AV 30th July 2022 by Asian Business Publications Ltd

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

Your ambition.. Our expertise e.

ABPL Group honours Rohit Vadhwana as he takes charge as the Deputy High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Kenya

Legal advice you can trustt Pragn P gnesh h hwadia Modhwadia Mo

Man Managing Partner

SEE PAGE - 16-17

30 JUL - 5 AUG 2022

06 Can we trust Met Police with our safety?

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

Technology and tooling could help deal with the healthcare crisis

PEOPLE SAY?

Shefali Saxena Members of the Asian community have told Asian Voice that they ‘still’ do not feel safe in Britain. There has been a 32% increase in reports of sexual offences last year across England and Wales. Shockingly, a BBC investigation found the average case length for sexual offences was nine months. According to Home Office data, last year 7,500 women reported a sexual assault to the Met Police, the highest figure in a decade. The

Opposition clueless on MPs, MLAs who cross voted for Murmu

Rishi Sunak: I wasn’t born this way The boy who delivered medicines to the man who fights to win an election

Editorial credit Shag 7799 Shutterstock

With a 32% rise in reports of sexual offences last year in England and Wales, Asian Voice finds out whether British Asians trust the Met Police, report enough offences or live in stigma.

axiomdwfm.com

Glaringly obvious and yet not: Environmental emergency and systemic racism

WHAT WILL

enquiries@axiomdwfm.com nquiries@axiomdwfm.com

VOL 51 - ISSUE 13

+44 (0) 20 0 8951 6989

number of reported sexual assaults against males aged 13 oversaw a 59% increase, to 924 cases. New figures show that 9,245 rapes were reported to the Met in the 12 months to March - a 24% increase on the previous year. This implies that there were more rapes recorded last year than at any point in the last 10 years. The total recorded reports of sexual offences a broad crime category that includes rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse - received by the Met Police increased by 34%. Continued on page 06

Former Chancellor and now Prime Ministerial candidate Rishi Sunak has been heavily scrutinised by his colleagues, rivals, public and media for his financial status and riches. What should ideally matter is that the chosen leader delivers, and brings in solutions for the larger and immediate crisis in the country, which is the NHS and cost of living crises. What definitely doesn't matter is the radical criticism of Sunak’s lifestyle, his £490 Prada shoe, and his wife serving tea to journalists poured in expensive cups. Amid a recent leadership debate with co-candidate Liz Truss on the BBC, Sunak was again criticised by Dorries, the culture secretary, for wearing a £3,500 suit and said that Truss’s earrings that she has worn during the campaign cost £4.50 from Claire’s Accessories. Rishi Sunak responded by saying, “I wasn’t born this way. My family immigrated here 60 years ago and my mum was a local chemist in Southampton. Continued on page 13

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Doctor suspended after he was cautioned for exposing himself in the park

with Keith Vaz

KANTI NAGDA MBE CEO - Sangat Centre Kanti is a distinguished social activist who grew up in Kampala, Uganda. In 1972 he arrived in UK, after the expulsion of Asians from Uganda by Idi Amin. Kanti worked as a Social Worker for Harrow Council and during his 12 years at the council, he help create the Harrow Race Relations Council and campaigned for a vegetarian ‘meals on wheels’ service. In 1982 he founded the Sangat Centre, providing support and advice to people from all background helping them feel at home in new surroundings. Kanti has been an Honorary Secretary of Confederation of Indian Organisations in the UK, President of National Congress of Gujarati Organisations (UK) and an active member of Greenford Lions Club. Kanti was invested with MBE by Her Majesty The Queen in New Year 2020 Honour List for services to charity in UK. He is married to Bhanu and has two sons, Dipen and Rupen and three grandsons. 1) Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in? Kampala, Uganda, this is where I grew up. a wonderful city on 7 hills and evergreen. 2) What are your proudest achievements? Making Harrow Council to stop checking children’s passports for primary schooling, make Harrow Council (the then Leader, said over my dead body) provide vegetarian meals to those elderly who are strict vegetarians, establishing a Community Centre primarily for Asians MBEmany more but being awarded MBE for services to the community. 3) What inspires you? Making sure that voiceless people get their rightful share of public services. 4) What has been biggest obstacle in your career? Lace curtain racism, beaurocretic hurdles. 5) Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date? Mr. Terry Bamford, the then Director of Social Services at Kensington Council. He encouraged me to solve people's problems and stand against injustice. 6) What is the best aspect about your current role? I work as a legal advisor and represent

clients at Tribunals be it Immigration Tribunal or Welfare Benefits Tribunal. 7) And the worst? Inarticulate people weeping for their rights. 8) What are your long term goals? Retire and enjoy the life while helping others.

9) If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change? Stop the sleaze and be honest, not only to the country but to myself as well. 10) If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why. Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel and understand from him as to why he tolerated Gandhi and Nehru’s wrongdoings.

Traditional British gardens are under threat from extreme heat The traditional British garden is under threat owing to the extreme heatwave weather conditions, the Royal Horticultural Society has said. It is going to launch a survey to examine the damage from this week’s heatwave. They believe in the near future, delicate flowers including roses and poppies will have to be swapped for plants such as salvias and dahlias, which are more resistant to heat.

his genitals'. For almost two years, he accepted a caution which meant that he admitted the offence but he did not reveal it to the regulators at the General Medical Council. During the Medical

Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing, Siddiqi, a locum Paediatric Intensive Care Unit Consultant at the Royal London Hospital was suspended for a month. The hearing was held behind closed doors due to the doctor's 'private issues.' He expressed regret and said that he has since formed a support network and was getting help from friends and the imam at his local mosque.

Charity Commission: No action will be taken over Prince Charles' cash donation Britain's Charity Commission has made it clear that they will not be carrying out any further investigation into a large sum of cash given to Prince Charles which he then handed over to one of his charities. It was reported that between 2011 and 2015, exQatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim

bin Jaber Al Thani personally handed over the heir to the British throne 3 million euros ($3.05 million) in cash, some of it in shopping bags. Charles' office clarified that the money was handed over to one of his charities which carried out appropriate governance and gave assurances that all the correct processes were followed. However, anti-

monarchy campaign group Republic, said it had written to the regulator the Charity Commission to demand an investigation. "We have assessed the information provided by the charity and have determined there is no further regulatory role for the Commission," a Charity Commission spokesperson said.

World famous Bhangra star Balwinder Safri’s miraculously wakes up from a coma World famous bhangra musician Balwinder Safri beat the odds and woke up from a coma following heart surgery. Earlier this year on 20th April, he was admitted to New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton for heart concerns. Complications with a triple bypass surgery indicated that Mr Safri had to undergo another which left him in a coma. Following a CT scan, the

63-year-old's family were informed that he suffered brain damage and asked them to prepare for the worst. Mr Safri's wife, Nikki Davitt, couldn't believe her ears when she heard her

husband speak. "It’s a miracle,” she said. "There are no other words to describe it. There were so many times when we thought ‘this is it’." Balwinder Safri was born in India but has been an integral part of the UK bhangra scene since 1980. In 1990, he formed the band Safri Boys, who released the songs Bomb the Tumbi, Another Fine Mess and Get Real.

Firefighters battled an outbuilding blaze during a record-breaking heatwave

Leigh Hunt, principal

FINANCIAL A SERVICES MORTGAGES Residential Buy to Let Remortgages

A children's intensive care unit doctor, Dr Salman Siddiqi has been suspended after onlookers detained him while he was spotted exposing his genitals in broad daylight as they walked through Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park in London's East End in 2019. Siddiqui, 44, was handed over to the police and received a caution at Bethnal Green police station 'for intentionally exposing

PROTECTION Life Insurance Critical Illness Income Protection

Please conta act:

Dinesh Shonchhatra S Mortgage Ad dviser

Call: 020 8424 C 4 8686 / 07956 810647 77 High Street, Wealdston ne, Harrow, HA3 5DQ mortgage@majorestate.co om ~ majorestate.com

RHS adviser, said: “The extreme weather conditions could be a catalyst for change in what we view as a traditional British garden. For many years, gardeners have dabbled with more sun-loving, drought-tolerant plants in their gardens but the summer of 2022 and the anticipated damage it will cause to some favourites could see a more permanent move towards plants that can cope with both extreme wet and dry.” Many noticed their pot plants and prized garden flowers withering and wilting in the record heat, which reached 40.3C (104.5F) in Lincolnshire on Tuesday.

The UK encountered a record-breaking heatwave on Tuesday where firefighters fought a blaze at an outbuilding in Wembley. Around 80 crew members were at the scene in northwest London after being called to a fire at the back of a row of shops with flats above. As crews were battling “several significant fires”

across the capital, the London Fire Brigade declared a major incident. As the UK sweltered in extreme heat and recorded 40C for the first time, blazes broke out across southern England. London Fire Brigade said around 2 pm it was first alerted to the blaze and had received more than 40 calls

over it. Around 7 pm, the blaze in Wembley came under control. “The number of serious incidents has prompted the Brigade to ask people to only call 999 if there is an emergency or if there’s an immediate risk to life and not to have barbecues or bonfires,” the fire service said on Tuesday.

UK must adapt to extreme weather, says cabinet minister Hundreds of firefighters were busy dousing fires across England owing to the historic rise in temperature of 40.3C on Tuesday where more than 60 homes were destroyed in wildfires. Firefighters described the day as the busiest since the second world war. Updating MPs on the response to the heatwave, Kit Malthouse, the Cabinet Office minister, said 13 peo-

ple including seven teenage boys had died while swimming in recent weeks. He said of the fires: “We do recognise that we are likely to experience more of these incidents and that we should not underestimate their speed, scope and severity. “Britain may be unaccustomed to such high temperatures but the UK, along with our European neigh-

bours, must learn to live with extreme events such as these. “The government has been at the forefront of international efforts to reach net zero, but the impacts of climate change are with us now.” The London fire brigade received more than 2,600 calls on Tuesday – seven times the usual volume, said Sadiq Khan, London mayor.

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Are we ready for Rishi? A recent story circulating on social media talked about how allegedly 10,000 Tory party members have signed a petition to bring Boris Johnson back as UK’s Prime Minister by making him run in the leadership contest. Another talked about how Mr Sunak wore £490 Prada shoes to a building site and £3500 suit, when his nemesis Liz Truss wore a pair of earrings, which is from the Claire’s costing £4.50. Another talked about his height and appearance. The UK has more than 1.5mn Indians. Many of the arrived in the country in the 70s, from East African nations such as Uganda and restarted a life here. Some came from Kenya and so on. Mr Sunak’s family was also one of them. They started their lives from scratch, father as a GP and mother as a pharmacist. Mr Sunak has worked in the pharmacy, as a delivery boy as well as in a restaurant in Southampton, growing up. He goes to a local Vedic mandir and even recently seen helping in the kitchen distributing food. He has been seen putting diyas (lamps) outside his Downing Street resident and known to be a proud Hindu, with values very typically Indian. He is standing as a Prime Ministerial candidate in a country, where religious education isn’t part of the National Curriculum, but it is compulsory in all maintained primary schools. Religious Education sometimes seems to be more like an add-on than an integral part of what takes place in the classroom, says PlanBee. But learning about other faiths and beliefs is key to fostering tolerance in young minds. In February 2022, CST’s Antisemitic Incidents Report 2021 showed 2,255 anti-Jewish hate incidents reported nationwide in 2021. This is the highest annual total that CST has ever recorded and is a 34% increase from the 1,684 antisemitic incidents reported in 2020. This is the first time CST has ever recorded over 2,000 incidents in a single year and is 24% higher than the previous record annual total of 1,813 incidents in 2019. The UK has seen record annual totals for antisemitic incidents in five of the past six years. CST has recorded antisemitic incidents since 1984. Journalist Anusha Singh in her article (see page 11) has spoken about how in the past few years have made it glaringly obvious that all global issues are, in one form or the other, ingrained in racial injustice. The latest instances of it are provided in a recently published report by the Runnymede Trust and Greenpeace UK. Specifically in the UK, according to the report, there is evidence that people of colour are offered less paying, highly dangerous job opportunities. People of colour and indigenous groups are also more likely to be found living in areas that are most impacted by environmental crises.

In a country where, gender, faith and colour are still used as discriminatory tools, it is difficult to imagine, a brown face in the Prime Ministerial race and winning. There are many advantages in having a leader who is British Indian and therefore Asian. Mr Sunak – a second generation Indian in the UK, for all purposes in British first. He has grown up in a country where he has definitely faced discrimination at one point, if not now. Mohith Sondhi, director of OakNorth bank in a panel discussion at Indian Journalists’ 75th anniversary, spoke how he faced racism growing up. He talked about a town where majority were non-Asian and how many later converted as they were exposed to a culture unknown to them. Mallika Basu, renowned Indian food writer, author and industry commentator, talked about how tikka masala and madras curry have been symbolic Indian foods, were invented in the UK for a non-Indian palate– perhaps hugely due to lack of cultural knowledge. Like Mohith and Rishi, most British Indians have worked very hard, to achieve what they have today. Some have grown up outside Asian dominated areas, and survived, with the help of encouraging parents and family. Asian parents are famously indulging when it comes to ambitions and supportive to achieve them- and Rishi has also reaped benefits of that privilege. There is no shame in that. The Economist in its recent Bagehot column wrote: “prejudice may stop Rishi Sunak from becoming prime minister…To win over the (Tory) party members, however, cleverness must be hidden” Second, the UK-India relationship is at a very important juncture. With FTA negotiations between the two countries ongoing, Brexit and wars looming large in Indo-Pacific region or Europe, India’s position is integral. A Prime Minister of Britain will obviously look after his country’s needs first, but he is the living proof of the ‘living bridge’ that the diaspora has talked about for years. It is also a litmus test for those who deny there is discrimination against ethnic minority in this country and Britain is fair for all. Third, it was David Cameron, who told Asian Voice during an interview that he was Britain’s first Asian Prime Minister. He was supported by a majority of Indian voters in the UK, who were originally and traditionally Labour supporters and he won because of those votes, which made a huge difference in his career as the PM. Rishi Sunak knows he has many odds against him. He still is standing in the race, unapologetic for being who he is- too posh for some and too brown for the others. This is the Indian spirit- the one that never gives up and we hope people don’t give up on him too.

BJP creates cracks in Opposition ranks during presidential poll Droupadi Murmu, a tribal woman politician, has been sworn in as India's 15th president. Murmu said it is an honour for all tribal people that a daughter from the community has been elected as the president for the first time after independence. She said that the deprived, tribals and the exploited can see themselves in her. "It will not be a matter of pride for any one location, community or society. This will prove to be an example of inclusive unity in Indian society," she said. Her election will give a chance to the tribals to come to the limelight. Murmu’s tribal credentials put several Opposition parties on the backfoot. There were reports of cross voting, with tribal legislators from the Congress and Rajasthan reluctant to vote for the Opposition’s joint candidate, Yashwant Sinha. But more than managing the numbers, the BJP’s extensive campaign to get India its first tribal woman president has provided the party an opportunity to earn the goodwill of tribal community. Murmu’s candidature not only put several Congress legislators in an inconvenient position but also parties like the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which rules tribal-dominated Jharkhand, the TMC, and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). The JMM and SAD officially backed Murmu. Initially, the SAD was planning to abstain from voting, but the fear of being perceived as not backing a tribal leader for the country’s top office forced a rethink. For the BJP, the Shiv Sena’s support for Murmu was any day a prized catch. Indeed, the BJP managed to force cracks in the Opposition ranks. Mamata had to say that had Murmu’s name been discussed earlier, she could have thought of supporting her. The statement took the steam out of Yashwant Sinha’s campaign. Now, the campaign has picked up for electing the vice-president of India, wherein NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar is pitted against the Opposition’s Margaret Alva. The TMC and Shiv Sena have not extended their support to either candidate. Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray continues to be in a dilemma - if he backs Alva, the rival Sena group, led by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, may break the party's parliamentary unit. On paper, the BJP doesn’t need the support of these parties to ensure Dhankhar’s victory. But creating confusion in the Opposition will be to the party’s advantage. The BJP is playing up Dhankhar’s Jat and agrarian backgrounds. If elected, the

West Bengal governor will be the first Jat leader to occupy the vice-president's office. During the presidential campaign, statements from the Congress did little to help the Opposition candidate’s case. Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar, who belongs to Jharkhand, said Murmu was a “decent person” but represented an "evil philosophy of India", and that she should not be made a "symbol of tribals". Whatever he may have meant, the statement backfired, prompting Kumar to say that his statement had been misinterpreted. But by then, the BJP had gone to town painting the Congress and its leaders as anti-tribal. The BJP is in expansion mode, both geographically and in terms of finding newer vote bases. The party doesn’t have a prominent pan-India tribal face. Murmu’s entry into Rashtrapati Bhavan is expected to help the BJP build its appeal among tribal communities, who largely vote for the Congress and regional outfits. In the last round of assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, the Congress won 86 of the 128 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs). Elections are due in Gujarat in December and in the other three states in 2023. In the 27 ST seats in Gujarat, the Congress had fared better than the BJP in the 2017 polls, winning 15. The BJP was victorious in nine. In Rajasthan, of the 25 ST seats, the Congress has MLAs in 13 and the BJP in eight. In Chhattisgarh, another state on the BJP radar in terms of tribal votes, the Congress had won 27 of the 29 ST seats in 2018. The remaining two seats went to the BJP. Further, in the 97 tribaldominated seats spread over Odisha (24), Jharkhand (28), Maharashtra (14), Telangana (9), Andhra Pradesh (7) and Karnataka (15), the BJP has only four legislators. In Jharkhand, the party in 2020 brought Babulal Marandi on board after its experiment with non-tribal leader Raghubar Das backfired. In Chhattisgarh, the BJP is looking for a tribal leader to replace former chief minister Raman Singh as the party’s face. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been leading from the front in the tribal outreach. In April this year, Modi attended an event in Gujarat’s tribal-dominated Dahod district. He recalled the sacrifices of freedom fighter Birsa Munda and other tribal icons. He mentioned his work as Gujarat CM for the welfare of tribes in the state. Murmu’s victory will give the BJP a boost and set the stage for the next leg of its tribal outreach plan.

Thought for the week We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. - Winston Churchill

What is your magic? Rohit Vadhwana veryone has some magic. It is pre-installed in his/her system. A powerful way of creating a unique impression. Everyone handles different situations in their own magical way. Someone is good at soft skills, others might be in hard labour. A few people are good negotiators while some others are best in artistic ability. Some people are also skilful in avoiding any kind of work and getting away with it. Some people are magical in their way of presentation, while some are blessed with attractive looks. Whatever works for you as an attractive spark, it's your magic. Depends what's your unique set of abilities that you have ingrained in nature and attitude. Normally we do not try to identify this magic in our nature, but once done, it can give us a special edge over others. You can easily categorise yourself in a particular way and know where you will fit best, and where you will be out of place. One can also decide which area of work will best suit her/himself and which would be waste of time. You can also make an assessment of others once you know about your own magic. Sometimes it is very useful to make a team or decide whom to avoid. It saves time and effort in every situation. A spiritual leader has the gift of speaking well and touching the hearts of thousands. A conman has the skill of cunning whoever he wants. It is the strength of a journalist to find out hidden details through inquiries and so is for a spy. A painter and a writer can imagine things beyond our visibility. An accountant has a magical eye and an editor can catch even a small mistake in writing. These are the special skills either identified or developed by individuals. They come out best if that coincides with one's magical power. Actually knowing oneself is so important in every aspect that most of our success and failure depend on it. If one takes the trouble to spend some time in self-analysis, s/he saves oneself from many other troubles in future. While we believe that skillsets are developed with effort, it becomes more effective if the efforts are made in the right direction. If you are good at dealing with people, decide to go in that particular type of field for a profession and job. If working alone with full concentration helps you, maybe writing or research would be best for you. Your magic will be more effective when given a good environment. It is your duty to identify it and then nourish it to its fullest potential. Wasted efforts and attempts are sometimes very much avoidable if we have clarity about abilities and limitations.

(Expressed opinions are personal) Asian Voice is published by

Asian Business Publications Ltd Units 207-208, Harrow Business Centre, 429-433 Pinner Road, North Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 4HN Tel: 020 7749 4080 • Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com Website: www.abplgroup.com INDIA OFFICE

Bureau Chief: Nilesh Parmar (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt. Ltd. 207 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad-380 015. Tel: +91 79 2646 5960 Email: gs_ahd@abplgroup.com © Asian Business Publications

04 NORTH/MIDLANDS

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Birmingham Crown Court looks like a ghost town as Barristers strike The spread of Covid has caused a massive reduction in the cases being heard there and early on there were only a few courts running. Now again the Birmingham Crown Court is looking a little bit like it did in the pandemic. At the moment, though, it is not a potentially deadly disease which has brought things almost to a grinding halt and added to a huge backlog in criminal cases clogging up the system, instead, it is a barrister's strike. The strike is into its fourth

week as barristers try to ratchet up the pressure in a dispute over conditions and Government set fees for legal aid advocacy work. As a result, the court's landings are particularly quiet on strike days with only a limited number of cases being listed, including a handful of sentences in the morning. The majority of cases are being adjourned off because there are no shows by defence counsel, while the effective ones may have barristers representing defendants who are privately

Many job centres to shutdown across country Jobcentres across the country are shutting as part of a shake-up by the Department for Work and Pensions. The department has issued a list of sites that will close in a move it says will aid efforts to "improve services and help more people into employment". Nine Jobcentres will shut in total, along with a 10th site that deals with national insurance numbers. According to an announcement made to MPs, the centres will merge into nearby DWP offices. One of the jobcentres to be shut is in Leicester. The branch in New Walk in the city centre will be one of nine to be shut. MP Jon Ashworth said the move "exposed the Tories’ rhetoric on leveling up to be utterly hollow". A DWP spokesperson said: “As part of our plans to improve our services and to help more people into employment, we are

closing some poorer quality, older offices where there are better premises very close by that our services and staff can easily move to, so jobseekers receive our help in an upgraded, more modern environment. It’s expected that affected colleagues will move to other nearby offices.” As well as being the Leicester South MP, Mr Ashworth is now Labour's Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary. He said the closures were one of several things making the cost of living crisis worse for people.

Pressure on emergency care puts patients at risk The Care Quality Commission (CQC), the country’s healthcare watchdog, carried out an unannounced inspection of the LRI's emergency department in April this year because it had concerns over the patient care it was providing. The commission found people were having to wait too long to be admitted, assessed and referred to other departments because there simply were not enough beds or staff. This was putting people at risk of becoming more ill – and in some cases, the lack of beds and the overwhelming number of patients led to preventable deaths. Pressure on emergency care at Leicester Royal Infirmary is putting patients at risk and, in some cases, has resulted in preventable deaths, a report has found. Some patients are waiting more than 24 hours in the city hospital's emergency department because there are not enough beds for them to be treated there or admitted to another department - the target is admission within four hours. In several reviews into unexpected deaths in the emergency ward, the ‘busyness’ of the department, the ‘lack of available

cubicles for sick patients’ and, ‘seeing so many patients in one day’ were all cited as factors. Senior staff are worried about patient safety because those assessing them while they wait to be admitted did not always have enough experience. However, there were not enough of them in the department to take over the responsibility. At peak time on one day, the department was 13 members short.

funded or they might be cases which are particularly serious. Trials are also being listed in courts, with a no witness marker, only to be relisted, usually many months into the future. As it stands the current inten-

tion is for the strike one week on and one week off with no end date although there are rumours that matters might even escalate to a complete strike if no agreement is reached.

Three break-ins in a week in Leicester’s Golden Mile With a string of break-ins, Leicester's Golden Mile has become the focus. Three businesses were targeted here in the space of a week. Police say they are aware of three incidents this week alone - with businesses adding ongoing incidents at their premises stretching back months. Restaurant owner Mr Singh Bains says, "In the eight years that we've been here we've had numerous attempts where people have tried to get in but not managed to. We tried lots of things - bars on the windows, a secure door, CCTV but this time they broke the frame of the back door and got in that way. However the thieves only got their hands on "pennies" as I do not risk leaving a lot of money on the premises.” Sergeant Graham Wells from the East Leicester Neighbourhood Policing Area said: “We are aware of three of

the incidents in which businesses in the area of Belgrave Road have been broken into and money taken from the cash register. Officers are continuing to investigate these crimes and would urge anyone with information to come forward. To help tackle this issue, we are carrying out increased night-time patrols and are working with owners and other local residents to offer ongoing support, reassurance and crime prevention advice. With the recent warm weather, we would also continue to remind people to make sure all windows and doors are secure before leaving their home or premises”.

Teacher-turned-private tutor follows his passion thanks to National Lottery funding Growing up in London a football-mad Anglo-Indian girl, Tulsi Hansla, 27, found few role models of her own. Then one day that all changed. “When I was 12 or 13, I saw Bend It Like Beckham,” she recalls. “The main character looked like me, and I could relate to the dilemma many Indians face. In our community, if it’s a toss-up between studying and sport, study would generally be prioritised.” Tulsi, a teacher-turned-private tutor, went on to teach science at secondary level for three years. When the pandemic hit, she decided to become a private tutor, and following the second lockdown she started looking for a women’s football team to once

again pursue her passion. Tulsi joined the National Lottery-supported Gymkhana FC in December 2021. Thanks to National Lottery players, over £50million of funding has been raised for women’s football over the past 10 years, supporting clubs like Gymkhana FC. The funding has enabled free training sessions and helped the club attend professional matches, including the women’s FA Cup final. “Playing football gives you a different part of your identity,” says Tulsi. “It throws you together with people you might never meet, and you can see everyone’s confidence grow. I wish more women would give football a go.”

Reports on emergency care alarming The Care Quality Commission, (CQC), has released a series of reports into emergency care in Leicestershire – and the findings are stark. Paramedics are spending hours queueing outside Leicester hospitals while their patients deteriorate or even die in the back of their ambulances, inspectors have revealed. Patients in cardiac arrest – where the heart stops pumping blood – are dying because ambulances are stuck outside hospitals unable to reach them in time. And when they have, they cannot hand them over to medical staff, the healthcare watchdog found. Elderly patients and people in care homes are also waiting hours for help following common emergencies, such as falls. Not only that, the staff are also demoralised,

disempowered and afraid of this shift in their duties from dealing with multiple calls for help to providing care in the back of their vehicles for those who cannot get a bed in one of the city's hospitals. They say they have not been trained for this. Andy Williams, chief executive of the NHS Integrated Care Board, said on behalf of all the healthcare services that they have an action plan in place to alleviate the pressure on emergency teams. The services are focusing on reducing unnecessary attendances, improving 'patient flow' across the system, and enabling patients to be seen in the right place for the first time. He added this has been strengthened following the CQC report.

in brief MAN WHO POSED AS TAXI DRIVER CHARGED WITH RAPE A 40-year-old man has been charged after a woman was allegedly raped in Birmingham in the early hours of July 10. Cops investigating suspect a man posing as a taxi driver in the city centre, Digbeth and Perry Barr to approach several women. He allegedly offered the women lift home, alcohol and drugs. As part of the investigation, police have charged a man with rape and other sexual offences. The man remains in police custody. West Midlands Police is appealing for other potential victims to come forward. A force spokesperson said: "We’re appealing for information after a woman was raped in Birmingham during the early hours of July 10. We believe a man posed as a taxi driver in the city centre, Digbeth and Perry Barr areas and approached lone women. A 40-year-old man has been charged with rape and other sexual offences. He has been remanded in custody. We are appealing for any other potential victims or witnesses of similar incidents to contact us. We continue to support the woman and our investigation is still very much ongoing." The man has been charged with rape and other sexual offences. Anyone with any information related to the case should contact the police.

MAN GETS CARDIAC ARREST WAITING IN AMBULANCE DUE TO LONG WAITING AND HOT WEATHER Eight weeks after health boss Mark Docherty warned West Midlands Ambulance Service could collapse entirely this summer, a patient suffered a cardiac arrest outside a city hospital after being held in the back of an ambulance for an hour on the hottest day on record. The incident happened at Worcestershire Royal during the intense heatwave on July 19 as temperatures smashed records all over the country. The patient's health was said to have 'deteriorated quickly'. His or her condition is currently unknown. Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said it is facing 'unprecedented numbers' of patients seeking urgent and emergency care. The trust said demand on its hospital services 'remain very high', and added that an investigation into the incident has been launched. According to Mark, “the service was facing a "Titanic moment" with a concerning rise in people waiting in the back of ambulances before being admitted to hospital.” Mr Docherty predicted the service could crumble in August. He said: "Around August 17 is the day I think it will all fail. I've been asked how I can be so specific, but that date is when a third of our resources [will be] lost to delays, and that will mean we just can't respond. Mathematically it will be a bit like a Titanic moment."

TEXTILE MANUFACTURERS STILL EXPLOITING STAFF IN LEICESTER Irrespective of a clampdown by enforcement bodies and concerted efforts by retailers to clean up their supply chains, textile manufacturers in Leicester are still underpaying and exploiting workers, according to new research by the Low Pay Commission. Until labour abuses came into the spotlight in 2020, it existed in garment factories in the city in the East Midlands for years. When the abuses were exposed, unsafe working conditions were blamed for the spread of Covid-19 in the city. Since then, enforcement agencies have made hundreds of inspection visits. The LPC — is an independent body that advises the the government on the minimum wage — said the sector changed “substantially” as a result. Bryan Sanderson, the LPC’s chair, called on the government to take “comprehensive action”, adding: “The case of Leicester is not unique. Across the UK, workers in precarious positions face the same obstacles.”

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Rishi Sunak supporters believe debates against Truss will be a win Rishi Sunak's camp is urging party members to delay voting as they believe that he will outperform Lisa Truss at Hustings, as he braces himself to fight back in the Conservative leadership race from Margaret Thatcher’s birthplace in Grantham. After Truss pulled ahead by 24 percentage points in

polling of party members, Sunak’s campaign team is drawing up plans to try to reverse what one called a “worrying trend”. He has decided that he will try to move the debate from tax cuts to the NHS by pledging to put the health service on a “war footing” with a vaccines-style taskforce set up to drive down

the “emergency” of “massive backlogs”. One of the sources supporting Sunak said,“We all think she [Truss] is going to be so bad at the hustings that members will change their minds". Another predicted: “He will shine at the hustings, whereas Truss is mental and will be found out.”

Covid levels rise in England and Scotland with 3.5m infected In England and Scotland, the number of Covid infections is on the rise but the overall picture across all of the UK remains mixed, as per the latest data. In the week to 13 July, a total of 3.1 million – or roughly one in 17 – people in England were likely to have had coronavirus. In Scotland, Covid remains prevalent, where 340,900 people were estimated to have had the

virus in the week to 14 July, or about one in 15. It is the highest estimate for Scotland since April. In Wales, infections have plateaued at 183,200 while in Northern Ireland, infections have dropped to an estimated 88,400 people. Kara Steel, the ONS senior statistician for the Covid Infection Survey, said: “Infections have, overall, continued to increase in

England, reaching similar levels to those seen in April during the BA.2 wave. However, we are seeing some uncertain trends in the latest data across the other UK countries, some English regions and among some age groups. “It is too early to say if this most recent wave is starting to peak, but we will continue to closely monitor the data.”

Drunk driver jailed for killing man, 75, in Nottingham A drunk driver who killed a 75-year-old man in an act of rage by pushing him over has been jailed for 10 years and nine months. In an unprovoked and random attack after accusing him of "walking on the wrong side of the road” James Gill, 39, fractured Neil Robinson’s skull. The unfortunate incident happened last year on 16 December. He didn't stop there but also threatened to set fire to

another motorist’s car in what the judge described as a five-hour “catalogue of carnage”. Passing the sentence, Judge Stuart Rafferty QC said: “Mr Robinson was a 75-year-old, frail, slender man. He was doing nothing more than trying to cross the road.” Robinson died in hospital six days after being pushed over by Gill, who was on his lunch break from an electrician’s training

course, Nottingham crown court was told. Robinson’s son, Benjamin told the court: “I still find his death senseless. I literally can’t make sense of the fact he is no longer here.” “The apartment was as if he had just stepped out for a coffee, which is exactly what he had done,” he said. “All of the signs of a life being lived just waiting for him to return and pick up where he left off."

Corrupt foreigners dissuaded from investing in UK The National Crime Agency (NCA) has dissuaded corrupt elites from investing foreign money in the UK after a fresh crackdown on “enablers”. The law enforcement agency believes that the arrests would also help shake the reputation of the capital as ‘Londongrad’. In an attempt to stop countries such as Russia from investing corrupt proceeds in the UK, around a dozen people had been arrested in recent weeks, including some from the legal profession, NCA said. An NCA source said:

“I’m not going to drill down individually into how we know these things but we know it is having a dissuasive effect from investing corrupt proceeds in the UK. “And given the number of enablers that we’ve started to target or pick off, clearly some people have

decided that the UK is no longer for them. “Our intelligence also shows us that some individuals are choosing not to invest corrupt funds in the UK – this is about starting to push back on this concept of Londongrad, that people were free to come regardless of their money and do whatever they liked.” Last month, the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee accused the Government of complacency in allowing Russian “dirty money” to flow into the UK despite the war in Ukraine.

Shailesh Vara dismisses claims of asking whether he needed a passport to go to Londonderry Northern Ireland Secretary Shailesh Vara has denied claims of him asking officials whether he needed a passport to go to Londonderry. He stated the claim was “utter and absolute nonsense”. According to a report, when the North West Cambridgeshire MP previously served as a junior minister in the Northern Ireland

Office, he had asked an official “whether he needed a passport to go to Derry”. During a visit to Lisburn, Co Antrim, on Thursday, Mr Vara spoke to the media on the same. “But we now sadly live in a world where people can put out fake news and then it just escalates in the world of social media… I can confirm it is utter and absolute

nonsense,” he said. “I am determined not to focus on trivialities like that because my job as Secretary of State is to deal with the real issues that concern the people of Northern Ireland, and that’s where I want to focus my attention. I am somebody who is going to be concentrating on the real issues, and not on the tittletattle.”

WEST TL LO ONDON B U S I N E S S PA P RK LONG DRIVE, GREENFORD, UB6 8UH

UK facing international pressure on deletion of abortion commitments The UK is facing tremendous pressure from European countries and human righta groups over the removal of commitments to abortion and sexual health rights from an official statement on gender equality. It has been learned that Norway and Denmark approached the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to mark their protest against the substantive changes that were made to a paper that resulted from

a UK-hosted conference on freedom of religion and belief, opened by Liz Truss earlier this month. The original text, which included a commitment to the repeal of any laws that “allow harmful practices, or restrict women’s and girls’ … sexual and reproductive health and rights, bodily autonomy", was signed by more than 20 countries, including those now complaining. However, a later version of the international pact does not contain those

phrases which is currently online and has been signed by six countries, including the UK and Malta, where abortion is illegal. The country had not been one of the original signatories. More than 20 human rights, pro-choice, and international aid groups wrote an open letter to Truss, the foreign secretary and Tory leadership candidate, demanding the government to reverse the deletions immediately and explain why they were made.

London working on a plan to bring Olympics and Paralympics back to capital London Mayor Sadiq Khan said his office is chalking out a plan to bring back the Olympics and Paralympics to the capital. He said his plan will be focused on making the "the greenest games ever", with existing stadiums and structures built for the 2012 Games that could be used again. "The great thing about

London is you don't expend carbon on building new stadiums, new places to do cycling, new places to do swimming because we've got all the kit. And so watch this space. "There's no pressure from the IOC, the key thing is to make sure we've got all the building blocks in place," he added.

Mr Khan mentioned that the earliest bid would be for 2036 - with the next three Games already set to be hosted in Paris in 2024, Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032. Currently, plans are at a nascent stage and any bid would require the support of the Government and the British Olympic Association.

10 NEW BUILD INDUSTRIAL L/W WAREHOUSE AREHOUSE UNITS

TO LET: 5,400 - 60,000 SQ FT

AV VAILABLE AILABLE FOR SINGLE O OR MULTIPLE LTIPLE UNIT T OCCUPA PA ATION TIO ON www.westlondonbusinesspark.co.uk

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY? Continued from page 1 In a statement shared with Asian Voice, a spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police said, “The Met has seen an increase in the number of sexual offences reported in the last 12 months to March. We know sexual offences have been underreported in the past and we have been working hard to increase reports to the Met in order for us to investigate. The public are, rightly, less tolerant of these crimes and are speaking out. We continue to encourage anyone who has been a victim of sexual assault to report it police, you will be supported and any crimes will be fully investigated. We are determined to bring offenders to justice and will prioritise action against sexual offenders.” Britain has not forgotten Sabina Nessa or Sarah Everard. However, the BBC reported that despite the record increase in the number of offences being reported, the real total is believed to be much higher. Serious sexual offences are taking the longest time on record to go through Crown Courts in England and Wales. While Britons continue to navigate safety issues, a victims commissioner has recently gone on record in the media, stating that a record number of reported rapes and sexual assaults in London will push the court system to "breaking point”. In a letter to the Justice Secretary on 25th July, the Mayor of London highlighted that at the end of March there were nearly 16,000 outstanding cases in London’s Crown Courts and nearly 73,000 in Magistrates Courts with

victims and survivors in in the capital waiting for up to five years to get a court date. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said, “I am hugely concerned about the impact that the crisis in our justice system is having on survivors of rape and sexual offences in our city. “It is unacceptable that victims and survivors are waiting up to five years to get a court date and now vitally important support services are being stretched to breaking point. “This is exacerbating trauma, leaving vulnerable people feeling isolated and increasing the likelihood of victims withdrawing from the justice system altogether. We’re doing all we can from City Hall but we urgently need the Government to step forward and take steps to tackle the court backlog and ensure that support services are able to help Londoners in their time of need.” Reporting likely to be much lower amongst South Asian victims Baroness Shaista Gohir OBE, CEO of Muslim Women’s Network UK told the newsweekly, “The rise in sexual offences reporting is not surprising and I blame the legal system and successive governments because of their lack of action against perpetrators, which has resulted in very low charging and conviction rates. They have therefore decriminalised sexual assault and rape because the message they are sending is - if you rape someone, you are most likely to get away with it. It is also clear from women’s experiences that there is a lack of empathy for rape victims within police forces.

Baroness Shaista Gohir OBE

Through our work, we have even come across police officers being involved in the rape and domestic abuse. There is a huge culture of rampant misogyny within policing which needs to be stamped out. “The reporting is likely to be much lower amongst South Asian victims. Perpetrators Sukhvinder Kaur, are often known to Director/Trustee of Sikh be victims. This Women’s Aid shared her senticombined with the ment on the safety of women stigma associated in Britain, as well as her two with abuse (due to cents on why she thinks cases the victim blame of sexual assault and rape culture particularly could be rising. prevalent in South What do you think could be Asian communithe possible reason why the ties), will be a masnumbers went up? Or were sive barrier that will they just underreported? prevent most vicSadly London has seen sevtims from discloseral high-profile killings of ing such crimes. women over the last few years More investment is but these trends are reflective therefore needed in of a national increase. So it specialist services, could be argued that the UK is especially culturally in the midst of a crisis in sensitive support regards to violence and abuse for South Asian perpetrated against our women and girls as women and girls in society. that would give When considering the them more conficauses of such rises, it is dence to disclose important to consider that abuse and at the Police in England and Wales very least receive recorded 67,125 rape offences therapeutic support in the year to December 2021, even if they did not the highest recorded annual pursue the legal figure to date. However, In route.” 2020-21 there were just 1,557 The stigma prosecutions, compared with Speaking to us, 2,102 in the previous 12 Sonya Barlow, months. Over the past four Entrepreneur, years, rape prosecutions in England and Wales have fallen by 70%. We have often heard the phrase that rape is one of the ‘easiest crimes to get away with’. These shocking statisand our membership is pretty low,” Yates tics would indicate some truth said from her home studio in Sidcup, to this statement. It's also Kent. become so normalised in soci“Some members have multiple disety, in schools, colleges and closures. The cases range from sexual universities, that young people assault during hands-on assists [when expect sexual assault or rape as teachers help students into positions], a normal part of life. It hapgoing through to senior teachers having pens. serial coercive sexual relationships with Do you think cases in the people they are responsible for teaching, Asian community may be grooming and all the way up to rape” she underreported because of the said. stigma related to the offence? The YTU campaign, Safety & Dignity There are so many barriers at Work, a call to end sexual violence, is that all victims face when disurging all venues to have a clear and visiclosing rape. However, victims ble sexual harassment policy in yoga stuof South Asian communities dios and gyms. have many more additional barriers to reporting. Shame, victim blaming, gaslighting and so-called honour are all additional barriers to victim May. reporting. Mr Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and his 55Our organisation has year-old wife Beatrice Nwanneka worked with several victims of Ekweremadu, both deny conspiracy to abuse (as recently as this arrange the travel of another person with month) and the biggest barrier a view to exploitation. we had was getting clients to All three will appear at the Old Bailey trust their families with what next month on what is a case of organ happened to them. Reporting harvesting.

Sexual harassment accused at Yoga studios When Clair Yates left the banking world to become a yoga teacher she thought she was joining an “ethical profession”. However, Clair She soon discovered that the practice has been tolerating sexual harassment and abuse by teachers and leaders for decades. “I get why people want to shut their eyes,” Yates said. “No one wants to face this but we need to because if we don’t, we are complicit.” Police forces across the country are investigating at least five cases of sexual abuse after the Yoga Teachers Union (YTU) received numerous reports soon after its creation in October 2020. “We have had 39 separate members make disclosures of sexual harassment and abuse

Organ harvesting plot uncovered In shocking news, a man has been charged over allegedly plotting with a Nigerian politician to harvest a man’s kidney. Obinna Obeta, 50, who is from Southwark, south London, faces a charge under the Modern Slavery Act. The charge is for allegedly arranging the man’s travel between last August and

author & BBC presenter said, “Abuse of all kinds does exist in society and has done so for years. This new generation of women and men are more likely to speak about it as they are surrounded by information and insights, be that from school or social media, informing them that abuse is not acceptable or tolerated. However, to create real change we need to encourage these conversations at home, especially within our family circles and our elders, to give them the space and security to speak up and speak out. Small but significant steps include

Sonya Barlow

allowing children to attend sex education classes at school and having conversations about this, as well as their bodies as they grow. Discussing different parts of the body and what’s acceptable, tolerable

and should be reported. Additionally, Asian culture has a terrible reputation of “hug x person” or “give x person a kiss” if you want something, which needs to stop because this from a young person's mind doesn’t teach them consent but socialises them into thinking this is the norm. Asian communities are most definitely underreported due to the stigma related to the issue and the “log kya kahenge” attitude but this needs to shift if we are to progress, evolve and empower. All in all, society is moving but not fast enough.”

Can we trust Met Police with our safety?

Sukhvinder Kaur

to the police will mean that the incidents of rape could become public knowledge and many victims are scared of the way they will be judged. Families fear being ostracised and isolated from the community. Being talked about, or talked down to, can add to this fear. Some families will be concerned that if people find out their daughter has been raped and been 'tainted', who will want to marry them. Some families are amazing in supporting a loved one who has experienced rape. However, we have seen families silence and blame victims for sexual abuse as if it is their fault. We have seen some families fall apart because of a victim's disclosure. The Sikh Women's Aid survey last year showed that most perpetrators of sexual abuse were known to the victim, a relative or friend of the family. women are frightened of exposing the perpetrator because it might mean ruining family relationships or breaking up a family, and that guilt often proves too much. The trauma, shame and guilt victims are left with is unacceptable. Whilst we can say, things are moving in a positive direction with conversations and awareness raising becoming more commonplace, we fear that some attitudes and behaviours such as victim blaming of rape survivors will take generations to overcome due to their prevalence and lack of any real challenge. How can individuals and families support any victim of sexual assault and what measures can be taken to protect both men and women, including children? Believe them. It may sound

simple, but we have spoken with many girls who have said they suffered rape but won’t disclose it as they think no one will believe them. We also need to encourage victims, or parents of victims to access counselling. This is essential for a full and healthy recovery. If something feels wrong or you fear you are being followed, don’t ignore your instincts, seek out help immediately. Can women trust the Met Police to report such incidents and seek justice after all the recent incidents that have painted the Met Police in a bad light? As a domestic abuse support service, we rely and depend on the police to do their job well. When officers do their jobs well, lives can be saved and outcomes for women can be positive. What the Met Police has shown communities, is that they have a huge mountain to climb to win back trust. When the very people meant to protect you, perpetrate murder, can The Met seriously expect there to be trusted? And that's not the only force that needs to review its standards and outcomes of cases reported. A mother with a young teen daughter with learning disabilities, recently informed our staff that she had reported cases of online grooming to another police force. They informed her that it could take up to 9 months to investigate the incidents because they were, 'understaffed' and there was a 'lack' of resources. How can the police be relied upon, when reporting criminal activity, that is the response you get? Do you feel safe in the UK? I do not feel safe in the UK right now. When we launched our organisation at the end of last year, our staff and trustees were on the receiving end of a lot of backlash from the community. I received death threats from members of my own community. Despite reporting to the police, I was forced to relocate away from my family and loved ones to ensure our safety. I do all I can to keep my family and my two young children safe. I just hope it's enough.

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Technology and tooling could help deal with the healthcare crisis Shefali Saxena

antum co-founder and recipient of the ‘Asian Tech Pioneer’ award - GP Dr Ishani Patel has been recognised for her role in creating disruptive, game-changing technology, overcoming barriers of inclusion and accessibility in the wider tech industry in the process. As co-founder of Lantum - the UK’s largest digital staffing platform for healthcare workers – Ishani has helped transform rota scheduling and payment processes for the more than 5,000 UK healthcare organisations (and one in two doctors’ clinics in England) which use the platform. The company has achieved a 50/50 gender split across all levels and actively prioritises D&I at all stages of the hiring process. Dr Patel spoke to Asian Voice about her work, inclusivity in diversity and the current healthcare crisis. How does Lantum help healthcare workers? Lantum is a tech platform tackling the healthcare sector's biggest problem – the workforce. The NHS faces a staffing crisis, annually spending more than £4bn on temporary recruitment – employees are facing severe burnout, with more clinicians leaving the workforce than joining. There are 93,000 vacancies and little sign of bold plans from the government to address this. Lantum has built a powerful workforce scheduling platform helping clinicians take charge of their work life and schedules. It is also connected to rich hyper-local networks of available clinicians who can fill vacancies when needed, uniting healthcare organisations with the workforce like never before. Through features like ‘Rocketpay’, which enables doctors to be paid the next day for their shifts and is now free for all users, Lantum allows clinicians to focus their efforts on patient care without having to spend time chasing for payment, a

Dr Ishani Patel

process which otherwise can take several months. How does one attract and retain diverse talent while being inclusive? The most important thing is to prioritise diversity and inclusion considerations at all stages of the hiring process. We’re proud of reaching a 50/50 gender split among our staff, which we achieved by identifying areas in our organisation where women were underrepresented and taking active steps to redress this when advertising vacancies. It’s also important to ensure staff feel supported and secure in their positions, which is why we took several steps to help our people through the cost-of-living crisis. We provide lunch and cover commuting costs when our employees work from the office and introduced a 2% blanket pay rise to cover the 1.25% increase in national insurance payments in April. Additionally, we have a biannual remuneration committee, which reviews all employees for a potential pay rise twice annually. Could you tell us a bit about the GP shortage crisis? What’s the underlying issue and what is the solution? The retention rate among NHS staff is disastrous – one in nine (11%) left active service in the year to September 2021. GPs are leaving their positions at such a rate that it is estimated that one-quarter of posts will be empty within a decade. One of the major reasons behind staff leaving is the lack of work-life balance and control over schedules. Invariably, staff are unable to

Disabled UK drivers told blue badges may be rejected in EU due to Brexit Millions of disabled drivers who are blue badge holders in the UK have been warned that they will not be recognised in some of the most popular EU destinations for British driving holidays, because of Brexit. On the status of UK blue badges, which were recognised across the EU until Brexit, ministers are still negotiating with 11 countries including France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. There are almost 2.3 million blue badge holders in England alone.

Countries that remain “undecided” about the status of blue badges can be seen on the government’s website, but it has not been updated since last September. Jack Cousens, the head of roads policy for the Automobile Association (AA), said: “To keep blue badge users in limbo is simply unacceptable. Blue badges are issued because of specific health reasons, and to not have their status confirmed two years down the line is simply outrageous.”

plan their personal lives as they wait for rotas to be published. Often, time off is only granted if they can convince a colleague to swap shifts with them – which is exceptionally hard to do when many are working hours well over the contractual or recommended limits. With an ever-growing backlog of patients from the pandemic, GPs are overstretched and overworked – subsequently, many feel burnt out and choose to leave. The immediate solution to GP shortages is to make better use of existing capacity within the system – and the quickest way to implement these changes is through technology and tooling. How can tech help in navigating staffing issues? Tech holds the key to helping the NHS make the best use of the capacity already in the system. If we can get more clinicians working across organisational boundaries – as more than 3,000 do via Lantum – and working flexibly, we free up additional capacity to contribute to the system which may otherwise not be available. With the help of platforms like Lantum, we are seeing GPs starting to work more fluidly and sharing their time across the system – we currently have more than 31,000 clinicians on our platform. However, this practice needs to be rolled out to other staff beyond primary care for the NHS to make real progress on its crippling staff retention crisis. If modern technologies are embraced effectively, processes will become simpler, more cost-effective and reduce staff workload by enabling them to focus on patient health rather than rota spreadsheets. In turn, this will improve satisfaction and – ultimately - retention rates. What does it take to climb the ladder as a woman in science and technology? It takes leadership, perseverance and total commitment to a vision to navigate and climb the STEM ladder. Beyond this, I believe a key component to Lantum’s success – and that of other health tech companies defying the downturn elsewhere in the tech industry - has been identifying real-life inefficiencies and challenges in healthcare systems and developing solutions which significantly improve the quality of patient care. As we move forwards, both healthcare organisations and tech companies will be increasingly conscious of the need to increase diversity in their leadership teams, which bodes well for future opportunities for women seeking senior roles in these industries.

NHS: The greatest workforce crisis A group of MPs have warned that the NHS is facing “the greatest workforce crisis” in its history. In its report, the crossparty Commons health and social care select committee slam the “absence of a credible government strategy” on NHS-wide understaffing and criticises ministers for delaying a blueprint it says is urgently needed to address critical gaps in almost every area of care. The Guardian reported that NHS Digital figures suggest that the service has vacancies for 38,972 nurses and 8,016 doctors. However, the real figures could be as high as 50,000 and 12,000 respectively, according to estimates the Nuffield Trust prepared for the MPs. “The persistent understaffing of the NHS now poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety, both for routine and emergency care. It also costs more as patients present later with more serious illness,” the report says. “While shortages in any area pose patient safe-

ty risks, these are particularly pressing in maternity services,” the MPs add. They point out that the government last year accepted their recommendation that the NHS in England needs 2,000 more midwives and 500 more obstetricians in order to provide care that experts consider safe, given the risks involved in childbirth. “However, despite this, the NHS in England lost 552 midwives between March 2021 and March 2022. We asked the secretary of state for a deadline by when the shortfall would be addressed but as yet no date has been set.” Pregnant women need that recruitment to occur so they can “have confidence their maternity services are heading towards safety”. As ONS data shows, the UK employment rate is still below pre-pandemic levels to 75.6%, with total

actual weekly hours still significantly lower than before the first lockdown. The total of actual hours worked now stands at 1.04 billion between February and April – this is still 7.6 million below the hours recorded at preCovid levels. The number of job vacancies between March and May this year also rose to a new record of 1.3million. 332,000 people who have been waiting for more than a year for hospital treatment in the UK is pretty close to the 309,000 missing from the labour four due to long-term sickness. An article from the editors-in-chief of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) also claimed that Covid is still having a huge impact on the healthcare system. They added: “What the hospital admissions figures hide is a rising tide of people with long covid, now at two million and likely to be a major burden on the health service and the nation’s productivity, for a generation. ”

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

New Deputy High Commissioner of India in Kenya Rohit Vadhwana takes charge Distinguished IFS officer Rohit Vadhwana assumed charge as the Deputy High Commissioner of India in Kenya on 20th July. Rohit Vadhwana (IFS) was the First Secretary (Economics and Commerce Wing) and also had the responsibility for the Additional Charge of Press and Information Division at the Indian High Commission in the UK. Kenya headquarters United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which deals with the important environmental issue and as an additional responsibility of the Deputy Permanent Representative to India in UNEP, Vadhwana will have an important role to play. Similarly, he will also represent India for UN-Habitat. In both these functions, he will be guided by the High Commissioner & Permanent Representative. Kenya is one of the most important partners of

India in the African region. It is the 3rd largest economy in Africa and therefore India gives due prominence to this relationship. It is noteworthy that PM Modi visited Kenya in July 2016 and the Kenyan President returned the visit in January 2017. This was followed by visits of Ministers including External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav at differtimes. Similarly, ent

Kenyan authorities have also paid visits and engaged with New Delhi from time to time. In London, Vadhwana handled important portfolios like Economic and Media engagement. The Free Trade ongoing Agreement negotiation between India and the UK as well as increased cooperation between businesses kept him busy and certainly has given him a lot of exposure and experience which will be helpful to him in his current posting as DHC in Nairobi. He also actively engaged with the community in the UK and as we know Kenya is home to quite a large and vibrant Indian community, he will have an engaging tenure there. Given the direct connection between the Indian community based in the UK and Kenya, they will certainly have much higher expectations from Vadhwana.

Snakebites soaring in the UK The UK is witnessing a rise in snakebites as doctors have treated more than 300 people attacked by snakes. Apparently, the humble adder is not responsible for it but the craze for exotic pets are. The number of people who have been bitten by

snakes has increased manifold in recent years, according to the journal Clinical Toxicology, which drew on data from the UK National Poisons Information Service. In the past 11 years, medics in the UK have treated 321 snakebites. However,

people are not being attacked by snakes in the wild, but by snakes as pets, sometimes with harrowing consequences. Some of the most serious bites have come from species such as the king cobra and a spitting cobra from Mozambique.

Royal Mail reports £1m a day loss, threatens to split up business Royal Mail, which has been reporting of losing £1m a day, has threatened to split if it cannot achieve “significant operational change”, as it faces what could be the biggest strike of the summer. The company said it was considering “all options”, including separating its domestic and international businesses under a rebrand-

ed holding company called International Distributions Services, the day after thousands of its staff in the Communications Workers Union voted in favour of industrial action. The CWU termed Royal Mail as“pathetic” and accused it of “pleading poverty and threatening fragmentation” to try to get its way in pay negotiations.

Royal Mail said between April and June its adjusted operating loss was £92m and revenue was down 11.5%. Amid growing demand for larger parcels and nextday deliveries, including on Sundays, Royal Mail’s chief executive, Simon Thompson, said the company needed to “transform the way we work”.

25% of BAME non-executive directors in NHS face discrimination at work A report has revealed that a quarter of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) non-executive directors of NHS trusts have seen or experienced discrimination in the course of their work Almost four out of five (79%) of these BAME non-executives said they were able to challenge such behaviour. And only half (50%) said that it led to a change of policy or behaviour. “The other half felt they had been ‘fobbed off’

or subjected to actively hostile behaviour for having spoken up,” says a report commissioned by the Seacole Group, which represents most of the BAME non-executive board members of NHS trusts in England. It adds: “This level of

discrimination is unacceptable anywhere and even more so in the boardrooms of NHS organisations. Too many Black, Asian and other ethnic NEDs (non-executive directors) are being subjected to it and left to deal with it on their own.” Meanwhile, the Seacole Group has urged the NHS leadership to make it clear that discrimination will not be tolerated and said it should “take urgent action to eliminate it from its boardrooms”.

Man, 73, who cut wife’s throat cleared of murder A man from Greater Manchester who slit his wife’s throat “in an act of love” has been found not guilty of murder after a judge accepted the couple had made a suicide pact. Graham Mansfield, 73, was awarded a suspended sentence of two years after being found guilty of the manslaughter of his 71year-old wife Dyanne Mansfield at Manchester crown court. It took the jury only 90 minutes to clear him of the more serious charge after he gave emotional testimony of how he had killed his wife, Dyanne because she was in such pain with terminal cancer. He informed the jury that he cut her throat in their garden at 9 pm on 23 March and tried to kill himself but it failed. He then rang 999 the next morning and confessed to his act. Mr Justice Goose, sentencing Mansfield, said: “Your evidence, which I accept, is that every sinew in your body didn’t want to kill your wife. It was what she had asked you to do. It was an act of love and compassion to end her suffering.”

Use of UK hotels for asylum seekers triples Despite pledges from the Home Office to put an end to the use of hotels for asylum seekers, in 2021, the use of hotel accommodation for people seeking asylum almost tripled. By the end of 2021, 26,380 asylum seekers were living in temporary hotel accommodation according to a report from the Refugee Council entitled: Lives on Hold: The Experiences of People in Hotel Asylum Accommodation. For a year, 378 people have been in hotel rooms and 2,826 – for more than six months, although the accommodation is supposed to be temporary. According to freedom of information data obtained by the Refugee Council from the Home Office, the number of families housed in single hotel rooms has increased by nearly a third (27%) in 2021 including over 2,500 children – 10% of the hotel population.

Enam Ali MBE passes away Enam Ali MBE - among the most revered and cherished members of the Bangladeshi community, passed away at the age of 61 following a brave and courageous two-year battle against cancer on 17th July. A man of many talents, who created an amazing legacy during his long and successful career progressing the UK curry industry and NRB (Non-Resident Bangladeshi) community. He changed and helped shape society for good, he will be missed not just by those who knew him personally, but by all who have benefitted from his dedication and hard work over many years. His achievements and accolades were innumerable. He raised over two million pounds for various charities and held and established a multitude of advisory, governing and director positions in various coveted businesses, foundations and organisations. Over the decades, he became most well-known for being the leading pioneer of the UK curry industry; a successful restaurateur, and founder of Spice Business Magazine and the coveted British Curry Awards. He brought the curry restaurant industry into the mainstream using his illustrious charm and unwavering support from those around him; including - industry titans, politi-

cians, VIPs, dignitaries, celebrities and public figures together to celebrate others' achievements. He campaigned tirelessly all of his life for his sector - working determinedly with the government to ensure the industry’s continued success even in the most challenging business and economic conditions. His passion and dedication to his profession and industry were unmatched. As well as his inspiring duty to the business and cultural community, he was a family man in the truest sense. A beloved son, sibling, husband; father and grandfather. His untimely demise has sent shockwaves across the world, with tributes coming in from across the globe.

Mouth-watering food, Rides and Raas Leela… it’s Navnat’s, Janmashtami Mela! Annual Janmashtami Mela is being organised by Navnat Vanik Association on 14 August Sunday from 11 am to 8 pm at Navnat Centre, Printing House Lane, Hayes UB3 1AR. Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice newspapers are the

Educational Services and Solicitor services also. Kids’ Zone will be the special entertainer zone. There will be Face painting, Bouncing Castle & funfair rides with Teacup and many more children’s rides. All rides are free.”

media partner of the event. Providing information, Ramesh J Shah, Treasurer Navnat Vanik Association (UK) said, “It is open and free for all. Everybody can join with family and friends. There is a free large car park just two minute walk from Mela. There will be a variety of stalls selling tasty food and exotic drinks as well as fashion and beauty products. Stalls will include Travel Agents,

Shah added, “Janmashtami celebration will give a feel of Vrindavan. Krishna Janam, Nandbhao, Matki and Raas Leela will be the main attractions. Dance performances will be given by professional artists as well as local talent.” For more information, & including the booking of stalls, Ramesh Shah 07742 045 154 and Haresh Sanghavi 07941 102 021 can be contacted.

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

AsianVoiceNews

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

IJA celebrates 75th anniversary The Indian Journalists’ Association hosted its 75thanniversary dinner at The Taj on Monday. It also celebrated India’s 75th

Rishi Sunak posing with the IJA Yearbook

MPs honour Sir David Amess in Commons debate A commons debate was held in honour of MP Sir David Amess who was fatally stabbed last October during a constituency surgery.

For agreeing to formally recognise Sir David in the final major debate before the summer recess conservative former minister Mark Francois thanked Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Commons Leader Mark Spencer and others. During a debate, backbench MPs were offered a chance to raise issues in the House of Commons, and hopefully a response from a minister, before the sixweek parliamentary break. Mr Francois, speaking during the Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment Debate, said of his friend: “He remains sorely missed across this House, not least by me. “This was already known unofficially as the David Amess debate because of the inimitable style in which he conducted it, but it’s wonderful to know what was unofficial is now official and I simply say thank you.” Mr Francois also asked Commons deputy leader Peter Bone: “Can the minister promise me and all of Sir David’s friends and colleagues, and this House, that this will now be known as the Sir David Amess debate forever because I think that is the answer we’d like to hear."

IJA President Rupanjana Dutta delivering her welcome address

Independence Day and included a panel discussion on ‘Changing the perception of India and future’. The event hoped to have Rishi Sunak as a guest, who could not

attend last minute due to the BBC live hustings hosted far away from London. However, the souvenir magazine published celebrating the occasion was received by Mr

IJA Student Journalist of the Award presented to Shivangi Sen of Westminster University by Acting High Commissioner of India to the UK, Sujit Ghosh, Virendra Sharma MP, Baroness Verma, Naresh Kaushal, Lord Gadhia, Lord Ranger and Lord Popat

Sunak, and was seen posing with it the next day. A detailed report on the event will be published in next week’s Asian Voice.

Moderator Paresh Kiri and panellists Dr Swati Dhingra, Arya Taware, Mohith Sondhi, Devie Mohan and Mallika Basu

GCSE and A-Level results might affect as exam board staff to go on strike Workers at exam board AQA preparing for a 72-hour strike might impact GCSE and A-Level results. Unison has announced the walkout over wages, with the union saying staff are struggling to make ends

meet because of successive below-inflation pay awards. The employees are planning to walk out for three days from Friday 29 July to Sunday 31 July - with warnings that industrial action could escalate unless talks

Woman’s body lay undiscovered in flat for two years A woman's body was discovered by police after two and a half years of lying dead in her flat, an inquiry has been heard. In February, Sheila Seleone’s skeletal remains were found in her southeast London home. A hearing at Southwark Coroner’s Court was told that the 61-yearold probably died at the flat in Peckham in August 2019. Earlier this year, officers broke through the door after receiving reports from neighbours concerned for her welfare. Meanwhile, residents had made several reports to the Peabody housing association, raising concerns

about a bad smell, mail building up in her letterbox and not having seen her for some time. After receiving similar reports, police visited twice in October 2020, but said they did not notice a bad smell and the officers did not feel there was enough evidence at the time to justify a forced entry. However, this year on 18 February, officers forced their way inside after returning to the flat on St Mary’s Road in Peckham. Owing to the advanced state of decomposition, a post-mortem examination was unable to establish a cause of death.

Serving Met Police officer denies groping woman in London nightclub A serving Metropolitan Police officer denies groping a woman in a London nightclub. On 7 February, Pc Emeri Ratucoko, 37, allegedly grabbed the complainant’s breast at a nightclub in Kingston, southwest London. Prosecutors told the court that he got involved in an altercation with the bar manager as well. On Wednesday, Ratucoko appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court facing charges of sexual assault and using threatening or abusive words or behaviour.

Before entering not guilty pleas to both charges, he spoke to confirm his name, address in Wandsworth, southwest London, and date of birth. He opted for a jury trial and District Judge Nina Tempia granted him unconditional bail ahead of his next appearance at Kingston Crown Court on 10 August. At the time of the incident, the officer was off duty and has been placed on restricted duties but had no face-to-face contact with the public and no involvement in the investigation of sexual offences, the Met said.

are reopened. GCSE students should expect their results on Thursday 25 August, while Alevel results will be released on Thursday 18 August. Currently, there are four exam boards: AQA, OCR,

Pearson and WJEC Edugas. Many of the 180 staff affected expressed their discontent owing to successive below-inflation pay awards. The AQA workers involved in the dispute work in England.

Last year, staff were given an increase of 0.6% with 3% offered this year, which Unison said is a realterms pay cut. Unison official Lizanne Devonport said the workers have no option but to strike.

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Droupadi Murmu from a tribal community elected to be the next President of India Indians in India and the Indian diaspora abroad are celebrating the election of Madame Droupadi Murmu as the next President of India. She was born in a tribal community in June 1958 in the village of Uparbeda of Rairangpur, Mayurbhanj, Odisha. It is one of the most remote and underdeveloped districts of the country. There are 700 tribes with a combined population of 100 million tribal people in India. In 1997 Droupadi was elected a BJP councillor. She went on to become a minister in the coalition government of the BJDBJP alliance from 2000 to 2004. In 2015 she was appointed as Governor of Jharkhand. While for decades the Socialists and their fellow travellers paid lip service to tribal communities and disadvantaged classes, the present government has actually brought about a radical shift in opening up opportunities to all sections of Indian society. We hear of Rickshaw drivers' children getting admitted to the top universities of India and in sports too the poorest have risen to be national heroes. I have yet to hear anything in the national media here in the UK about this positive news nor have our Socialist Lords and Indian academics at Oxford, Cambridge and other Universities commented on this news. Normally they are very quick to call the Indian government oppressive and undemocratic at the first opportunity. Nothing from US-based Amartya Sen who predicts doom and gloom in his every sermon on India. For me, the name Droupadi reminds me of the other Droupadi who is one of the greatest icons in Indian History. The Droupadi of the Mahabharata. When the evil Dushashan was trying to disrobe Droupadi, Lord Krishna came to her assistance. Another time the angry Rishi Durvasa Muni and his disciples turned up at the Pandavas' residence in the forest and demanded to be fed. The Pandavas had the Akshay Patra pot which would give food every day but once Droupadi had eaten and washed the pot it would not give anything till the next day. Droupadi had already washed the pot for the day. There was nothing to feed the angry Durvasa and his disciples. Pandavas were in great danger of being cursed by the Rishi. At that point, Droupadi prayed to Krishna for help. Krishna appeared and asked to see the pot. He found a single grain of rice and ate it. At the same time, Durvasa and his disciples felt completely full and decided to cancel their eating programme! The new President Droupadi has also faced many challenges in her life. Between 2009 and 2015 she lost her husband, two sons, her mother and brother. She was in great pain and it was only when she visited the Brahma Kumaris spiritual mission she found a new sense of direction. When someone comes to you in distress and if you give whatever help you can, it could turn out that the person in future could become a great man or woman. Brahma Kumaris' role in the life of President Droupadi will be positively recognised by people everywhere. Similarly, the late Steve Jobs, co-founder and chief executive of Apple Computers used to walk 7 miles every Sunday evening to a Hare Krishna temple for a good meal/prasadam. This was at the time when he was struggling financially. Again the Hare Krishna movement's legendary free food distribution found a future visionary who candidly admitted his appreciation of the Hare Krishna movement. While there is strife and no democracy in many countries of the world, India is witnessing a new and novel approach to nation-building and facing up to a huge array of vested interest groups trying to destabilise the country. Nitin Mehta

Then there were two The way Conservative party conducted the election of their party leader and PM, reminded me of Agatha Christie’s novel “Then There Were None”. It is her best novel, widely read and translated in more than fifty languages, turned into films and TV drama. If Conservative party had used transferable vote system, where by votes of losing candidate is transferred to second preference until two are left, it would have needed only one round of voting, done and dusted In one day. Some countries use this system which is preferred by voters rather than first pass the post. Although Rishi Sunak attracted most votes of MPs, it seems he has already lost to his rival Liz Truss when it comes to party members, who are mostly whites and elderly who would find it difficult to vote for Rishi. Although Rishi is of British Indian heritage, he has not cultivated close relations with the community and talking to friends, it does not matter to them who become the next PM when we should be overjoyed at the prospect of British Indian leading this great nation! While Conservative party is most diverse, most of us voting for them, their party members are the least diverse, making it difficult, if not impossible for non-white to lead the party. Perhaps they should change the rules giving MPs 50% share. But there is no simple answers except more from the British Indian community become members. It is easier said than done, as we are not political minded, more interested in social and financial areas! So what we saw, so we reap! Bhupendra M. Gandhi

The inhuman touch

•

In the good old days companies employed telephonists to answer our phone calls. We would be greeted by a cheerful and friendly voice and put through to the department we requested. Now, in 2022, I find myself talking to robots with hearing problems, giving rise to hilarious responses. Robots invite us to “say in a few words why you are calling” and if we say something like “I would like to discuss my bill” the robot may well astonish you by replying: “So you want to catch a bus to Brazil, is that right?” Even before Mr Robot comes on the line we have to listen to a range of options – “press 1 for this, 2 for that, 3 for the other...” none of which covers the topic we want. It is the same with computers. If we run into difficulties, click their online “customer services” section and go to their FAQ (frequently asked questions), we cannot find anything there that would enable us to fix our own problem. I thought modern technology was supposed to make our lives easier but surely the reverse is true? What do readers think? Rudy Otter

Priti Patel set to lose job? Boris Johnson's resignation might majorly affect Priti Patel who will not be kept as home secretary under either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss amid suggestions that she could lose her Cabinet place entirely. It is believed that Truss, the foreign secretary most likely will promote Suella Braverman, the attorney-general, to the role if she wins the leadership vote, with Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, also under consideration. Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Priti Patel were never on the same page as far as support for Prime Minister Boris Johnson was concerned.

Ex-Speaker criticises Johnson’s bid to create dozens of new peers A former speaker has warned that Boris Johnson risks bringing the House of Lords into contempt with his plans to create more than 30 peers. Before leaving office, the prime minister is planning two resignation lists, a political list that has been repeatedly delayed and a resignation honours list. The first is believed to have been on hold for more than a year amid concerns about cronyism. Johnson is determined on pushing it through with Michael Hintze, a billionaire Tory donor, Paul Dacre, the former editor of

the Daily Mail, Sir Nicholas Soames, Churchill’s grandson, and Andrew Roberts, the proBrexit historian, all under consideration. Lord Fowler, a former lord speaker, warned against the mass appointments. He told Times Radio: “It just brings the whole system into some kind of contempt. “Peers are being appointed because they’ve made contributions, financial contributions to the party, and all kinds of other reasons. It’s really no way to run the House of Lords."

Low pay and damp housing causing lung disease deaths, study finds Due to damp housing and low pay, poorer people are much more likely to die from Britain’s most common lung condition, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than wealthier patients, researchers have found. A survey of nearly 6,000 people living with COPD found that the survival of a patient depends onstructural inequalities. According to the research, carried out by Asthma + Lung UK and published in BMJ Open Respiratory Research, poorer people with COPD are five times more likely to die than the wealthiest people with the condition. Symptoms include

breathlessness, a constant cough, wheezing and coughing up phlegm. In the UK, each year, an estimated 30,000 people die from COPD. Prof Nick Hopkinson, medical director of Asthma + Lung UK, said: “One of the impacts of inequality is that it affects some of the most vulnerable people in society and it increases the risk of dying from lung disease. “COPD is one of the biggest health problems in the UK and one of the biggest causes of hospital admissions so failure to deal with this is causing big problems for the health and social care system.”

Kapil Dudakia

KAPIL’S

KHICHADI

What about my Human Rights? Last week in Kapil’s Khichadi I brought to your attention a very important matter relating to ‘Freedom of Religion or Belief’ (FoRB) initiative that has been championed by Lord Ahmad (Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict and Minister of State for South and Central Asia, North Africa, United Nations and the Commonwealth) and Fiona Bruce MP (appointed as the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief) representing the Government. I have had tremendous positive feedback from politicians here and abroad, from leading figures from our community here and abroad, and of course also the standard abuse from the extremists whose game of conversion has been exposed. I mentioned in the article that many politicians and national governments do everything in their power to avoid the elephant in the room. The elephant that I have identified being faiths that promote violent conversions of ‘Kaffirs’, and those faiths that consider me a ‘heathen’ and being allowed to use their might and power to ‘harvest’ my soul for their one true God? The charter of FoRB states, ‘FoRB is not just the freedom to hold personal thoughts and convictions, but also being able to express them individually or with others, publicly or in private’. It includes the freedom to: • subscribe to different schools of thought within a religion • change one’s religion or beliefs, including to leave or abandon religions • hold non-religious beliefs The nations that have signed up to this cause so far are Albania, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, The Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States of America. As far as I can make out, not one Islamic nation has signed up to this charter. However, at the conference we witnessed several Islamic speakers who said all the right things to appease the western narrative. Not one speaker asked the question, ‘Why is there not even one Islamic nation that has signed this charter?’ It leads me to ask that awkward question, what about my human rights? As a Hindu (though this applies equally to Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, and others) why is it that the international community are willing to allow certain faiths (namely Christianity and Islam) a free pass to do whatever they want in the name of their God? Why is it that one will classify me as a ‘heathen’ and will do their utmost to convert me to their faith, by force, by corruption or by deception? And why is it that the other can call me a ‘Kaffir’ and use the ‘word of god’, to forcefully convert me, kill me, rape our women, enslave us for their entertainment and take over our territory? In both cases, they will do their best to destroy my faith, my culture and my very identity by extinguishing my heritage. I ask openly, why my human rights are not protected. Why is it that when I speak up that the wrath of the abusers descends on me to silence me? If those who wish to see real and truthful expression of ‘Freedom of Religion or Belief’, then I say to them all, is it not time you first tackled this elephant in the room? If you deny the root cause, what chance do you have of ever securing justice for the victims and bringing about peace? The world today is full of promises on paper. Often the very people who champion these are the very perpetrators of atrocities. If FoRB is to be real – then I stand ready to assist, as long as my voice is not silenced by bureaucratic rhetoric and platitudes. Will our new Prime Minister make a call to me? Only time will tell 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

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Glaringly obvious and yet not: Environmental emergency and systemic racism Anusha Singh The past few years have made it glaringly obvious that all global issues are, in one form or the other, ingrained in racial injustice. The latest instances of it are provided in a recently published report by the Runnymede Trust and Greenpeace UK. The report sheds much-needed light on the issue of environmental injustice. It is a highlight of the battle, that the people of colour and indigenous communities fought for over a decade, against environmental racism. The report talks about incidents of environmental racism all around the world and connects them to the United Kingdom. It points out that the people of colour and those from indigenous communities suffer adverse effects of the environmental crisis while they are the ones who have the least negative impact on it. All the while, these are the people who are least equipped to cope with such extreme strains. The richer countries become richer at the cost of the global south. This puts a majority of people of colour and indigenous groups under exploitation. These politically marginalized groups hardly have any means to protect themselves against oppression. Specifically in the UK, according to the report, there is evidence that people of colour are offered less paying, highly dangerous job opportunities. People of

colour and indigenous groups are also more likely to be found living in areas that are most impacted by environmental crises. Halima Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust told Asian Voice, “Talking about the economic disparity, Halima said that the world cannot overcome the environmental crisis without addressing the disparity patterns. It is also implicit in achieving racial justice worldwide. She also points out that the governments need to stop deviating and legislating for shorter terms and should now have a plan of action for this generation and for those that are to follow. According to her, “Immediate action is required to implement the urgent changes that will address the climate crisis for the citizens of every country on the planet, while there is still time.” However, Britons seem unaware of the racism that is interlinked to the climate crisis in the country. Racism in itself, is daily news in all parts of the world, even when the gentlemen’s game is involved. The most recent incident occurred in Scotland where former cricketer Majid Haq accused the Scotland Cricket Board of alleged racism. In a recent press conference, the cricketer recalled being called the pword and was asked if he was involved in money laundering or if he was dealing drugs. As a result of the surfacing of these accusations, the Scotland Cricket

Dr Halima Begum

Dr Indranil Chakravorty

Shilpa Bilimoria

Board has resigned with immediate effect. NHS and racism: PostBrexit UK is no different Dr Indranil Chakravorty from the BAPIO Institute for Health Research (BIHR) feels that bias and discrimination are deeply ingrained in society at large as well as being prevalent in the institutions in the UK. Sharing his stance, he said, “Even though it is a shadow of its past colonial might, the post- Brexit UK is no different, as a society with deeply embedded racism.” Talking about the National Health Service, Dr Indranil points out that the NHS, in spite of working with staff and patients of diverse backgrounds, manifests persistent racism. This can be clearly pointed out through the body’s annual surveys and outcomes that fall well below its constitutional aspiration of providing universal health access to all. Dr Indranil also highlights the positive changes brought about by the pandemic and how some NHS leaders have recognised the existence of widespread health inequalities, the connection between racism and

health and only now the direct causality between health and climate emergency. “In May 2022, the Women’s Forum of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin organised the first multiagency health conference on climate emergency and

equality for women”, he states. This conference brought together the NHS employers, academics and climate activists in Milton Keynes to pledge their commitment to sustainability, reducing the NHS carbon footprint to net zero by 2035 and tackling the differential

impact of climate change on health by adopting antiracist policies. According to Shilpa Bilimoria, Creative Director and Founder of House of Bilimoria and a promoter of sustainable fashion, “The climate crisis has been affecting people in the global south much before the impacts like the heatwave we are seeing here.” She further added, “When things like this affect the global South there isn’t a major uproar from the west- and this is racism, as it is only important to speak on or report if it affects the west. This is the real damage that has and is being done constantly.”

Teen rapist finally admits his crimes A teen rapist who targeted two women on a Peterborough footpath five years ago has finally admitted his crimes. Awais Rehman, now 20 and legally allowed to be named and pictured for the first time, raped one woman on 30 September, 2017, before sexually assaulting and robbing another a week later. The crimes took place on Bretton Way cycle path, near Rhubarb Bridge in Peterborough. The court heard Rehman threatened his first victim with a large knife. She screamed but was told to be quiet by Rehman, who forced her into some nearby bushes and raped her. He was ruled not fit to stand trial in

November 2018 but was tried in his absence at Cambridge Crown Court, where jurors found he did commit the rape and sexual assault. Rehman, who was 17 when he was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in May 2019, was only deemed fit to plead late last year. On July 22 at Cambridge Crown Court he pleaded guilty to rape, threatening a person with a blade, robbery and two counts of sexual assault. He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on 2 September. The police investigation into the Peterborough cycle path rapes featured on the Channel 4 series, 24 Hours in Police Custody.

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 July - 5 Aug 2022

SCRUTATOR’S Cheetahs to return to India after 70 years Namibia and India signed a pact to relocate eight African cheetahs to the Kuno wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. The world’s fastest land animal was officially declared extinct in India in 1952. Namibia has the world’s largest population of big cats. Both the governments have been planning the first transcontinental cheetah relocation project for months. The cheetahs are expected to arrive in India on or before Aug. 15. The return of cheetahs to India, however, hasn’t come easy. India was earlier supposed to get 20 of the animals, but the Madhya Pradesh government ran out of funds and the number had to be decreased to eight. The lack of suitable space was another problem. “The Kuno enclosure can house 10 to 12 cheetahs. Besides, Kuno was also a difficult location to arrive at amid the row over the transfer of some Asiatic lions to the same sanctuary from the jungles of Gir in Gujarat. A major hurdle lies in transportation. Even though Qatar Airways has agreed to fly down the cheetahs to Delhi, the process of shifting them from there to Madhya Pradesh is yet to be finalised. (Agency) Heroin capsules worth £900,000 seized

Heroin capsules weighing 1.266 kg worth nearly £900,000 were seized from a Tanzanian national by Air Intelligence Officers of the customs department at Chennai International airport. The officials had intercepted the Tanzanian national who had arrived in the city on 14 July from Entebbe in Uganda in Ethiopian Airlines flight. The man had swallowed the heroin encased in capsules which was later recovered by customs officials. Customs officials in Chennai had encountered a similar case in May this year after apprehending an Ugandan man who had swallowed 63 capsules containing heroin worth £556,000. (Agency)

'One pizza a month' wedding contract

Wedding agreements between spouses are generally serious business. But the video of one "contract", signed by a couple at their recent wedding, has hit the headlines and gone viral on social media for its unusual content. The fun list of do's and don'ts has been put together by friends of the newlyweds and is obviously not legally binding. The 16-second video of the bride and the groom signing the piece of paper has been viewed 45 million times. The top item on the list - "only one pizza a month." The advice is aimed at the 24year-old bride Shanti Prasad - described by friends as "a pizza freak" - who married her college sweetheart Mintu Rai, 25, at a traditional ceremony in Guwahati. "Her love for pizza is second only to her love for Mintu. I think she thinks about pizza in her free time and even in sleep," says Raghav Thakur, the couple's friend and also the brain behind the surprise wedding contract. (Agency)

5 arrested for 'forcing' NEET aspirants to remove innerwear Five people were arrested for allegedly forcing girl students to remove innerwear before attending the National Eligibilitycum-Entrance Test (NEET) in Kerala's Kollam. The incident took place at Mar

Thoma College in Kollam. The arrested include two members of college staff and three members of the agency that was entrusted with the security of the centre. A complaint was filed by a parent alleging that students were "mentally tortured" even when the dress code did not suggest removal of innerwear. The girl's father claimed that at least 90 per cent of students were asked to remove their innerwear before taking the exam. “It was most unfortunate that the organisers of the examination in the state took such an extreme step towards girls. It is nothing but a human rights violation. The state government will register its protest and seek action against those responsible. Such incidents should not happen again,” said Kerala higher education minister R Bindu. (Agency)

Anna's hummingbird changing colours Nature is packed with fascinating creatures with each one of them having a distinct feature. One such is Anna's hummingbird which is known for its striking colours. Not just this but their colour appears to be changing when viewed from different angles. Shared by Wonder of Science on Twitter, the video showcases the special property of an Anna's hummingbird due to which it reflects different vibrant colours. The little bird turns its head and displays shades of fluorescent reddish-pink and black. As the viewing angle changes, the colours also appear to be changing. The text attached to the video said, “The stunning colors of Anna's hummingbird are iridescence caused by light scattering from nanoscale structures within their feathers.” The video captivated viewers on Twitter who could not resist praising nature. “Ok, this beautiful thing made my day,” wrote one user. Another said the bird looked like an “upgraded version of chameleon.” (Agency)

42-year-old case cleared in 4 hours It took four hours and 20 minutes for a metropolitan court in Ahmedabad to finalize a criminal case that has been pending for 42 years. The court recorded the acquittal of the accused after convincing the parties to settle the financial dispute amicably. This was one of the 100 oldest cases in Gujarat. According to case details, Suresh Patel invested Rs 49,653 in a partnership firm dealing in crockery. He was promised handsome returns on his investment, but lost his money. He filed a complaint against Himmat Kothari, Haresh Kothari, Hansa Kothari, Prakash Shah and Harshad

Kamdar, accusing them of cheating. The case went without trial for four decades mainly because the documents, which were sent for forensic analysis, were never received by the court for unknown reasons. As the Gujarat high court has been insisting on disposal of long pending cases, additional chief metropolitan magistrate Sanjay Shah decided to put an end to one of the oldest litigations. He summoned the complainant and accused and tried to bring about a resolution. With the court’s intervention, the parties reached an amicable settlement, and the complainant decided not to go ahead with criminal proceedings. With this, the court disposed of the case by acquitting all five accused. (The Times of India)

IIM Raipur admits more girls than boys At a time when management institutes across the world are trying to bring gender parity in male-dominated classrooms of business education, the Indian Institute of Management in Raipur made history by admitting 205 girls compared to 125 boys. Now, the institute has 20% more girls than boys in the post graduate programme in management. Meanwhile, IIM Kozhikode, which for one year in 2019 set aside 60 supernumerary seats for women, has seen the share of women candidates admitted in 2022 at 46.7%. Apart from Raipur and Kozhikode, while many IIMs have crossed the mark of having 30% women this year, others such as IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta are slowly inching closer to that. A 2021 application trend survey revealed that more women than men had applied to join B-schools around the world. And that is reflective in the incoming batch of Bschool freshers in India too. (Agency)

Man carries old parents on shoulders for Kanwar Yatra The annual Kanwar Yatra began on July 14 and will end on July 26. During this time, millions of Lord Shiva devotees travel to Hindu pilgrimage places of Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand, and Sultanganj in Bihar, to fetch the holy waters of River Ganga. Every year, photos and videos of the devotees travelling barefoot with heavy loads surface on social media. However, this year, a video of a man carrying his old parents on his shoulders during the Kanwar Yatra has gone viral. The clip showed a man carrying his old parents on a scale. He replaced the scale's containers with small chairs and carried his mother and father on his shoulders. "Nowadays, old parents are despised, they are thrown out of the house or not allowed to live with their children. Whereas, today the

opposite view was seen. There is a Shravan Kumar among millions of Shiva devotees who have come on a Kanwar Yatra with his elderly parents in a palanquin. Since being shared, the video has taken the internet by storm. (Agency)

Solo honeymoon for Kshama Bindu The 24year-old Kshama Bindu who married herself set her mind for a solo honeymoon next month. “Like any bride, I am very excited for my honeymoon. I will leave for Goa on August 7 and will record all my special moments there on my mobile phone.” The woman who will celebrate her birthday on August 10, has already made elaborate plans for her travel and also chalked out all the destinations she would visit. “I will be spending a lot of time at the vibrant Arambol beach, where I can wear a bikini without anyone ogling at me. The beach hosts a lot of events and is one of my favourite and dream destinations in Goa,” she said, adding that she is also well equipped to handle the volley of queries that she fears of encountering there about her “spouse”. “When I am on a honeymoon, people will know I am married and will obviously ask about my husband. I will get a chance then to explain to them all about sologamy and why I married myself,” Bindu said. (The Times of India)

Tiger survives strong river current A tiger was swept away by strong currents when it tried to cross the Gerua River in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh. It was eventually able to swim to the other side and reach the forest. A video, uploaded by Indian Forest Service officer Ramesh Pandey on Twitter, captured the moments as the tiger struggled to stay afloat in the river. In a subsequent video, we can see the tiger wading across the swollen river. The officer wrote that the tiger managed to cross the river and reached the jungles on the other side. “The tiger being a powerful and great swimmer could cross the river against the current, and reached in jungles of Katerniaghat, part of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve,” the tweet read. The tiger was being monitored while it crossed the river. “The team led by Akash Deep Bhadhawan monitored the safe passage of the tiger and other wildlife during high flood times in Katerniaghat. Monsoon in Terai is a tough time for protection and patrolling,” the officer tweeted. (Agency)

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

in brief BUSINESS FINED FOR USING PROHIBITED INGREDIENTS IN COSMETICS A hair and beauty shop in Woolwich has been fined £5,600 for selling illicit cosmetics which contain harmful ingredients. Owner Mr Shazeb Ahmed was fined £2,000 with a 12 month community order involving 100 hours unpaid work during a hearing at Bexley Magistrates’ Court. The company, Shaba Hair and Cosmetics, in Woolwich, was fined £5,600 along with £4,000 in costs after he repeatedly failed to comply with extensive advice and guidance from Council officers. The company had 243 non-compliant items seized for evidential purposes by Greenwich Council’s trading standards team. Samples of nine seized products were made and submitted for labelling examination and analysis for the presence of prohibited ingredient hydroquinone and clobetasol propionate. This steroid is only permitted in medicines. Both ingredients are prohibited due to health risks associated with their use. Without proper control or regulation by a doctor or pharmacist, products with a high percentage of steroids can have extremely harmful side effects, including skin thinning and muscle loss.

GLASGOW DOCTOR WAS SUSPENDED FOR SIX MONTHS AFTER BEING FOUND ASLEEP ON A BENCH A Glasgow doctor who was struck off for going AWOL from a busy A&E ward to take a nap has been handed her licence back. Dr Raisah Sawati was found by a nurse asleep on a bench wrapped in a blanket after colleagues reported her missing from duty at Fairfield Hospital in Greater Manchester. At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) last year, the 33-year-old's fledgling career in medicine was left in tatters after she was found guilty of misconduct, dishonesty and deficient professional performance. However, the MPTS has performed a Uturn on its ruling after a High Court judge quashed the decision. Instead, at a new tribunal, the MPTS ruled Dr Sawati is to be suspended for six months.

STUDENT GETS JOB AFTER STANDING OUTSIDE TUBE STATION Usman Akhtar, 20, stood outside the Jubilee line entrance at Canary Wharf between 5pm and 7.30pm on June 30 in a suit holding a sign that read: " BSc Finance, investment & risk undergraduate student looking for a summer internship in Banking & Finance. 1st class Honours (expected). Fluent Bilingual. Intermediate Level Coding skills. Approach for: CV, Networking, Conversation". The secondyear student at the London Institute of Banking & Finance said he was inspired by a man who did something similar and landed a job by the end of the week. Usman said he applied to at least 50 internships this year and only a handful contacted him with an interview or an offer, but none he was interested in. Luckily his time standing outside the station paid off as the Sanne Group got in touch and after a successful interview, Usman started his internship just two and a half weeks after his pitch at Canary Wharf. His first day in the Corporate Secretarial department was July 18.

www.asian-voice.com

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Vibrant family ‘Festival of Inspiration’ opens to the community at Neasden Temple

he ‘Festival of Inspiration’ – a colourful ten-day cultural festival for the whole family marking the centennial birth anniversary of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj – opened its doors to the public today at Neasden Temple in the presence of several distinguished guests. Swamis from the Temple sadhus conducted a short ceremonial ritual and arti before H.E. Sujit Ghosh, Deputy High Commissioner for India to London officially opened the gate of the Festival grounds in the morning. Drawing upon the profound impact of His Holiness Pramukh

programme of engagement with the community to improve health and wellbeing.” Amish Tripathi, bestselling Indian author and Director of The Nehru Centre in London, was present to oversee the launch of the live music and dance performances on the outdoor stage, where some of the most acclaimed and soughtafter artists of Indian music, dance and singing in the UK will enthral the audience. Kamlesh Patel, a lead volroom, obstacle course as well as other interactive games and activities to become ‘heroes’ of the future. David Webb, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, officially opened the Health Hub, which will provide visitors with free health awareness and well-being advice, screening and interactive sessions such as yoga training and healthy cooking demon-

Swami Maharaj, Mr Ghosh said, “I am delighted to be here. What you are doing in terms of propagating Swamiji’s [His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s] message [of culture, harmony, and spirituality] is really impressive.” Frontline heroes from the local NHS and emergency services inaugurated the ‘Island of Heroes’ – a children’s adventureland where visitors will embark on an exciting journey through musical productions, theatrical shows, a 4D experience, escape

strations. Mr Webb shared his reflections by saying, “It’s been an absolute pleasure to visit and be a part of the Festival of Inspiration on the hundredth centenary of His Holiness [Pramukh Swami Maharaj]. I’ve been really impressed by the extensive

unteer, shared, “Now that the Festival is officially open, the atmosphere is building with tremendous excitement. The sights, sounds and flavours will bring an unforgettable experience as we bring together communities from across the country. “The beauty of the Festival is that there is something for everyone to engage with – from the amazing children’s adventureland to a stroll through the gardens, and, of course, the sumptuous ‘Flavours of India’ food court – and much much more! It’s a free family day out, so come and join us for one of the moments of the summer.”

Rishi Sunak: I wasn’t born this way Continued from page 1 That’s where I grew up working in the shop delivering medicines. I worked as a waiter in an Indian restaurant down the road. Now I’m standing here because of the hard work and sacrifice and love of my parents and the opportunities they provided me.” Commenting on borrowing and debt, he continued to place “family” at the epicentre of national planning, and said, “We fund our NHS through taxation. If we want to get the backlogs down if we want to get the support of NHS workers…I thought it was the right and responsible thing to do to get the funding into the NHS. That’s why I did what I did. I also think it’s not moral to ask our children to pick up the tab for the bills we’re not prepared to pay. It’s not a conservative thing to do.” Born to Punjabi Hindu parents, Yashvir and Usha Sunak, Rishi reiterated that his mum studied hard and got the qualification to become a pharmacist. She met his father, an NHS GP and settled in Southampton. “Family is everything to me. My family gave me opportunities they could only dream of,” he said. During a recent interaction with the Indian Journalists’ Association just before the UK India Awards, while still the Chancellor of the UK, Rishi further narrated the story of his roots. His grandmother said goodbye to her small children, boarded a plane in East Africa, and, without a job or a home to go to, flew to Britain to build a better life. “I can’t imagine the courage that must have taken. It took them months to save enough for my grandfather to follow with their children – including my fifteenyear-old mother,” he said. His father was an NHS GP – and worked extra jobs, evenings, and weekends. Almost every night of my childhood, he worked until the early hours, writing up patient notes and referral letters.

Rishi Sunak with his family

Usha Sunak, his mother, owned a pharmacy – Sunak Pharmacy. Rishi added, “Our life was built around the business. Out of school, I’d serve customers or do deliveries; help dispense medicines; do the bookkeeping. And every Sunday we’d pile into the car to clean the shop, all of us together, the whole family. It was a family business – that’s just what you do. “So I learnt early on that family matters. Families nurture our children and teach them good conduct; support us, unconditionally; pass on culture, religion, and identity. No government could even begin to replicate the profound bonds family forms. And like so many British Indian families, of all faiths, we came together to serve the community.” Those criticising Sunak for the current stature of his place as the 222nd richest person in Britain along with his wife Akshata Murty, with a combined fortune of £730m as of 2022, have perhaps forgotten that while he was educated at Winchester College, Rishi won the prestigious Fullbright Scholarship for his MBA from Stanford University in California as a Fulbright Scholar. It was only while studying at Stanford, that he met his future wife Akshata Murty, the daughter of

N. R. Narayana Murthy, the Indian billionaire businessman who founded Infosys. British media hasn’t been quite kind to Sunak. Scathing pieces in the Guardian and Telegraph termed him as “thinned-skinned he couldn’t even take a bit of criticism or gentle piss-taking” and his policies were called “peculiarly regressive” respectively. Sunak was also critiqued for mansplaining Truss during the debate while talking taxes, but it is imperative to ponder that despite being put down by white supremacists and perhaps Johnson’s supporters, Sunak isn’t slipping into deafening silence and continues to argue as a candidate. Using his Indian heritage as a card to play for elections and to gain the trust of British Indians may or may not go in his favour, but if Sunak manages to move the votes, Britain, in the 75th year of India’s Independence, will finally have its first Indian origin Prime Minister. If he manages to win, he will create history.

If Sunak manages to move the votes, Britain, in the 75th year of India’s Independence, will finally have its first Indian origin Prime Minister.

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Discussions about healthcare inequality are just rhetoric, unless we create real change Shefali Saxena

rigger Warning: Sandeep Saib had been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, body dysmorphic disorder and OCD, and had tried to take her own life. Like others in a similar position, Sandeep is incredibly brave to have shared her story and to have sought professional help. In our South Asian culture, there is a huge stigma around mental health. Although the situation is changing, slowly, the stigma remains. Here’s her exclusive interview with Asian Voice: hat's the first thing a person with the slightest mental health issue can do in order to get the right help? l Talk it out - even with the "slightest mental health issue", it is important to first talk it out and ensure that you communicate to someone that you can trust. It can be anyone, a family member, friend, your teacher, faith community leader etc. Whoever it may be, do make sure that you feel that you are not pressurised in any way and take your time, but are also comfortable and in a safe space to talk and speak out about your mental health issues. Sometimes just talking it out can really help a lot and ease the weight off your shoulders. Give it a go. l Ensure that you seek professional support from your GP/healthcare professional/professional therapists and counsellors - there are many who specialise in various different mental health areas and it is definitely worth exploring further to get holistic tailored mental health support. In the past few years, I am seeing an increase in more Asian healthcare mental health professionals who are keen to make a difference, which is fantastic to see in this community. l Ensure that you seek other lines of support "self-help" - there are many bespoke local peer-led support groups that you can join and be part of either via the Council in your local area or via local mental health charities and organisations -, really helpful to connect with like-minded people, surround yourself with them - these organisations can also provide alternative valuable therapies such as social inclusion, employment-related support, resources i.e. 'five ways to wellbeing', '10 keys to happier living’,

identity etc in light of Mental Health. We need to do it together to combat any fear those struggling in silence have in coming out and talking about their Mental Health. If not us, then who. We need to change the dialogue around Mental Health for not just you and me, but our children - their future and their generation. Taking that one step, will leave such a huge positive footprint on Mental Health and will help the countless amount of people. ell us a bit about your experience in therapy? How challenging was it to find the right one? How has it helped you? Being a British Sikh woman with lived experience of mental health issues diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and suicide survivor, finding a therapist has been an experience. During my recovery journey, I’ve seen three therapists who tried their best to understand my perspective as much as they could, but none of them, I'm sorry to say, were of Asian background. I’m a woman, I’m British, I’m Asian, I’m Indian - I have all these different identities and I would have loved to have had someone to talk to that looked like me. You're dealing with very complex needs for each individual and it’s not a straightforward case. You’ve got to unpick each issue and find out what the core issue is in that person. Nonetheless, those therapists that I saw, one in particular helped me a lot. Within the first 3-4 weeks of therapy, I began to stop weighing myself, stop my food diary and gently ease up on the exercise. Bearing in mind society, healthcare and the mental health domain have now moved on and developed and I'm pleased to say they are so many fantastic charities out there now also Asian healthcare professionals have a platform to showcase their knowledge and expertise. I'm still going through my recovery, but throughout everything I've been through, I’ve obtained self-confidence and I obtained a sense of self-empowerment which was never going to be easy, but the support for and around me, it helped. I put myself out there to find out more about the help that is available and that's what I tend to do in terms of my advocacy work - to champion and be the voice for people of colour for mental health issues and do what we can together.

Sandeep Saib

'great dream' etc. Self-help techniques can really help empower you to take control of your own mental health and allow you to make your own positive choices to look after your overall well-being generally. l Value and love yourself - ensure that you respect yourself. Treat yourself with kindness and respect, and avoid self-criticism. Make time for sale-care i.e. your hobbies and favourite projects, or broaden your horizons. Do a daily crossword puzzle, plant a garden, take dance lessons, learn to play an instrument or become fluent in another language. Try journalising and positive affirmations. l Physical wellbeing - do make sure that you are keeping yourself physically active and also eating healthier and consuming the right type of foods. Do take care of your body and it will do the same for you. l Sleep - we take this for granted, but ensuring you have enough sleep. Aim for 7-8 hours each night. hat would you tell South Asian families, who may not be open and brave about mental health and the help it requires? Understandably in healthcare settings and when talking about mental health, South Asians may be unwilling to acknowledge strong emotion, grief, or pain due to their family and cultural values. But I'd like to say to them/those who are reading, you are never alone. Health is the most important and without that, then what are we. I'd like to encourage you all to take that huge first step in opening up, and being brave in speaking about Mental Health. Slowly the more we do, barriers will be overcome and we can begin to fight the stigma and discrimination against our community aligned to Mental Health. Don't be bound or stopped by our culture,

Fund management of the Strengthening Higher Education for Female Empowerment (SHEFE) programme The Strengthening Higher Education for Female Empowerment programme (SHEFE) is designed to reform HE systems to deliver a better future for women and girls in subSaharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa. The programme will aim to break down the barriers preventing women from accessing and thriving in the HE sector, including by promoting STEM degrees, inclusive digital education and greater safeguarding practices for women and girls. Through partnering

with the UK’s best universities and higher education institutions, SHEFE will

leverage the world-class expertise from the UK tertiary education sector to

deliver the FCDO’s priority of empowering women and girls.

UK National Action Plan on Women The fourth report for the 2018 to 2022 UK National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security reviews the UK government’s progress in meeting our commitments during 2021. It helps to ensure that UK foreign policy consciously and consistently protects and includes women and girls. Minister Ford made it in Parliament with a Written Ministerial

Statement. The report provides an update on how the government is implementing the 5-year strategy. It explains how the UK will

meet its commitments under UN Security Council Resolution 1325. This Resolution aims to reduce the impact of conflict on women and girls, by promoting their full, equal and meaningful participation in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. The NAP applies globally, but this report covers how we are implementing it in 9 countries.

First Women’s Health Strategy for England sets welcomed ambition for dementia, says leading charity Alzheimer’s Research UK welcomes the publication of the first-ever governmentled Women’s Health Strategy for England, following the charity’s calls for action to tackle dementia’s disproportionate impact on women. The Strategy sets ambitions to tackle deep-rooted, systemic issues within the health and care system to improve the health and wellbeing of women. It commits to improving the number of women participating in dementia research and growing awareness of dementia risk factors that may help reduce the number of women living with dementia in the future. Earlier this year, the charity published an analysis, The Impact of Dementia on Women, which highlighted how women are disproportionately affected by dementia across their lives and what needs to change. David Thomas, Head of Policy at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “We welcome that, among a number of helpful actions to tackle the gender health gap, there is recognition in this Strategy of the disproportionate impact of dementia on women. It’s really positive to see an ambition to ensure greater numbers of women are participating in dementia research and greater public

awareness of dementia risk factors. “Setting out a clear plan for how these ambitions will be delivered must be a key feature of the forthcoming new 10-Year Dementia Plan. Now is the time to address the disproportionate impact of dementia on women, and these strategies are a key opportunity to avoid these inequalities continuing unchecked. “Over a decade ago, dementia became the leading cause of death for women, and in the years since, it has sadly not moved from this top spot even at the height of the pandemic. Women are more likely than men to develop dementia. In fact, women over 60 are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease as they are to develop breast cancer during the rest of their lifetime. “The Strategy includes key commitments around new research and data gathering – this is particularly important to dementia research, as women are currently less likely to be eligible to take part in clinical trials. Life-changing new treatments need to work for everyone with dementia, but if research is relying on data from just one half of the population, we will miss crucial parts of the full picture.”

Two million more women in work since 2010, as UK unemployment remains low The number of working women has now reached 15.7 million – a rise of 2 million since 2010 with more women progressing into senior, higher-skilled jobs. The figures show the portion of women becoming managers, directors and senior officials has climbed almost 25% since 2010, rising by nearly a quarter of a million. Women in professional occupations is also up 40% since 2010 and almost 40% more have moved into associate professional and technical jobs like science, technology, engineering and maths. Young women are currently one of the fastest growing working groups, with 7.7% more women aged 16-24 moving into employment across the year. New OECD data also shows

the UK has the second highest female and youth employment rates among the G7. DWP Minister, Julie Marson MP said: It’s fantastic news that today we’ve got 2 million more women in work than in 2010, and the latest OECD data shows we have the second highest level of women in work in the G7. As we grow the economy, it’s vital we make sure everyone can find a job that’s right for them – and importantly that they can progress in work. That’s why we’re keeping up our support to get people at any age or career stage into work, including a new multi-million-pound offer to help the over 50s get into, and remain in employment.

AsianVoiceNews

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Barber that smuggled in 10,000 people Bhavni Shah: Venture Beyond Sunetra Senior

havni is the Founder of immaculate travel co-ordinator: Venture Beyond. The gorgeous visual platform that offers luxury bespoke packages centred on daring, unique itineraries. From “cruises and safaris to retreats and volunteering” the ebullient founder draws from her twenty-eight years of high-end experience as a travel agent to procure the best of intercontinental vacationing and bring you unparalleled recreative joy! For example: you could be spending your nights at the Bubble Luxotel in the deserts of enigmatic Petra in Jordan, or, learning Salsa dancing from local experts on a magical retreat in Marrakech. Here, Bhavni, highlighted Kenya as her personal preferred destination, stating: “It’s known for safaris, of course, but I especially love the breathtaking private vistas. There are many quiet conservancies where you can just stand and take in a breath-taking horizon. You can see the entire length of the Savanah. Some of the lodges are spectacular too with incredible natural architecture e.g., positioned on stilts that are emerging from a mountain. Other remarkable locations include: India for the diverse culture. In Europe, Greece is excellent and Croatia stunning. In the Far-East, you’ve got

Singapore, Hong Kong which is another version of London and Japan which is amazing during the time of the blossom.” Venture Beyond specialise in luxury accommodation where having a strong base from which to explore new, exotic landscapes manifests half the holidaying spirit. If home is where the heart is, hotels must contend in

character to welcome its nomadic visitors in. “The hotels listed on the site are at the top of their game with hospitality and service being stellar e.g., Mandarin Oriental. We have picked hotels where one is greeted personally throughout their stay and treated like

a VIP. The company also checks in with respective clients regularly via Whatsapp etc. to make sure they’re happy and stay in touch during their holiday. “We curate the very best in amenities, activities, local specialists in their fields and lodging.” Interestingly, Bhavni started her alluring business during the time of lockdown, responding to the collective desire of people longing to once again escape abroad. Also working fulltime for the largest multinational for networking in business, the: “the switch to luxury travel was made upon hearing the wants of the existing customer-base. The general vibe was destination getaways that checked a mega bucket list. Over time, the company have also been able to accommodate lower budgets, catering to a broad price-range.” Indeed, Bhavni’s inherently tailormade trips speak to the fact that what everyone wants is different: “No person or therefore holiday is ever exactly the same. You may have different ele-

BHAVNI SHAH ments of romance, adventure and cityscapes. Bali and the Maldives, for example, often present packages that brilliantly combine parts of each other. I always curate the trips to suit one’s personality. One may want to go to the beach and then hit the local hotspots. Or, you may want to switch off entirely with a retreat and simply relax.” Venture Beyond then demonstrates wanderlust materialised: leisurely ideals exemplified. It’s care-free, glowing adventure alongside the physical comfort. Bhavni shared her professional highlight: “When I went for a property inspection in Kenya, we had the opportunity to meet, feed and walk a Cheetah!” These little perks are certainly a significant bonus in Bhavni’s business. Her platform

“We curate the very best in amenities, activities, local specialists in their fields and lodging” encourages you to luminously immerse, sheerly enjoy and culturally connect to the wider world surrounding. The company is not only a facilitator for wonderful travel but also boldly celebrates it: “our ethos is ‘journeys where you see more than you remember and remember more than you see’.” w: https://venturebeyondltd.com/

Lack of ethnic minority lawyers triggers demands for reform The “discriminatory” judicial appointment process will be replaced with a body that will be wholly independent. According to the latest statistics that have emerged 16 years after Judicial Appointments Commission

(JAC) was created to help increase transparency and diversity on the bench in England and Wales, 95 per cent of senior judges are white barristers. The latest figures that came out last week from the Ministry of Justice have

reinforced fears that the process was still mired in “secret soundings”. As per the official figures, about 65 per cent of all court judges are men. Though the proportion of ethnic minority judges has risen from 7 per cent in 2014

London’s West End gets the first theatre in 50 years This autumn, a major new West End theatre is expected to open which is designed to give audiences an alternative to the restricted legroom, poor sightlines and iffy acoustics of some of London’s older playhouses. It will be the first new West End theatre in 50 years and will be operated by Nimax Theatres.

@sohoplace is located on the first newly-named street created in Soho for 72 years and is owned by Nica Burns who called the 12-year project an "affirmation of faith" in the industry. The new theatre will feature a 602seat auditorium, rehearsal room, actors' Green Room, bar, restaurant and a terrace. "I can absolutely say that

the cheapest seat in the house has a completely unrestricted view and good leg room," said Ms Burns. "You will see all the stage and hear the actors perfectly." It is going to be a part of a £300m regeneration project in the area which will see offices, retail space and a new piazza built.

to 10 per cent in 2022, just 1 per cent are black and 5 per cent are Asian. Compared with their white counterparts, there is a marked disparity in the success of ethnic minority lawyers who apply for judicial posts.

A Kurdish asylum seeker and a former barber, Hewa Rahimpur will be extradited to Belgium after police smashed a trafficking network. Rahimpur, 29, is accused of being the linchpin of a pan-European gang that has smuggled up to 10,000 migrants across the Channel to the UK in flimsy dinghies in the course of 18 months. Before arranging for their transport to holding facilities in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, prosecutors in Belgium allege that the Iranian Kurd helped buy hundreds of barely seaworthy boats in Turkey. The gang made at least

£13 million as passengers were charged up to €3,500 to make the crossing. “It was a very slick supply chain and he is widely considered to be a big fish,” one law enforcement source claimed. National Crime Agency (NCA) officers arrested Rahimpur at the wheel of his Mercedes triggered a spate of police activity across the Continent, which culminated in the capture this month of 40 other suspected gang members and the seizure of 135 boats, 45 outboard engines and more than 1,200 life jackets. He will face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the most serious smuggling offence.

The Commonwealth Games to showcase the Brummie culture To break through the typecast of a narrow view of Britain’s diverse elocution offering, about one billion people are expected to tune in to showcase their Brummie accent for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. The organisers are proud of the fact that the event will take place in Birmingham and they promise that the Brummie accent will reign supreme.

Martin Green, chief creative officer for Birmingham 2022, said: “The whole [of the Games] wanted to embrace the Brummie, the Black Country, so wherever you go in these Games you will hear this wonderful accent.” Studies show that Brummies are generally perceived as less intelligent than those who speak the Queen’s English (or those with a Yorkshire lilt).

English pottery Denby is a hit in Asia thanks to Squid Game A 200-year-old English pottery Denby is on the rise since its Halo teacup got featured in Netflix’s South Korean blockbuster. Denby Pottery, named after the Derbyshire village in 1809 by Joseph Bourne, has been steadily increasing its business in Asia. Now, it is on sale with a reported £50m valuation and is seeking new investors to expand even further. The brand is now attracting a rich new seam of customers, particularly in China and India. When Denby’s Halo cup got featured in the Netflix show, the firm’s popularity increased further in South Korea, where

it has a store in Gangnam, a district of Seoul made famous in the 2012 pop song Gangnam Style. Sebastian Lazell, the Denby chief executive, told the Times: “There are 55 million people in South Korea and they love the premium casual look of our glazes because formal ornate ware is out of fashion. They lay the table very differently in Korea so almost 40% of our production over there is bowls.”

Tracking woman who left Uganda for UK It's almost 50 years since Ugandan President Idi Amin ordered 70,000 Asians to leave the country within three months. President Idi Amin accused them of corruption and not doing enough to integrate - claims strongly denied by those who lived there. He gave Asians just 90 days to leave the country.

Rasilaben Unalkat arrived at Stansted Airport with her husband and two young sons. She was filmed just moments after the plane landed. And now, nearly 50 years on, she has been tracked to be in Peterborough. She told him she never thought she would ever have to leave the Ugandan country's beauty behind,

but such was the fear for everyone's safety, that they fled. Mrs Unalkat and many others like her were stripped of their possessions, and with just fiftyfive pounds in their pockets, they left. She recalls that despite feeling bitterly cold when she arrived, she breathed a huge sigh of relief, as she finally felt safe.

16 SPECIAL

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

ABPL Group honours Rohit Vadh Deputy High Commissioner of by: Achyut Sanghavi

On the evening of July 16, a special informative programme was organised by the ABPL (UK) Group, 'Gujarat Samachar' and 'Asian Voice,' the newsweeklies published from London, at Ahmedabad’s Hotel Radisson Blu. he programme was to re-identify and honour the identity. Rohit Vadhwana (IFS) who was the First Secretary (Economics and Commerce Wing) and also had responsibility of the Additional Charge of Press and Information division at the Indian High Commission in the UK has been promoted to a new post as the Deputy High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Kenya. In addition to this, he has also been granted responsibility as India’s permanent deputy representative at the UN environment agency and UN-habitat which is also headquartered in Kenya’s Nairobi. We would like to specially mention here that, Rohit Vadhwana has taught people to think beyond traditional boundaries through his popular columns 'Arohan' in 'Gujarat Samachar' and 'Introspection' in 'Asian Voice' and has also inspired new directions in the process by creating new understanding among readers. Among the invitees present were Rtd. Justice Shri Subodhchandra Shah (Gujarat High Court), Padmashri Devendra Patel (Consulting Editor and Columnist, Sandesh Newspaper), Bhagyesh Jha-IAS (Chairman, Gujarat Sahitya Academy- Gandhingar), Ajay Umat (Editor-inChief, Navgujarat Samay), Pranav Parekh (OSD to Gujarat CM), Krishnkant Unadkat (Executive Editor and Columnist, Sandesh Newspaper), Jyoti Unadkat (Digital Editor, Gujarat First TV), Actress Bhavini Jani, Mayaben and Deepak Panchal, Dr. Keyur Buch (Orthopaedic Surgeon, CIMS Hospital) & Mrs. Kunjal Buch, Dr. Chirag Bhoraniya- (Asst. Director, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India), Digant Sompura (Consulting Editor, Gujarat Times, USA), Harshendu Oza (Senior Officer, Information Department, Govt. of Gujarat), Jigar Rana (Writer, Speaker and Managing Partner, Mrudang Management), Kinjal Joshi (Freelance Journalist), Nayan Dave (Senior Journalist, Financial Times), Rituraj Mehta (MD, Rituraj Group), Ronak Shah (Navbharat Sahitya Mandir), Anand Shah (Amol Prakashan), Mr. Amin Shaikh, Sukvinder Saini. The programme to honour Rohit Vadhwana and learn from him about his experiences during his tenure in Britain gave a spectrum of colours to the rainy evening. The programme was moderated by popular anchor Tushar Joshi, who is based out of Ahmedabad. Introducing Rohit, he said, “Today we have gathered to hear, know and respect a singular personality, Rohit who identifies himself as an author by hobby and Indian Diplomat by profession. Apart from being an Indian diplomat, he is also a writer, thinker and a good listener himself. With a track record of authoring columns and books in several dailies, he could be identified as a creator who loves playing with words. Being a native of Okhamandal, located at the banks of an ocean, he is filled with the vastness, comforting generosity and exuberance of the sea. Those who have met

Nilesh Parmar, Bureau Chief (ABPL Group, India office) felicitating Rohit Vadhwana and his wife Femida

Rohit Vadhwana (IFS) addressing the invited guests

him in the UK have personally experienced this. He will be joining as the Deputy High Commissioner in Kenya. Let us applaud him with the good wishes that his work as Deputy High Commissioner will be another addition to the series of achievements he has had so far.” “The programme has been organised by the ABPL Group. This is the Golden Jubilee Year for Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice. We all know the Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Shri CB. CB Patel is currently a part of this programme online through Zoom. We all have family relations with ABPL Group and CB Patel. I request Mayaben Deepak who has associated with this family to come forward for the prayer.” An expert in tunes and notes, Mayaben Deepak recited a beautiful prayer. After the prayer, Rohit Vadhwana and his wife Femida were given a warm welcome with a bouquet of flowers presented by Shri Nilesh Parmar, Bureau Chief of Ahmedabad office, and Shri Ajay Umat welcomed Shri Subodhchandra Shah, retired Justice of Gujarat Highcourt. ABPL’s Publisher and Editor-in -Chief, CB Patel was present in the meeting from London via Zoom. CB Patel in his speech from London said, “Jay Bharat, Jay Gujarat! It is a pleasure to see that all of you have gathered in Ahmedabad on the pious land of Bharat. I welcome Rohit and Femidaben. There is a message of unity behind the welcome with a bou-

India House have been known to me. However, our Rohit is the youngest, brightest and most high spirited among them. We seek to gain a lot of insight from Rohit in today’s programme ‘Unveiling Britain’.” “Rohit has worked for three years in Britain. I have seen him ‘working’ and ‘getting work done’, but have never heard anyone complaining about him. This is indeed difficult. As you go to Kenya, it would be no doubt ‘Advantage India & Kenya’, but it would be a disadvantage for Indians in the UK. I have a strong belief that Rohit, with his caliber, will assume much higher responsibilities, in future. You are a mature human being. There is spiritualism even in your scholarship too. It is said that diplomats are not interested in other things. However, you have also chosen to experience ‘Vipashyana’. I have been reading your columns to find that you have the will and energy to work, honesty and maturity. You will definitely play a vital role in protecting India’s interests and people in Kenya and empower them. There will be more co-ordination between India & Kenya. It is a privilege to hear Rohit. It is a privilege to have such a young Gujarati IFS. My best wishes to Rohit.’ Ajay Umat, Editor-in-chief, Navgujarat Samay said that, “Rohit may be a diplomat by profession, but he is a multi-tasker. In addition to being successful in diplomacy, he is also successful as a writer. If you were a Journalist, it may have been challenging for someone like me and Krishnkant. If you read a

quet. My colleagues have done fantastic arrangements in Ahmedabad. I was able to see 68 people. I salute the blessings and co-operation of guests, who chose to remain present even while it is raining terrifically outside.” “Rohit, you are going to Kenya which belongs to Africa. India-Africa relations are vital for India’s future. You are going as Deputy High Commissioner to a country with which India has historical relationship. I have been associated with the India House for the last 57 years. Many officers of India’s MEA at

Ajay Umat (Editor-in-Chief, Navgujarat Samay), felicitating Rtd Justice Shri Subodhchandra Shah

Retired Justice Subodhchandra Shah said, “As CB uncle had invited, there was no question of denying, however, at the back of mind, there was a hope that since I hail from Wadhwan, I may be able to find some link with Vadhwana. Majority Gujarati want nothing but to do business and earn money. Post my retirement, I have even commenced tutorials to educate students to become Judge, IRS, IFS. Starting with the donations from the Jain

Padmashri Devendra Patel congratulating Rohit Vadhwana

L-R: Sukvinder Saini & Digant Sompura (Consulting Editor, Gujarat Times, USA)

Anand Shah (Amol Prakashan) & Rituraj Mehta (MD, Rituraj Group)

about politics and foreign country, but I would definitely like to add that after Rohit’s arrival in UK also brought the British government down.``

writer and search for him you will definitely reach him/her. Rohit Vadhwana also met us like that. The best thing about him is, in addition to writing poetries, essays and novels, his most-appealing and most-discussed work is as a motivational writer. Rohit himself is a motivating person. The man who represents India as a diplomat was in fact educated at a remote town of Okhamandal. When the factory at which his father worked in Bhanwad stopped, his schooling also stopped. He passed Grades 11 & 12 with self-study. He came to Ahmedabad for studies and made a mission to go for IFS (Indian Foreign Service). He succeeded in the mission after appearing for the UPSC examination. He has shared his success with people. He has been guiding everyone for UPSC exams. His guidance has in fact helped many Gujarati students to clear their exams. He is the ‘son of soil’ of Gujarat for whom everybody should be proud off. I am not going to speak

community, till now 20 students have been successfully cleared for exams for IAS/IFS. For Gujaratis it may be difficult to do a job outside Gujarat or outside India after becoming IFS. Gujarati women find it difficult to live outside Gujarat and India. In this reference, we need to give a round of applause to Femidaben.” Krishnkant Unadkat who is a motivational columnist and empathiser, addressed the audience saying, “After conversing with Rohit and discussing his words and articles, I also felt a connection with him, because words connect emotions. If anyone deserves the credit to keep the Gujarati language alive in London/UK, it is none other than CB Patel. I congratulate CB and Gujarat Samachar team for organising such a fabulous event. In addition to being a diplomat Rohit is a writer and writers are honest, who keeps on trying to identify himself. An artist is most faithful with his own self. Rohit played an important role in becoming a bridge between India and UK during the covid pandemic.” Chief guest and the keynote speaker of the programme ‘Unveiling Britain’, Shri Rohit Vadhwana started his speech by thanking CB Patel for organising such a wonderful event. He said, “April 30, 2019, was my first day in London. I started working the next day itself.

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

SPECIAL

www.asian-voice.com

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

hwana as he takes charge as the India to the Republic of Kenya

of 650 seats in Loksabha/House of Commons, hence there is no election right now. Right now it is a contest on who will lead the party. In the end, when there are two candidates left, the registered members of the party will vote to elect the Prime Minister.” “In the 66 million population of Britain,

this time, India sent a lot of help, mainly pharmaceuticals. The Oxford vaccine was produced at India’s Serum institute, which improved the relations between the two countries. The UK took note and appreciated these initiatives.” “In the second wave of Covid, India was severely affected. We wanted to send Generator Sets, but they were so huge that they cannot be carried in a flight. We hired a ship from Ukraine and used it to send the generator sets. Community’s contribution and role was appreciable. We were able to collect millions of pounds in no time. I was in the core team of the high commission. We came to know that there was an immediate need for equipment. Main challenge was transportation. We held meetings with several suppliers to procure 10/12/15 litres cylinder. At that time, British Oxygen Cylinder (BOC) helped with arrangements to send 5000 cylinders of 46 litre capacity. This was

maintaining the balance between work and life. Here they are experimenting with 4day-work-week. The most we need to care for and learn is to maintain cleanliness. Iran seems to be the cleanest country. In my column ‘Aarohan’ in Gujarat Samachar, I wrote that Ahmedabad is changing. Traffic hazards are increasing. Without paying attention to traffic sense, our people tend to find a way from anywhere. We need to control that. These things are small, but they can have considerable effects. We need to learn several things including education. “The last important issue is pollution. It is also important to stay alert about pollution personally and in groups. We need to control the speed of life. Our condition is like a frog sitting in boiling water. It is beneficial to work towards net zero emission, and carbon neutrality. In the UK they have to declare ‘Red Alert’ due to severe hot weather. Transport for London has advised

L-R: Bhagyesh Jha (IAS), Ajay Umat, Maya Deepak, Dr Keyur Buch, Rohit Vadhwana (IFS), Femida, Kunjal Buch

On May 1, there were celebrations of Gujarat/Maharashtra day at high commission premises and other places. On my third day in London, I and CB met in person at the Nehru Centre, which is the cultural name for the Indian high commission. Since then we have been working together on a lot of things, which also continues to date. I received his love during my posting. CB has the most inspirational personality. I thank CB for being my friend and guide and for standing by the Indian community. There CB has been doing several different events regularly. He is the most popular person in the UK's Indian/Gujarati community. Recently I also visited the Ahmedabad office of ‘Gujarat Samachar’ and ‘Asian Voice’. Ahmedabad and London teams are working beautifully in close coordination. It is a dedicated team that works like a family.” Discussing UPSC competitive exams, he said, “This is a wholesome struggle. Whether you belong to a poor or rich family, you need to put in the same amount of hard work. Everyone has to pass the struggle. I have always believed that there is nobody who hasn’t struggled in his life. Sometimes, it seems that people from well-to-do families have to struggle more as they face more mental pressure. Because of fewer seats available, this is

Anchor Tushar Joshi

Maya Deepak reciting prayers

Krishnkant Unadkat (Executive Editor and Columnist, Sandesh Newspaper) addressing the audience

the Indian community is just 1.6 million or less than 2%. But, their contribution to the economy there is over 6%. Among the biggest investors in India, the UK occupies the 6th position. Whereas, India is the second biggest investor in the UK, which means it is only the USA that is ahead of India. Indian investments create jobs there. The UK government, leadership and citizens accept the contribution of India and Indians due to which they always positively welcome Indians. More con-

a great help. “Generally, there is no trend of working after the work-hours are completed in the UK. People do not carry their official tasks home. During Covid the British bureaucracy also consistently worked during Covid. High commission used to stay in contact with people till late night. It was a question about people's lives. Everybody worked. “Another important matter is the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This is not a politi-

people to avoid using transport unless necessary. This is a serious matter. Finding who is responsible will not help, as everyone is suffering. A little effort towards understanding and spreading the message can go a long way.” Rohit in his address said, “Do come on a tour to the UK. We need to learn a lot. There is respect and honour for Indians, which is incrementally increasing. In the current cabinet, ministers of Indian origin are

L-R: Jigar Rana, Tushar Joshi, Bhagyesh Jha, Harshendu Oza

L-R: Femida, Rohit Vadhwana, Pranav Parekh (OSD to Gujarat CM), Amin Shaikh

Jyoti Unadkat (Digital Editor, Gujarat First TV)

Bhagyesh Jha-IAS (Chairman, Gujarat Sahitya Academy- Gandhingar) addressing the audience

the most difficult competitive exam. Only 1000 candidates are selected from a million. Even I could not get through on the first attempt. Do not worry about the number of attempts, just keep on working. I request you to give time to your children as this achievement is not possible without that. In fact, there are no specific scales of success and failure. Give them enough time and let them prepare. Career is only an Indian concept now. In western countries, there is a culture of career.” “Britain is the most exciting subject of discussion right now. Right now the procedure to select the PM is going on. There is no election. The election was already held, where the Conservative Party has won 358 out

tribution by the community is indeed a good thing for diplomats. Whichever country we go to, we consider the community's behaviour, strength and acceptance as important. My posting was as First Secretary (Economic department) and I was given an additional responsibility of the Media and Press section. When we used to go for community activities we used to enjoy it a lot. We used to meet people, make new friends and live a good life. We could become helpful to people.” “If we talk about important things between India and the UK, the UK was severely affected during the first wave of Covid. India had a strict lockdown and was able to manage the pandemic better. During

ABPL India Team with Rohit Vadhwana, Femida, Actress Bhavini Jani and Maya Deepak

cal matter, it is an economical matter, in which everyone would be the beneficiary. The agreement could be completed by Diwali. The UK will become the third nation to have an FTA with India. The other two countries are Australia and UAE. The fact that there are good relations, business and connections between UK and India does not mean that visas would be available easily. Visa is a completely different matter. “For posting, our first country was the UK, but we never felt that we were first time on a foreign land. Our transit admission was in Wembley. When you go out for an evening walk in Wembley, men selling ladies' fingers in a monkey cap and people talking on phone in Kathiyawadi accent are common sightings here. We have also seen Gujarati signs to indicate people that they cannot spit after eating Paan. “The UK is one such country we understand and recognize very well. We have read a lot about their culture and lifestyles, but there are many things we are not aware of. There, it does not make a difference whether you are a diplomat, a shopkeeper or a driver. They maintain a difference between work and personal life, which is not done here. Let us understand the stress by

becoming popular. They are famous. We have prestige there. A former official of the Gujarat government and a writer and poet Bhagyeshhai Jha said, “I take care of three things in my life. The first is not to waste a single moment after waking up early. The second is that never believe after hearing from someone about what people said about you, cross verify it. The third thing is that when a programme is followed by dinner, keep your speech short. You are going to Nairobi and must be aware that many people in London hail from Uganda. Watching animal migration can be shocking. CB is a modern version of Shibi, the King (Shibi Raja). Best wishes for your tenure in Kenya. In honour of Rohit Vadhwana and his wife Femida, ABPL (UK) group organised a dinner in the auditorium. Guests dispersed after enjoying the delicious dinner.

Photo & Video courtesy Appointed photographers to The Governor of Gujarat and an ISO Certified Company with vast experience in this field for the past 40 years. For more details: www.jhatakiastudio.com

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

UK's inflation rate highest 6 banks break rules, provide information to customers among 7 advanced economy since 1985 Britain’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said that the UK's annual consumer price inflation rose in June to 9.4%, the highest since February 1982, up from May’s 9.1% and above the 9.3% consensus in a poll of economists. Surging petrol and food prices last month pushed the inflation to its highest rate in 40 years, according to official figures that bolstered the chances of a rare half percentage-point Bank of England (BoE) interest rate hike next month. The latest increase means Britain has had the highest rate of inflation seen in any Group of Seven advanced economy since 1985, although many smaller EU countries are currently seeing even

faster growth in prices. The data bolstered bets that the BoE will opt for a 50-bps rate hike next month, which would be the biggest since 1995. The European Central Bank (ECB) is also considering such a move. BoE governor Andrew Bailey said that the scale of borrowing costs increase was on the table but not “locked in”. The BoE has raised rates five times since December as it tries to stop the surge in inflation from becoming embedded in Britain’s economy, and it is expected to increase them again on August 4. “Soaring inflation means that momentum for a half point interest rate rise in August is growing,” Suren Thiru, economics director of accountancy trade body ICAEW, said.

50+ back to work amid cost of living crisis A study found that economic activity levels among the over-50s are at their highest since the pandemic began. Rest Less, which offers advice to older people, said its analysis of official statistics appears to show the first signs of a return to the long-term trend of more economically active people over the age of 50 – a decades-long trend which it said was reversed by the pandemic. The analysis of Rest Less shows that there was an increase in economic activity (those in work or looking for work) of 116,000 among the over-50s in the past year. More than half of the increase was driven by men over the age of 65, said the report. Rest Less chief executive Stuart Lewis said:

“Older workers have been leaving the jobs market in their droves over the past two years, partly due to many re-evaluating what they want from their lives and careers during the course of the pandemic, but also due to the devastating impact the pandemic had on the prospects for many older job seekers, who felt they had no choice but to leave the workforce. According to Lewis, “At the same time, with spiralling inflation and volatile financial markets impacting pension funds, some people who thought they could retire comfortably during the pandemic are now having to unretire and find work again to bring in some extra income and top up their pensions whilst they still can.”

Metro Bank, Lloyds and NatWest are among six high street banks that have broken rules about the way they provide information to customers prompting action from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The problems range from overcharging for overdrafts at Metro Bank to failure to keep up-to-date records about closed branches and cash points at NatWest. Lloyds had outof-date information on part of its website about interest rates on overdrafts and also published incorrect service quality rankings. Metro Bank has pledged to refund

the customers affected. The CMA said all six were making changes to their operations to comply with the rules, which were

£4.5 bn worth fraud in coronavirus support schemes HM Revenue and Customs has produced a revised estimate for fraud and error in its coronavirus support schemes that indicates the total will be between £3.2 bn and £6.4 bn – with the “most likely” figure being £4.5 bn. The figures, contained in the department’s annual report and accounts for 2021-22, combine the lifetime projections for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the SelfEmployment Income Support Scheme and the Eat

Out to Help Out scheme. The estimates are a reduction on earlier figures – which at one stage were as high as £8 bn. But the level of fraud and error in the schemes is cited by National Audit Office head Gareth Davies as one of the core reasons HMRC’s resource accounts have been given qualified sign-off this year. Eat Out to Help Out has the highest-projected fraud and error rate of the three programmes, at 8.5%. The rate for the furlough scheme

is given as 5% and 3.6% for SEISS. In an update on tackling fraud and error in the Covid support schemes, published on the same day as its annual report and accounts, HMRC said the programmes had helped millions of people and businesses through the pandemic. “The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme helped to pay the wages of people in 11.7 million jobs and nearly 3 million self-employed workers received a SelfIncome Employment

Support Scheme grant,” it said. HMRC said its Fraud Investigation Service had made a total of 26 arrests involving the CJRS, SEISS and Eat Out to Help Out in while its 2021-2022, Taxpayer Protection Service had opened almost 41,000 one-to-one compliance interventions as of March this year. It said the task force now had 1,100 staff and was treating fraud in Covid19 schemes as a “major priority”.

63% chance of recession in next year UK company finance directors are bracing for a recession and a doubling of interest rates in their most pessimistic outlook since 2008, according to a survey conducted by Deloitte. The consulting firm’s quarterly survey of executives at leading companies found respondents think there’s a 63% chance of recession in next year. An additional 86% expect the benchmark lending rate will surpass 2.5% by July 2023. Almost half expect inflation to remain above 3.5% in two years. The findings are alarming because they indicate expectations about where inflation is headed are

breaking away from the Bank of England’s 2% target. Policy makers led by Governor Andrew Bailey have said they’re prepared to act “forcefully” in raising interest rates to keep the outlook about prices anchored around their goal. As a record 86% of CFOs expect inflation to top 2.5% in two years, up from 78% in the first quarter, the Bank of England forecasts inflation will hit 11% this year, and business leaders expect the sharpest monetary policy tightening since the 1980s. However, companies remain optimistic about business productivity, increasing their investment

Risk of bad deal for UK Two pharma companies in FTA with India slapped with fines

The government's rushed negotiating strategy for getting a free trade agreement (FTA) with India risks a bad deal, a parliamentary committee has warned. The House of Lords International Agreements Committee said an "arbitrary" deadline to reach an agreement by the festival of Diwali made the approach seem "overly ambitious or unrealistic". The Department for International Trade (DIT) said it was making "good progress" on its bid to finish talks by the deadline. Ministers are desperate to sign new free trade agreements with countries around the world to make up for the damage done to UK trade by Brexit. The Office for Budget Responsibility's latest assessment shows that in the fourth quarter of 2021, goods imports from the EU to the UK were down 18 per cent on 2019 levels, with goods exports from the UK to the EU down 9 per cent. UK service exports to the EU are, meanwhile, down by over 30 per cent, while exports to the rest of the world around 5 and 10 per cent below 2019 levels. Yet trade policy experts are sceptical that the UK can make up for the damage done by Brexit by signing agreements abroad. In the case of India, the Lords international agreements committee warns that "India’s historically protectionist policies, different regulatory approaches and business practices, mean that overcoming barriers would require, in many areas, changes to India’s domestic legislation".

set out under an order it made in 2017. The other banks contacted by regulators were Bank of Ireland, which had

incorrect information about current account charges; and HSBC, where details about maximum overdraft charges were missing from some places they should have been listed. All six banks have confirmed they are making what the CMA called “operational changes” to prevent further breaches. In the five years the regulator has enforced the rules, more than £47 million has been paid out in refunds to customers due to incorrect information. It is said that some customers will receive refunds after the CMA identified overcharging.

The Competition and Markets Authority has slapped US pharma giant Pfizer with a £63 million fine after it was accused of overcharging the NHS. The CMA said the company had charged unfairly high prices for phenytoin sodium, an epilepsy drug, for over 4 years. In addition to this, pharma firm Flynn was also charged £6.7 million as part of the CMA investigation. The regulator said the firm's de-branded the drug, previously known as Epanutin, meaning it was no longer subject to price regulation and the firms could choose what prices to set for the life-saving drug. Pfizer charged the NHS prices between 780% and 1,600% higher than previously over those four years, according to the CMA. The fine follows a £90 million fine imposed by the CMA in December 2016 after finding that the two firms had breached competition law. The decision was challenged and brought to the Court of Appeal in March 2020, after which the CMA reopened its investigation. Pfizer’s profits more than doubled to hit $22 billion in 2021 after its coronavirus vaccine was granted emergency approval by health regulators. The jab is thought to have saved millions of lives worldwide. Their spokesperson has said that the company disagreed with the decision and would be appealing against it.

in skills, assets and technology in the next three years. More than half of respondents expect business revenue to rise next year. A separate report from Lloyd Banking Group Plc found an increase in the number of

UK firms reporting a growth in output, in spite of waning consumer demand. They also reported a softening in the pace of increase for input costs, reducing pressure on companies to raise their own prices.

UK may lose $120 mn paid to Rwanda The first deportation flight to Rwanda was grounded in June after a series of legal challenges, and another attempt is yet to be scheduled. Officials for the east African nation’s government confirmed it has received the entire initial payment for the agreement signed in April and that the funds are already “committed”, with some money spent on preparations for arrivals. Last month, Downing Street conceded that some cash had been paid but refused to say how much or when this had happened, saying the information was “confidential”. However, Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo recently said that “There was an initial transfer of £120 million. This has already been paid and we are already using the funds to prepare.” This means Britain stands to lose £120 million it has paid to Rwanda if the plan

to deport migrants is ruled unlawful by the courts. Several asylum seekers, the Public and Commercial Services union and charities Care4Calais, Detention Action and Asylum Aid are challenging the legality of the Home Office policy, with the next court hearings due in September and October. The ongoing court cases have raised the prospect that a flight may not be attempted again until the winter. Some migrants issued with Rwanda removal directions have already been released from immigration detention because, as yet, another flight has not been lined up. Earlier, a High Court hearing had revealed that the Foreign Office advised the UK Government against sending asylum seekers to the east African nation and the country had been accused of recruiting refugees for military conflicts.

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Gautam Adani becomes world’s 4th richest person Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani group, is famous for turning a small commodities trading business into a multinational spanning ports, mines and green energy. Gautam Adani has now left behind Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to become the world's fourth richest person, according to Forbes' RealTime Billionaires List. The 60year-old business tycoon's net worth reached $115.5 billion covering Gates whose fortunes are at

$104.6 billion. At $90 billion, fellow countryman Mukesh Ambani ranks 10th on the list. Elon Musk,Tesla and SpaceX founder, tops the list with $235.8 billion. The Adani group has recently won the tender for the privatisation of a port in Israel in partnership with Gadot. The Port of Haifa is the largest of Israel's three major international seaports. In barely three years, Adani has gained control of seven airports and almost a

41% rise in RIL's Q1 profit Reliance Industries (RIL) reported a 41% rise in quarterly profit, helped by higher price realisations from its oilto-chemicals (O2C), digital services (Jio) and retail businesses. The company’s profit has now grown to £1.94 billion for the first quarter of current financial year. The total revenue crossed £22.3 billion, up 55%, even as geopolitical conflict caused significant dislocation in energy markets. Operating profit, a yardstick for underlying business performance, increased 53% to £3.95 billion. “Despite significant challenges posed by the tight crude markets and higher energy and freight costs, O2C business has delivered its best performance ever,” said RIL chairman & MD Mukesh Ambani. Operating profit of O2C grew 63%, led by a sharp rise in transportation cracks and better volumes. Operating profit of digital (Jio) too climbed 26% to £1.17 billion due to strong revenue growth and

margin improvement. Jio’s average revenue per user (ARPU) - a key metric that influences income - was at Rs 175.7 in the first quarter, up 27%. ARPU is the total revenue of the telecom operator divided by the number of users on its network. Launched in 2016, Jio has about 420 million customers as of June 30 and saw data and voice traffic growth of 27% and 17%, respectively, on its network. Operating profit of the retail business zoomed 97% to £371 million, led by higher contribution from fashion & lifestyle and consumer electronics verticals and growing operating leverage with strong like-for-like growth over the previous year across consumption baskets, the company said. Reliance Retail has 15,866 outlets as of June 30 this year.

quarter of India's air traffic. His group now owns the country's largest airport operator, power generator and city gas retailer in the non-state sector. Adani Data Networks, along with Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, has also applied to participate in the upcoming 5G auction. Some of Adani Group's listed stocks have soared more than 600% in the past two years on bets his

Initially, the airline had planned to start operations in July end by when it expected to get two Boeing 737 MAX. But a slight delay in getting the second aircraft meant the launch was deferred by about a week. The airline has ordered 72 B737 MAX and it hopes to have 20 aircraft in its fleet if Boeing is able to deliver as per schedule - by next summer after which it can start international flights.

Suresh Vagjiani, Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

Gautam Adani

push into green energy and infrastructure will pay off as PM Modi looks to revive the $2.9 trillion economy and meet India's carbon net-zero target by 2070 To mark Adani's 60th birthday last month, his family had assured to donate £6 billion to a range of social causes.

HDFC Bank to be among world's top 10 after merger

HDFC Bank will be among the world’s top 10 most valuable banks after its merger with parent HDFC at current valuations. It will also be the first Indian bank to make it to the top 10 club. HDFC Bank has a market capitalisation of about $108 billion. It has recently edged past Citigroup (over $100. 5 billion), which was at number 17. HDFC Bank is worth more than UBS and DBS Group (both valued at around $58 billion). India's largest lender SBI ($57 billion) is at number 32 ahead of BNP Paribas ($55 billion) in terms of valuation. The combined market cap of HDFC Bank and HDFC ($52 billion) would be around $160 billion.

India’s new low-cost airline Akasa ready for launch Indian billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala backed private airline Akasa Air will take to the skies from August 7, 2022. The low-cost carrier will start operations with 28 weekly flights between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. A week later, from August 13, it will start an additional 28 weekly flights between Bengaluru and Kochi. All flights are open for sale with immediate effect. According to Akasa website their oneway Mumbai-Ahmedabad fares start from Rs 3,948. This launch marks the re-entry of Indian aviation industry veterans like Vinay Dube, who has headed Jet Airways and then GoAir and Aditya Ghosh, former president of IndiGo, into the airline business. Akasa is the brainchild of Vinay Dube.

A two hundred year old mystery

Akasa Air co-founder and chief commercial officer Praveen Iyer said the “network strategy is focused on establishing a strong panIndia presence and providing linkages from metro to tier 2 and 3 cities across India”. Akasa B737 MAX will have USB ports along with “Boeing Sky Interior” - highlighted by modern sculpted sidewalls, window reveals and mood lighting.

One of the implications of moving up the ranks in size and valuation is that the bank’s measure of being systemically important also rises. Such banks are required to hold more capital compared to those that are not deemed as systemically important. HDFC Bank is already a systemically important bank in India, but the increase in size would add to its global significance. The Financial Stability Board, an international body which makes recommendations on financial regulation, had termed JP Morgan the most systemically important bank for 2021 followed by BNP Paribas, Citigroup and HSBC.

Currently, we have agreed a deal in Manchester, a vacant shop and uppers. We managed to secure the deal because the ‘current’ buyer had been dithering for the best part of a year. The reasons we have taken the step to step out of the safety of London is simply because one cannot get the same margins here. This deal in short is being purchased for £300K, with £250K being spent on refurbishment; and has a GDV of £950K. This is all bread and butter stock. This will be six flats having a value of £160K a piece. At this price point one would expect very little deviation, whatever happens to the economy. At this level of margin, one has the option to refinance and extract the initial funds as well as some profit, and keep the property as a positive cash flowing asset; moving on to the next project, following the same formula. However, the deal was done on the basis that this was a freehold building. This is the basis the deal had been agreed upon. However, further analysis revealed it was a long leasehold. The lease had been granted nearly 200 years ago, with ground rent being payable; this was even quoted in shillings. This is an important point, as the aim was to develop the property. We do not want to be in the position where we do all the work and the freeholder pops up demanding his pound of flesh. What complicates things further is the lease is not actually directly available. A search done by us reveals the presence of a lease, a lawyer has been tasked with searching for this information, and examining the implications of the various possibilities. Given that it had been written nearly a couple of centuries ago, it could be there would be no barriers to change of use, it could have been very loosely worded. If so, once converted into residential the freehold could be purchased relatively cheaply. There is also the possibility to get an insurance policy in place which would protect us in the event of the freeholder ever appearing and staking his claim. We have also carried out a search on the freeholder; he has several hundred companies which own freeholds. This means he is in the freehold business in a serious manner, probably quite well organised too. This point will need to be nailed down thread bare before we move on the deal. There is also the possibility of reducing the purchase price to account for any cost incurred in the purchase of the freehold, as it was on this basis the deal has been struck. Whether this ends up in a deal or not, this will have been an interesting learning exercise. I, for one, have not come across a two hundred year old lease.

Insolvency process against Future Group allowed After Reliance Retail scrapped its plans to buy assets of Big Bazaar parent Future Retail (FRL) for £2.47 billion, in a big blow to US etailer Amazon, India’s National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has now allowed the initiation of insolvency proceedings against debt-ridden FRL. The lenders to FRL, along with a resolution professional, can now initiate bankruptcy proceedings against the Mumbai headquartered retailer, call for bids from potential applicants and even go for liquidation of the company’s assets to recover dues. The development, which comes against the backdrop of the downfall of Future Group was triggered by the pandemic and a multipronged legal battle with

Amazon, which has used its 2019 investment in Future Coupons, a Future Group entity, to block the RelianceFuture deal, claiming that the transaction gave it protective rights over FRL. While the Kishore Biyani-led retailer’s biggest lender Bank of India (BoI) had moved NCLT in April, seeking to initiate bankruptcy proceedings after FRL defaulted on loan repayments, Amazon objected in May, alleging that lenders colluded with FRL and bankruptcy proceedings will threaten the ecommerce company’s rights.

Admitting the lender’s plea, the Mumbai bench of the tribunal, rejected Amazon’s objection and appointed Vijay Kumar V Iyer as the resolution professional for FRL. Amazon, which is likely to move National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), did not comment on this story. Future Group companies, along with FRL, Future Enterprises (FEL) and others together owed lenders and creditors around £2.9 billion in May, according to sources. State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda are some of the biggest lenders to Future Group companies. Reliance had called off the deal in April as a majority of FRL’s secured creditors voted against the transaction, the move had left the Future Group staring at insolvency proceedings.

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Lanka president's office resumes operations COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Presidential Secretariat, which was stormed by a sea of antigovernment protesters in early July, resumed operation from Monday amid tight security, 107 days after the building’s entry gate was blocked, officials said. The building’s entry gate has been blocked by the protesters since April 9. On July 9, the protesters stormed the building and occupied it. In the early hours of Friday last, police and security forces conducted a raid and took back control of the building from the protesters on the order of the crisis-hit island nation’s new President Ranil Wickremesinghe. The presidential secretariat which was occupied by the protesters from July 9 till Friday last is re-opened and the staff reported to work on Monday,

officials said. The secretariat resumed operations under a tight security cover, they said. Wickremesinghe told diplomats that non-violent protests against his government will be allowed to continue. Western governments, the UN and human rights groups have condemned Wickremesinghe for using violence against unarmed

protesters who had announced their intention to vacate the site. Wickremesinghe defended the crackdown and said that blocking government buildings was unacceptable. SL gets new PM Wickremesinghe appointed Dinesh Gunawardena, a loyalist of the Rajapaksa family, as the PM in a bid to restore political stability and mitigate the worst

economic crisis that has virtually bankrupted the country. The formation of the new government took place hours after troops and police forcibly removed anti-government protesters camped outside the presidential office in a predawn raid. The 18-member cabinet was in on President sworn Wickremesinghe’s first day in office. Ali Sabry, who earlier headed the finance ministry, was appointed foreign minister. PM Gunawardena has been given an additional portfolio of public administration, home affairs, provincial councils and local government. The rest of the ministers were retained with their same portfolios while President Wickremesinghe continues to hold the crucial ministries of finance and defence.

Myanmar junta executes Nepal parliament endorses 4 democracy activists bill to amend Citizenship Act NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar’s ruling military has executed four democracy activists accused of helping to carry out “terror acts”, sparking widespread condemnation of the nation’s first executions in nearly 50 years. Sentenced to death in closed door trials in January and April, the men had been accused of helping a resistance movement to fight the army that seized power in a coup last year and unleashed a bloody crackdown on its opponents. Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow administration outlawed by the junta, called for international action against the military. “The global community must punish their cruelty,” Kyaw Zaw, the spokesman of the NUG president’s office, said. Among those executed were democracy campaigner Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Jimmy, and former lawmaker and hip-

hop artist Phyo Zeya Thaw, Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. Kyaw Min Yu, 53, and Phyo Zeya Thaw, a 41year-old ally of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, lost their appeals against the sentences in June. The two others executed were Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw. “These executions amount to arbitrary deprivation of lives and are another example of Myanmar’s atrocious human rights record,” said Erwin Van Der Borght, regional director of Amnesty International. According to Myanmar law, executions must be approved by the head of the government. The last judicial execution to be carried out in Myanmar is generally believed to have been of another political offender, student leader Salai Tin Maung Oo, in 1976 under a previous military government led by dictator Ne Win.

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s parliament has endorsed the bill to amend its much-awaited Citizenship Act, 2006 through a majority vote, a decisive step that will help grant citizenship to the thousands of children born to naturalised Nepalese citizens. Nepal home minister Bal Krishna Khand presented the Citizenship Bill (first amendment 2022) in the House of Representatives. Various provisions regarding granting status to foreign women married to Nepali men and children born in Nepal or from a Nepali mother were discussed by lawmakers before it was endorsed. The bill was endorsed in the House through a simple majority. It will now move to the National Assembly before the president enacts this to become a part of the citizenship law. Once it passes the National Assembly, it will pave the way

Homes inundated as Lahore receives record rain LAHORE: Monsoon rains played havoc in Pakistan's Lahore as the city received a maximum rain of 238 mm, breaking the record of the last 20 years. Several areas including Tajpura (238 mm), Lahore airport (219 mm), Mughalpura SDO office (174 mm), Chowk Nakhuda (159 mm) and others received over 150 mm of rainfall. In Islampura area, the roof of a house collapsed resulting in injuries to two people. Most of the areas remained without electricity and water for hours. Several roads and streets turned into lakes with water gushing out of them. The rainwater also flooded the nursing hostel and the blood bank of the city's general hospital, causing inconvenience to the patients and their relatives. The roofs of gynaecology block and the operation theatre began to leak with rainwater.

Water also entered the homes located in low-lying areas of the city, while roads were flooded thereby disrupting the flow of traffic. The civic authorities, including the Water and Sanitation Authority and the Lahore Waste Management Company said, the staff was active and the emergency camps were working while the disposal station was clearing water from low-lying areas. The Pakistan Meteorological Department warns that heavy rain may continue in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Mardan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Nowshera.

for thousands of children of parents who got citizenship by birth to acquire citizenship by descent. All eligible Nepalis born before September 20, 2015, the day when the constitution of Nepal was promulgated, were granted naturalised citizenship, according to the Kathmandu Post newspaper. However, their children haven’t got citizenship in the absence of a law as the constitution said the provision to grant them citizenship would be guided by a federal law, it said. The federal law hasn’t been prepared even seven years after the promulgation of the statue, the report added.

Pak FM blames political turmoil for rupee's slide KARACHI: Pakistan’s finance minister blamed the rupee’s slide on political turmoil, saying he expects market jitters over the currency's sharp decline to subside soon. “The rupee downturn is not due to economic fundamentals,” finance minister Miftah Ismail said. “The panic is primarily due to political turmoil, which will subside in a few days.” The rupee continued to fall, despite last week’s staff level agreement reached with the IMF that would pave the way for a disbursement of $1.17 billion under resumed payments of a bailout package. The rupee was trading at 225 per dollar, having ended at 221.99 after Fitch ratings agency revised its outlook for Pakistan’s sovereign debt from stable to negative - though it affirmed Long-Term Foreign-Currency and Issuer Default Rating at “B-”. “There is panic in the market, I fear it (the rupee) will go down further,” Zafar Paracha, secretary general of the Exchange Companies of Pakistan, said. Paracha said he did not see any reason for the depreciation in the rupee other than possible IMF pre-conditions. Neither the government nor the IMF have said anything about the need for any further depreciation of the currency, though Pakistan recently adopted a market-based exchange rate under IMF’s advice. The FM said imports, which put pressure on the rupee, have been curbed and the current account deficit has been controlled in the first 18 days of June Pressure on the rupee will ease moving forward, he said, adding that Pakistan had already worked out sources to meet its financing gaps.

in brief PAK MISSION REMOVES ‘DISTORTED’ BANGLADESH FLAG The Pakistan high commission in Dhaka removed the controversial cover photo from its Facebook page that used an alleged “distorted” image of Bangladesh’s national flag, following the country’s strong objection. The high commission had recently uploaded a collage of Pakistan’s and Bangladesh’s national flags as the cover photo of its official Facebook page. The collage picture displayed a flag which adds moon and crescent to the original red and green flag of Bangladesh. At a press meet, foreign minister A K Abdul Momen said objections were raised on the picture of the flags of Bangladesh and Pakistan together on the Facebook page of the Pakistan high commission and it was asked to remove the image.

FACEBOOK REMOVES TALIBANCONTROLLED AF MEDIA PAGES Facebook has removed the accounts of at least two state-owned media outlets in Afghanistan, the company confirmed. “The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organisation under US law and they are banned from using our services,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. “We remove accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban and prohibit praise, support, and representation of them,” it added. While Facebook parent Meta did not list the banned media outlets, state broadcaster National Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) and the government-owned Bakhtar news agency both said that they had been blocked.

EX-MAYOR AMONG 3 KILLED IN PHILIPPINE SHOOTING Three people died in a shooting at a university graduation ceremony in the Philippines’ capital region, including a former mayor from the volatile south of the country, police said. Local Quezon City police chief Remus Medina said the shooting appeared to have been an assassination attempt of the former mayor of the southern Lamitan city, Rose Furigay. The suspect, wounded in a shootout with a campus security officer and arrested after a car chase, was now in custody and being interrogated, Medina told reporters. Quezon is part of the Manila capital region, an urban sprawl of 16 cities home to more than 13 million people.

RECORD HEAT IN CHINA Cities across China were on red alert for heatwaves, as tens of millions of people were warned to stay indoors and record temperatures strained energy supply. Scientists say the extreme weather has become more frequent due to climate change, and will likely grow more intense as global temperatures continue to rise. China is no exception and is sweating through one of its hottest summers on record. In the eastern provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian, the mercury rose above 41°Celsius over the weekend, reaching all-time highs in two cities.

OLDEST MALE PANDA DIES A giant male panda, the oldest ever in captivity, died at a Hong Kong theme park after his health deteriorated. He was 35. He lived at Ocean Park after he and a female panda were gifted to Hong Kong by China in 1999. The panda called ‘An An’ had high blood pressure, a common condition among geriatric pandas. Over the past three weeks, it had been kept out of sight from visitors at the park as his health worsened.

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

in brief RIGHTS GROUP SEEKS ARREST OF GOTABAYA A rights group documenting alleged abuses in Sri Lanka has filed a criminal complaint with Singapore’s attorney general, seeking the arrest of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for his role in the nation’s decades long civil war. The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) said Rajapaksa committed grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions during the civil war in 2009 when he was country’s defence chief, according to a copy of the complaint. The ITJP argued that based on universal jurisdiction the alleged abuses were subject to prosecution in Singapore, where he fled after months of unrest over his country’s economic crisis. Rajapaksa submitted his resignation in Singapore, a day after fleeing on July 13.

PHONE SAVES UKRAINE SOLDIER’S LIFE As per a recent post on Reddit, the iPhone might have saved the life of an Ukrainian soldier by blocking a bullet. According to the post and a video uploaded along with it, the phone was kept in the soldier’s vest which blocked the bullet and took the damage, allowing the soldier to live and fight another day. In the process the back of the phone was severely damaged and the front display suffered numerous cracks. However, neither the post nor the video could be independently verified. The post also does not not clarify whether the iPhone was truly bulletproof or if it had titanium inserts that help in reducing the overall damage.

AID FOR AFRICA'S TOP PUBLIC HEALTH BODY Africa's main public health body, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), will get $100 million from the World Bank to help African countries prepare for, detect and respond to disease outbreaks. The Africa CDC has played a major role in advising African countries during the Covid-19 pandemic and is also providing supervision on diseases like monkey pox. The World Bank said that the financial support would help for enhancement of Africa CDC's technical capacity and include investments to increase the number of epidemiologists and outbreak responders.

FIRST POLIO CASE FOUND IN NYC IN A DECADE A case of polio has been identified outside New York City and confirmed by federal health officials, the New York state health department said in what would be the nation’s first known case of the disease in nearly 10 years. Testing suggested the Rockland county case of the highly contagious virus may have originated outside of the US, the department said in statement. “We are monitoring the situation closely and working with the New York state department of health and the CDC to respond to this emergent public health issue,” Rockland county health commissioner Patricia Schnabel Ruppert said.

UN COURT TO HEAR ROHINGYA GENOCIDE CASE Judges at the United Nations’ highest court dismissed preliminary objections by Myanmar to a case alleging the Southeast Asian nation is responsible for genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority. The decision establishing the International Court of Justice’s jurisdiction cleared the way for the highly charged case, brought in 2019 by Gambia, to go ahead. That sets the stage for court hearings airing evidence of atrocities against the Rohingya that human rights groups and a UN probe say breach the 1948 Genocide Convention.

SA applies for Guptas’ extradition from UAE PRETORIA: South Africa has formally filed a request with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to extradite two brothers accused of orchestrating industrial-scale corruption in the country, according to its justice minister. Business tycoons Atul and Rajesh Gupta were held in Dubai last month on suspicion of fraud and money laundering. They fled there in April 2018, shortly after investigations intensified into their role in using their affiliation with former President Jacob Zuma to influence contracts and appointments and siphon off state assets from Africa’s most advanced economy. The scandal led to the phrase “state capture” becoming a buzzword in South African politics. Zuma, who was president from 2009 to 2018, is on trial for misappro-

Ajay and Atul Gupta

priation of state funds during his tenure in collusion with the brothers, among others. He and the Guptas have denied any wrongdoing. “We can confirm that the extradition request has been duly submitted to the UAE central authority,” Justice Minister Ronald Lamola told a press conference. The request is the first step in a process that experts have warned could take years. South Africa’s case centres on an alleged 25-million-rand ($1.5-million) fraud linked to an agricultural feasibility study – small fry compared to the scale of other allegations facing the Gupta family.

SA's corruption watchdog to subpoena Ramaphosa over farm scandal PRETORIA: South Africa's public protector said she would invoke the body's "subpoena powers" to get answers on the theft of foreign currency in Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala game reserve scandal. "We confirm that the President had until July 18, 2022 to respond to the allegations letter of June 7, 2022 after his previous request to have the initial return date of June 22, 2022 extended", a statement read. If Ramaphosa instead filed a request for a further extension, it was denied and was communicated to the President on July 18. Citing the Public Protector Act 23 of 1994, South Africa's public protector (PPSA) announced she would invoke the body's "subpoena powers". They allow the PPSA "to direct any person to submit an affidavit or affirmed declaration or to appear before him or her to provide any document in his or her possession or under his or her control which has a bearing

on a matter being investigated, and may examine such person". South Africa's top anti-corruption official opened a case into the affair in June. President Cyril Ramaphosa is embattled on the domestic political scene. Allegations of kidnapping and corruption were levelled against him by the country’s former spy chief, Arthur Fraser. The case began in February 2020, according to the complaint filed at a Johannesburg police station by Fraser. Robbers allegedly broke into Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm in the northeast of the country where they found about $4 million in cash hidden in furniture. Ramaphosa himself has disputed the sum of money in question, but accepted that he buys and sells animals "sometimes through cash sometimes through transfers". In South Africa it is illegal not to report a crime and according to Fraser’s affidavit, Ramaphosa tried to conceal the theft.

Biden tests +ve for Covid, showing mild symptoms WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden tested positive last week for the coronavirus, raising health concerns for the 79year-old president and underscoring how the virus remains a persistent threat in a country trying to put the pandemic in the past. In a statement, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden “tested positive for Covid-19. He is fully vaccinated and twice boosted and experiencing very mild symptoms.” Biden is receiving Paxlovid, an anti-viral drug used to minimise the severity of Covid-19, Jean-Pierre

Joe Biden

said. The president will isolate at the White House but will “continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time,” she said. Biden’s positive test came amid a flurry of virus cases as the nation grapples with new

subvariants that doctors say are highly contagious and more easily evade the protections provided by coronavirus vaccinations. Up to this point, Biden’s ability to avoid the virus seemed to defy the odds, even with the testing procedures in place for those expected to be in close contact with him. Prior waves of the virus swept through Washington’s political class, infecting Vice President Kamala

Harris, Cabinet members, White House staffers and lawmakers. Biden has increasingly stepped up his travel schedule and resumed holding large indoor events where not everyone is tested. Top White House officials in recent months have been matter-of-fact about the likelihood of the president getting Covid, a measure of how engrained the virus has become in society. Biden is far from the first world leader to get the coronavirus, which has infected British PM Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders.

Climate change drives Covid cases triple in 6 heatwaves and wildfires weeks in Europe: WHO WASHINGTON: Brutal heatwaves are gripping both Europe and the United States this week and are forecast to dump searing heat on much of China into late August. In addition to temperatures spiking above 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), wildfires are raging across southern Europe with evacuations in towns in Italy and Greece. The searing heat is part of a global pattern of rising temperatures, attributed by scientists to human activity. Pope Francis called on world leaders to heed the Earth's "chorus of cries of anguish" stemming from climate change, extreme weather and loss of biodiversity. Climate change makes heatwaves hotter and more frequent. This is the case for most land regions, and has been confirmed by the UN's global panel of climate scientists (IPCC). Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have heated the planet by about 1.2 Celsius since pre-industrial times. That warmer baseline means higher temperatures can

be reached during extreme heat events. "Every heatwave that we are experiencing today has been made hotter and more frequent because of climate change," said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London who also co-leads the World Weather Attribution research collaboration. But other conditions affect heatwaves too. In Europe, atmospheric circulation is an important factor. A study in the journal Nature this month found that heatwaves in Europe have increased three-to-four times faster than in other northern mid-latitudes such as the United States. The authors linked this to changes in the jet stream - a fast west-to-east air current in the northern hemisphere.

LONDON: The World Health Organization said that coronavirus cases have tripled across Europe in the past six weeks, accounting for nearly half of all infections globally. Hospitalisation rates have also doubled over, even though intensive care admissions have remained low. In a statement, Dr Hans Kluge, WHO’s Europe director, described Covid as “a nasty and potentially deadly illness” that people should not underestimate. He said super-infectious relatives of the omicron variant were driving new waves of disease across the continent and

that repeat infections could potentially lead to long Covid. Further he added, worldwide, Covid cases have spiked up for the past five weeks, even as countries have reduced the number of testing. “With rising cases, we’re also seeing a rise in hospitalisations, which are only set to increase further in the autumn and winter months”. A senior WHO official said, in the meantime, European nations must speed up vaccine uptake and bring back mask wearing to tackle the surge in Covid cases. They also have to bring back stricter steps which eased earlier.

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 July - 5 Aug 2022

ED attaches PM Modi hosts 'unique' farewell Nirav’s assets worth dinner for outgoing President Kovind £2.54 mn in HK

Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week hosted a farewell dinner for outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind and First Lady Savita Kovind. The event, held in the national capital, was “unique" as it did not have the usual Delhi-centric crowd, official sources said. The gathering had a good representation from all parts of the country as various Padma awardees and tribal leaders attended the event. President-elect Droupadi Murmu, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, members of the Union Cabinet, Chief Ministers of various states, and other dignitaries attended the event. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was also present. Addressing the gathering, President Kovind had once referred to his humble background and said he grew up in a mud house in a small village and that his journey to the presidency had been a long one. “It is so telling of our nation and our society also. For all its problems, it follows

that basic mantra given to us in the preamble to the Constitution - of ensuring justice, liberty, equality and fraternity - and I will always continue to follow this basic mantra," he had

said. Kovind had then said the key to India’s success is its diversity. As the President of India, Kovind received the highest State honours from six countries - Madagascar

ED questions Sonia for 2 hours, Cong leaders protest

Above-average rainfall in Rajasthan; orange alert in 8 MP districts Most of the parts of Rajasthan have recorded above-average rainfall in this Monsoon season so far. According to the data of the M e t e o r o l o g i c al Department, the pre-monsoon and monsoon rainfall in the state has been 53 per cent more than the average. Meanwhile, average rainfall was recorded above normal in 25 out of the 33 districts. Good rains have also been recorded in the Thar desert area, which has brought smiles to the faces of farmers and livestock animal rearers. The IMD issued an orange alert warning of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in eight districts of central Madhya Pradesh. Some major rivers in the state are in spate due to intermittent rainfall over the last couple of days, prompting the authorities to open sluice gates of some vital dams. The orange alert

forecasts very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in Bhopal, Raisen, Rajgarh, Sehore, Vidisha, Guna, Agar Malwa and Shajapur districts. Meanwhile, three people died and two others were injured in rain-related incidents in Medak and Siddipet districts of Telangana. Two people died on the spot and two others were injured in Reddipally village when a compound wall fell on a room where four workers of a factory were sleeping. Seven killed in Godavari flood Seven persons have been killed so far in the Godavari river floods over the past week in Andhra Pradesh, the State Disaster Management Authority said. While five people died in Konaseema district, one each met with a watery grave in Eluru and West Godavari districts, the

SDMA said in a status note. The water stock in 207 major dams in Gujarat stands at 60 per cent of storage capacity due to good rains so far this season, the state government said on Monday. Of these 207 dams, the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river, considered the lifeline of Gujarat, currently has 2.11 lakh million cubic feet (mcft) of water, which is 63.32 per cent of its total storage capacity. The remaining 206 dams have 3.24 lakh mcft water, or 58.13 per cent of storage capacity, a state government release said citing Water Resources department data. It said 35 of the 206 dams are 100 per cent full, 41 are in the 70-100 per cent range, 33 are in the 5070 per cent range, 41 have water between 25 and 50 per cent of capacity and 56 dams have less than 25 per cent storage.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached gems and jewellery and bank deposits worth £2.54 million in Hong Kong belonging to Nirav Modi in a money laundering case against the fugitive diamond trader, whose extradition is pending in UK courts, taking the total attachment against Modi and his associates to more than Nirav Modi £265 million so far. “The proceeds of crime in the form of gems and jewelleries and bank balances amounting to $31 million and HKD 5.75 million (equivalent to £2.5 million) have been attached in the case of Nirav Modi group of companies in Hong Kong,” the agency said. Nirav Modi is wanted for frauds in the Punjab National Bank case worth over £650 million. In the past few years, the ED had attached assets of him and his associates worth over £240 million in India and abroad.

The Enforcement Directorate questioned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper. The day was a show of strength for the party with street protests and leaders courting arrest across the country. She has been summoned again. The questioning ended after two hours and 15 minutes, officials said. She would be willing to respond to any other questions they might have and was ready to stay on till 8 pm or 9 pm if necessary, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted. However, she was Covid patient and needed to take her medicines so she should be informed about what time she should appear next. Gandhi replied to about 27 of top 28 questions. According to sources, while the Congress chief was leaving, the ED asked her to depose on July 26 but she suggested that she can come on July 25, to which both sides agreed. An ED official said, "The agency wants to take its probe forward in the best way possible and we do not want her to feel uncomfortable given her age and recent

health issues”. According to Ramesh, the ED said it had nothing to ask of her either on Thursday or Friday. After which Sonia said she was willing to appear on Monday, Ramesh added. The questioning was conducted keeping in mind Covid protocol and with a Covid-negative certificate. An ambulance and two doctors from AIIMS were also stationed inside the ED office premises. Sonia was questioned by the same assistant director-level inquiry officer who interrogated her son Rahul Gandhi. Opposition parties issued a statement condemning the Modi government for “misusing” enforcement agencies to harass political leaders and critics.

Indian passport gives visa DGCA begins 2-month-long special audit of airlines free access to 60 countries India has ranked 87th on the Henley Passport Index – a global passport ranking chart that uses data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) to rank 'strongest' and 'weakest' among 199 passports. India has 'visaon-arrival' access to 60 nations around the world. In comparison, Japan, which topped the chart, has visa-free access to 193 nations, followed by Singapore and South Korea – both second with access to 192 nations. India fell two places in the third quarter but rose three from the corresponding period last year. India ranked 90th in Q3 and Q4 in 2021. The passport index states the

strength of diplomatic relations of any one country with others; essentially, the more one country has “ease of access” to others, the higher its ranking. Though, with global travel yet to fully recover from Covid restrictions, the index offers only a notional snapshot of the best documents to hold as of this quarter. Countries to which Indians have 'visa-onarrival' access include Asian destinations like Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives and Sri Lanka. There are also 21 countries in Africa that provide visa-on-arrival services to Indian citizens. There are only two European countries to do the same.

Aviation regulator DGCA has started a 2-monthlong special audit of airlines after its spot checks earlier this month found that insufficient and unqualified engineering personnel are certifying planes before their departure, officials said. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) conducted the spot checks as there have been many technical malfunction incidents in Indian carriers’ planes during the last 45 days. The focus of the aforementioned special audit will be facilities like hangars and stores, equipment being used by

airline personnel, airlines’ quality assurance system, aircraft grounded due to lack of spare parts and airlines’ maintenance control centre, a DGCA order dated July 18 stated. The special audit will also focus on availability of “sufficient, suitably

qualified and experienced” manpower, duty time limitations, availability of current maintenance data for all types of aircraft, adequacy of aircraft turnaround time during transit and “multiple MEL releases”, as per the order. “MEL (minimum

equipment list) releases” means an aircraft is allowed to fly with certain inoperative equipment or instruments for a specific period of time, until the repairs are done. There have been reports of increased engineering related occurrences in scheduled airlines in recent times,” the order mentioned. The order said the special audit of all scheduled airlines is starting from July 19 in order to ensure that they are adhering to the “laid down standards”. The DGCA officials said the special audit will be completed within the next two months.

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Hoist national flag at your India’s biggest philanthropist home on August 13-15: PM Modi Azim Premji turns 77 Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to people to strengthen the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ (tricolour at every home) movement by hoisting or displaying the national flag at their homes between August 13 and 15. In a series of tweets, he said this movement will deepen our connection with the tricolour and noted that it was on July 22 in 1947 that the national flag was adopted. Modi said “Today, we recall the monumental courage and efforts of all those who dreamt of a flag for free India when we were fighting colonial rule. We reiterate our commitment to fulfil their vision and build India of their dreams. He added, this year; when we are marking Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, let us strengthen the Har Ghar Tiranga movement.” PM Modi also shared details of official communi-

Narendra Modi

cations foremost to the adoption of the tricolour as the national flag. He also posted a picture of the first tricolour unfurled by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The government has envisioned the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ exercise in the run-up to the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. Earlier, Amit Shah, Union home minister, held a virtual meeting with CMs to discuss the hoisting of tricolour at 200 million homes in the run-up to 75

years of Independence. A statement by the home ministry said the main objective of the programme is that the national flag should be flown at all homes from August 13-15 through public participation. Government and private establishments will also be involved in this effort. S Jaishankar, External affairs minister, made an appeal to Indians, including those living abroad, to join the movement and hoist the tricolour.

Software major Wipro founder Azim Premji’s name has become synonymous to philanthropy in India so much so that he earned the title of India’s most generous philanthropist billionaire in 2021. The industrialist retained the title for the second straight year as he topped the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021. Premji’s donations during the fiscal 2020-21 surpassed that of RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, HCL founder chairman Shiv Nadar, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, among others. With a total donation of a tad less than £1 billion in FY 2021, Premji gave away nearly £2.7 million a day in donations. The septuagenarian was in his early 20s when he took charge of the company after his father M.H.

Azim Premji

Hasham Premji’s demise. Azim Premji Foundation It was 11 years ago that Premji established the Azim Premji Foundation in 2001. The not-for-profit organization focused on enhancing quality and equity in India’s public system. The school Foundation works with over 350,000 schools across seven Indian states. It also runs the Azim Premji University, which focuses on teaching and research programs in education and

other areas of human development. The industrialist’s $15 billion donation to Foundation’s the endowment makes it one of the largest foundations in the world. While he is widely known for his charitable works, the billionaire philanthropist is the first Indian recipient of the Faraday Medal. He was also awarded honorary doctorates by Michigan State University, Wesleyan University, and the Indian Institutes of Technology at Bombay, Roorkee, and Kharagpur, among others. Premji is also the recipient of the Republic of France’s highest civilian award, Knight of the Legion of Honor. In January 2011, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award.

Delhi man tests positive for monkeypox SC protects Nupur from arrest in FIRs Delhi reported its first case of monkeypox, and India’s fourth, with a 34-year-old man testing positive for the disease that is spreading across the world for the first time. The man is a resident of Paschim Vihar in west Delhi and has no history of travel to countries affected by the disease, unlike the other three cases reported from Kerala, officials said. The Delhi patient had gone on a holiday to Himachal Pradesh last month with male friends. Soon after, he developed fever but ignored the symptoms initially thinking it could be caused by seasonal changes, sources said. However, when the fever didn’t subside for almost a week and skin lesions began

to appear at several places, the 34-year -old got alarmed. Sources said the man visited a physician and a skin specialist before being referred to Lok Nayak hospital – the designated centre for isolation and management of suspected and confirmed cases of monkeypox. “The patient was admitted to our hospital three days ago with fever and skin

Spurious liquor claims 30 lives in Gujarat The death toll went up to 30 on Tuesday as several people in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad and Botad districts fell ill after allegedly consuming spurious liquor on Sunday, officials said. As many as 51 people are still under treatment in hospitals, a release from the state government said, adding that the deaths were caused by “chemical poisoning”. State Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi has announced a three-member committee, headed by IGP Subhash Trivedi, to probe into the matter and submit a detailed report in three days. Another five cases recorded as “accidental deaths” in Ahmedabad’s Dhandhuka in the same period are under investigation, the statement added. Fifty-one people have been admitted to Bhavnagar and Ahmedabad civil hospitals in the wake of the incident. Of the total deaths confirmed to be by food poisoning, six are in Ahmedabad and 22 in Botad. The cause of the remaining two deaths is yet to be ascertained. Analysis of the substance consumed by the victims has revealed the presence of methyl alcohol. “In the investigation so far, the deaths appear to have been caused by consumption of the poisonous chemical spiked liquid,” the government release said. Six persons, including the prime accused, have been arrested so far and two FIRs registered, one each in Barwala and Ranpur police stations of Botad district. In the FIR registered at Barwala, 14 persons were booked under different sections of the Gujarat Prohibition Act. In the second FIR, registered in Ranpur police station, 11 were booked under the same sctions.

eruptions that were suggestive of monkeypox. We took his skin lesion and blood sample and sent them to the N a t i o n a l Institute of Virology, Pune for confirmation. It has come positive,” Dr Suresh Kumar, the medical director of Lok Nayak hospital, said. He added that currently the patient is stable and he is being given symptomatic treatment. In the meanwhile, another team of health officials are tracking everyone the patient came in contact with over the past few days and isolating those with disease symptoms.

Moving away from its earlier hard stance, the Supreme Court had protected suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma from arrest in all present and future FIRs for her alleged blasphemous comments against the Prophet as it took into account continuing grave threats to her life from many, including a ‘khadim’ of Ajmer dargah. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala, which had on July 1 had refused relief to Nupur with dismissive causticity while coldly asking her to approach the HCs concerned for quashing of each of the nine FIRs, agreed with Senior Advocate Maninder Singh that the aggressive threats from radical ele-

Nupur Sharma

ments would obstruct her safe travel to various HCs to seek quashing of FIRs or seek pre-arrest bail. Pointing to rise of life threats and issuance of a lookout circular by the Kolkata Police on July 2, Singh renewed his argument that she faced imminent arrest and her travel to West Bengal, where many FIRs have been lodged, would be fraught with grave danger to her life. Singh

sought to revive the writ petition Nupur had withdrawn and pleaded with the bench to dispassionately decide the issue on merit in sync with the ruling of the SC in TT Antony case in 2001”. Singh said all the FIRs are based on her single statement during a TV debate on May 26. The bench headed by Justice Kant said that “The petitioner ( Nupur) has now pointed out that it has become nearly impossible for her to avail the alternative remedy granted by this court (on July 1) and that there is an imminent necessity for this court to intervene and protect her life and liberty as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.”

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

SOUTH INDIA

BSY hints at 'Many items looted': AIADMK files complaint against OPS retirement, props CHENNAI: The opposition AIADMK in Tamil Nadu alleged that persons owing allegiance to expelled party leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) "ransacked" the party office and "looted" documents and precious items on July 11, when a clash erupted between supporters of OPS and interim General Secretary K Palaniswami. Senior party leader and Rajya Sabha member C Ve Shanmugam filed a complaint in this connection against Panneerselvam and some of his aides, alleging that documents pertaining to the AIADMK office were among those "taken away" by them. Speaking to reporters after filing the complaint, Shanmugam, a former state minister, claimed men owing allegiance to Panneerselvam broke into the party office and "looted" documents and others. "All rooms have been broken into, ransacked and many items looted," he charged. While the office building belonged to party founder, the late M G

son as successor

O Panneerselvam

Ramachandran's wife Janaki, he gave it to the AIADMK, Shanmugam said. He claimed documents relating to the office building, besides those in Coimbatore and Madurai had been taken away in a vehicle belonging to Panneerselvam. All these activities were done at the behest of OPS, Shanmugam charged. He said the party has sought action against the expelled leader, besides immediate retrieval of the missing items.

NEW DELHI: Veteran BJP leader and four-time Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announced that his second son BY Vijayendra will contest the upcoming state assembly elections from their family stronghold Shikaripura in Shimoga district. Signalling his retirement from electoral politics, Yediyurappa sought public support for his son and said he himself won't contest elections again. Yediyurappa has won from this constituency eight times since 1983. "I request you to support Vijayendra, just like the way you have supported me," he appealed to the people of the constituency. The former Chief Minister said that he will visit the constituency once a week and appealed to the people to strengthen the party in the constituency. Vijayendra is the state vice president of the BJP in Karnataka. BSY is the tallest Lingayat leader in the country and was also a Lok Sabha member from Shimoga in 2014. His son Raghavendra won on a BJP ticket in the assembly bypolls in 2014 from Shikaripura.

PUNJAB

SKM plans nationwide stir for farm loan waiver FATEHGARH SAHIB (PUNJAB): The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) would hold conventions across India to highlight the “anti-farmer” policies of the union government and urge various organisations to unite under one platform, said Darshan Pal, a senior SKM leader. Talking to the media after addressing a farmers’ convention, Darshan Pal said the SKM was also planning to launch ‘Mission 2024’ and ‘Mission Karja Mukti’ to get the loans of the farmers of the country waived. Ahead of the Assembly elections in Haryana in 2024, the SKM would approach all political parties to support their cause, he said. The SKM leader said members, leaders and workers of the SKM had been briefed about the committee constituted by the Central government on the MSP. He said all 26 members named by the Union government were either the members of the BJP or RSS and favoured the three contentious farm laws which were scrapped after a long agitation. In a meeting held in Ghaziabad on July 4, it was decided to stop the trains for four hours in the country, he said, adding that on July 31, no movement of trains would be allowed in the state. Farmers from Patiala

would stop trains at Rajpura entry point of Punjab and Fatehgarh farmers at the Sirhind railway station, he asserted. Announcing a plan to start a week-long protest against the Agnipath scheme, he said public meetings would be held all over the country to expose the scheme and how it would be harmful for the youths of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP and MP. Protest over water pollution Meanwhile, hundreds of farmers under the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC), Punjab, staged a protest against the rising level of pollution in the rivers, particularly the Sutlej. “The polluted water of the Buddha Nullah in Ludhiana has destroyed the Sutlej. The river is also bearing the brunt of untreated effluents being discharged by the municipalities, which is posing health hazards to the people,” said KMSC chief Satnam Singh Pannu. OC.

BHAKNA KALAN (AMRITSAR): Fifty-two days after the murder of singer-rapper Sidhu Moose Wala, a police team shot and killed two sharpshooters involved in the crime during a gunfight that raged for four-and-a-half hours at a village near Attari on the India-Pakistan border. Three cops involved in the operation to trace Jagroop Singh Rupa and Manpreet Singh, alias Manu Kusa, were wounded in the exchange of fire along with an unnamed reporter, the police said. They are all out of danger. Multiple police teams had been trailing the two gangsters, additional DGP and anti-gangster task force chief Promod Ban said. The gunfight started after the cornered gangsters hid in an abandoned building at Bhakna Kalan village in Amritsar district. A team from the rural police cordoned off the area while the anti-gangster task force and a police contingent battled the fugitive duo. Jagroop and Manpreet continued firing at the advancing cops until both were fatally shot in retaliation, the ADGP said. An AK-47 rifle, a pistol and ammunition were found at the slain duo's hiding place along with a large bag containing paraphernalia that is being examined by forensic experts. The ADGP said a total of 21 people had been arrested so far for Moose Wala's murder. Manpreet is believed to have fired the first shot at Moose Wala on May 29.

Bengal minister remanded to two-day ED custody

investigating agency did not have any concrete evidence to prove Chatterjee’s direct involvement in the scam, his bail petition be accepted. However, the ED counsel strongly objected to the bail

STUDENTS PROTEST AGAINST MORAL POLICING

Colleges students - both young men and women - sat in each other’s laps at an old waiting shed near the College of Engineering in Trivandrum, to protest against moral policing by locals who had broken the bench into three individual seats to ensure that the college boys and girls didn’t sit next to each other. The engineering students sat in each others’ laps, fingers laced, hands draped over each other’s shoulders, and smiled into a camera. They posted the picture on social media and it has gone viral, a rebuttal to all those who would rather see students bent over their classroom desks, with boys and girls in separate rows.

Police gun down two THRASHED Moose Wala killers YOUTH OVER JAI SHRI RAM

WEST BENGAL KOLKATA: A court in Kolkata remanded West Bengal commerce and industries minister Partha Chatterjee to two-day interim custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The court also directed ED to present Chatterjee at a special PMLA court at the end of his remand period. Earlier, ED sleuths arrested Chatterjee, who’s also the secretary general of Trinamool Congress, in connection with the recruitment irregularities in West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) when he was the state education minister. Chatterjee’s counsels moved a bail petition in the court and claimed that since the

in brief

plea and claimed that since Chatterjee as state minister can influence the witnesses, his application should be rejected. The ED counsel also argued that since there is concrete evidence of huge financial

involvement behind illegal granting of jobs in WBSSC, there are enough reasons to book Chatterjee under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). After hearing both sides, the lower court rejected the bail application and remanded Chatterjee to two-day ED custody. ED officials said that they will present Chatterjee at the special PMLA court and seek extension of his custody. The court also rejected a plea filed by Chatterjee for his admission to hospital considering his health condition. Chatterjee’s counsels said that they will move the bail application again at the special PMLA court.

CHANT Tension prevailed in Hyderabad's Charmahal area after a 17-year-old boy from the minority community was assaulted by more than 40 members of a ‘Bonalu’ procession for refusing to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram.’ At least 14 suspects were identified and taken into custody. The student was passing by Charmahal-Moosabowli area when a group of people applied ‘tilak’ on his forehead and ordered him to chant Jai Sri Ram. When the teen refused, he was abused and thrashed. Panic gripped the area after a mob gathered at the spot, forcing heavy police deployment.

PUNJAB POLICE ARREST 508 DRUG SMUGGLERS Amid the ongoing war against drugs waged by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police in last week arrested 508 drug smugglers/suppliers after registering 389 FIRs across the state. In addition to this, the police have also arrested 31 proclaimed offenders and absconders wanted in NDPS cases in the past week, said Inspector General of Police Sukhchain Singh Gill, who was addressing a press conference on Monday. The police have recovered over 793,000 tablets/capsules/injections of pharma opioids from across the state. The opioids include 682,000 intoxicant tablets, 17,169 injectable narcotics, 85,442 intoxicant capsules, and 8,648 vials of intoxicant syrup.

7 DIE AFTER DRINKING LIQUOR IN HOWRAH Seven people from Ghusuri in West Bengal’s Howrah, who had consumed liquor, died prompting locals to ransack the outlet and beat up the owner before handing him over to the cops. It is not clear whether they had drunk hooch (which is illicit), or country liquor laced with harmful chemicals. Preliminary autopsy reports do not suggest any sort of alcohol poisoning, said cops, who have registered a case of “unnatural deaths”. The excise department said the liquor might have contained harmful chemicals and has sent the liquor samples for forensic examination. “We have not found any illicit material in the batch of liquor that was consumed,” said an official.

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

Droupadi Murmu takes oath as India's 15th President Droupadi Murmu, 64, on Monday took oath as the 15th President of India. Chief justice of India NV Ramana administered the oath of office to Murmu in the central hall of Parliament. Rajya Sabha chairman and Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, members of the council of ministers, governors, chief ministers, heads of diplomatic missions, MPs and principal civil and military officers of the government were in attendance at the swearing in ceremony. Outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind and Murmu arrived in Parliament in a ceremonial procession shortly before the swearing in commenced. In her address after taking oath as the 15th president of India, Murmu said that she started her journey of life from a small tribal village in Odisha in the eastern part of the country. From the background that she came from, it was like a dream for her to get elementary education, she said. “Despite many obstacles, my determination remained strong and I became the first daughter of my village to go to college. I belong to the tribal society. I have got the opportunity to rise from serving as a ward councillor to becoming the President of India. This is the greatness of India, the mother of democracy,” she said.

She said that it is a matter of great satisfaction that those who have been deprived for centuries and those who have been denied the benefits of development, poor, downtrodden, backwards and tribals are seeing their reflection in her. She noted that it is a tribute to the power of Indian democracy that a daughter born in a poor house in a remote tribal area can reach the highest constitutional position in the country. Only the first tribal head of state and the second woman in the top constitutional post, President Murmu succeeds Ram Nath Kovind. Murmu, who began her speech in Hindi with “Johar”, a traditional tribal greeting, said, that I attained the post of President is not my personal achievement. It is the achievement of every poor person in

Bharuch native shot dead in Zambia, brother injured In Kabwe city of Zambia, 40-year-old businessman, a native of Bharuch district of Gujarat, was shot dead by robbers. The victim Imran Karkaria’s younger brother Azmat (35) was also injured in the attack and has been hospitalized in capital Lusaka with bullet wounds in the hand. The Karkaria brothers are natives of Tankaria village of Bharuch and had migrated to Africa around 10 years ago. “They first went to South Africa and worked there for a few years. Later they shifted to Zambia. This was not expected in Zambia as it is a peaceful country and safe to do business,” said Tausif Karkaria, cousin of deceased Imran. The brothers were running a grocery shop in a rented space in Kabwe. Imran lived with his wife, 10-year-old daugher and an eight-year-old son in Kabwe. Azmat’s wife and two children live in Tankaria. “They were asleep when the robbers entered their house at around 4 am and opened fire. Imran suffered two bullet injuries, one in the head and another in the stomach, resulting in his death on the spot. Azmat too suffered bullet injuries in left hand and he is under treatment at a hospital in Lusaka,” said Sadik Kapadia, Imran’s friend who lives in Kitwe city of Zambia.

Airlines must consult a doctor before denying boarding: DGCA Airlines can no longer deny boarding to a person with disability by their own without a doctor examining the person and asserting that the passenger’s health could get worse during the journey. Following a huge chaos over IndiGo’s latest denial of boarding to one such young passenger in Ranchi, aviation minister Scindia had ordered a review of the whole process. Accordingly, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it has amended the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on “carriage by air persons with disability (divyangjan) and/or persons with reduced mobility” to improve the accessibility of boarding and flying for disabled people. Amended rules describe that an airline shall not refuse carriage of any person on the basis of disability and/or reduced mobility. However, in case an airline perceives that the health of such a passenger may deteriorate in-flight, the said passenger will have to be examined by a doctor in person. It added that after obtaining the medical opinion, the airline shall take an appropriate decision on the carriage of such passenger. In case of refusal of carriage by the airline, it shall inform the passenger in writing with the reasons therein immediately.

India. My election is proof of the fact that the poor in India can have dreams and fulfil them too.” Born to a Santhal family in Mayurbhanj, Odisha, one of the most backward districts in India, President Murmu grew up in a village where a young girl being able to obtain primary education was still a dream. She, however, beat the odds, going on to become the first person in her village to enrol for college education. Murmu won the elecyion by an overwhelming margin against Yashwant Sinha after receiving over 64 per cent valid votes. After the end of the counting process, returning officer P C Mody declared Murmu as the winner and said that she got 6,76,803 votes against Sinha's 3,80,177 votes.

Opposition clueless on MPs, MLAs who cross voted for Murmu Even as the opposition camp is yet to recover from the shock of 126 MLAs and 17 MPs cross-voting in favour of President elect Droupadi Murmu, the respective parties won’t be able to take any action against those defying the party line as in most cases they cannot be identified because voting in the Presidential election is done by secret ballot. Several leaders from Congress, which has seen maximum number of MLAs from any opposition party cross-voting in favour of Murmu, admitted there is no way to find out who went against the party’s direction. Congress was worst-hit by cross-voting in Madhya Pradesh as the opposition’s presidential nominee Yashwant Sinha received only 79 votes against Congress’ tally of 96 in the assembly. However, it is difficult to identify the 17 MLAs who went against the party. "It could have been anyone. The culprits may be thinking they will get away clean while tribal MLAs are blamed for the cross-voting," said sources in Congress. A senior Congress leader from Jharkhand, where seven of its lawmakers are believed to have voted for Murmu, said that unlike in the Rajya Sabha polls, voters in the presidential elections need not intimate their respective party’s poll observers. "So, it is difficult to single out who cross voted. " Jharkhand

PCC chief Rajesh Thakur said the party would summon all its MLAs in Ranchi next week and talk to them one-on-one to find out who defied the party line. Congress’ problems are compounded in states like Gujarat, which go to the polls later this year. Though seven Congress MLAs cross-voted in favour of Murmu, the party is wary of even conducting an exercise to identify them. State Congress chief Jagdish Thakor said this will amount to ‘doubting the loyalty’ of all the MLAs. "No action is being taken as of now. It is clear that the MLAs who cross-voted will shift allegiance to the BJP sooner or later," he said. In Chhattisgarh, where two Congress MLAs defied the party line by voting for India’s first tribal President, it is impossible to identify the duo. Almost a third of Congress’ 71 legislators in the state belong to tribal communities. Assam reported the highest cross voting from the opposition - 22 - in favour of Murmu. However, there is no clarity on how many of these are from Congress. While Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that "out of these 22 extra votes, 15 to 16 votes were from Congress MLAs whose constituencies have voters from Adivasi and tea garden communities." Leader of the opposition in the assembly Debabrata Saikia and PCC chief Bhupen Bora said this figure was not more than 9.

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

30 Jul - 5 Aug 2022

The Gita For Children Shefali Saxena The Gita For Children is an accessible friend, philosopher and guide, designed to, reassure, empower, and provide direction to young readers in an increasingly chaotic and morally topsyturvy world. The first adaptation of the Bhagavad Gita for children is going to be published in the UK. The book is particularly relevant to a British audience since the Indian diaspora is the largest ethnic group after the white population – totalling 1.4 million people, or 2.5% of the overall British population. In addition, Hindus are the third largest religious group. The Bhagavad Gita has been on India’s must-read list for an incredible 2500 years (at the very least), and with good reason. Secular, liberal, and unfailingly compassionate towards human frailty, the divine song is a call to war against the most powerful and dangerous enemy of all – the one that lives inside our heads. Roopa Pai’s spirited, one-of-a-kind retelling of the epic conversation between Pandava prince Arjuna and his mentor and friend Krishna is the best introduction to the Bhagavad Gita. Lucid, thought-provoking and brimming with fun trivia, this book will stay with you long after you have turned the last page. Speaking exclusively to Asian Voice, Roopa said, “What is the Bhagavad Gita? Many things to many people, but I like to think of it as (1) the oldest self-help book in the world, and (2) India’s book of answers

to humankind’s most existential questions – questions that never really go away, no matter where you live, which gods you worship, what the colour of your skin is, which historical era you are from, or how old you are. Questions like – What is the purpose of my life? How can I ensure that I make good decisions and choices? How come I’m not happier even though I have everything that I need? Can I ever stop feeling overwhelmed by everything that is going on in the world? That is what makes the Gita eternally relevant, the reason it has stayed on bestseller lists for over 2500 years. She further said, “What makes the Gita compelling and approachable, on the other hand, especially for young people, who trust far more the counsel of their peers than of their elders, is that it is essentially a conversation between two best friends, one of whom (Arjuna) is having a very hard time making the right decision, and the other (Krishna) who is talking him through it. Krishna is the friend every young person needs and longs for – he is wise, nonjudgmental, compassionate, and always has your back, no matter what course of action you eventually pick.” “Overall, the Gita is a text that will not only help South Asian youngsters connect with their own heritage and the worldview of the culture they come from, but also be a steadfast friend and guide to help weather the storms of growing up,” Roopa added.

Maharajah of Jaipur invites British artist madeleine Bunbury to paint portraits of favourite ponies Padmanabh ‘Pacho’ Singh, often called ‘Royal Monarch of Jaipur’ is a star polo player, who leads a glamorous international life. He studied the history of art in Rome, enjoys designer clothes, friends with Princes William and Harry join them in matches at Guards Polo Club. Dhruv Raj Singh, Pacho’s friend and mentor, interested in contemporary art, is the son of Colonel Bhawani Singh, former Commandant of the 61st Cavalry, coach to the Indian World Cup polo team. He writes: ‘My family has an equine tradition, and I have been following close to 100 artists globally since 2019/2020. ‘Looking at their quality of work, their audience, value and potential future value, Madeleine Bunbury topped every metric over this period of research. A dear friend even called her ‘’a modern-day George Stubbs’ Madeleine won approval as someone who would ‘fit the culture and environment of Jaipur’ It was decided to invite her to come to Jaipur for a few commissions. She would stay in City Palace's private polo yard. Four portraits were completed to include Music, one of the Maharajah’s ‘best-performing ponies’ a bay with one sock on a hind leg. Her visit was planned to coincide with the Spring Festival of Holi, on March 18rh this year. Madeleine describes her experience in the word document attached. She had to combine intense concentration on painting, with all-night parties, decorated with thousands of marigold petals, and join the fun with tireless Indian and European guests. Dhruv’s own account of the selection process is available if you are interested. Madeleine St Pierre Bunbury, born in Mustique, in 1997, classical Old Master training at Charles Cecil School In Florence,

is now travelling the world to paint equestrian portraits of 80 different breeds.

Mighty spirits: Mesmerising cross-cultural production of Orpheus to tour the north A groundbreaking new staging of Monteverdi’s opera Orpheus is set to open at Opera North in Leeds this October, before touring northern theatres alongside Verdi’s La traviata, and concerts of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. Orpheus, a reimagining of one of the earliest surviving operas, Monteverdi’s 1607 work L’Orfeo, weaves a new musical and dramatic tapestry from western and Indian Roopa Panesar performs The Crossing_at PRS Foundation and Southbank Centre's New Music Biennial 22, Coventry_Credit Jamie Gray

Jasdeep Singh Degun premieres his sitar concerto with the Orchestra of Opera North, Huddersfield Town Hall, 2020_credit Justin Slee

classical music. The new version will feature additional composition and arrangements by Jasdeep Singh Degun, working as co-music Director with early music expert Laurence Cummings. The opera will be sung in Italian and Urdu, with additional sections sung in Hindi, Tamil, Malayam, Punjabi and Bengali. There will be English titles at all performances. Some passages of the opera are being rescored and arranged for Indian classical instruments including the sitar, tabla and tar shehnai, in addition to western baroque instruments such as harpsichord, theorbo and lirone. The project has grown out of Opera North’s longstanding collaborative relationship with South Asian Arts-uk, a Leeds based centre of excellence in Indian classical music. In a production directed by Anna Himali Howard with sets and costumes by Leslie Travers, the setting of one of the most famous Greek myths is relocated to a contemporary wedding party in a British garden. The opera takes place on the day of the wedding of Orpheus, a musician of mythical power, to Eurydice. But their joy is shattered when Eurydice dies suddenly, and Orpheus, heartbroken, vows to travel to the Underworld to find his new wife and return her to life. The cast includes performers trained in western and Indian classical traditions, with tenor Nicholas Watts singing Orpheus and British-Tamil Carnatic singer Ashnaa Sasikaran singing Eurydice. Opera North soprano Amy Freston and award-winning vocalist Deepa Nair Rasiya share the

UK Muslim Filmto host their first event this summer UK Muslim Film in association with Disney and Edgbaston Stadium, the home of Warwickshire Cricket Club, will be hosting an exclusive summer ‘Pop-Up’ cinema event on Saturday 13th August 2022. The event is to celebrate Muslim contribution to film and to bring together families from all backgrounds and faiths in the multicultural City of Birmingham. This special pop-up cinema event will be celebrating the success of talented Muslim writer, director and filmmaker Lena Khan, by showcasing two of her feature films - ‘The Tiger Hunter’ and ‘Flora & Ulysses’, a Disney+ original movie which will be shown on the big screen for the first time. About The Tiger Hunter: Lena Khan’s first feature film, ‘The Tiger Hunter’, released in over 70 US cities nationwide. With an all star cast the film received rave reviews from The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Variety

among others. Written and directed by Lena, the comedy film is set in the late 70’s and follows the life of a young Indian man, the son of a beloved tiger hunter, who comes to Chicago on his rocky road quest for success. About Flora & Ulysses: Fresh off of her first film, Lena went on to direct the Disney+ Original Movie ‘Flora & Ulysses’, a live action family comedy. ‘Flora & Ulysses’ is the tale of a 10 year-old girl and her unique friendship with a squirrel, who possesses superhero powers which take them on a fantastic adventure. The film will be shown on the big screen exclusively at UK Muslim Film’s Pop Up Cinema event at Edgbaston Stadium. Together with the opportunity to watch both films, ticket-holders will be able to enjoy a fun-filled day with an array of food vendors, stalls from local businesses showcasing their products, plus plenty of other attractions for children too.

prologue role of Music, while other parts are taken by performers including Chandra Chakraborty as Proserpine, Dean Robinson as Pluto, Yarlinie Thanabalasingam as Hope and Kezia Bienek as The Messenger. In addition to playing in the ensemble, santoor player Kaviraj Singh will perform the role of the ferryman Charon, while esraj and tar shehnai player Kirpal Singh Panesar will also sing the part of Apollo. Also joining the cast are opera singers

Nicholas Watts and Ashnaa Sasikaran in Opera North's Whistle Stop Opera, A Tale of Orpheus Eurydice, June 2022_credit Tom Arber

Frances Gregory, Claire Lees, Simon Grange and Xavier Hetherington, alongside many other eminent performers of Indian classical music in the UK, including Carnatic singer Supriya Nagarajan, founder of the Dewsbury-based arts organisation Manasamitra, Birmingham-based Hindustani singer Sanchita Pal, London based singer Pandit Chiranjeeb Chakraborty, and Delhi-born khayal singer Vijay Rajput, now based in Newcastle. An onstage orchestra of 19 players includes a baroque ensemble of violin, viola, cello, bass, trumpet, percussion, harp, harpsichord, lirone and theorbo, as well as Indian classical instruments including sitar, tabla, santoor, esraj and bansuri. Recently announced as Opera North’s Artist-in-Residence, Jasdeep Singh Degun’s previous work with the Company includes Partition, a 2017 collaboration with South Asian Arts-uk in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the division of India and Pakistan, and Arya, a concerto for sitar and orchestra, which premiered in 2020. Jasdeep Singh Degun, Music Director, Orpheus, and Artist-in-Residence, Opera North, comments: “Indian classical music is an improvised tradition based on very strict melodic and rhythmical frameworks called raag and taal, while the nature of 16th-century opera has a lot of scope for embellishment and improvisation. This makes the two traditions quite compatible with each other, in the sense that there is much opportunity for the performers to breathe life into the written music. “In the hope of finding an equal and meaningful meeting point for the operatic and Indian classical traditions, it felt necessary to have sections of new music composed based on Indian classical music. The challenge has been to find the right balance between the different sound worlds, to allow the Indian classical music and the Monteverdi opera to co-exist. I have tried to let the story and music of Monteverdi's L’Orfeo drive the composition process for the new parts: the raags I have selected and the resulting melodies have been informed by the original Monteverdi, however set to the traditional Indian classical taals.”

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

CALCIUM + Magnesium + Vit. D3

SKIN, HAIR, NAILS

Beauty Tablets

UK’S AWARD WINNING NO.1

Available from Superdrug, Holland & Barrett, Lloydspharmacy, GNC, supermarkets, health stores independent pharmacies, www.vitabiotics.com

Most trusted for pregnancy