvious place to start”. She had then moved her children’s nanny into one of the two spare rooms in her South Kensington home.

Born in India, Advani usually writes about private banking. In her latest article however, she wrote that she had been “blessed” with an inheritance and a financier husband working at Goldman Sachs and that she knew that her lifestyle must seem fantastical to most. She had also detailed how her pre-coronavirus wardrobe was split between Chanel tweed blazers for interviews and “athleisure for when I

toil in front of a computer”.

Neither, she wrote, seemed suitable for the brave new world of working from home. A personal shopper had advised her to wear “casual but groomed” clothes, but Advani instead opted for Olivia von Halle silk pyjamas — £400 a pair — “in colours guaranteed to make the dullest Zoom meeting come alive”. Following the article, Advani said that she had received more than 3,000 emails in response to her article, including one calling her “an entitled little bitch”. Many of the emails, she said, had contained racist and sexist slurs.

2 Sisters shuts down production after workers Government can pay twice affected by coronavirus outbreak if opposition to JenrickThe 2 Sisters Food Group has shut down production after it emerged that more than 50 workers had caught the infection.

The site in Llangefni, North Wales continued operating since 28 May when the outbreak was first uncovered by management and shut down almost a month later on 18th June only after the intervention by founder Ranjit Singh Boparan. A day later Public Health Wales said it had

identified 51 confirmed cases of coronavirus associated with the poultry processing plant in Anglesey, which will now remain closed for the next two weeks. 2 Sisters was operating its own ‘track and trace’ system since the Welsh government had endorsed the scheme in late May. After the positive case was discovered, 100 of the 560 people who work at the factory were told to self-isolate, with half of those going on to develop the illness.

According to The Grocer 2 Sisters management had taken a “no-risk approach” to the outbreak with staff told to self-isolate “even if they had just brushed past the infected person in a corridor”. It also noted that 2 Sisters had been operating a full “safe ways of working” system at the factory since the coronavirus crisis began in March in the UK. This included the use of Perspex screens, visors and social distancing in high-traffic areas of the factor.

A spokesman for the company said, “The health, safety and wellbeing of our colleagues is ultimately the thing that matters most at our business. We are a responsible company with people at its core. Without our people we are nothing.

Therefore, in light of the current Covid-19 cases at our Llangefni site, we have decided to take the necessary action to clearly demonstrate how seriously we take this issue by doing the right thing.”

Companies offer financial compensation to BAME community for slavery links On 17th June, one of the UK’s largest pub chains and an insurance firm pledged to pay financial compensation to the black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) community after an academic database highlighted their exploitation and roles in the slave trade.

Greene King and Lloyd’s of London have stated that they would make payments acknowledging for the first time the controversy over the UK's past involvement with slavery, which has resulted in the toppling of the statues and has impacted the corporate sector.

Greene King founded in the early 19th century by Benjamin Greene, was one of 47,000 people who had benefited from the then Government’s compensation to Britons after slavery was abolished in 1833. King received equivalent of £500,000 when he surrendered rights to three plantations in the West Indies. But King does not mention its past links to slavery on its company website. They were set out in a 1983 book about the Suffolk firm's history. Details of the compen-

sation are chronicled in a comprehensive database in possession of University College London (UCL). The same database also highlighted that Simon Fraser, Founder Subscriber member of Lloyd's of London, was paid nearly £400,000 to surrender an estate in Dominica. The Telegraph reported that Greene King would make a "substantial

investment to benefit the BAME community and support race diversity in the business."

Whereas, a spokesman of Lloyd’s said, "We are sorry for the role played by the Lloyd's market in the 18th and 19th century slave trade.

This was an appalling and shameful period of English history, as well as our own, and we condemn the inde-

fensible wrongdoing that occurred during this period.

"We will provide financial support to charities and organisations promoting opportunity and inclusion for black and minority ethnic groups."

Lloyd's also said it would now review its "organisational artefacts, to ensure that they are explicitly nonracist".

Pubs and restaurants to register customers to trace infection rate as they gear up to re-open Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced for the re-opening of pubs and restaurants from 4th July under a new one plus metre rule with visitors required to register themselves in an attempt to trace the coronavirus infection rate.

This will enable customers to sit together in venues where observing a two-metre social distancing norm is not feasible but so long as additional "mitigating" measures are in place.

These include more back-to-back seating, perspex screens, partitions between tables, disposable menus and more cleaning of commonly touched surface areas.

Waiters will be required to wipe down surfaces more often and collect glasses and plates more frequently, and people will be discouraged from returning their glass or ordering from the bar, with more table ser-

Boris Johnson

vice and mobile apps expected.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, “That is the sort of thing that we are looking at for how you make it safe to open things.

“There are all sorts of mitigations you can put in place to be physically closer than two metres, but not have the transmission of the virus or the risk of the transmission that you would otherwise have.”

backed scheme continues Reports indicate that Tower Hamlets Council and City Hall can face further costs mounting up to hundreds of thousands of pounds if the 1,500 home Westferry Printworks development is sent to a new public inquiry.

Last month the High Court had overturned communities secretary Robert Jenrick’s go-ahead for the proposal of tower blocks rising to 44 storeys on the north side of Millwall outer dock on the Isle of Dogs.

The decision had been arrived at after Jenrick conceded that there was “apparent bias” in his decision-making. The Planning Inspectorate has now confirmed that resolving the appeal will mean holding a new inquiry before a new inspector. This could result in significant costs for Tower Hamlets and City Hall, if their opposition to the scheme continues.

Speaking to On London, a spokesperson said,

“It’s standard procedure that if a case is to be redetermined following a successful High Court challenge, a different inspector is assigned to run a new inquiry.”

Figures highlight that they had spent over £530,000 on the original inquiry, which ran in August last year.

“Everybody now has to pay twice. Having spent over half a million pounds of public money we might have to pay it again in a second appeal for a process which we know is not transparent.

“In the meantime, the desperately needed new secondary school on the site is not getting built, as well as new homes, because of the delays caused by Tower Hamlets Council and now Robert Jenrick squashing his own decision,” said Isle of Dogs councillor Andrew Wood, who resigned from the Conservatives over the issue

Her Majesty sends personal message to businesses On 19th June, Her Majesty, The Queen sent her personal message of support for businesses to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) as non-essential shops re-opened. In her message, she expressed “great pride” in the contribution that BCC and its members are making to “champion trade and rebuild communities”.

Her message read, “As many organisations around the country are reopening, I send my warmest best wishes and support to business communities throughout the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and across the world.

“At a time of great difficulty for many, it is heartwarming to see the civic response and generosity of so many businesses, small and large, to the challenges posed, whether supporting the health sector or vulnerable communities.

“As patron of the British Chambers of Commerce, it gives me great pride to see the contribution you and your members are making to help firms, champion trade and rebuild communities. “I wish all businesses every success in their endeavours in the weeks and months ahead.”

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Call for justice and a judge-led inquiry into Horizon IT scandal Priyanka Mehta Hundreds of postmasters were accused by the Post Office over allegations of missing money despite substantial evidence indicating the failings of the Horizon computer and IT system. Postmasters, campaigners, legal experts and MPs are now calling for a judge-led inquiry into the “scandal”.

The postmasters were accused of theft as they were believed to be the sole authority with control of their Horizon account. As a result of missing money, hundreds were fired, terminated, or wrongfully convicted.

An extensive investigation by the BBC Panorama has shown that the Horizon system, had software defects that caused financial shortfalls in the subpostmasters’ branch accounts over several years. In 2017, 550 such postmasters had brought forward a civil court case against Horizon wherein the Post Office had agreed to fork out £57.75m to settle the case last year. During the trial, the Post Office admitted remote access to Horizon accounts was possible without the postmaster's knowledge. Now, legal experts believe that the number of claimants is likely to be higher.

Sandip Patel QC, Managing Partner at Aliant Law, London, and a Barrister, has been assisting BBC Panorama in reaching out to those victims who had been wrongfully

convicted in this “scandal”. Calling it as a “great miscarriage of justice”, Patel said, “The reality is that there are a large number of postmasters who were wrongfully convicted and are waiting for a court of appeal. I am confident that their convictions would be overturned. Initially, I thought that there were only 60100 victims. Today, official figures report that about 550 victims are challenging the court of appeal. But I think that there are many more.

“I was contacted by a victim very recently with regards to the “scandal”. He was unaware of the inquiry, mediation and settlement process in this “scandal”. I believe that there are many more such subpostmasters’ who are still ignorant of the process. And that is my real concern. They should receive justice and in due course be entitled to sufficient financial compensation.”

“The settlement was only for those who were party to it. But it must be noted that not all those who were victims of the “scandal”

Sandip Patel QC

were party to the proposed settlement. Some of them were convicted, some went to prison as we now know. One even took his life. It was a human tragedy on a large scale.”

On Wednesday 10th June, the Government announced the terms of reference of an independent review into the events. Speaking about the review Paul Scully said, “The Post Office has said that it will comply fully with this review. I will push fully for that compliance, and I am sure that the independent chair will want to get right to the bottom of things, however long that takes.

On the Government’s actions over the past few years, this issue happened over 20 years, and with

hindsight, facts have come to light in the litigation that some of the advice received was flawed.

However, we have pushed for many years to make sure that we can get a settlement, and I am glad that we are at the point at which we can start to get some answers.”

Now the victims are looking for a judge-led inquiry. More convictions can also be challenged as the Post Office is reported to be reviewing 900 prosecutions that may have relied on the Horizon system. Meanwhile, the chair of the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) select committee is urging the government to give its planned review of the “scandal” the power to summon individuals to give evidence under oath. In his letter to Paul Scully, BEIS select committee chair Darren Jones wrote, “Though the announcement was welcome, I am disappointed that it appears that the inquiry will not be judged or put on a statutory footing with subpoena powers to summon witnesses and compel them to give evidence under oath.

Please can you confirm that this is the case?

“I urge you to put this independent review on a statutory basis so

that it can summon Post Office and Horizon staff, past and present, who made key decisions related to this case.”

From the £57.75m awarded as financial compensation for the damages done legal costs and other overheads had to be deducted. As a result, postmasters were left with just £11m. But is financial compensation enough for these subpostmasters? Particularly for those wrongfully convicted and maybe looking for employment opportunities at a time when the jobs’ market is already choked due to the coronavirus pandemic?

Mr. Patel QC is alarmed that “the ramifications of this “scandal” will stay with them for the rest of their lives, unfortunately. Once a person has a criminal conviction, it stays with them. There is a Rehabilitation Offenders Act and depending on the time of sentence it determines how long the conviction stays on the record for employment purposes.”

He has added that “there are certain sectors where one has to disclose their criminal convictions irrespective of the Act. These include education and healthcare where people are required to answer about their criminal record.

Once a person admits that he had been convicted, even if it were a wrongful conviction and overturned, the prospect of being employed diminishes.”

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Temples at Ayodhya I noticed an item which appeared in Asian Voice 6-12 June about digging up some ancient remains of Temples at Ayodhya site. In the headline the term ‘idols’ is used. I have tried my best to stop the use of the term idols as it allows Muslims and Christians to call us ‘idolaters’.

An idol is something which is an end in itself. Our depiction of Gods in temples we do not worship the image itself, we worship what the image represents. That makes the image not an idol but the image of the God. It would be wonderful if we stopped calling the ‘murtis’ as idols and started calling them images of Gods.

It is a very degrading feeling for the Hindus to be known as idolaters. I have tried with two ministers of culture and the Indian travel agency but have had no success.

The term idol rankles with me because it is pejorative and untrue.

Baroness Shreela Flather

By Email

Hong Kong hullabaloo Since, the introduction and passing of the Fugitive Offenders amendment bill (commonly known as extradition bill) in June 2019 by the Hong Kong government, there have been peaceful as well as violent protests occurring on a regular basis in the Chinese territory.

Lately, there has been a respite due to Covid-19 lockdown. Last week China proposed a new security law which envisages setting up an office in the territory to gather intelligence and handle crimes against national security. The new security law will also override any local laws.

Donald Trump along with many major world leaders have condemned Chinese actions saying it will destroy the freedom in the territory. On this matter, even normally docile European Parliament voted to take China to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Isn’t this hullabaloo futile?

Where were they when Hong Kong’s goose was cooked between 21 September 1982 and 1st July 1997 when Prince Charles handed over the sovereignty of Hong Kong to Beijing? The treaty between Britain and China allows one country two system for only fifty years.

That means Chinese have all the freedom after 2047.

It seems they are just concerned about the interim period. The real solution is to force China to adopt democracy. The world leaders are powerless to do it.

Only the Chinese people can do it. But will they?

Narsibhai Patel New Malden

China has internal issues about Hong Kong, Taiwan, Covid-19 and their Economy. Escalating these border issues with India, the leadership in China are diverting Chinese people’s minds to an external issue.

This is their policy and by creating these border issues with India they are helping terrorists from Pakistan to enter India, while India is concentrating on Ladakh.

China believes that India may become an industrial power after Covid-19 as many countries want to move their manufacturing units from China to India, as a result of the pandemic.

Now it is in the hands of USA and Russia to keep China away from Indian borders. Another way of solving this problem is to give full support to people of Hong Kong and Taiwan and find different ways to educate the people of China about the atrocities being suffered by so many and help them protest and take action against the Chinese leadership. Boycotting buying Chinese goods will also hit them hard.

Vinod Dattani Wellingborough

Successful future I have known the publisher/editor of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, CB Patel for at least 40 years. I have written articles and letters for Asian Voice.

We have worked together over many years on various campaigns. The current Covid-19 situation has had a tremendous impact on people and businesses. Asian Voice is meeting the new challenges for his publications by introducing remote working and streamlining production costs.

Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar publications have served our communities for decades. In joy and sorrow, in victory and defeat, in articulating the vibrant spiritual and cultural heritage of the Patels, Lohanas, Vaniks, Vishwakarmas and many others of Indian origin.

Thanks to these publications, we are all like a family.

The letters section of Asian Voice is a unique medium for the readers to highlight issues of importance. We need more incisive letters which can get to the bottom of issues of importance.

Wishing our own newsweeklies (Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar) every success for a long time.

Nitin Mehta Croydon

Online shopping rip-off

It is indeed worthy cause Manchester United star footballer, Marcus Radford has taken up on behalf of school children, who will be denied free lunch vouchers during school holidays, writing to every MP. With 651 MPs in HOC, it is in itself a huge task. I wonder how many MPs will reply to his letter, more impotently support his campaign. Marcus is not alone. Other black players of past and present are also active on humanitarian front, namely Raheem Sterling and now retired Rio Ferdinand who lost his wife, his childhood sweetheart. They are role models for young and upcoming footballers.

Our PM is famous for U-turns. He gave up easily under pressure, restored food aid to the deprived school children. For many, this is the only main meal of substance for the day without which many would go hungry, thus hampering their physical as well as mental development!

We have one of the biggest gaps in living standards in Europe, between rich and poor, have and have not and it is widening all the time to the detriment of the BAME, OAP and similar deprived groups. OAPs heavily depend on income of their savings to supplement their meagre pension, one of the lowest in Europe.

The 0:1% bank rate is next to nothing. OAPs were relieved that negative interest rate much talked about did not materialize that would have been the last straw to break camel’s back. Even 1% negative interest rate would cost savers £10 on every £1000 in their savings. This would tantamount to robbing poor to benefit the rich, as borrowing would become practically free, a bonanza for the young, spendthrift generation. No wonder our savings record is so poor, as there is no incentive for saving.

It is time we create fair society, reduce imbalance in income and treat OAPs and other deprived people with respect.

I was indeed pleased and impressed to read MP Virendra Sharma’s concern about scams and frauds prevailing among us.

Unfortunately, simple and sophisticated cheating also prevails among best known brands we visit daily. There was a time when this country was role-model to rest of the world when it came to quality of goods, service and honesty.

Unfortunately, this is no longer true, although we do come across some good firms who still maintain high standards. But on the whole profit is main motive for most businesses, no matter how it is made. Honesty is cheap word; cheating has become the norm!

With lockdown, online shopping has become popular, making it difficult to get home delivery slots. Many food giants have devised special ready-made bags with fixed price of £30 to £50, available on demand with free delivery, no shortage of slots but more expensive! With garden Centres closed and people having more free time, online shopping for plants, pots became norm for many, a healthy pastime!

Some of these firms inundate you with “Buy One Get One Free” offers in their beautiful, eye catching catalogues. So often customers receive only one plant, making it expensive.

Their premium numbers cost fortune and when you get through after long wait, you are normally told to hold on, “Let me speak to my supervisor” or I will ring you back in 20 minutes. No need to say ring-back never happens!

Even emails are rarely answered.

Customers give up in the end out of frustration. Even for returns, we have to ring special premium numbers to get return address!

It is time government stop such sharp practices, ban premium limes for online shopping, insist on free phone many customer friendly businesses, supermarkets and Garden centres offer. It is high time to nip such sharp practices in the bud before it becomes a norm!

Bhupendra M Gandhi

By Email

Kumudini Valambia

By Email

Humane side of Premier League footballers

KHICHADI Kapil’s

Why is China creating tensions with India?

Follow me on Twitter: @kk_OEG

Slay the Chinese Dragon Kapil Dudakia Is it now time to slay the Chinese Dragon? The long and short answer is obviously yes. However, there are many ways in which India can facilitate a lesson that must be taught to the Chinese dictatorship. I separate the Chinese dictatorship from the Chinese people to the extent that the fundamental blame for the atrocities committed by China today are at the behest of the former rather than the latter.

China is not as united as you might think. It if formed of many distinct historical self-identifying regions that have been subjugated over a period of time through mass murder, genocide and cultural rape. The internal tensions within China are a lot more profound than what most might think today. China has made huge progress over the past three decades in terms of its industrial and technological strength.

It has become the supplier of almost everything to the world, and at a price that undercuts every other nation. It has built its thriving economy on the money it has earned from other nations. In fact, by so doing it has unwittingly created its greatest weakness.

China has fallen out with most decent democracies around the world. The USA has more than one axe to grind with them. The UK with the fiasco unfolding in Hong Kong.

Tibet and Taiwan want to be free of their dictator master.

The Islamic world has been shamed because Chine has 1.2 m Muslims in detention camps. Add to that the fact that for many China is now the incubator of lethal viruses that are either designed or emerge due to their negligence. The African nations who saw China as a saviour are now learning the cost of their short-termism. Japan and South Korea have an instinctive dislike for the Chinese. The list is much longer but suffice to say, there is now sufficient momentum to bring like-minded countries together to put a block to this tyrant nation. To slay the Chinese dragon, India, USA and UK need to lead a co-ordinated fight to starve China of its markets. We the people of these free nations also need to do our bit, next time you wish to buy something just have a think. Maybe there is an alternative, even a bit more expensive, but maybe by our choice we can affect change. If Governments and the people work together, we have the collective power to bring China to its knees.

The transgressions India sees from China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), or its stealth support to the terrorist state of Pakistan can be met with lethal force. And where there is direct interaction at the LAC, India should always be ready to deliver an overpowering response. However, whilst the option of an all-out war to an aggressor can never be off the table, I believe cutting this dragon down via economic warfare might be a better solution.

Let the USA, UK and India be the lead nations to take the necessary steps to cripple the markets that China depends on.

At the same time, why not recognise Tibet, Taiwan and Hongkong as independent nations? Yes, there will be pain on our side as well, but trust me, in comparison to what China will be feeling, it will be nothing. The process has started with some action from the USA and India. However, much more needs to be done and quickly.

It's time to free the enslaved in China, and free this world of a tyrant dictatorship.

Learn from the past Recent movement against racism has awakened the western world forcing the respective government to take necessary actions However, wiping out the part of history whether good or bad will not help the future generation to understand what their ancestors have gone through.

The movement to remove the statues of people who were connected to slavery may not be justified. The people whose statues are in Bristol, Oxford and West India Dock helped the areas with the income earned from slave trade which was considered as a legal trade at the time. The East India Company and The Royal African Company were involved in the slave trade and colonial brutality who took main part in building up the United Kingdom during and after the world wars. The people taken to Guyana, Jamaica, Mauritius and other countries as slaves and contract labourers built their countries and have moved on living on their legacy. In short, we have to learn from our past deeds and mistakes and work for the betterment of humankind.

Narendra Patel Mitcham

We are grateful to all letter writers for more and more versatile letters well within word limit.

Please keep contributing as always.

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

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BAME TV Task Force writes to Black Lives Matter protest for government as Director alleges the resignation of Munira Mirza British film industry of racism On 21st June, 5000 members of the U.K.’s film and TV industry have signed an open letter urging them to make various “strategic commitments” to reshape the landscape and improve representation. Signed by producer Nisha Parti, actor and writer Meera , “Patrick Melrose” actor Indira Varma, playwright Tanika Gupta, actordirector Pooja Ghai and presenter Anita Rani, this letter comes after 700 members of the BAME Task Force had written to the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, besides other major television networks blaming them for not tackling the “culture problem” within the media.

The recently established ‘BAME TV Task Force’ dispatched the letter speaking up about the “cultural problems within the UK television industry” as leading Director Steve McQueen claimed that the UK is “far behind” America in representing its black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) population.“For many years we have stayed silent, due to fear of being blacklisted. But in the current climate we feel emboldened to say something and this time we want to be heard,” the letter noted.

The Taskforce slammed the film industry of racism and listed a set of proposals to tackle discrimination.

Besides the culture secretary the letter was also addressed to media watchdog Ofcom and broadcasters such as BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, STV, Sky and UKTV, and platforms such as Netflix, Amazon and YouTube.

“After initially creating a safe space where 200-plus

On 21st June, protestors of the Black Lives Matter movement marched from Hyde Park to the Trafalgar Square in London as they protested the recent appointment of Munira Mirza as head of the government’s racial inequality board.

Anita Rani

BAME employees, were able to share their stories without fear of repercussions, we soon realised that we all shared toxic experiences where our race had been held against us or held us back.

“For years, we’ve heard the buzzword ‘diversity’ – entry level schemes are put in place, targets are set, reports are published – yet little changes. Why?” said the task force, led by mid-level representatives of the BAME workforce in departments such as development, commissioning, casting and journalism.

Discrimination, the task force said, also hampered growth of BAME professionals, noting that “only 9 per cent of people in senior positions being BAME, indicating a lack of progression”. The task force’s proposals included: • An increase in the number of BAME commissioners to 25 per cent across all genres • A clear place where channels and production companies post their jobs that can be accessed externally • Increasing the number of BAME talent managers to 20 per cent by the end of 2021 • Setting up an independent body for workplace grievances to encourage

Nisha Parti

employees to report their experiences without fear of repercussions • Making monitoring mandatory for development and production, broken down into non-editorial and editorial roles • A new and improved yearly report on the percentages of BAME talent working in various roles • Mentoring scheme for mid-level workers with networking events, leadership training, an industry mentor, and events for the alumni of the scheme over the following years • The task force said these proposals were “a good starting point for discussion and that they will be a catalyst for real change”.

• In the meantime, McQueen, the first black director to win an Oscar for best film, is calling for the immediate fast-tracking of BAME trainees within both film and television as he criticised the dominance of white workers on the sets.

Whereas, booker prize winner Bernardine Evaristo and Reni Eddo-Lodge have become the first black British women to top the UK’s fiction and nonfiction paperback charts at a time when black and authors of colour have labelled the British publishing for its “hostile environment”.

Post-Study Work visa Of Indian Students safe despite pandemic The UK government has confirmed that despite the state of lockdown international students, including Indians, will remain eligible for post-study work rights at the end of their degree course even if they have to begin the 2020-21 academic courses online.

The two-year post study work visa re-introduced by Home Secretary Priti Patel allows overseas students to be able to work or look for work for two years after completing their course.

This will apply to the 202021 intake as long as they are physically present in the UK

by April 2021 to complete the final semester.

"Students will normally be expected to undertake their studies in the UK to be eligible for the Graduate route. However, if students are required to either con-

tinue their current studies or commence a new course by distance or blended learning due to COVID-19, they will still be eligible to switch into the Graduate route on a concessionary basis if they spent some time studying outside the UK," notes the Home Office guidance issued this week.

A number of UK universities have indicated plans for a blended teaching approach, incorporating online as well as some physical lessons in the aftermath of the social distancing norms still in place.

Universities had registered an impressive 136 per cent jump in Indian student visa numbers in the year ending March 2020.

"Indian students can now have confidence that even if they are unable to travel to the UK in the

autumn to start their studies due to COVID-19, they will still be eligible to apply for the graduate immigration route if they are in the UK

by April 2021," said Vivienne Stern, Director of the Universities UK International (UUKi).

The paper had highlighted that international students bring over 6.9 billion pounds income to UK universities in tuition fees and contribute over 26 billion pounds to the wider UK economy. As an export sector of growing importance to the UK, higher education must be bolstered with measures such as concessions to ensure that online study amid the lockdown does not disqualify students from the Graduate Visa route, which is set for its launch for the 2020-21 cohort of university intakes.

Mirza, Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit, has received considerable flak for describing structural racism as “more of a perception than a reality”.

Barriers erected down Whitehall to separate antiracism demonstrators from far-right counter protesters last weekend were still in place. Therefore, protestors were forced to walk down the river bank to reach the square. Speeches were given by different groups from the base of Nelson’s Column.

In her speech, organiser Imarn Ayton called for the removal of Ms Mirza in setting up the PM’s commission on racial disparity. She said, “We are all here today because we know that black lives matter, we are all here today because we know that black is beautiful.

“And we are all here today because we know that it is time to burn down institutional racism. Boris

Munira Mirza

Johnson has heard our cry and has responded with a new race inequality commission. “We appreciate it but we know that a grave mistake has been made…He has appointed Munira Mirza. This is a woman who does not believe in institu-

tional racism – she has argued it is more of a perception than a reality.”

While the protest passed peacefully, tensions flared about 15 minutes before the rally in Trafalgar Square was due to end after a man was stopped for allegedly racially abusing a black police officer.

A tight knot of people gathered around the police and the detained man, making it impossible for the police to leave the square with the suspect.

A police officer said the individual had been arrested in connection with the alleged racial abuse, and for possession of stolen property relating to a bike.

When Ugandan Asian lives didn’t matter In 1972, Asian lives were discriminated in the same way that Black Asians have faced discrimination in the UK. The government had tried to find them an alternative home in the Falklands or the Solomon Islands. Women arriving from India and Pakistan to legally join their husbands were subjected to virginity tests at British airports until 1979.

Perhaps, it is time that besides Black lives, the UK also recognised the contribution of Ugandan Asians.

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SCRUTATOR’S BrahMos missile gets combat clearance Amid the ongoing border standoff with China, BrahMos airlaunched cruise missile (ALCM) received the first ever fleet release clearance (FRC) issued by the certifying agency. The supersonic and advanced ALCM with its proven capabilities for the Indian Air Force (IAF) thereby becomes the first indigenous weapon to get the critical FRC. According to reports, the FRC was granted to BrahMos missile on June 10 during a high-profile meeting of various stakeholders held through video conferencing.

The meeting was attended by members from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), BrahMos Aerospace, Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), Software Development Institute (SDI), IAF HQ and the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC). The BrahMos is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land. It is the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world. It is a joint venture between the Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), who together have formed BrahMos Aerospace. It is based on the Russian P-800 Oniks cruise missile and other similar seaskimming Russian cruise missile technology. The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. It is the world's fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation. The missile travels at speeds of Mach 4, which is being upgraded to Mach 5.0. The landlaunched and ship-launched versions are already in service, with the air and submarine-launched versions currently in the testing phase. (Agency) Gujarat minister pays fine for not wearing mask For the firs time, a Gujarat

minister payed a fine of Rs 200 for not wearing a mask. Ishwarsinh Thakorbhai Patel, minister of state, co-operation, sports, youth and cultural activities (independent charge), who also holds the MoS portfolio for transport, arrived for the weekly cabinet meeting in Gandhinagar without wearing a mask. All his cabinet colleagues and other officials attended the cabinet meeting with masks.

After being caught on camera entering Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's office without wearing the mask, the minister swiftly moved to pay a fine of Rs 200 to the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation office. The minister said, 'I got down from the car but forgot to put on the mask in my rush, though I had it in my side pocket. When media persons laughed while talking to me, I realised that something was amiss. After I got in, I realised that I had forgotten the mask. Rules made for the common man also apply to a minister. I had violated the rule and I immediately decided to pay the fine of Rs 200', he said. Besides, the minister said that he did not want to get into a controversy over not wearing a mask. 'I have photographs of me wearing a mask while ploughing

my fields with a tractor during the lockdown. I was alone with no one besides me and yet had a mask on.

This was a genuine mistake on my

part and I went to the GMC and paid the fine.' (The Times of India) SC reverses order, allows Puri rath yatra with restrictions Following requests by the Centre and the Odisha government, the Supreme Court of India had reversed its earlier

order to ban Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri and allowed it to continue with without much public participation. The Rath Yatra, which is usually attended by million of devotees, is scheduled for 23 June. The top court has asked the state, Centre and temple committee to coordinate, and ensure that the health of people involved not be compromised. It has also maintained that the Rath Yatra should not be not allowed anywhere else in Odisha. The top court further said that it doesn't want to do any micromanagement

of Rath Yatra but the state should use its best wisdom. In its earlier order on 18 June, the court had said, "Lord Jagannath will forgive us if we stay the Rath Yatra this year... In the interest of public health and safety of citizens, Rath Yatra can't be allowed this year."

According to the report, the applications seeking a modification of the 18 June order were initially mentioned before the Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra earlier but the matter was placed before a Bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and AS Bopanna. (Agency) Man survives second lion attack in three years A maldhari (a member of the pastoral community) survived for the second time in three years when a lion attacked him in Mitiyala wildlife sanctuary near Ambaradi village of Savarkundala taluka in Amreli district of Gujarat last week. Forest officials said the victim, identified as Bhavesh Bharwad (33) was attacked by the lion while he was grazing cattle.

Bharwad has been admitted to Savarkundala Civil Hospital where his condition is said to be out of danger.

Incidentally in 2017, Bharwad was attacked by a lioness while grazing cattle near Mitiyala wildlife sanctuary.

That time, his sheep dogs had rushed to his rescue and had driven the big cat away,” said an official from Mitiyala forest range. (Agency) Rajasthan’s open prison At Rajasthan’s Sanganer open prison, the inmates (most of them murder convicts) are allowed to work, live and commute within city limits for 12 hours a day, leaving campus at 6 am after the roll call and returning by 6 pm for the evening attendance. NGO Prison Aid and Action Research (PAAR) that works on prison reforms started the social media initiative in April this year. PAAR founder Smita Chakraburtti says there is a need to break taboos

around criminals and spread awareness about the open prison system.

“You can cage a man and break him, but you can’t reform him. The basis of an open prison is reformative justice, which is the way ahead,” she says. The prison is run by a ‘bandi panchayat’ or council of prisoners and has a school, temple and an anganwadi. Some prisoners’ children go to private English-medium schools outside while those from outside come to the Sanganer school. The result is that ‘andar ke bacche’ (children of inmates) and ‘baahar ke bacche’ (children from the neighbourhood) study together, play together and visit each other’s homes. (Agency) Mobile lab for Covid testing launched With the aim of ensuring

Covid-19 testing in remote areas, the government launched India’s first mobile testing laboratory.

The laboratory can be deployed at remote and inaccessible areas in the country, where there is no such facility, even as the government is making efforts to increase testing of Covid-19. The mobile lab has the capacity to perform 50 RTPCR tests per day, 3,200 ELISA tests per day and additional tests for TB, HIV as per CGHS rates, India's health minister Harsh Vardhan said while launching the lab. He added that machines can help increase capacity to about 500 per day in

eight hour shifts. (The Times of India) Martyr’s village gets road link in 48 hours Neglected for 73 years since Independence, it took just 48 hours for Kosaphalia village in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district to get a pucca road and two lamp posts. This is in honour of sepoy Ganesh Hansda, a native of this village who was martyred with 19 other soldiers in a violent standoff with Chinese soldiers in Ladakh’s Galwan valley on Monday night. On Wednesday, a 500-metre road was constructed to connect Hansda’s home to the Branch Road that leads to National Highway-33.

(Agency) 15 youths battle for 80 hours to save croc from well A group of 15 youths from Vadodara worked tirelessly for 80 hours to save a three-and-half-feet long crocodile from a 70 feet well.

On the World Crocodile Day, the team said: “We were ready to continue our rescue effort even if took some more days.” For, the group of 15 youngsters, including

some mountaineers, it has been like waging a war against time for 80 long hours till they rescued the crocodile that fell into the well in a village of Waghodia taluka. The youths take turns to climb up and down the well in their attempts to get hold of the reptile, but it seems to be contented living in the confined space feasting on toads inside. “The rescue operations, has proved to a most daunting expedition,” said Hemant Vadhwana, animal activist who is leading the group. The reptile ventured out of a canal about two km away, he added. On the first day, the group dropped an automatic cage inside the well hoping that the reptile would crawl into it. But their attempt failed. Then Hemant decided to climb down the well with the help of a rope. “We first emptied some water from the well so that I could go down and catch the crocodile.

But it kept slipping away as the surface is full of garbage and even has thorny plants,” he said. “It can survive inside the well but it would forever be at the risk of being suffocated owing to the garbage dumped in the well by the villagers,” said Ketan Raval, another team member.

(The Times of India)

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Shree Ram Mandir Birmingham offers door-todoor delivery of hot meals for the vulnerable Celebrating International The Shree Ram Mandir Birmingham have been offering door-to-door delivery of hot meals to those vulnerable as the coronavirus pandemic continues in the UK. Birmingham was believed to be one of the other major hot spots in the UK besides London and the BAME community has already been more susceptible to the virus as indicated by the recent Public Health England report.

Under such circumstances, the mandir which is believed to be the only such organization in Birmingham has been preparing freshly cooked meals and delivering tiffins since the last two months.

Bearing in mind religious practices of those within the community, the mandir has been providing vegetarian meals without any onions or garlic in them.

According to the Mandir spokesperson, “The elderly relied on the various day centres and mandir, for their meals who were forced to close their

doors on 23rd March as the government announced a complete lockdown across the country. As a result, the elderly were in isolation, and struggling especially, those who were left on their own.”

Hiteshbhai Kukadia (President) and Jayshreeben Pankhania (Secretary) decided that help must be

extended. And thus, a small team was set up with a dozen volunteers coming forward to extend help.

Over the past two months they have delivered over 1000 tiffin boxed and delivered with the help of six delivery teams covering the areas of Birmingham and Solihull. The feedback from the service users is fantastic and they are truly grateful to SRM Birmingham for the support we have provided them. We serve all communities and don’t discriminate among the religions as we believe that the UK is the most diverse and multi-cultural country open to all.

Commonwealth Jewish Council announces multi-faith webinar On Monday 16th June, the Commonwealth Jewish Council (CJC) announced a multi-faith panel for a special “Faith in the Commonwealth” webinar. It is hosted in parallel to the Commonwealth Summit in Rwanda which was slated to be held around the same time but has now been postponed in the aftermath of coronavirus.

Senior faith leaders from around the Commonwealth are expected to lead the discussion on the role religions

play in strengthening society around the Commonwealth.

Some of the panellists include Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (UK), Rt Revd & Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE, Bishop of London (UK), Mgr. Antoine Kambanda, Archbishop of Kigali (Rwanda), Dr Chinmay Pandya, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya University (India) Professor Ebrahim Moosa, Mirza Family Professor of Islamic Thought & Muslim Societies,

University of Notre Dame (South Africa/ USA) and Chair, Dr Joanna Newman MBE FRSA, Chief Executive and Secretary General, The Association of C o m m o n w e a l t h Universities, and advisor to the Commonwealth Jewish Council.

Speaking about the webinar, Clive Lawton OBE, CEO of the CJC said: “We have planned an opportunity for all those who care about the Commonwealth - diplomats,

Anand Bhatt appointed as the new head of Dance City Anand Bhatt, has been appointed as the new Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Dance City, the North East’s leading development organisation for dance. Bhatt is slated to take up the position on July 1st 2020.

He was most recently the Executive Producer at Aakash Odedra Company in Leicester, which he jointly founded in 2011 with Aakash Odedra. He will lead Dance City, as it emerges from the challenges of coronavirus, into the next stage of its development, aiming to build a sustainable business model that successfully serves all the leading dance organisation’s audiences, communities and stakeholders.

Commenting on his appointment, Bhatt said, “I know that over the coming months Dance City will have to scrutinise all areas of our business, make savings and efficiencies, change the way we operate and think carefully about how we deliver our mission, vision and charitable purpose.

“The challenges we face

with this pandemic are unprecedented but I’m looking forward to working with the talented team at Dance City so that we can continue to make a difference to the lives of people in the North East and contribute to the regional economy.”

With venues in both Newcastle and Sunderland Dance City also works in communities throughout the region, ensuring that people in the North East have the same or even better cultural opportunities as the rest of the country.

During the pandemic, 75 staff have been furloughed after the buildings had to close on March 17th 2020. However online dance training has been

available to support current students, virtual auditions have taken place to assist next year’s intake of students, and other online activities and classes will be offered over the summer as Dance City adapts to the current social distancing rules.

Dance City is part of Newcastle Gateshead Cultural Venues (NGCV), a consortium of non-profit distributing cultural organisations, operating visual arts, performing arts, music, dance, film, writing and literature, heritage, archives and museums and science communication venues in Tyne and Wear.

Dance City is the North East’s leading development organisation for dance and the biggest dance employer in the north of England.

Established for over 30 years Dance City exists to lead and support a thriving dance ecology in the region.

politicians and the whole range of those involved in civil society - to consider the role that religious communities play in contemporary life throughout the 54 nations of the Commonwealth.

“We have drawn together a panel of religious leaders and thinkers from across a range of traditions to start our discussion, and anticipate a rich opportunity for people to share thoughts, explore ideas and focus, if only briefly, on the part that religious communities play in the lives of the Commonwealth's 2.4 billion citizens. Besides giving these issues a rare but important outing, we also hope to model the good that can be done by ever-increasing dialogue between our diverse communities and with the wider society in which we all find ourselves.”

To register for the webinar, please go to https://form.jotform.com/20 1592908035354 Founded in 1982, the CJC is an umbrella organisation that connects over 35 Jewish communities around the Commonwealth with the wider Jewish world and its resources.

Yoga Day Rohit Vadhwana June 21 is celebrated as the International Day of Yoga (IDY) since it was so adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2014. First IDY was celebrated in June 2015 and this year it was the sixth IDY. Celebrated all over the world, with a message from Prime Minister of India Mr Modi, appealing to practice Yoga at Home attracted millions of people to perform Yoga and upload Videos, Photos and Write-Ups on social media.

June 21 is also an astronomical event, Summer Solstice, which marks maximum tilt of earth's poles towards the Sun. It happens twice in the year, one of them is in summer. Marking midsummer and end of spring, it also happens to be the longest day of the year.

Incidentally, an annual solar eclipse, moon passing between the sun and the earth, occurred on the same day. The sun appeared blindingly bright ring shape, surrounding the moon.

But most interestingly, the 21st of June happened to the International Day of Slowness.

While Coronavirus has devastated the world economy and human lives, it is important that we pay attention to what nature demands from us. It will not be sustainable to keep moving at the pace we were used to until 2019. The year 2020 wants us to think twice and zero down to a lifestyle which is in alignment with nature. Moving slowly, like a tortoise, has pragmatic symbolism. The campaign of slowness started in Italy, as a movement against the fast-paced lifestyle.

I mentioned all the four incidences of 21st June, i.e.

Yoga Day, Solistice, Eclipe and Slowness, because of their particular importance as a rare combination.

While Yoga suggests the body and mind's rhythm, the solstice is a symbol of longevity. Eclipse is a warning that anything, including the Sun, can be blocked, overshadowed by the moon, and therefore, slowness is a blessing. It is better to live a slow, nature-friendly life to make it longer and healthy.

Here are a few tactics to slowdown, intentionally, to adjust our lifestyle to nature: 1. Personal time: Give yourself some personal time.

It is not necessarily an act of seclusion. You may be with family or friends but on your wish, to make yourself happy, rather than fulfilling some obligation, social or official.

2. Disconnect: To slow down, disconnect for some time from all gadgets and connections. A small bubble of time without internet and telephone access can help in slowing down. In fact, nothing stops if you take a small break.

3. Align your mind and body: Yoga simply means connecting mind and body, through rhythmic breathing, exercise and controlled thoughts. When monkey mind settles, slowness becomes blissful.

4. Plan for long stint: Just like solstice, aspire and plan for a long stint, whatever field you are active in.

No good thing comes easily and quickly. Therefore, a long stint, with full dedication and diligence, to achieve your desired goal is important.

Till the next 21 June, let's practice Yoga and Slowness.

(Expressed opinions are personal)

Bradford Literature Festival goes digital On Friday 26th June, the first digital edition of Bradford Literature Festival (BLF) will be launched featuring daily events for ten days, until Sunday 5th July. It will include talks and in-conversation events with guests such as actor Christopher Eccleston, writers Ian Rankin, Lemn Sissay, Tahmima Anam and Tim Winter, and American Politician Ilhan Omar, alongside interactive workshops with poet Rose Condo and academic Dr. Omid Safi, amongst others.

The 2020 Digital Programme will see the Royal Society of Literature will bring together writers Tahmima Anam and Ian Rankin in On The Same Page. And Writing in Exile: On the Rivers of Babylon, a discussion in partnership with the British

Library, and supported by Jewish Renaissance magazine, will offer a virtual tour of artefacts from the British Museum.

Festival Director, Syima Aslam, said: “I am delighted that we have been able to translate the unique spirit of Bradford Literature Festival onto a digital platform.

The change in form and scale has not changed who we are – you will still find voices and topics that are as remarkable and diverse as Bradford itself, and as always, we’re keen to ensure that our events are as easy to access as possible. Our schools programme is always a central part of the festival, and this year we are particularly proud of the online programme of events and the supporting resources that we have created, which we hope will be helpful to both parents and teachers.”

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27 June - 3 July 2020

Coronavirus boosts health tourism as Britons continue to opt for indoor gyms On Tuesday 23rd June, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the reopening of pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, hotels and campsites but gyms, indoors leisure facilities and swimming pools were still not given the permission to re-open amidst concerns of spread of coronavirus infection. Whilst businesses have reported about incremental losses, gyms and fitness studios have been successful in setting up unique “work-out” areas at home as employees report of increased workloads whilst managing work from home stress and homeschooling children.

Anantharaman Pattabiraman, formerly a banker at the Goldman Sachs is the CEO and Founder of Auro, an online personal training app. He launched the company in 2017 and has been competing with other online on-demand workout sessions and videos offered by counterparts such as Peleton.

“What sets Auro apart from the rest is that it offers personalised workouts with a personal trainer in your ear. The workouts are created using content from experienced world class instructors, who have curated a bank of playlists using data science and that are available in multiple languages across the world,” said Pattabiraman in a statement to Asian Voice.

The App currently includes

Anantharaman Pattabiraman

race training plans for everything from running the first mile to training for a half marathon and from July, Auro is launching additional GPS tracking so runners can track all their metrics (Pace, distance, routes, calories, time splits et al) on the app Live and even after the completion of a run. The fitness classes available on the App also including walking, treadmill, X-trainer, strength training, rowing, yoga and are curated with playlists. Additionally, users can also overlay their music from Spotify and can integrate with Apple Watch, Garmin and Myzone.

It offers a basic £8 per month subscription model, and is completely audio based.

Gyms were formally closed on March 20, and there had already been a steep fall in usage over the

preceding week as the spread of coronavirus gathered pace. There was a 400 per cent rise in the purchase of home gym equipment in early April, with exercise bikes and elliptical trainers proving most popular. Gyms have been lobbying the government for their re-openings. With a projected £2 billion ‘social cost’ in maintaining restrictions on gyms until October, the sector had already published detailed proposals that, with Government approval, would have allowed it to reopen. However, now they have been left out of the loop. Commenting on the omission of indoor gyms in the 4 July reopening plans, Anthony Franklin, founder and managing director of Fibido, said, “It is disappointing that the British public will have to wait even longer for gyms to reopen.

Kingsbury shop catches fire, children and adults rescued On 22nd June, six fire engines and 40 crew were called to a fire in a business property in Kingsbury Road at 2.45am. Reports suggest that London Fire Brigade’s 999 control officers had received 99 calls to the blaze which is now under investigation by the brigade and the Met Police.

Half of the ground floor of the building was damaged by the fire and an adjacent outside seating area was destroyed.

Dilip Hirani owns the neighbouring property said, “The six people in the hospital are my son and his family.

They are fine, only the smoke came into the building. I have nothing to lose, but I now worry for my nextdoor elderly neighbors.

“I have lost all my 40 years of hard work, all my printing machines are damaged. This year my insurance company visited the site and seen tyre shop next to my rear sidewall and shisha bar lounge on my right side next to my wall, so they refuse to renew my building insurance because of fire hazard. Now my family is on the street, tonight my family 2 adults and 2 children 11 years son and 4 years old daughter sleep on the floor at my sitting room, your department spends over £150,000 to

damage my property in 2018, I have spent 1000's pounds on my legal fees, the case still going on and on.”

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus rescued two men, a woman and three children via an internal staircase of a neighbouring property. They were all treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to hospital but two

vehicles were also damaged by the blaze. The fire, attended by crews from Wembley, Finchley, Hendon, Stanmore and Mill Hill, was under control by 4.20am.

Study notes BAME youth at greater risk of mental health A recent study has noted that children of black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) heritage are suffering much worse damage to their mental health as a result of the coronavirus pandemic than their white peers.

The higher risk of BAME people dying from Covid-19 and inability to attend school over the last three months are behind large rises in anxiety and self-harm among non-white under-18s, experts say.Data from one of the biggest providers of NHS-funded online mental health support shows that the mental wellbeing of children and young people of BAME origin has been affected disproportionately over the last three months compared with their white counterparts. Kooth digital support service reported an 11% increase in the BAME under-18s seeking help for anxiety or stress during March, April and May.The number of BAME under-18s contacting Kooth with suicidal thoughts went up by 26.6% over the same three months but by 18.1% among their white peers. It was the same with incidents of self-harm, where the BAME and white groups studied had respective increases of 29.5% and 24.9%.

About one in five of the 7,482 BAME young people in the study mentioned that they either had had suicidal thoughts or had self-harmed.

Exercise is an essential part of life and one of the few things that we were permitted to leave the house for under the strictest lockdown measures. The fact that there is no sign of a date of review or reconsideration from the government will add further strain to the industry, fitness professionals and leisure centres.

“While many Brits will again take to the pavements and outdoors to get their exercise fix, we urge gyms and trainers to engage their clients in the community and take advantage of the forecasted weather to organise outdoor training sessions. The visibility of outdoor sessions will be a catalyst and help drive appreciation for the health benefits of fitness, and the positive impact fitness professionals, clubs and operators have on our lives, especially once the warmth or summer is replaced with cold dark nights, and we will all be craving an activity fix.”

In the meantime, Johnson has also announced that "most leisure and tourist attractions will reopen

if they can do safely.” As a result, hotels, holiday apartments, caravan parks and campsites will now be allowed to operate, as long as shared facilities are kept clean.

This is a huge relief for the UK hospitality industry, and for many campsite and holiday park owners, who feared that strict rules surrounding the use of shared facilities such as toilets and shower blocks would force them to remain closed for the foreseeable future.

UK tour operators still eagerly await the detailed guidance they'll need to prepare for the resumption of business.

The country is also likely to scrap the 14-day quarantine policy is up for review on June 29. An announcement is expected to be made regarding "air bridges" that would enable European holidays, with frontrunners including Spain, Greece and Portugal. Tui, the UK's largest tour operator, will offer a small number of trips to Spain and Greece from July 11.

Paul Joseph, Founder of Health and Fitness Travel said: “Our clients are actively seeking ways to enhance their health and fitness on the go. We have seen an increase in new bookings for travel at the end of 2020 and throughout 2021.

During lockdown, the importance of diet, fitness and healthy practices has become clear and this reflects the values of today’s health-conscious consumers.”

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27 June - 3 July 2020

27 June - 3 July 2020

Report notes no fresh count of illegal immigrants since 2005 A latest report released by the National Audit Office (NAO) has highlighted that the UK Home Office has not made a proper assessment of the number of illegal immigrants since 2005. Fifteen years ago, Home Office had estimated that there were about 430,000 people with no right to remain. Yet, latest research by other independent organisations suggest that the tally may be over one million.

attempts were being made or if there was better detection. The NAO has also recommended the Home Office to look at how other government departments threw up with estimates of “hidden activity”, such as organised crime, to “improve its understanding of the full scale of the illegal population in the UK and identify new ways to address some of the challenges it faces”.

Commenting on the complex immigration enforcement systems, NAO chief Gareth Davies said, “While the Home Office has introduced significant changes to its enforcement activity, it cannot demonstrate that overall performance is improving. “The department needs a better understanding of the impact of its immigration enforcement activity on its overarching vision to reduce the size of the illegal population and the harm it causes.”

in brief OVER TWO DOZEN CHILD SEX ABUSE SUSPECTS ARRESTED AND SLATED TO STAND TRIAL IN BIRMINGHAM

Patel to unveil two-year sentences for 'thugs' assaulting key workers

On 16th June, reports suggest that 26 suspects accused of child sex offences have been formally charged following an investigation by police. According to IAMBHAM, these suspected offenders were dating from 2008 to 2016 and were from places including Bilston, West Bromwich, Walsall, Redcar and Wolverhampton.

The investigation conducted by officers from the Public Protection Team, noted the “physical and emotional” pain that the victims suffered from these offenders.

A police spokesperson confirmed that the 14 men and 12 women, aged between 20 and 69, will appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on 22 and 23 June to face charges of historic sexual abuse against minors.Chief Inspector Jo Floyd said: “This is a complex investigation involving several young people who have suffered physical and emotional abuse.

“They were safeguarded as allegations were reported and we are continuing to work with a number of other agencies to ensure they receive the support they need as this case progresses.“We understand that this investigation will cause concern in the local community and I would like to reassure anyone affected by it that we take all reports of abuse seriously, no matter how long ago it happened.

On 19th June, Home Secretary pledged to unveil plans to double the jail sentences for offenders who assault emergency workers to “make these thugs think twice.”

14-YEAR-OLD CHARGED WITH PLOTTING A TERROR ATTACK

Released on Wednesday 17th June, the NAO report notes, “The Home Office does not have an up-to-date estimate of how many people have no right to remain in the UK. Although there would be significant uncertainty around any estimate it [the department] developed, such an estimate could help the department to demonstrate that its activities are effec-

Priti Patel has pledged to double the sentence year to twoyears especially as police figures showed assaults on emergency service workers have risen by 24 per cent in the last four weeks to the beginning of June. These offences include spitting and coughing attacks on staff. In a statement to The Daily Telegraph, she said, “The senseless violence we have seen levelled at brave police officers in recent weeks is incredibly alarming. An attack on one of our brave officers is an attack on us all. Last week, I

17

tive in deterring attempts to enter or remain in the UK illegally.”

The report also highlighted that the Home Office had placed the demand for its immigration enforcement services between 240,000 and 320,000 cases a year.

But it does not include people who had no governmental contact

Priti Patel

spoke to officers who had been attacked in the line of duty to hear at first hand the devastating impact on them and their loved ones.

“The Justice Secretary and I are determined to get justice for emergency service workers who are assaulted while on the job, so in the next few weeks we will

Activist suspended for asking MP “to go back to Pakistan” A political communications and social media consultant is being investigated after tweeting that a Muslim MP born in Bradford should “go back to Theodora Dickinson and Naz Shah Pakistan”.

Theodora Dickinson was suspended by the Conservative Party after targeting Labour shadow minister Naz Shah. Dickinson responded to a post showing the Bradford West MP discussing her experience of poverty, saying that if “Naz Shah hates this country so much why doesn’t she go back to Pakistan?!” The Muslim Council of Britain, which has confronted the Conservative Party for its mishandling of Islamophobia, described the tweet as “blatant racism”. Commenting on the tweet, Naz Shah said, “Over the last few weeks BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) communities have been coming to terms with the racism they have faced over the years. In 2020 to be told to go back to Pakistan highlights the level of racism that still exists in some quarters of society.”Dickinson has issued a public apology following the backlash. She said, “I fully recognise how offensive it was, which is why I deleted the tweet almost immediately, though of course this does not excuse posting it in the first place. I have written to Ms Shah offering an unreserved apology.”

over the past two years and, hence, failed to understand if the department’s enforcement measures were effective.In the past year to October 2019, detected attempts by people to come into the UK increased to 46,900.

However, the NAO notes it is unclear if this was because more

launch a consultation on doubling the maximum sentence for assaulting an emergency worker to make these thugs think twice.”

According to the National Police Chiefs’ Council there was a spike in the Covid-related attacks where offenders claimed to have the disease and then spat or coughed at workers. Attacks the first of their kind first emerged when a man suspected of Covid19 had coughed on a TfL ticket collector. Belly Mujinga, 47, was working on the concourse of Victoria station on 22nd March when a man who said he had Covid-19 spat and coughed at her and a colleague. Within days of the assault, both women fell ill with the virus and later Mujinga died.

Following "extensive inquiries" British Transport

Police (BTP) decided the attack did not lead to her death. Patel’s announcement comes in the aftermath of the Covid-19 attacks and the disorder in protests triggered by the death of George Floyd in the US. It follows a 14 per cent rise in such assaults in the previous month.

The NPCC figures also showed overall crime has started to creep up after falling by 28 per cent at the peak of the lockdown. It was down overall by 18 per cent in the last month, according to the provisional data from all 43 police forces in England and Wales. Police chiefs believe the relaxation of lockdown has made it easier for victims to report incidents to police after being restricted by being locked in 24/7 with their abusive partners.

JCWI to legally challenge “discriminate” Home Office’s digital visa application screening process On 18th June, reports surfaced that immigrants’ right campaigners will challenge the Home Office’s artificial intelligence system that filters UK visa applications. A first court case of its kind in British legal history, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) attempts to terminate what they claim is a decision-making algorithm that creates a “hostile environment” for people applying for UK visas online.

Granted a judicial review to challenge the Home Office’s, they believe that the AI programme is designed to discriminate against applicants from certain nations.

In their submission to the high court the JCWI said the algorithm created three channels for applicants including a “fast lane” that would lead to “speedy boarding for white people” to enter the country.

The rights group said applications from people holding suspect nationalities received a higher risk rating. These

applications were subjected to far more intensive scrutiny by Home Office officials, took longer to reach a decision and were much more likely to be refused, the JCWI said. It claims that this results in racial discrimination and therefore breaches the 2010 Equality Act. The Home Office has refused to provide the JCWI with meaningful information about the algorithm in their pre-legal action correspondence.

In a statement to The Guardian, Chai Patel, the JCWI legal policy director, said, “The Home Office’s ‘streaming tool’ has for years had a major effect on who has the right to come here to work, study or see loved ones. And it has been run in a way that, by the Home Office’s admission, discriminates, singling out some people as ‘suspect’ and others as somehow more trustworthy, just because of where they come from. This is the digital hostile environment.”

On Thursday 18th June, a 14-year-old boy from Hampshire had been charged with plotting a terror attack and produced before Westminster Magistrates Court in London.The minor has been charged with one count of preparation of terrorist acts contrary to Section 5(1)(a) of the UK’s Terrorism Act 2006 connected to Islamist terrorism, according to the CounterTerrorism Policing South East (CTPSE).

“The boy was initially arrested by officers from Hampshire Constabulary on Friday 12 June and subsequently further arrested under section 41 of the Terrorism Act, by detectives from CTPSE.“We know that the community of Eastleigh might be concerned about this news, however Hampshire Constabulary have been working closely with colleagues in Counter Terrorism Policing South East on this investigation and we want to reassure you that we believe the investigation is isolated, and with no known wider risk to the community,” it added.

Now, world is feeling need for yoga: PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (June 21) said yoga had emerged as a force for unity and it did not discriminate as it went beyond race, colour, gender, faith and nations.

In his message on the sixth International Day of Yoga, Modi said due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world was feeling the need for yoga more than ever. “If our immunity is strong, it is of great help in defeating this disease. For boosting immunity, there are several techniques in yoga, various asanas are there,” he added.

Modi said Covid-19 specifically attacked respiratory systems which could be strengthened by doing ‘pranayama’ or breathing exercise. “Yoga enhances our quest for a healthier planet. It has emerged as a force for unity and deepens the bonds of humanity. It does not discriminate. It goes beyond race, colour, gender, faith and nations. Anybody can embrace yoga,” he said. “If we can fine-tune our chords of health and hope, the day is not far when the world will witness the success of a healthy and happy humanity.

Yoga can definitely help us make this happen,” he said in a message telecast on Sunday morning. He added that doing work and performing duties properly was also

Yoga in Red Fort Of India, Delhi

yoga.

Modi said the huge participation of people in ‘My Life - My Yoga’ video blogging competition from across the globe reflected the growing popularity of yoga.

“Today, all of us should stay away from gatherings and practise yoga at home with our families. This year’s theme is ‘Yoga at Home and Yoga with Family’. Yoga promotes family bonding as children, youngsters, elders in the family come together to practise yoga, there is a flow of positive energy

in the home. Yoga also promotes emotional stability,” he said.

Modi said, “It also ends the distance between the life we have and the life we want to have.

Regular practice of yoga gives emotional strength and empathy.

We begin to understand that others would be going through the same struggle as us, so we become a shoulder of support for someone in need of it.” PM Modi said focus would shift to preventive healthcare once the pandemic is over.

UK marks Day of Yoga with projections, webinars A digital projection and a series of webinars and live online yoga sessions marked the 6th International Day of Yoga (IDY) in the UK on Sunday. The Indian High Commission in London organised a digital projection reflecting the ancient Indian practice and its many benefits at the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre in east London throughout the course of Sunday.

It was preceded by an online

webinar titled "Ghar Ghar Se Yoga" coordinated by the Nehru Centre in London, in light of the social distancing norms in place that prevent a congregational aspect of the yoga sessions.

"Yoga is an invaluable ancient Indian practice with numerous benefits to both physical and mental health," said PN Ranjit Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH).

Yoga is unifying force, says Indian envoy "Yoga is a unifying force, true to its literal meaning. People all around the world, transcending nationalities and cultures, have recognized the immense benefits of Yoga. They have made it a part of their everyday lives," India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu said.

Yoga promotes peace, says UN Director General "Yoga promotes principles of peace, rights and well-being that is working towards.

UN Celebrating #International Yoga Day, we're sending message of unity and connection, one that is of substantial value at time of great challenges but also great opportunities for multilateralism," Tatiana Valovaya, DirectorGeneral of UN, Geneva, said on Twitter.

ITBP personnel performing Yoga at Leh Tibetan Border Police performing Yoga

FOREIGN SECRETARY WILL NOT TAKE THE KNEE FOR BLACK LIVES Dominic Raab has been engulfed into a controversy amidst the Black Lives Matter protests after he suggested that he would not “take the knee” in support of the movement.Describing it as a ‘symbol of subjugation and subordination”, the foreign secretary admitted that he did not know the broader history of the gesture and thus, has been ridiculed for incorrectly claiming it derived from hit TV series Game of Thrones, with critics calling his comments “insulting and embarrassing”.

He said,“I’ve got to say, on this taking a knee thing, I don’t know, maybe it’s got a broader history but it seems to be taken from The Game of Thrones, feels to me like a symbol of subjugation and subordination rather than one of liberation and emancipation.“But I understand people feel differently about it so it’s a matter of personal choice.”

Yoga Day in Fiji

Yoga Day by High Commission of India, Nairobi

Sri-Lanka-Yoga

Yoga in UK

18 FINANCE - UK

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27 June - 3 July 2020

Dear Financial Voice Reader, Alpesh Patel Part of my role with the UK Government is to bring entrepreneurs, companies, intellectual property and capital to the UK from abroad.

Forget the companies who pitch to VCs looking for $10m or even $100m. I’ve returned many times from India where I’ve listened to such companies making their pitches. And I’ve listened to leading British money management companies, pitching for our monies at Chatham House (you may know it as the Royal Institute of International Affairs) – it’s where Gandhi spoke when seeking Indian Independence, right before he met King George.

With HM Queen as our Patron, it is pretty important to get the right money managers with whom to entrust our funds. As you can imagine the ones pitching are the best in the business, between them, they have pulled in funds of $75billion+.

So what are the lessons for fund raising for your own business? (These are from my years as hearing pitches from Goldman Sachs to smaller asset managers and hedge funds).

Don’t read the presentation Assume that if we are interviewing you to give you money to manage, then we’ve read the presentation, and know it better than you. So if we tell you we’ve read it, and you only have 30 minutes, then assume we’ve read it and don’t waste your precious pitching time telling us what we already know.

Printed Materials Should Not Be Slides Don’t print out your slides, especially if they are in 22 size font and have a few bullets. I’m not a teenager, I’m not attention deficit disorder diagnosed. I am not a Candy Crush playing Silicon Valley Red Bull intoxicated teenybopper. I can read Greek philosophy with an IQ that puts me in the top 1%, so I can handle complete sentences and 10pt font. That’s why you came to me for money.

Your hand-outs should be in A5 slides format so the fonts aren’t larger than 12pt – anything larger looks like you think I’m blind, as well as stupid.

You should also in A4 have a written document, explaining everything in far more detail. We are talking serious money, I can handle explanations which last more than 20 pages, and actually have paragraphs and isn’t just written as if for a blog. I read grown up books for fun.

Think Why Giving You Money Fits into My Needs I don’t need to hear why you’re so good. Everyone I’ll be listening to is bloody good. That’s just basic. I need to know you’ve thought about me. I want to hear that you’ve gone through my webite, my literature, asked me before the meeting my needs, my other investments and then told me why yours fits with mine. I don’t invest in isolation with people who think about themselves. Oh by the way, your fees ARE negotiable, even if you already have $50 billion under management, because everyone’s fees are negotiable.

Want me Guess what doesn’t work? A laid back attitude like you’re doing me a favour. I want to know you’re keen for my money. You want a relationship with me. Make me feel special.

Customise Your presentation has to be customised to me, I don’t just mean my name and date on the cover page, I mean in the A4 document which lots of explanations of how what you do fits with what I need.

Other errors You don’t need your logo on each page. I know who you are. Be confident. Work well with your partner that you are presenting with. Of course explain how you have lots of clients like me, but I am different and you will customise your approach.

Differentiate The biggest issue I have is, ‘why are you different’?

What do you give me, others do not. And it all comes down to risk/reward. How can you assure good growth, and mitigate losses, and at the same time do it by doing something slightly different.

Invest in your presentation skills Sadly money does not go to the person with the best track record. Else Warren Buffett would be the only fund manager in the world. It goes to the best marketer.

So I don’t care if you’re good with money. If you are not good at communicating, then you are nowhere. It’s weird I know. Get lessons on presenting with confidence.

Anticipate What I Will Ask If you have not worked out what I will ask, if you have not interviewed yourself, then how the heck do I get any confidence you can anticipate the markets and so look after my money?

FCA names Nikhil Rathi as chief executive Nikhil Rathi, the chief executive of London Stock Exchange, has been appointed as the next head of the Financial Conduct Authority. Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that Rathi is set to begin his five-year term as chief executive of the regulator.

Rathi will be paid will be £455,000 a year with a 12 per cent pension, but will not be entitled to a bonus.

He will succeed Christopher Woolard who has acted as interim chief executive at the FCA since Andrew Bailey stepped down from the post to join the Bank of England in March 2020.

Chancellor Sunak said: “Nikhil is the outstanding

Nikhil Rathi

candidate for the position of chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, and I am delighted that he has agreed to take up the role.

We have conducted a thorough, worldwide search for this crucial appointment and, through his wideranging experiences across

financial services, I am confident that Nikhil will bring the ambitious vision and leadership this organisation demands.” Sunak thanked Woolard for an “excellent job” leading the FCA during the “challenging period” of the coronavirus crisis.

Woolard temporarily took over the top spot from his role as executive director of strategy and competition at the regulator.

Rathi said: "I am honoured to be appointed chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority - I look forward to building on the strong legacy of Andrew Bailey and the exceptional leadership of Christopher Woolard and the FCA executive team during the crisis.

"FCA colleagues can be

very proud of their achievements in supporting consumers and the economy in all parts of the UK in recent months. In the years ahead, we will create together an even more diverse organisation, supporting the recovery with a special focus on vulnerable consumers, embracing new technology, playing our part in tackling climate change, enforcing high standards and ensuring the UK is a thought leader in international regulatory discussions."

Between 2009 and 2014 Rathi was director of the financial services group at HM Treasury where he led its work on the UK’s EU and international financial services interests.

Brexit may cost UK more £200 bn, says research Brexit will have cost the UK more than £200 billion in lost economic growth by the end of this year - a figure which almost eclipses the total amount the UK will have paid towards the EU budget over the past 47 years.

According to research by Bloomberg Economics, the cost of the UK's vote to leave has already reached £130 billion, with a further £70 billion likely to be added by the end of 2020.

The analysis, carried out by economist Dan Hanson,

found that business uncertainty has caused the UK's economic growth to lag behind that of other G7 countries since the 2016 vote. That means the British economy is now 3% smaller than it would have been if the UK had not voted to leave the EU. Figures from the House of Commons library put the UK's total projected contribution towards the EU budget between 1973 and 2020 at £215 billion after adjusting for inflation. That means the combined cost of leaving since 2016 is likely

soon to eclipse the combined cost of the EU's budget payments, which were a central part of the Leave campaign's case for Brexit in the first place.

The UK is set to leave the EU on January 31 after Boris Johnson's election victory in December. But business confidence and investment has dipped, meaning annualised economic growth has fallen from 2% to 1%."As the UK comes to terms with its new trading relationship

Boris Johnson

with the EU and grapples with the productivity challenge that has hindered growth since the financial crisis, the annual cost of Brexit is likely to keep increasing," Hanson told Bloomberg.

Lord Bilimoria elected as the first BAME head of CBI Lord Bilimoria, the Indianborn tycoon behind Cobra beer, has been elected as the first BAME boss of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). He replaces John Allan at the top of the business lobby group at a time when the Black Lives Matter protests have thrust race relations back into the spotlight.

With the CBI pushing for greater diversity in boardrooms, the 58-year-old has vowed to make his two years in charge count. Bilimoria said: 'Diversity drives better decisions. It will be my aim to get better BAME (black, Asian or minority ethnic) representation in boardrooms across the country.'

He separately promised to make the CBI, which is long accused of being biased towards big businesses, 'a home for entrepreneurs and SMEs' and help boost the UK's standing as a 'trading powerhouse'.

But the crossbench peer's tenure will also be dominated by the UK's exit from the EU this year, as well as the economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis. Bilimoria added: 'As the four nations of our country embark upon an ambitious

Lord Bilimoria

economic recovery plan, I will do all I can to help ensure we build back better through inclusive and sustainable growth.'

Born in the Hyderabad region where his father was a senior Indian Army chief, Bilimoria moved to London

in 1981 and qualified as an accountant with Ernst & Young. He then read law at Cambridge University and led its debating team against that of Oxford University, which included Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove. Bilimoria had his idea for Cobra after finding lagers 'fizzy, gassy, harsh, bland and bloating'. With business partner Arjun Reddy, it became a mainstay at thousands of Indian restaurants before falling on hard times in 2009. The British arm was later bought out of pre-pack administration by Molson Coors for £14million, with

Bilimoria retaining a 49 per cent stake, prompting accusations he had left creditors owed £72million out to dry.

The businessman has vowed to pay them all back, adding last year that he had paid 'chunks' and was 'doing his utmost'. In his first major intervention, Bilimoria called on ministers to relax social distancing rules to save the hospitality industry.

He said there was a 'strong argument' to cut the minimum distance to one metre - down from two adding that otherwise 'you will see many businesses go bust'.

Boohoo’s agile model catches investors’ eye Boohoo’s party frocks to loungewear has tapped the mood of young consumers in lockdown. The agility of the online retailer, whose ranges change by the day, has also caught the attention of investors. While the share prices of most UK retailers have suffered big falls, Boohoo’s is at an all-time high. Its £5.2bn market value would see it join the FTSE 100 if it traded on the main market rather than Aim. Boohoo this week said sales would rise at least 25 per cent this year, in stark contrast to the sharp falls expected at established high street rivals such as Next and Marks and Spencer. Even brands that appeal to the same young customer base as Boohoo, such as Primark and JD Sports, will suffer sales fall this year. Boohoo is also outpacing online peers such as Asos and Frankfurt-listed Zalando,

though not by as much. Part of the reason is that its £1.2bn of annual sales are under half those of UK peer Asos and nowhere near the €20bn or more of global fashion groups Inditex or Hennes & Mauritz.

That helps it keep its supply chain short.

About 40 per cent of its cut-price clothing ranges, mostly targeted at 16 to 24-year-old women, are made in the UK. It makes small batches initially and does larger runs if they sell well, so it never needs margin-shredding sales to clear stock. “Our suppliers are experts at our test and repeat model and our need to turn things around quickly,” the company said.

Profit margins are also strong. Peter Williams, a former Boohoo chairman who previously served as a non-executive of Asos, said this was partly because it was an own-label business.

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ArcelorMittal plans £200 mn investment in Odisha ArcelorMittal Group is planning to invest £200 million in Odisha, its Group Chairman and CEO Laxmi Niwas Mittal said. Mittal said this while interacting with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik through a video conference.

ArcelorMittal Group is the world's largest steel maker.

"We already have a £200 million investment plan in Odisha which is already going on with support of your administration, your people and your guidance.

"You have a great experience and you have managed the Covid crisis very well which is a good news," Mittal told Patnaik during the interaction.

Referring to his company's investment plan, Mittal said if it so happened that the "company could not produce in Hajira, the full production, we would produce in Odisha and export pellets. But, what we like is that we have a lot of ideas to continue our expansion in Odisha. We are

Lakshmi Mittal

working on two mines Sagasai and Thakurani," he said.

Mittal also said that of these two mines, one mine the company has already got through auction, which was organised in a very transparent manner. Patnaik assured Mittal of all support from the state government.

He said the Chief Minister's Office will interact with the ArcelorMittal office so that your (Mittal's) project gets headway very soon.

The chief minister also advised the steel magnate to add value to the mineral resources procured from Odisha in the state itself so that it will help creation of employment opportunities and enhance the

development of the state economy.

Meanwhile, a statement released by the Chief Ministers Office said that the company is planning to expand its pellet plant at Paradip and increase its production capacity from 6 MTPA to 12MTPA. The company is also planning expansion of its iron beneficiation plant at Baduna in Keonjhar district from 5 MTPA to 16 MTPA. Essar steel has been acquired by ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel. The Essar plant has 6 mtpa pellet plant at Paradip. ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) is the new name of Essar Steel India after it was acquired by a joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel Corporation.

With the acquisition of Essar Steel at a cost of more than £5 billion, as much as USD 7 billion has been invested in India, which is considered as one of the biggest foreign direct investment (FDI), the CMO statement said.

ArcelorMittal had signed for a project with the Odisha government way back in 2006 to set up a 12-milliontonne annum steel plant in Keonjhar. However, the group withdrew from the project after facing stiff resistance from locals.

Plans to sell Canadian infrastructure assets Meanwhile, according ro reports, ArcelorMittal is considering selling a 420-km railway and other infrastructure assets in Canada to reduce debts and strengthen its balance sheet.

The steelmaker, which recently raised $2 billion through a sale of shares and convertible bonds, is weighing a deal to sell the infrastructure assets that service its 24M metric tons/year Mont-Wright iron ore mine in Quebec, according to the report.

Selling either the entire infrastructure entity or a stake in it would help the company achieve its target of reducing net debt to $7 billion from $9.5 billion currently.

SC to Franklin Templeton: Wrong to wind up debt funds in pandemic The Supreme Court disapproved of Franklin Templeton’s April 23 announcement to wind up six debt funds, which spooked millions of investors, but the asset management company assured the SC that “all investors will get back their money”.

Hearing Franklin Templeton’s plea for consolidation of several petitions filed by investors before the high courts of Madras, Delhi and Gujarat, a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and S Abdul Nazeer told senior advocate Harish Salve, who appeared for the company, that it was wrong to wind up funds during the pandemic.

“If as you (Salve) say the operations were going on for years, why was the winding-up decision announced now? It was not proper to announce it during the pandemic when everyone is coming with a helping hand,” the bench said. However, Salve was quick to respond, “People will get back their money.

But adjudication by multiple high courts could lead to conflicting decisions and resultant confusion. So, let the petitions across high

Fitch cuts India’s sovereign rating outlook to negative Global ratings agency Fitch revised the outlook on India’s sovereign rating to negative from stable but retained the rating at BBB (minus), saying the coronavirus pandemic has significantly weakened India’s growth outlook for this year and exposed the challenges associated with a high public-debt burden. Fitch expects economic activity to contract by 5% in the fiscal year ending March 2021 (FY21) due to the strict lockdown measures, before rebounding by 9.5% in FY22, mainly driven by a low-base effect. Another ratings agency Moody’s had downgraded the country’s sovereign rating to a level just above the junk bond status and retained the outlook as negative, while S&P has affirmed the rating at BBB (minus) and has a stable outlook.

courts be consolidated before one HC.” N e a r l y 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 investors will be affected by F r a n k l i n Templeton’s decision to wind up six of its debt mutual fund schemes, citing lack of liquidity in the bond market due to Covid-19.

“Crashing of values during the pandemic is the main reason behind winding up,” Salve said. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for an investor who had put in Rs 650,000 in these debt schemes, termed the decision as nothing short of a scam. “They say we will get back our money after five years,” he said. Supported by

senior advocate C A Sundaram, Salve said Franklin Templeton was ready to answer all questions to the satisfaction of the HC but the multiplicity of litigation was posing a problem.

The bench said, “If you close schemes in such a hurry, worried investors will move court. There will be multiple litigation.”

However, it saw reason in Salve’s plea for consolidation of litigation before one HC for a clear verdict on refund of investors’ money. It chose Karnataka HC, where no litigation against Franklin Templeton over closure of debt funds is pending, to be the umpire for the first round of litigation.

Banks asked to cut non-essential expenses The finance ministry has asked banks to cut non-core business expenses by 20% and asked lenders to avoid incurring non-essential expenditure like staff cars, refurbishing guests houses or spending on interior decoration items. The directive from the department of financial services comes at a time when there are reports that Punjab National Bank purchased three Audi cars worth Rs 130,000 for executive directors.

In a communication to the chiefs of all public sector banks, the department of financial services said that in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, lenders must take necessary measures to ensure “productive use of their financial resources for core business activities”. Banks have been asked to place this advisory before their respective boards in its next

meeting and issue appropriate instructions internally. It has also put the onus on the top management of ensuring that the instructions are followed in letter as well as spirit.

Earlier, the RBI had asked banks to conserve capital in the early stages of the lockdown. The central bank had asked all lenders to avoid paying any dividend to shareholders and has asked them to plough back the earnings. The advisory on following economy measures is in four parts deferring expenditure that can be avoided, a 20% expenditure cut in noncore business activity, deferring hikes in entitlements and perquisites and rationalisation of non core business expenditure. The items where expenses have to be cut by 20% include entertainment, publicity, travel, and use of external infrastructure.

Knowledge worth its weight in gold Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

Recently, I went to view a commercial property in West London, in an area which has been gentrified. The property consists of a freehold block with a front shop and residential uppers; it’s vacant on the ground floor and filled on the top.

The income from above is helpful as it will help secure a mortgage on the deal. The property is a bit of a Tardis, meaning it has a lot more land than it appears externally.

The agent was pretty clueless about what exactly he was selling. The deal was split among three titles. I wanted to gain clarity on the usage of the current properties, as this will have an impact on what can and can’t be done with the premises. He was oblivious as to the usage class, but nonetheless tried to waffle an answer.

This is pretty typical across the board with agents, it’s rare to find one who actually takes the trouble to know the product they are selling with some thoroughness.

If we wanted to do the deal the onus was clearly onus to get clarity on both the titles and usage. Our initial research revealed that the owner of the property lived further out in Hillingdon.

So, I took the trouble of handwriting a letter and delivered it personally to a bunch of Eastern Europeans, who were at the address; and asked them if they knew this person. They said yes it was their neighbour.

That did not sound right, and so I did not expect to hear anything back, however, lo and behold I received a text over the weekend.

I called the number up and it sounded like a Punjabi chap who even claimed he owned the property; this baffled me as the owner had a very English name. For the sake of this article and to maintain confidentiality, let’s say it was Charles. So, I asked him if his name was Charles, and he said yes it’s his name, but a nick name.

I agreed to meet them at the property I dropped the letter at. A couple of Punjabis turned up and started talking about the deal. It was only halfway through when I asked what deal they were talking about and they said the one we were at! The site!

They had bought it a year ago and had gained planning to turn it into a 6 bedroom house.

So, I said no, I would like to speak with the person you bought the house from.

It seems the official records had not yet been updated and still held the name of the previous owner.

Not wanting an opportunity to go to waste, and I asked them if they were interested in doing any deals, they replied in the affirmative.

So, we may have a couple of new clients, but the search for the elusive owner is still on.

They even agreed to help us locate the previous owner via the sales memorandum made for when they were purchasing the house.

Property dealing involves a lot of detective work. There are those who have made their names by detailed research of both living and deceased owners of property. The right information in the right hands can be worth its weight in gold.

URJIT PATEL TO HEAD GOVT THINK TANK Former RBI governor Urjit Patel has been appointed chairman of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) for a four-year term starting June 22. He will Urjit Patel replace Vijay Kelkar, who has held office since 2014. The NIPFP is an autonomous research institute, which comes under the finance ministry. It acts as think tank for the government and conducts research on public finance and contributes to policy-making.

RIL SELLS 2.3% IN JIO TO SAUDI’S PIF FOR £1.14 BN Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will put £1.14 billion in Jio Platforms, marking its largest investment in India. The infusion will give the Kingdom-owned authority a 2.32% stake in Jio, the telecom-cum-digital services arm of Reliance Industries (RIL). PIF will be the 10th foreign backer of Jio, which has mobilised £11.6 billion since April. About 25% of Jio will be in the hands of external investors once all the deals are concluded. The outside money will be utilised by RIL to meet its pledge to cut down net debt, which had reached £16.1 billion, to zero before March 2021. The share-sale in Jio reflects RIL’s bet on the digital business as it reduces its dependence on industrial segments.

PIF’s investment has assigned Jio a valuation of £51.6 billion, which is similar to the valuation given by the other financial investors of the company.

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Former Pak minister threatens to sue American blogger over rape allegation ISLAMABAD: A high profile American blogger has sparked a political storm and been threatened with a £240 mn defamation case after accusing a former interior minister of raping her.

Cynthia Ritchie's allegations have captivated Pakistan and follow a bitter public dispute with the former minister's party.

The accusations have pitted Rehman Malik, interior minister for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from 2008 to 2013, against an enigmatic Islamabad-based US blogger with a huge social media following.

Ritchie's novelty as a white American woman espousing trenchant pro-Pakistan and anti-opposition views has won both curiosity and a wide audience. Her attacks on opposition figures and activists and her appearances in photographs with the military have led opponents to allege she is a paid propagandist, co-opted to attack anyone dissenting with the government.

Cynthia Ritchie

She used a Facebook broadcast earlier this month to allege Malik drugged and attacked her at his official residence in 2011.

Other senior leaders of the PPP had “manhandled” her on other occasions, she said. The allegations, which have been denied by all of the accused, have electrified the country's deeply polarised political world.

During an 11-minute broadcast earlier this month she claimed she had been raped by Malik in 2011 when the PPP was in power. She had also been “physically manhandled by former health minister Makhdoom

Shahabuddin and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani while he was staying at the president’s house,” she said.

Giving more details later, she said the alleged attack took place at Malik's official residence around the time Osama bin Laden was found and killed by American special forces while he was hiding in the Pakistani city of Abbotabad. She alleged Malik had sent his driver to pick her up so they could discuss the status of her visa. On arrival she was given a bouquet, a mobile phone or tablet as a gift and a spiked drink. She soon became dizzy and he suggested she lie down.

When she woke later, she said he was raping her.

She did not report the alleged attack to police, fearing no one would believe her, but said she told the American embassy where the response was “less than adequate”. The embassy declined to comment.

Ritchie began her social media career in Pakistan saying she was attempting to redress the coun-

try's unfair international image as a hotbed of extremism and violence. As time has gone on, she has also launched attacks on opposition figures and dissidents.

She accused one prominent human rights activist of prostituting girls. She has also said she is investigating a civil rights movement in the tribal borderlands which complains about military abuses and has found it is engaged in "anti-state activities".

Ritchie late last month caused fury in the PPP when she made allegations that Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister from the party, had ordered her staff to rape women suspected of having affairs with her husband.

The party launched legal action against her and complained to the cyber crime wing of the country's federal investigation agency. Ritchie says she has been harassed and threatened by PPP activists who have also targeted her family.

Four top JuD leaders sentenced for terror financing LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan sentenced up to five years four top leaders of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and close aides of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed in a terrorfinancing case. Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Yayha Aziz and Abdul Salam were indicted on June 9.

Iqbal and Aziz were sentenced to five years in prison while Makki and Salam to one-year each.

Makki is the brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Taiba founder and JuD chief Saeed. The AntiTerrorism Court also imposed fines of Rs 50,000 each on the four convicts failing which they will have to undergo six more months in prison. The four sus-

Hafiz Saeed

pects have been convicted under Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

“The court found the JuD/LeT leaders guilty of the offence of terrorism financing.

They had been collecting funds and unlawfully financing Proscribed Organisation LeT. The court has also ordered the confiscation of assets made from funds collected through terrorism financing,” the CTD

Beijing reaches out to Dhaka with trade sops DHAKA: In a bid to woo Bangladesh, China has provided a huge trade boost to the country by announcing tariff exemption for 97% of Bangladeshi products effective from July 1. The decision has come one month after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a discussion to upgrade their bilateral relations during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh announced that 97% of items would be exempted of Chinese tariffs. As part of the government's economic diplomacy and the outcome of exchange of letters between Bangladesh and China, Tariff Commission of the Chinese State Council issued a notice recently on granting zero treatment to 97% of tariff products of Bangladesh, the Dhaka Tribune reported, quoting the ministry's statement.

With this announcement, a total of 8,256 Bangladeshi products will come under the 97% of products that would be exempted from tariff. Currently, 3,095 Bangladeshi products enjoy duty-free access to Chinese market under Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA).

said. All the four convicts had pleaded “not guilty” and chose to contest the verdict. The court announced the verdict after the prosecution presented witnesses and relevant evidence against them. Three convicts - Iqbal, Aziz and Salam - are also UN Designated Persons involved in terrorism financing. “Their conviction will play a major role in checking terrorism financing in Pakistan,” the CTD said.

Saeed, a UN-designated terrorist whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty on, was arrested on July 17, 2019 and is lodged at the high-security Kot Lakhpat jail here. Saeed-led JuD is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six

Americans.

The US named Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice. He was listed as a terrorist under the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008.

In February, Lahore's antiterrorism court sentenced Saeed and his close aide Zafar Iqbal to five and a half years each and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 in each case. A total of 11 years sentence will run concurrently.

The crackdown on Saeed's outfit last year followed a warning by the international terror financing watchdog to Pakistan to deliver on its commitments to curb terror financing and money laundering

Pak army top brass visits ISI HQ, ‘discuss Kashmir’ ISLAMABAD: Pakistan military top brass, including Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, visited the headquarters of Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to discuss regional security issues with special focus on the situation of Line Of Control, Pakistani media reported.

According to a report by Radio Pakistan, the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General (CJSC) Nadeem Raza, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Naval Chief Admiral Zafar Mehmood Abbasi and Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan visited ISI headquarters in Islamabad last week. They were received by DG ISI Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid.

Salman Masood, the Pakistan Correspondent for The New York Times termed the arrival of the CJSC and other service chiefs at the ISI headquarters as an “unusual and unprecedented development”.

Radio Pakistan reported, “A comprehensive briefing was given to military leadership on regional security issues with special focus on the situation of LOC and Kashmir”.

“CJCSC and Services chiefs appreciated tire-

less efforts of ISI for national security and expressed satisfaction over professional preparedness,” it further said.

Taking to Twitter, Masood said even during the height of WOT, tensions with India (2008, post-Balakot) the top brass did not convene at the ISI HQ like Tuesday “For War ops, preparedness, GHQ is the nerve center. A bevy of generals - all senior to the DG I, coming to his office - suggests an extraordinary intel briefing," Masood tweeted.

Pakistan has been relentlessly pushing state controlled proxies to destabilise India and Indian security forces, in mop-up operations, have killed 100 terrorists this year, bunging a monkey wrench into the Pakistani terror factory’s grand plans. It is clear that the ISI in conjunction with the military leadership is looking at a new paradigm in its asymmetrical warfare against India.

The meeting could be in that direction, analysts averred. The military-jihad network, fronted by ISI’s dreaded C Wing, is obviously looking at new stratagems in its war on Kashmir.

in brief MAN FINED FOR FARTING ‘WITH FULL INTENT’ AT POLICE A man in Vienna has been fined 500 euros ($565) for breaking wind loudly in front of police - a move that the Austrian capital’s police force was at pains to defend. The Oesterreich newspaper reported that the fine stemmed from an incident on June 5 and that the offender was fined for “offending public decency”. City police wrote on Twitter that “of course no one is reported for accidentally ‘letting one go’.” They added that the man had behaved “provocatively and uncooperatively” during an encounter with officers that preceded the incident. He got up from a park bench, looked at officers and “let go a massive intestinal wind apparently with full intent,” they said. “And our colleagues don't like to be farted at so much.” Police noted that the decision could be appealed.

OZ STATE EXTENDS EMERGENCY AS CASES SPIKE Australia's second most populous state, Victoria extended its state of emergency for four more weeks to July19, as it battles a spike in coronavirus infections with a pick-up in community transmission. The move came a day after the state said it would reimpose restrictions capping visitors to households to five people and outdoor gatherings to 10.

The limits had been relaxed on June 1 to allow up to 20 people in households and public gatherings. Victoria reported 19 new infections on Sunday, the fifth day of double digit-rises. The state has now had 1,836 total confirmed cases, a quarter of the cases in Australia, since the Covid-19 pandemic erupted. The surge in Victoria has alarmed other states, which have had few, if any, new cases for several weeks. Queensland and Western Australia, which shut their borders in March and April respectively, said they would weigh Victoria's situation before reopening. "But the last thing we want to do is lift the borders, have lots of people come here, for example for school holidays, spread coronavirus in our state and then force us to go backwards on restrictions," Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles said.

FLOYD’S BROTHER URGES UN PROBE INTO US RACISM The brother of the late George Floyd called on the top UN human rights body to investigate police brutality and racial discrimination in the US. “The way you saw my brother tortured and murdered on camera is the way black people are treated by police in America,” Philonise Floyd, speaking via video to the Geneva forum, said of his brother’s death. “I hope that you will consider establishing an independent commission of inquiry to investigate police killings of black people in America,” he said.

CHINA CHARGES 2 CANADIANS WITH ‘ESPIONAGE’ Chinese prosecutors said they have charged two detained Canadians for suspected espionage, indictments that could result in life imprisonment, in a case that has driven a diplomatic wedge between Ottawa and Beijing. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said he was “very disappointed” and would keep pressing China to release the duo. Former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor were arrested in late 2018 on state security charges, soon after Canadian police detained Huawei Technologies Co’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on a US warrant. While China maintains the detentions are not linked to Meng, experts have said they are being used to pressure Canada.

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in brief INDIAN AMERICAN TO BE NOMINATED AS ENVOY TO ETHIOPIA A White House announcement said that Indian American Geeta Pasi will be nominated as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the US to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Pasi, a career member of the senior foreign service, class of career minister, is principal deputy assistant secretary for African affairs at the Department of State. She previously served as United States ambassador to Chad and as United States ambassador to Djibouti, according to her bio. Pasi also served as director of career development and assignments for the State Department; director of the Department’s Office of East African Affairs; deputy chief of mission at the United States Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh; and deputy principal officer at the United States Consulate General in Frankfurt, Germany. Her other past assignments include Afghanistan desk officer in the Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh Affairs; political officer at the United States Embassy in New Delhi, India; and political officer at the United States Embassy in Accra, Ghana.

INDIAN AMERICAN APPOINTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER New York-based Safe Water Network recently announced Indian American Nisha Chakravarty as its chief financial officer.

Chakravarty leads the organization’s financial management efforts, overseeing human resources and administrative advancement, ensuring regulatory, legal and risk compliance, as well as spearheading the business case development and advancement of all program investments. Before joining the company, Chakravarty founded and led two social enterprises, LeadersXL and Nuru Social Enterprises, in India and in Kenya, respectively. Those ventures focused on base-of-the-economic-pyramid communities.

She has served as a senior adviser, consulting on thought leadership, financial systems and human capital, as well as authoring white papers for companies such as Unitus Capital and UNICEF.

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS CLOSES KABUL OPERATION Doctors Without Borders said it closed its operation in Kabul, ending its work to support a maternity hospital in the Afghan capital. The closure came a month after a horrific attack at the facility killed 24 people, including two infants, nurses and several young mothers. The international charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, said it would keep its other programs in Afghanistan running, but did not go into details. The May 12 attack at the maternity hospital set off an hour-long shootout with Afghan police and also left more than a dozen people wounded. The hospital in Dashti Barchi, a mostly Shiite neighborhood, was the Geneva-based group's only project in the Afghan capital.

No one claimed responsibility for the assault.

PUTIN PROTECTED BY DISINFECTION TUNNELS A special disinfection tunnel has been installed in the residence of Russian President Putin outside Moscow and two more in the Kremlin, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed. Reports about the tunnel spraying anyone passing through it with disinfectants appeared in Russian state media. Peskov said, “When it comes to the head of the state, additional precautionary measures are justified.”

Top American officials back India against China WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has warned that a “complete decoupling” from China remains a policy option for Washington after surmising that Beijing may have spread the coronavirus intentionally to economically damage the US and other countries.

Trump’s charges against Beijing came even as top US lawmakers, officials, and policy mavens are concluding that an expansionist and assertive China feels confident enough to make territorial grabs in the region, including incursions into India, to distract from its role in spreading the coronavirus pandemic among other travails.

“The world could not have received a clearer reminder that the PRC is dead-set on brutalizing people within their own borders, challenging and

Department, and in the media even as Trump attempted to roll back the impression conveyed by his former NSA John Bolton that he was soft on China in order to get trade deals that will help him win a reelection. “The US cerDonald Trump tainly does maintain a policy option, under remaking the international various conditions, of a comorder anew in their image - to plete decoupling from China,” include literally redrawing Trump tweeted after telling the world maps,” Senate majority Wall Street Journal, “There’s a leader and Trump ally Mitch chance it (coronavirus spread) McConnell said at a foreign polwas intentional,” driven by ecoicy debate, outlining China’s nomic motivation.” aggression in the region against Chinese belligerence came India, Japan, and Taiwan in for a more expansive scrutiny among others. in Congress where Senate China’s persistent aggresMajority Leader Mitch sion against India came up for McConnell directly blamed discussion and scrutiny in Beijing for instigating the vioCongress, the State lent border clashes.

The State Department too read from the same page with a prominent official detailing China’s repeated incursions into India. “This activity is similar to activity we’ve seen in the past on border disputes … I think it was 2015 when Xi Jinping traveled to India the first time. The PLA invaded this contested area deeper and longer, with more people than ever before historically. Then we saw the Doklam issue down near Bhutan, where we saw similar concerns.

Again, whether that was a negotiating tactic or just a punch in the nose to demonstrate their superiority, I don’t know,” David Stilwell, the State Department official heading the East Asian and Pacific Affairs bureau said in a briefing on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s meeting in Hawaii with Chinese mandarin Yang Jiechi.

Under US pressure, UK to review Huawei’s activity LONDON: The British government’s decision to launch a review of Huawei’s activity in the UK is an indication that the US campaign to pressure its allies to shun China’s biggest telecoms company is bearing fruit. Moreover, Downing Street is planning to forge an alliance of democracies with the mission of providing developing countries with alternatives to Huawei’s market-leading 5G capability.

Rather oddly, though, this western effort overlooks a key telecoms battleground: Russia.

If Huawei succeeds in establishing control over Russia’s 5G buildout, that will strengthen the Chinese company’s position in the battle for other emerging

markets. There are four factors playing into Huawei’s hands in Russia. The first is money.

Russian mobile operators have long been attracted by Huawei’s technology, which is on a par with European vendors but offered at lower cost, thanks to Beijing’s financial support.

However, Huawei’s attraction to Russia is not just about economics; it is also about national security. The Kremlin

acknowledges that Russia is unable to produce quality 5G hardware on its own, and therefore needs to buy it from either Huawei or the west. So the Kremlin’s rationale for selecting Huawei is straightforward: “We’re either going to be bugged by the US or by China, so we need to choose the lesser evil,” as one government insider said. “Since the Americans are sanctioning us while the Chinese are helping us, the choice is obvious.”

Another point of concern for the Kremlin is who controls the “killer switch”. Russian security fears that the Pentagon might force western vendors to knock out Russian 5G networks, potentially unleashing political and economic chaos, and even

regime change. Again, China appears to be the lesser evil. No one in Moscow loses sleep worrying that Beijing might try to topple Vladimir Putin’s government. To be on the safe side, the Kremlin is also taking steps to ensure that communication systems used by the military and security officials are locally produced.

Alongside all this, Huawei’s is running a sophisticated public relations strategy to win Moscow’s trust. Even as Donald Trump’s administration has pushed Huawei out of partnerships with western research institutions, the Chinese company has quadrupled its research and development personnel in Russia to 2,000 employees.

India elected to UN Security Council with overwhelming majority

Trudeau backs Sikhorigin MP kicked out of Canadian Parliament

UNITED NATIONS: India has been elected to the Security Council with an overwhelming majority of 184 votes running on a platform of fighting terrorism and promoting the ethos of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" the world is one family. The June 17 elections took place against the backdrop of the conflict in Ladakh with China.

New Delhi won the Asia Pacific seat on the highest decision-making body of the UN with the unanimous support of the countries in the 55-member group, with China and Pakistan, at least openly, conceding support in face of overwhelming backing for India from the others.

Though India ran unopposed from Asia, eight countries apparently did not vote for India in the secret ballot in which 192 of the 193 member nations participated. India will serve its eighth two-year term as a non-permanent member without veto powers, even as it pursues on a parallel track UN reforms aimed at getting a permanent seat.

Running unopposed for the seat for Latin American and Caribbean countries, Mexico won with 187 votes. The ten nonpermanent Security Council seats are distributed among five regional groups and elections are held every year for the five that fall vacant on alternate years. But there were

O T T A W A : Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau backed the leader of an opposition party who was ejected from the House of Commons for branding the member of Justin Trudeau another party a racist and refusing to apologize. New Democratic Party head Jagmeet Singh, the first minority leader of a federal Canadian political party, had been trying to win support for a motion recognizing the existence of systemic racism in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

When a legislator from the Bloc Quebecois refused to support the motion, Singh called him racist, prompting the speaker to eject Singh for the rest of the day.

"It is important that we recognize when the only racialized leader in the House of Commons makes a statement like that, that it comes from a place that yes, will make people uncomfortable, but needs to be dealt with as we move forward as a country," Trudeau told reporters.

contested elections for the three other seats.

Canada was routed in its bid for one of the two seats allotted to the group made up of West European countries and others like Canada and Australia that do not fit in elsewhere. In a setback to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who personally campaigned hard for the seat, it received only 108 votes.

Norway with 130 votes and Ireland with 128 were elected to the two seats. Neither Kenya nor Djibouti received a two-thirds majority and a runoff is to be held later.

Kenya, which received 113 votes for the African seat had the endorsement of the continent's countries, while Djibouti which counted on a rift between the Arab and Non-Arab nations in the group received 78 votes.

In a last-minute pitch, India's Permanent Representative T S Tirumurti said in a video message, "India's presence in the Security Council will help bring to the world our ethos that the world is one family - Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam." In a campaign document unveiled by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi, India laid out a "5S" approach of Samman (Respect), Samvad (Dialogue), Sahyog (Cooperation) Shanti (Peace) and Samriddi (Prosperity) for its service on the Council.

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Rishi Sunak settles in as Downing Street’s Captain Sensible LONDON: Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government is expected to make two significant announcements next week which will come into force in early July: the relaxation of the two-metre rule and the reopening of the hospitality sector. The announcement will define his premiership and kickstart Britain’s recovery after the coronavirus crisis. The theme for the speech is “build, build, build”, a slogan which is being viewed in No 10 as a potential successor to “get Brexit done”. Johnson himself has been heavily involved in drafting the speech alongside Dominic Cummings, his most senior adviser, and Munira Mirza, his policy chief.

The speech will focus on three broad areas - jobs, health and homes - as Johnson makes clear that the path out of the pandemic will be a huge programme of investment rather than another decade of austerity. The government is preparing to bring forward big infrastructure projects and its hospital-building programme while committing itself to hundreds of thousands of new homes. Johnson will be “much

Rishi Sunak

more visible” in coming weeks as social-distancing rules are relaxed. “He’ll get out there and bang the drum,” one No 10 source said. Chancellor Rishi Sunak will also play a leading role in selling the plan to the nation.

The prime minister and his Downing Street team will make a concerted effort to reunite the Conservative Party as Johnson returns to the vision he set out in last year’s election manifesto to “level up” the nation. At political cabinet last week Isaac Levido, who masterminded the Conservative victory in December, gave a presentation which showed a significant decline in poll ratings.

“Everyone was very polite about it,” one minister said. “Nobody

mentioned that Dominic Cummings could have had something to do with it.”

Matters did not improve at cabinet meeting. Later, the prime minister announced in the Commons that the Department for International Development (Dfid) would be folded into the Foreign Office in one of the biggest overhauls of Whitehall for a decade. The decision to scrap Dfid will leave Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the secretary of state, without a job in September. There are suggestions that she has been promised another cabinet role, with colleagues increasingly fearful for their jobs. There were reports that Sunak was considering breaking the pensions triple lock amid soaring costs.

“It felt like a power-play by Rishi - the guy is unsackable,” one minister said. “He’s Captain Sensible while Boris is blundering. You’ve got to ask whether this is a CameronOsborne sofa government or we could be in for a Blair-Brown shitshow.” Both Downing Street and Treasury sources insist that the prime minister and chancellor are in “lockstep”.

The prime minister said that

he would do more to improve communications and bring the party with him. One Tory MP, who has been a vociferous critic of the government in recent weeks, was impressed. “Boris is much more aware of what MPs and people with experience say is going wrong,” the MP said.

Will Sunak cut shop prices?

"Timely, temporary and targeted" was the phrase used by Sunak in his Budget in March to describe the first steps in pandemic support packages.

And, following Germany's temporary 3% cut in VAT, the prospect of a similar tax cut is again up for discussion in the UK. The policy is certainly timely, because it can be enacted with immediate effect. And because it is reversible, it serves as a temporary stimulus.

Stimulus In 2008, it was argued that a general VAT cut was targeted because it was aimed at supporting consumer confidence. But that is far more debatable. It certainly was expensive, though. The upfront cost was £13bn over two years, amounting to half of the Darling stimulus package. Most of this shifted spending in time into the cheaper VAT period.

China extending its bullying tactics to Australia CANBERRA: China's bullying tactic is not limiting to its immediate neighbours. Now Australia has also come under Chinese cyber attack. Australian PM Scott Morrison said his government and some private sector entities in the country had been under a sustained cyber attack by a Chinese actor.

Morrison said as per cyber experts, Australian organisations are currently being targeted by a China-based cyber actor, Australian defence minister said malicious cyber activity was “increasing in frequency, scale, sophistication and impact”.

Recently, Vietnam’s foreign

ministry said two Chinese ships had attacked a Vietnamese fishing boat in the South China Sea and seized its catch and equipment.

The incident happened near the Parcel Islands which China claims as its territory. In April, Vietnam had protested after a fishing boat sunk by a Chinese maritime surveillance vessel near the islands.

Japan also said that Chinese vessels are parked near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea for 66 days running to intimidate Tokyo. Indonesia also has been facing similar Chinese bullying.

A spokesman for the Japan

11th Regional Coast Guard headquarters said that four Chinese coast guard vessels appeared about 18 miles northwest of Uotsuri Island inside Japan’s contiguous zone, and heading southwest. Chinese vessels have been spotted in Japan’s contiguous waters every day since April 14.

Chinese and Malaysian vessels had been in a stand-off state near the island of Borneo in South China Sea for weeks earlier this year after a Malaysian-authorised drill ship was prospecting for resources in the area. They were intercepted

by Chinese survey ships and coast guard vessels, according to

the Asia Maritime Transparency Institute (AMTI). Malaysia had to deploy naval vessels in the area, buttressed later by US ships. The Indonesian foreign minister wrote a diplomatic note to the UN on May 26, reiterating Indonesia’s objections against China to the “so-called nine-dash line or socalled historic rights”. “In that diplomatic note, Indonesia also called for full compliance towards UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) 1982,” the foreign minister said, laying Indonesia’s claim, particularly on Natuna Islands which has been claimed

by China.

Apex court in US rejects Trump bid to end DACA, favours young immigrants

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WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court in US rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for 650,000 young immigrants, known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

For now, the young immigrants retain their protection from deportation and their authorization to work in the United States.

The 5-4 outcome, in which Chief Justice John Roberts and the four liberal justices were in the majority, seems certain to elevate the issue in Trump’s campaign, given the antiimmigrant rhetoric of his first presidential run in 2016 and immigration restrictions his administration has imposed since then. The justices rejected administration arguments that the 8-year-old Deferred Action

for Childhood Arrivals Program is illegal and that courts have no role to play in reviewing the decision to end DACA. The program covers people who have been in the United States since they were children and are in the country illegally. In some cases, they have no memory of any home other than the US. Trump didn’t hold back in his assessment of the court’s work, hitting hard at a political angle. “These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives. We need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd Amendment & everything else.

Vote Trump 2020!” he wrote on Twitter, apparently including the LGBTQ ruling as well.

in brief SINGER-SONGWRITER ZOYA RELEASES NEW POP ALBUM Indian American singer-songwriter Zoya has released her third album, “Bad Girls Dream.”

The 22-minute pop album consists of nine songs, and is produced by Chuck Inglish – who has worked with artists like Chance the Rapper – and Mark Nilan Jr., who won a Grammy for ‘Best Soundtrack’ for Lady Gaga’s film, “A Star is Born.” Also, the title track, “Bad Girls Dream,” which is a radio-friendly pop anthem and was released as a single in 2019, features rapper Jack Harlow. “Pop used to be one thing in the late ‘90s, but pop now is a very ambiguous term. The pop charts on Billboard are a giant mix of hip-hop, singer-songwriter, country, electronic dance music, and rock. It’s a cool time to be a pop artist because there aren’t really any rules anymore,” she said.

US REDUCES TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN TO 8,600 The United States has reduced its troop strength in Afghanistan to 8,600, well ahead of a schedule agreed with Taliban militants in late February, in part because of concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, US and NATO officials said. Two US officials said that the United States was close to 8,600 troops and could reach that number in coming days. “Due to Covid-19 concerns, we are moving towards that planned drawdown faster than anticipated,” one of the officials said. The other official said the United States had focused on quickly removing nonessential personnel and those considered to be at high risk from the virus. According to reports, US had less than 10,000 troops in Afghanistan, putting the Trump administration ahead of schedule. US President Donald Trump said there were “7,000-some-odd” US soldiers in Afghanistan but officials clarified that number was slightly over 8,600 troops.

TRUMP SIGNS ORDER ON POLICE REFORMS US President Donald Trump signed an executive order encouraging police departments to adopt best practices and 'highest professional standards' amid calls for police reforms following nationwide protests over the brutal killing of AfricanAmerican George Floyd in police custody.

“Today, I am signing an executive order encouraging police departments nationwide to adopt the highest professional standards to serve their communities. These standards will be as high and as strong as there is on earth. The vast majority of police officers are selfless and courageous public servants,” Trump said. Trump said he strongly oppose the radical and dangerous efforts to defend, dismantle, and dissolve the police departments, especially now when they have achieved the lowest recorded crime rates in recent history.

US HITS SYRIA WITH TOUGHEST SANCTIONS The US imposed its toughest sanctions ever targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to choke off revenue for his government in a bid to force it back to UN-led negotiations and broker an end to the country’s nine-year long war. The fresh sanctions on Syria penalize 39 companies and individuals, including Assad and his wife Asma, whom along with her family, who US secretary of state Mike Pompeo described as “one of Syria’s most notorious war profiteers.” The sanctions are the result of legislation known as the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, named after the pseudonym of a Syrian policeman who turned over photos of thousands of victims of torture by the Assad government. Pompeo said, “We anticipate many more sanctions and we will not stop until Assad and his regime stop their needless, brutal war against the Syrian people and the Syrian government agrees to a political solution to the conflict,” he said.

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Rush arms supplies, India to tell Russia amid China crisis India is set to ask Russia to fast-track contracted weapon systems as well as urgently rush critical spares for its fighter planes, main battle tanks and submarines amid the ongoing troop confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh. Defence minister Rajnath Singh, who left for Moscow on a threeday trip on Monday morning, will also press Russia for air transportation of the spares and related equipment - for Sukhoi-30MKI and MiG-29 fighters, T-90S main battle tanks and Kiloclass submarines - instead of the time consuming route through shipping, sources said.

“The visit will give me an opportunity to hold talks on ways to further deepen the India-Russia defence and strategic partnership. I shall also be attending the 75th Victory Day Parade in Moscow (on June 24),” Singh said.

He will also use the opportunity to brief his Russian counterpart General Sergei Shoigu on the bloody border skirmish-

expedite delivery of the five squadrons of S400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems under the $5.43 billion deal inked in October 2018.

The S-400 deliveries were originally scheduled to begin from Rajnath Singh October 2020 and es with China during their end by April 2023. But the bilateral meeting. Over 60% delay in payments due to of the weapons systems used India working out a mechaby the 1.5 million strong nism to get around the Indian armed forces are still threat of financial sanctions of Russian origin, though by the US, under its CAATIndia has increasingly SA (Countering America’s turned to the US, France Adversaries through and Israel for arms imports Sanction Act) law, and some over the last 15 years. other issues has pushed back China, meanwhile, has the start of deliveries to endcosied up to Russia, emerg2021. ing as its second-largest China, incidentally, has client (after India) for miliinducted six S-400 batteries tary hardware and software under a $3 billion deal inked needs of its 2.2 million with Russia in 2014, with the People’s Liberation Army. deliveries beginning in Over 70% of China’s arms January 2018. The S-400 imports now come from version India will get can Russia. detect, track and destroy Apart from seeking to hostile strategic bombers, resolve all pending issues, jets, spy planes, missiles and India will also ask Russia to drones at a range of 380 km.

Rajya Sabha elections: BJP cements lead with 8 more seats The Rajya Sabha elections last5 week left the ruling BJP with an increased tally in the Upper House but still short of a majority on its own, and added political heavyweights to the Opposition ranks. In elections to 19 seats in 10 states, BJP won eight and Congress four. With this, the current strength of Rajya Sabha will go up to 244, of which BJP has 86 members - increasing its tally from 75 - and the NDA’s tally is expected to cross 100. The Congress has 41 while others have 27.

Against the 61 vacancies in 20 states, 42 were already elected unopposed.

The BJP had seven MPs elected unopposed in March and three in the last two days; one from Arunachal Pradesh and two from Karnataka, while five Congressmen won unopposed. Fifteen members of the BJP and 17 members of the Congress were among the 61 who retired from the Upper House.

With the results, the BJP has cemented its lead in the Rajya Sabha, where it had initially struggled to get its preferred Bills passed since 2014. While the BJP will now have Jyotiraditya Scindia with it in the treasury benches, the

Hinduja brothers fight over letter dividing $11.2 bn fortune A letter signed by the four Hinduja brothers is at the center of a legal dispute over the future of the family’s $11.2 billion fortune. The 2015 document says that the assets held by one brother belong to all, and that each man will appoint the others as their executors.

But now Srichand Hinduja, 84, the patriarch of the family, and his daughter, Vinoo, want the letter declared worthless.

The dispute between the UK-based family came to a light in a ruling delivered by a London judge, who said that the three other brothers, Gopichand, Prakash, and Ashok, used the letter to take control of Hinduja Bank - an asset that was in Srichand’s sole name.

Srichand and Vinoo want the court to rule that the letter should have “no legal effect” and cannot be used as a will, the judge said.

She said that Srichand had insisted as early as 2016 that the July letter doesn’t reflect his wishes and that the family’s assets should be sepa-

rated.

In a statement, the three brothers said that the litigation will have no impact on their business and that the proceedings “go against our founder’s and family’s values.” They said these principles have stood for decades, especially the idea that “everything belongs to everyone and nothing belongs to anyone.”

The three brothers said that if the claim succeeds then all assets in Srichand’s name would pass to his daughter and her immediate family, including the entire shareholding in Hinduja Bank, according to the ruling. The judge said that Srichand lacks capacity to give instructions to his lawyers and appointed Vinoo to act on his behalf.

The Hinduja family are among the world’s richest.

The bulk of their fortune derives from Hinduja Group, the closely held conglomerate whose origins trace back more than a century that today has investments spanning finance, media and health care in almost 40 countries, according to its website.

The four Hinduja siblings now help to run the Mumbai-based group, which suffered in the economic turmoil stemming from the pandemic. Shares in Ashok Leyland Ltd., the Indian truck-maker controlled by Hinduja Group’s automotive unit, fell more than a third in March. The global slowdown in travel also hurt the group’s Gulf Oil International.

The Ugandan Asian: A Report Asians were expelled from Uganda 48 years ago. Many came to Britain empty handed, worked hard and now are being praised for their grand success. In the last few weeks, the British government has opened its doors for 3 million or more people from Hong Kong. The British Royalty, Political and Public Life Leaders and the Media, all have supported this initiative recollecting the sterling contribution of the Ugandan Asians.

Why ?

1. Who are the Ugandan Asians ?

2. How did they reach Uganda in the 19th Century ?

3. Their manifold contribution to the development of Uganda ?

Opposition side will have the experienced H D Deve Gowda, Mallikarjun Kharge, Digvijaya Singh and Shibu Soren coming in.

BJP leaders said the balance of power, which had already been tilted towards the ruling coalition side, has become clear now. “We welcome the election results and with the support of the council of states, we will strengthen the democratic roots of the country,” senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Bhupender Yadav said. He said that all major policy decisions like GST were taken with consensus, but more numbers would mean “a stronger democratic participation”.

From the opposition benches, TMC retained their four seats, NCP its two seats, RJD got two and Shiv Sena one. In states like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP further

consolidated its position.

In Madhya Pradesh, where the defection of Scindia with other MLAs into the BJP led to the fall of the Congress government in March, the BJP managed to win two seats, including Scindia’s. Congress veteran Digvijaya won from the state with the highest number of first preferential votes.

In Gujarat, since the Rajya Sabha polls were announced, the Congress saw the exit of eight of its MLAs. It cost the Congress one Rajya Sabha seat. The BJP, which had adequate numbers to win two seats, managed to win three of the four seats for which elections were held. In Congress-ruled Rajasthan, the Congress retained its two seats and the BJP one.

In Jharkhand the BJP and JMM won one seat each.

The BJP won Manipur’s lone Rajya Sabha seat.

4. Why and who expelled them from Uganda ?

5. How did they come to the UK and faced various challenges ?

The Ugandan Asian’s contribution is remarkable. Our upcoming special publication on Ugandan Asians will attempt to answer all these and more. We need your help on various information and profiles. Today Ugandan Asians are amongst Britain's outstanding politicians, businessmen and women, professionals, art and cultural professionals and in many other walks of life.

You might know some of them and will know about many more from this publication.

On 4th August, 1972, dictator Idi Amin announced expulsion of all Ugandan Asians within 90 days. Our children, grandchildren and others need to know the agony, pain, hardship, challenges and successes of their forefathers and mothers and realise what they have gone through during the forced deportation and subsequent settlement in the UK and other countries.

This Special publication will be a source of research and reference forever about the

trial and triumphs of the Ugandan Asians.

Your participation is very important, needed and welcome. We would like nominations / recommendations for the Editorial Board, Advisory Panel and Ambassadors for this unique project.

Publisher/ Editor: Shri CB Patel (cb.patel@abplgroup.com) Managing Editor, Gujarat Samachar: Kokilaben Patel (kokila.patel@abplgroup.com) Consulting Editor, Gujarat Samachar: Jyotsnaben Shah (jyotsna.shah@abplgroup.com) Managing Editor, Asian Voice: Rupanjana Dutta (rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com) Correspondence: Shrijit Rajan (shrijit.rajan@abplgroup.com) We also seek your participation and support with information of individuals and businesses of such entrepreneurs and achievers. Sponsorship, advertisement and advertorials are welcome but not mandatory. Uganda became independent on 9th October, 1962. The release of this special tribute to Uganda and the Ugandan Asian to coincide with the anniversary of a unique country which is also known as the Jewel of Africa.

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in brief

Centre asks states to replicate Karnataka’s initiatives to contain Covid-19 NEW DELHI: The central government has asked other states to replicate the best practices implemented by Karnataka including comprehensive contact tracing of Covid-19 cases and household survey covering more than 15million households - for containment of the pandemic.

The Union Health Ministry, while issuing direction to other states, lauded the two initiatives taken by Karnataka that were developed as part of the ‘whole of government’ approach with the involvement of multisectoral agencies and supported by technology-based solutions and interventions.

They effectively trace and track each case, thereby successfully containing the spread of the epidemic, the ministry said.

“The Centre has asked the other states to adapt these best practices to their local context and replicate them for better management of the Covid-19

pandemic,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Centre also highlighted Karnataka’s widening of the definition of ‘contact’ to include both high-risk and low-risk contacts as defined by the Government of India. “The number of primary and secondary contacts in Karnataka were meticulously traced and

put under strict quarantine,” it said. The Centre said the state has been able to curtail the spread of infection in slums of big corporation areas through compulsory institutional quarantine of contacts residing in slums or similar areas. “It has also been made mandatory for all returnees / travelers coming to Karnataka to register on ‘Seva

Sindhu’ portal, which enables the state to follow them for the next few days when they are in home / institutional quarantine.

The ‘Quarantine Watch App’ is used to assist the field workers in enforcing the quarantine,” it said.

The Centre also underlined the outreach campaign through Apthamitra tele-consultation helpline, being used to reach out to households at risk through Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) and outbound calls. “The households reporting anyone with Covid-19-like symptoms are contacted by a telemedicine doctor and further advised,” it said.

“The state has also formed Mobile Squads for enforcement of the home quarantine through community participation. In case information is received from the neighbor or public about violation of quarantine by any person, that person is to institutional moved quarantine,” it said.

PUNJAB

Cong, Akalis spar over ordinances on farm sector CHANDIGARH: Leaders of the ruling Congress and opposition SAD in Punjab were engaged in a war of words over three ordinances related to the agriculture sector.

These ordinances are the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance.

The three ordinances passed by the Centre are completely against farmers and would badly hit the agrarian state of Punjab, five state ministers said in a joint statement.

The ministers included Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Gurpreet Singh

Kangar, Sukhbinder Singh Sukh Sarkaria and Balbir Singh Sidhu.

They accused the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of supporting these ordinances, which, they said, was “anti-Punjab”. However, SAD leaders said the Congressled government had already amended the State Agriculture Produce Markets Act (APMC) in 2017 to include all the provisions of the Farming Produce Trade and Commerce Ordinance, 2020, which was passed by the Centre recently. The ministers in their statement said by supporting these ordinances, SAD chief Sukhbir Badal had proved that they “pawned” their ideology before the BJP for saving the chair of Harsimrat Kaur Badal in the Modi cabinet. The Punjab Congress has planned to launch an agitation against the three ordinances.

SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema dared Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar to do a 'jan andolan' against Chief Minister Amarinder Singh who had amended the State APMC in 2017. He asked the Punjab Congress president to also tell why he was trying to “befool” farmers.

Former minister Cheema also asked him to explain why he was hiding the fact that the Congress government had amended the State APMC Act to allow creation of private yards, permission for etrading and permission for direct marketing.

“The Congress government is also party to passing of the Farming Produce Ordinance. It participated in the consultative process and also gave feedback to the Centre that it had already amended the state APMC Act to

enable implementation of the proposed Ordinance”, claimed Cheema. Cheema said Jakhar should spell out if the amendment of the State APMC Act by his government was right or wrong. “If he feels it was an anti-farmer step he should start his 'jan andolan' from the chief minister's residence in Chandigarh and force the government to take it back”, he said. Cheema, however, said the minimum support price and assured marketing are here to stay. The SAD will ensure this at all costs. “We have already announced that there will not be any compromise on these issues,” he said.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had already appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider the decision on three ordinances on the farm sector.

TN WITHDRAWS ORDER CHANGING NAMES The Tamil Nadu government has withdrawn the controversial order changing the English spellings of 1,018 places in the state after the decision and the timing of it amid the coronavirus pandemic had garnered mixed responses. The state had changed the spellings to reflect the Tamil pronunciation and spelling of these places. "We are working on alignment of views by experts on Transliteration standards from Tamil to English. Hopefully, we should get this released in 2/3 days. The GO on the change of English names for Tamil names for places has been withdrawn. Will absorb all feedback & reissue shortly," Tamil Language Development Minister K Pandiarajan tweeted.

While many of these English names were anglicised versions of the original and were coined by the British, some had the influence of Sanksrit on them.

BJP YIELDS AN INCH TO SAVE YEDIYURAPPA'S FACE The BJP named four candidates to contest the Legislative Council elections in Karnataka, and three of them are those backed by chief minister B S Yediyurappa. This allows the chief minister to fulfill promises he made to defectors from the opposition parties last year, and spares him considerable embarrassment had he not been able to make his word prevail.

The BJP named Pratap Simha Nayak, M T B Nagaraj, R Shankar and Sunil Valyapure for the election. Except Nayak, all three candidates are backed by Yediyurappa. While Yediyurappa was able to come good on promises he made to R Shankar and M T B Nagaraj, he was not able to push through the candidature of H Vishwanath. All three leaders had defected from the Congress to the BJP by resigning their membership of the Legislative Assembly.

PUNJAB SEEKS OVER £8 BN AID FROM CENTRE Stressing that the coronavirus challenge is likely to stay for long, the Punjab government sought a fiscal aid of £8 billion from the Centre to ‘save lives and secure lovelihoods’. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointed towards a 'large-scale devastation and distress' caused to the state due to the pandemic. “The Centre's urgent intervention was needed to avert any major socio-economic upheaval in the coming future, as also to assure our next generations of safe living and security of livelihood,” said the CM demanding an aid of £8.08 billion.

Singh also emphasised the need for 'administrative, structural and even statutory changes' to ensure the safety and security of people in the new normal, given that the pandemic is here to stay for a long time.

WEST BENGAL

Infighting continues within TMC ahead of assembly polls KOLKATA: Infighting and discontent seems to be brewing in the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC ahead of the 2021 assembly polls, with several top party leaders coming out in the open against the state government's handling of post cyclone Amphan restoration works and the coronavirus pandemic.

The growing dissatisfaction among the party rank and file over various issues has put the top Trinamool Congress leadership in a fix with just ten months to go for the state assembly polls. With last year's Lok Sabha poll results indicating a

Mamata Banerjee

paradigm shift in the state politics with the saffron party emerging as the principal challenger to the TMC, the stakes are high for the TMC and time is precious for Mamata to set the house in order before assembly polls.

Switching of sides by many party legislators and MPs had cost the TMC dearly in the 2019 Parliamentary elections.

The BJP had won 18 out of a total of 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal in the last general election, only four

less than the TMC's tally of 22. According to sources, the recent outbursts of senior party leaders and ministers like Sadhan Pande, Subrata Mukherjee and party MP Mahua Moitra, has triggered a debate in the state's political circles.

"The recent flare-up by such senior leaders and that too in public is a matter of concern.

Although the party has asked them not to express their views in public, what prompted them to go public? Whether they are trying to send some message, it needs to be looked into," a senior TMC leader said.

Although Mamata, without taking any name at a recent virtual party meet, had asked disgruntled leaders to leave the party instead of weakening it from inside, things have not improved as it appears.

While Pande had openly questioned the party-run KMC's role in the postcyclone restoration work, Mukherjee, one of the senior-most politicians of Bengal, had questioned the absence of the TMC top brass, including state ministers, in cycloneaffected areas of North and South 24 Parganas districts-which faced the brunt of the calamity.

Moitra, TMC national

spokesperson and Lok Sabha MP, took a swipe at the party-run gram panchayats within her c o n s t i t u e n c y , Krishnanagar, over unspent funds and unplanned work, and urged people to stand up against corruption by local political leaders. Amidst the rumblings, BJP leader Mukul Roy, once the number two in the Trinamool Congress and who is now the saffron party's key man in bringing the "disgruntled" leaders and elected representatives of the TMC to the party, claimed that "several top TMC leaders are in touch with us".

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

Ex-MLA tries to assault Wealthy J.R.D. Tata’s simplicity Morari Bapu in Dwarka • Dr. Hari Desai

Started as an unpaid apprentice at the Tatas, rose to become the youngest Chairman • Sipping tea Jeh innocently asked actor Dilip Kumar, ‘what exactly you do in films?’

ehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata. Hardly anybody would remember his full name: he was just JRD or Jeh for everyone. During my Mumbai days whenever I got a chance to visit Bombay House, the head office of Tatas, could see a simple smiling gentleman without any tantrums and that was JRD. Soft spoken head of the Tata Group would even respond to a commoner waving hands with smile or shaking hands while traveling in a car and no battery of bodyguards would come forward to stop any! It is said of JRD that he spoke French better than English and both better than any Indian language. That did not preclude him from forging a special bond with Indians of all ages and backgrounds. He touched the lives of countless others, rich and poor, manager and worker, as he became the embodiment of the principles and philosophy of the House of Tata.

J

On 29 July 1904, Tata was born into one enterprises valued in billions of dollars”: of India’s wealthiest families, in Paris, chemicals, automobiles, tea, information France. He was born to RD Tata, a business technology and more. JRD believed good partner and relative of Jamsetji Tata, and his human relations are not built on paternalist French wife Sooni. JRD, the second of four principles. He believed that workers must children, was educated in France, Japan and have the right to speak to their managers as England before being drafted into the equals when matters of principle or French army for a mandatory one-year fundamental rights are involved. Because, if period. JRD wanted to extend his stint in the they do not have channels to do this forces (to avail of a chance to attend a peacefully, they may have to resort to strikes renowned horse-riding school), but his to make themselves heard. father would have none of it. Leaving the JRD Tata was bestowed with India's French army saved JRD his life, because highest honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1992. shortly thereafter the regiment he served in Despite his very public persona, JRD was a was wiped out while on an expedition in shy and reticent man. He never hankered Morocco. after honours but was showered with them, JRD then set his mind on securing an to much bemusement on his part. On being engineering degree from Cambridge, but RD told that the Indian government was Tata summoned his son back to India (JRD thinking about giving him the Bharat Ratna, would forever regret not being able to attend the country's highest civilian award, he is university). He soon found himself on the reported to have said: "Why me? I don't threshold of a business deserve it. The Bharat Ratna is career in a country he was usually given to people who far from familiar with. This are dead or it is given to was a young man aware of politicians. I am not prepared his obligations to the to oblige the government on family he belonged to. In a the former and I am not the letter to his father on his latter."

Earlier, 21st birthday in 1925, JRD controversially, he had wrote, "One more year has supported PM Indira Gandhi’s fallen on my shoulders. I Emergency (1975-77) and have been looking back and A progressive, benevolent, ethical and opined “the Parliamentary also deep inside myself compassionate J.R.D. Tata system is not suited to our with the merciless eye of needs”. He died in Geneva on conscience, and have been trying to find out 29 November 1993. whether during this last year I have gained in JRD Tata has lived an inspiring life and experience or wisdom. I haven't found out took on many challenges; he helped increase much yet!" the valuation of Tata Group but is still JRD Tata started as an unpaid apprentice remembered as a humble man by many. On at the Tata Group, but rose to become the one such occasion, famous yesteryear movie youngest Chairman the Group had seen. JRD star Dilip Kumar had recounted his sudden entered the Tatas as an unpaid apprentice in meeting with JRD Tata on a flight. Kumar, December 1925. His mentor in business was who was on the peak of his career at the John Peterson, a Scotsman who had joined time, had an encounter with Tata while he the Group after serving in the Indian Civil was travelling on a flight. “At the peak of my Service. At 22, soon after his father passed career, I was once travelling by aeroplane. away, JRD was on the board of Tata Sons, the The passenger next to me was an elderly man Group's flagship company. In 1929, aged 25, dressed in a simple shirt and pant. He he surrendered his French citizenship to appeared middle class but seemed wellembrace the country that would become the educated. Other passengers kept glancing at central motif of his life. me, but this gentleman appeared to be The first of JRD's big adventures in unconcerned of me. He was reading his business was born of his childhood newspaper, looking out of the window and fascination for flying. He had grown up in when tea came, he sipped quietly,” Kumar France watching the famous aviator Louis was quoted saying. Kumar told that he tried Bleriot's early flights, and had taken a joyride to strike a conversation with the elderly man in an airplane as a 15-year-old. In 1929, JRD (JRD Tata), and smiled. His smile was became one of the first Indians to be granted reciprocated by Tata who said “hello”. Once a commercial pilot's licence. A year later, a they started talking on the flight, Kumar proposal landed at the Tata headquarters to asked JRD Tata if he watched films. start an airmail service that would connect However, to his disappointment, JRD Tata Bombay, Ahmedabad and Karachi. JRD replied: “Oh! Very few...I did see one many needed no prompting, years ago.” On mentioning Next Column but it would take that he worked in films, Tata Peterson to convince Gen. Manekshaw: A Hero painted asked Kumar what he exactly did. Kumar responded by Dorabji Tata, then as Villain by Krishna Menon saying that he was an actor.

Chairman of the Tatas, On hearing this, Tata said, “Oh! That’s to let the young ace have his way. In 1932, wonderful.” When the flight landed, Kumar JRD Tata piloted the first flight in Indian shook JRD Tata’s hand and told him his full aviation history, from Karachi to Mumbai. name. Tata responded calmly and said, Under his tenure, the Tata Group’s assets “Thank you, my name is JRD Tata.” The “climbed from Rs. 620 million in 1939 to over event finds mention in the biography of Dilip Rs. 1,00,000 million in 1990.” The Tata Kumar. Recalling the encounter, Kumar said: Group started from 14 companies, but “No matter how big you are, there is someone over the course of his leadership, the group bigger. Be humble, it costs nothing.” turned into a “conglomerate of 95

Former BJP MLA of Dwarka Pabubha Manek tried to assault Ram Katha preacher Morari Bapu at the temple town last week.

Morari Bapu had come to pay obeisance at Dwarkadhish temple and put a lid on a controversy that was triggered by his alleged remarks about Lord Krishna and his Morari Bapu and Pabubha Manek brother Balram some days lodged, said Anand. ago.

Morari Bapu had allegedly riled Lord Manek, who had unsuccessfully Krishna followers, particularly those challenged his disqualification as an from the local Aahir community, with MLA in Supreme Court recently, the comments made some days ago. reached the VIP guest house of temple Followers of Lord Krishna had even where Morari Bapu was addressing submitted memorandums to the media persons along with Jamanagar government authorities in several BJP MP Poonam Maadam. After Morari districts demanding that the preacher Bapu, Maadam was about to interact come in person and offer his apology in with reporters when Manek rushed in Dwarkadhish temple. and reached menacingly close to the Bandh in Mahuva preacher. However, a person intervened Mahuva and Talgajrada observed a in the nick of time and took away the bandh on Saturday against attack on MLA. Morari Bapu. While a few bodyguards Videos of the incident showed were also spotted in the Ram katha Maadam desperately pleading with narrator’s ashram in Talgajarda, but Manek to control himself. Manek Bapu’s spokesperson denied engaging relented but is seen addressing Morari them for the preacher. Talgajrada Bapu curtly and asking him to leave village, where Morari Bapu has his immediately. Talking to reporters, ashram is also his native place. There Maadam said, “Devotees were hurt by was a rumour that Manek is likely to Morari Bapu’s comments regarding come to offer his apology and so, nearly Lord Krishna, Balram and about Dwarka 150 people gathered outside the ashram, and Yadavs. The community had armed with ink to blacken Manek’s face. demanded that he come to the temple State minister Bhupendrasinh and apologize before Lord Krishna.”

Chudasama and BJP spokesperson Morari Bapu said, “I have publicly Bharat Pandya also reached the ashram apologized to all those who were hurt by to meet the preacher. Talking to media, my words. I sincerely wish to maintain Chudasama said, “This is not the right the unity and integrity of the society.” way to express his disagreement, we According to sources, Morari Bapu condemn the incident.” When asked reached Dwarka at around 6 pm and what action would the party take on the performed puja in the temple. He had ex-MLA, Pandya skirted the query with planned to stay overnight in the guest an evasive reply: “The party will take an house, but left for Porbandar after the appropriate decision.” ruckus.

It is for the first time that private Rohan Anand, superintendent of security guards were spotted outside the police, Devbhumi Dwarka district, said: ashram all day long. When contacted “After some altercation, there was an Jaydev Makad who is handling the attempt to assault Morari Bapu. Once ashram’s public relations, said, “They Bapu settled in the room in the presence (guards) are not engaged for Bapu, they of the MP, police were standing guard have come here with one of his outside to see that no unknown person followers.” enters.” No formal complaint has been

Private hospital charges £1,600 for patient’s PPE in India The authorities in Delhi have moved to stop profiteering by private hospitals that are charging about £265 a day and crippling advance payments to accept a coronavirus patient.

Officials have imposed a price cap of 10,000 rupees (£106) per day for a place in an isolation ward or £160 for an intensive care bed with no ventilator. Delhi is among the worst affected areas in India.

Most beds for coronavirus patients are in government hospitals where treatment is subsidised but wealthier people shun them because of their poor reputation. They go to private hospitals but only if they are lucky enough to find an available bed and a deposit, which ranges from £1,000 to £20,000 paid in advance. Surjit Khanna said that he had to give a hospital more than £5,000 before it would admit his mother. “We were running around begging relatives

and friends and visiting ATMs to clean out all our accounts,” he said.

His mother recovered, but Khanna was left with a bill of £16,000. “£1,600 was charged just for PPE kits,” he said. “It was naked extortion. They made the most of the opportunity to fleece us since we were sitting ducks.” Private hospitals say that patients are informed of the cost at every stage, but some of their own doctors have expressed outrage. “The average family will go bankrupt paying for just a week’s treatment. My own family wouldn’t be able to afford such bills,” a doctor at one of the hospitals said.

26 INDIA

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India gives forces ‘full freedom’ to give fitting reply to China India is determined to impose costs on Chinese troops if they attempt any further misadventure on the border, officials said after defence minister Rajnath Singh reviewed operational readiness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with the military brass. The armed forces have been given “full freedom” to respond in an “adequate and proportionate manner” to any hostile act in accordance with their judgment. “They have been told not to start a fight, but also not to hold back in the event of any ground intrusion or breach of airspace.

The Army, Navy and IAF reported satisfactory levels of preparedness and high operational alertness along the LAC,” an official said.

The meeting chaired by Singh was attended by chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat and the three Service chiefs, General M M Naravane, Admiral Karambir Singh and Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria. The decisive shift away from the longstanding border management policy to largely maintain “peace and tranquility” on the LAC gives the military commanders on the ground the leeway to undertake whatever action is required to foil any misadventure by the PLA. “This obviously includes freedom to the commanders to order troops to open fire in the face of extreme provocation and extraordinary situations like the one near PP-14 on June 15,” the official said.

Diplomatic talks likely this week Sources said diplomatic talks are likely to be held with China in the coming week in a bid to break the military stalemate on the ground. A second meeting between 14 Corps commander Lt-General

Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military District chief Major General Liu Lin is also on the cards, on the lines of the one they held at the Chushul-Moldo border personnel meeting point in eastern Ladakh on June 6.

This week, MEA joint secretary in charge of China, Naveen Srivastava, will hold a second virtual conference with his counterpart in Beijing to bring about a diplomatic resolution to the crisis. This will be the second conversation between Srivastava and Wu Jianghao, director general in the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs after June 5.

With both India and China having amassed troops and heavy weapons all along the 3,488-km LAC, and no signs of any deescalation in the troop confrontations in eastern Ladakh, “a high-level politico-diplomatic intervention may be required due to the continuing deadlock”, another official said.

Though the Indian Army is in control of the area near PP-14, PLA’s occupation of ‘Finger-4 to 8’ (mountainous

spurs separated by a distance of 8 km) area on the north bank of Pangong Tso remains a major area of concern.

The PLA has built fortifications and taken control of the heights to block all Indian patrols west to east from ‘Finger-4’ to ‘Finger-8’ area, where the LAC runs north to south, since early last month.

India moves jets, copters along border India has moved its fighter jets to forward airbases facing China, even as additional warships have now been deployed in the extended Bay of Bengal region, in a clear signal to Beijing that New Delhi is prepared for escalation in the ongoing troop confrontation on the unresolved border.

The fresh build-up includes the new Apache attack helicopters, which are “tank killers” with their Hellfire air-to-ground missiles and rockets, and Chinook heavy-lift choppers, capable of transporting howitzers and troops to forward high-

areas, being altitude deployed in Ladakh. “China has crossed our red-lines by brutally killing 20 of our soldiers in a premeditated attack (in Galwan Valley of eastern Ladakh on June 15).

We are fully prepared for any spiraling of the matrix.

All escalation necessary steps have been taken,” said a top military officer.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which is clearly in no mood for disengagement, also continues to build-up its forces all along the LAC. This is especially true at the ongoing troop confrontation sites in Galwan Valley region, Pangong Tso (Tso means lake), and Gogra-Hot Springs area as well other areas like Depsang and Chushul in eastern Ladakh.

Air Chief makes quiet visit to Leh, Srinagar India, on its part, has inducted frontline Sukhoi30MKI, MiG-29 and Jaguar fighters into forward airbases, with IAF chief Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria quietly visiting Leh and Srinagar last week

to review the operational preparedness in the region.

IAF has fully activated all its airbases facing the northern borders with China, ranging from Leh, Srinagar, Awantipur and Bareilly to Tezpur, Chabua and Hasimara in the northeast, to further strengthen its military posture.

Though China can deploy over 20 fighter squadrons from its eight main airbases in Tibet and other airfields to their north during a conflict, it suffers from a terrain constraint because the weapon and fuel carrying capacity of its jets is limited due to the highaltitude and rarefied air in the region.

While Indian fighters are undertaking stepped-up `combat air patrols’ due to the “heightened state of alert” in the region, C-17 Globemaster-III, C-130J `Super Hercules’ and AN-32 transport aircraft have formed “an air bridge” from Chandigarh to Ladakh to transport soldiers and weapon systems to forward areas in regular sorties.

Withdraw from Pangong, India tells China India pressed for the withdrawal of Chinese troops from Indian territory in the Pangong Tso area of eastern Ladakh, while expressing outrage at the “premediated and preplanned” brutal violence unleashed against Indian soldiers in Galwan Valley on June 15, during the second round of top-level military talks on Monday. India strongly reiterated its demand for restoration of status quo as it existed in

mid-April, which would involve PLA troops pulling back from the “Finger 4 to 8” area on the northern bank of Pangong Tso as well as deinducting its military buildups in areas facing the Galwan Valley, GograHotsprings, Depsang and Chushul in eastern Ladakh, said sources.

There was no official word on the outcome of the second round of talks between Lt-General Harinder Singh and Major General Liu Lin, who had held a similar dialogue for the first time on June 6. The meeting on Monday continued till late in the night on the Chinese side of the Chushul-Moldo border personnel meeting (BPM) point in eastern Ladakh.

The extended Moldo meeting took place even as Army chief General M M Naravane in New Delhi reviewed the “operational ground situation” all along LAC, which has seen the rival armies engage in major military build-ups, with the heads of the six regional commands and one training command of the over 12,00,000 strong Army.

“De-escalation in eastern Ladakh is not going to be easy. It will take time.

We are hoping for the best but are prepared for the worst,” said a source. At the Moldo meeting, India expressed its anger at the barbaric attack on Indian troops by the numerically superior PLA soldiers, armed with nail-studded iron rods and stones, near “Patrolling Point-14” in the Galwan Valley region on June 15.

After Galwan clash, states look to end contracts with Chinese firms Many state governments are planning to cancel contracts with Chinese companies amid a growing clamour in the country to boycott Chinese products following the death of 20 Indian soldiers in a clash with PLA troops in Ladakh, officials said.

On Saturday, the Haryana government annulled two tenders for installation of flue gas desulphurization (FGD) system at their thermal power plants at Hisar and Yamunanagar. The works under the two tenders carried a financial implication of about £78 million, Haryana government officials said, adding more contracts with Chinese firms would be cancelled in the next few days.

“Uttar Pradesh will not purchase any Chinese equipment for its energy sector,” its power minister, Shrikant Sharma said.

“We will see to it that even the vendors do not supply any goods that are made wholly in China or use any part of it made in China,” he said, while pointing out that

Chinese firms sell cheap solar panels and other electronic goods.

But UP’s minister for industrial development, Satish Mahana, cautioned that cancelling contracts with Chinese companies can have legal implications. “Such things (cancellation of Chinese contracts) cannot happen overnight as such deals have legal issues,” he said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has strongly expressed his sentiments against the use of Chinese goods in wake of the standoff with China at Galwan valley even though Bihar government has not issued any specific order in this regard. “There is a need for reviewing all the previous trade agreements in a bid to ensure that Chinese products are not used,” Kumar had said at the all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Bihar industry minister, Shyam Rajak, said there was no role of the state government in banning Chinese products. “Any foreign firm investing in the state has to get clearances from the Centre,” he said. On Sunday, Uttarakhand

instructed officials to list Chinese companies which have been given government contracts. Madan Kaushik, cabinet minister and spokesperson Uttarakhand government said that he has instructed officials to check whether the authorities in the state government have signed any contracts with Chinese authorities or companies in the past.

“After we find whether there are any contracts and if there are, what sort of contracts we have, we will take a decision on whether to cancel them or not,” he said.

Maharashtra government said the Centre will have to formulate a policy on investment by Chinese companies before states can decide.

“As far as foreign direct investment (FDI) is concerned, Chinese investment is allowed in the manufacturing, service and real estate sector. If we have to ban them, then the decision has to come from the central government because we need a uniform policy and it should not happen that Chinese investment is allowed in one state and not in another,” said

Bhushan Gagrani, principal secretary who is also the state coordination officer to attract investment in the state.

On June 15, the state government signed 12 memorandum of understanding (MoUs) worth £1.63 billion with major global companies, of them three were Chinese firms - Hengli (China), Great Wall Motors (China) and PMI Electro Mobility Solutions, a joint venture with Foton China. Six Chinese companies are involved in infrastructure projects in Mumbai with the 337-km Metro project that is estimated to cost £10 billion.

Earlier this week, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) cancelled the bids to manufacture 10 monorail rakes received from two Chinese companies – CRRC Corporation Ltd and BYD Co Ltd. “As the two Chinese companies were dictating us to change tender conditions, MMRDA has decided to look for technology partners in India. As we do not require large quantities, it is possible for Indian firms to

manufacture and supply (the coaches) in less time,” MMRDA metropolitan commissioner RA Rajeev said. Officials in several governments such as West Bengal, Odisha and Rajasthan, said no decision has been taken to ban Chinese products. “The decision to ban Chinese companies can only be taken by the Centre. Why doesn’t the BJP government snap all trade relations with China? Moreover, no Chinese company has base in West Bengal,” said Dola Sen, TMC Rajya Sabha MP and president of INTTUC, the trade union wing of the TMC. A Rajasthan government official said that the issue has not been discussed so far. Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh police have issued orders asking its personnel to remove Chinese apps from their phones. The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force ordered its staffers to uninstall 52 mobile apps of Chinese origin, pointing that these applications could be used to extract information from their mobile phones and those of their family members.

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HEALTH

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27 June - 3 July 2020

High-salt diet impacts health of the gut microbiome A study published in the journal Hypertension suggests reducing salt intake can benefit the gut microbiome and blood pressure in women with untreated hypertension.

In the randomized, placebo-controlled study, the researchers examined the blood of 145 adults aged 30–75 with untreated high blood pressure who were enrolled in a previous study at the Queen Mary University of London.

Because stool samples were not taken on the study participants, the researchers couldn’t look more directly at the gut microbiota, so instead measured circulating short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), the primary metabolite produced by gut microbiota.

SCFAs are known to play a role in blood pressure regulation. These small originating metabolites from the gut get absorbed

into the entire circulation, binding to receptors on the lining of blood vessels and in the kidneys, regulating things like the release of renin, an enzyme that works to keep the kidneys well perfused and a major player in blood pressure control.

Blood levels of SCFAs can be considered an indicator of the health of the gut microbiome.

All the study participants were given two weeks of detailed instruction by nurses on how to lower their sodium intake to about 2,000 mg daily, information that was reinforced

throughout the study. Half of the participants received either a sodium tablet or placebo tablet nine times daily for six weeks, then switched groups.

According to study author Haidong Zhu, a molecular geneticist at the Georgia Prevention Institute at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, there is increasing evidence that the microbiome has a direct role in regulating blood pressure and how the average American high-salt diet can interfere with a healthy direction. The researchers’

hypothesis was that even a modest reduction in salt intake would alter concentrations of circulating SCFAs and lower blood pressure.

The researchers found that just six weeks of a daily sodium intake close to the 2,300 mg recommended by groups like the American Heart Association, resulted in increased levels of all eight of the SCFAs. The increased SCFA levels were consistently associated with lower blood pressure and enhanced blood vessel flexibility.

“Sodium is a factor in both sexes, but the impact in relation to the gut microbiome seems more in females,” said Zhu. “We need to study it further to see if that is true and why it’s true if it holds.” It may be that a high-salt diet affects blood pressure through different pathways in males and females, she added.

Nuts and Seeds: Tiny and Mighty Ingredients Nuts and seeds meet many of today’s food industry trends, such as natural, clean label, plant-based, wholesome, healthy, inherently nutritional, and tastepleasing. They are also sources of healthy fats, dietary fiber, protein, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

Nutritional Nuts “Nuts are rich in important nutrients and dietary fiber,” says Sandra Arevalo Valencia, director of community & patient education at Montefiore Nyack Hospital and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In addition to heart health and weight management, other areas of research are linking nuts to cognition and the gut microbiome. There is emerging evidence that consuming tree nuts reduces the incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and promotes diversity of gut microbiota, which in turn may help improve cardiovascular disease outcomes. High intake of nuts may protect older adults from cognitive decline.

Almonds Almonds are one of the most popular nuts, both as a stand-alone snack and as an ingredient in foods and beverages. According to reports, almonds are the most popular nut in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North America. Almonds are the tree nut highest in six essential nutrients, including protein (6 g), fiber (4 g), calcium (75 mg), vitamin E (7.4 mg), riboflavin (0.3 mg), and niacin (1 mg),” says Laura Gerhard, direc-

tor of strategy and marketing for Blue Diamond Almonds Global Ingredients Division.

Almond consumption may reduce wrinkle severity in postmenopausal females to potentially have natural antiaging benefits. Various forms of almond ingredients, such as sliced, diced, slivered, flour, and almond protein powder, still harness the nutrition of almonds and offer versatility in formulations.

Walnuts Walnuts are an excellent source of alphalinolenic acid. This is one of the factors that contributes to the heart health benefits of walnuts.

Research is looking at walnuts and the gut microbiome. It has been demonstrated that walnut consumption affected the composition and function of the human gastrointestinal microbiota, increasing the relative abundance of Firmicutes species and reducing microbially derived, pro-inflammatory secondary bile acids and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The results suggested that the gastrointestinal microbiota may

contribute to the underlying mechanisms of the beneficial health effects of walnut consumption.

Pistachios Pistachios are a complete and good source of protein that contain 6 g of protein and all the essential amino acids, according to American Pistachio Growers. They contain 13 g of fat per serving, with the majority (11.5 g) coming from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Something else to note about pistachios is that one serving of pistachios also contains 3 g of dietary fiber.

A study concluded that a daily intake of 44 g of pistachios improved nutrient intake without affecting body weight or composition in healthy women. The additional calories provided by the pistachios helped induce satiety.

• Hazelnuts. Hazelnuts are high in fiber, thiamin, vitamin B6, vitamin E, and minerals such as potassium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and manganese.

Like other nuts, hazelnuts are high in monounsaturated fat. Hazelnuts are considered an excellent antiinflammatory and hypolipi-

demic food, as they are the second-richest source of monounsaturated fatty acids among nuts and rich in vitamins, minerals, and phenolic compounds.

Satisfying seeds Some of the popular seeds include sunflower, flax, hemp, chia, and pumpkin. They are typically eaten as stand-alone snacks, toppings on salads, or ingredients in healthy snacks such as granola or bars.

Flaxseed Flaxseeds are known for their omega-3 fatty acid profile and lignan benefits.

According to Flax Council of Canada, about 42% of flaxseed is oil and more than 70% of that oil is comprised of healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids. Flaxseed contains 55%–57% of the essential omega-3 fatty acid ALA. Chia seed Chia seeds are known for their omega-3 fatty acid content and dietary fiber. In addition, chia seeds are rich in vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, and thiamin and have high concentrations of calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron, and zinc.

Hemp seed Hemp seeds are rich in linoleic acid and ALAs and are a great source of protein, vitamin E, and minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, sodium, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, iron, and zinc. “Hemp seeds are a nutritional powerhouse.

Unique to hemp seeds is the fatty acid profile combined with high-quality, digestible protein,” explains Ben Raymond, director of research and development for Victory Hemp Foods.

Sucralose–carbohydrate combo may affect insulin sensitivity Scientists debate about how low-calorie sweeteners in foods and beverages can affect human metabolism, with some saying that they could affect metabolism in ways that contribute to obesity and diabetes. In contrast, others say that they have little impact on metabolism.

A study published in Cell Metabolism found that people who drank beverages that contained the low-calorie sweetener sucralose did experience metabolic problems and issues with neural responses but only when the beverage was formulated with both sucralose and a tasteless sugar (maltodextrin). “Consumption of sucralose combined with carbohydrates impairs insulin sensitivity,” the researchers from Yale University wrote in their study. “This metabolic impairment is associated with decreases in neural responses to sugar.”

Additionally, the results showed that the subjects who consumed beverages made with the low-calorie sweetener only and those who consumed beverages made with sucrose only did not impair metabolism “The subjects had seven low-calorie drinks, each containing the equivalent of two packages of Splenda, over two weeks,” says senior author Dana Small, professor of psychiatry and psychology and director of the Modern Diet and Physiology Research Center, in a Yale University statement. “When the drink was consumed with just the low-calorie sweetener, no changes were observed; however, when this same amount of lowcalorie sweetener was consumed with a carbohydrate added to the drink, sugar metabolism and brain response to sugar became impaired.”

UK children eat fewer fruits, veggies during lockdown In a study by Northumbria University’s Healthy Living Lab, around half of UK children who received free school meal vouchers are reporting a significant drop in their intake of fruit and vegetables since schools closed in March.

Just over half of students who would have received free meals at school stated they had eaten no fresh vegetables across a three-day period following the UK’s Covid-19 lockdown. Almost half reported having eaten no fruit in the same period, yet many reported a large increase in consumption of sugary drinks and snacks.

Researchers wanted to investigate what children entitled to free school meals would be eating when it became apparent that UK was going to enter a period of lockdown and schools would be closing their doors to all but the most vulnerable pupils and children of key workers. Although the Department for Education implemented a shopping voucher scheme worth £15 per child per week in England to provide support for those children who would normally receive free school meals, many parents and schools reported a number of issues with the scheme. The devolved governments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland chose to introduce alternative schemes. The researchers worked with almost 60 children aged 9–12 in London and the North East of England who completed specially designed questionnaires on their eating, sleeping, and physical activity across six days. Data were collected on three consecutive days before, and three consecutive days during the lockdown. The preliminary findings show a significant decrease in the number of fruit children have been eating. Before school closures, they ate, on average, just over one portion of fruit per day. During the three-day reporting period during the lockdown, almost half of the children (45%) said they had not eaten any fruit, with the remaining children eating an average of half a portion of fruit per day. Similar results were seen in the children’s responses to the number of vegetables they had eaten. More than half of the children (55%) said they had not eaten any fresh vegetables during the three days during the lockdown.

The mean vegetable intake dropped from just over two portions per day when children were attending school, to an average of half a portion per day at home. However, a fourfold increase was reported in the amount of sugar-sweetened drinks consumed, together with a substantial rise in the number of chips, chocolates, and sweets being eaten. Children’s consumption of unhealthy snacks increased from an average of one over the three days when they were at school to six portions across three days at home during the lockdown.

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28 LIFESTYLE & FOOD

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Can litchi help with weight loss?

There are many healthy summer foods which can keep you feeling fit and cool. Among them is the litchi fruit which, besides packing your diet with essential nutrients can also help with weight loss. So, if you have not done the customary thing of having the fruit yet, here are some reasons why you need to eat it at the earliest.

When it comes to weight loss, there are many foods that can help, but there is none like the litchi fruit.

It is rich in fiber, which can help in weight loss, by getting rid of toxins from the body. Also, the fruit is good to taste, but has a low calorie count.

So, whenever you feel like eating something watery and sweet, you can bite into it, as opposed to sitting down with sugary foods.

Being rich in fiber, it also aids the process of digestion. One of the biggest roadblocks for people who are trying to lose weight can be the

problem of constipation. Litchi fruit can take care of it. It can ease out bowel movement and retain essential nutrients in the body, making it a win-win situation.

Also, since they are packed with so many essential nutrients, they can

help keep your immune system strong, and that is the need of the hour right now. A healthy immune system can make sure the body functions in a healthy manner, and that includes healthy body weight, too.

Litchis are believed to regulate the blood pressure, too. They are rich in potassium and low in sodium, which works best when you are trying to balance the blood pressure.

It make you feel more energised, and willing to take up different physical activities, thereby promoting weight loss.

Remember that besides eating well, you also need to make sure that you are physically active and are leading a healthy lifestyle if you are serious about keeping your weight in check.a

Why naturopathy and yoga are relevant in the times of Covid-19 As the world adapts itself to the concept of a ‘new normal,’ one of the learnings of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the importance of a good immune system and overall health.

Globally, the attempt is to explore practices that would boost body’s immunity and encourage an overall healthier lifestyle. This has resulted in an amplified interest in alternative therapies such as yoga and naturopathy.

Interestingly, though, while these Indian systems are rooted in natural cures, ‘naturopathy’ as a discipline in alternative medicine is an import from Germany via the US in the late nineteenth century. However, it was understandably not considered alien by Indians as they could relate with the concepts of the ‘Five Great Elements’ to the Pancha-mahabhutas (mud/earth, water, sunlight, air and ether) of Ayurveda and the principles of ‘fasting and vegetarianism’, which were the founding pillars of European naturopathy. It was readily adopted as practices of fasting (‘lankhanam paramaushadham', that is, fasting as a panacea for all diseases), exercise, fresh air and other similar principles were already a part of Indian culture.

The origins Naturopathy evolved in postindustrialisation Europe of the 1850s, as a result of the unhygienic, overcrowded conditions people started living in. Poor nutrition and high stress led to rapid spread of communicable diseases through virus, bacteria and germs, and subsequent deaths. Fed up with the inefficacy of modern medicine at the time, a small section of medics focused on protective mechanisms that would help people develop a resistance against these germs and microbes.

However, their voices were largely sidelined. Undeterred and inspired by Hippocrates (400 BCE), who stated that ‘Nature is the physician of disease’, this section began to be recognised as ‘naturopaths’, and the European Natural Cure Movement was born.

By the 1890s, this movement had spread to the US. The term ‘naturopathy’ was coined by Dr John Scheel in 1895 there, and was later bought by Dr Benedict Lust. Lust, along with his German colleagues and mentors - Dr Henry Lindlahr, Louis Kuhne and Father Sebastian Kneipp took on the charge of popularising the practice. It caught the attention of the rich, noble and elites of the time; as it did of Dronamraju Venkata Chalapathi Sharma from Visakhapatnam. Sharma was introduced to naturopathy and Kuhne’s methods through a German contact in the Indian Railways. He was so taken by the concept that he went to Germany, learnt German, became a disciple of Kuhne and Kneipp, and eventually translated Kuhne’s book New Science of Healing into Telugu in 1894.

Across Indian shores Upon his return, Sharma tried his best to propagate the system in India even carrying hip and spinal tubs to patients’ homes to spread the message of Nature Cure and hydrotherapy from door to door. His efforts were fruitful, and soon he gained many followers.

From the Andhra province, lawyerturned-naturopath K Lakshmana Sharma took up the cause in Tamil Nadu. A Vedic scholar and acharya, he published numerous books in the early 1900s, including the treatise Practical Nature Cure.

Interestingly, around the same time, one found an underlying spirit of Oriental sciences and Eastern such as Prana and Brahman - heavily embedded in Lindlahr’s books like Nature Cure (1914). The ancient Vedic teachings, mentioned in the Varaha Upanishad of Krishna Yajurveda, about sankalpa (thought ideation) were also mentioned, while explaining the relation of thought and feeling to health and disease. The concepts of ‘eternal thought in the eternal mind’ (Bhagavad Gita), the unity of Creator and the Created ( Vedic philosophic teachings) and the Kaivalya Upanishad’s dictum of ‘Thou art that’ found mention in Lindlahr’s naturopathy philosophy.

Back in India, Shrotriya Krishna

Swaroop’s translation of Kuhne’s New Science of Healing into Hindi and Urdu in 1904 took naturopathy to the north. Many - including those involved in the Indian freedom movement such as Mahatma Gandhi and Morarji Desai - were staunch believers in naturopathy, which added to its mass appeal. From 1901 onwards, Gandhi widely started using Kuhne’s hydrotherapy and Adolf Just’s mud therapy, and even wrote several books on it. A popular example of this is how he treated leper patient Parchure Shastri, a Sanskrit scholar and his co-prisoner from jail, using mud therapy.

The inclusion of Yoga Since most of the early naturopaths were either practising vaidyas (traditional physicians) or those in vyayamshalas (traditional gymnasiums), they were very quick to imbibe the yogic ‘physical’ aspects of ‘physicultopathy’ prescribed by European naturopaths. Soon, Indian naturopathy started taking shape. The inherent Indian principles in naturopathy fitted well with Gandhi’s Swadeshi movement, which was gathering momentum at the time.

Yoga’s perception as a pure spiritual pursuit started changing into a practice for health and well-being with the advent of Nature Cure ashrams in the 1920s. Soon, yoga became an integral part of the naturopathic way of life, and in naturopathy centres and colleges that were mushrooming across India. Yoga was incorporated as a subject in the naturopathy curriculum in 1920; the medical degree is now offered as Bachelor of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences (BNYS) in India. This inclusion of yoga is unique to India, unlike other naturopathy curricula worldwide.

Both yoga and naturopathy have a common foundation - relying on internal strength and augmenting resources from within. External support in terms of material goods (like drugs) is a strict no in both the systems. Both lay stress on self-practice and observation. It was a perfect match!

Naturopathy, which may have had originated in Europe, is heavily laced with Indian ethical and spiritual doctrines. Hence, starting from the training to its implementation, it has the aroma of Indian soil.

Recipe

Kashmiri pink tea Kashmiris are known to be connoisseurs of tea. One of their traditional beverages is noon chai or a pink-coloured special Kashmiri tea made with gunpowder tea (green tea leaves rolled into small balls), milk, sea salt and baking soda.

The word “noon” means salt in several Indian languages.

Kashmiris usually drink noon chai in the morning and in the afternoon with naan bread. Some people also drink it during their working hours.

How is Noon chai made?

For this, green tea leaves are brewed in sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) until a thick red-brown colour extract, known as “tueth”, is obtained. This may take about 45 minutes to two hours. This is then diluted with water, followed by adding milk and salt to it. The tea is served in a flask or large samovar (brass utensil) which keeps it warm by burning coal inside.

Health benefits of Noon chai A study by International Journal of Case Reports and Images, says that people love to drink noon chai “at high temperature particularly during winters”, for warmth. It is known to have digestive properties because of the sodium bicarbonate content. As per Kashmiri folklore, noon chai is refreshing in the heat and resists cold during winters. It is known to prevent heartburn and bloating because of the cardamom and baking soda content. It is also known to reduce stress and anxiety as it contains L-theanine, an amino acid component, according to reports.

Ingredients : 2 tbsp – Tea leaves, 4-5 – Green cardamoms, 1 tsp – Salt, 1 tsp – Soda bicarbonate, 1 inch – Cinnamon, 1 – Star anise, 2 cups – Milk, 1 tbsp – Sugar, 8-10 – Pistachios, Method - Heat two cups of water in a deep non-stick pan and bring to a boil.

- Open cardamom pods and add seeds to the pan along with tea leaves, salt, soda bicarbonate, cinnamon, star anise and stir. Bring this to a boil.

- Add milk, mix well and bring it to a boil. Discard tea leaves and spices.

- Add sugar and mix well and let the sugar melt. Strain the tea in a tea kettle.

- Add finely chopped pistachios. Pour the tea in individual cups, garnish with chopped pistachios and serve hot.

Researchers, however, have argued that the salt intake through pink tea or Noon chai could increase the risk of gastric cancer. High consumption of salt (more than four cups a day) is independently associated with high risk of the gastric cancer, so it is advised to limit the its consumption.

Chutney paratha for breakfast You wake up after a nice slumber only to realise you have a work call to attend. As a result, breakfast goes for a toss, or becomes brunch (in some cases) or directly lunch. But that is not a good way to begin your day. So we thought of sharing a breakfast recipe which is sure to chase away those Monday blues as it is not not easy to make, but is wholesome and extremely tasty!

The Chutney Paratha is a flavourful combination of coriander with spices and paneer, making it a mouthwatering treat. Try out this recipe today.

Chutney parantha Ingredients : 0¾ cup – Coriander leaves, 1 tsp – Lemon juice, 9 – Garlic cloves, 3 – Green chillies, 2 inch – Ginger, Salt to taste, 1-2 tbsp – Ghee or oil, Paratha dough, Paneer (grated), Garam masala.

Method In a mixer, add ingredients and grind without water. Now add ghee or oil to the chutney and mix well. Knead the dough for paratha and let it rest for at least 10 minutes. After that, make round balls. Stuff the balls with the chutney mixture, grated paneer and some garam masala. Then roll it in the form of a paratha in any shape you like. Apply ghee/oil on both sides and cook it on a pan.

Enjoy with sauce or chutney on the side.

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Deepika speaks out on mental health Actor Deepika Padukone is a vocal advocate for mental health awareness, and also the founder of 'The Live Love Laugh Foundation'. Speaking out on depression yet again, she recently tweeted, “Repeat After Me. Depression is not the same as sadness.”

Conversations around the issue have been reignited by the tragic death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who was reportedly struggling with the illness.

Following the news of his death, Deepika was quick to respond and had written on social media, “As a person who has had a lived experience with mental illness, I cannot stress enough

about the importance of reaching out.

Talk. Communicate. Express. Seek help.

Remember, You are not alone. We are in this together. And most importantly, there is Hope.” She had also urged the media to report news of suicide with sensitivity.

She added, “It is extremely heartening to see so many of you coming out and sharing your experience with mental illness. However, I would recommend not naming the medication you are on and/or the specifics of the dosage. Simply because: it is not a one rule fits all. the information could potentially be misused.”

Akshay Kumar thanks 10 year old for sketch; says he is 'honoured'

Amitabh shares a piece of advice on dealing with trying times

Actor Amitabh Bachchan has shared a few thoughts on social media as Bollywood tries to cope with more than one death in a short span of time. The 77 year old took to Twitter to write, “shshss .. when the noise all about thee is quiet .. savour it, allow it to breathe , give it the space in the room ..”

He also shared a lesson from his late father and renowned poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan. He wrote in Hindi, “Good if it is as per your will; Better if it is not as per your will'. I didn't understand when Babuji taught me this at a distracted turn of my life. How can it be better if it is not as per our will! When he explained, I understood.

'If it is not as per your will, then it is God's will, and God will always want your good, so it's better.” The veteran actor, who is an

active member of social media, and the internet, went on to talk about trolls on his blog. He wrote, “I shall not have the privilege of an answer .. for answers are an unclassified lot .. eager to be in the open declaring that they be noticed , talked about be given the dominance they so desperately need because they are complexed by the absence of the values norms of the World about them.”

Bachchan Sr. Had recently condoled the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

He wrote, “Why .. Why .. Why .. Why ..

Sushant Singh Rajput .. why do you end your life .. your brilliant talent .. your brilliant mind .. laid to rest , without asking , seeking .. why .. .. his work was sheer brilliance .. and his mind even more.”

Actor Akshay Kumar's fans range from all ages. But this time, we are talking about a particular 10 year old fan who strung quite a many heartstrings with his sketch of the actor. The young boy had made a sketch, which was shared on social media by his mother.

She wrote, “@akshaykumar sir this is the first sketch done by my 10 year old son Aditya Sarma and he hopes that u would like it. I know not that perfect but he's tried to match it as far as possible. Hope you see this

sir and if you could please send him a reply. Thank you.”

Akshay responded to the post saying, “Loved it! Please tell Aditya thank you, I'm honoured he chose me for his first sketch. Love and prayers always.” The sketch shows a clean-shaven Akshay with a side parting.

On the work front, Akshay has his hands full with projects like 'Laxmmi Bomb', 'Prithviraj', 'Sooryavanshi', 'Bell Bottom', and 'Atrangi Re' in the pipeline.

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Kangana calls Sushant's death a 'murder' In a new video, actor Kangana Ranaut has yet again spoken about actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. She talks about the harm caused by blind items.

The 'Simran' actor talked about Sushant's father, ex-girlfriend Ankita Lokhande, and filmmaker, and even read out a few blind items published about the actor by the media. Ranaut talked about herself, and how she was targeted by the media. She said she has never addressed it, but she did confront a journalist after they spoke “against freedom fighter” - Rani Laxmi Bai. “I have never spoken about all that has been written about me but when they wrote ill about a freedom fighter, I confronted that journalist. And that overnight four senior journalists made a guild against me and declared that my film should be banned, flopped,” she said. “Three thousand journalists ganged up against one girl and the society doesn’t say anything, the law doesn’t say anything. I tried to file a case against them but they disappeared a month later, my film released and they disappeared,” she added.

She went on to ask why such blind

by Vallisa Chauhan

Greed will lose in the end Mirza is married to Begum who owns a mansion worth a lot of money, he is waiting for her death to inherit the mansion, but when she finds out his plans she makes sure that this will never happen.

items are never written against “nepo kids”. “Emotional, psychological, and mental lynching on an individual happens openly and we are all guilty of watching it silently. Is blaming the system enough? Will there ever be change?

Are we going to see a monumental shift in the narrative on how outsiders are treated,” Kangana wrote.

Actor Sushant was found dead in his Bandra apartment last week. It is currently being treated as a suicide.

Harshvarrdhan Kapoor says 'dumb' to blame others for Sushant's death Sushant Singh Rajput's tragic death has been a raging controversy surrounding Bollywood and its apparent nepotism. While the internet has lashed out at the likes of Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt, for their tight inner circle that excludes industry newbies, actor Harshvarrdhan Kapoor has a few words to share.

Sharing a post by an Instagram user about how those being blamed might also take the extreme step, Kapoor said, “People out here hating on and wishing death upon other people that have absolutely no connection to what’s happened ... this is your way of making this world a better place ? Sad sad regressive society is all I can say ...everyones upset ... but being reactionary and hateful isn’t the answer... that’s just dumb.”

Rajput's death has made industry hotshots the butt for quite a wave of hatred. An advocate has also filed a complaint in a Muzaffarpur court.

Fatima Sana Shaikh says she 'laughed' at dating rumours with Sanya Malhotra Actors Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra are known for a close friendship which has often been misinterpreted as romance. Both of them, however, remain unfazed by the reports.

“We simply laughed about it. Just because we are good friends, they assumed the worst,” she said according to a recent report. Praising Sanya, she said, “I have learnt a lot from her.

For one, Sanya likes to keep everything clean. While she is an introvert and I am an extrovert, I learnt to hold myself back at times. I also learnt a lot from her dedication to work.”

Both actors bonded during Nitesh Tiwari's sports drama 'Dangal', featuring Aamir Khan in the lead. They will again be seen in Anurag Basu's crime anthology 'Ludo'. The movie also stars Rajkummar Rao, Abhishek Bachchan, Aditya Roy Kapur, and Pankaj Tripathi. It was scheduled to release in April, but has been halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Genre: Comedy Drama Duration: 124 minutes

Mirza (Amitabh Bachchan) is a grumpy old man and he is married to Begum (Farrukh Jafar) who is 15 years older than him. Begum owns a mansion that has some tenants living in it who either pay little to no rent. One of these tenants is Baankey (Ayushmann Khurrana) who is paying no rent and is bugged by Mirza whenever they see each other about this subject.

Baankey gets so frustrated at one point that he kicks a wall and it collapses but again he refuses to pay for the damages. Baankey decides he needs to get his own back on Mirza and this comes in the form of a property archaeologist Gyanesh who realises the historic value of the mansion and makes plans to seize it for the government.

Baankey agrees to help as Gyanesh lies to him and says all he tenants will be housed in a new complex.

At the same time Mirza hires a local lawyer to try and get ownership of the mansion over to him once Begum dies. He even tries to forge her thumb print when she is sleeping but gets the wrong hand.

In the meantime Begum has found out about both Mirza and Baankey’s plans and decides to sell it to her age old lover Abdul instead for just one rupee.

After both their plans fail Mirza and Baankey are left to their own devices trying to scrounge for money. Begum leaves a chair for Mirza and he gloats to Baankey about how he sold it for 250 rupees.

Much to the audience's joy at the end of the film we see the chair in an antique show priced at 135,000 rupees.

The characters are both clever yet sharp and Mirza’s character is driven by pure greed whilst there seems to be a funny back story behind his marriage to a woman much older than himself. Gulabo Sitabo is a humorous film that will keep your mind off the chaos currently going on with Covid-19. Due to the pandemic the film was not released as first proposed in theatres but instead released worldwide on Amazon Prime.

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

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Niharika Konidela to tie knot with Chaitanya Jonnalagadda Actor Niharika Konidela of 'Oka Manasu' fame posted two new pictures on her Instagram page featuring her soon-to-be husband Chaitanya Jonnalagadda. Son of Guntur's Inspector General of Police J Prabhakar, Chaitanya is an alumnus of BITS Pilani and the Indian School of Business (ISB), who works as a Business Strategist in a leading MNC in Hyderabad.

In a recent interview with a leading newspaper, Niharika confirmed that she is all set to tie the knot. She said, “Yes, I have

found the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. We are not engaged officially yet and my social media post was to just officially announce that I'm taken. Naturally, I'm thrilled right now.” She added, “I can't reveal much right now but I hope this is the start of a wonderful new journey. This has been the only silver lining during these tough times.”

The couple will reportedly get engaged in August. However, no official details have been announced yet.

Keerthy Suresh set to team up with Mahesh Babu in 'Sarkari Vaari Paata' Rajinikanth receives bomb threat

Actor Keerthy Suresh has been roped in as the leading lady in Mahesh Babu's upcoming film 'Sarkaru Vaari Paata'. The news was announced by the actress herself in an Instagram live chat. Directed by Parasuram, the movie was officially announced on May 31 on the occasion of Mahesh Babu's father and veteran actor Krishna's birthday.

'Sarkaru Vaari Paata', which will go on the floors as soon as the lockdown is lifted, will be jointly produced by Mythri Movie Makers and 14 Reels Entertainment. Music will be rendered by SS Thaman, while PS Vinod will stay behind the camera.

On the work front, Keerthy has three other Telugu projects in her kitty. Her upcoming release is 'Miss India'. She also has Nithiin-starrer 'Rang De', and a sports comedy with Nagesh Kukunoor in the works.

Rana Daggubati, Suresh Babu's studios gain sudden popularity With producers and filmmakers planning to resume shooting after the coronavirus-induced lockdown, actor Rana Daggubati, and father/studio owner Suresh Babu have received an increased demand from filmmakers for the space. Babu said, “Producers want their team isolated together during shoots to mitigate risk of infection. When you are filming in your city, you’d want to return home to your family, which is why makers are looking at locations outside the state.”

Rana said, shoots for TV and web shows have already begun according to government guidelines and several more will kick off in the next few weeks. Around next month, we should see some Hindi films readying for shoot across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh,” adding, “The studios offer end-to-end solutions, from accommodation to shooting, for which equipment, including cameras can be rented, and post-production work. We have fully functional editing and dubbing rooms, recording studios and VFX facilities. Even in-house technicians are available.

20:30: BARRISTER BABU

TV Listing An unidentified person reportedly issued a bomb threat to 'Thalaivar' Rajinikanth last week. Reports reveal Chennai police are currently conducting a search operation at the actor's residence to verify the authenticity of the caller.

An anonymous caller dialed 108 and issued a bomb threat to the veteran actor. This is not the first time Rajini has received a similar threat. All of them have turned out to be a hoax in the past. A formal investigation has been launched, if reports are to be believed.

On the work front, Thalaivar will be seen next on screen in 'Annaatthe'. A maiden collaboration with director Siva, the project will see him play a caring brother. The movie also stars Keerthy Suresh, Meena, and Kushbhu in key roles.

Rajinikanth is also set to team up with director Lokesh Kanagaraj for a yet-untitled Tamil project, which will be bankrolled by Kamal Haasan.

21:00: BALIKA VADHU - LAMHE

20:00: JHANSI KI RANI

PYAAR KE

SATURDAY 27 JUNE

21:00: UTTARAN

22:00: BIGG BOSS (SEASON 13)

17:00: DHARAM THI GUJARATI

SATURDAY 27 JUNE

18:30: INDIA UNLIMITED

19:00: NAAGIN (SEASON 4)

* Schedule is subject to change

20:00: JHANSI KI RANI

21:00: UTTARAN

MON 29 JUNE FRI 3 JULY 2020

22:00: MOTICHOOR CHAKNACHOOR

15:30: SRIMAD BHAGWAT

18:30:

DESI BEAT RESET

20:00:

JHANSI KI RANI

14:30: MAHABHARAT

16:30: SIRF 30 MINUTES

17:00: KITCHEN CHAMPION

18:00: DASTAAN-E-MOHABBAT SALIM ANARKALI

19:00: CHOTI SARDAARNI

SUNDAY 28 JUNE

19:00:

21:00:

22:00:

NAAGIN (SEASON 4) UTTARAN

MAIN HOON NA

18:00: BFFS WITH VOGUE

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 29 JUNE FRI 3 JULY 2020

8:00:

8:30:

TERE NAAL ISHQ

BHARADWAJ BAHUEIN

13:00: SWARAGINI

15:30: JAI SHRI KRISHNA

16:00: DHARAM THI GUJARATI 16:30: RASOI SHOW

17:30: CHHUTA CHHEDA 18:00: TUM KAUN PIYA 18:30: DIL KA RISHTA

19:00: MERE HUMRAHI

19:30:OM NAMAH SHIVAY

(SEASON 2)

19:00: FEET UP WITH THE STARS (SEASON 2)

19:30: OM NAMAH SHIVAY 20:30: BARRISTER BABU 21:00: BALIKA VADHU

22:30: ZINDAGI KI HAQIQAT SE AAMNA SAAMNA

SUNDAY 28 JUNE

17:00:

DHARAM THI GUJARATI

18:00:

DESI BEAT

20:30:

OMG - OH MY GOD

19:30:

OM NAMAH SHIVAY

32

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Lewis Hamilton says he has faced racist abuse since age 8 Britain's most successful F1 driver Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he's been the target of racial abuse since he was eight years old, while continually being accused of "not being British enough."

He said that children would throw objects at him when he was karting as a kid, and that 'fans' would taunt him in blackface at the beginning of his career.

The 35-year-old six-time world champion has said that British society is riddled with an "implicit bias" because too many people stay silent.

Hamilton has opened up about his own experiences with racism following the response to the Black Lives Matter movement which has triggered protests across the globe.

The Monaco-based Brit said: "For me, and so many others around the world, seeing George Floyd’s murder

Lewis Hamilton

triggered a sense of deep pain, anguish and frustration. As a nation, we’re quick to condemn monkey noises and bananas thrown at black footballers, but when it comes to addressing structural racial issues, the people in power stay silent.

Injustice prevails when you remain neutral." Hamilton said that the injustice surrounding George Floyd's death in Minneapolis

unleashed memories he thought he'd suppressed surrounding racism.

'Not British enough' "I’ve been fighting the stigma of racism throughout my racing career - from kids throwing things at me while karting, to being taunted by fans in blackface at a 2007 grand prix, one of my first Formula One races." In his professional life, the 35-yearold claims that he's treated

differently in the F1 community, and that "only one type of person is truly welcome in the sport, one who looks a certain way."

He added: "Even now, the media ask me different questions than they do my competitors and make accusations directly and indirectly - you’re not British enough, not humble enough, not loved enough by the public.” He also has revealed plans to set up a commission in his name to increase diversity in motorsports and wants to "channel my energy, influence and investment to create a more inclusive world."

Hamilton also believes that education will be the way forward to treating racial injustice: "Education is the leveller, the path to opportunity. Education on racism has to happen on several levels, and it has to happen now.”

England name eight uncapped players in training squad for test series England have named eight uncapped players in their 30man training squad for the Test series to face West Indies next month. Surrey spinner Amar Virdi is joined in the group by Essex batsmen Dan Lawrence and Sussex bowler Ollie Robinson. The other uncapped Test players are Jamie Overton, Lewis Gregory James Bracey, Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson.

England all-rounder Moeen Ali is also back in Test contention having been named in the group of 30 players from which the team will be selected to face the West Indies in the opening Test on July 1.

The group will go into camp at the Ageas Bowl ahead of a three-day practice match on July 1 before the Test team is finalised. Three coaches have been seconded from the county game to work with

England’s players.

Kent head coach Matthew Walker will assist Graham Thorpe on batting while Lancashire head coach Glenn Chapple has been brought in as bowling coach and Gloucestershire’s Richard Dawson will take charge of the spin bowlers. Former England wicketkeeper Chris Read will join as wicketkeeping consultant.

National selector Ed

Smith said: “Everyone involved with England is delighted that cricket is returning soon and that the players are reporting for group training in preparation for the Test series against the West Indies. “We’d also like to thank all the county coaches who have supported these players over the past few weeks. A squad for the first Test will be announced in due course. Behind-closed-doors

training group: Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Dominic Bess (Somerset), James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Sam Curran (Surrey), Joe Denly (Kent), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Craig Overton (Somerset), Jamie Overton (Somerset), Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Amar Virdi (Surrey), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).

in brief STEVE BUCKNOR RECOUNTS TWO INCIDENTS WHEN HE WRONGLY GAVE SACHIN OUT Former cricket umpire Steve Bucknor recently spoke about how he had on two separate occasions given Sachin Tendulkar out when he should not have. The first of those took place at the Gabba in Brisbane in 2003, when a ball from Jason Gillespie rapped Tendulkar on the pads but seemed to be missing leg stump. Bucknor, refererred to as 'Slow Death' for the way he took his time giving his decision, declared him out. The second was during a Test match against Pakistan at Eden Gardens in 2005, when Tendulkar chased a swinging ball from Abdul Razzaq and was given out caught behind. Replays showed the ball hadn't touched the bat.

“To err is human. Tendulkar was given out on two different occasions when those were mistakes. I do not think any umpire would want to do a wrong thing, it lives with him and his future could be jeopardized,” he told the Mason & Guest programme.

“Once in Australia I gave him leg-before and the ball was going over the top, and another time in India, it was caught behind. The ball deviated after passing the bat but there was no touch. "But the match was at Eden Gardens and when you are at the Eden and India is batting, you hear nothing. Because 100,000 spectators are making noise. "Those were the mistakes and I was unhappy. I am saying a human is going to make mistakes and accepting mistakes are part of life.”

Bucknor went on to add that he admired Tendulkar's ability but rated fellow West Indians Viv Richards and Brian Lara above the Master Blaster.

BOXER VIKAS KRISHAN PLANS TO RETURN TO PROFESSIONAL BOXING Six months after he returned to amateur boxing to resuscitate his medal hopes at now deferred Tokyo Olympics, boxer Vikas Krishan is planning to return to the professional fold in two months' time. The 28-yearold from Haryana's Bhiwani district qualified for his third Olympics in early March, and has expressed his desire to end his Olympic duck in what would be his third outing at the Games."The Olympics, as you know, have been postponed, so I am planning to go back to professional boxing by August-end or early September. By then, I hope international flights will resume and logistics can be worked out," Vikas said. "I am yet to reach out to people in the USA to set up a bout because I still need to prepare myself physically as well as training-wise."

Boxing was among the 11 disciplines that were allowed to resume training after the Ministry of Home Affairs' go-ahead to open sports complexes and stadiums last month. The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) had marked 10 June as the date to begin a combined national camp for men and women at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala. Traditionally, men's national camps are held in Patiala while women train at Delhi's Indira Gandhi (IG) Stadium. The decision was taken at a BFI video conference last month that was attended by federation officials, national coaches, and Olympicbound boxers.The proposed camp, however, has been indefinitely postponed owing to logistical issues. At present, none of the boxers are in Patiala, and arranging their travel is an onerous task.

Lanka orders probe into 2011 World Cup final fixing allegations Sri Lanka's sports ministry ordered an investigation into former sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage's allegation that the national cricket team's loss to India in the 2011 World Cup final was fixed by "certain parties". The sports minister Dullas Alahapperuma has ordered the investigation and asked for a report on its progress every two weeks, the ministry said in a statement.

The sports secretary, KADS Ruwanchandra, on Alahapperuma's directive, had

ridiculed by former captains Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene who demanded evidence from him.

In an interview with local TV channel ''Sirasa'', Aluthgamage said the final was fixed. Set a target of 275, India claimed the trophy Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara thanks to the brilliance of complained to the ministry's Gautam Gambhir (97) and then investigation unit. Aluthgamage skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has alleged that his country "sold" (91). "Today I am telling you that the game to India, a claim that was we sold the 2011 world cup, I said

this when I was the sports minister," Aluthgamage, who was the sports minister at the time, said.

"As a country, I do not want to announce this. I can't exactly remember if it was 2011 or 2012.

But we were to win that game," added the politician, who was the state minister of power in the current caretaker government which is in-charge until the election to be held on August 5.

The captain of Sri Lanka at that time, Sangakkara, asked him to produce evidence for an anticorruption probe. "He needs to

take his ''evidence'' to the ICC and the Anti-corruption and Security Unit so the claims can be investigated thoroughly," he tweeted. Jayawardene, also a former captain who scored a hundred in that game, ridiculed the charge. "Is the elections around the corner...like the circus has started...names and evidence?" he asked in a tweet.

Aluthgamage said that in his opinion no players were involved in fixing the result, "but certain parties were." Aluthgamage had also previously hinted that the game was fixed.