AV 28th May 2022

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

Story behind Aishwarya's 'petal' dress at Cannes

2 India-built warships, ‘Surat, Udaygiri’ launched

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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

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The Bhavan heralds its yearlong celebrations to mark Golden Jubile

It's a great time to be a woman - Lolita Chakrabarti

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25 SC shifts Gyanvapi case to Varanasi district judge

COMMUNITY MARKS ‘QUEEN’S PLATINUM JAYANTI’ From puddings to Madhubani paintings in honour of the Queen to reviving traditional coronation dishes, performances by South Asian artists and messages from esteemed members of the community, the diaspora is set to celebrate 70 years of the Queen’s reign.

VOL 51 - ISSUE 4

Read to your kids every night

India joins US’ IndoPacific economic plan to take on China India was among 13 “initial partners” in Tokyo that signed up for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), a fresh economic arrangement proposed by US President Joe Biden to counter China’s growing influence in the region with integrated, resilient and clean economies.

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The rich become richer amid cost of living crisis THE JUBILEE PUDDING - 70 YEARS IN THE BAKING - Judges & Finalists with the puddings (L-R) Jane Dunn, Susan, Roger Pizey, Jemma, Kathryn, Dame Mary Berry, Regula Ysewijn, Sam, Monica Gale

Ahead of Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in the UK, Britons are rejoicing this historic moment, marking it in their own unique way.

Many Asian community members have come forward to embrace the yellow rose in honour of John Ystumllyn, the eighteenth-century gardener who was one of Britain’s first black gardeners, others are bringing back old recipes for the crown, and creating art to honour the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee under ‘Queen’s Jayanti’ celebrations. Some esteemed members of the British Asian community have also shared their messages on the occasion with

Asian Voice. Lord Karan Bilimoria, Lord Dolar Popat, Lord Raj Loomba CBE, Lord Rami Ranger CBE, Hitan Mehta of British Asian Trust and Dr Nik Kotecha have expressed their thoughts on this historic event.

Practising Bollywood dance moves at his school gym in central England, 12-year-old Momin Rashid is excited to be one of the 10,000 performers who will take part in a pageant to honour Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne. “I am feeling a bit nervous because 10,000 people is a lot and I could get the dance moves wrong,” said Rashid told Indian Express.

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Sunak, Geeta Gupta and Saket Burman are the three new names among 15 Indian origin families and individuals to enter The Sunday Times Rich List 2022 amid the cost of living crisis in Britain.

Gopi Hinduja

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty

As Britons grapple with the rising cost of living crisis, The Sunday Times Rich List 2022 has hailed Chancellor Rishi Sunak as the richest politician in the UK, placed at number 222. His wife Akshata Murty, whose father co-founded the IT behemoth Infosys, made the annual list for the first time with their joint £730 million ($911 million, 861 million euros) fortune.

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AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

28 May - 3 June 2022

with Keith Vaz

Covid support scandal: Officials miss fraud warning signs

DR SARANDEEP K MARWAHA Cardiologist Dr Sarandeep Marwaha is a British born Indian doctor with an interest in promoting health awareness.

She comes from a non-medical, working-class background and attended a state school prior to gaining her medical degree.

Her determination and willpower enabled her to graduate with a medical degree from St George’s University and an Honours degree in Cardiovascular Sciences from Imperial College of London and eventually become one of very few, female Cardiologists. She also took part in charitable and medical work in Mexico and Brazil and gained an interest in research whilst she was studying. She trained in general medicine and general cardiology and is currently doing her research PhD in heart disease, sudden death, and athlete’s heart.

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

Wherever my toothbrush is. Being a doctor I have moved around many times for training. I have learnt to ground my inner self and be happy wherever I am and make myself at home anywhere. Being British born I have the best of both worlds and have the opportunity and freedom to go anywhere, therefore I am privileged to be able to experience anyplace/city and it is a blessing for me.

2) What are your proudest achievements?

(50 words response) Putting a smile on someone’s face, whether that’s my parents/ siblings or the patients I treat. Still giving compassion and kindness in an environment of animosity or ruthless competitiveness. Most of all in moments when I’ve been strong willed and held my own when kindness is seen as weakness.

3) What inspires you?

Knowledge and my parents’ resilience.

4) What has been biggest obstacle in your career?

Gender Bias. I wouldn’t say discrimination but subconsciously we fall into gender bias. Changing people’s judgement or initial impressions of me have been hard.

Missed opportunities due to not being the obvious choice and rather than it being down to experience or knowledge but due to the gender bias. It has made me work harder, but I feel I have gained more in the long run as nothing has come easy, I’ve had to carve my own path and not take the obvious route.

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

God.

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

After I have had a consultation and a patient tells me they finally understand what is wrong with them after not understanding, they make the changes we discuss, and I see the improvement. I take pride in my communication skills, and I think empowering patients, brings greater change than doctors giving just medication.

7) And the worst?

Losing to God. When someone dies it’s always hard, but who better to lose to. We all belong to him.

8) What are your long term goals?

Finishing my PhD firstly. To always learn, to not be the same person I was yesterday. To be able to promote health internationally and make heart disease more easily understandable, as prevention is better than cure. Most importantly have fun doing this and meet new people, new cultures, and learn new ways.

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

I would want to reduce the inequality gap and promote education; wisdom comes from knowledge and experience. By imparting education this will deal with the knowledge aspect.

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

I wouldn’t want to spend my time with a historical figure. History is an interpretation of the past through someone’s views to make us learn. Those people were required for that time and not meant to be in my time. I would choose to either spend it alone to self-reflect or spend it with a loved one who would make the island experience a memorable one.

Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust fined more than £1.3m after two patients die Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) has been fined more than £1.3m after failing to provide treatment and care in a safe way, which resulted in the

death of two patients, Mohammed Ismael Zaman,31, and Max Dingle,83, between October 2019 and May 2020.

Mohammed died of

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severe blood loss while undergoing dialysis at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in 2019 while Max died after his head became trapped between a mattress and bed rail at the same hospital.

It was fined £800,000 relating to the death of Mr Zaman, known as Bolly, and £533,334 for Mr Dingle's death. The trust was charged by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

On 18 October 2019, when Mr Zaman was receiving treatment, his catheter, which went into his jugular vein, came out. Though an alarm went off, he was not checked before staff switched it off. By the time staff realised what had happened, he had lost his blood supply.

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee are unhappy with the government dropping basic safeguards and missed warning signs in the rush to deal out Covid support loans as billions of taxpayers’ cash have been stolen or ‘at risk’.

According to the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), officials at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) offered an “open goal to

fraudsters and embezzlers and they have cashed in”.

As per the report, the latest figure of £4.9bn lost might not be the correct figure as the true extent of losses will only be gradually revealed as official assessments “catch up with payments made”.

MPs believe that officials have no clue if millions handed out in tax-funded Covid- support loans were paid to ineligible companies, or if eligible companies

received the correct amounts. The MPs also discovered that during the pandemic in 2020-21, the number of new companies registered rose by more than 20 per cent compared to any of the previous five years.

Meanwhile, a BEIS spokesman said that they are continuing to crack down on Covid support scheme fraud and will not tolerate those who seek to defraud consumers and taxpayers.

Ex-girlfriend who allegedly falsely accused senior lawyer of rape, appeals conviction Law student and the ex-girlfriend of a senior government lawyer Jason Whiston is mounting an appeal against her conviction for stalking him over the course of eight months. Police took no action after interviewing Mr Whiston after he was allegedly falsely accused by Sana Musharraf of rape in reports to the police as well as friends, family, and colleagues.

Meanwhile, Musharraf was accused of behaviour amounting to stalking the lawyer and his new girlfriend between July 2017 and February 2018 and was convicted after a trial at Isleworth crown court in March 2019 he is now mounting an appeal.

High Court Judges, led

by Mr Justice Warby, agreed that Musharraf has all the right to challenge her con-

viction on three grounds, as well as that she can seek to reduce the scope of the restraining order imposed to stop her from contacting Mr Whiston or his family.

However, the judges rejected her bid for anonymity after a legal challenge by the Evening Standard and the Press Association. Musharraf ’s appeal will be heard at a later date.

Parliament accused of neglecting victims by not banning MPs Unions, MPs and parliamentary staff are accusing the government and estate authorities for failing to protect alleged victims after an MP accused of sexual misconduct was not banned from the parliamentary estate and was still undertaking other duties such as constituency work.

However, on Tuesday, the government Whips office confirmed that a Conservative MP arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual offences had been requested not to attend the parliamentary estate while the investigation was ongoing. But the unnamed MP is not officially

banned from attending the parliament.

One female MP said that failing to impose such a ban was “putting the rights of potential perpetrators over the rights of victims” and thought it created a “corrosive environment” for women working in Westminster.

In order to tackle this issue, five unions representing parliamentary workers — including Prospect, the FDA, the Public and Commercial Services Union and the GMB — Commons procedure

committee to carry out an inquiry to explore whether MPs accused of serious offences should be barred from parliament while the allegations are investigated.

“People are really angry that their views aren’t being taken into account. It feels like everything is geared towards the MPs and serving them, as opposed to parliamentary staff,” Jawad Raza, national officer for the FDA civil service union said.

PM warned over misleading unemployment claim Boris Johnson has been once again warned by the UK Statistics Authority for making false claims about employment levels in parliament for the ninth time. At Prime Minister’s Questions on 27 April, the prime minister said that there were 500,000 more people in paid employment than before the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, according to the latest Office for National Statistics figures, there were 588,000 fewer people in employment in the UK compared to two years ago.

Johnson made the comments in the House of

Commons before the ONS published updated employment stats showing the unemployment rate had fallen slightly between January and March to hit a nearly 50-year low. But, total employment nevertheless remains lower than the prepandemic levels.

AS per the latest ONS data, there were 32.569 million people in employment

across the UK from January to March this year, compared to 33.073 million from December 2019 to February 2020.

Sian Jones, interim chair of UKSA, said: “The prime minister should be clearer in his claims around employment now compared to before the pandemic began."

“We will continue to emphasise the importance of accuracy and clarity with Number 10, and work with producers to present statistics in ways which minimise the risk of misuse,” she added.

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Not just riches, UK needs more charitable giving Becoming a parent is for most people one of the happiest days of their life, with a baby bringing so many joyful moments, but the latest figures from the life insurance broker, Reassured, reveal that the current cost to raise a child in the UK is a whopping £225,521.35!

That’s £12,540.02 per year until they hit the age of 18!

The study shows that almost half (41.4%) of parents are having to spend more on their kids than their budget allows, resulting in over three quarters (76.9%) having to budget for other parts of their lives since becoming parents.

With the current cost of living crisis, 67.7% noticed childcare costs increasing recently, leaving over half (58.2%) concerned over their finances and 71.9% wishing for more funding from the government to help with the rising cost.

UK households are grappling with a cost-of-living crisis, as prices rise significantly faster than wages, cutting spending power. The Independent reported how cash-strapped customers tell of selling sentimental jewellery on a regular basis ‘just to get by’.

Amidst such a crisis, The Sunday Times has published their Rich List, which has the names of the UK’s top 250 rich people/families. There is more wealth in today’s top 250 entries than there was in the top 1000 entries in 2017.

On the topmost are the Hinduja brothers, followed by 15 more Indian-origin people (19 South Asian), including Lakshmi Mittal, Prakash Lohia, Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty and Jatania brothers. There are two new entries. Dabur’s Saket Burman and Dr Geeta Gupta Fisker.

There are new industries featuring Startups and electric vehicles- showing wealth creation is also getting innovative. The list shows just 38 per cent of the wealth of the top 250 comes from those born in the UK — a decrease from 45 per cent a decade ago.

The Sunday Times reported just a single billionaire in the top ten, Sir James Dyson was born in the UK. Britain’s second-richest man, with a wealth of £23 billion, is standing right between two sets of Indian-born brothers: the Hindujas at £28.472 billion and the Mumbai-born Reubens at £22.265 billion. They are joined by the Ukrainian-born Sir Leonard Blavatnik, Swiss-born Guillaume Pousaz and Lakshmi Mittal- who is also born in India. The UK

now has a record number of billionaires with 177, that's up six from 2021 - and the combined wealth of the UK's billionaires stands at £653bn, up more than £55bn (9.4%) on the total wealth of the billionaires in last year's Rich List.

Second, Chancellor Rishi Sunak becomes the first politician to be listed among 250 top rich people in the UK. Mr Sunak and his wife’s wealth has raised eyebrows among Britons who are feeling the cost of living squeeze. Social media has been buzzing with criticism about Mr Sunak’s ability to relate to common Britons – especially the working class, who are facing the cost of living challenge.

Third, this time’s Giving List includes more climate activists than before. The Sunday Times reported: that recent surveys suggest that global philanthropic spending to help halt climate change stands at less than one or two per cent of the total, but it is rising fast — and Rich List philanthropists are at the vanguard. The Giving List tracks more eco-giving than any before it. Higher education continues to be the most popular cause, as it has for decades, but wealthy individuals are increasingly likely to tout their green credentials.

But despite having 19 South Asians on the top 250, there is not a single name on the Top 10 list of philanthropists, indicating negligible contribution towards charity in comparison to their wealth creation.

The Foundation Guide has pointed out, that charitable giving in the UK accounts for just 1% of the GDP compared to 5.5% of the GDP of the United States. In monetary terms, charitable giving from individuals in the UK is valued at around £15 billion compared to £145 billion in the USA. Other countries in Europe like Germany, come in at around £11 billion annually. One of the reasons for this is the role of European governments in actively providing social welfare programs in the UK and Europe. There are fewer tax incentives to encourage large donors and philanthropic giving in Europe and the UK whereas private philanthropy plays a far more prominent role in the USA. But with the cost of living and various other crises mounting, as the rich get richer, and poor get poorer, with failing governments, today there is more need for charities in the UK to donate and help the have-nots.

The Queen of our hearts Every time the country has been through trauma, losses and hardships, the Queen and her family have provided an opportunity to come together, and celebrate the strength in unity. Sometimes it has been through celebrations like a Royal wedding, or childbirth and now a jubilee marking 70 years of the reign of the most progressive nonagenarian- the Queen of many hearts.

Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II has not been free of controversies. With the death of an estranged daughter-in-law like Princess Diana, who has been worshipped by the world as the kindest royal ever, her son Charles’ affair, her son Andrew, with his recent controversies revolving around the MeToo campaign, and her grandchildren Harry with his wife Meghan alleging racism at the Palace on a popular US tv show- it has not been easy for her. But stoic and resilient as ever, as the 96-year-old slows down, she still reports for her duty amidst every adversity. She lost her husband Prince Philip and as the lonely figure sat in a corner in Windsor during the memorial, maintaining Covid rules, she said a quiet goodbye to her beloved. Even grief-stricken with tear-filled shining eyes, she has never forgotten to serve her country with elegance.

Many question the purpose of having The Royals as the de

facto rulers. With Black Lives Matter and other similar movements, a lot has been questioned in the woke world about the purpose of the Royals. In an era where social media poses everyday existential questions, the Queen has actually proven her purpose through unprecedented challenges. During the Coronavirus crisis, when families across the nation were shut in their houses, separated from families, lonely and struggling, she spoke of comfort in hope despite spending the day apart from her own family for the first time.

She used her Christmas Day message in 2020 to reassure anyone struggling without friends and family that they "are not alone". She said while many people want "for Christmas is a simple hug or a squeeze of the hand" - but "even on the darkest nights there is hope in the new dawn". She praised acts of kindness, saying the pandemic "brought us closer" despite causing hardship.

A nation is always known by the leader it looks up to. Her Majesty has witnessed seven decades of progress through alliances and new contracts. She is the face of modern Britain- the biggest epitome of transformation, multiculturalism and a world with wisdom like no other. On that note, we wish Her Majesty a Happy Platinum Jubilee (see p1, 15-17).

IPEF to take on China's economic influence The Indo- Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) is the Biden administration's new vehicle for engagement with East Asia and South East Asia and to take on China's economic heft. The IPEF is also seen as a means by which the US is trying to regain credibility in the region after former President Donald Trump pulled out of the Trans Pacific Partnership TPP. Since then, there has been concern over the absence of a credible US economic and trade strategy to counter China’s economic influence in the region. China is an influential member of the TPP, and has sought membership of its successor agreement Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans Pacific Partnership.

India was among 13 initial partners in Tokyo that signed up IPEF. Endorsing the initiative, Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to working with Indo-Pacific countries on an inclusive and flexible IPEF while also declaring that the foundation of resilient supply chains, a major focus area of the framework that will apparently provide an alternative for China's approach to critical economic issues must be the 3Ts- trust, transparency and timeliness. The 13 initial partner countries – US, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and seven Asean nations together account for 40 per cent of world GDP. President Biden said that the vision for an Indo-Pacific that is free and open and secure as well as resilient, where economic growth is sustainable and inclusive. He said we are writing new rules for the 21st-century economy. We are going to have all our country's economies grow faster and fair.

PM Modi listed trust, transparency and timeliness as the three main pillars for resilient supply chains. “I am confident this framework will help strengthen these three pillars and pave the way for development, peace and prosperity in the IndoPacific region,” he said. Modi noted the Indo-Pacific has always been a centre of manufacturing, economic activities, trade and investments, and said India has historically been at the centre of trade flows across the region. The event in Tokyo marked the launch of discussions toward negotiations on IPEF, and the

framework partners invited other Indo-Pacific countries to join the framework. Besides the in-person participation of Biden, Modi, Australian PM Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, senior officials and leaders of the 10 other countries joined the event virtually. India is committed to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific and believes deepening economic engagement among partners is crucial for continued growth, peace and prosperity. Biden said the partner countries will write the “new rules for the 21st century economy” and take on the “most acute challenges that drag down growth”. He added, “Let’s start with new rules governing trade in digital goods and services so companies don’t have to hand over the proprietary technology to do business in a country.” He also spoke about creating “first-of-its-kind supply chain commitments” to eliminate bottlenecks and developing early warning systems to identify problems before they occur. He said the emphasis on high standards and inclusivity will be key to the framework’s success.

A joint statement on IPEF said all 13 partners share a commitment to a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific and recognise that the Covid-19 pandemic has underscored the need to work closely to ensure economic recovery grounded in resilience and sustainability. In the field of trade, the partners will build highstandard, inclusive, free and fair trade commitments and develop creative approaches in trade and technology policy to promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth. They will improve the transparency, security and sustainability of supply chains and expand cooperation to mitigate the effects of disruptions while ensuring access to key raw and processed materials, semiconductors and critical minerals. Vivek Mishra, a fellow for the strategic studies programme at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), described IPEF as signalling in response to China’s actions across the region. However, he said it would take the framework partners at least five years to a decade to build something substantive on the ground.

Thought for the week Music is often our last link in old age to our former selves.

- Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia

Political Sketchbook Alpesh Patel

Alliances and Their Problems So India is in Quad, the security dialogue with US, Australia and Japan. Nato is a full blown alliance and Sweden and Finland want to join. Russia says it doesn’t need the West, it has China. You can see how this is all playing out?

Alliance can be good, they can keep the peace and stop attacks on members. But they can drag you into wars too for the commitments you’ve made. It’s why the US will not commit to defending Taiwan with boots on the ground.

India and Australia have never been closer strategically than now. India thinks much more like the West now on it’s willingness to have hard and soft alliances against China.

India-Japan trilateral maritime security India, Japan and the United States are conducted trilateral maritime exercises in the Bay of Bengal as part of the Malabar series some time ago. This is the first time that the US has participated in this annual military exercise.

The latest drill involved ships from India, Japan and United States – 27 vessels from India, 7 from Japan and 4 from US including nuclear submarines.

India Japan Australia Trilateral engagement with Australia has been a key element of India’s strategic and economic engagement with Asia. Trilateral engagements, including the annual naval exercise, have been instrumental to sustaining India’s relations with Japan as well as strengthening its ties with Australia.

The trilateral relationship has also generated positive results for India-Japan relations by providing an opportunity for regular high level meetings between leaders from all three countries, which were not possible in bilateral settings due to the historical baggage that exists between Tokyo and New Delhi.

This alongside free trade agreements clearly shows how much India and indeed the world has moved and in which direction.

India and the Quad India has a strong history of strategic autonomy, and this position makes it difficult for India to take on a role that would officially commit it to a conflict not of its making.

The Quad is not likely to elicit formal commitment from New Delhi because it would threaten this autonomy.

US India partnership in the Indo Pacific region The US and India partnership in the Indo Pacific region is becoming increasingly important.

The Quad was created by four countries: Australia, Japan, India and the United States. Its main goal is to ensure safety in the Indian Ocean.

Some will see the Quad as a provocation to China as they see Nato as a provocation to Russia. But Russia and China have an old pre-cold War view of the world. Theirs is a view of the world of Great Powers who can take territory as they please. The West is trying to bring a legal order to the world – always seeking UN resolutions before action.

For Russia, small countries like Ukraine have limited rights. Or indeed Taiwan or Hong Kong for China.

Key points India has long been wary of China’s increasing military presence in South Asia – particularly its Belt & Road Initiative (BRI). BRI involves building ports and railways across Asia into Europe via a web of Chinese-built roads and railways connecting China with Europe through Central Asia. India also has concerns over increasing Chinese investment in countries like Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Conclusion India sees real benefits in the Quad. It is, fundamentally, good for Indian security and better for its economy. India will not be cowed by Chinese threats and will continue to pursue its own national interests as it sees fit. The US should reward this behavior by providing all possible support, including arming India with advanced weapons systems that are critical to protecting the country from China and Pakistan. The US can also help India upgrade its cyber capabilities—India has been shockingly weak in cyber defense, which could be a major weakness against China’s relentless cyber offensive capabilities.

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28 May - 3 June 2022

Met ends Partygate investigation, 83 people fined The Metropolitan Police has put an end to its investigation into breaches of Covid regulations at Downing Street and Whitehall and have revealed that they have issued, or will soon issue, 126 fines in total, with 48 women receiving 73 Fixed Penalty Notices and 35 men getting 53 fines related to eight events.

Meanwhile, by next week, civil service investigator Sue Gray is expected to release a full report into the Partygate events.

The Met said, twenty-eight of the 83 people found to have

broken the rules will receive between two and five fines.

The Met has not confirmed the identities of the recipients but the police clarified that neither the PM nor Carrie Johnson will receive further FPNs. However, it has not been confirmed yet whether cabinet secretary Simon Case has been fined or not. After it was reported that he had made an appearance at a drinks gathering while London was under Tier 2 restrictions on 17 December 2020, Case was forced to step

Badly performing Labour council leaders could be sacked Under new party reforms, underperforming leaders of Labourrun councils could be sacked.

Party hit squads would be sent in to turn around failing Labour groups under the plans.

One party source reportedly said: “We aren’t a private members club anymore - we are servants of the people.”

As per the changes being proposed by Keir Starmer, so-called “campaign improvement boards” will be sent into local council Labour groups identified as under-performing.

In order to improve the performance, the boards, which will be made up of senior party figures with local government experience, will draw up recommendations, which the Labour groups will then have six months

to implement.

A party source said: “All Labour council groups must be focused on delivering for voters in their communities, and demonstrating the benefit of Labour in power.

“With the next general election at most two years away, Keir and [Labour general secretary] David Evans are determined that high standards are met at every level of the party, in every region.

“Campaign improvement boards will draw upon the expertise of the best Labour campaigners and officials from across the country, and ensure those local groups that require support implement the changes that are needed to deliver for working people.”

down from the government's internal Partygate probe.

Other get-togethers that took place were the “bring your own booze” Downing Street garden party on 20 May 2020; a gathering held to celebrate Boris Johnson's birthday; and another event held on 13

November to mark a staff departure.

Fines were also issued for two other events held on 14 January 2021 and 16 April 2021.

The Met said 12 full-time officers were involved in the investigation and it cost approximately £460,000.

Woman jailed for selling fake Covid travel certificates during pandemic Saranjeet Trina Kandola, a mum of three from Leamington Spa in Warwickshire who tricked holidaymakers into paying for fake Covid-19 travel certificates has been jailed for two years.

The 41-year-old traded as Travel Test Solutions Ltd, offering PCR tests at the height of the pandemic and the costs of the tests would fall between £60 and £149 per person.

When a customer became concerned about the authenticity of the certificate, Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards conducted an investigation into the fraudulent company.

Kandola used to visit home to take swabs that should then have been tested at a laboratory but no labora-

tory tests were carried out and the 'Covid-free' certificates issued were meaningless.

As per the investigation, Kandola had agreed to provide at least 47 certificates, obtaining almost £5,000 over a 17day period. When she found out that Trading Standards are investigating her, she stopped marketing her services.

Also, to show her business was legitimate, she used a fake Care Quality Commission number on the certificates.

Kandola later pleaded guilty to five offences contrary to the Fraud Act 2006.

Government let down health staff in pandemic- BMA Doctor's union the British Medical Association believes that the UK government failed in its duty of care to protect doctors and the wider healthcare workforce at the start of the pandemic. The union said the staff was desperately let down by the lack of protective equipment Along with this, they were suffering the physical and mental health impacts, as they witnessed levels of illness and death

"they were never trained for".

The government in its defence said lessons would be

learned but defended its record on PPE. The BMA drew its conclusions based on feedback and testimonies from the union's members and will form part of its submission to the official public inquiry into the pandemic.

Doctors informed the BMA that, during the early months of the pandemic, there were times when they had to buy or make their own masks and some even

reported being left with longterm health problems from Covid infections.

BMA leader Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: "A moral duty of government is to protect its own healthcare workers from harm in the course of duty as they serve and protect the nation's health.

"Yet, in reality, doctors were desperately let down by the UK government's failure to adequately prepare."

in brief MI5 AGENT ‘ABUSED AND THREATENED’ EXPARTNER, INVESTIGATION REVEALS An investigation done by the BBC has revealed that an agent working for MI5, known as X for legal reasons, with a background in rightwing extremism not only abused his former partner but used his connection with the domestic intelligence agency to threaten her further. As per the video captured on her mobile phone, he is seen terrorising the woman and at one point attacking her with a machete and even threatening to kill her. “There was so much psychological terror from him to me, that ultimately culminated in me having a breakdown,” the woman said. After winning a high court battle with the government, the BBC was able to tell the woman's story. In order to prevent X from being identified, Suella Braverman, the attorney general, had applied for an injunction, while the BBC argued that it was in the public interest to name a man who allegedly poses an ongoing threat to women. X told her former partner, a Briton who the BBC has called Beth to protect her identity, that she would not be able to report his abusive behaviour because of his work for MI5.

EX-LABOUR MP TO PAY £434K TO WOMAN HE REPEATEDLY ASSAULTED On Wednesday, a central London employment tribunal ordered the former member for Hartlepool Mike Hill to pay £434,435 to Woman A he repeatedly assaulted and harassed. After spurning Hill’s advances she was victimised, an employment tribunal ruled in July. He was found to have got into the victim’s bed and to have sexually assaulted her in his parliamentary office. This is the first time, that public compensation payment has been ordered against an MP for sexual assault. It is expected to prompt other alleged victims in parliament to take action through the civil courts. “It is important that the many women who have been sexually harassed and assaulted by MPs know that there is another way of seeking justice and compensation for their losses,” Woman A said. “The parliamentary investigation route, which I went through, is arduous and very tough and conducted in private. Pursuing Mike Hill through the courts has meant that I might receive compensation for my financial losses and the process seems much more open and transparent", she added.

Priti Patel to visit Joint Committee on Vaccination villagers affected by and Immunisation recommends FOREIGN OBJECTS WERE LEFT INSIDE 98 asylum centre proposal autumn Covid jabs PATIENTS

Home secretary Priti Patel will be visiting Linton-onOuse to hear for herself locals’ concerns about a planned centre for 1,500 asylum seekers.

Residents at the village hall questioned senior civil servants from the department following the decision to use a disused North Yorkshire RAF base as an accommodation centre.

Upon asking if the Home Secretary will be paying a visit to witness security and the impact on local services, senior Home Office official Cheryl Avery told around 200 people in the room: “Yes. That is a part of our plan to make sure that she comes along and meets with everybody here, and you have an opportunity to speak to her at some point.

“We’re trying to work

out with her office to get some time in her diary. But it is our intention for her to come along.”

Linton resident Aundrea Watson said nobody in government had “one iota what the impact is on our mental health and wellbeing”.

She said: “The villagers are in crisis, and I mean crisis right now. People are upset, people are leaving their homes because of the press and the protests that are already happening."

The government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended to roll out Autumn Covid jabs to vulnerable groups and health and social care staff.

As part of interim advice to the government, the JCVI said despite there being “considerable uncertainty” over the likelihood and severity of future Covid waves, winter will continue to be a season when the threat from Covid is greatest.

To combat severe Covid disease, hospitalisation and death during winter, autumn 2022 Covid booster programme will increase “population immunity and protection”.

The committee said the vaccines should be given to residents in care homes for older adults, frontline

health and social care workers, all those aged 65 and over, and adults aged 16 to 64 within clinically at-risk groups.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) welcomed the advice and will consider the group’s final recommendations later this year.

It added: “We have asked the NHS in England to begin preparations to ensure they are ready to deploy Covid vaccines to those eligible.”

More than 400 patients in England Hospital suffered serious errors between April 2021 and marks 2022, that should never have happened. They include the wrong hips, legs, eyes and knees being operated on, and diabetic patients being given too much insulin. The data published by NHS England shows that foreign objects were left inside 98 patients after operations, including gauzes, swabs, drill guides, scalpel blades and needles. Vaginal swabs were also left in patients 32 times and surgical swabs were left 21 times. Other objects left inside patients included part of a pair of wire cutters, part of a scalpel blade, and the bolt from surgical forceps. On three separate occasions, part of a drill bit was left in a patient too. Along with this, “Wrong-site surgery” was carried out on 171 patients and six patients had injections to the wrong eye. The data published by NHS England, shows differences in the reporting of errors between health trusts, with Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust reporting 11, the highest number. Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust both reported ten.

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Boris Johnson's father becomes French citizen Boris Johnson's father Stanley Johnson,81, has become a French citizen.

He said he was applying for the passport to maintain his ties with the European Union after Brexit. He appeared on national TV in France to celebrate “becoming French” – despite thinking that Brexit was “probably a good idea”.

He spoke fluently in the language of Molière when he appeared on BFM – the country’s largest TV news

outlet – on Friday morning.

“I’m very happy,” he said. “It means a lot. My mother was born in Paris.

For me it’s something very precious, it’s a part of my identity.”

Confirming that he acquired French nationality on May 18 2022, Mr Johnson read a statement from the Ministry of Justice in Paris.

The statement added: “This decision concerns Mr Stanley Johnson only, and does not extend to his descendants".

He spoke about his intention to apply for French citizenship in December 2020.

25,000 sent for prostate checks post lockdown dip Thousands of men who missed out on prostate cancer checks during the pandemic now are coming forward and the numbers have reached an all-time high.

In the month of March, almost 25,000 men with prostate cancer were referred by their GP to see a specialist for further tests.

The numbers were up by a

fifth compared with February and almost a third in March last year.

To clear the backlog from the pandemic the NHS and Prostate Cancer UK started a campaign in February that starred Stephen Fry and Bill Turnbull, who have had the disease diagnosed, to urge men to check their risk.

Following this, more than half a million have since done so via an online tool that looks at age, family history and ethnicity.

Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, said: “Lives are being saved thanks to a record-breaking number of men taking the vital decision to get an NHS cancer check.”

Cabinet Office to split As No. 10 to take over economic, domestic, national security and intelligence policy, No.10 permanent secretary Samantha Jones will oversee the PM's department.

As per an email, civil service leaders confirmed that the Cabinet Office will serve as a “corporate headquarters” for the civil service and oversee reform, Jones, cabinet secretary Simon Case, and Cabinet Office perm sec Alex

Chisholm.

The move is considered to be the result of attempts to overhaul the No.10 operation, which Cabinet Office second permanent secretary Sue Gray called "fragmented and complicated" in the initial findings of her Partygate inquiry in January.

Next week ahead of parliament’s summer recess, Gray’s full report is expected to be published, now that the

Met Police has concluded its investigation into Covid regulation-breaching gatherings at No.10 and in Whitehall during the pandemic.

The email from the civil service leaders said, “Through this change, we will deliver some immediate benefits: dedicated leadership, clearer accountability and a greater focus on the two halves’ respective missions.”

Central London buses could be axed The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has suggested that buses could be moved from central to outer London if TfL is unable to secure longterm funding from the Government.

The Department for Transport (DfT) that provided TfL with the current emergency funding deal is set to expire in one month’s time, but Sadiq Khan said negotiations over a new deal are “going very slowly”.

Failure to secure longterm, sustainable funding would lead to a period of

managed decline whereby service levels would have to be reduced and capital investment projects would have to be scrapped, TfL had previously warned.

Speaking at a Mayor’s Question Time session at City Hall, he said: “At the

moment what we’ve planned was for a four per cent reduction in buses because, in central London, there’s some duplication [of routes] – particularly with the new Elizabeth Line opening up next week. So, some of the buses we could take from central London to outer London where there’s a bigger need for buses, not least because there are fewer Tube lines in outer London. We’re also encouraging people in outer London to use buses rather than driving their cars."

Labour politician "Catfish Khalid" stalked women online A senior Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, Khalid Mahmood has disputed claims by Elaina Cohen that he was a “racist bully” who ended their personal relationship when she refused to become his second wife.

A tribunal has been told, Mr Mahmood was known as “Catfish Khalid” because he “stalked” women online.

Cohen alleges that when Saraya Hussain, the woman he hired turned out to be a

“criminal abuser” who had exploited women at the domestic abuse charity she worked at, Mahmood refused to act on allegations and fired Cohen.

Cohen is claiming unfair dismissal against Mahmood and she has also alleged racial and religious discrimination, harassment and victimisation. He denies any wrongdoing.

She said he offered her a job in 2003 and they began a relationship in 2004, in a

statement to the tribunal.

After the relationship ended in 2005, she said, Mahmood “claimed that the breakdown ... was my refusal to become a second wife with an Islamic nikah [marriage ceremony].

Khalid had misled me into believing his previous marriages were dissolved but I discovered in 2005 this was a lie. I was distraught at his false promises of marriage to two women at the same time.”

Sadiq Khan secretly in brief invited to Harry and TORY MP ARRESTED FOR RAPE AND SEX Meghan’s £11m ASSAULT The unnamed Tory MP has been taken into California mansion custody by the police for rape and sexual The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, had invited Sadia Khan to their £11m mansion in California on his trip to the US. However, he could not accept because their home near Santa Barbara was a 90-minute drive from where the City Hall-organised party was being held.

The offer was made after Harry and Meghan were unable to accept an invitation to be the star guests at a VIP party that was hosted by the mayor in Los Angeles last week.

It is also believed that the mayor would not have wanted to be drawn into the royal family’s “civil war”, especially ahead of meeting Prince William at the FA Cup final and the Queen’s visit to Crossrail.

Khan shares a good relationship with the Duke of Cambridge who he has met on several occasions. Both have a shared interest in tackling environmental issues as well.

assault that was committed between 2002 and 2009 in London. Scotland Yard said: "A man was arrested on suspicion of indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of a position of trust and misconduct in a public office." The MP has now been bailed until mid-June pending further enquiries.

Police first received a report of the allegations in January 2020 and have conducted a two-year probe into the claims.

For now, the party has put a hold on the suspension of the MP until detectives from the Central Specialist Crime unit conclude their probe. However, Chief Whip Chris Heaton Harris has asked the MP to stay away from Parliament during the investigation. A whips office spokesperson said: "The Chief Whip has asked that the MP concerned does not attend the Parliamentary Estate while an investigation is ongoing. "Until the conclusion of the investigation, we will not be commenting further."

Doctors to prescribe sleep 10-YEAR PLAN TO DEMENTIA app instead of pills TACKLE WILL FOCUS ON

To wean insomniacs off addictive hypnotic sleeping pills such as zopiclone and zolpidem, that is almost taken by about 500,000 Britons, now patients will be prescribed a self-help app instead of sleeping pills.

GPs have been informed to offer Sleepio, a six-week digital therapy programme, as the first-line treatment.

The medicines watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), have approved the first web-based treatment Sleepio adding that it could benefit 800,000 patients in England. It will cost the NHS £45 a patient.

Extending support to the NHS move, experts said that Nice’s decision heralded a new era of digital treatments on the NHS that could help to address the Covid-19 backlog and long waiting lists.

Clinical trials have also shown that the app is more effective at helping people to get to sleep than pills and saves money by sharply reducing the number of GP appointments and prescriptions.

Sleepio involves six weekly 20-minute sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) delivered by a virtual doctor called “The Prof”.

Indian student found dead just one month after coming to London An Indian teenager Komal who came to London to study allegedly took her own life just one month later at her student house in West London, the coroner's court heard on May 23.

On March 22 2022 when she was found dead by her landlord around 8 pm in her room in Hillingdon, Komal had no surname on her identification.

On February 5, 2022, she had only started studying Accounting and Finance at BPP University - which has campuses across London, recently moving into her new student digs with others on Wood End Green Road in Hayes.

The BPP head of inclusion and learning support, Nicholas Glossup to West London Coroner's Court said before her death, Komal had only attended two classes of a possible five.

A post-mortem gave the main cause of death as asphyxia and the secondary cause as strangulation, while toxicology found nothing of note.

PREVENTION, SAYS SAJID JAVID The Health Secretary said a 10-year plan to tackle dementia will have a big focus on prevention as he promised a “seismic shift” in how the condition is tackled. He told the Alzheimer’s Society annual conference in central London that his plan will look at why people fall ill, with figures suggesting as much as 40 per cent of dementia is potentially preventable. “We know now that what’s good for the heart is also good for the brain,” he said. Action on high blood pressure, physical inactivity, alcohol, obesity and healthy eating all have a part to play.

So we’re going to be very ambitious on prevention.” However, charities pointed out the double dementia funding that yet has not been delivered by the government.

According to the experts, one million people will be living with dementia in the UK by 2025 and 1.6 million by 2040.

NURSES AND MIDWIVES QUITTING NHS HIGHEST FOR FOUR YEARS New figures show that more than 27,000 nurses and midwives have quit the NHS last year, with many blaming job pressures, the Covid pandemic and poor patient care for their decision. The rise in staff leaving their posts across the UK is throwing light on the fact that frontline workers are under too much strain, especially with the NHS-wide shortage of nurses. Also, the NHS is becoming more reliant on nurses and midwives trained overseas as domestic recruitment remains stubbornly low.

In a report, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) discloses that the numbers in both professions across the UK have risen to their highest level – 758,303.

“With more than 500 nurses and midwives leaving every week, there’s no room for government complacency [about NHS staffing],” said Sara Gorton, the head of health at the union Unison. Sajid Javid, the health and social care secretary, welcomed the record numbers on the NMC register.

“I’m determined to continue growing the workforce to help us tackle the Covid backlog and reduce waiting lists, and we are on track to deliver 50,000 more nurses by 2024, with over 30,000 more working in the NHS since September 2019,” he said.

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in brief JAMMU MAN FOUND DEAD IN SOUTHALL, FAMILY PLEAS FOR HELP

The family of a Jammu man, Susheel Kumar, who was found dead at Pacific Inn London Heathrow hotel in Southall, are appealing to the Indian and British authorities for help in repatriating his body to India. Staff got worried when the 35-year-old did not respond to the calls or knocks on his door, so they used their keys to open the door but couldn't do so completely as his body was blocking the entrance. An ambulance was called immediately but he was declared dead at the scene. Police then arrived and cordoned off the hotel floor. Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at about 11:15 am UK time on 14 May to reports of a man found deceased at a hotel on The Broadway in Southall. The death is not being treated as suspicious. A file will be prepared for the coroner.” Kumar’s cousin, Neeraj Choudhary, who also hails from Jammu said Kumar had been unwell and often switched off his mobile. He also said that they initially thought the death must have caused due to suicide or heart attack but they never thought that illness could have been the reason, yet they are unsure. On 17 May Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh tweeted: “I have immediately taken up the matter with the Indian Embassy in London. I am in continuous touch with the Indian High Commissioner in London, Smt Gaitri Ji, who is personally ensuring that the process of the return of the mortal remains is expedited as fast as possible.”

Shailesh Vara MP welcomes Coronavirus Community Champions to Parliament Shailesh Vara MP welcomed three Coronavirus Community Champions from his constituency of North West Cambridgeshire to a special awards ceremony held in Parliament on Thursday 19th May 2022.

The event was held by all Cambridgeshire MPs, recognising three nominated Champions from each constituency. A message from the Prime Minister to the Champions was played by video.

The winners were Southfields Primary School in Stanground Peterborough, Elton Village Stores, and Post Office Stores in Abbots Ripton.

The ceremony brought together Coronavirus Community Champions from across Cambridgeshire to recognise the efforts of local individuals and organisations where they had provided exceptional support to their community during the pandemic,

The Dalai Lama praises London charity The Dalai Lama has praised a west London charity for arranging an interfaith event to mark the Tibetan Peace Garden’s 23rd anniversary, held on 14 May 2022.

In May 1999, the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama opened and consecrated the Tibetan Peace Garden, which is near the Imperial War Museum, in Central London. His message of peace and harmony is inscribed on the stone pillar in four languages: Tibetan, English, Hindi and Chinese. Twenty-three years on, the Lelung Dharma Trust - which has a Buddhist Centre in North Harrow and a charity shop in Eastcote, both in west London - arranged an event at the Peace Garden to celebrate the goals of the garden, which include establishing places of peace and harmony in the world.

In a letter, the Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace laureate, wrote: “I am pleased to learn that the Lelung Dharma Trust is organising an event to Celebrate Peace and Cultural Diversity, in commemoration of the 23rd anniversary of the Tibetan Peace Garden in London.

“Having been present at its initial estab-

Work with us to help Ukrainian refugees, Lord Loomba tells Government as he announces aid scheme with Barnardos British families, charities and the voluntary sector are stepping up to the plate, but the Government must do more to play its part in supporting vulnerable mothers fleeing Ukraine with their children, Lord Loomba warned in the House of Lords debate on the Queen’s Speech last week.

The Loomba Foundation has extensive experience of the impact of conflict in many parts of the world, particularly in driving up numbers of vulnerable widows and single mothers with dependent children, and the massive upheaval this causes for families and communities.

“We have seen how this is the predominant feature of the Ukrainian refugee crisis today,” Lord Loomba told the House, “and we know the range of support that is essential for these mothers to create the stabilisation they crave for their families.”

British families have opened their homes, but, he noted, “the current system which the Government has put in place simply does not provide enough support for the vulnerable women and children arriving in the UK.” Living arrangements can break down for a variety of reasons and in such circumstances, Lord Loomba said, “we need to put measures in place so that local authorities receive funding to match them with another family or to provide alternative accommodation.”

“We also need funding from central government to provide pastoral and mental health support for these refugees,” Lord Loomba added. “We know that children as well as adults who have suffered trauma need

with nominations received from the public.

Mr Stephen Higgins and Mr Ravi Mathu from Elton Village Stores attended the ceremony and were nominated for making deliveries to vulnerable residents at no extra cost and for ensuring that elderly residents were consistently supported.

Mr Vara welcomed the winners to Parliament and presented each winner with a

certificate signed by all Cambridgeshire MPs. Following the presentation, Mr Vara said: “It was a great pleasure to welcome Community Champions from North West Cambridgeshire to Parliament.

“Throughout the pandemic, I have seen countless acts of selflessness and generosity, with many local individuals and organisations going above and beyond to support their neighbours and communities.

“This awards ceremony is a way of providing just a few of those thoughtful individuals and organisations with recognition for their efforts during this difficult time.

“I would like to warmly congratulate Southfields Primary School, Elton Village Stores, and Post Office Stores in Abbots Ripton on their awards, and I thank them on behalf of North West Cambridgeshire for their outstanding support to our communities.”

Lord Loomba speaking in the Humble Address debate on the Queen’s Speech in the House of Lords, 17 May 2022. Picture: Parliamentlive.tv

the right help as early as possible, so they can start to build a new future in the UK.” Lord Loomba’s plea carried extra weight because he speaks for charities who are actively doing all they can to fill the gaps and meet immediate needs of Ukrainian refugees, and he used the occasion to announce a new Loomba Foundation partnership with Barnardo’s, of which he is a Vice-President, whereby the Loomba Foundation will fund vouchers for Ukrainian refugee families to obtain essential items from any one of Barnardo’s nationwide network of more than 630 shops.

“Important as such measures can be for individual families,” he concluded, “we cannot rely on charities alone to support the Ukrainian families and their British hosts, and I call on the Government to engage with us to help define the wider support that is needed, and to provide the resources to do so.”

Acknowledging Lord Loomba’s contribution on behalf of the Government, Baroness Barran highlighted his reference to the need for mental health care and undertook to write and address the points he made.

lishment in 1999, I am glad that through the years there has been an effort to fulfil the initial vision of cultivating understanding between different cultures and thereby promoting peace and harmony in the world.

“The Peace Garden is a symbol to remind us that human survival depends on living in harmony with each other and with our environment. It is imperative that we choose the path of non-violence in resolving our differ-

ences. “In the 20th century, we saw immeasurable human suffering and environmental destruction. We must together strive to make this 21st century a time of peace and harmony.

I hope the interfaith programme and the other activities being organised to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the Peace Garden will contribute to this objective.”

Lelung Tulku, Spiritual Director of the Lelung Dharma Trust, said: “We are pleased to be involved with the Tibetan Peace Garden, a peace promotion project which has the blessing and support of the Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. We at the Lelung Dharma Trust are committed to preserving and supporting this important Tibetan landmark, a peace project in London in close coordination with the Southwark Council.”

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Birth rights inquiry into racial Post-Covid growth strategy for financial institutions & industries injustice in maternity care The safety of hundreds of women and birthing people from Black and Brown and mixed ethnicity backgrounds is being put at risk due to systemic racism within UK maternity care, a year-long inquiry by Birthrights, the UK charity for human rights in pregnancy and childbirth, has found.

The report, titled Systemic Racism, Not Broken Bodies, reveals the devastating impact systemic racism within maternity care is having on Black, Brown, and mixed ethnicity women and birthing people’s safety, dignity, choice, autonomy, and equality from individual interactions and workforce culture through to curriculums and policies.

In evidence given to the inquiry, which was supported by law firm Leigh Day, Black, Brown, and mixed ethnicity women and birthing people reported racism, microaggressions and harmful cultural assumptions from their caregivers, as well as coercion, incidents of physical and psychological harm, and

lack of choice and informed consent. More than half of respondents said that concerns they raised about their own or their babies’ health were dismissed, ignored, or disbelieved.

Testimony from healthcare professionals also reported a discriminatory culture that included a lack of representation at senior level - and prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and racist stereotyping within the workforce. Women, healthcare professionals and lawyers all gave testimony about serious medical conditions not being recognised due to skin colour - such as jaundice or sepsis - due to policies and curriculums which centre white bodies as the norm.

Evidence has repeatedly shown that Black, Brown, and mixed ethnicity women and birthing people are more likely to die, experience baby loss, become seri-

LCUK and LCNL hosted International President Satishbhai Vithlani The Lohana Community of United Kingdom (LCUK) and Lohana Community North London (LCNL) last week hosted Satishbhai Vithlani, the President of Shree Lohana Mahaparishad.

ously unwell and have worse experiences of care during pregnancy and childbirth, compared to those who are white.

The latest report published

by MBRRACEUK in November 2021 revealed maternity mortality rates were more than four times higher for Black women, two times higher for mixed ethnicity women and almost twice as high for Asian women.

Shaheen Rahman QC, a senior barrister with particular expertise in Clinical Negligence, Inquests, Public Law and Human Rights, and Chair of the inquiry, said, “Black women in the United Kingdom are four times more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth than white women; Asian and mixed-race women are twice as likely. This glaring inequity prompted Birthrights to bring together experts with lived experience, healthcare professionals, lawyers, and academics to examine how race discrimination impacts maternity care. I was honoured to chair the evidence sessions and to write the foreword to this important report. I pay tribute to all those who have shared their experiences from which so many lessons can be learned. I look forward to seeing how Birthrights will work with maternity stakeholders to advocate for the calls to action and hold the system to account.”

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament, of the Republic of India. The institution was set up in 1949 under a special Act in 1949 even before the adoption of the Constitution of India in

Members of ICAI (UK)

Ranger, CBE and the words, however, all three founder of Sun Mark), panellists emphasised that Sharad Chandak (CEO organisation and profesSBI UK), and Dr Anand sional resilience are the Kumar (Board secrets.

Member, Association Pertinent important of Foreign Banks). topics: Interest Rate, Krishna Dahal Inflation and Climate subChairman and Vivek stantiality were also disL-R: Vineet Jain moderator, Lord Rami Saraogi Vice-chair cussed. Lord Rami Ranger Ranger, Sharad Chandak CEO, SBI(UK), Dr. addressed the welhighlighted events from his Anand Kumar Board member association come speech and personal life and the imporof foreign banks. introduced all the tance of value in building a panel members and wellstrong team, the importance 1950. Since then, the known dignitaries. of hiring loyal staff who Profession has grown leaps Tabassum Nathani and bounds in terms of Treasurer and Meenal Membership and currently Sambre Newsletter constitutes 5 regional lead greeted the dignioffices, 163 branches, and 30 taries with bouquets, chapters abroad. and Vineet Jain modThe ICAI is the second erated the Panel. largest professional body of The focused theme Vivek Saraogi Vice-chair ICAI (UK), Dr. Chartered Accountants in Param Shah Director FICCI, C B Patel of the event coupled the world and has an MOU with an eminent panel Publisher-Editor In Chief of Asian Voicewith The Institute of Gujarat Samachar, Dr. Anahita Bhatt. attracted about a hunChartered Accountants of dred attendees. Bankers and stays with the company for a England & Wales (ICAEW) working professionals from long and the desire to be and 11 other countries. The organisations like HSBC, somebody who focuses on role of overseas chapters is Citi Bank, Deutsche Bank, your goal. Mr Sharad to develop relationships JP Morgan, VFS, and IBM Chandak shared the operatwith local public institutes took part in the conference. ing model that opted to help and their members.

Many attendees were practheir employees and cusICAI UK Chapter, the tising chartered accountants tomers during covid. Dr Indian Chartered in the UK. Students from Anand Kumar shared how Accountancy body in the institutions like London banks mitigated cyber secuUK, has over 1,000 members Business School came for rity risks during a pandemic. in the UK. The chapter the event. Some of the Dhiraj Khandelwal, organised its flagship conattendees travelled from Central Council Member, ference on “Post Covid abroad. chair of MSME and Start Growth Strategy for An impactful discussion Committee of the Institute Financial Institutions & focussing on how these spoke about how the UK can Industries” on 14th May, leaders could successfully play a vital role in the startSaturday evening at Mont bounce back from the Covid up and MSME The event Calm London Hotel, Marble scars took place. As the disconcluded with dinner, Arch cussion proceeded, the panwhere the attendees further The panel discussion ellists shared their vision of interacted among themwas conducted between the future. In different selves and with the speakers.

Lord Rami Ranger, (Baron

A gathering of like-minded carers to empower children in India

In the event of LCNL at the Dhamecha Lohana Centre, Brember Road all the LCNL Committee and operating bodies welcomed Mr. Vithlani. Left to right on the chairs: Ronak Paw LCNL Secretary, Meena Jasani LCNL Vice President, Dinesh Shonchhatra LCNL President, Satishbhai Vithlani President Lohana Mahaparishad, Lord Dollar Popat, Bharat Sodha LCUK President and members.

In the event organised by LCUK, from left: Prakash Modi V.P, Satishbhai Vithlani President LMP, Bharatbhai Sodha President LCUK, Ashok Rach Vice President LCUK. Standing: Panna Raja Trustee, Sunilbhai Majithia Immediate past president, Narendra Popat President of East London, Indiraben president of Birmingham, Dinesh Sonchhatra President North London.

Ajay Ganatra Member of South London.

The main message from Satishbhai was to give opportunities and empower the youth and women.

He said that he is working on strengthening the networking between Lohanas worldwide.

The evening of May 12th, 2022 saw the coming together of some wonderfully caring benefactors for the Indian charity – Yuva Unstoppable.

The charity works in the areas of education, health & sanitation and digital learning in schools across India turning them into cheerful, happy spaces for children.

The Founder of Yuva Unstoppable, Amitabh Shah addressed the gathering showcasing videos and stories of the transformational change brought about by Yuva at the grassroots level. Yuva has to date reached 3000 schools and overall impacted 6 million beneficiaries through its various projects enabling digital learning, upgraded infrastructure, sanitation up-gradation, and scholarships among several others.

Amitabh’s journey started with having turned down a Wall Street job offer after an MBA from Yale University to work on the real streets of India. His

Agarwal, Pradip Dhamecha, the Hinduja Family, Pride View, Brinda Jaykant Shah Foundation, FCI, and Axiom Stone amongst others.

The Hon. C B Patel with Amitabh & Rashmi President of India, Shri Ramnath Kovind passion and commitment applauded their work durto better the future for miling the COVID crisis twice. lions of children are both CB Patel of Asian Voice praiseworthy and infecsaid, “Amitabh Shah and his tious.

Yuva Unstoppable in the UK partners with One Kind Act, an organisation supporting charities that create long term sustainable impact on the ground. One Kind Act’s Chairman, Guests and Donors Shamit Malhotra and wife Rashmi Shah are gems his family hosted the netof India. They have dediworking event which saw a cated their lives to improvturnout of several kind ing the education and benefactors of Yuva who all health of every child across wish to join hands in India.”

Amitabh’s journey of reachAmitabh Shah said, “We ing 10,000 schools. are lucky to have partners Yuva’s patrons in the like Asian Voice and One UK include personalities Kind Act in the UK who such as Lord Jeffrey Archer, have been championing Lord Ian Botham, Anil resources for providing

Shamit Malhotra Chairman of One Kind Act

scholarships and better educational infrastructure to needy schools in India.”

Alisha Malhotra of One Kind Act who has overcome a life-threatening stroke dedicated her life to helping the needy in India said, “Even a small gesture can make a huge impact. Amitabh Shah is creating a platform for us to do that. We have miles to go.”

Amitabh Shah maybe reached at amitabh@yuvaunstoppable.org For more: www.yuvaunstoppable.org or their UK Partner https://www.onekindact.or g/events/alisha-malhotra-sbright-start-scholarshipprogramme

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THE BHAVAN, HERALDS ITS YEAR-LONG CELEBRATIONS TO MARK GOLDEN JUBILEE Homage paid to Padma Shri Dr John R Marr The Golden Jubilee inaugural event of The Bhavan was held on 21 May. The day heralded the year-long celebration of the 50 years of propagating and supporting Indian Classical Arts and Culture in London.

Everyone fondly remembered the contributions of founder Dr K M Munshi, Manek Dalal Ji, and Mathoor Ji. The Bhavan paid homage to the Vice Chairman and one of its founding trustees Padma Shri Dr John R Marr.

Chief Guest of the event Manmeet Singh Narang, Minister (Coordination), High Commission of India said, “I offer my heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of Padma Shree John Marr. He was an Encyclopaedia of Indian art and culture. Now, I would like to congratulate all of you, who are associated with The Bhavan for keeping the Indian cultural flag high in the UK. India offers diversity to the culture of London. So, there is something in our culture, in our art, which promotes peaceful coexistence and respect for each other.”

In his welcome address Joginder Sanger Chairman, The Bhavan said, “I recall the early days when Bhavan started in Oxford Street. Mathoor ji had a very small office there. He was not very happy with the things going on here, the public was also not interested. One day, he went to the Air India office to book his ticket to go back. At that time, I was a travel agent and the main agent of Air India. Late chairman, Mr Manek Dalal called me to his office and said The Bhavan is for a good cause, please see Mathoor Ji should not go back. So, when I started going to Bhavan I felt very guilty because I had a totally wrong opinion about the Bhavan. I realised that The Bhavan is the future of our children and future generations. So, from that day, I started helping all the institutions and people who were doing anything for our culture. I used to tell people that we can collect money anyhow but what we need is your time. Today everybody is respecting the Indian community and the Indian way of life. Therefore, Bhavan is the backbone of

His passion and commitment to the Bhavan were contagious, and it has drawn me to this excellent work. As we all know, culture resides in our minds and souls. For me, Bhavan is an oasis, in a very fast-moving world, where we seem to acquire more knowledge of the world, but less of ourselves. It keeps us rooted in our culture, and values. Its spiritual meaning through its excellent work in music, dance, language and our culture.

So, donating money to temples, Bhavan or institutions is secondary but how we promote culture and educate children and neighbourhoods about the culture is very important. I learned many, many years ago that in the English language, the two things are very important. If you do something wrong, say sorry, if you do something good for yourself say thank you, and this is the whole culture. It is our duty to make sure if we love our children, culture and society, then not only Bhavan, any institution like that, which is teaching about culture, please help them not only with the money but with your time. If you see all the senior families, all the good families, they follow the tradition that we follow in India. Respect your elders, respect your honesty and respect your life. Tell your youngster to help Bhavan as much as they can.”

Cllr P J Murphy (Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham) said, “One thing I loved when I heard from the film was this quote, that once you put your foot into Bhavan, you're not going to go away. It is true. What you bring is the diversity of India to the diversity of London and that improves our culture so much and makes it such a wonderful and a fantastic place to live.”

Baroness Usha Prashar CBE (Honorary president UK community Foundation) said, “I can say with great pride that my association with Bhavan goes back to the 1970s. I had the privilege of meeting the former chairman of the Bhavan Shri Manek Dalal.

In memoriam: Dr John Marr One of The Bhavan's founding recognition and appeal of The trustees, Padma Shri Dr John R Bhavan's multi-subject diploma Marr passed away on May 19, programme. at the age of 95 years. Dr Dr Marr was awarded the Marr was a British Padma Shri civilian honour by Indologist, writer and a the Government of India in former member of faculty 2009 for his contributions to at the School of Oriental Education. For everyone at and African Studies in the Bhavan who had the honLondon. A specialist in our of meeting, working, and Carnatic music and Tamil learning with him, Dr Marr will literature, Dr Marr's academic always be remembered for his Dr John Marr rigour, encyclopaedic knowledge incomparable spirit and his uncomof Indian culture and unrestrained promising passion for Indian culture; enthusiasm and support for young students the foundations upon which this organisawere fundamental to the long-standing tion, now in its 50th year, have been built.

Project London: August 1972, the conception of the London Branch of the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan His Excellency Shri Apa B Pant, High Commissioner for India in the UK, convened a meeting of leading Englishmen and Indians on 9th June to consider the proposal for starting a Centre of the Bhavan in the UK. It so happened that Shri Girdharilal Mehta, Shri Jaisukhlal Hathi, VicePresidents, Dr Karan Singh, Chairman of

Bhavan’s International and Chairman of the Kashmir Kendra and Shri M Sunder Ram Shetty, Chairman of the Vijaya Bank Ltd and a Member of the Committee of the Bangalore Kendra, who were all going abroad in connection with their own work were all our suggestion, good enough to agree to plan their itinerary to be in London on June 9, 1972.

yoga, helps us to connect with ourselves.”

The event began with a prayer by Dr MN Nandakumar, Executive Director, The Bhavan. He said, “From its humble beginnings in a small space on Oxford Street in 1972 with around 90 students, The Bhavan has grown in strength and holds classes in over 23 subjects with 800 students, over 100 performances in a year, and an ongoing dialogue with the current generation of artists and thinkers. Its current location in West Kensington consists of a world-class auditorium, space for classes and workshop hires, as well as an Art gallery.”

Patrick Holden, The Bhavan’s Development Director, spoke briefly about the future of The Bhavan and outlined the vision for the coming decades. The Vote of

Thanks was given by Subhanu Saxena, Bhavan’s Executive Committee Member. He said, “The Bhavan’s Golden Jubilee will be celebrated throughout the year from May 2022 – April 2023, with specially curated performances, events, workshops, and exhibitions.”

This was followed by beautiful inaugural renditions by The Bhavan’s music students Bengali music under the tutelage of resident teacher Smt Sajali Roy, Carnatic vocal trained by Sri Sampath Kumarachary Daruri, and Hindustani vocal trained by Smt Chandrima Misra. The Bhavan’s activities were portrayed through a short film which gave an insight into The Bhavan’s classes, events and Bhavan’s students and their achievements. The morning session closed with beautiful performances by The Bhavan’s dance students. The audience witnessed Odissi (trained by resident teacher Katrina Rute), Kathak (trained by Dhiya Arora and Amun Bhachu), and Bharathanatyam (trained by Prakash Yadagudde). The evening session saw a scintillating performance by Bharatanatyam Dancer/choreographer Rukmini Vijaykumar.

Special Deepaks were given to all guests, which were made by the very special children of Ahmedabad.

CREATING CHANGE MAKERS THROUGH

THE POWER OF EDUCATION J

ust as little drops of water make an ocean, Pardada Pardadi Educational Society (PPES) empowers girls to turn back the tide of history and change their world. Change that is unrooting patriarchy, dismantling casteism, and motivating other girls to study in rural India.

A PPES education has a direct effect on the life of every student, which stretches beyond herself, and touching her family, her village and her community.

Asha Rani is one such student.

Asha, meaning ‘Hope’ in Hindi, graduated from our first ever class.

True to her name, Asha is a teacher at Madagate in UP, bringing hope and inspiration to the girls she teaches, all of whom are from backgrounds very similar to her own.

Coming from a marginalised family, Asha was unable to determine her own destiny. Her horizon was limited to daily household chores. Driven by a desire to go to school, Asha’s life changed dramatically when PPES opened our first school 22 years ago.

Asha excelled academically and developed her leadership skills. She graduated first in her class and won the opportunity of a lifetime: a scholarship to the USA. And all this from a girl whose family considered

basic domestic railway travel an unaffordable luxury.

Having completed her studies, Asha selflessly decided to give back to the endeavour that first encouraged her on her path to success. She is a role model for countless girls just like her, and for women in her community.

Madargate’s population is very poor and low in the Indian caste system.

They face rampant casteism and have minimal opportunities to overcome the challenges caused by their status and financial disadvantage.

Asha became a community mobilizer. She expands the horizons of her students through the power of education: every year she educates 30 pupils to allow them to attend the main PPES secondary school. In short, Asha gives each student a chance to completely rewrite her destiny.

PPES is proud to have taught Asha. We have nurtured her compassion and skills.

This has allowed her to expand her horizons, explore and improve the world around her. She is confident and shows her entire community that, given the same life chances and opportunities as a man, a woman can soar higher than anyone ever imagined.

We believe that this is all down to the power of a good education!

PARDADA PARDADI EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY UK is a registered UK charity (Charity no. 1166879) and can be contacted through email on info@pardadapardadi-uk.org; phone on 079 03329311; postal address 25 Sweetcroft Lane, Uxbridge, UB10 9LE.

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Is PM pushing Putin to go nuclear?

In a recent parliamentary debate in the House of Lords, some members were worried that if President Putin is pushed too hard, he may not hesitate to use tactical nuclear weapons to save face, knowing too well that even NATO could not afford all-out nuclear war.

Our PM Boris Johnson is in front, taking a leading role in defence of Ukraine, which makes us Putin’s first target if he goes nuclear, not France or Germany who are taking a back seat, leaving us to do their dirty, dangerous work that no one else fancies.

Our politicians are under the illusion that we are a super-power and it is our duty to police the world, although British Empire no longer exists and we are no more than a tiny island nation with a failed economy and without influence to change the world, better or worse.

Only two nations, America and China are super-powers and moreover, China has the best economy, a well-run State no one can challenge. Above all, their politicians are wise, dedicated, well informed and China never acts in haste.

As if our PM does not have enough on his plate, he now wants to be a guardian angel of Moldova, a sitting target if Putin wants to enlarge the conflict, as Moldova has no army but a significant Russian speaking population. At a one-time luminary, Putin thought Ukraine will be a walkover but did not realise how patriotic, robust Ukrainians are. He badly misjudged the situation and paid a heavy price for his ignorance and stupidity.

The next real war will be in the China Sea when China will try to take over, to liberate Taiwan, an integral part of China, in the eyes of Communist China, which has already taken over the South China Sea, building artificial islands in shallow waters that China could use to launch attacks on Taiwan. China is the real threat, a real enemy disguised as Santa Claus making a fool of the West and the rest of the world!

Bhupendra M. Gandhi

Asian PM in the UK? In a recent newspaper report, it was mentioned that Britain is ready for an Asian Prime Minister. Think Tank director Sundar Katwala wrote that while no one can guess until 2032 whether there will be an Asian or black PM in the UK, he added that 84 per cent of the public would have no problem with that, with only a surely one in 10 opposed. He mentioned that ethnic diversity has become the new normal and it’s just a matter of time.

There are two important loopholes in there. Firstly, what are the source and sample size of this survey data?

Were people outside the community, especially outside London consulted? Did they participate in the survey?

Secondly, when Britons who practice subtle racism and have voted for Brexit will become a part of the elections, do we really think an Asian candidate will take over No. 10? People barely let Rishi Sunak survive as a Chancellor, north and mid-England has old school voter, where the average age of a voter is 50+ and far away mentally from letting an Asian man or woman run the nation.

Londoners will not oppose an Asian PM, young people won’t either but they don’t vote! This local election, the lowest turnout of voters were in London.

Unless the decision to elect the leader of the majority party rests within the Tories, it is quite unlikely that a Sunak, a Patel or a Javid will become the Prime Minister in the near future.

If the methodology, sample size and results of such half baked surveys can be produced without tampering, I’ll take my words back.

Hemant Mathur

Cost of living crisis case studies Powerful case studies highlighting the grim reality facing millions of families plunged into food and fuel poverty as food prices reach a 40-year high, have been released by Breadline Voices, a new series from The Food Foundation. They say they aim to give politicians, policymakers, businesses and the media access to case studies and people with lived experience of the current cost of living crisis.

It will be good that the foundation will also be inviting members of the public to write in to share their experiences of food insecurity over the coming months as millions are facing soaring costs of food and fuel bills. It will be interesting to see how the series will help create a real-life picture of what is happening across the UK and provide vital insight into how families are coping.

Ashok Talwar

Sanatan Hindus’ legitimate rights in India British Government granted Independence dividing former British India strictly on the basis of certain faiths creating a politically imbalanced partition. Gandhiji’s wish for former India to remain undivided was discarded by them.

As Mr Jinnah wanted a separate Muslim state Pakistan, It is clearly indicated in Pakistan's constitution about the fulfilment of acquiring a Muslim state. Similarly, it could and should have clearly indicated by the Congress government in the Indian constitution that as the British government gave independence to Pakistan on the basis of their Muslim faith, India is given independence on the basis of the remaining faiths of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism etc. And abiding by these very political rights, all appropriate national enactments should have begun. Without the inclusion of these most important primary rights, the Indian constitution can be declared absurd and nullified, because the present constitution clearly gives the impression that the entire former India had not been divided at all and kept intact for all the faiths; and consequently Congress government took disadvantage of this situation that led to most of the enacted laws biased towards the faith which had already departed lock, stock, and barrel during partition, and against those rightful faiths for whom the British government had equally made a special arrangement of rights which are found to be pounced on by Muslims who should have been satisfied having their own land Pakistan.

The Congress government ignored the sentiments of the Sanatan Hindu people by surreptitiously introducing the ‘76 emergency law imprisoning 2/3 majority members, and piling up harsh and inappropriate laws that negated their demands for possession of their temples which were turned into mosques.

Attaining independence in ‘47, the Congress party did not close down and disperse inspite of Gandhiji’s instruction.

From ‘47 to ‘ 50 Saradar Patel, renowned for his political skill, solved India’s initial problem of uniting the country, so the nation named him for future PM of Republic India; but he sadly died mysteriously in Dec.’50 just before Republic India’s first general election in’51; otherwise he would have solved other ensuing problems efficiently and honestly.

The new generation is awakened to fight for their legitimate rights under Mr Modi’s government, which strive to make progress in all fields honestly.

RN Patel

Tomato price goes through the roof The price of tomatoes is more than Rs 60 per kilogramme in several parts of the country. Tomatoes are a major source of lycopene — it reduces the risk of heart disease and cancer — and are also a great source of Vitamin C, potassium, folate and Vitamin K. The government must do all it can to bring down the price of tomatoes and other key food items to provide relief to the common people. People could also consider cooking with curd or tamarind as an alternative to tomatoes.

Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai, India

No way out With food prices rocketing and funeral fees rising most of us find ourselves in an impossible position. We cannot afford to live or die!

Rudy Otter

Asma Khan says, 'none of you saw me when I failed' The owner of Darjeeling Express and star of Netflix’s Chef’s Table Asma Khan who almost didn’t make it to her talk at the Santa Fe Literary Festival, speaks about being unapologetically political and creating her own space as an immigrant.

A proud Muslim, she heads up the only female-founded, all-female kitchen in the world.

She shared how she was questioned when she was scouting bigger locations for her already wildly successful restaurant.

Khan believes there are some clear advantages to her outsider status. “I don’t get invited to the iftar at Downing Street, I don’t get invited to events with the sophisticated and the elite, but I rattle every cage I can,” she says, “...In that boys’ club of hospitality where everyone knows everyone, I don’t owe anything to anyone. I’m free.”

"I’m very political,” she says, without apology. “As an immigrant, I want everyone to know you cannot take my clothes, you cannot eat my food, you cannot have my culture if you don’t also take me. British people, who tell people who look like me to ‘go home’ — what were you doing in my country for 200 years? And here [in the US], they want to keep the Mexicans out, but everyone wants to eat tacos!”

KAPIL’S

•

Kapil Dudakia

KHICHADI

The Genocide of the Uyghurs The systematic genocide (physical, cultural, and mental) of Uyghurs in China began as far back as 2014. The Chinese government made a policy decision to incarcerate more than 1 million Turkic Muslims (some estimate this to be as high as 2 million people) into ‘detention’ camps. The term detention hides a multitude of sins. The more apt description would be genocide centres.

The western world, the Islamic world, the economic world, the moral crusaders, the wokes, the PC brigade, the human rights enterprises, the United Nations, the WHO, the WEF, the G7, the G20, NATO, the sports federations, the sports personalities, the celebrities of music and dance, the stars of Hollywood and the ‘liberal’ mediawalas, have all maintained an eerie silence on the issue.

It’s almost as if the Chinese government has bought them out.

Whilst the Chinese have been systematically destroying the Uyghur community, it has been playing host to international events to wash away their sins: 2013 East Asian Games 2013 Asian Youth Games 2014 Summer Youth Olympics 2017 BRICS Games 2019 World Police and Fire Games 2021 Universiade 2021 Gymnasiade U18 2022 Winter Olympics (known to many as the genocide games) 2022 Winter Paralympics Games to be held later this year: 2022 Asian Games September 2022 Asian Para Games 2022 Gay Games Recently what has been termed ‘The Xinjiang Police Files’ came to light. This represents thousands of documents and pictures detailing the incarceration of the Uyghurs. The documents have been verified but on the global stage we see very little movement from the west to sanction the Chinese state.

It has been claimed that since 2017 more than 16000 mosques have either been destroyed, damaged or closed down. And yet not a peep out of anyone. The Labour MP’s who routinely lie about India and Kashmir have nothing whatsoever to say about the genocide of their Muslim brothers and sisters in China. Where are the mass marches to the Chinese embassy in London by the Muslim community to protest at the devastation caused by the Chinese on the Uyghurs? It seems in the Muslim world the Uyghurs are just not Islamic enough to be supported or protected. The collective might of the Islamic world it seems has been bought by the Chinese government.

China has enslaved Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong, East Turkestan, Macau, Manchukuo, and South Mongolia. It has encroached on the sovereign land of India, as well as expanding its empire in South China Sea which is antagonising countries like Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

Whilst the western world wants to make Russia the nasty nation, it seems to me they are all sleep walking in making China the most powerful and nasty nation on this planet. Interestingly the one big surprise coming out this week was when President Biden said that the US would respond 'militarily' if China attacked Taiwan. An incredible statement. Was it a slip of the tongue? No sooner had he declared potential war on China, the US diplomatic team went into overdrive to change the narrative and limit the damage. Would the US (which means NATO) actually attack China?

Interestingly, PM Modi has managed to get the QUAD (Australia, India, Japan, and the United States) which met on Tuesday 24th May to declare in the strongest terms their opposition to coercive, provocative or unilateral actions to change the status quo in the IndoPacific region. That is one step away from calling out China for what it is, a rogue nation.

And whilst all of this is going on in the world, the Labour Party and our media in the UK have nothing better to pursue than ‘Partygate’! That tells you all you need to know about Labour, I guess.

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

Please keep contributing as always. If you are new, then write to Shefali at shefali.saxena@abplgroup.com

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Changes in Australia population, it accounts for 1% of global emissions.

Election also showed a swing towards Independents who campaigned on issues relating to the climate, with success for many first-time entrants to politics, known as teal candidates, who sought much larger cuts to emissions than either the Liberal coalition or the Labour Party and targeted traditionally Liberal seats with more green-leaning poliRuchi Ghanashyam cies. The Greens also performed well. The outcome of the Australian elections are, thus, Mrs. Ruchi Ghanashyam is the former High likely to be significant for planet earth, as Commissioner of India to the UK. With a Australia, long considered a laggard on clicareer in Indian Foreign Service for over 38 mate action, could well take a lead on climate years, she has been posted in many friendly action. countries including South Africa, Ghana, PM Morrison had seen a diminishing of before arriving in the UK. She was only the his popularity amongst women and the second woman High Commissioner to the indigenous people. He was perceived as lackUK since India’s independence and during ing empathy in his response to allegations of her tenure, she witnessed a number of assault on women in Parliament House. The significant developments in the UK-India Labour leader promised gender equality and relations. to enshrine the voice of the indigenous peo@RuchiGhanashyam ple in Parliament. The role of money in politics was also ignored by the people as nthony Albanese, leader of the Labour “Australia’s Trump”, the mining magnate Party in Australia ended nine years of who was said to have spent close to $100 milLiberal/National coalition government lion on advertising, remained unsuccessful. by winning the 2022 Australian federal elecThe changes in Australia throw up some tion held on 21 May 2022. His success ended interesting questions. Following the victory the run of incumbent Prime Minister Scott of Democratic President Joe Biden in the US, Morrison who was the emergence of seeking to win a Labour in Australia, fourth consecutive after the failure of term for his coalithe right wing to distion. Albanese was lodge President sworn in as Macron, could be Australian PM on 23 interpreted by some May after which he as shifting winds of flew to Tokyo to public opinion from attend the Tokyo L-R: Quad leaders PM Anthony Albanese, President Joe right to left. While Biden PM Fumio Kishida and PM Narendra Modi Summit of the elections in the UK Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad). He and India are some time away, the conservabecame the fourth Labor leader since world tives in the UK are at the receiving end of war two to oust a Liberal prime minister. some negative press coverage, which comes The final tally of seats will take some together with a somewhat more confident time and it is not clear yet whether the Labour. In India, the ruling party has been Labour Party will receive an outright majoriable to overcome the vulnerabilities resulting ty or not. The results seem to be more a rejecfrom what was described as poor managetion of the coalition rather than a ment of the pandemic and the resulting ecogroundswell of support for Labour, whose nomic distress. Of late, though, excessive percentage of votes polled have seen a focus on religion has affected support marginal decline. Nevertheless, the results amongst liberals and the youth. However, a are being described as a “seismic shift” in weak and disparate opposition has so far Australian politics as voters showed their shown its inability to dent the enormous preference for greater action for combating popularity of the Indian PM. climate change and gender equality, while Labour has underscored its commitment rejecting the aggressive brand of politics folto the AUKUS security pact, struck by PM lowed by the outgoing prime minister.

Morrison with the United States and United Rich deposits of coal, gas and minerals Kingdom and has voiced strong support for like iron ore laid the foundations for the Quad. The new Labour leader showed his Australia’s prosperity for generations. But commitment to Quad by proceeding for the Australia is now on the forefront of the cliTokyo Summit soon after his swearing in, mate crisis. Forest fires, mass bleaching where he met his counterparts from the US, events at the Great Barrier Reef, severe Japan and India. droughts and record breaking floods have Australia's approach towards China affected Australia in recent times and with would, however, be watched carefully in the the exacerbation of the climate crisis, are set days to come. The Liberal coalition has sugto worsen in coming years as the earth warms gested that Labor will be soft on China. up. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Australia's relations with China deteriorated Climate Change (IPCC) warned that under the outgoing government, especially in Australia was looking at a future of worse cli2020 when the Morrison government called mate disasters. for an investigation into the origins of CovidThe ruling coalition was seen as holding 19 and China responded with sanctions out on action to combat climate change. The against Australian exports, including beef, promises to focus on renewable energy were barley, wine, and rock lobster. not borne out. PM Morrison even held a Notwithstanding the official position, piece of coal in Parliament at one stage.

Quad countries would be attentive to the Australia continues to rely on coal for most statements and policies of the new Australian of its electricity. With only 0.3% of the global leader to security and other issues.

A

Bridge India’s inaugural Ideas for India conference The conference brought together 500+ stakeholders from across India and the world

The inaugural edition of the speak at the Bridge India Ideas for India conference conference. I first visited ended on Friday after three India many years ago and days of rich discussion on discovered such an incredipublic policy. ble, diverse country. The people of the Indian diaspora The three-day event on strengthen our economy, 18-20 May was held to celeRahul Gandhi at culture and society – but are brate India’s 75th anniverBridge India event in the UK also at the heart of our comsary of Independence, with munities.” speakers providing their vision for where Rahul Gandhi, a Member of Parliament they see India in the coming 25 years. from Kerala, was the keynote speaker on Day Day 1 featured an education delegation to Birmingham, hosted by Birmingham City 3. He said: “Democracy in India is a global University. Day 2 featured a Policy Forum on public good. We’re the only people who have closer UK-India relations, the managed democracy at our unparalleled Commonwealth Education Conference and an Awards evening in Parliament. Day 3 featured the main plenary sessions, including discussions on India’s leadership in addressing climate change, tackling misinformation, unemployment, skill development, women’s participation in the workforce and building India’s institutions.

The event marked a culmination of three years of thought leadership from Bridge Rahul Gandhi with guests India, a progressive non-profit think tank dedicated to discourse on public policy. scale. [I] had an enriching exchange on a Registered as a charity in June 2019, it has wide range of topics at the Ideas For India engaged in high-level conversations with conference in London.”

Lord John Browne, Chairman of Ministers, CEOs and Ambassadors from BeyondNetZero, was the keynote speaker at more than a dozen countries, including those as diverse as India, Afghanistan, Israel, the dinner celebrating 75 years of India’s Uganda and Mauritius. In doing so, it is the independence. On the evening theme of susleading Indian diaspora-led think tank in tainability and climate change, he referenced Europe. a seminal speech he gave at Stanford The ‘India Story’ abroad is often presentUniversity exactly 25 years ago where he ed through a narrow lens, be it focusing only talked about how oil companies needed to on business and the economy, society or pollook towards technologies to promote cliicy landscape. Given its diversity, everything mate action.

Ashwin Kumaraswamy, trustee, said: about India, and its polar opposite, is true in unison. The Ideas for India conference “India’s national identity has been built on sought to highlight and celebrate this unity in diversity, and it has long celebrated nuance, to help India-watchers understand the commonality of major differences India better. amongst its people. It offers many truths, It saw participation from more than 500 each of which give shape and substance to attendees over the three days, including 50 the idea of India. We’re proud that in our international delegates from India, inaugural conference we were able to engage Bangladesh, Malta, Singapore and the USA. stakeholders from policy, technology, busiIn a true celebration of the breadth of India, ness, academia and civil society across three MPs, Members of the Legislative Assembly days. We were able to showcase an India and other policymakers from seven political conversation that was progressive, inclusive parties, across nine states in India attended and diverse in the ideas it discussed.” the event.

Other notable participants included Dr The inaugural edition was an incredible Ashwath Narayan (Minister for Higher success, with even the Indian Minister of Education, IT, BT, Skill Development and External Affairs for India S Jaishankar tweetLivelihood, Karnataka), Tejashwi Yadav ing a video clip of the event. Sessions from (Leader, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Bihar), Ideas for India featured on prime time TV Sitaram Yechury (General Secretary, CPI-M), news in India and several stories ranked in Salman Khurshid (former Minister for the top ten trending stories of the day.

External Affairs, India), Mahua Moitra Lord Tariq Ahmad, Minister of State at (Member of Parliament, West Bengal) and the FCDO, said: “I’m grateful to the team at Pradyot Manika (Chairman, TIPRA, Tripura).

Bridge India for organising this important During the event, Bridge India conference. It provides an excellent opporannounced the launch of their University tunity to celebrate the deep friendship Grants Programme to support student socibetween our two countries, and also look to eties in England. Funding will be available to the future. It is this trusted partnership that registered student societies across campuses extends to trade as well. We’ve already got a in England for the academic year 2022/23 strong track history on this. Just look at under the themes of Strengthening Reliance Industries’ recent investment into Communities, Promoting Culture and the UK battery industry.”

Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader of the Building Future Leaders.

Labour Party, said: “It was an honour to In addition, Bridge India also announced the forthcoming launch of a media initiative promoting progressive values and policy-orientated discussion. for the party and win the upcoming elections.

The charity partner for the IOC Telangana team Sudhakar Goud and Gampa Venugopal gave special thanks to Sonia event was the Sri Aurobindo Gandhi for forming the Telangana state in 2014. Society. Sambhrant Sharma, Mrs Gandhi was very happy and advised them to Executive Member of the 62work hard to win the Telangana state elections year old charity, said “Sri and upcoming other state elections and Aurobindo Society’s wider work has already delivered teacher Parliament elections.

Participants list of core IOC, team members training to over 2.2m teachers of this meeting were President Kamal Dhaliwal, with 8m students across India.

Vice President, Gurminder Randhawa, General We are delighted to partner Secretary Venugopal Gampa, SpokesPerson with Bridge India to help scale Indian Overseas Congress UK team with Rahul Gandhi Sudhakar Goud, Suju Daniel, Vikram, Asra, and Auro Scholar’s impact to more motivated all the team members to work hard learners across India.” others.

Indian Overseas Congress UK team meets Rahul Gandhi Indian Overseas Congress UK team met Rahul Gandhi, who is on a UK visit to attend seminars and conferences along with Dr Sam Pitroda.

IOC team members held an interactive session with Rahul Gandhi, where IOC President Kamal Dhaliwal updated IOC activities and future programs which they are planning to do in the UK and in India.

IOC Vice President Gurminder Randhawa explained about women’s team activities in UK and the recent Punjab election ground reality etc.

Rahul Gandhi connected IOC team members to Sonia Gandhi over the phone and Mrs Gandhi

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28 May - 3 June 2022

SCRUTATOR’S Highway work halted for python to incubate eggs The road expansion work of a highway in Kasaragod was suspended for 54 days to allow a mother python to hatch 24 eggs. The Department of Forest, the road contractor and a dedicated snake rescuer put in a concerted effort to bring the snakelets to the world. "All the 24 eggs hatched. We released all the babies into the wild," said Ameen Adkathbail, the snake rescuer. The workers while building a culvert saw an Indian rock python curled up inside a burrow and called the Forest Department. The Forest Department called in snake rescuer Ameen. The department also asked the contractor to consider suspending the work on the culvert. When Ameen checked inside the burrow, he saw several eggs and the python had coiled herself around them. The python eggs take around 60 to 65 days to hatch. On the 54th day since the construction workers found the python, the leathery eggs started cracking. Once the eggs start to break, the mother python's presence is not essential. "So we decided to shift the eggs to my house," Ameen said. At the house all the 24 eggs hatched. Now the forest in the area will be new home of the python babies. (Agency) Man rides cycle to his wedding venue A man in full wedding finery rode a cycle to the venue as a mark of protest against the high fuel prices in India. His family and friends followed on foot to attend the wedding, which took place in Unit III area of Bhubaneswar recently. Photos of the wedding procession went viral on social media and was praised by many as the "ideal wedding".

Subhranshu Samal, the groom, said his family had arranged for an expensive marriage procession. "But I decided to use a bicycle to reach at the wedding pandal to lodge my protest against the high and ever increasing price of fuel in the country". He covered a distance of about one km in his cycle dressed in his wedding clothes. The overwhelming support from the people for his novel protest surprised him, Samal said.

"Even bystanders and passersby took selfies with Subhranshu riding cyclone," a member of the 'barati' (marriage party) said. Samal said that many others are frustrated like him over the shooting price of petrol and diesel. "Staging agitations near Raj Bhavan have become normal practice by political parties. As an individual, I preferred to show my displeasure. Those at helm should get an idea of the anger that is there in the people on the fuel price issue," he said. The price of petrol per litre in Bhubaneswar was Rs 112.56 and Rs 102.24 for diesel. (Agency) Writing its destiny in lead The Oukhoo village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district is playing a key role in educating India. The village was popularly known as ‘Pencil Village’, supplies 80-90 per cent of raw material to India's pencil manufacturing units. The village shot to fame in 2021 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned its success story in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’. The turnaround for the village happened in 2012 when a young entrepreneur, Manzoor Ahmad Allai, visited Hindustan Pencil manufacturing unit in Jammu. He met the officials there and convinced them that he can supply the raw material. The pencil slates are made up of Kashmir’s famous poplar trees, which is best suited for manufacturing pencils due to its moisture level. The poplar wood grows best in the Valley as the moisture content is ideal and the weather conditions allow the wood to remain soft during the tree’s growth.

Before 2012, the poplar tree logs were chopped and transported to the pencil manufacturing unit in Jammu. However, since 2012 Manzoor and other entrepreneurs have been transporting

small dried pencil slates in polymer bags to Himachal Pradesh’s manufacturing unit. It has made the job of the manufacturing unit easy and also increased production.

“Now the pencil manufacturing unit gets the raw material in ready mode. They have to colour and place lead in it and carry out some other process for producing pencils,” said Manzoor, who owns Jhelum Agro Industries. (Agency) ‘Scary dreams’ make thieves return stolen idols Unidentified thieves have returned 14 of the 16 precious idols they have stole from a 300-year-old temple of Lord Balaji in Taruha village, Chitrakoot district, within six days of stealing them and left behind a “confession” letter saying they were haunted by nightmares ever since the theft and, therefore, were returning the idol. The “confession” letter also sought forgiveness, police said. Karvi Kotwali inspector Rajiv Singh said, “Mahant Ram Balak Das, the priest of Balaji temple, had lodged a complaint stating that 16 idols, including one made of ‘ashtadhatu’ and weighing around five kg, three idols of Lord Balaji made of copper and weighing around 10 kg, four idols of brass weighing 15 kg, eight other idols and silver ornaments were stolen from the temple on May 9 night. We lodged an FIR against unidentified thieves.” Police said the thieves returned 14 out of 16 stolen idols within six days of stealing them. (Agency) Doctor couple from Ahmedabad scale Mt Everest

A doctor couple from Ahmedabad became the first from India to scale Mount Everest. Dr Hemant Leuva, professor of surgery at NHL Municipal Medical College, and his wife Dr Surbhi Leuva, chief medical officer at Gujarat Vidyapith, reached the 8,849m peak last week. Rishi Bhandari, MD at Satori Adventure, said that the Leuvas are the first doctor couple to achieve the feat.

Media reported that they used the opportunity to spread the message: Save the environment. The couple in 2021 had climbed Mt Manaslu, an 8,163m peak in Nepal, which is the eighth highest peak in the world. Dr Hemant is founder of Mountain Movers, a group of enthusiasts who have been conducting camps for both professionals and amateurs in India and abroad for the past several years. Dr Leuva had attempted the climb at Mount Everest exactly a year ago, but bad weather prevented him from reaching the summit.

Instead of losing hope, he prepared with double the vigour to ensure that he achieved his dream of becoming an ‘Everester’. (The Times of India) Gandhinagar born picked for key job by NY mayor Gandhinagar-born Dilip Chauhan was

recently appointed as the deputy commissioner for trade, investment and innovation in New York mayor Eric Adams’s office for international affairs. In August 2017, Chauhan was appointed as the deputy comptroller for minority affairs in Nassau County. Chauhan had migrated to the US in 1999. Once in the US, Chauhan had started working as a business consultant and had joined the comptroller’s office in 2015 as the director for community affairs, South and East Asia, and had served as senior advisor to the comptroller from early 2017.

After serving as the deputy comptroller for minority affairs, Chauhan also worked in the Brooklyn president’s office as the executive director of Southeast & Asian Affairs. “As the executive director, Dilip worked hard towards empowering the South and Asian Community in Brooklyn,” says the New York mayor’s official website.

“He did this by increasing awareness for available resources provided by the government and under his leadership, he helped create a stronger relationship within this community and the Borough President’s Office.” (The Times of India) A unique library on India’s easternmost tip Students in the Miao subdivision of India’s easternmost Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh would love this New Age Learning Centre (NALC). NALC became functional on May 7 and Sunny K Singh, a young IAS officer is brain behind this centre. Unlike a government building, the NALC is designed like a reading cafe with air-conditioning and colourful cushions with white-coloured bookshelves completing the well-lit walls. The library has books of varied genres, including study material for competitive exams. It also provides free wi-fi so that children can avail

of e-books. Singh says the place offers a blend of library, cafe and smart, futuristic and interactive space interwoven together.

The initiative is to provide an attractive alternative to the youth who find traditional libraries boring, he says. Another idea behind the centre is to enable children from economically weaker sections to study the books of their choice as well as enjoy the comfort and smart features of the NALC. “Despite having a large population of youth, the subdivision fails to produce doctors, engineers, lawyers and administrators. The main reason is the lack of competitive culture,” Singh says. Besides, competitive books are hard to come by and harder to afford. That’s why NALC has kept adequate books for the benefit of the aspirants. “The librarian is not only the custodian of the books but also acts as a counsellor to guide the youth how they can prepare for the competitive exams and apply for jobs. (Agency) 6-year-old becomes youngest World Expo speaker

The World Book of Records has acknowledged six-year-old Indian American girl Kiara Kaur to be the youngest keynote speaker to address a World Expo. The Class 1 student gave a speech titled "Small Changes, Big Difference" at the recent World Expo 22 in Dubai. Meanwhile, her speech during the International Women's Week celebrations at the Mexico Pavilian focused more on women's empowerment. Kaur said, "It was exciting to speak to an audience at this great event. I prepared my speech by speaking to my grandmother, Commander Dr Rita Bhatra who had served the Border Security Force for 40 years". "Women empowerment lies in equal opportunity for young girls in education, rights, health, decision making, wages and professional opportunities," she added. Kaur also holds the world record for "reading 36 books in 1 hour and 45 minutes at the tender age of 4 years," as stated on the website of the World Book of Records. Last year she had set a record as the youngest TEDx speaker with her speech titled "Unboxing Curiosity". Regarding her dreams and ambitions, Kaur said, "I want to be the President so I can govern and help the poor."

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28 May - 3 June 2022

THE RICH BECOME RICHER AMID COST OF LIVING CRISIS

I

t comes after last month Mr Sunak’s wife, the daughter of an Indian IT billionaire, was found to be using “non-dom” status to avoid paying UK tax on her hefty overseas income – although she later agreed to pay UK taxes on all her earnings. Along with the Sunak, Saket Burman of Dabur group, Geeta Gupta-Fisker and Henrik Fisker are the new entrants into the Rich List.

The list features 15 Indian-origin tycoons. Steel baron Lakshmi Niwas Mittal (down by one rank from last year) and Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw have also made it to the list.

This year's Sunday Times Rich List

Asian origin names on The Sunday Times Rich List 2022

The Sunday Times Rich List is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by the British national Sunday newspaper The Sunday Times since 1989. This year, the list of Britain’s 250 richest people or families features far fewer Russian billionaires due to the ongoing turmoil between Ukraine and Russia that has impacted the global economy amid an ongoing global pandemic.

The 2022 Sunday Times Rich List has revealed that billionaire brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja are the wealthiest people in

These are the 20 richest people in the UK according to the Rich List are:

á á á á á á á á á á á á á á á á á á á á

Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family Sir James Dyson and family David and Simon Reuben and family Sir Leonard Blavatnik Guillaume Pousaz Lakshmi Mittal and family Christoph Henkel and family Guy, George, Alannah and Galen Weston and family Kirsten and Jorn Rausing Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho Michael Platt Alisher Usmanov The Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family Barnaby and Merlin Swire and family Marit, Lisbet, Sigrid and Hans Rausing Anil Agarwal Denise, John and Peter Coates John Fredriksen and family Mikhail Fridman Moshe Kantor

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

£28.47 billion £23 billion £22.26 billion £20 billion £19.26 billion £17 billion £15 billion £13.5 billion £12 billion £11.42 billion £10 billion £10 billion £9.73 billion £9.6 billion £9.49 billion £9.2 billion £8.64 billion £8.31 billion £8.22 billion £8 billion

*This is not an exhaustive list.

Anil Agarwal

David and Simon Reuben

Geeta Gupta-Fisker and Henrik Fisker

Hindujas

Issa Brothers

Jasminder Singh and family

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and John Shaw

Lakshmi Mittal

Navin and Varsha Engineer

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty

Saket Burman

Surinder Arora and family

claims there are now 177 billionthe UK. The annual aires in Britain which are up by 6 list showed that the from 2021. This means that there pair, who run the are now more billionaires in the Mumbai-based conUK than ever before despite the glomerate Hinduja surging cost of living. The comGroup, saw their forbined wealth of the UK billiontune jump by more aires is £653.122 billion, up than £11 billion.

Sri Prakash Lohia £55.853 billion - 9.4 per cent, on Behind them is Sir the total wealth of the billionJames Dyson, who founded the vacuum aires in last year’s Rich List. cleaner, and his family, who are worth an An analysis reported that this year’s list estimated £23bn. also says that the richest people in Britain Defending Sunak, Secretary of State for have increased their fortunes by 8% over the International Trade of United Kingdom past year, which puts their combined wealth Anne Mary Trevelyan said: “Yes, I believe he for the past 12 months alone at a colossal does. He is a man of great intelligence who £710billion. The top 250 entrants in the list comes from a family who have given him this year are also richer than all 1,000 entries incredibly good values. And that’s why he’s back in 2017. coming into politics in order to try and help

his country to be the best that he can be I have great confidence in what I do want to see is to make sure that those tools, those shared those that shared spending that we all make to support those most vulnerable, is as effective as possible. The fact that his wife’s family, in particular, have had incredible success through incredible hard work and her father has built up an extraordinary business is not something that we should criticise.”

After being struck by a global pandemic, the picture of poverty at the start of 2022 looked absolutely grim. According to Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), more than one in five of the UK population (22%) are in poverty– 14.5 million people. Of these, 8.1 million are working-age adults, 4.3 million are children and 2.1 million are pensioners.

When we use the term poverty we are using the relative poverty rate (after housing costs)

to measure poverty. Child poverty continues to rise. The latest data tells us that almost one in three children in the UK are living in poverty (31%). Nearly half of children in lone-parent families live in poverty, compared with one in four of those in couple families.

Some of Lancashire's billionaires have bagged a spot on the Northwest Rich List published. Blackburn's billionaire brothers, Mohsin and Zuber Issa claimed the middle spot ranking fifth place out of ten. The brothers started off their empire with EG group and now also own Asda within their Blackburn-headquartered company.

Together, their net worth is £4.73bn which is up Up £50m.

Concerns for the future As per the findings of the report by JRF, another negative effect that is new from late 2021 is the rise in inflation, which is forecast by the OBR to be above 3% until April 2023.

Social renters have the highest rate of poverty at 46% reflecting their comparatively lower incomes, while a third of private renters are in poverty.

Low-income households have less of a buffer against rising costs or any unexpected expenses, given they are less likely than other households to have savings, with just over a third of people in the poorest fifth of households having liquid savings of less than £250 compared with 1 in 6 of the overall population. People in the poorest fifth of households are more likely to say that they are finding their existing debt a burden, with around half of people in the poorest fifth of households describing their debt in this way compared with just under 1 in 3 overall. In terms of how all this plays out for future poverty levels, it seems clear that out-ofwork families will fare worse than lowincome families in work.

There is already a large existing gap in the latest data, with only 6% of working-age adults in families where all adults are in fulltime work being in poverty compared with almost half of working-age adults in workless families. This year, there’s no Asian name in the Giving away list 2022.

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28 May - 3 June 2022

Location of first ground-breaking Residential Women’s Centre revealed

It's a great time to be a woman - Lolita Chakrabarti Shefali Saxena Life of Pi was awarded five Olivier Awards at a ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London in April 2022. Writer Lolita Chakrabarti was honoured with Best New Play. Lolita Chakrabarti’s dazzling stage adaption of Yann Martel’s award-winning book at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London’s West End at a special media night on Wednesday 8 June at 7.30 pm.

Lolita Chakrabarti OBE is an award-winning playwright and actress. Her writing credits include: Red Velvet which opened at

the Tricycle Theatre in London in 2012, returning in 2014 before transferring to New York and the West End; Red Velvet was nominated for nine major awards including two Olivier Awards. Lolita won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright, The Critics Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright and the AWA Award for Arts and Culture.

In an exclusive two-part Zoom interview with Asian Voice, Lolita told us, “When I was approached to do this in 2016, it was an absolute yes. I love this book. I had no idea how to do it at all. But I instinctively felt like I understood what he was trying to say. And that weird thing with writing where you can't necessarily articulate it, but you can feel that there's something really important within it. I began working on it and I didn't know this is an enormous book, but you say it's a modern classic and people love it.

Everyone I spoke to, had a relationship with it. They'd either read it or seen the film or their mentors read it or knew about it.

Everyone's question was, how are you going to do the tiger on stage? By then, I Lolita Chakrabarti didn't know, I thought I just have to tell the story.”

“I didn't get nervous about it until the first preview. So we opened in Sheffield in 2019, it was the first preview and we've been through five weeks, lots of workshops. of developing the story and how to do the puppets. How do we get five puppets on a boat with an actor and each puppet requires two or three puppeteers? That's a lot of bodies on the stage. How do we do it and make it interesting and tell you to know, not just be a sort of car crash of bodies?” she added.

The actors did an amazing job but she said that it was bumpy because it was an open dress rehearsal. “So things went wrong, as they do, but the audience was just live it was fabulous. There was literally a gasp, but by the interval and oh my god, I knew okay, it was working,” Lolita told the newsweekly.

Commenting on the future of women in art in the post-pandemic world, Lolita Chakrabarti said, “Well, it's a great time to be a woman. I'll put that down. I think there's never enough opportunity. I think the world has been run by men for a very long time.

And although it's changed, and it's changing, and it's great, there's a long way to go. So, yes, there are many more opportunities now than there were. But I think we're on a sort of faultline of change where it has suddenly cracked and everyone's gone. Oh my god, there is so much injustice in the world, we need to do something because I don't know whether we've all been sitting at home because of the pandemic and we've actually been confronted with it on our screens because that's the window to the world. And we've got I had no idea that those people suffered that or those people felt like that. So maybe that concentration of thinking it's like a mindfulness exercise, isn't it? We're going crazy at home and watching our screens to see what the world is about. Yes, it is. It is a good time it is but gosh, I'm always thinking it could be better.”

Part two of this interview will be published in the coming weeks in Asian Voice.

Grant fund launched to support women's reproductive wellbeing in the workplace Women experiencing the menopause, fertility problems, miscarriage and pregnancy loss, menstrual health and gynaecological conditions in the workplace will be supported to remain in or return to the workplace by a multi-million pound funding boost to VCSE organisations.

This government is committed to levelling up health disparities and to recognise the need to better support women’s health in the workplace, grants of between £200,000 to £600,000 per applicant will be available over the next 3 years to expand and develop projects or programmes in these areas.

The funding will support projects and programmes working with communities to provide training for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) where internal support in the workplace is unlikely to be available and supporting individuals by signposting to clinical services, and helping them to address personal and workplace barriers to

improve their wellbeing.

There are strong links between health and employment, with evidence showing work is good for physical and mental wellbeing.

Higher life expectancy is strongly correlated with higher employment rates

and the most deprived local areas experience the worst health and employment outcomes.

Moving from employment to unemployment is estimated to increase GP consultation rates for an individual by 50%.

Women suffering with issues such as addiction and trauma are set to benefit from a pioneering new centre designed to tackle the root causes of low-level female offending.

The 12-bed Residential Women’s Centre in Swansea will open its doors in 2024 for around 50 offenders a year who would have otherwise been handed a prison sentence of 12 months or less.

The £10 million centre is a key part of the government’s plan to minimise the number of women sent to prison in England and

Wales.

It is specifically designed to address the fact that many women who commit low-level crimes, such as shoplifting, and minor drug and alcoholfuelled crimes, are driven by underlying and complex factors. Statistics show more than 60 per cent of women in custody have reported experience of domestic abuse, up to a third have been victims of sexual assault, and 50 per cent have drugs misuse needs.

Female offenders at the centre will receive one-to-

one mental health therapy, counselling to address their trauma from previous abuse and support to overcome addictions. The service will also provide longer-term support for women to help them find a job and maintain family relationships as they transition from the centre to life back in their communities, to help prevent reoffending.

The centre will be run by the Probation Service and during their stay, offenders must agree to work with the staff and comply with the no alcohol or illegal drugs policy.

Further action taken to improve supply of HRT Urgent action continues to be taken to improve supply of HRT products, helping those who need it access vital medicine.

Since the government has been working to resolve HRT supply and brought in measures to do so – such as SSPs for certain products as well as appointing Madelaine McTernan as Head of the HRT Supply Taskforce – access to HRT is improving, helping those who need it access vital medicine.

Availability of Premique Low Dose has improved thanks to SSPs issued on 29 April to restrict dispensing for Oestrogel, Ovestin and Premique Low Dose to three months’ supply. Since these measures were implemented, further deliveries of all three products have been made, with Premique Low Dose returning to good availability this week. The manufacturers of Oestrogel and Ovestin, as well as suppliers of alternative HRT products, are taking action to increase UK supply.

Following positive engagement with pharmacists, the government has issued further SSPs to allow pharmacists the flexibility to safely offer women substi-

tute high-demand products - Oestrogel, Ovestin cream, Lenzetto transdermal spray and Sandrena gel sachets with appropriate alternatives, such as transdermal patches, which are in good supply.

Giving women the option to substitute products is a safe, effective way to ensure HRT continues to be available for everyone who needs it and women can continue to manage their menopausal symptoms. Anyone who has questions or concerns about HRT should speak to their GP or pharmacist. Clinical advice for these SSPs was taken from national experts including clinicians from the British Menopause Society and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

SSPs restricting prescriptions to a maximum of three months’ supply will also be issued for substitute products, as a precautionary measure to ensure the supply of those substitutes is

maintained.

The move follows engagement between the Head of HRT Supply Madelaine Taskforce, McTernan, and the sector on measures to ensure the efficient use of current stock as well as increasing supply, both in the near term as well as providing stability for the future.

Meetings have also resulted in some suppliers taking swift action to secure additional stock of HRT products which are experiencing shortages resulting in good supply of Premique Low Dose which previously experienced shortages.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “We are working to ensure HRT is available for everyone who needs it and I am pleased to see suppliers continuing to increase the supply of some products which is a testament to the collaborative approach being taken.

Meetings with suppliers are ongoing and we’re taking decisive action to manage HRT supply issues and reduce any delays - this includes issuing further SSPs so that women are able to access the medication they need.”

Maternity Disparities Taskforce explores women's health before and during pregnancy Minister for women’s health, Maria Caulfield, and chief midwifery officer, Professor Jacqueline DunkleyBent, co-chaired the second meeting of the Maternity Disparities Taskforce last week.

The taskforce led a deep dive discussion into the role of primary care – including GPs, nurses, healthcare practitioners, pharmacists – in supporting women’s health before they become pregnant, known as preconception health.

This means not only identifying women who are at higher risk of poor outcomes linked to pregnancy and making sure they receive the right support, but also empowering women with information on how health conditions and risk factors could affect them and what steps

they can take for a healthy pregnancy. This will help to ensure that mothers and babies receive the best possible care while the government and NHS work to tackle the COVID-19 backlogs, improving care and putting an end to the long waits for treatment.

Data shows there is an almost two-fold difference in mortality rates between women from Asian ethnic groups and white women,

and they are also higher for black women. Black women are 40% more likely to experience a miscarriage than white women, and women living in deprived areas can have higher rates of stillbirths.

The taskforce discussed the barriers faced by some women in accessing information and services – these may be language barriers, levels of distrust or concerns from asylum seekers over paying for the services. They considered advice from experts, including what effective pre-conception care is, how to reach those most in need and how to make sure this care improves the health of women and their babies.

The taskforce members agreed there needs to be a more proactive approach to make sure the right care

reaches these women and their families when they need it.

These interventions must be more targeted towards women from ethnic minorities, those who live in the most deprived areas and refugees, and should explore how the wider health and social care system can actively seek these women out and bring the services to them.

For example, by working more closely with local organisations to understand the women it is trying to reach. To work towards this, the taskforce committed to listen to women’s lived experiences of access to preconception care and maternity care, and continue to engage a range of stakeholders to understand how they can improve care for women, and agree actions in the future.

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QUEEN'S PLATINUM JUBILEE

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28 May - 3 June 2022

COMMUNITY MARKS ‘QUEEN’S PLATINUM JAYANTI’ Continued from page 1

Rashid is of Pakistani heritage and was born in Birmingham, and is looking forward to dancing in front of Buckingham Palace, and says the Queen loves her people, the monarchy itself is a somewhat distant concept.

Mandira Sarkar of Mandira’s Kitchen told Asian Voice about the traditional coronation curry (see P16) and Harsha Wadhwani Basu who is working closely with the community to mark the ‘Queen’s Jayantee’ shared the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Colouring Page for our readers. She’s working with Community Youth Ventures where people can create Mandala umbrellas which will be used to decorate the Beaconsfield Library for the Jayantee Jubilee project exhibition. Basu has also produced artwork with kids exploring the queens and kings inside of us.

Arunima Kumar, Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Bismillah Khan Yuva Puruskar awardee and the students of her dance company will be performing at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee at Westminster Abbey on 1st June. Kumar is an expert in the Kuchipudi dance form and an acclaimed

South Asian dancer based in London. This is not the first time she’ll be performing for the Royals. She has performed at Buckingham Palace in the past.

Pizza Hut is bringing back 'Crown Crust Pizza' for Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend. The special stuffed crust was last available in 2012 for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. At the same time, Buckinghamshire Council has waived the temporary street closure fee for Jubilee street parties over the Bank Holiday weekend and is delighted that more than 90 groups have taken advantage of this offer.

On 6th February this year Her Majesty The Queen became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth.

To celebrate this unprecedented anniversary, events and initiatives will take place throughout the year, culminating in a four-day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th June. The four days of celebrations will include public events and community activities, as well as national moments of reflection on The Queen’s 70 years of service.

Thursday 2nd June | Trooping the Colour According to the Royal website, the Queen’s Birthday Parade will be held on Thursday 2nd June 2022 starting at 11 am.

The colour will be trooped by the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, and more than 1200 officers and soldiers from the Household Division will put on a display of military pageantry on Horse Guards Parade, together with hundreds of Army musicians and around 240 horses. This annual event has now marked the official birthday of the British Sovereign for over 260 years.

Arunima Kumar

During the Queen’s birthday parade A Royal Gun Salute will be fired.

Once the parade has ended and the Royal Procession has returned to Buckingham Palace, the Royal Family’s balcony appearance will happen as in previous years. There will be an impressive Flypast to coincide with the Royal Family’s balcony appearance.

Platinum Jubilee Beacons: The United Kingdom’s long tradition of celebrating Royal Jubilees, Weddings and Coronations with the lighting of beacons will continue for the Platinum Jubilee. Over 1,500 beacons will be lit throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories. The Principal beacon, involving The Tree of Trees (a 21m high 'tree' constructed of 350 smaller trees), will be lit in a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace at 9 pm.

Friday 3rd June | Service of Thanksgiving A Service of Thanksgiving for The Queen’s reign will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral. Great Paul, the largest church bell in the country, will be rung for the Service. It was made in 1882 but fell silent in the 1970s due to a broken mechanism. It was restored in 2021 and has been rung on 8 occasions since, but this is the 1st royal occasion it will be rung.

Saturday 4th June | The Derby at Epsom Downs Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied

by Members of the Royal Family, will attend the Derby at Epsom Downs. The celebration will see famous faces from the world of entertainment brought together to perform for a night of musical tributes to celebrate the Jubilee. 22,000 people will attend the event including 10,000 allocated in a public ballot and 5,000 tickets for key workers.

Sunday 5th June | The Big Jubilee Lunch Over 60k people have registered to host Big Jubilee Lunches on the Platinum cele-

bration weekend, with events ranging from world record attempts for the longest street party to back garden BBQ’s and everything in between. Over ten million people across the UK are expected to be joining the celebrations to share friendship, food and fun

Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea CBE DL

I

had the privilege of being on the advisory council of the Platinum Jubilee Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Her Majesty The Queen not only attended the event, but stayed right until the end when it finished at 10:30 pm. She has always been passionate about horses, and I saw firsthand how much she enjoyed and appreciated the whole occasion.

Later in the week, she opened the new Crossrail Elizabeth Line. Our 96year-old Monarch is an inspiration beyond words.

From my earliest memories, I have heard about The Queen from my parents; my father as a Captain was an ADC (Aide-De-Camp) to the first President of India, Rajendra Prasad. My parents married in Hyderabad while my father was serving as Aide-De-Camp, and their first marital home was the Presidential Palace, Rashtrapati Bhavan. My father had the privilege of meeting so many of the world figures of the day, including Martin Luther King Jr., but the highlight of his three-and-a-half-year tenure as Aide-De-Camp to the President was being the senior Aide-De-Camp when Her Majesty The Queen visited India in 1961. The pictures of my father accompanying Her Majesty throughout the visit and of my parents formally meeting Her have been present in every house my father has been posted to in his army career, culminating as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Central Indian Army.

I have been privileged and fortunate to have met Her Majesty on several occasions over the years, and each time it has been so memorable. It seems like just the at Big Jubilee Lunches as part of this nationwide act of community friendship.

The Platinum Jubilee Pageant The Gold State Carriage, led by The Sovereign’s Escort, will lead the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, embracing the latest in digital technology to evoke the excitement and majesty of her journey to be crowned 70 years ago. The Pageant will serve as an opportunity to gather and pay tribute to Her Majesty. 10,000 people are involved, including the military, over 6,000 volunteers, performers, key workers and 2,500 members of the general public.

Other events Cultural events at South Bank Centre will be starting early on Wednesday, June 1 and running across the whole weekend.

Sotheby’s will be hosting a Jubilee Arts Festival from May 28 to June 15 with an absolutely packed calendar of events.

There’s going to be an opening weekend (May 28-29) series of talks and debates that

The Queen at the Chelsea Flower Show

other day, 10 years ago, when she came to Parliament to address the House of Lords and House of Commons in the 900-year-old Westminster Hall, on the occasion of Her Diamond Jubilee and of course virtually every year in the 16 years I have been a member in the House of Lords, she has sat on the Throne in the chamber of the House of Lords addressing both Houses of Parliament at the State Opening of Parliament reading out The Queen's Speech.

I have never seen Her Majesty falter or put a foot wrong. She is universally respected; not just in the UK but throughout the world. She has been a rock of stability for our country in Her 7-decade reign; a period that has seen so much turmoil, upheaval, and many many challenges globally. She is also a perfect example of service leadership, with Her primary objective being to serve Her subjects, and she has done this work relentlessly and tirelessly, constantly setting an example to us all. Over and above all this, The Queen has been the Head of the Commonwealth of 54 countries with a combined population of 2.5 billion citizens on every continent of this planet. And, as our National Anthem says, “Long to reign over us”, not only has Her Majesty done this for 7 decades, but done it so magnificently, we are all truly fortunate and we are truly grateful to Her Majesty The Queen. Many congratulations to Her Majesty The Queen on Her Platinum Jubilee. will explore the women who have “served as custodians of our cultural legacy” — including discussions on Queen Elizabeth I, Victoria and Margaret Thatcher.

Opening on June 1, and running until September 18, the Tower of London is celebrating the Platinum Jubilee with a colourful moat filled with flowers. In spring 2022, over 20 million seeds will be planted in the moat, with the idea that visitors can then enjoy the blooming flowers over the following months. Visitors will also be able to grab a mat and slide down into the moat on the special ‘Superbloom slide’. Then there will be a route through the display.

To celebrate the Jubilee the British Museum will be opening a new exhibition about Mary Gillick, who designed the first coinage featuring our present Queen, exactly 70 years ago. It will open on June 2 and run until July 31. It’s going to include archival newspaper cuttings, sketches and plaster models.

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Unique documentary featuring never 10 facts to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee before seen home movies of the Queen On 9th September 2015, The Queen became the longest-reigning Monarch in British history, surpassing the reign of her greatgreat-grandmother Queen Victoria. In a speech given on a historic day during an engagement in the Scottish Borders, Her Majesty said, "Inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones my own is no exception but I thank you all and the many others at home and overseas for your touching messages of great kindness."

Her Majesty has given Royal Assent to approximately 4,000 Acts of Parliament.

Her Majesty is currently a Patron of over 500 organisations, including over 70 education and training organisations; over 60 sports and recreational organisations; over 30 faith organisations; and over 40 arts and cultural organisations.

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The Queen has sent over 300,000 congratulatory cards to people celebrating their 100th birthdays, and over 900,000 messages to couples marking their Diamond (60th) Wedding Anniversaries.

At least 35 countries have issued coinage with the image of The Queen.

The Queen has sat for over 200 official portraits during her reign, the first was in 1933 when she was seven years old and was a portrait painted by AngloHungarian artist Philip Alexius de Laszlo.

The Queen has been served by 14 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom during her reign – her first Prime Minister was Winston Churchill.

Her Majesty has owned more than 30 Corgis and Dorgis during her reign, most of which

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have been descended from her first Corgi, Susan, who was gifted to her on her eighteenth birthday in 1944.

The Queen travelled on the London Underground for the first time in May 1939 with her governess Marion Crawford and her sister Princess Margaret. Since then, she has opened the new section of the Victoria Line (1969); opened the Piccadilly Line extension to Heathrow Airport (1977); visited Baker Street Station to mark the 150th anniversary of the London Underground (2013); and visited the Crossrail construction site at Bond Street Station (2016). . In 2013 The Queen became the first Monarch to be presented with an Honorary BAFTA award in recognition of a lifetime's support of British film and television.

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Platinum Jubilee Special with Panjabi MC An exclusive one-off special in the Northern Quarter, Manchester City Centre with world-famous and multi-award-winning artist Panjabi MC. He will be spinning his worldwide anthems like Mundian To Bach Ke, Snake Charmer + many more. Also on the night, an exclusive PA by the dynamic duo Metz N Trix will be performing their hits like Aja Mahi, Danger, Cha Sha, Shaadi Kar, just to name a few.

For the first time in Manchester, one of the most dynamic and energetic female DJs will come out of the midlands lands to give us an exclusive shut down set of her mashups and remixes, always full of

surprises.

Bollywood, Bashment, House or Bhangra she always brings that HEAT. Born and raised in London.

Kizzi has grown up exposed to all the sounds that multicultural London has to offer.

DJ Kizzi, is now a resident and crowd favourite at all of the Desi Beatz events and BBC Asian Network DJ. She knows how to rock the crowd whether it's Hip Hop Anthems, Trap or Desi. DJ Kizzi will make sure that it's a platinum jubilee special.

filmed by the Royal family

Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen will offer audiences the chance to witness rare private moments from the Monarch’s life including her engagement at Balmoral and footage from behind the scenes of her first tour abroad aged 20 with her family Buckingham Palace and the BBC have announced details of a very special 75-minute programme to be shown on BBC One and iPlayer on Sunday, May 29th revealing for the first time unseen private home movies of The Queen as a young girl and telling the real story of her life as a Princess – through her own eyes and in her own words from across her reign.

Three never-before-seen images of a young Princess Elizabeth taken from the documentary have also been released by the producers to accompany the announcement.

Since the 1920s, the Royal Family have always filmed each other, but for decades hundreds of these reels of homemade recordings have been held privately by the Royal Collection in the vaults of the British Film Institute (BFI). Now, for this documentary, The Queen has granted the BBC unprecedented access to the footage, taking us inside Her Majesty’s life as never before through home movies shot by her, her parents, Prince

Philip, and others.

It reveals The Queen’s journey from earliest childhood, being pushed in a pram as a baby by her mother, to her Coronation at the age of just 27 in 1953, following the death of her father George VI in 1952. The documentary takes us behind the scenes of The Queen’s upbringing and reveals the warmth of her relationship with her parents. It captures the first extended visit of Prince Philip to Balmoral in 1946 while the couple’s engagement was still not public – a beaming Princess Elizabeth showing the camera her engagement ring. It shows Princess Elizabeth as a young mother, with The King and Queen as fond grandparents to Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

Other rare moments include her grandfather George V (known to The

Venue: Friday 3rd June 2022 @ Off The Square 67 Lever St, Manchester M1 1FL

Maharani’s Coronation Curry Mandira Sarkar of Mandira’s Kitchen told Asian Voice that coronation chicken was served at the Queen’s Coronation 70 years ago.

“It is a great British favourite made with curry powder, mango chutney and mayonnaise. To celebrate Her Majesty’s reign, we have adapted this for the jubilee recreating this for the jubilee weekend lunch.

Made with boneless chicken, our own spice blends, nuts and dried apricots, this curry is fit for a Queen (or King!),” Sarkar told the newsweekly.

Queen as ‘Grandpa England’) sailing with The Queen Mother off the Isle of Wight in 1931, footage of Princess Elizabeth with her uncle Prince George, The Duke of Kent, who tragically died in a plane crash in 1942 while on active service - and a poignant glimpse of the Royal Family at Balmoral in 1951, The King’s last visit there. BBC Studios, who produced the film, viewed over 400 reels of film and discovered lost newsreel given to The Queen and behind the scenes recordings of state events, believed to have been privately commissioned by the Royal Family. Unlike conventional documentaries featuring interviews and narration, Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen relies largely on The Queen’s own voice and words, alongside newsreel audio. The filmmakers listened to over three hundred of The Queen’s speeches, spanning over eight decades. The result is a visually rich and immersive film of the unparalleled historical record.

The Queen at the Chelsea Flower Show which this year pays tribute to her

Harsha Wadhwani Basu from Amersham - a Madhubani artist is sharing a free printable copy of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Colouring Page with the community. You can follow her on Instagram at @harshabasupaintings to know more.

To celebrate the Platinum Jubilee, Musselburgh Racecourse will be staging the first ever Corgi Derby

The Jubilee Pudding: Shabnam is one of the bakers in the 70 years in baking on BBC One. Here she is holding her Rose Falooda Cake

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MESSAGES

Lord Dolar Popat, Lord Rami Ranger CBE Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo

I

would like to join everyone in the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth in their celebration of the Platinum Jubilee.

The Queen has given her life in service of others, and I want to pay tribute for everything she has done to help make the world a better place. Like many others, I admired the Queen before I even set foot in the UK and my admiration for her has only continued to grow since. When deciding the title of my book, I settled on ‘A British Subject’ as it expressed my feelings towards the Queen and the UK perfectly.

The UK is a great country to make a life in and I have been privileged to have worked for Her Majesty as a Minister in her government.

The fact that a Ugandan-Asian can walk the corridors of powers in parliament is an example of how much things have changed in the UK with the help and guidance from the Queen. As a fellow champion of the Commonwealth, we could not have asked for a better leader than the Queen to have guided us for many years. I wish the Queen all the best in her celebrations.

Rose named after one of UK's first black gardeners, planted at Buckingham Palace Queen hails 'friendship and community' represented by flower honouring 18th-century horticulturalist John Ystumllyn. John Ystumllyn lived in the eighteenth century and was one of Britain’s first black gardeners. The yellow rose created in his honour represents the values of friendship and community and serves as a reminder of how gardening can bring people together.

Zehra Zaidi with the John Ystumllyn rose at Buckingham Palace Photo Source Twitter Royal Family

Activist Zehra Zaidi tweeted, “I was honoured to be invited to Buckingham Palace today to plant the John Ystumllyn Rose in the rose garden for her Majesty, Royal Family & the public to enjoy. Together with @harkness_roses, myself & @WeTooBB created this rose as a symbol of friendship, community & tolerance.

“The rose is being unveiled at Chelsea Flower Show this week. Honoured to be part of the show & run up to jubilee celebrations. As we launched the rose, we provided 5000 free roses to community groups all over the UK - some groups were invited to Palace to join in celebrations.”

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od Save the Queen. Not often does one get to celebrate the platinum jubilee of the reigning monarch. On June the 3rd, we will not only enjoy a public holiday but also celebrate the historic day when the nation and the Commonwealth will celebrate and enjoy Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee.

No one is loved and respected as our glorious Queen in the world. She is the epitome of public service. Our Sovereign Queen is also the Queen of many countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Gibraltar, and many Caribbean Islands. The Queen is also the Head of C54 nations of Commonwealth countries.

It is the first time any British monarch will celebrate 70 years of public service. Her Majesty is the greatest asset we have as she is the symbol of unity and hope for the future.

No one can claim to have served the nation for seven decades with enthusiasm and joy, as has our Queen.

The Queen not only brought pageantry for us to enjoy but also the tourists to the United Kingdom. The tourists love monarchy and buy many souvenirs to take home. It is hard to imagine the United Kingdom with the gracious Queen. May she continue to reign over us.

Lord Raj Loomba CBE

I

am privileged and honoured to join the National Service of Thanksgiving to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee at St. Paul’s Cathedral, followed by a reception at the Guildhall on Friday 3rd June 2022.

Throughout her 70year reign, Her Majesty has triumphed over setbacks and adversity with great fortitude and quiet dignity. Her disarming smile and her composed and selfassured manner in the face of criticism truly sets her apart from other world leaders. Despite the constant public gaze and in the face of forensic media scrutiny, her reign and her character have been without blemish, which speaks volumes about her stature, both as a Head of State and as a human being. Her unwavering commitment to serving the nation at all times has been the hallmark of her historic reign.

I am delighted to join everyone in the UK, the Commonwealth of Nations and others around the world in extending hearty congratulations to Her Majesty The Queen on her historic Platinum Jubilee. Her Majesty shines as a beacon of light and hope in a world that has stumbled from the Covid pandemic to severe global economic upheaval and the turmoil in Ukraine and other parts of the world. Long may she live and continue to inspire us all.

Dr Nik Kotecha OBE DL, Chairman of Morningside Pharmaceuticals and the Randal Charitable Foundation

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ne of the proudest moments of my life was being

bestowed as an OBE for services to Entrepreneurship, Innovation in Pharmaceuticals Services and Philanthropy by HM the Queen in 2017.

It was our future King, HRH the Prince of Wales, who presented the award on her behalf, and I still remember distinctly the feeling of huge honour at being recognised in this way by our treasured monarch.

Earlier this year I was also humbled to be asked by the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire to become a Deputy Lieutenant and representative of Her Majesty to promote working together across voluntary services, business, and cultural life in the county.

My deep respect and admiration for the Queen stems back to my parents, who held the monarchy and their role in uniting the Commonwealth countries of the world in peace, in the highest regard.

As has been the case for many of my generation, we have developed and grown older, under the Queen’s reign, and for many her sovereignty is all that they have ever known. Our nation and the world owe a great debt of gratitude to Her Majesty for her selfless lifelong service, not just to the UK, but to all Commonwealth nations.

She has ushered in a new Elizabethan Age, which has seen enormous changes to societies. But under her influence, a desire to do good, persevere and succeed for the better has shone through, even during the darkest of times.

As we mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee, I would like to say ‘thank you’ for your unwavering commitment to duty and steadfast resolve over the past 70 years.

Hitan Mehta, Executive Director, British Asian Trust

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he Queen has devoted her life to the service of the people and has made a strong impact which resonates with so many British Asians.

Even before she became Queen, Princess Elizabeth pledged her life to the service of her country, the Commonwealth and its people.

This ethos has carried through to HRH The Prince of Wales, who founded the British Asian Trust in 2007 alongside a group of British Asian business leaders. With his support and the support of the Duchess of Cornwall, our pioneering work is tackling widespread poverty, inequality and injustice in South Asia, driving positive change and transforming lives.

In honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, we have chosen to honour Her Majesty with our Eggs of an Era exhibition with seven eggs decorated by artists on public display in London from 16 May to 12 June.

Each egg represents a different story of the Queen’s 70-year reign and reflect her courage, her style, her family and her leadership.

Our heartfelt congratulations to Her Majesty on the occasion of her Platinum Jubilee.

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Dear Financial Voice Reader,

Alpesh Patel OBE

Active fund managers keep underperforming the broader market we know. But the bear market has proved it even more so. The big funds can’t just divert from the iceberg they are headed too. They are too big to dump billions of Amazon stock.

The nimble private investor can say, “I am getting out”.

So, when we consider the long-term performance of active fund managers in the UK and the US over the last decade, a worrying trend emerges. According to S&P Global’s Indices Versus Active (SPIVA) scorecard, most equity fund managers fail to beat the market. And this is not a blip. With the odd exception, this has been the state of play ever since the SPIVA scorecards were first published in 2002.

Consider this: The last SPIVA scorecard showed that 69.33% of UK equity fund managers underperformed the S&P United Kingdom BMI Index over the past decade.

In the US market, the picture is even bleaker: 87.2% of all active funds underperform their benchmark between 2005 and 2020.

During the COVID-19 pandemic crash and the early stage of the recovery, things weren’t much better.

According to research published by the University of Chicago, almost 3 in every four active funds underperformed the S&P 500.

This sustained underperformance is a worry for pension investing fund managers.

The Reasons Why Active Fund Managers Are Failing While on the one hand, these poor results are shocking; on the other, it’s not entirely surprising.

There are clear reasons for the poor performance of active funds. The biggest is they are one size fits all and can’t sell all stocks as you a private investor might have done this year. So they go down with a sinking market.

Plus it’s hard for them to say they are wrong. After all it’s their reputation. So they have to try to talk you into buying into their story.

Since the 1960s, the financial markets have undergone a process of professionalism that has resulted in a hyper-educated, hyper-competitive industry. Portfolio management is a zero-sum game that requires fund managers to out-skill other fund managers to make a profit. The result? Your average active fund manager doesn’t have an edge in their market.

In a less professional or less informed market, active fund managers were able to triumph. But now — as evidenced by the SPIVA scorecards — being one of the 15-25% that outperforms passive funds is incredibly tough.

Long-Term Problems A reason why I launched my Campaignforamillion.com inspired by this paper which is a campaigning paper was because I felt people need to know more about what’s going on with their money.

Even if it is with a fund manager or wealth manager. At least my free tools would teach them the questions to ask and think about doing more for themselves.

If you’re not convinced – look at your investments this year. Either so much of last year’s gains will be gone because you did not learn about my “sell if drops 25% from high point since you bought” or your fund manager or wealth advisor shoved you in stinking funds (I dare you to check) or you did nothing and missed the massive gains of the past few years and will miss the gains of select cheap stocks now.

UK inflation soars to highest level in 40 years As the rising cost of gas and electricity pushed household energy bills to record levels, UK inflation soared to 9% in April – its highest level for more than 40 years. The escalating cost of food and transport also contributed to the rising cost of living, deepening the crisis affecting millions of low- and middleincome families.

The Office for National Statistics said the 54% increase in the energy price cap in April, which took the average annual gas and electricity bill close to £2,000,

Banks preparing to cover cost of £7 bn unsecured loans

Rishi Sunak

A sudden rise in the price of household staples and energy bills has slashed household spending power, leaving some squeezed borrowers struggling to repay credit cards and loans. The news has heaped pressure on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to do more to help families cope.

Banks are now preparing to cover the cost of £7 billion of unsecured loans over the next two years as the cost-of-living crisis bites. The amount of debt is expected to be around a

The Bounce Back Loan Scheme allowed small and medium-sized firms to borrow up to £50,000. The loan, which was interestfree for the first 12 months, was meant to help businesses survive the pandemic – but crooks soon realised it could be abused.

In a shock address to the House of Lords, AntiFraud Minister Lord Agnew accused ministers of “arrogance, indolence and ignorance” after it emerged 1,000 companies that received money as part of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme did not even exist

third higher than levels before the pandemic.

Banks are setting aside billions of pounds to cover the steep rise in bad debts. It is found that provisions for impaired loans at Lloyds, which accounts for about a fifth of lending in the country, are expected to rise from £820 million this year to more than £1.3 billion by 2024.

Anna Anthony, partner at accountancy firm EY, said: ‘Households are already feeling the cost-ofliving squeeze and unfortunately this is set to worsen in the coming months.” She also pointed out the expected peak in default rates on consumer loans is still way below the level it hit in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, when 5 per cent of all unsecured debt was written off.

to cushion customers from the increase in the tax from 12.5% to 20%. A steep fall in the value of the pound on foreign exchange markets piled further pressure on businesses by adding to the cost of imports. Sterling has slumped since last month, from more than $1.30 to $1.24 after hitting $1.22 last week.

Food banks have reported an increase in demand for food packages after the rise in energy bills, while many small business owners have said a combination of higher costs and tax increases have

pushed them to the edge of bankruptcy. Labour market figures released recently showed that average total wages increased by 7% in March, pushed up by bonus payments to staff and consultants working in the finance, IT, construction and professional services sectors.

However, income growth has not been evenly distributed. The average pay rise without bonuses was only 4.2%, hitting millions of workers with a fifth consecutive month of falling real wages.

Higher interest on loans will force many students to leave studies Under present plans, English and Welsh graduates who took out a student loan after 2012, and earn more than £49,130 a year, face the 12% maximum income rate. That is because the rate is linked to the current RPI inflation rate. Their current interest rate is 4.5%. The interest rates for low earners will rise from 1.5% to 9%.

This means that for a typical debt of about £50,000, a high-earning recent graduate would incur about £3,000 in interest over six months. The added interest does not affect the level of monthly repayments. A planned cap on interest payments next year means that the spike should be temporary, but many people now want a cap imposed immediately.

Senior Tories are sounding the alarm over the “outrageous” interest rates to be applied to student loans later this year. Former ministers and MPs are calling for the government to step in and prevent the increases. They say some young people who have the ability to take up a university place will be put off by the idea of repaying a large, expensive debt for years.

The threat of 12% interest rates has led to accusations that some are being persuaded to remortgage, or to extend their mortgage, to service their student debt. A department for education spokesperson said: “Monthly repayments will not increase for students if there is a change in student loan interest rates. Repayments are linked to income, not interest rates. The government will confirm the level of student loan interest rates will be set soon. For future students, the government has cut interest rates – so from 2023-24, graduates will never have to pay back more than they borrowed.”

New plan to fight fraud in welfare system The department for work and pensions (DWP) has shared details of a new £613 million plan to stop an estimated £4 billion from being lost in fraud and error over the next five years. The ‘Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System’ plan outlines how the DWP will create a new 2,000-strong team dedicated to reviewing more than two million

Operation to claw back fraudulent Covid loans Campaigners and Labour called on the Government to do more to nail the fraudsters who fraudulently claimed money through Covid financial schemes.

Detectives from the National Investigation Service have so far recovered less than £5 million of the stolen loot from the Bounce Back Loan Scheme handouts. The team, which tackles organised crime, have also arrested several people – including a man and woman at Heathrow, who pilfered £670,000 in public funds.

was the main reason for the jump in the consumer prices index from 7% in March.

Business groups are saying that all sectors of industry and commerce were suffering from the steep rise in energy and fuel costs, with many facing a similar shock to their finances as seen during the pandemic but without the same level of government support.

The end of a temporary VAT cut for the hospitality industry also pushed up prices after restaurants and hotels said they were unable

before March 2020. Around £48 billion was borrowed under the scheme.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The scale of the abuse will shock those who played by the rules while worrying about their jobs and families.” Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “The Government must let the National Crime Agency investigate Covid fraud from top to bottom. It is unforgivable that billions of pounds of taxpayer money has been handed to criminals.”

existing Universal Credit claims.

Expected to stop around £2 billion of losses due to fraud and error over the next five years, this new team will review the entitlements and circumstances of Universal Credit claims that the DWP deems are at risk of being incorrect, including suspicious cases which entered the system during

the height of the pandemic.

Earnings is the highest loss area for fraud and error, totalling £1.9 billion in 2020/21 in Universal Credit.

This is in part a result of the significant increase in the proportion of self-employed claimants from 5.4% of the Universal Credit caseload in February 2020 to 15.4% in July 2020.

The DWP states there

has been an increase in fraud and estimates around £0.2 billion was lost to this in 2020/21 in Universal Credit. The DWP also said that while fraud makes up the majority of its losses, they understand that navigating the welfare system can be complex and it wants to “support claimants to provide the right information at the right time”.

UK firm Dyson to expand operations in India British consumer electronics giant Dyson will make new investments in India as the company saw surge in its home care products such as vacuum cleaners, air purifiers and hair stylers during the pandemic period, Tomas Centeno, Dyson’s president for the Asia-Pacific region, said.

The company, which has invested over 100 million pounds in India since it started business around four years ago, plans to expand its retail footprint, both offline and online, while bringing newer products in line with their global launch. “For Dyson, India is one of the key priority countries and not just for the Asia-Pacific region, but also globally. We see a huge potential in India,” Centeno said.

He said that the growth was particularly strong during the pandemic period, when the do-it-yourself (DIY) phenomenon

became the norm as homes turned into offices and schools because of lockdowns and mobility restrictions. “The pandemic led to a shift as consumers opened up to the adoption of technology. As the issue of hygiene is undoubtedly heightened, we saw an increased awareness around indoor air quality and a rise in cleaning frequency. ”

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India reports highest FDI inflow in 2021-22 India has reported the highest foreign direct investment (FDI inflow) to the tune of $83.57 billion for the financial year 2021-2022, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said, adding the country's foreign investment inflows increased 20-fold since the financial year 2003-04 when it recorded mere $4.3 billion.

The figures for 2021-22 have overtaken the previous financial year by $1.60

billion despite the Ukraine war and Covid-19 pandemic. to the According statistics, Singapore has now overtaken Mauritius to emerge as the top source of FDI into the country, with the US at the second spot and Mauritius, which topped the rankings last year, slipping to the third place, an official statement said. With around 27% of FDI into India, inflows from

Singapore are estimated at about $22. 5 billion, compared to the US’s $15 billion and around $13 billion from Mauritius, an all-time favourite for global investors given the tax benefit that it enjoyed for years.

Among the sectors, manufacturing saw a 76% jump with inflows during 2021-22 estimated at $21.3 billion, ‘Computer software and hardware’ was the most

attractive sector, cornering around a quarter of the pie, followed by services and automobiles (12% each).

The Modi government sought to claim credit for the rise. “The steps taken during the last eight years have borne fruit as is evident from the everincreasing volumes of FDI inflow being received into the country, setting new records,” the commerce and industry ministry said.

Adani group to venture India’s inflation reaches a record high into healthcare Adani Group is now gearing up for a larger play in healthcare. Its flagship entity Adani Enterprises has set up a100% subsidiary, Adani Health Ventures, to run medical and diagnostic laboratories, research centres and other healthcare related activities in India.

The move pits Adani Group, India’s third largest conglomerate in terms of market cap, against the Tata Group and Reliance Industries that have made significant investments in the healthcare space. Adani was recently in news for its foray into the cement sector through the acquisition of Holcim’s India assets.

It is expected by observers that the Ahmedabad-based conglomerate will acquire diagnostic laboratories and pharmacy retail chains to

propel its healthcare play, in line with the strategy it has followed to enter new areas, The group has made more than 30 acquisitions, valued at over $17 billion, in the past year, according to a recent report.

All the three Indian conglomerates have a presence in healthcare through their foundations that run hospitals. In a regulatory filing, Adani Enterprises, which incubates new businesses for the group, said the May 17 incorporated healthcare entity will commence its business operations in due course. It has already taken baby steps in this area by acquiring a minority stake in an Israeli startup, Forsight Robotics, for $20 million, in April this year. Forsight is a platform designed for eye surgeries.

India’s Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation has jumped to a new high of 15.1% in April on the back of soaring commodity, food and fuel prices, posing a major challenge for authorities already battling surging prices fuelled by the Ukraine war and breakdown in global supply chains due to the Covid lockdown in China.

In fact, this is the 13th consecutive month of double-digit WPI inflation and the April number is the highest in a shade over nine years in the current series, which began in April 2012. It is the highest in 31 years going by the 1981-82 series when it posted 16. 3% in September 1991. The latest numbers come close on the heels of retail inflation rising.

The high rate of inflation in April 2022 was mainly due to the rise in prices of

mineral oils, basic metals, crude petroleum and natural gas, food articles, non-food articles, food products and chemicals & chemical products, compared to a year ago, according to an official statement. The rate of inflation based on the WPI Food Index increased marginally from 8.7% in March to 8.9% in April.

Globally, inflation has emerged as a major risk to economic recovery and has hit household budgets, prompting central banks across the world to aggressively increase interest rates. The WPI data showed India’s fuel and power inflation at 38.7% in April.

Not only that, wheat prices rose an annual 10.7%, vegetables by 23.2%, manufactured products by 10.9%, highlighting the price pressures across the board.

Jet Airways all set to resume flights again Grounded since April 2019, Jet Airways, which was India’s leading air carrier, is now all set to become the first carrier to resume flying under the country’s bankruptcy law by this September.

India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) revalidated Jet’s air operator permit certificate (AOC) after it successfully conducted two proving flights earlier this week and the winning Jalan-Kalrock consortium fulfilled all conditions of the NCLT-

approved resolution plan.

The renewed AOC was handed to a Jet 1. 0 veteran pilot, Captain P P Singh, who is now Jet 2. 0’s accountable manager.

Jet 2. 0 plans to resume operations in a hybrid

mode (having features of both a budget and fullservice carrier, or FSC) using brand new planes, say people in the know.

The proving flight was conducted on a Boeing 737 that was used by Jet 1. 0, then taken over by SpiceJet and is now back with the former. Jet was launched in 1993 as an FSC and later acquired Air Sahara in 2007 - a financial burden from which it never

recovered and eventually collapsed over three years ago.

However, Jet 2. 0’s revival rests on JalanKalrock’s willingness and ability to infuse a significant amount of funds regularly and bear losses for the first few years. Consider this: India’s two newest big airlines Tata Group’s AirAsia India that started operations in 2014 and Vistara that started flying a year later — are yet to see their first profitable year.

The Accidental Deal Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

A first time buyer approached us for a mortgage.

This was easy enough to place. She wanted a five year fixed. The only point of concern was the expectation of rates to be rising. So, the trick was to try and lock in the current rates, either by paying a booking fee, or an arbitrary property to commence the application.

However, her main issue was finding a property. The market is heated and her experience is that properties are going above asking price. So, she has struggled to find something.

This prompted me to have a cursory look into the auction market, which is not where the client had ever considered looking, using her chosen postcodes to guide the search.

A number of properties popped up, but what caught my eye was a three bedroom ex-council property, very close to Wembley Park station. The guide price is £100K and it is producing £18K per annum. What’s the downside you will be asking?

Well, it has a short lease of 40 years left; therefore, this needs a cash buyer.

There is a direct comparable which is being sold in a later auction, and this is guided at £275K, on a long lease; though technically a comparable is something which has actually been sold.

On a short lease, as is common practise, the seller issues a section 42 notice upon the freeholder. In this case, a premium has been quoted for £33K. The aim will be to extend the lease as soon as possible, and then refinance on a 5 year fixed rate; the objective being to extract all the seed funds in the deal out.

The deal, and the slight complexities involved in terms of lease extensions and financing, placed this deal outside the realm of the original first time buyer. This is a deal for a property investor.

Actually, it was whilst writing this very article the deal was confirmed with a seasoned property person, who made the decision within 10 minutes to go ahead with the deal. It needed someone who would move quickly as the auction happens to be tomorrow!

There is much ground work to be done on the deal, as well as the registration for the auction, completing anti money laundering requirements etc. We would like to drill down on to the proposed premium for the lease extension, and ideally get the legal paper work looked at by a lawyer. Although this is a block we have bought in before, so everything should be in order, the devil is in the detail; and, therefore one can’t be too careful. The aim is to be ready by the end of the day; my feel is to go up to £175K on this deal.

Even if the lease, in the unlikely event, cannot be extended, you would be earning a very healthy income on your funds.

Allowing 25% for maintenance costs plus expenses on a purchase price of £175K this equates to a net income of 7.7%.

LIC shares opens on stock market at SC rejects Cyrus Mistry's 8.6% discount plea against sacking Life insurance corporation (LIC) of India shares listed at Rs 867, an 8.6% discount to its offer price of Rs 949 and closed the maiden trading day on the bourses at Rs 875 - down nearly 8% from its Initial Public Offer (IPO) price.

At the close of the session, shareholders in LIC lost about Rs 465 billion with the company’s market capitalisation now at Rs 5500 billion, compared to about £60 billion going by its IPO price.

The majority government-owned life insurer is now the fifth most valued company in India,

behind RIL, TCS, HDFC Bank and Infosys, but ahead of giants like HUL, ICICI Bank and SBI, data from the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) showed. In the run-up to LIC’s listing, the premium in the unofficial grey market had vanished, which had indicated a muted debut for the life

insurer. After the listing, LIC’s policyholders who got the shares at Rs 889 and retail investors who were allotted at Rs 904 saw marginal losses.

Other shareholders were allotted the shares at Rs 949. On May 9, LIC had closed its £2.1 billion IPO with a subscription figure of nearly three times.

Its policyholders and retail shareholders led the subscription figures, along with some strong support from local institutions.

Through the offer, the government sold 3. 5% of its stake, or about 220 million shares of the life insurer.

On March 26, 2021, then Chief Justice of India and Justices had upheld the removal of Cyrus Mistry from the post of executive chairman of Tata Sons and landed a knockout punch on Shapoorji Pallonji Group by rejecting all its accusations against the company and chairman emeritus Ratan Tata, including the oppressive practices by the board against minority shareholders.

The Supreme Court has now rejected a review petition filed by the SP Group seeking review of the apex court’s March 2021 judgment validating the

sacking of Mistry from the post of Tata Sons executive chairman. The review petition claimed that the SC judgment failed to recognise the oppressive practices by the Tata board and Ratan Tata against Mistry, who was the board nominee from the SP Group, holding a minority 18% stake in Tata Sons.

However, the bench agreed to expunge certain caustic remarks allegedly harming the reputation and dignity of Mistry on the undertaking that he would remove certain objectionable statements made in his petition.

Cyrus Mistry

Branding Mistry and SP Group as poor losers, the SC in a 282-page judgment had shredded arguments of Mistry and team against Tata Sons and Tata and wondered how the National Company Law Tribunal could have deviated from the law to order Mistry’s reinstatement even after expiry of his tenure as executive chairman and direct re-conversion of Tata Sons into a public company.

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in brief INDIAN AMERICAN STUDENT BULLIED A viral video showing an Indian American student being bullied in Texas has sparked anger and criticism on social media. The video has been shot by classmates of the student being bullied and shared online. It shows one student approaching the Indian American boy who is sitting on a bench and demanding that he stand up. When he refuses to give up his seat, the American student gets angry and starts choking him.

The incident took place in Coppell Middle School in Texas and its superintendent Dr Brad Hunt said that the school was aware of the video and bullying as well as physical acts are never acceptable and do not align with who we are at CISD and our core values.” The statement which was also posted online, has been widely criticised with many users pointing out the fact that the video clearly showed assault. The incident, according to the Coppell Middle School, is being investigated.

PTI LAWMAKERS LOSE SEATS FOR DEFYING WHIP The Election Commission of Pakistan “deseated” 25 lawmakers of former PM Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for defying a party directive and voting for Hamza Shehbaz of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for the Punjab CM’s post in April.

The legislators had voted for Hamza in the Punjab CM elections on April 16 and their support gave him a majority with 197 votes.

But Hamza lost his majority after EC “deseated” the lawmakers - which means they are no longer members of the house and their votes won’t count. The EC’s decision has dealt a serious blow to PM Shehbaz Sharif’s fragile coalition government that has been struggling against grave financial and political challenges facing the country.

The SC said votes of dissident lawmakers could not be counted in the case of a vote of no confidence.

KABUL HOSTING PEACE TALKS The Afghan Taliban said it was hosting peace talks between Pakistan officials and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a Taliban-inspired militant group that has battled Islamabad for over a decade. Since the Afghan Taliban returned to power last year, Islamabad has increasingly complained of attacks by the TTP. A government spokesman tweeted, “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, in good faith, strives for a successful negotiation process and expects both sides to be tolerant and flexible.”A truce previously agreed for Eid will also be extended until May 30, a statement said. Pakistan government officials have not yet commented on the talks.

TALIBAN SHUT DOWN AF HUMAN RIGHTS BODY Taliban authorities have closed down Afghanistan’s independent human rights commission as it was “not considered necessary”. “We have some other organisations to carry out activities related to human rights, organisations that are linked to the judiciary,” deputy government spokesman Inamullah Samangani said. The work of the rights commission, which included documenting civilian casualties of Afghanistan’s two-decade war, was halted when the Taliban ousted a US-backed government last year. The national security council and a reconciliation council that promoted peace were also shut down recently as the government announced its first annual budget.

Lanka lifts emergency as law and order improves COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government lifted the state of emergency last week, nearly two weeks after it was imposed across the island as it faced unprecedented economic and anti-government protests.

Embattled Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had declared a state of emergency with effect from May 6 midnight, the second time in just over a month.

The move to lift emergency was taken with the improvement of the law and order situation in the island nation. The state of emergency had given the police and the security forces sweeping power to arbitrarily arrest and detain people. The protesters have blamed the powerful Rajapaksa clan for mishandling the nation's economy, already hit by the pandemic.

Nine people have been killed and over 200 injured in clashes between pro-and anti-government protesters.

Food shortages worsen Lanka’s prime minister has warned of a food shortage as the island nation battles a devastating economic crisis and promises to buy enough fertiliser for the next planting season to boost harvests. In April last year president Gotabaya Rajapaksa imposed a ban all chemical fertilisers which drastically cut crop yields.

“While there may not be time to obtain fertiliser for this Yala [May-August] season, steps are being taken to ensure adequate stocks for the Maha [September-March] season,” Prime Minister Ranil

Wickremesinghe said. “I sincerely urge everyone to accept the gravity of the situation,” Wickremesinghe said.

President Gotabaya, meanwhile, appointed nine new members to the cabinet, including to the critical health, trade and tourism ministries. Two legislators from the main opposition SJB party broke ranks to join the new government. Another opposition party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, agreed to support President and was given one portfolio. However, the finance position – which will bring with it responsibility for leading negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a bailout – remains vacant. There are speculations that the portfolio is likely to be retained by Wickremesinghe.

The delay in announcing a finance minister could hinder Sri Lanka’s negotiations with the

IMF, the central bank chief warned. Tourism-dependent Sri Lanka is facing a dire shortage of foreign exchange, fuel and medicines, and economic activity has slowed to a crawl.

Lanka defaults on debt The country has defaulted on its debt for the first time in the history as the island nation struggles with its worst financial crisis triggered by global shock waves from the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, according to media reports.

Sri Lankan Central bank governor P Nandalal Weerasinghe said that the country had fallen into a “pre-emptive default” on its debts after the expiry of a 30 day grace period for missed interest payments on two of its sovereign bonds. It is the first default by an Asia-Pacific nation this century, according to Moody’s. It comes after a 30-day grace period to come up with $78 million of unpaid debt interest payments expired recently.

Imran Khan again praises Woman meets her brothers India for reducing fuel prices in Kartarpur after 75 years ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Imran Khan has once again praised India for reducing fuel prices with the help of “discounted oil” from Russia, saying this is what his government was working to achieve with the help of an “independent foreign policy.” The Indian government last week cut excise duty on petrol and diesel to give relief to consumers battered by high fuel prices that have also pushed inflation to a record high. It also decided to give Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy to Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries for 12 cylinders in a year.

Taking to Twitter, the 69-year-old cricketer-turned-politician said: “Despite being part of the Quad, India sustained pressure from the US and bought discounted Russian oil to provide relief to the masses. India, the world’s third-biggest oil-consuming and importing nation, has in recent weeks snapped few cargoes available from Russia at deep discounts as part of its plans to diversify its import basket.

In another tweet, Khan said: “Pakistan’s interest was supreme but unfortunately the local Mir Jafars & Mir Sadiqs bowed to external pressure, forcing a regime change and are now running around like a headless chicken with the economy in a tailspin”.

Khan often terms his political opponents as Mir Jafars & Mir Sadiqs, the historical figures who had betrayed their masters and helped the British rulers. This is not the first time when Prime Minister Khan has praised India to the surprise of Opposition parties.

Last month, then prime minister Khan, in an address to the nation ahead of the no-trust motion which eventually ousted him from power, called India a “nation with a great sense of honour”.

Earlier on another occasion, he had praised India for its independent foreign policy, saying they protect their independent foreign policy which is centred on its people.Last month, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz lashed out at Khan for lavishing praise on India, saying he should go to the neighbouring country if he likes it so much.

ISLAMABAD: Seventy-five years after she was separated from her family during the violence at the time of the Partition, a woman, born in a Sikh family but adopted and raised by a Muslim couple, met her brothers from India at Kartarpur in Pakistan’s Punjab province, according to a media report.

At the time of the Partition, Mumtaz Bibi, who was born in a Sikh family, was an infant who was lying on the dead body of her mother killed by a violent mob, the Dawn newspaper reported. A couple named Muhammad Iqbal and Allah Rakhi adopted the baby and raised her as their own daughter, naming her Mumtaz Bibi. After the Partition, Iqbal settled at Varika Tian village in Sheikhupura district of Pakistan’s Punjab province.

Iqbal and his wife did not tell Mumtaz that she was not their daughter. Two years ago, Iqbal’s health suddenly deteriorated and he told Mumtaz that she was not his real daughter and she belonged to a Sikh family. After Iqbal’s death, Mumtaz and her son Shahbaz started searching for her family online. They knew the name of Mumtaz’s real father and the village (Sidrana) in Patiala district of Punjab (India), where they settled after being forced to leave their home.

Both the families connected through social media.

Subsequently, Mumtaz’s brothers Gurumeet Singh, Narendra Singh and Amrinder Singh, accompanied by other family members, reached Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur. Mumtaz and her family members also reached there and met her lost brothers after 75 years, the report said.

After defiance, Afghan women TV anchors cover faces

Bilawal meets Blinken in a bid to reset soured ties

KABUL: Women presenters on Afghanistan's leading news channels went on air on Sunday with their faces covered, a day after defying a Taliban order to conceal their appearance on television.

Since seizing power last year, the Taliban have imposed a slew of restrictions on civil society, many focused on reining in the rights of women and girls to comply with the group’s “austere” brand of Islam.

Earlier this month, Afghanistan’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a diktat for women to cover up fully in public, including their faces, ideally with the traditional burqa.

The feared ministry for promotion of virtue and prevention of vice ordered women TV presenters to follow suit from Saturday. But the presenters defied the order and went on air with their faces visible, only to fall

in line with the directive on Sunday.

Wearing full hijabs and facecovering veils that left only their eyes in view, women presenters and reporters aired morning news bulletins across leading channels like TOLOnews, Ariana Television, Shamshad TV and 1TV. “We resisted and were against wearing a mask,” Sonia Niazi, a presenter with TOLOnews, said.

“But TOLOnews was pressured and told any female presenter who appeared on screen without covering her face must be given some other job or removed. We were told ‘You are forced to do it.

You must do it. There is no other way’,” TOLOnews director Khpolwak Sapai said. Ministry spokesman Mohammad Akif Sadeq Mohajir said authorities appreciated that media channels had observed the dress code.

New York: After a period of diplomatic chill in bilateral ties under the Imran Khan government, the United States renewed its high-level political engagement with Pakistan, with secretary of state Antony Blinken reaching out to Pakistan’s new foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari with the desire to strengthen the bilateral relationship.

“The Secretary underscored the resolute US-Pakistan commitment to Afghan stability and combating terrorism, ” the US state department said in a statement after the call. “The Secretary and Foreign Minister also highlighted ongoing engagement on trade and investment, climate, energy, health and education.”

Highlighting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, the state department said it was looking forward to “strengthening our cooperation”. The Pakistani foreign minister, who is also the chairman of the Pakistan’s Peoples Party (PPP), said in a post on Twitter that he was grateful for Blinken’s warm felicitations. They exchanged views on “strengthening mutually beneficial, broad based relationship” and “promotion of peace, development and security” and agreed that “engagement with mutual respect is the way forward”, he added.

A Pakistani foreign ministry statement said Blinken had invited Pakistan for both the Second Covid Global Summit to be held virtually later this month, and a ministerial meeting on Global Food Security to be held in New York on May 18.

“The Foreign Minister emphasized that Pakistan’s vision was focused on human development, regional connectivity, and a peaceful neighborhood,” the statement added.

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in brief SHANGHAI REPORTS NEW COVID CASES Shanghai announced its first new Covid-19 cases outside quarantined areas, triggering stricter curbs and mass testing in one district but plans to end a prolonged city-wide lockdown on June 1 appeared on track. The city found three new cases in the same family in Qingpu. All had taken three doses of vaccine and their infections were discovered during regular testing. The three had not left their district town over the past 14 days but had visited four places, including a supermarket, all of which were sealed off, authorities said.

ALBANESE ELECTED NEW AUSTRALIAN PM Australians awoke on Sunday to a new prime minister in Anthony Albanese, the centre-left Labour Party leader whose ascension to the nation’s top job from being raised in social housing by a single mother on a disability pension was said to reflect the changed fabric of the country. The 59-year-old career politician, who has described himself as the only candidate with a “non-Anglo Celtic name” to run for prime minister in the 121 years the office has existed, referred to his humble upbringing in the inner-Sydney suburb of Camperdown while thanking electors for making him the country’s 31st leader. But it remained unclear whether Albanese’s party could form a majority government or have to rely on the support of an increased number of independents and minor party lawmakers who won seats in Saturday’s election.

BIDEN AMONG 963 BARRED BY RUSSIA Russia said it had so far banned 963 Americans from entering the country, including previously announced moves against US President Joe Biden and other officials, and would continue to retaliate against what it called hostile US actions.

Separately, the foreign ministry said it had added 26 new names to a list of Canadians it has barred from travelling to Russia, including Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of PM Justin Trudeau. Previously announced names on the list included secretary of state Antony Blinken, defence secretary Lloyd Austin and CIA chief William Burns. The new list was published after Canada introduced a bill that will ban Vladimir Putin and 1,000 members of his government from travelling there.

COLOMBIAN TEEN SOLVES 3 RUBIK’S CUBES IN 4 MINUTES Rubik’s cube is one of the most engaging and difficult puzzles. It takes a lot of effort, patience and strong will to completely solve Rubik’s cube by matching all the colours. But a teenager from Colombia in South America made it look like a child’s play by solving not one, not two but three Rubik Cubes while juggling them. And he set a world record, according to Guinness World Records (GWR).

Angel Alvarado completed all three Rubik Cube puzzles in four minutes, 31. 01 seconds while juggling each of them, GWR wrote on its website. He achieved the feat on April 1 this year, the GWR website further said. With this, the 19-year-old beat his previous record time of 4 min 52. 43 seconds, which he had set in May last year.

SANDSTORMS SHUT SCHOOLS IN SAUDI Sandstorms across the West Asia have delayed flights, closed schools and hospitalised thousands - a phenomenon experts say could worsen as climate change warps regional weather patterns. Saudi Arabia became the latest country blanketed with dust that slowed traffic and made towers in the capital difficult to see from more than a few hundred metres away.

Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu urged to quit following corruption probe CALIFORNIA: Members of the Anaheim City Council have urged Mayor Harry Sidhu to resign after learning he’s the subject of an FBI corruption probe. The investigation became known through an FBI affidavit filed in Orange County Superior Court.

An FBI agent investigating the case alleges Sidhu shared privileged information with the Los Angeles Angels during ongoing negotiations to sell the stadium and adjoining property to the baseball team.

According to the agent, recorded conversations also show Sidhu intended to solicit campaign contributions in exchange for a favorable deal for

Harry Sidhu

the Angels. At a City Council meeting, Council menber Avelino Valencia called the alleged actions “extremely disheartening.”

“Tonight I’m calling on the

resignation of Mayor Harry Sidhu from the office of Mayor of Anaheim and for him to also focus on his legal defense and let our city move ahead from this chapter,” Valencia said.

Three other council members sent a letter to Sidhu’s attorney calling for his resignation. “The deeply troubling issues that have come to our attention involving Mayor Sidhu since May 16, 2022, raise serious concerns and questions about his ability to continue as mayor of Anaheim,” reads the letter, signed by Mayor Pro Tem Trevor O’Neil and council members Stephen Faessel and Jose Diaz.

Neither Sidhu nor his lawyer responded to a request for comment. An Orange County Superior Court Judge put the proposed $320 million sale of the stadium property on hold due to the corruption investigation.

Bakul Patel joins Google as its digital health chief San Francisco: Tech giant Google has roped in a former US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) leader Bakul Patel as its new senior director of global digital health strategy. Patel spent over a decade at the FDA and most recently was the chief digital health officer of global strategy and innovation.

"I am thrilled and excited to continue furthering my mission to improve healthcare for all and be part of an organization that is committed to delivering products and services to help

Google has pushed further into health and healthcare over the past few years, with mixed results. Its ambitions range from mining big data for algorithms to developing diseasedetecting tools to pumping wearables full of health features.

Bakul Patel But its strategy has people along their health jourgone through some upheaval: ney," Patel said in a LinkedIn the company dissolved the post.

Google Health division in According to The Verge, August 2021 and spread its

WHO confirms 92 monkeypox cases in 12 nations Geneva: At least 92 monkeypox virus cases have been confirmed in 12 countries, the World Health Organisation has said, warning that the infection is likely to spread to more nations even as it expands surveillance.

The 12 countries - the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Sweden - are not endemic for monkeypox virus, meaning the virus is not typically found unlike some countries in Central and West Africa.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said new figures for the infection would be released after it registered 20 cases on Friday. Asked if community

transmission was now the norm in Britain, UKHSA chief medical adviser Susan Hopkins said "absolutely".

“We are finding cases that have no identified contact with an individual from West Africa, which is what we’ve seen previously in this country,” she said. Hopkins declined to confirm reports that one individual was in intensive care, but said the outbreak was concentrated in urban areas, among gay or bisexual men.

The disease can be transmitted through contact with skin lesions and droplets of a contaminated person, as well as shared items such as bedding and towels.

Symptoms for monkeypox include fever, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes,

chills, exhaustion and a chickenpoxlike rash on the hands and face. They usually clear up after two to four weeks.

There is no specific treatment but vaccination against smallpox has been found to be about 85% effective in preventing monkeypox. Israeli authorities have said they have detected the country’s first case of monkeypox in a man who returned from abroad and were looking into other suspected cases. Austria’s first suspected case was reported reported in Vienna on Sunday. New York officials are probing a potential case of monkeypox after a patient tested positive for the family of viruses, health officials said.

Raila Odinga loses key ally in Kenya election NAIROBI: The upcoming Kenyan general election was predicted to be a two-horse race between William Ruto and Raila Odinga, the Azimio La Umja coalition nominee. But now, Kalonzo Musyoka -who was Odinga's running mate in 2013 and 2017- accepted to run for president under the Wiper party banner, leaving the Azimio la Umoja coalition.

Odinga officially picked former minister Martha Karua to serve as his running mate. The Karua and Odinga ticket is backed the Azimio La Umja coali-

tion, formed ahead of the August 9 election. The Azimio la Umoja coalition brings together President t Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party, Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement and a dozen other political groups.

Kenyatta, who has subject to term limit, has chosen to side with his former rival Raila Odinga. If Kalonzo Musyoka's presidential bid is validated, we will be latest candidate in a contest already recording over 40 presidential aspirants. Over 7,000 candidates will vie, in the August general elections.

employees around to various initiatives. The head of the division left the company.

Patel is only the latest to enter the new revolving door between Alphabet and federal regulatory agencies.

Current FDA Commissioner Robert Califf is a former Alphabet senior advisor and Google's chief health officer Karen DeSalvo is the former director of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

MP speaks Kannada in Canadian Parliament OTTAWA: Canadian MP Chandra Arya spoke in his mother tongue Kannada while he was speaking in Parliament. The MP won many hearts and the video has now gone viral with netizens lauding him. "This is the first time Kannada is spoken in any parliament in the world outside of India," he wrote on Twitter.

While speaking in Parliament, he expressed his pleasure to be able to speak in his mother tongue, Kannada, in the Canadian Parliament. He called it a proud moment for the 50 million Kannadigas living in Canada. He concluded with lines from a song written by poet Kuvempu and sung by Dr Rajkumar which said, "Wherever you are, however you are, be a Kannadiga always."

Karnataka higher education minister CN Ashwathnaraya shared the video and praised the Canadian MP for speaking in Kannada in Parliament. Chandra Arya was elected to the Canadian Parliament for the first time in 2015 and again in 2019 for the second time.

Jordan king places half brother under house arrest AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah II has imposed restrictions on the movements, place of residence and communications of his estranged half brother Prince Hamzah, widening a royal rift in the kingdom.

In a strongly worded public letter, King Abdullah II said he had decreed the measures on account of Hamzah’s “erratic behavior and aspirations. We will provide Hamzah with all that he requires to live a comfortable life, but he will not have the space he once abused

to offend the nation, its institutions, and his family, nor to undermine Jordan’s stability,” he said.

Abdullah added that his half brother had during the past year or so “exhausted all opportunities to restore himself on the right path”. The announcement marked the latest chapter in an ongoing palace feud that saw the junior royal placed under a form of detention last year and the internal disputes of the royal family spill into the public eye.

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India to screen passengers arriving from monkeypox-hit nations With cases of monkeypox popping up in several countries, the Union government issued alerts to all airports to screen international passengers arriving into India. The instructions were issued after 11 countries, including from Europe, Africa, Americas and Australia, reported confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox.

The government said airports with international air traffic should immediately reactivate their surveillance systems, check incoming passengers, particularly those from countries that have reported monkeypox cases.

However, there have been no such cases in India.

While there are no current plans to track the health of such international arrivals after they leave the airport, the airport staff and health personnel deployed there will be briefed about possible symptoms.

The first case of monkeypox outside of central and west Africa where it is endemic, was reported in London on May 6. Since then, 134 cases have been reported, of which 63 were confirmed, 24 listed as probable and 47 suspected cases.

While typically, monkeypox virus is found in a range of rodents, and non-human primates according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the world body adds that it is transmitted from human to human through close

contact with an infected person or animal or with material contaminated with the virus.

According to the Centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) of the US, the monkeypox virus belongs to the orthopoxvirus genus of viruses that also includes the variola virus and vaccinia virus that is used in the smallpox vaccine and cowpox virus.

According to WHO, the monkeypox clade that has been identified in the recent cases, indicates that it is from the west African side, and is believed to be less dangerous than the variety that is found in central African areas.

Govt cuts excise duty on Floods, landslides claim 29 petrol, diesel to tame inflation lives in three NE states The central government has slashed excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 and Rs 6 on diesel to bring down fuel prices and ease inflation. The government also announced a Rs 200 subsidy on LPG for over 90 million consumers who were given connection free of cost under the Ujjwala programme, one of the Modi government’s flagship social welfare schemes launched in 2016.

The Centre will forego £10 billion in tax revenue in current financial year as a result of the cut. The subsidy for Ujjwala consumers will entail an expenditure of £610 million, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while announcing the decisions.

The government also unveiled a series of duty cuts to cool down prices of iron and steel, coal and plastics, while promising to more than double the subsidy allocation for fertilisers to cushion the impact of the Ukraine war on farmers. Along with a reduction in import duty on iron and steel, the finance ministry also imposed import duty on a host of steel products, in a move that will benefit user industries and small-scale players that have been complaining of a massive jump in prices.

The Centre had on November 4, 2021 reduced excise duty by Rs 5 on petrol and Rs 10 on diesel. The latest cut has brought down the excise duty to the pre-pandemic level – rather lower by a few paise.

On March 1, 2020, excise duty stood at Rs 19.98 a litre on petrol and Rs 15.83 a litre on diesel. These will now be Rs 19.90 and Rs 15.80 a litre, respectively. The latest cut comes after the Ukraine war resulted in a spike in global prices, which was passed on to consumers resulting in petrol prices crossing the Rs 100 a litre mark and cooking gas cylinders costing over Rs 1,000 in most parts of the country.

At least 29 people have lost their lives to nature’s fury in three northeastern states - Assam, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh - which have been reeling under severe floods and landslides.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), 4 more deaths in floods have been reported, which has taken Assam’s death toll to 18 (13 in floods and 5 in landslides), since May 14. Three people have died in Meghalaya flash floods since May 13, while 8 people have died in flash floods and landslides in Arunachal Pradesh, since May 16.

Assam, the worst-hit state, showed signs of returning to normal after the count of the affected population came down marginally to 680,000 from 711,000. But the number of people taking shelter in relief

camps remains almost the same, the ASDMA said.

In Arunachal, the body of a missing woman was recovered in Itanagar, from the debris created by landslides. Bodies of 2 men were recovered from the same spot earlier, after a mudslide crushed their house. Three other people lost their lives in Kurung Kumey district earlier.

Meghalaya, which has received "large excessive" rainfall, has so far reported 3 deaths in East Khasi Hills district. ASDMA said the public health engineering department has been asked to make arrangements to supply sufficient water to over 4,000 pre-identified relief camps in the state, while the NHAI has assured the state that it would restore the national highway from Jatinga to Harangajao, in Dima Hasao district, within one week.

Shalby hospital performs rare hip replacement surgery The Shalby hospital in Ahmedabad successfully performed a rare hip replacement surgery on a patient from Ghana after six such surgeries failed to cure her problem.

The operation was successfully performed by Dr Vikram Shah, world-renowned joint replacement surgeon, and his team which included Dr J A Pachore, Director, Hip Surgery, Dr Amish Kshatriya, Senior Joint Replacement Surgeon and Dr Pranay Gujjar, Joint Replacement Surgeon. Nansata Salifu, 65, a resident of Bolgatanga town in Ghana, went for hip replacement in 2017 after a fall in December 2016, but it failed to cure her.

Then she sought treatment from another hospital in Ghana. However, this surgery too was a failure. Through the course of next two and a half years she endured a series of five failed hip replacement surgeries at the same hospital, with one failure after another.

In total, Salifu underwent six failed hip replacement surgeries in Ghana. Her condition had been worsening with each repeated surgery.

in brief 12 KILLED IN WALL COLLAPSE AT SALT PACKAGING UNIT IN MORBI At least 12 people, including four children, died when a huge wall inside a salt packaging factory in Halvad GIDC of Morbi district collapsed last week. Police said 30 labourers were engaged in salt packaging in the factory of Sagar Salt when the wall suddenly collapsed.

The wall was built as a partition. Preliminary investigation suggested that heavy cement bags (each of 20 kg) stored on one side created pressure on the wall, leading to its collapse. The labourers were packing the salt in small bags on the other side. A rescue operation was launched with the help of labourers of nearby factories and an earthmover within 20 minutes. They removed the debris and found the dead bodies.

HARDIK PATEL FINALLY QUITS CONGRESS Former Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel finally parted ways with the party by resigning from its primary membership. Pulling no punches in his resignation letter addressed to party president Sonia Gandhi, Patel (28) said it is almost like the Congress does not want to do anything good for Gujarat and at the national level the party has only played a role of creating roadblocks when people of the country wanted solutions to issues like the Ram temple at Ayodhya, revocation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and implementation of Goods and Service Tax (GST). He stopped short of praising PM Modi in his resignation letter.

30 INJURED IN CHEMICAL FACTORY FIRE IN DAHEJ At least 30 people were injured in a fire at an agrochemical factory in Dahej, Bharuch. District officials said that the fire broke out after an explosion in the factory’s boiler. Thick black smoke billowing from the factory of Bharat Rasayan’s agrochemical unit could be seen from far away, said fire officials who had rushed to the site. According to fire officials, at least 30 people rescued from the factory have been shifted to two private hospitals in Bharuch. Out of those injured, the condition of 10 persons was critical, they added. One fire official said that about 15 fire tenders from Dahej, Bharuch and Ankleshwar were pushed into service to control the fire. He said that though the exact reason for the fire was not known, the primary inquiry revealed that there was an explosion in one of the boilers in the factory.

J&K DELIMITATION ORDER COMES INTO EFFECT Patient from Africa with daughter

In Salifu’s case the cause was recurrent hip joint dislocation. Her hip was dislocated after six failed surgeries with almost 3 cm shortening of the leg. She had intense pain, walked with limp and shortening of leg. Her movement was severely restricted and she had intense pain in her hip. Revision hip replacement is normally a more challenging and complex procedure than the first surgery, and her accident and repeated failed surgeries had made this even more difficult and challenging.

Dr Vikram Shah says, “We revised her acetabulum (socket of the hip bone in which the femur fits) with special instrumentation with no bone loss. Larger size cup and

(R - L) Dr Vikram Shah, Dr J A Pachore, Dr Amish Kshtriya.

Standing - Dr Pranay Gujjar

screws were used to fix the socket and special kind of plastic liner was used to prevent future dislocation.

Revision surgery sometimes also requires bone grafting, for which we need large amount of bone. At Shalby we have a bone bank for this. She was kept on bed rest for 3 weeks for healing. After this, she was made to walk with walker support. And after six weeks she could walk without limp, shortening of leg and pain.”

Dr Vikram Shah says, “At Shalby we perform almost 10,000 joint replacement surgeries in a year, which is highest in the world. Along with primary surgeries, we also get a large number of complex cases for revision surgeries from all across the

world. About 250 of these are complex and revision hip replacement surgeries. Each case has a challenge of its own, but this particular case was unique and difficult as the patient had undergone surgeries six times already. We are happy she has been treated after five long years and can now lead a pain-free life.”

Dr Vikram Shah is a worldrenowned joint replacement surgeon and Founder Chairman & Managing Director of Shalby Hospitals, a chain of 11 hospitals spread across eight cities. He has played a prominent role in popularizing joint replacement surgery in India and has performed highest number of these surgeries in the world.

The central government notified delimitation order on Jammu & Kashmir, appointing May 20, 2022, as the date from which the order shall take effect. The Delimitation Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, had notified its order pertaining to delimitation of parliamentary and assembly constituencies in J&K on May 5 after over two years of deliberations. As per the delimitation order, J&K will now have 90 seats instead of the 83 earlier, with 47 seats allotted to the Kashmir division and 43 to Jammu. The UT will also have nine seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes and seven for Scheduled Castes.

INDRANI MUKERJEA WALKS OUT OF JAIL Former media executive Indrani Mukerjea walked out of Mumbai's Byculla women's prison, over six years after she was arrested for allegedly murdering her daughter Sheena Bora. “I am so happy,” a beaming Indrani (50) told waiting reporters. As she stepped out of the jail, her changed appearance attracted notice. Gone was the grey hair seen during her court app earances. Instead, the hair was now dyed black and a little smile was playing on her lips as she faced reporters.

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India ‘relaxes’ wheat export ban but global prices remain high Wholesale wheat prices fell 19% in Madhya Pradesh and by 6% in Rajasthan after the government decided to control wheat exports over the weekend.

Uttar Pradesh was the sole exception among major wheat producing states where prices have marginally increased.

Industry sources said there was a minor correction in prices after the Centre eased the ban on wheat exports by allowing handed consignments over for inspection or registered with the customs department by May 13 to go through. The strict controls, which are effective May 13, are meant to cool down domestic prices with an exception made for orders that had been booked earlier.

With trucks piling up at Kandla port, the commerce ministry said, “Wherever wheat consignments have been handed over to customs for examination and have been registered into their systems on or prior to May 13, 2022, such consignments would be allowed to

be exported.” The government also allowed the export of an Egypt-bound consignment of 61,500 tonnes that was already being loaded at Kandla.

Brokerage firm Barclays said that the ban on exports is only “marginally positive” for the domestic inflation outlook.

Soon after the government clarification, global prices dropped 2.3% before rising around 3.3% by late evening. Prices in the international market have risen following curbs announced

by India.

Market data, however, pointed to softening in local mandis. The maxi-

mum price in MP dropped to Rs 2,015 a quintal compared to Rs 2,500 on May 10. Similarly, in Rajasthan it fell to Rs 2,600 a quintal compared to Rs 2,767 a week ago. Another set of data from the Agmarknet run by the government showed that the wholesale wheat prices in some mandis in Gujarat fell by Rs 200 per quintal post the export curb.

“There has been some correction in wholesale prices after the government’s clarification came for exports. We have to wait and watch for the next few days,” a trader in UP said.

Widow lived as a man for 39 years to avoid sex pests A woman who was widowed at an young age lived as a man for 39 years to bring up her young daughter in peace and to avoid sexual harassment.

The woman, known only as S Petchiammal, from a village in Tamil Nadu, was left to look after Shanmugasundari alone when her husband, Siva, died of a heart attack a fortnight after their wed-

ding. She took whatever jobs she could find - on construction sites, in roadside food stalls and in hotels. When that led to constant sexual harassment she moved to a town where no one knew her, cut her long hair and adopted a new identity as a widower named Muthu Kumar.

She told reporters that it was initially difficult to

keep up the pretence. “I had to remember to use the men’s toilet and sit on the men’s side of a bus,” she said. Her daughter is now married and Petchiammal, 59, is pondering a return to living as a woman to receive pension and social welfare benefits. “She has devoted her life to me,” her daughter said. “I hope she gets the benefits.”

India asks WTO to allow use of public stock of grains for food aid India is pitching for allowing the use of public stock of grains for international food aid and averting food crisis, especially on a government-to-government basis. The move comes at a time when there is a global shortage of crucial food items, including wheat, with several developing countries such as Egypt flagging food scarcity as a major concern.

The anxiety voiced by these countries ahead of next month’s WTO ministerial meeting is sought to be addressed through a package being demanded by them. Indian officials, however, said a proposal by a group of countries led by Singapore on supply of foodgrains to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) was not acceptable as it would restrict the policy space to deal with domestic food security concerns. The group does not want any export restrictions to be imposed for the WFP. Several trade experts have expressed surprise at Singapore piloting the initiative and suspect that it is being driven by some of the developed countries.

“At WTO, India has been raising the issue that the exports from public stocks for

SC frees Perarivalan, convict in Rajiv assassination case A G Perarivalan, who spent 31 years in jail in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case - 29 of those in solitary confinement - is a free man.

The Supreme Court directed that he be “set at liberty forthwith”, taking into account his good conduct in prison, medical ailments and delay on the part of the Tamil Nadu governor in deciding his remission plea.

A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, B R Gavai and AS Bopanna invoked the Supreme Court’s extraordinary power granted under Article 142 of the Constitution to deliver “complete justice” and granted relief to Perarivalan, instead of referring his remission plea to the governor to take a call. The court also said that the governor’s decision to send the plea to the President was wrong and has no constitutional backing.

The apex court’s order is the culmination of Perarivalan aka Arivu’s long legal battle which began after he was arrested in the case when he was 19 years old. He was awarded death sentence and spent around 16 years in the shadow of death till the capital punishment was commuted to life

2 India-built warships, ‘Surat, Udaygiri’ launched India's defence minister Rajnath Singh last week launched two indigenously built warships ‘Surat’ and ‘Udaygiri’ at the Mazagon Docks in Mumbai, and said this will “add might” to the Navy’s arsenal and represent India's strategic strength before the world. This is the first time that two indigenously built warships have been launched concurrently, the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) said.

The ‘Surat’ and ‘Udaygiri’ warships have been designed in-house by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built at the Mumbai-based MDL, a premier ship and submarine building defence public sector undertaking. The launch of a ship marks the commencement of the next phase involving extensive outfitting activities by the shipyards readying these vessels for delivery.

At the event, Singh said building of these two warships leaves no doubt that in the coming days, India will not only cater to its needs in the arena of shipbuilding, but will also take care of the requirements of others.

“The two warships will add might to the Indian Navy's arsenal and represent to the world India's strategic strength as well as the power of self-reliance,” he said.

The defence minister added that the indigenous aircraft carrier ‘Vikrant’ is a major milestone in the

the purposes on international food aid or for non-commercial humanitarian purposes, including on government-to-government basis should be allowed,” the official added.

Current global trade rules do not allow WTO members to export food grains from public stocks, as they are subsidised and are seen to be distorting the market. Officials said India has been helping allies such as Afghanistan and Bangladesh deal with shortages.

At the ministerial meeting, the government will seek to find a permanent solution to the public stockholding issue. While WTO members have agreed any breach of the limit on subsidy paid for procuring grains will not be dragged to the dispute settlement body, the government wants issues around to be resolved, which is being resisted by the US, EU and some other countries.

Further, India is emphasising that meaningful reform in agriculture must first seek to reduce disproportionately large subsidies of the developed countries and not further widen the asymmetries between rich and developing economies.

Navy’s path of “Aatmanirbhar” (selfreliance), and expressed hope that this will increase the country's reach from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. “The commissioning of Vikrant will be a golden moment in India’s defence history,” he said.

As per the Navy, ‘Surat’ is the fourth ship of Project 15B Destroyers, which heralds a significant makeover of the P15A (Kolkata Class) destroyers, and is named after the commercial capital of Gujarat and also the second largest commercial hub of western India after Mumbai.

The Project 15B class of ships is the Navy’s next generation stealth guided missile destroyers being built at the MDL. ‘Udaygiri’, named after a mountain range in Andhra Pradesh, is the third ship of Project 17A Frigates. P17A Frigates are warships that are a follow-on class of the P17 (Shivalik Class) Frigates with improved stealth features, advanced weapons, sensors and platform management systems, the Navy said.

Singh said these warships are an embodiment of the government’s unwavering commitment to enhance the country's maritime capability, with focus on achieving self-reliance, at a time when the world is witnessing disruption in global supply chain due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

imprisonment in 2014 by a bench headed by then CJI P Sathasivam. He thereafter moved for a remission plea and the state cabinet backed it but the governor sat on the recommendation for two-and a-half years and referred the case to the President when the apex court raised questions on the delay on the part of the head of the state.

The bench said, “Given that his petition under Article 161 remained pending for two and a half years following the recommendation of the state cabinet for remission of his sentence and continues to remain pending for over a year since the reference by the governor, we do not consider it appropriate to remand the matter for the governor’s consideration. In the absence of any other disqualification and in the exceptional facts and circumstances of this case, in exercise of our power under Article 142 of the Constitution, we direct that the appellant is deemed to have served the sentence in connection with the Crime No. 329 of 1991. The Appellant, who is on bail, is set at liberty forthwith.”

Obituary

Rajesh Jayantibhai Patel (Dharmaj) January 02, 1951 - May 22, 2022 It is with deep sadness that we inform the passing away of Rajesh Jayantibhai Patel on 22 May, 2022 at the age of 71. He leaves behind his wife Prafulben, 2 sons Rikesh and Rajeev, daughter-in-laws Kriya and Jesal and 2 grandchildren.

On behalf of Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar, we convey our sincere condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of the departed soul.

Om Shanti Shanti

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in brief

SOUTH INDIA

Karnataka makes uniforms compulsory for PU students

Nod to Karnataka's anticonversion ordinance

NEW DELHI: Amid the hijab row in the state, the Karnataka government made uniforms mandatory for preuniversity (PU) students from the 2022-23 academic year.

This comes after the recent Karnataka High Court order that upheld the "hijab ban" in educational institutions.

The Department of Pre-University Education made uniforms prescribed by the College Development Committee compulsory, adding that in case no uniform is recommended by the College Development Committee or management, then students must wear a garment that will "maintain equality and unity, and which does not disturb public order."

The admission guidelines for the 2022-23 academic year cited the Karnataka High Court order upholding the government order on uniforms. Notably, the notification issued by the Education Department for 2020-21 academic year, had not made uniforms compulsory. In February, the Karnataka government had made uniforms prescribed by it or management of private institutions mandatory for its students in schools and PU colleges across the state amid the hijab controversy. The hijab row broke out in January this year after six girls were allegedly banned from entering the Government PU College in Udupi for wearing the hijab (headscarf).

This led to protests by girls, following which boys of several colleges in Udupi started attending classes wearing saffron scarves. The protest later spread across the state over the denial of entry to students wearing hijab inside the colleges. In April end, the Supreme Court had agreed to list appeals against the Karnataka High Court order upholding the hijab ban in educational institutions.

BENGALURU: Despite protests from the Christian community and the opposition, Karnataka governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot gave his assent to the controversial ordinance to implement the provisions of the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, better known as the anti- Thaawar Chand Gehlot conversion bill. approval in the council where BJP Karnataka is the ninth state is one member short of a to enact a law against ‘forced’ majority. The government then religious conversions. A similar promulgated an ordinance on law exists in UP, Odisha, Madhya May 12 to implement the law.

Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Home minister Araga Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand reiterated the Jnanendra and Uttarakhand. government’s commitment to Gehlot gave his nod a day implement the law, insisting that after Bengaluru Archbishop Peter it is a step “aimed at maintaining Machado and a delegation of peace and order in society”. “It Christians called on him and (the ordinance) is not against any requested him not to approve the religion, but religious conversion ordinance. Congress and JD(S) by force or through inducement have also opposed the bill, has no place under the accusing the government of legislation,” he said. He also promulgating it only to harass allayed fears of the Christian Christians and appease its Hindu community, insisting there is vote bank. nothing in the legislation that The bill was passed in the curtails constitutionally provided legislative assembly in December religious rights. last year and was pending

PUNJAB

Sidhu surrenders, sent to jail in road rage case Former Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu surrendered before a Patiala court as he ran out of options to delay serving a one-year sentence pronounced by the Supreme Court in a 1988 road rage case.

Sidhu and a friend, Rupind Singh Sandhu, allegedly hit a 50year-old man, named Gurnam Singh, fatally on his head following an altercation in December 1988 in Patiala. The top court convicted Sidhu in 2018 for the offence of “voluntarily causing hurt”, but acquitted him of culpable homicide charges, thereby sparing him a prison term with a fine of Rs 1,000.

But Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul added one-year rigorous imprisonment to the 2018 punishment, which was a simple

Navjot Singh Sidhu

fine.

Sidhu sought 4-week reprieve Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Sidhu, mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar and said the former cricketer needed a few weeks to surrender. “He will of course surrender shortly,” Singhvi told

the bench, adding, “We want a few weeks to surrender. It is after 34 years. He wants to organise his medical affairs.”

The bench, also comprising Justice J B Pardiwala, told Singhvi that the judgment in the matter was passed by a special bench. “You can file that application and mention it

before the Chief Justice. If the Chief Justice constitutes that bench today, we will consider that. If that bench is not available, it will have to be constituted. A special bench was constituted for that matter,” the bench observed. Singhvi said he will try to mention the matter before the Chief Justice.

Earlier, writing the judgment, Justice Kaul said the human hand can be used as a weapon especially when it belongs to an extremely fit person. Justice Kaul said, “Thus, when a 25-year-old man, who was an international cricketer, assaults a man more than twice his age and inflicts, even with his bare hands, a severe blow on his (victim’s) head, the unintended consequence of harm would still be properly attributable to him as it was reasonably foreseeable,” Justice Kaul said.

WEST BENGAL

CBI files cheating, forgery charges against Bengal officials KOLKATA: The CBI lodged an FIR against five people and “other unknown” officers of the West Bengal School Service Commission in the course of its investigation into “massive irregularities” in state school appointments. The move came a day after an FIR was filed against junior education minister Paresh Adhikary.

The agency slapped charges of forgery and cheating on SSC’s former adviser Santi Prasad Sinha, former chairman Soumitra Sarkar, ex-secretary Asoke Kumar Saha and programme officer Samarjit Acharya. CBI also named former West Bengal Board of Secondary Education president Kalyanmoy Ganguly in the FIR.

A separate probe was initiated into alleged irregularities in Group C appointments of state-aided schools. The agency had with it

the report of the inquiry committee led by retired high court judge Ranjit Kumar Bag. The report said as many as 222 candidates of the total 381,

appointed as teachers after the expiry of the SSC panel on May 18, 2019, didn’t qualify in the written test and were not called for the personality test and interview.

Meanwhile, CBI questioned Adhikary for four hours at Nizam Palace, the third day in a row, to trace the “invisible hand” that facilitated his daughter Ankita’s appointment as a teacher in a state-run school. The investigating agency might summon the minister again.

During questioning, officers asked him to come clean on how Ankita made her way to the State Level Selection Test (SLST) waiting list after two years without appearing for the personality test.

4 KILLED AS HEAVY RAIN BATTERS KARNATAKA Heavy rain continued to torment the people in Karnataka with Bengaluru being the worst affected.

Till now four deaths have been reported due to the heavy rain. Two migrant labourers died while working at a pipeline project in Jnanabharathi police station limits in Bengaluru. A 38-year-old person was electrocuted in Doddaballapur in Bengaluru Rural district while an elderly person died following the collapse of a wall of an old school building in Holenarasipura taluk in Hassan district. The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a red alert in seven districts of the state. Due to the incessant rain in Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru and Shivamogga, the district administrations have declared a holiday for schools.

TELANGANA CM EMBARKS ON INDIA TOUR Aiming to play a key role in national politics ahead 2024 general elections, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has undertaken a nationwide tour. During the tour the CM will meet different political party leaders, and economic experts in Delhi to discuss the country`s economic conditions, besides holding meetings with journalists as well, said an official communique. Chandrashekar Rao will extend help to the families of the martyred soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country and also meet the bereaved families of farmers who died during the "fight for farmers' rights" against the Centre, said the official release.

SUNIL JAKHAR JOINS BJP AFTER QUITTING CONG Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. The induction into the saffron fold took place less than a week after he resigned from the grand old party. After joining the saffron party, Jakhar said, "Three generations of my family served the Congress party over the last 50 years. Today, I have broken the 50year-old tie with Congress over issues of nationalism, unity and brotherhood in Punjab. “I'm fighting for Punjab's brotherhood. The work which bullets of AK47 were not able to do, they (Congress) did it with their tongue that person from a particular community can't be elected (as CM). They not only insulted Hindu brotherhood but also Sikh brotherhood,” he added.

BJP MP REJOINS TMC AFTER 3 YEARS Arjun Singh, the BJP MP in West Bengal, rejoined the Trinamool Congress, calling it a “homecoming” to his former party. Singh, the BJP state vice-president, was welcomed into the ruling party by national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Singh, who had been a part of TMC since its inception in 1998, said “some misunderstandings” had made him sever ties three years ago. “We will work as one family under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee,” he said.

One of the prominent Hindi-speaking leaders of the TMC, Singh had joined the saffron camp ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, and went on to win from the Barrackpore LS seat. The BJP unit in the state has been fighting hard to keep its flock together after former Union minister Babul Supriyo and five legislators switched over to the TMC since the assembly poll results last year.

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SC shifts Gyanvapi case to Varanasi district judge The Supreme Court last week shifted the trial of a suit by Hindu parties seeking enforcement of their right to worship inside Varanasi's Gyanvapi mosque from civil judge (senior division) to the district judge, even as it observed that the survey of a structure to ascertain its religious nature is not barred under the Protection of Places of Worship Act, 1991.

A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, Surya Kant and P S Narasimha said whether Hindus can be allowed to worship at Gyanvapi mosque involved complex and sensitive issues that needed to be dealt with a seasoned judicial hand and ordered the Varanasi district judge to decide on priority the plea of Committee of

Management, Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, Varanasi, under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC), challenging maintainability of the suit by five Hindu women seeking to worship Goddess Shringar Gauri and other deities inside mosque complex. Appearing for the mosque management, Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi repeatedly argued that the SC

should scrap the suit and interim orders by the trial court, including the direction for survey, as it was a “mischievous” attempt by plaintiffs to change the character of the mosque existing for the last 500 years.

"Look at the mischief being perpetrated through selective leak of the court commissioner's survey report. Now the mischief is being created for four to five other mosques. This disturbs communal harmony," Ahmadi said.

Survey report likely to endorse ‘shivling’ claim The court-appointed commission tasked with surveying the

NIA court convicts Yasin Malik in terror funding case Days after Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik pleaded guilty to all charges in an NIA case relating to funding of terrorist and separatist activities in Kashmir, an NIA special court here convicted him under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Indian Penal Code.

The court will hear the arguments on the quantum of punishment for Malik – convicted under Section 120B, 121, 121A of IPC and Sections 13 r/w 120B, 15 r/w 120B, 17, 18, 20, 38 and 39 of UAPA -on May 25. The maximum punishment under these sections is life imprisonment. Last week special judge Parveen Singh inquired from Malik whether he wanted to rethink his plea to plead guilty. Malik was convicted after he confirmed that he stood by his decision.

The court has sought an affidavit from Malik regarding his financial assets. NIA has also been asked to submit a report regarding his financial assessment, possibly to help the court reach a decision on the fine to be imposed.

NIA said its probe had established that Malik, a resident of Maisuma in

Srinagar and head of JKLF, declared an unlawful organisation under UAPA, was involved in terrorist and subversive activities in J&K. In 2016, Malik along with other Hurriyat leaders formed a self-styled group called 'Joint Resistance Leadership', whereby they started issuing directions to the Kashmiri masses to hold protests, demonstrations, hartals, shutdowns, road-blocks and such other disruptive activities with an intent to push the Valley into chaos and lawlessness.

Malik, NIA stated, was involved in raising terror funds from businessmen involved in LoC trade as well as from various entities based abroad, as part of

a larger conspiracy by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba front Jamaat ud Dawah, and separatists leaders. These funds, raised in the name of Kashmiri ‘freedom struggle’, were passed on by Malik to terrorists associated with banned outfits like Lashkare-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, Dukhtaran-eMillat, etc as well as to stone-pelters mobilised by Hurriyat leaders and cadres for staging violent protests and demonstrations.

The Hurriyat terror funding case, registered by NIA in 2017, pertains to the conspiracy by Hafiz Saeed and separatist leaders, including from the Hurriyat Conference.

Gyanvapi mosque complex submitted to Varanasi civil judge (senior division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar a 15-page report along with 32GB of video footage and photographs, and a sheaf of maps packed in three sealed boxes. In adherence to a directive from the Supreme Court, which is hearing a petition challenging the survey, the civil judge didn't pass any order.

While the contents of the report possibly won't be known until at least the next hearing in the Shringar Gauri worship case, sources linked to the survey claimed several objects found while scanning the inner sanctum of the complex over three days appeared to be part of old temple architecture.

Sources said, “First he said 20 years and then 12,” the sources said. “A half-inch thick white layer was found on top of the cylindrical structure. A thin hole of 63cm depth was noticed at the centre.

Despite repeated search, no provision for attaching a pipe to supply water to the fountain was found.”

They said the distance between the “shivling-like structure” and the idol of Nandi on the Kashi Vishwanath temple’s side was 83 feet and 3 inches. The survey team also recorded, among other things, symbols resembling the swastika, a trishul, damru, betel leaves, bells, designated places to keep earthen lamps and idols of deities, and mandaps for rituals, the sources said.

SC collegium suggests appointments of 6 new CJs The Supreme Court Collegium recommended appointment of new Chief Justices to six High Courts, including transfer of Telangana HC CJ Satish Chandra Sharma to Delhi HC which had been without a CJ since March 12, and Gujarat HC's Justice Rashmin M Chhaya as CJ of Gauhati HC. Justice Chhaya, 61, who is likely to become CJI of Gauhati HC, was appointed as an additional judge of Gujarat HC on February 17, 2011.

The Collegium comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices U U Lalit and A M Khanwilkar also finalised names of five judges of various HCs for

appointment as CJs after intense debate for close to two weeks and recommended the Centre to appoint them.

As per the recommendation, Delhi HC's acting CJ Vipin Sanghi would become CJ of Uttarakhand HC, Bombay HC's Justice Amjad A Sayed would be the CJ of Himachal Pradesh HC; Bombay HC's Justice S S Shinde as CJ of Rajasthan

Two lions jabbed with Covid vax The much-awaited field trial of Covid19 vaccine on the big cats finally began at Sakkarbaug zoo in Junagadh with the first doses administered to three leopards and two lions. None of the five caged animals are part of the zoo’s conservation breeding programme.

Jagdishbhai Panchal, minister of state for forest, environment and climate change, confirmed the trial and said that all the five animals are doing fine at present and are being continuously monitored by the team of veterinary doctors. “A team of vaccine developers from ICAR National Research injected the first dose of the vaccine

into the animals,” he said.

After the novel coronavirus claimed the lives of two lions in Chennai zoo, the Centre entrusted NRCE to develop a shot. Sakkarbaug in Junagadh was one of the six zoos in India where clinical trials were to be conducted on lions and leopards to test the vaccine efficacy in keeping them safe. The zoo is a nodal facility for lion breeding in the country.

Sources said that the vaccine, designed specifically for the animals, will be administered in two doses with a gap of 28 days between them. The animals will be observed for antibodies for nearly two months after the second

dose is administered.

“While granting permission, the ministry specified that only those zoos with more than 15 animals of one species in captivity were permitted to conduct the trials,” the officials said.

The other five zoos chosen for trials were in Delhi, Bengaluru, Nagpur, Bhopal, and Jaipur. “The vaccine was administered to the animals in captivity . It was made clear to the authorities that under no circumstance should the vaccine be given to the big cats in the wild nor should the animals be part of any breeding or conservation programme,” the officials said.

HC; Justice Chhaya as CJ of Gauhati HC and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan (whose parent HC is Gauhati) as CJ of Telangana HC. Justice Sharma, 60, was appointed as an additional judge of Madhya Pradesh HC on January 18, 2008, and transferred on January 4, 2021 to Karnataka HC, where he became acting CJ on August 31 last year. He was appointed CJ of Telangana on October 11 last year.

Delhi HC's sixty-yearold Justice Sanghi, son of renowned lawyer G L Sanghi, was appointed additional judge of Delhi HC on May 29, 2006 and became its acting CJ on March 13 this year. Sixtyone-year-old Justice Syed of Bombay HC, at present the most senior judge after CJ Dipanakar Datta in Bombay HC, was appointed as a judge on April 11, 2007.

Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, 58 and recommended to head the Telangana HC, was appointed as an additional judge of Gauhati HC on October 17, 2011. He was transferred to Bombay HC on October 3, 2019 and from there to Telangana HC on October 22, 2021.

India joins US’ Indo-Pacific economic plan to take on China Endorsing the initiative, Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to working with all IndoPacific countries for an inclusive and flexible IPEF while also declaring that the foundation of resilient supply chains, a major focus area of the Framework that will apparently provide an alternative to China’s approach to “critical” economic issues, must be the 3Ts – trust, transparency and timeliness.

“I am confident this framework will help strengthen these three pillars and pave the way for development, peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” Modi said. The 13 initial partner countries - US, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and seven Asean nations -

together account for 40% of world GDP. Biden said they were writing new rules for the 21st century economy that will help the economies of the partner countries grow faster and fairer.

In his remarks, Modi, who was present at the launch along with Biden and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, thanked the US President for the initiative and said the IPEF was a declaration of “our collec-

tive will” to make the region an engine of global economic growth.

The Indo-Pacific region is the centre of manufacturing, economic activity, global trade and investment. History is witness to the fact that India has been a major centre in the trade flows of the Indo-Pacific region for centuries.

Welcoming the initiative, the Indian government said in a statement that the IPEF, billed as the most significant economic engagement the US has had in the Indo-Pacific, will work to strengthen economic partnership amongst participating countries with the objective of enhancing "resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness and competitiveness in the IndoPacific region”. “India is com-

mitted to a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region,” said the MEA. PM Modi meets Japanese CEOs PM Narendra Modi met top executives and CEOs of 34 Japanese companies in Tokyo and urged them start manufacturing in India, not only for meeting the domestic demand, but also for the world markets. “Our conversations ranged from innovation to investments, tech to textiles, reforms to startups. There is great enthusiasm towards India and there is great appreciation for the entrepreneurial skills of India’s youth,” the PM said. He apprised the business leaders of the reforms undertaken by India, especially steps taken to improve the ease of doing business.

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Read to your kids every night Shefali Saxena Ghostcloud is a riveting, magical adventure set deep underneath a richly reimagined London. It follows the story of Luke and his friends- children who are kidnapped and forced to shovel coal under Battersea Power Station, overseen by the terrifying Tabitha Margate. Whilst serving a punishment in the haunted East Wing, Luke realises that he can see things that other people can’tghostly things. He befriends a ghost-girl called Alma, who can ride clouds through the night sky and bend their shape to her will. Alma agrees to help Luke and his friends escape – and Luke has to learn to find his voice, while also finding his way home.

As a mixed-race, gay parent and teacher, Michael Mann is passionate about representation. Luke, the hero of Ghostcloud, is mixed-race like Michael (British-Indian) and like so many of the children that Michael teaches, Luke feels caught between two worlds, unsure where he fits in.

Here’s his exclusive interview with Asian Voice: hat is the importance of fiction writing in contemporary times?

Good writing makes you connect and empathise with characters in very different situations from your own. At the moment, it feels like we're in quite a divided world at times and so empathy and connection are more important than ever. Everyone - even people we disagree with - have a story and perspective, and understanding these different perspectives can often help us find some common ground. ow can we nurture it, especially to encourage more kids to play with their imagination?

As adults, we're often role models for kids, so I think if we want them to read, imagine and play we should be doing it too.

As a teacher, one of the most powerful things I found was bringing in a book that I loved from home - a favourite from my childhood - and then I would read this out

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to the kids at home time. At the end of the reading, I'd ask if anyone wanted to borrow my copy and all the hands would go up. I think a passion for reading can be contagious and as adults, we should make sure we show that. I also think giving kids a choice of books - so they can find what they love - is vital hy do you think we need more mixed race protagonists in global stories?

I read a study that said mixed race was the 'fastest-growing minority’ in the UK, and I'm sure it's similar in many countries. Though there has been some progress in representation, a recent report by the CLPE showed we're still underrepresented. Every child should be able to see themselves as a hero, and the lead in their life, and I think seeing themselves saving the world in a book is a great first step. ow does your mixed heritage influence how you raise your child?

I'm really keen for my daughter and son to be connected to both their Indian and English/Irish sides of the family. We obviously spend time with my parents, their grandparents, as well as aunties and uncles, so they see the mixed heritage there. As they get older, I'd love to take them to Kerala, where my dad is from, and see all my cousins there. It is interesting though, as they will only be a quarter Indian, and both are quite pale with blue eyes, so I think their experience of it might be different from mine - but hopefully, something still to be cherished.

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hat is the importance of reading these days, considering people’s attention spans are now limited to Instagram reels?

It's all the more important! Luckily, most children in primary don't have iphones yet, so this is a great window to get Michael Mann

them into reading. But with video games and ipads and youtube, I do think you have a similar issue - so for me, it's really important that my books hook from the first page, that every chapter ends with a cliffhanger. One reader said that my book, GHOSTCLOUD, was 'nonputdownable'! This is perfect for me. The saddest thing for me as a teacher i when I see a kid give up on a book because it was too slow! hich medium of reading according to you is better? Physical copies or digital versions?

I use both, but I do love a real book.

There's something comforting about it.

With younger readers, I think it's quite important too. ow can parents encourage reading in their kids and writing, in the age of massive digital dependence?

Talking about books and what you love and showing an interest in their books - and maybe reading ones they recommend. And giving them choice - going to the library and bookshop together. And of course, read every night to your kids, or when they get too old for that, sit down on the sofa one night a week and read your separate books together, instead of watching TV. Little habits like these make a difference. Oh, and buying my book, of course!

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New Opportunities for Budding Filmmakers with Bradford’s City of Culture 2025 An exciting new supporter has backed Bradford District’s bid to become City of Culture 2025 – with an immediate benefit to the next generation of filmmakers by creating a talent development programme.

Internationally renowned film production company Clean Slate Filmz, whose OTT Streaming platform Clean Slate Studioz is Yorkshire County Cricket’s new headline Principal Partner, has signed an agreement with Bradford Council to work and learn together.

The partnership, which was agreed and announced on Friday 6 May, means film-making workshops will be established and there will be an internship programme for up to 10 emerging content makers.

A fund for short-form content of up to £10,000 will be established

by Clean Slate Filmz and Bradford Council will provide match funding.

Clean Slate Filmz Founder Karnesh Ssharma said: "Clean Slate is an inclusive entertainment platform and at the heart of our mission is to curate content that empowers everyone, especially female professionals.

I support developing the pathway of the next generation of

Production images released for The Father And The Assassin Production images are released of The Father and The Assassin, a gripping new play by Anupama Chandrasekhar, one of India’s most exciting playwrights, directed

by Indhu Rubasingham which opens to press in the Olivier Theatre on Thursday 19 May.

The play traces Nathuram Godse’s life over 30 years during India’s fight for independence: from a devout follower of Mahatma Gandhi, through to his radicalisation and their tragic final encounter. Shubham Saraf is cast as Godse alongside Paul Bazely as Gandhi.

The company also includes Sagar Arya, Ankur Bahl, Ralph Birtwell, Ayesha Dharker, Marc Elliott, Ravin J Ganatra, Dinita Gohil, Halema Hussain, Irvine Iqbal, and Nadeem Islam, Tony Jayawardena, Sakuntala Ramanee, Anish Roy, Sid Sagar, Shubham Saraf, Akshay Shah, Peter Singh and Maanuv Thiara.

Set and costume design is by Rajha Shakiry, lighting design is by Oliver Fenwick and sound design is by Alex Caplen. The movement director is Lucy Cullingford, the music is composed by Siddhartha Khosla, the music director is David Shrubsole, the sound designer is Alexander Caplen, the fight director is Ruth Cooper-Brown of Rc-Annie Ltd, and the dialect coach is Shereen Ibrahim. The staff Director is Gitika Buttoo.

Asian voices in a luminous poetry anthology by Barbican and flipped eye

An anthology of intimate and personal county and people of poetry written by 23 new and alumni Yorkshire following the members of its Barbican Young Poets landmark partnership deal programme, published by not-for-profit between our streaming indie press flipped eye publishing.

Articulations for Keeping the Light In platform, Clean Slate Studioz, and Yorkshire County Cricket explores themes of dreams and memory, as well as scenes of bliss, connection, sex and Club.

“When we built this bridge desire. There are also pieces that hold up a between India and Yorkshire, mirror to trauma, brutality, isolation, and L-R Mick Chandsoor, Head of Partnerships, we were intent on developing the violent realities affecting us and the Bradford Culture Trust; Amreesh A Chandra, Co- more initiatives and world now.

Founder, Clean Slate Studioz; Karnesh Ssharma, Edited by the programme’s Artistic partnerships with the entire Founder, Clean Slate Studioz. county, and thus working with Director and Lead Facilitator, Jacob Samcreators and to inspire today’s the Bradford Council is vitally La Rose, and poet and programme Coyouth to pursue their chosen important for us. We hope that this Tutor, Rachel Long, the anthology includes new poetry written by careers in the creative sector. I development programme can not Oshanti Ahmed, Esme Allman, Mandisa Apena, Rachel Cleverly, believe this will be integral to the only inspire young people to dream Courtney Conrad, Bella Cox, Geraint Ellis, Abena Essah, Rakaya future of our industry. of a career in film, but also help Fetuga, Rosanna Hildyard, Minying Huang, Gabriel Jones, Kerrica Kendall, Rachel Lewis, Cia Mangat, Sarah McCreadie, Shanay This is why I am incredibly launch one.”

Neusum-James, Tasmia Salim, Maeve excited to partner with Slattery, Matt L T Smith, Simran Uppal, Bradford Council and Maggie Wang and Jinhao Xie. the district as I truly The Barbican’s Young Poets are a cohort of believe our joint efforts 16-30-year-olds, both new members as well as will help to provide new opportunities for The Story of Babur: Prince, Emperor, Sage, written by Nepalese children’s poets who have been part of the diverse group author Anuradha, and illustrated by award-winning artist Jane Ray, is a for a number of years. Now in its twelfth year, emerging talent.”

Clean Slate Studioz lucid and lively retelling of the Baburnama, the first true autobiography the programme’s ambition is to create space Co-Founder Amreesh in Islamic literature, originally penned by the mighty Central Asian king, for poets to connect and build a community while supporting the development of their Chandra believes that Babur (1485–1530) also the founder of the Moghul Empire.

This adaptation for younger readers (Key Stage 2) will introduce them craft and alumni from the programme include the company’s existing relationship with the to this classic of world literature and to Babur’s exciting adventures of Eleanor Penny, Kareem Parkins Brown, county meant that this discovery and conquest: from his native Fergana and the cosmopolitan Amina Jama and Laurie Ogden.

An exclusive edition of the anthology is partnership was very Samarkand (in modern Uzbekistan) across the glittering cities of important. He added: Afghanistan and finally on to Hindustan. Anuradha writes books for published by the Barbican on 8th May, “Clean Slate Filmz has children in English and Nepali. Her works have been translated into many launched at a free poetry showcase in the an international other languages including Gujarati, Kannada, Telugu, Urdu Danish and Barbican Conservatory, with the main edition published on 14th July by flipped eye. connection with the several local languages in South Africa.

An inspiring story of courage, resilience and wisdom

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Melanie Ott, director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and co-senior author of the study, said, “In the unvaccinated population, an infection with Omicron might be roughly equivalent to getting one shot of a vaccine. It confers a little bit of protection against Covid-19, but it’s not

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"This research underscores the importance of staying current with your vaccinations, even if you have previously been infected with the Omicron variant, as you are still likely vulnerable to re-infection,” said co-senior author Jennifer Doudna, a senior investigator at Gladstone, and professor at UC Berkeley.

As the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 spread around the globe in late 2021 and early 2022, anecdotal evidence quickly mounted that it was causing less severe symptoms than Delta and other variants of concern. Scientists were, however, not initially sure why that was, or how a weaker infection might impact long-term immunity against Covid-19.

"When the Omicron variant first emerged, a lot of people wondered whether it could essentially act as a vaccine for people who didn't want to get vaccinated, eliciting a strong and broad-acting immune response," said Irene Chen, co-first author of the study and graduate student in Ott’s lab.

Tips to help your children beat the summer heat Caring for kids during the heatwave and summer can be daunting. Parents are often looking for methods to keep their children cool and happy in the scorching heat. Children can fall ill during summer as they are susceptible to many summer health problems such as dehydration, heat-stroke, gases, acidity, diarrhoea, sunburn, and exhaustion leaving them irritable and uncomfortable.

Dr. Vrushali Bicker, Consultant Paediatrician and Neonatologist advises that parents should not panic and need to take enough care of their children.

Dress appropriately Dress the baby or child in loose-fitting, lightweight garments made from cotton, which absorbs perspiration.

Avoid using layers of cloth when it comes to your babies. Overheating is associated with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), a fatal sleeping disorder.

Maintain proper room temperature The baby/child’s room shouldn’t be too hot or too cold. If you are using an AC, don’t take the child in that room immediately after bathing him/her as they

can catch a cold.

Also, the room should have good ventilation. If necessary, use window shades in the kid’s room. Use 100% soft cotton sheets for the baby or children while sleeping. Avoid leaving the windows open during the day. Do not leave the baby or the child unattended in the pool, bathtub, or car. It will also be imperative for the parents to make sure that they don’t venture out with their children from 11 am to 4 pm as the temperature is extremely hot at that time.

In case, you have to take children out of the house then make them wear caps.

Keep the baby/child hydrated enough - The

baby or child will tend to lose fluids due to perspiration in hot weather. The warning signs of dehydration are restlessness and rapid breathing. Hence, those babies under 6 months should be frequently breastfed and younger children need to have enough water and other hydration fluids such as buttermilk, lemon water, or even coconut water.

Use sunscreen - Only after consulting the doctor.

Do not use any products without the doctor’s recommendation.

Diet - In the case of children, give them healthy foods. Try to avoid junk, processed, oily, and canned foods. Be careful while giving ice cream or cold drinks as they can invite cold and cough.

Viral infection during pregnancy affects maternal care behaviour As per new research by the Medical University of Vienna, viral infections during pregnancy affect the mother’s brain and her after care behaviour. There is a lot of data from studies in mouse models demonstrating that viral infections during pregnancy can affect the developing brain of the young in utero (in the womb) with lifelong consequences for brain function and behaviour.

For the first time now, a preclinical study has now shown that a viral-like immune activation during pregnancy also affects the maternal brain and significantly disrupts maternal care behaviour after birth.

The results are published by a research group led by behavioural biologist

Daniela D. Pollak from the Division of Neurophysiology and Pharmacology at MedUni Vienna’s Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, working together with colleagues from the Division of Molecular Neurosciences at MedUni’s Vienna’s Center for Brain Research and from Columbia University (USA).

In this preclinical study, the researchers used a chemical substance that activates the same receptor pathways as viruses, to trigger the immune system of the mother during pregnancy in a manner that is comparable to the typical course of a viral infection. Once the young had been born, the maternal care behaviour of the dams was behaviourally

28 May - 3 June 2022

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Natural immunity from Omicron infection weak, says Study According to a study published in the journal Nature, infection with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 provides little long-term immunity against other variants in unvaccinated people.

Researchers at Gladstone Institutes and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the US found that the Omicron variant induces only a weak immune response in experiments using mice and blood samples from donors who were infected with the virus.

In vaccinated individuals, this response, while weak, helped strengthen overall protection against a variety of Covid-19 strains.

In those without prior vaccihowever, the nation, immune response failed to

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"Dams who had experienced a virallike immune activation were less caring towards their young than animals in the control group,” said Pollak, describing the results. “The naturally strong drive to take care of one's own offspring and to keep them safe from harm was much less pronounced corresponding to a significant decline in attachment behaviour.”

Even though animalmodel results cannot be directly translated to humans, the study team says it is an indication that viral infections during pregnancy can change mothers' behaviour toward their babies. "Women who have

had systemic viral illnesses during pregnancy may be at increased risk of impaired mother-infant bonding," Pollak explained.

The researcher hopes that this will raise awareness so that women with a history of infection during pregnancy may be more prompted to seek medical or psychotherapeutic treatment if they experience indications of impaired bonding after birth, which may affect the well-being of the mother and child.

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The Helsinki Health Study at the University of Helsinki investigated the development of insomnia symptoms in midlife and their effects on memory, learning ability and concentration after retirement. The follow-up period for the study was 15-17 years and it found that long-term insomnia symptoms and later poorer cognitive functioning have a clear connection. Doctoral Researcher Antti Etholen said, “The findings indicate that severe insomnia symptoms were associated with worse cognitive function among those who were on statutory pension.”

The study also found that the memory problems and problems in learning ability and concentration increased as the insomnia symptoms were prolonged.

Prior research has shown that there are a number of mechanisms that can explain how sleep can affect cognitive functioning.

What makes the recently published study exceptional is the long follow-up period

for insomnia symptoms.

According to the researchers, long-lasting insomnia symptoms should be considered risk factors for poor cognitive functioning. Professor Tea Lallukka said, “Based on our findings, early intervention tackling insomnia symptoms, or measures aimed at improving the quality of sleep would be justified.”

There are many ways to improve the quality of sleep, including the regularity of the sleep rhythm, the appropriate temperature and brightness of the sleeping environment, and the optimal timing of physical exercise, coffee consumption and eating. "In subsequent studies, it would be interesting to shed further light on, for example, whether the treatment of insomnia can also slow down the development of memory disorders," Lallukka says. She points outs that only self-reported memory symptoms could be taken into consideration in the present study.

Cervical cancer screening is less common in gender minorities: Study According to a new study, sexual minority individuals, whose sexual orientation differs from societal norms, were less likely to have undergone cervical cancer screening tests than their heterosexual counterparts. Regular pap tests are recommended for those with a cervix who are aged 21 to 65 years old to detect cervical cancer at premalignant or early stages when treatments are most effective.

Investigators analysed 2015-2018 data from the National Health Interview Survey to examine cervical cancer screening disparities related to individuals' selfdefined sexual minority status and race/ethnicity.

The team found that sexual minority individuals had 46% lower odds of ever undergoing Pap testing compared with heterosexual persons. When the intersection of sexual orienta-

tion and race/ethnicity was considered, white sexual minority participants and Hispanic sexual minority participants had reduced odds of ever undergoing Pap testing compared with white heterosexual participants.

No significant differences were observed between white heterosexual participants and participants of a Black sexual minority or Hispanic heterosexual identities.

“This research highlights the need to examine disparities at the intersection of multiple societally constructed identities.

More work is needed to alleviate disparities, and future work should incorporate measures of systemic discrimination,” said lead author Ashley E. Stenzel, PhD, of Allina Health, a not-for-profit health care system based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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Bollywood welcomes debutant Andrea Kevichusa L

eading actresses from the Bollywood welcomed Andrea Kevichusa who's playing the lead against Ayushmann in Anubhav Sinha's 'Anek.'

Real talent can come from any part of India and here's welcoming actress and supermodel Andrea Kevichusa from Nagaland as the next-generation debut. Welcoming the debutant, leading actress like Tapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Kriti Sanon, Aditi Rao Haidri, Dia Mirza, Nina Gupta, Renuka Shahane, Tanvi Asmi , Patralekha, and Huma Qureshi came forward to welcome the talented actress from Nagaland. Welcoming her to Bollywood, Tapsee Pannu posted, "Diversity is beautiful! Just like our country. Let's welcome this beautiful entrant into our world of films! Be kind everyone! Say hello to Andrea Kevichusa from Nagaland!”

Andrea, who is proud of her Naga roots is excited to make her Bollywood debut in a content driven film helmed

by Anubhav Sinha. As a supermodel, her extraordinary yet sharp lineaments have helped her garner attention from major global brands.

The actress had commenced her journey into modelling when she was scouted at the age of 15 and since then, the talented Andrea has never looked back.

On Andrea and her unprecedented performance in the film, 'Anek' director Anubhav Sinha says “There couldn't be a better choice for the lead role in Anek than Andrea. Her northeastern roots have added originality to the story. Apart from that, Andrea has lost a lot of sweat for this character. Her tough looks and phenomenal acting has helped her embody the character well” Andrea, who is playing the role of a Boxer named Aido in ‘Anek’ is said to have a knack as an actress. She will be seen bringing a unique approach to the craft that will be exhibited in the film.”

Ayushmann shared a room with his cook when he moved to Mumbai

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yushmann Khurrana has had a long journey to where he is now. One of the most bankable actors of his generation, his big break came after a series of struggles.

In an interview, Ayushmann revealed that when he first moved to Mumbai years ago, he brought his cook from Chandigarh along with him just because of his love for food.

Ayushmann gained prominence when he won the second season of the reality show ‘Roadies’ while he was still in college. He then worked as a radio jockey before arriving in Mumbai for anchoring gigs on TV. It was only eight years after winning the MTV show, that he made his film debut with ‘Vicky Donor’. Ayushmann recalled his journey on YouTube channel Curly Tales. He said, “I was in Delhi for a couple of years as a radio jockey. First I stayed with my mausi and then alone. Then, I came to Mumbai. Rajeshwari Sachdev Badola and Varun Badola supported me. I

stayed at their place, then stayed with a friend and in a hostel.”

He then revealed that when he did move to Mumbai, he actually brought his cook along. Ayushmann said, “I came to Mumbai with a cook. We had one room which we shared. I brought my cook with me because I can’t live without food. He didn’t have any place to stay so I was like you stay in my room but I need a cook. So I shared a room with my cook.”

On the work front, the actor was last seen in ‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui’ opposite Vaani Kapoor.

He will be next seen in Anubhav Sinha’s ‘Anek’, where he plays an undercover cop. The movie releases on May 27. He also has Anubhuti Kashyap’s ‘Doctor G’ lined up for release later this year, opposite Rakul Preet Singh.

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Priyanka calls Nick 'best husband ever'

n a recent post on social media, Priyanka Chopra flaunted an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) emblazoned with the words ‘Mrs. Jonas’ on the side. The actress revealed that it was her husband, singer Nick Jonas, who gifted her the ride. In the hashtags, Priyanka referred to Nick as the “best husband ever”.

Taking to Instagram, Priyanka shared a picture of herself in the vehicle. She could be seen in the driver’s seat with one hand on the steering wheel. The words Mrs. Jonas were imprinted on the side of the futuristic-looking steel grey vehicle. Priyanka captioned the picture, “Now that’s a ride (fire emoji)… thank you @nickjonas (heart emoji) always helping me with my cool quotient.” She added the hashtags ‘best husband ever’, ‘set life’, and ‘citadel’ at the end of the post.

The hashtags suggest that Nick may have given her the car for her commute on the sets of her Amazon Prime Video series ‘Citadel’. Priyanka has been busy with the shoot of the show, which also stars ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Eternals’ star Richard Madden. She regularly shares pictures and updates from the sets of the sci-fi show.

Priyanka and Nick welcomed their first child earlier this year. Their daughter Malti Marie was born through surrogacy in January. Malti spent 100 days in NICU before she came home to Priyanka and Nick on Mother’s Day recently.

Abhay Deol – an 'unconventional' actor in Bollywood

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ne of the “unconventional” actors in Bollywood, Abhay Deol admits his career choices haven’t been what many would call “mainstream”. Set to be seen next in the sports drama ‘Jungle Cry’, Abhay spoke about the movie, his career choices, and why he thinks of himself as a misfit in Bollywood in a recent interview. When asked what makes ‘Jungle Cry’ different, the actor said, “First of all the sport! It’s rugby. Who plays rugby in India? Clearly a niche sport.

Secondly, it’s a true story. They did go from India to the UK.” He adds that the film is also an effort to right the wrongs as not much was said and written about the feat when it took place.

“I think one of the most interesting things is that they won the World Cup at the same time that India won the Cricket World Cup (the 2007 World T20). Of course, these are under-14 tribal kids so obviously it wasn’t going to get the same publicity as cricket.

But they achieved so much that if we hadn’t won the Cricket World Cup, I’m sure it would have gotten a mention at least. I think that was something that should have been highlighted then. But it’s ok. We can right the wrongs and it’s been highlighted now,” he says.

Abhay said the “nicheness” of the subject was not a deal-breaker for him in any way. Abhay said, “I have my share of apprehensions but it’s never on something whether it’s mainstream or not. If you have seen my work, that’s never been a criterion for me.” He said he has delivered commercial hits throughout his career and yet, has been bracketed as an off-beat actor. He said, “It’s a marketing thing. All actors have PR machinery. I did not back then and I still don’t. It’s become more and more part of the job profile to have media behind you and to market you - to have a PR team so that they can highlight. It’s like you have to scream your achievements out to people and I’ve always been shy of that.

I understand that now. Back in the day, I just felt it was vulgar to do so. But now, with time I have realized you need to announce yourself. You have to remind people and keep yourself in the news.

People may say that’s beneath the person but it’s the market.”

“Everything comes with its pros and cons. Where I come from, I know I have been gaslit for who I am. You call in a lot of aggression to you because you’re doing something and managing to get away with that. And a lot of people want to be able to do that and they can’t. So they project on you. Sometimes, that ignorance can come across as arrogance and I know it has a few times. When you wear your heart on your sleeve, you get manipulated and taken advantage of. I have had a director slag me in public and spread lies about me. That comes with the territory. You have to be prepared because it’s not always blissful,” said Abhay.

‘Jungle Cry’ releases on Lionsgate Play on June 3.

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Can’t compete with all the giraffes: Aditi Rao on Cannes debut Don’t want my relationship to become a talking point: Rakul Preet Singh

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ctor Rakul Preet Singh did not want to hide her relationship with producer Jackky Bhagnani, and that is why she made it official on social media last year.

However, she said she would rather have her work drive the conversation about her.

Rakul says, “Anybody’s personal life is as normal as anything else in their life. It is just that if we were not actors, it wouldn’t be a talking point. In fact, I feel being in a relationship is the most natural progression for any human being. Like after parents, having siblings, and then having friends, you have a partner.” Rakul made her relationship official on Instagram by sharing a picture of both celebrities holding hands. They have made several public appearances since then, and openly admire each other on social media.

“We don’t want to hide and say ‘we are just good friends’. We want to acknowledge that. But do I want it to be a talking point at all points? The answer is no,” Rakul said. She added, “My work should speak. Both of us are on our own individual journeys when it comes to our professional sphere. And that’s it.” The actress said she does not read stuff written about the couple, or the scrutiny.

“I don’t read it. What matters to me is my job. I treat my job like a job. I am a girl who acts by profession. When I go back, I am a girl who has a very normal life,” Rakul said. “This is the conditioning I grew with. It is very important to disconnect from work and connect with people who are not from your workspace.

Because then you are not delusional.”

On the work front, Rakul has ‘Chhatriwali’ and ‘Doctor G’ in the horizon.

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ctor Aditi Rao Hydari recently made her red carpet debut at the Cannes Film Festival 2022. She served multiple stunning looks after arriving for the festival, including an ivory Sabyasachi saree. In a recent interview, she opened up about the pressure she felt about having the perfect look for the red carpet.

Aditi opted for a hot pink and red sleeveless gown with a thigh-high slit and a long train for her red carpet appearance on Day 5 of the Cannes Film Festival. She said that she is a tiny person who feels comfortable in her body and how she presents herself, which inspires her to give her best a look regardless of the negative feedback she might get for it.

She said, “Sabya was chatting with me and I was like… You know I am a tiny person, now I cannot compete with like

al the giraffes around me. I am an actor and I am a tiny person and it’s fine. I am okay with it you know. So I have to be comfortable with who I am and how I present myself. Yeah so I am going to attempt it.”

The actress explained, “100 percent I am going to falter. I am going to do some really stupid goofy things, but it’s fine.

That’s also me and I will deal with it when I have to deal with it, and people are going to throw tomatoes at me and I am going to be disgusted, I am sure. But it’s fine, it’s all good. The microscope is natural, and I have to learn to deal with it and learn from it I guess.”

On the work front, Aditi was last seen in the Tamil film ‘Hey Sinamika’ opposite Dulquer Salmaan and Kajal Aggarwal.

She will be next seen in ‘Gandhi Talks’ and ‘Jubilee’.

'KGF’, ‘RRR’, ‘Pushpa’ Kangana Akshay Kumar raised the bar for congratulates on North-South Indian cinema: KJo ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa cinema and 2’ team national language debate K

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ctor Akshay Kumar has said he does not like when someone names the film industries as south and north film industries, stating that the British divided and ruled us but we seem to have learnt no lesson from that either. Akshay’s upcoming movie ‘Prithviraj’ will release in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu on June 3. Directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, the movie is about Indian warrior king Prithviraj Chauhan played by the actor.

When asked about the language divide, Akshay said, “I don’t believe in this divide. I hate it when somebody says south industry or north industry, we are all a common industry. I think we should stop asking this question. It is important that we understand that this is how the Britishers came and divided us, they invaded us and ruled us. We don’t seem to have learnt our lesson, we are still not understanding this. The day we understand that we are all one industry, I think things will start working much better.”

He also said, “This word ‘pan-India’ films and all, woh meri samajh ki bahar hai, (I don’t understand it). All I want is all the films to work, and that’s about it.”

Talking about ‘Prithviraj', Akshay had earlier said, “Rarely do films take this much effort and embark upon such monumental tasks. Every element of our film which is based on the life of Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan has been dealt with utmost sincerity, authenticity and reverence. We have paid attention to the minutest details while making the film because we wanted this to be the most glorious retelling of Samrat Prithviraj's life on the big screen.”

artik Aaryan and Kiara Advani-starrer ‘Bhool Bhuliyaa 2’ has made a beautiful kick-off at the box office, raking in £1.4 million on its opening day. This is the best opening by a Bollywood film since ‘Sooryavanshi’ last year, ending a long period of a disappointment for the Hindi film industry.

Actress Kangana Ranaut has congratulated the actors and the entire team of the film for ending the “dry spell at the Hindi box office”.

Sharing a note of appreciation for ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ on Instagram Stories, Kangana wrote, “Congratulations to Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 for ending the dry spell at Hindi box office…congratulations to the entire team of the film.” She tagged both Kartik and Kiara in the post.

Earlier, film trade analyst Taran Adarsh had shared that Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 has received a “fantastic” opening at the box office with a total business of £1.41 million in India. He also noted that the film has become Kartik Aaryan’s biggest opener. The last Hindi film to do well was Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’. The Alia Bhatt-starrer made £1 million on its opening day in February. It eventually did a lifetime business of £20.9 million.

The only films that have worked in the Hindi-speaking regions of the country in the past few months are the dubbed versions.

Telugu film ‘RRR’s Hindi version opened with £2 million on day one, while Kannada film ‘KGF: Chapter 2’ broke all records with a massive £5.4 million opening day for the Hindi-dubbed version alone.

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ollywood filmmaker Karan Johar spoke about South Indian films performing better than Hindi films at the box office recently. During the trailer launch event of his upcoming film ‘Jug Jugg Jeeyo’, Karan responded to a question on why he addressed the trailer as a “Hindi film trailer”. Lauding the business done by superhits ‘RRR’, ‘KGF Chapter 2’, and ‘Pushpa’, KJo said the directors of these films “told us how big our standard can be.”

He also praised Alia Bhatt’s ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, and Kartik Aaryan’s ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ for doing “solid business”. He said, “We can proudly say that we are a part of Indian cinema. When the business of ‘RRR’, ‘KGF’, and ‘Pushpa’ did so well, we can say that it is Indian cinema. We are proud of all those films, we are proud of Indian cinema. They have raised the bar of Indian cinema. Prashanth Neel, SS Rajamouli, Sukumar and ‘KGF’ all that has completely told us how big our standard can be and how far we can reach.”

He also said, “When we specified Hindi, it is really a function of technicality.

‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ has done the solid business well last week, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ has done a solid opening. We hope and wish that ‘Jug Jugg Jeeyo’ also becomes a part of that list. We also want that films made in every language should work and so should our films.”

When asked if he didn't believe in competition between the north and south films, Karan responded, “Not at all. Many years ago, I presented Bahubali. I have that huge faith in the power of cinema. There is no competition in the same industry, how can there be? We grow together.”

He added, “We have to be one collective unit. Rajamouli sir has said that many times, we should be one cinema. The best crossover is the cross-over that happened recently is that when the South has done such expansive business in the north. That is crossover. Going to any festival, winning an Oscar doesn't matter to us. We want to grow as Indian cinema and that has been proven time and again.”

The trailer of ‘JugJugg Jeeyo’ was unveiled by Dharma Productions on Sunday. The film's star cast includes Varun Dhawan, Anil Kapoor, Maniesh Paul, Neetu Kapoor, Kiara Advani and Prajakta Koli. The film is set to release on June 24.

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‘Sarkaru Vaari Paata’ director defends Mahesh Babu-Keerthy Suresh scene F

ilmmaker Parasuram has landed in hot soup for defending a controversial scene from his latest release ‘Sarkaru Vaari Paata’. He has been slammed by a group of fans for defending the scene in which Babu makes Keerthy lie next to him and puts his leg on her.

Parasuram compared the scene with a child sleeping next to his mother.

The movie has grossed over £17 million worldwide and is still running in select theatres. In a post-release media interview, Parasuram spoke about the controversial love track between Mahesh Babu and Keerthy Suresh in the movie. He said he didn’t find anything vulgar in the scenes between them. He said, “What exactly is the issue with that scene? In my opinion, it’s similar to a child wanting to sleep with his mother. Also, if that scene is so problematic, wouldn’t Mahesh have asked me to remove it?”

The director was slammed by a section of the internet. One user wrote, “Mother and wife are never equal, in any aspect. What an incestuous way to defend it. Agree on the mistake and move on, man.” Another wrote, “Can men stop comparing partners to moms.”

The movie marked the maiden collaboration between Mahesh Babu and director Parasuram.

‘Project K’ maker wants futuristic vehicles for the movie A

Dhanush sends legal notice to couple claiming to be his biological parents

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ctor Dhanush and his father Kasthoori Raja recently sent a legal notice to a Madurai couple who claimed that the actor was their biological son. The notice was sent through the actor’s lawyer S Haja Mohideen Gist.

According to a report, Dhanush and his father have also asked the couple to issue a press statement in the notice. According to the reports. The couple will have to state that all the allegations made by them are false and apologise for making such allegations. Failing to do so, they could face a defamation suit of £1 million towards compensation for the loss of reputation.

A report said, “My clients hereby call upon you both to desist from making false, untenable and defamatory allegations against them henceforth. Failing compliance my clients will be constrained to approach

Shilpa Shetty's super woman look in 'Nikamma' ' trailer

the competent Courts to protect their rights in this regard and to prevent you from carrying on and making such false, untenable and defamatory allegations against them and you both will also be prosecuted for causing defamation and consequent loss of their reputation.”

On the work front, Dhanush has several projects in the lineup. He has Netflix’s ‘The Gray Man’ by Anthony and Joe Russo, alongside Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Rege-Jean Page, Jessica Henwick, Billy Bob Thornton and Wagner Moura. The movie is billed as an actionthriller which revolves around a freelance assassin and former CIA operative Court Gentry, played by Ryan. Dhanush also finished shooting for director Selvaraghavan’s film ‘Naane Varuven’ in April.

ctor Prabhas is all set to be seen in Nag Ashwin’s upcoming film ‘Project K’. The filmmaker revealed recently that he has completed filming the first schedule, including the introduction scene of the actor. He went on to add that the actor looks very cool in it. The movie marks the maiden collaboration of the actor-filmmaker duo. It also marks the Telugu debut of Deepika Padukone. The next schedule of the movie will begin from June-end onwards.

In March, Ashwin took to Twitter to seek Anand Mahindra’s support in building futuristic vehicles for the movie, which is being made on a lavish budget. He went on to add that they are attempting something great with this movie, which could make the nation proud.

Ashwin wrote: “Dear @anandmahindra sir...we are making an Indian sci-fi film with Mr. Bachchan, Prabhas and Deepika called #ProjectK. A few vehicles we are building for this world are unique & beyond the tech of today...if this film does what it is supposed to, it will be the pride of our nation.”

‘Project K’, which is scheduled to release in 2023, also stars Deepika Padukone and Amitabh Bachchan in key roles.

Nikamma' is a movie starring Shilpa Shetty, Abhimanyu Dasani and Shirley Chettia. Sabeer Khan, who directed 'Heropanti is directing the movie.

As the trailer of the film has been released, it is Shilpa Shetty's look that has become the talk of the internet. This trailer, which mixes entertainment and action, starts with the introduction of Abhimanyu. Actress Shilpa makes a mass entry in the middle of the trailer to feature her lazy romantic scenes. The trailer also features Shilpa in the role of superwoman hiring the hero Abhimanyu and completely replacing him.

Shilpa shared a photo of herself in a super woman look on her social media page.

Following this, Shilpa's fans have been commenting on the upcoming scenes in the trailer as well.

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CROSS-PLATFORM

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Story behind Aishwarya's 'petal' dress at Cannes A

ishwarya Rai, who has been a regular at the Cannes Film Festival since 2002, recently attended the 75th edition of the annual event. The actor, who was representing the brand L’Oreal, made a statement in an elaborate pink gown, as she attended the screening of Armageddon Time on the third day of Cannes 2022.

The dress, which was designed by Gaurav Gupta, featured a mermaid-style silhouette and a shell-shaped structure on its back. Gupta revealed the thought process and the hard work that went into designing the unique dress. He said that he wanted to create something special for Aishwarya, as Cannes 2022 marked her 20th year of the festival. The designer said that Aishwarya’s gown, he wanted to share a message of hope, birth and beauty after the tough times the world has faced in recent years.

Gupta said, “We wanted something which denotes hope, birth and beauty. After all the world has gone through in the past few years, we wanted to celebrate life and art.” The designer also noted that the gown was his interpretation of Italian Sandro Botticelli’s

famous painting Birth of Venus, with the shell like structure behind the shoulder symbolising Venus’ rise from the scalloped shell.

He said, “Aishwarya is a complete woman and a beautiful person. As I got to know her through the process, I discovered a wonderful, spiritual person who is really connected to her soul and is elegant. That purity in the absolute sense of beauty inspired me to think of the concept of the Birth of Venus.”

The designer revealed that it took 20 days and over 100 craftspeople to create the outfit as they made sure not to disappoint “one of the most beautiful women in the world.” He added that Aishwarya herself was involved in the creative process right from the beginning.

Talking about Aishwarya’s stardom at the festival, Gaurav said, "The frenzy, the love, that Aishwarya receives here, it's almost madness. People couldn't stop screaming her name out loud and the fanfare was insane. So just to see that frenzy, it fills you with joy...

She is a phenomenon in Cannes. It's like a real-life film in itself.”

‘Thamp’ actor Jalaja walks Cannes red carpet V

eteran Malayalam actor Jalaja walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival 2022 on Saturday, for the premiere of late G. Aravindan’s restored film ‘Thamp’, originally titled ‘Thampu’. The actor was joined by Prakash R Nair, son of Thamp’s producer K Raveendranathan Nair, and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, archivist and movie director, who took the initiative to restore the film.

The movie, which has been restored by the National Heritage mission under the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, was screened as part of the Classics in the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. Shot in black and white, ‘Thamp’ offers a kaleidoscope of life in a small circus.

In fact, the cast also included real circus workers, and Aravindan captured many scenes during actual performances and rehearsals - elaborating how these men enraptured simple village folk.

Jalaja was in the midst of her pre-degree, when Aravindan asked her to do a small role in ‘Thamp’. She once said of the film that since she had very few lines, she could concentrate on her performance. Aravindan’s work is celebrated for its reflective silences and is known to be observational.

Aravindan’s son Ramu said in a media statement, “Aravindan’s movies were seen and discussed widely in the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s as carriers of a unique but very specific kind of visual-poetic sensibility.

That reputation endured even as a younger generation of viewers and filmmakers grew up. His reflective kind of cinema continued to be discussed. Only this time, it was mostly by word of mouth – good digitisations of these movies were hardly available. Quite ironic for a very visual filmmaker!”

Grammy-winner Ricky Kej shares 'pathetic' experience at Bengaluru airport G

rammy-winning music composer Ricky Kej, who recently returned to India from Cannes Film Festival 2022, said he had a harrowing experience at the Bengaluru airport. Taking to micro-blogging website Twitter, Ricky shared a clap giving a view of the crowded airport with “well over 1000 people waiting” at the immigration hub. He also spoke about the other issues facing Bengaluru airport, including having “so many flight”, but “no capacity”.

In the video, many people were seen waiting near the counters inside the airport.

He captioned the post, “Pathetic state of immigration at the Bengaluru International Airport. Been in line for over an hour now.

Currently, well over 1,000 people waiting, not all counters working, staff is clueless, inefficient. @BLRAirport Why have so many flights, when there is no capacity? @kiranshaw.”

In a series of tweets, he also wrote, "How are we expected to build #BrandIndia if this is the welcome that everyone gets by the airports. The first impression of India for

foreign travellers." "Number of lines to enter Bengaluru, India @BLRAirport--1) Air Suvidha check, 2) Immigration, 3) Check if immigration stamp is accurate (Not joking, this is another line), 4) Baggage screening -Customs, 5) Collecting bags, 6) Customs may do additional screening.

STEPS can be reduced!”

Ricky also wrote on Twitter, "I see a lot of comments naming some other country immigration as being worse than Bengaluru. Our mindset needs to change. We are comfortable with ourselves if we are not the worst! Haha.. we pat our backs if we manage to be second to worst.

Why not try and be among the best?"

He also responded to Twitter users, who disagreed with him. A person wrote, "I disagree with you. Have come to Blore airport 16 times. Had delayed immigration maybe 2 times because many flights landed at the same time. It's the same even in US airports." Ricky replied, "I came to the blr airport 4 times in just one month. And this is my experience.”

Ranveer, Deepika party with Rebecca Hall at Cannes A

ctor Ranveer Singh joined wife, actress and this year’s jury member at the Cannes Film Festival 2022, Deepika Padukone.

Photos of the two, where they were seen smiling and posing with Rebecca Hall, were

shared on social media over the weekend. In the photos, Rebecca stood in the centre, flanked by Deepika and Ranveer. The trio is seen sharing a laugh as they attended the Dior x Madame Figaro x Canal dinner during the film festival.

In another photo from the routing, Deepika and Rebecca are seen pouting and looking into the camera, while Ranveer’s side profile is visible, as he looked away from

the camera. Deepika wore a Louis Vuitton outfit, while Ranveer wore an animal print shirt. Rebecca was seen in a floral print dress at the Dior dinner.

Deepika, who has been a regular at Cannes for the last few years, has been busy with her jury duties at the film festival. The actor has been sharing her journey with fans on social media.

On a photo she shared from one of Cannes 2022 red carpet appearances, where she wore a red Louis Vuitton gown, husband Ranveer wrote, "Ok! That's it! I'm taking a flight." And he did. Two days since making that comment on Deepika's photo, the actor was spotted at the airport, wearing a white sweatshirt with a pair of velvet pants, as he flew to Cannes.

On the work front, Ranveer has been busy promoting his new film, ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’, and also shooting for ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani’ with actor Alia Bhatt.

Shaunak Sen's documentary 'All That Breathes' premieres at Cannes

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elhi-based filmmaker Shaunak Sen's documentary 'All That Breathes' premiered in the Special Screening segment at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival.

According to the film's official Instagram page, the director posed for the shutterbugs at the premiere with Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer as well as Charlotte Much Bengsten, Nadeem Shehzad, Mohammad Saad, Salik Rehman and Florrie Priest.

'All That Breathes', which won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, follows the lives of siblings Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad

who, working out of their derelict basement in Wazirabad, a village in Delhi, rescue and treat injured birds, especially the Black Kites.

The 90-minute film is Sen's second directorial after the acclaimed 2016 'Cities of Sleep', which was about the homeless scouting for places to sleep in the capital. 'All That Breathes' was acquired by a US-based cable network. After its release in the US late this year, the documentary will debut on the streaming service in 2023.

'All That Breathes' and Pratham Khurana's short film 'Nauha' in Le Cinef (a competition for film schools) are India's only cinematic representation at the main festival.

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Miller, Hardik power Gujarat Titans into IPL final David Miller and captain Hardik Pandya 's clinical finishing guided debutant Gujarat Titans to a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier 1 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday, and earned the side a berth in the final of the Indian Premier League.

Chasing 189, Titans got over the line with three balls to spare as Miller and Hardik forged an unbeaten 106-run partnership. Royals will play the winner of the Eliminator in the second Qualifier in Ahmedabad on Friday.

Facing a stiff target, Titans batted better in the PowerPlay to gather 64 runs. After Wriddhiman Saha’s dismissal in the first over, Matthew Wade and Shubman Gill put on a 72-run stand in 44 deliveries.

The left-right combination placed the ball nicely to put pressure on the Royals. It ended unexpectedly when the impressive Gill, who hit Ashwin for three successive fours in his 21-ball 35, was run out in the

eighth over. Two overs later, Wade (35 off 30) pulled Obed McCoy to deep midwicket.

Hardik (40 not out off 27) kept his cool and played the ball on merit to get boundaries behind and in front of the wicket. He complemented the hard-hitting Miller (68 not out off 38), who clobbered three successive sixes off Prasidh Krishna in the final over.

Earlier, Jos Buttler got back his touch to score a 56-ball 89. As an afternoon shower and dark evening skies relented for a packed house at Eden Gardens to enjoy the first IPL match after three years, Buttler’s fireworks, containing 12 fours and two sixes, provided thorough entertainment.

Royals had an excellent start as captain Sanju Samson, who came in after the fall of opener Yashshwi Jaiswal in the second over, flexed his muscles right from the start.

Buttler, who began well cover-driving Mohammed Shami for two fours in the first over, dropped the anchor to enjoy Samson’s

in brief GUJARAT’S DHAIRYA SHROFF IS INDIA’S YOUNGEST CHESS PLAYER effortless stroke-play. The two laid a solid foundation with a 47-ball 68-run partnership.

Samson was a treat to watch in his 26ball knock of 47, comprising five fours and three sixes. It included two stunning ones on the onside off Alzarri Joseph, who replaced Lockie Ferguson. He miscued an inside-out shot off Sai Kishore to be caught at long-on in the 10th over.

Devdutt Paddikal (28) and Buttler got 37 runs before the latter switched gears to hammer Titans' bowlers, barring the difficult-to-read Rashid Khan. The Englishman, dropped on 69, was run out in the final over but helped Royals collect 64 runs in the last five.

Manchester United in talks to acquire East Bengal football club: Ganguly Premier League giants Manchester United could well end up taking ownership of East Bengal, one of the oldest football clubs in India. The development was confirmed by BCCI President and former India captain Sourav Ganguly in an interaction with the media.

According to Ganguly, negotiations are on with the ‘Red Devils’ and a few others and a clear picture will emerge in a couple of weeks.

“Yes we have spoken to them

and others also. It will take 10-12 more days to know who will be the entity,” Ganguly was quoted as saying. When asked if United would assume the role of an investor, Ganguly said: “No-no (they are coming) as an owner.”

“It takes some time. First, let it reach a stage then we will make a comment. I will speak only after there’s a concrete development,” he added.

East Bengal has been struggling with off-the-field issues, their association with

Umran, Arshdeep in India's T20 Squad The Board for Control of Cricket in India announced the squad for the South Africa T20 series slated to begin on June 9. The board announced, KL Rahul as the skipper for the series while Rishabh Pant has been announced as the vice-captain.

The squad looks quite familiar to the one which played against Sri Lanka earlier this year as the selectors did not seem to go with the form of the players in the IPL. The likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Kishan, Rituraj Gaikwad, and Shreyas Iyer were retained from the squad that played against Sri Lanka.

While Dinesh Karthik was awarded for his performance in the IPL. He has been in terrific form as a finisher for Royal Challengers Bangalore and he has been included in the squad for showing great form with the bat.

Hardik Pandya who has regained his full fitness and is back to bowling also found a place in the side. While in the spin department, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel have been picked.

In the pace department, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh have been included for the first time in the Indian squad. Experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been able to retain his spot while Harshal Patel too has been picked in the side.

Like it was speculated, senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli along with pacer Jasprit Bumrah have been rested from the series.

T20I Squad: KL Rahul (Capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (VC) (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Y Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, R Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik

Shree Cement Ltd came to an end last month after the company handed over the sporting rights. Earlier, Sourav Ganguly it was reported that East Nabanna. Allan John Dawson, Bengal was also talking with Manchester United’s director of Bangladesh-based conglomerate football, Christoffer Laurens Bashundhara Group but it did Komen, director of tours and not lead to any deal. friendlies of the club and Last year in November, a officials Philip Malcolm Smith four-member delegation from and Matthew Charles Jones the United had arrived in the were part of the four-member city and met state sports delegation. minister Aroop Biswas at

India's Nikhat Zareen becomes world boxing champion Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen lived up to the expectations as she clinched the coveted gold in flyweight (52kg) division with a facile 5-0 victory over Thailand’s Jitpong Jutamas in the Women’s World Championship final in Istanbul last week. Capping off a stupendous campaign that saw her dominate all her rivals, the Telangana boxer outpunched her Thai opponent to win via unanimous verdict with judges scoring the bout 3027, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 in her favour.

With this win, Zareen, a 2019 Asian Championship bronze medallist, became only the fifth Indian boxer to be crowned world champion. Six-time champion Mary Kom (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018) Sarita Devi (2006), Jenny RL (2006) and Lekha KC (2006) are the other pugilists who have won the world title.

This is India’s first gold medal in four

years. Mary Kom (48kg) had won the last title in 2018. The 25-year-old Zareen produced some beautiful combination of punches to outclass Jutamas.

Jutamas had a better start off but Zareen soon made up and took the upper hand. The Indian took the first round comfortably but Jutamas made a strong comeback in the second. In the second round, Jutamas made some amends to her approach and troubled Nikhat with her reach and height advantage. The judges went with a split decision of 3:2 in the Thai’s favour. In the crucial third and final round, Nikhat landed quite a few crunching right hand blows and followed them through with her left hooks to seal the issue decisively. The final scoreline read 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 in Nikhat’s favour. To her credit, Nikhat won all her bouts in this edition unanimously.

Five-year-old Dhairya Amit Shroff of Gujarat has become the youngest rated chess player in India and the second youngest in the world.

He achieved the feat at the age of five years, four months and two days, breaking the record of Pune’s Sarthak Deshpande, who became the youngest rated player at five years and 11 months. The Lausanne-headquartered global chess body FIDE too confirmed Dhairya as India’s youngest rated chess player and the second youngest in the world.

A spokesperson of International Chess Federation (FIDE) denied detailed information on the age of the youngest rated player in the world citing Europe’s data privacy rules. It was during the lockdown induced by the second wave of the pandemic last year that Dhairya got hooked onto the game. “He was only four and would observe me play chess online and slowly began developing interest in the game. I explained to him the rules and moves and he grasped it easily,” Dhairya’s father Amit Shroff said. Amit said, “Soon, he started playing on the chess board. Within a week, he defeated me.”

He added that he sought the assistance of the Gujarat State Chess Association for professional coaching to Dhairya. Dhairya's coach Rajendrasinh Chavda said, “As he had already learnt the moves and rules of the game, my job was easier. I gave him tough match situations and he solved them with ease. Soon he resolved tougher situations more times in a day. He will reach the top level soon.”

PRAGGNANANDHAA BEATS WORLD CHAMP CARLSEN AGAIN Indian Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu notched up his second win of the season over Magnus Carlsen in the fifth round of the Chessable Masters online rapid chess tournament, exactly three months after stunning the world champion for the first time.

The 16-year-old from Chennai capitalised on a late blunder from Carlsen to pocket three crucial points to keep himself in the hunt for a knockout berth. “I did not want to win that way,” said Praggnanandhaa when asked about his second triumph against the world champion.

Praggnanandhaa this week said he was in the middle of his school exams but did not want to miss the opportunity of testing himself against a stellar field. The match was headed for a draw before the Norwegian committed a blunder in the 40th move when he misplaced a black knight during the final seconds and resigned immediately in the next move as Praggnanandhaa emerged winner. The Indian drew with Harikrishna in the next round, defeated Gawain Jones before losing to David Anton Guijarro to finish the day. The victory took Praggnanandhaa to 12 points, while Carlsen was at the second spot behind China’s Wei Yi on the second day of the $150,000 tournament. Praggnanandhaa is currently sharing the fifth place with Ding Liren.

Wimbledon loses ranking points over ban on Russia, Belarus players The world’s most prestigious tennis tournament was set on a collision course with the sport's global governing bodies after Wimbledon had its ranking points stripped by the ATP and WTA Tours over excluding players from Russia and Belarus.

Tennis governing bodies have banned Russia and Belarus from international team competitions following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, but allowed players from the two countries to continue competing as neutrals.

“The ability for players of any

nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our Tour,” ATP said in a statement. “The decision by Wimbledon to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the UK this summer undermines this principle and the integrity of the ATP Ranking system. It is also inconsistent with our Rankings agreement.”

Wimbledon organisers have expressed “deep disappointment” after this summer’s championships were stripped of their ranking points. The organisers also

stressed they stood by the call, made in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, to impose the ban for SW19 this year, calling it “the only viable decision”.

The move by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) is the first in which players have been banned on the basis of nationality since the immediate postSecond World War era when German and Japanese players were excluded.

Britain's Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) also reciprocated the Wimbledon ban by excluding players from the two countries from its tune-up tour events.