Asian Standard North East Issue 15 - MAR 2021

Inside

Our resident chef Shaeem shows us how to cook

PALLAVI SHARDA

Gulfisha Kabab

‘REINVIGORATING

ry Tom and JerWAS EXCITING’

CHECK RECIPE ON PAGE 21

BY THE PUBLISHERS OF ASIAN SUNDAY

NORTH EAST / 15 - 21 MARCH 2021 / FREE

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SARAH EVERARD WAS THE NATION'S BETI

Award winning Family Lawyer asks why are women still unsafe in today’s society?

BY SABEENA DIN.

Leeds based Sabeena Din is an award-winning female family lawyer, specialising in domestic abuse cases. As a mother of two boys and one girl, the tragic death of Sarah Everard has impacted on her and how she not only keeps

her three children safe, but on how she raises her boys.

In an exclusive to Asian Standard, Sabeena shares her views. Here is what she has to say.

Continue reading on pages 6 & 7

Booking is essential

Campus Guidance Event Tuesday 16th March 5:00pm–7:30pm

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MASSIVE FALL IN INSURANCE CLAIMS IN 2020

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has today revealed that the number of motor insurance claims settled last year dropped by 19%, with the majority of UK cars sitting idle due to the UK’s lockdown. CEO at Confused.com Louise O’Shea says: “Almost two in three (60%) UK drivers have been using their car less since being in lockdown, according to our research.

We also found that UK drivers expect to drive nearly 2,000 fewer miles this year compared to last year. “ Typically, having a lower mileage could mean drivers pay more for their insurance as they would be considered less experienced and therefore higher risk. But the risk on our roads has decreased overall. This allowed motorists to save £52 on average on their premiums at the end of last year.

“But these savings are only being seen by people who are shopping around. We know that insurers are still putting up renewal prices for some drivers. Even if the increase is small, please don’t settle for this as there will be an insurer out there willing to offer a better price. Knowing how to keep car insurance costs down can be confusing as it depends on so many factors. Our guide offers some simple steps to help you making savings before you hit the road once lockdown eases."

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TYNE & WEAR FIRE: £2 MILLION FOR NEW FIREFIGHTERS

BY JAMES HARRISON | LDRS Reporter Almost £2 million could be spent recruiting 40 new firefighters and three dedicated crews for Tyne and Wear.

Chiefs have drawn up plans which, if approved, would see a new team stationed in Newcastle and permanent staffing for a further two specialist units in Sunderland and Gosforth.

The move follows a decade of service cuts in the region, but bosses insist sound money management over years means they are now in a position to reverse some of these.

“For 10 years, the fire authority has taken things out, trimmed things, to meet budget pressure,” said Peter Heath, assistant chief fire officer (ACFO) at Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS).

“They’ve always been safe, they’ve always been

planned, but the authority has also said if things improve we want to bring them back.

“We’ve managed to save a bit, cut a bit and we’ve amassed a decent amount of money that we now feel is safe, sound and sustainable to reinvest.”

The new scheme has been proposed as part of the brigade’s IRMP (integrated risk management plan), which the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Authority is due to vote on when it meets on Monday (March 15).

If given the green light, it will see £760,700 put towards 16 firefighters to crew a new fire engine at West Denton, in Newcastle.

A further £1.151 million will go to fund 24 firefighters to permanently crew Aerial Ladder Platform (ALP) based at Marley Park, in Sunderland, and Gosforth, in Newcastle.

Previously, ALPs were manned under a dual staffing arrangement, meaning they were run by crews with their own regular fire engine, and only sent out on request or for pre-identified buildings.

ACFO Heath added: “By adding one fire engine, we improve the speed in response to calls for fires, but we will also improve the availability of the height appliances and the availability of the command unit, which is absolutely integral to supporting firefighter safety.

“What we now have is an opportunity that that height appliance will always be available, so that if the commanders need it we can send it and there will be a crew available.

“We’re minimising potential for a delay and getting the resources to the scene, which I think is a critical factor for safety.”

TV EXECS DESPERATE TO SNAP UP PIERS MORGAN IN ‘£10MILLION BIDDING WAR’ AFTER GOOD MORNING BRITAIN EXIT Piers Morgan is said to have TV executives desperate to snap him up after he left Good Morning Britain over Meghan Markle’s tell-all Oprah Winfrey interview.

The 55-year-old presenter dramatically quit the ITV show on Tuesday, 9 March after clashing with Alex Beresford, who criticised him for ‘continuing to trash’ the Duchess of Sussex, and it remains to be seen what he’ll do next. It’s been reported that Piers has had talks with Simon Cowell about teaming up for a new project, while Andrew Neil reckons Piers would be a ‘huge asset’ to GB News, which launches later this year. There are also claims Piers may join Rupert Murdoch’s upcoming News UK TV venture or join Fox News.

Either way, Piers hasn’t been

Prince Harry, Prince William to reunite at Princess Diana memorial despite tensions Amid the ongoing family spat after the bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Prince William will attend their late mother Princess Diana's memorial together later in the year.

shy of job offers and some have reached the £10million mark. ‘He has had millions of pounds worth of offers,’ a source claimed. ‘He turned GMB into a ratings hit, it seems everything he touches turns to gold.

‘People love his honesty, even the people that don’t like him, they can’t help but be interested in what he says.’ The insider added to The Mirror: ‘Some of the offers have hit the £10million mark, and it seems he may be able to land exactly what he wants.’ Piers has said his exit from Good Morning Britain was caused by ‘cancel culture’.

‘I thus became the latest ‘victim’ of the cancel culture that is permeating our country, every

minute, of every hour, of every day,’ he wrote on Instagram last week. ‘Though of course, I consider myself to be neither a victim, nor actually cancelled.

‘However, I do believe the defence of free speech and the right to express honestly held opinions is the most important issue of my career, and the most important issue in British society.’ He added: ‘It is a privilege to live in a democracy, and it is a privilege to be British.

‘As I said when I left GMB, the right to free speech is a hill worth dying on.’

According to Fox News, the Duke of Sussex and Duke of Cambridge are planning to reunite at the memorial they have planned to commission for their late mother this summer.

Despite the tension between the brothers that sparked after the controversial interview with Oprah Winfrey, this reunion will mark their first public meet. Russell Myers, a royal expert revealed that both Prince William and Harry are committed to get together on July 1 this year for the unveiling of the Princess Diana statue at Kensington Gardens.

"This could be a monumental period for the brothers," Myers said, adding the siblings have hardly spoken in months. The news came a day after Prince William contradicted the claims made by Prince Harry and his wife,

Meghan Markle, that the Duchess of Sussex suffered racism at the palace.

In the 200-minute long chat show with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry spilled the beans about the racist comments he

had received, while he started dating Markle and that his father, Prince Charles, stopped taking his calls. He also disclosed that Charles made it clear that both the brothers should be on "different paths".

As per the reports from Fox News, amid this ongoing clash, Prince Harry has vowed to return to the UK from California this summer for the planned unveiling of a memorial statue that he and his brother together helped commission for his mother. The memorial statue was commissioned by the Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex in 2017, in honour of the 20th death anniversary of Princess Diana.

The statue will be unveiled on her 60th birth anniversary. The Princess of Wales had died with her beau and film producer Dodi Fayed, on August 31, 1997 in a car accident in Paris.

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GEORGE FLOYD’S FAMILY AWARDED $27M IN LAWSUIT ACCUSING POLICE OF USING ‘UNJUSTIFIED, EXCESSIVE AND ILLEGAL’ FORCE WHILE ARRESTING FLOYD The family of George Floyd have been awarded $27million following his death at the hands of Minneapolis Police.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed against Minneapolis City Council by Floyd’s family was settled after unanimous agreement by the city’s councillors. A spokesperson of the family said $500,000 would be set aside to help improve the late security guard’s old community. The lawsuit was filed last July, and accused Minneapolis Police Department of using ‘unjustified, excessive and illegal’ force while arresting Floyd shortly before his death. Floyd, 46, died in the Minnesota city last May after policeman Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for eight minutes 46 seconds. Jury selection for Chauvin’s murder trial is currently underway, with prosecutors set to open the case next week. He denies second and third-degree

Peter Heath

ALL-NEW MCLAREN ARTURA WILL BE AS COMPELLING TO OWN AS IT IS TO DRIVE Revealed last month as the first series-production HighPerformance Hybrid from the pioneering luxury supercar company, the Artura is the product of more than half a century of McLaren’s racing and road-car experience and expertise. In addition to setting new benchmarks in the supercar class for performance and efficiency, the Artura also brings new levels of McLaren warranty protection and inclusive service provision.

Jamie Corstorphine, Product Strategy Director, McLaren Automotive said: “The all-new

McLaren Artura was designed and engineered to perform at the highest level across the board, in electric poweronly, zero-emission, urban commutes to weekend breaks, favourite-road drives and trackday sessions. As well as setting new standards in the supercar class for performance and efficiency, it has a worldclass warranty and service package to match, giving our customers peace-of-mind while they are enjoying their new high-performance hybrid supercar to the full.”

The new Artura, which is priced from £185,500 in the UK, is available in a standard specification and three further trim levels: Performance, which has a sporting, functional aesthetic; TechLux, where the focus is on the technical luxury the name suggests; and Vision, which displays a more and adventurous look and feel. All specifications enjoy a high level of features as standard, with the option for customers to

add a Practicality Pack as a no cost option**, bringing Vehicle Lift; power-folding heated door mirrors with ‘dip in reverse’ functionality; four front and four rear parking sensors; rearview camera; Homelink® and soft-close doors. Additionally, Apple CarPlayTM and Android AutoTM are supported as standard by mobile phone integration into both the instrument cluster and central display screen.

Further information about the McLaren Artura is available at: http://cars.mclaren.com/en/ artura.

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murder. Chauvin was filmed kneeling on father of two Floyd’s neck as Floyd cried ‘I can’t breathe,’ with footage of the father-of-two’s final moments sparking worldwide revulsion, and ongoing Black Lives Matter protests.

Floyd died while being arrested on suspicion of trying to pass a fake $20 bill at a local convenience store. All four officers involved were subsequently fired from their

jobs. Their defence lawyers claim George died because of a pre-existing heart condition, drugs in his system, and an undiagnosed Covid infection.

Prosecutors maintain that he died with those conditions – but because of the actions of Chauvin during his arrest. Three other cops – Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao – have been charged with aiding and abetting the killing and will be tried at a later date. They deny those allegations.

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HAUL OF WEAPONS SEIZED AFTER PACKAGE OF DRUGS SENT FROM OVERSEAS IS INTERCEPTED AT THE BORDER This haul of swords, crossbows and firearms have been seized by police after they intercepted a package of drugs imported from overseas.

Northumbria Police arrested a 51-year-old man on Saturday 13 March after the huge collection of weapons was discovered during a house search in Gateshead.

Officers had been tipped off by the Border Force that a package had been sent from the USA that contained almost half a kilogram of cannabis.

Enquiries to identify the person responsible for ordering the drugs soon led police to an address on Tulip Street.

But they were stunned when they raided the property and found the haul of weaponry including samurai swords, air rifles, crossbows and Tasers.

Detective Chief Inspector Louise Jenkins has praised the team work between local police officers and their counterparts in the Border Force.

She said: “This is a huge number of weapons that could be deadly if they find their way into the hands of the wrong person.

“The man who we arrested is already prohibited from owning many of these items and so he has no excuse to have these weapons in his home.

“He is also now under investigation for drugs offences after we seized a significant amount of drugs with the support of border officials.

“It is illegal to import drugs from overseas and you can be sure that if you do attempt to do this then it won’t take long for us to come knocking at your door.”

The 51-year-old man arrested has since been released under investigation pending further enquiries.

Anyone who wants to report information about drug supply, or possession of offensive weapons, can do so online at the ‘Tell Us Something’ pages of the Northumbria Police website.

CANNABIS FARM THE SIZE OF A FOOTBALL PITCH AND WORTH MORE THAN £1 MILLION UNCOVERED IN NEWCASTLE WAREHOUSE A cannabis farm the size of a football pitch has been uncovered by police who have today revealed it has an estimated street value of more than £1 MILLION. The drugs factory was uncovered by officers on the Brunswick Industrial Estate in Newcastle on Thursday where nearly 1,500 plants were being grown and cultivated over two floors.

Police had been tipped off to the huge farm by electricity contractors who had responded to an outage on the industrial estate.

Officers were immediately deployed to investigate

and promptly found a huge industrial unit had been converted in to a make-shift drugs operation.

Detective Superintendent John Bensley, of Northumbria Police, has overseen the dismantling of the farm and said officers will continue to strike at the heart of organised crime.

He said: “This is not some small scale farm consisting of a few plants in an unoccupied bedroom, it has all the marking of serious and organised crime.

“This is a sophisticated drugs operation that lines the pockets of organised

criminals to the tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“Their pockets are lighter today than they were tomorrow and that is because the community are on our side and they continue to be our eyes and ears.

“Over night we have struck at the heart of a suspected £1 million drugs operation that relies on the exploitation of vulnerable people across our region.

“Under the banner of Operation Sentinel we will continue to work with our partners to proactively target organised crime operations

and dismantle them piece by piece.”

Operational Sentinel is Northumbria Police’s joint initiative for tackling serious and organised crime in partnership with Durham Constabulary, Cleveland Police and the North East Regional Special Operations Unit (NERSOU).

Enquiries to identify those responsible for the huge farm are ongoing and anyone who may be able to assist police is asked to get in touch.

You can report information online at the Northumbria Police website or by calling 101, quoting log 415 11/03/21.

FORCE WELCOMES NEW SAFEGUARDING LEGISLATION Safeguarding specialists from the force have welcomed an announcement that new legislation’s planned to protect young people at risk of grooming or other abuse from people in “positions of trust”.

While the age of consent is 16, it’s illegal for those in some professions - such as teachers, social workers and doctors - to have a sexual relationship with 16 or 17-yearolds in their care.

Campaigners have long called for a so-called legal loophole to be closed - by expanding the roles the law applies to.

The definition will now also include people like sports coaches and faith leaders.

It’s one of several measures in a bill which Parliament is due to include in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

Force Lead for Child Sexual Abuse Investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Deb Fenny said: “This is very good news

for police, children’s services and charities - and other agencies concerned with young people’s safety and welfare.

“Even if they’re above the age of consent, young people can still be vulnerable to exploitation from those who are supposed to be looking after them in the community and this change will be another means of protecting adolescents.”

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SARAH EVERARD WAS THE NATION'S BETI Continued from cover Sabeena is an award-winning female family lawyer, specialising in domestic abuse cases. As a mother of two boys and one girl, the tragic death of Sarah Everard has impacted on her and how she not only keeps her three children safe, but on how she raises her boys.

news the nation has expressed its shock and anger. The murder has sparked a debate about the wider societal issues of sexual harassment and domestic abuse against women.

In an exclusive to Asian Standard, Sabeena shares her views. Here is what she has to say.

A recent poll by YouGov and U.N Women U.K found that 86 percent of young women aged 18 to 24 in the UK have experienced some form of sexually harassment in public while 71 percent of all ages have experienced

Women all over the UK have questioned their safety. A debate sparked over the murder of Sarah

It’s 2021 and women are still fighting for gender equality.

take when walking home are still necessary, even in 2021. A 2016 study from Plan International found that 63 percent of women in the UK feel unsafe walking alone after dark while 33 percent of men do. Furthermore, 32 percent of women said they have been whistled at or received comments of a sexual nature while in a public space.

This should not be the case.

Women should not have to plan a well-lit route when walking home.

Women should not have to carry their keys between their fingers, or a spray in their purse as their only way of self-defence. Women should not have to text their family or friends the details of their whereabouts in case something happens or put on their locations settings so they can be tracked or even offer a live location tracker via WhatsApp chat. Women should not be questioned about why they are walking late at night or have to fear on their way home.

The murder shocked the UK, prompting many women and girls to share on social media their stories of experiencing violence by men. Many started to share tips and suggestions on how to keep safe.

There has also been a political fallout, with Member of Parliament Jess Phillips reading out last week the names of 118 women murdered last year. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “shocked and deeply saddened” by the case.” In the House of Lords Baroness Jenny Jones argued introducing a curfew for men would “make women a lot safer”. She went on to say " In fact nobody makes a fuss when, for example, the police suggest women stay home. But when I suggest it, men are up in arms."

Abida Karim victim of domestic violence. Murdered by her husband Everard across the nation.

sexual harassment in a public place.

The search for a 33-year-old woman who went missing in London officially ended Friday 12 March, after remains found earlier in the week were confirmed to be hers.

Although the full details of Sarah Everard's death are still under investigation, most people hope that the current debate around women's safety, and the police response to it, may prevent further attacks.

Everard's case has ignited a national conversation on women's safety, with countless women speaking out about the all too common reality of walking alone in fear.

Why is it still not safe to walk home alone? Could this finally shift the dial on women’s safety? Are women safe?

These are just a few questions that are being raised. In light of this shocking

Sarah's case has shaken women everywhere. It's left women afraid and overwhelmed. But why? Because it represents everything women have been told to fear since childhood.

It proves that the fear is valid and necessary.

Sarah’s disappearance and murder shows that the precautions women

The suggestion left a lot of people feeling unfair and disgraced at the curfew suggestion. Nigel Farage tweeted “Just in case you thought I was exaggerating when I call left

Sarah Everard deranged…”.

Of course, Jones was not serious about introducing such a curfew, we all know it’s not a good idea, what Jones was doing here is highlighting the double standards in today’s society. Jones later clarified that her remarks were not a serious policy proposal. But rather, they were a response to the fact that London police have advised women “not to go out alone” after Everard’s disappearance, and all seemed to think that is okay.

During the Covid 19 Lockdown more and more women are falling victim to domestic abuse as they are literally locked in with their abuser, unable to find a safe space to even make a call to ask for help. A Women’s aid survey

Having now practiced Family Law as a solicitor in Leeds for over sixteen years unfortunately what I know is that over time the numbers are not going down, we are still seeing male violence being the leading cause of premature death amongst women.

Sabeena Din

in June 2020 revealed that 78 percent living with an abuser said lockdown restrictions has made it harder for them to leave their preparator.

On 24 September 2020 in Harehills, local residents woke up to the devasting news of Abida Karim (39 years old) who was murdered by her husband Sajid Pervaz (38 years old) while their seven children slept in the same house. Pervaz did not only rob the life of Karim but also robbed his own children of their mother. Pervaz pleaded guilty to Murder and on 19 February 2021 he was jailed for life with minimum sentence of 22 years.

Since her father’s sentencing their eldest daughter has spoken out about

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Credit: Ilyas Tayfun Salci / Shutterstock.com

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A woman holds a banner during Reclaim These Streets Vigil for Sarah Everard who was kidnapped and murdered. domestic abuse and wants to help raise awareness of signs to help others. She aims to guide people on how to get help and spot red flags.

Further Meghan Markle took to our screens and spoke about having

A hashtag started to trend on Instagram which many of you may have seen thrown around, “not all men”. Is this the correct response? Are women blaming all men? No. The blame and responsibility is shifted onto woman. It is not all men but is it enough men for it to be a social problem. Do all men make sure their fellow men do not harm women? Do they interrupt such behaviour?

What is clear from this debate is that women’s safety is a global issue that must be addressed.

Having celebrated Women by the virtue of Mother’s Day and International Women’s Day, is it not the case that women are reminded that they are not safe and not listened to? When they raise issues and concerns, they are not taken

Credit: Ilyas Tayfun Salci / Shutterstock.com

Credit Met Police

Moving to other side of the world in India only last month we saw a video circulating of Ayesha Khan. The 23-year-old women recorded a video on her mobile phone before jumping into a river to commit suicide. The two-minute video featured Ayesha smiling and clearly fed up, she describes feeling unloved and no longer wanted to be alive due to the ill treatment from her husband and his family. The case highlighted the effects of dowry and domestic abuse and how these effect the mental health of victims.

suggesting that all men are perpetrators. This debate has forced many women to come out on social media and talk about experiences of feeling unsafe and feeling the need to be hyper aware of their surroundings. They have spoken about the harassment they have suffered.

A woman lights a candle during Reclaim These Streets Vigil for Sarah Everard who was kidnapped and murdered. suicidal thoughts and asked for help but was told it was difficult to seek help as a member of the Royal Family. As a response a presenter from Good Morning Britain stated, “I don’t believe a word of what she says…”. The comments made by the presenter led to a wave of tweets in Meghan’s defence.

serious or simply not believed.

Having now practiced Family Law as a solicitor in Leeds for over sixteen years unfortunately what I know is that over time the numbers are not going down, we are still seeing male violence being the leading cause of premature death amongst women. No one is suggesting that men are not victims, and no one is

If you or anyone you know are suffering from any form of abuse do not hesitate to contact Sabeena Din of Milson Legal Solicitors Limited for a free confidential chat on 0113 8730032.

Sarah Everards is everyone’s beti (daughter).

Her case has hit home to so many women maybe because it’s all too familiar.

FOR EVERY LIFE LOST …IS ONE TOO MANY!!!!

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DARLINGTON BOROUGH COUNCIL: COUNCIL REVEALS FRESH 200TH ANNIVERSARY AMBITION

BY STUART MINTING | LDRS Reporter

Enthusiasts celebrating the bicentenary of the world’s oldest passenger railway could be able to experience what it was like riding on the line 200 years ago, it has been revealed.

Darlington Borough Council’s leader said while she remained disappointed over the departure of the original Locomotion No 1 from the town, the replica would offer an opportunity to run steam locomotive passenger trips.

Jessie Joe Jacobs, the Labour candidate for Tees Valley Mayor, has said she will keep fighting for the Locomotion to have a home in Darlington and that Head of Steam could become “a state of the art tourist magnet”, if centred around both Locomotion and a 4D experience.

Responding, Cllr Scott said a legal battle over Locomotion No 1 would have risked taxpayers’ money. She said: “I’m sorry that we couldn’t keep the original here, but legally we had no option.

“The Labour candidate is not aware of all the background to this. I was certainly not prepared to ignore the legal advice that we got or get in the situation that we had over the library.

“We have got a fantastic arrangement for the future that the replica will be a very longterm exhibit within the railway museum, long after 2025 and that it will be in working order and people will be able

Credit: Adobe archivist

Councillor Heather Scott announced the replica engine would be on display in Darlington’s Head of Steam museum within two months as she scotched further criticisms over Locomotion No 1’s exit and concerns over taxpayers money being spent renovating Beamish’s replica engine.

Centennial celebrations of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, 1925. to actually have rides on it recreating when the railway was started. Surely that’s a superb thing to have.”

She confirmed the council would seek to make arrangements with Network Rail so the replica engine could steam across Skerne Bridge 200 years to the day of the line’s opening on September 27, 1825.

were not allowed to do with the original Locomotion No 1.”

While the council’s move to bring the replica Locomotion to Darlington has received an

almost universal welcome, the authority’s plans to bring the replica back into working order have been questioned by some.

Liberal Democrat councillor Nigel Boddy said buying a new replica Locomotion would cost £325,000 and it had been estimated the cost of

He said: “If ownership isn’t to pass to Darlington Borough Council of the replica Locomotion No 1 from Beamish, might we know what relative contribution each party is making towards the cost of restoration, so we might have the full picture?”

The replica engine is set to be installed in the Head of Steam museum ahead of its opening on May 17 and its restoration will start when the museum is closed for the Railway Heritage Quarter redevelopment.

Cllr Scott said: “Schoolchildren going to see it will be allowed to clamber over it, which we

restoring the engine could be £120,000. He questioned if that cost would fall on Darlington residents even though Beamish would continue to own the engine.

In the Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, a watercolour painted in the 1880s by John Dobbin, crowds are watching the inaugural train cross the Skerne Bridge in Darlington.

In response, Cllr Scott questioned why Beamish should contribute towards the restoration as it was lending the engine to the council for a lengthy period.

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COVID VACCINES: IS IT WRONG TO JUMP THE QUEUE?

By Professors JONATHAN PUGH and DOMINIC WILKINSON Professor Dominic Wilkinson is a consultant Neonatologist and Professor of Ethics at the University of Oxford and along with Professor Jonathan Pugh a Research Fellow at the same University in a piece for The Conversation explore the ethics behind Covid vaccine queue jumping.

cases, queue jumping is wrong because it involves displacement – taking someone else’s place.

Here’s what they have to say.

In the UK , an Oxford city councillor has been suspended after mentioning on social media that she had received a COVID vaccination from a private doctor. Meanwhile, media reports suggest that two Spanish princesses, who did not yet qualify for vaccination in Spain were vaccinated while visiting their father in the United Arab Emirates. They are among a number of ultrawealthy people getting vaccinated in that country.

There have also been reports of people accessing vaccines early in the UK , despite not being in any of the groups prioritised for vaccination at the time.

So how concerned should we be about these cases?

One issue relates to the lawfulness of providing a

To use a trivial example, if there are 100 seats in a cinema and you jump a queue of 100, someone who has waited will not get a seat.

This sort of displacement can be wrong because it disrupts a fair process for allocation.

Someone misses out.

vaccine outside the national allocation scheme. In the UK , COVID vaccines are not authorised outside of the NHS. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is carrying out an investigation into the Oxford case.

Strict controls over the distribution of a vaccine are justified to ensure the safety

and efficacy of vaccines.

Regulations are partly to protect patients, but also to protect the public at large. If someone receives an ineffective vaccine, they may be falsely reassured and go on to unwittingly spread the virus. Someone who receives an unsafe vaccine may experience side-effects that not only harm her but

also undermine confidence in vaccines in the wider community.

But an even more important reason for ensuring that access to the vaccine occurs in an orderly way is based on considerations of justice. Approved vaccines are still a scarce resource.

Not everyone who wants to access a vaccine has yet

been able to. So there needs to be an ethical decision about who should receive the vaccine first. That is why there is a queue.

Two ways to jump the queue It is important to separate two cases. In some

But with vaccines, there is a more important reason.

Vaccine allocation schemes prioritise those at greatest risk of severe COVID. If someone jumps the queue, another person who is at higher risk will have their vaccine delayed and may become seriously ill in the meantime.

But other cases do not involve displacement. In the case of the Oxford councillor or the Spanish princesses, they did not take the place

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vaccinated early using doses that would otherwise not be used. It would be morally wrong to waste COVID vaccines given the global scarcity. So if you are offered a vaccine through the national scheme, it is best to take it, regardless of whether you are in a current priority group.

Queue jumping and inequality

of someone in the UK or Spanish allocation schemes.

Their vaccines were from a separate pool. No one had their vaccine delayed. That

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is like someone avoiding the queue for the cinema by paying for a private screening.

necessarily wrong if no one is displaced. Actually, in some cases, queue jumping is morally the right thing to do.

Queue jumping is not

Some people have been

Some people object to queue jumping, even if it does not clearly involve displacement.

One thought is that it might be unfair for someone to get the vaccine earlier than they are supposed to, even if it doesn’t affect anyone else’s access. For instance,

allowing people to pay for vaccination outside of the public system would introduce new forms of inequality.

Yet the claim that all inequality must be avoided is controversial. Our society is unequal in many ways – the very existence of private healthcare is one example. We could make everyone equal by taking away any option for private healthcare, but that would make some people worse off and no one would be better off. Philosophers call this “levelling down” inequality.

Another reason for concern about public figures jumping the queue is because of the message it sends. It might undermine confidence in the national allocation of vaccines if politicians or public figures

are seen to bypass the scheme.

Social solidarity is a key component of a successful response to the pandemic and may be threatened if public figures are seen to circumvent the rules everyone else is abiding by. That may be less of a concern for private citizens.

Right now, it is vital that vaccines are distributed in an orderly and ethically informed way. The English famously love to queue – and to complain about those who are pushing in. But all queue jumping is not equal, and not all queue jumping for vaccines is wrong.

This article originally appeared in The Conversation.

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A YEAR OF COVID: REFLECTING ON THE HEADLINES

BY EMMA MARSDEN of not just themselves but their country, their community.

As the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve 2019, noone could have predicted the year that lay ahead. Millions of people across the world rejoiced the beginning of a new year, a new decade, a new start:2020.

What none of us could foresee was the change about to befall us in just a few short months.

In January 2020, there were murmurings of a SARS-type outbreak in China. Although governments and regimes outside of China may have begun to be concerned, most of the lay public perhaps was not. It was far away and did not really affect us. As more reports came in of foreign teachers stranded in China, of lockdowns and emergency hospitals being built, the concern began to grow and spread from China across the world.

By this time, China had reported 4,000 COVID deaths, although this figure has since been disputed, though not proven, as being well-under the actual number of fatalities.

On 3 February, the first reported death came outside China.

COVID began to spread quickly.

It was only a matter of time before it arrived in the UK and arrive it did.

As rumours swept across the country of how the virus started, of conspiracy theories and hidden agendas, one thing was certain, the virus was taking a hold of the country. It was now here; the question was no longer ‘When?’ but rather ‘What now?’ As the government seemed to initially falter in

Through it all, there were some bright lights amongst the dark days. The roadmap ahead is full of hope, as things can only get better.

giving the public decisive and clear instruction, other than wash hands and socially distance, and the mainstream media gave a daily death log, the public started to panic.

Supermarkets and corner shops were soon emptied of toilet rolls, various food supplies and other essentials, due to what came to be known as ‘panic buying’.

Footage emerged of customers with trollies piled high and of empty, desolate shelves. It is then many hearts sank as we questioned is this what humanity has come to, the ‘me’ generation?

However, faith in humanity seemed to be restored when, after the rains of uncertainty, came the rainbows on the windows and walls and streets, drawn by families and children, hung proudly to say thank you. Thank you to our frontline workers, care workers, emergency workers and the NHS for carrying on through what was now officially categorised by the WHO as a pandemic. A virus affecting not just one or two regions

of the world, rather the whole world. It was unprecedented, a word we would come to know and hear well. Nothing on this scale had ever happened before, affecting the whole world at the same time.

There were comparisons to Spanish flu 100 years earlier, but in our lifetime and that of every living generation now, we had never experienced anything like this before.

As the government announced lockdowns and safety measures, the new rules meant that many families and loved ones were separated and unable to see each other. The elderly and the vulnerable shielded. Schools and borders closed, events were cancelled, many people lost their businesses and jobs.

It was a time full of sadness and uncertainty.

Some flouted the rules and regulations, believing the virus was exaggerated, that it didn’t affect them. But most adhered to the guidelines for the good

Captain Sir Tom Moore became a national hero as he walked miles around his garden to raise money for NHS charities, raising over £32million.

100-year-old Daribul Islam Choudhury raised £170,000, walking laps of his garden whilst fasting for Ramadan. Many others from all communities and walks of life, from all ages and backgrounds, did similar fundraising, all united in a common cause. To help the NHS, to help those in need affected by COVID. Angela Grayson, 39, from Kirklees, worked as a midwife throughout the pandemic,

working on COVID wards and seeing people from the south Asian and wider community affected. She said: “I started my career as a midwife at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic. The 12 months that followed were a baptism of fire; learning my new role and adapting to the trusts ever-changing regulations to keep up with hospital life in a global pandemic.

“Working and living with the fear of bringing this virus home to loved ones while dealing with the immense and increasing pressure of staff shortages and a busy unit as well as wearing PPE constantly for a 12-hour shift. Despite all these pressures my hospital family were amazing, everyone came together supporting each other and showed the true spirit of the NHS and its ethos.”

As people hands clapping across the country were heard, so too were the voices of black and ethnic minorities across the world. It was a year of change for all, along with the impact of

Black Lives Matter.

As the year came to an end, and we began to try and remember what life without masks was like, the figures told a tragic tale: the highest number of COVID-related deaths in Europe (now standing at over 106,000 in the UK and over 2.2 million worldwide). And as we entered another new year, as the clock struck at midnight to bring in the start of 2021 and say goodbye to 2020, there were no celebrations like there were just 12 short months ago. Many families were still separated from one another, or worse, many had lost loved ones who had rung in the new year with them just a year ago.

And so now to a year on, as we look to emerge from our third lockdown, there is hope on the horizon. Scientists have been working diligently all year to find a vaccine and two have been approved and rolled out. Many of our loved ones are on the list to receive the vaccine and may no longer need to live in fear. At least not of the virus. Although as youth worker Pavan Sembi from Huddersfield says: “We need a vaccine that can cure this socially transmitted disease called racism.”

But at least, there is hope at the end of the rainbow. For medicine, for race-relations, perhaps for humanity. Whilst new developments, new science, and the social and political landscape is changing all the time, one thing is for sure, 2020, and a year of lockdown, is a year we will never forget,

15 - 21 march 2021 WWW.ASIANSTYLEMAGAZINE.COM

ALIA BHATT AND VARUN DHAWAN ARE IN TALKS FOR BADRINATH KI DULHANIA PART 3 PRIYANKA CHOPRA AND NICK JONAS WILL BE ANNOUNCING THE OSCAR NOMINATIONS ON MARCH 15 KRITI SANON JOINS THE CAST OF ADIPURUSH

PALLAVI SHARDA: y r r e J d Tom an WAS EXCITING’

‘REINVIGORATING

TWO

FILM FASHION BEAUTY

ROOHI TAKES IN BIG MONEY ON ITS OPENING DAY

SONU SOOD COMES UNDER AT TACK FROM TWITTER AFTER COMMENTS MADE ABOUT HOW TO CELEBRATE MAHA SHIVARATRI

MICHAEL B. JORDAN WILL NOT ONLY STAR IN 'CREED III', BUT IS NOW SET TO DIRECT

media users today Sonu Sood has come under fire from social one today some help to fans his raged encou after the actor on Maha Shivaratri. s photo 's Shiva Lord rding 'forwa than rather encourage fans The actor took to Twitter today (March 11) to actor stated, The day. the of r honou in today to help others rate Maha celeb s, "Rather than forwarding Lord Shiva's image Shivaay." h Nama Om need. in Shivaratri by helping someone especially over Sood is well known for his philanthropic work, , so the actor began mic the past twelve months since the pande good. do to others e inspir more than likely intended to comment However, many Twitter users found Sood's arding the disreg presumptuous. Many accused him of to suggest trying by faith of e impor tance of the day to peopl hastag The .

Shiva Lord of s image share people should not ng. trendi began uSood USon ellAre TheH #Who rate our festival One user tweeted, "We all know how to celeb festival but s hindu in m proble is there s don't tell us Alway any problem. Why ut witho ls festiva n religio other all rate celeb ." why why why #WhoTheHellAreUSonuSood

American actor Michael B Jordan will not just star in the upcoming 'Creed' instalment but will also direct and produce the film.

Coogler, most recently Denzel Washington, and other top tier directors I respect. All of which sets the table for this moment."

MGM announced on Wednesday that Jordan will make his directorial debut with 'Creed III', which is set to be released in theatres on November 23, 2022.

He added, "This franchise and in particular, the themes of 'Creed III' are deeply personal to me. I look forward to sharing the next chapter of Adonis Creed's story with the awesome responsibility of being its director and namesake."

Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad are expected to return for the third instalment, written by Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin, based on an outline by Ryan Coogler.

Speaking about directing the upcoming project, Jordan said, "Directing has always been an aspiration, but the timing had to be right. 'Creed III' is that moment -- a time in my life where I've grown more sure of who I am, holding agency in my own story, maturing personally, growing professionally, and learning from the greats like Ryan

The 'Creed' franchise takes place in the universe created

by Sylvester Stallone in his own 'Rocky' film franchise. It's unclear if Stallone will return to Creed III. By taking on the role of director and lead star in the upcoming film, Jordan also mimics his on-screen mentor Stallone, who directed four installments of the 'Rocky' franchise -- 'Rocky II,' 'Rocky III', 'Rocky IV' and 2006's 'Rocky Balboa'.

PRIYANKA CHOPRA AND NICK JONAS WILL BE ANNOUNCING THE OSCAR NOMINATIONS ON MARCH 15

Celebrity couple Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas took to Instagram to share that they will be announcing the Oscar nominations on March 15.

The two posted a video to share the information. The nominations will be announced via global live screening.

In the video, Priyanka says, "Tell me we're announcing the Oscar nominations without telling me we're announcing the Oscar

nominations."

Nick joins in, and says, "Um, you sort of just told everyone already that we're announcing the Oscar nominations."

She appears to be confused, but then says, "Well, that is good enough, we are announcing the Oscar nominations! Catch us live!"

Chopra captioned the video saying "Hey @theacademy, any chance I can announce the Oscar

nominations solo? Just kidding, love you @nickjonas! We are so excited to be announcing the #OscarNoms on Monday, March 15th at 5.19 am PDT! Watch it live on youtube.com/Oscars."

The Academy Awards official Twitter also shared the news.

"Who's excited for #OscarNoms?

Join @priyankachopra and @ nickjonas here on Monday at 5.19am PDT," the Academy posted.

The much-hyped horror comedy Roohi managed a first-day collection of Rs. 30,600,000, upon release on the festive holiday of Maha Shivratri. The open ing is one of the biggest since the beginning of the pand emic .

The Hardik Mehta directorial starr ing Rajkummar Rao, Varun Sharma and Janhvi Kapoor is the first major big screen release from Bollywood after theatres reopened amid the global Covid pandemic . Many belie ve that this signifies that cinemas will soon be returning to normal for India.

Priyanka Chaudhary, CFO, Jio Stud ios said : "We are so delighted that audiences all over India are responding with so much love and positivity . This is a big milestone for the film industry and Jio Studios is proud to be a changemaker."

The film co-produced by Dinesh Vijan and Mrighdeep Singh Lamba has opened to mixed critic al response.

FILM FASHION BEAUTY

AR RAHMAN LATEST FILM 99 SONGS WILL RELEASE ON APRIL 16

The latest AR Rahman produced film, '99 Songs' will be released on April 16. The movie is set to be a romantic musical-drama.

The producer took to his Twitter to make the

announcement.

"Happy to share that #99Songs will release on April 16, 2021, in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Directed by @ vishweshk and featuring the talented actors @itsEhanBhat

& #EdilsyVargas," Rahman tweeted.

Rahman has composed 15 songs for the film alongside the score. The film will mark the debut of lead actors Ehan Bhat and Edilsey Vargas.

ALIA BHATT AND VARUN DHAWAN ARE IN TALKS FOR BADRINATH KI DULHANIA PART 3 The Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt film "Badrinath Ki Dulhania" released four years ago. The actors and director Shashank Khaitan got on a video call to secretly discuss part three of the franchise.

Bhatt posted a snapshot from the call on Instagram stories, where the trio is seen celebrating four years of the film.

In the image, the actress wrote "Here we are four years later secretly discussing part 3! Love you guys!

Happy 4 Years to us."

The first film in the franchise, "Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania", opened in 2014. In 2017, the second part titled "Badrinath Ki Dulhania" was released. Both films starred Bhatt and Dhawan, though the stories bore no connection.

The pair have worked together many times over the years, and they made their Bollywood debut together in Karan Johar's 2012 film, "Student Of The Year".

THREE

PARINEETI CHOPRA AND ARJUN KAPOOR WERE BARRED FROM MEETING EACH OTHER IN ORDER TO PLAY ENEMIES IN ‘SANDEEP AUR PINKY FARAAR’

Bollywood actors Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra, who will be seen pitted against each other as sworn enemies in Dibakar Banerjee's 'Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar', had to hate each other on-screen. Banerjee recently revealed that he took a drastic step to achieve this in the film.

The film-maker stated, "No one looks pretty when your life is being choked out of you. No one looks their best when being slapped in

the backseat of a car in the middle of nowhere in the dead of the night as a huge threatening stranger asks you questions you don't know the answers to. There are many in India who know how this feels. But not Parineeti and Arjun."

He added, "I had to figure a way of making them angry, bewildered and scared and alien to each other which is why I had to bar them from meeting each other socially till they met for the first time on

the sets in character."

The actors were forced to spend time apart from one another throughout the entire shoot despite being friends to enhance the film.

The film 'Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar' is being helmed by Dibakar Banerjee and produced

by Aditya Chopra. Besides Arjun and Parineeti, the film also features Archana Puran Singh, Sanjay Mishra, Neena Gupta, and Pankaj Tripathi. The film is set to release on March 19.

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YAMI GAUTAM BEGINS SHOOTING ON ‘A THURSDAY’

PARINEETI CHOPRA SAYS SHE ‘WAS LOOKING FOR A CHALLENGE’ WHEN ‘SAINA’ CAME ALONG

sports biopic Actress Parnieeti Chopra says the forthcoming for. g lookin was "Saina" was the challenge she I was doing, "I was looking for a challenge. The kind of films ps what perha or me, of sions exten less or they were more writing roles writers and directors thought of me. They were were similar. that were similar and I was choosing films that was exactly When this movie, Saina, came into my life, I looking for a film like this," said Parineeti. one with. I was "I was looking for something to surprise every am known as I for. known not was I thing some for g lookin me. I wanted to the happy girl-next-door type, but that is not biopic about a sports A reen. big-sc the on me real the show tigress on crazy the as known and person who is still playing said. she for," g lookin was I thing some is court in to essay the Earlier, actress Shraddha Kapoor was roped . Kapoor biopic the in al role of badminton ace Saina Nehw tion. condi health her to owing out ed reportedly dropp teaser the after media social on Talking about being trolled ht process. release, Parineeti said "I have a different thoug point, I tend If I believe that someone is making a genuine one is just to agree with them. But when I know that some them." ignore just I stuff, say to just heckling and saying stuff ical theatr a for set is and "Saina" is directed by Amole Gupte 26.

March release on

FILMMAKER RYAN COOGLER SAYS THAT MAKING ‘BLACK PANTHER 2’ WITHOUT CHADWICK BOSEMAN WAS ‘WITHOUT A QUESTION THE HARDEST THING I’VE HAD TO DO’ Filmmaker Ryan Coogler has said that the "hardest thing" he has ever had to do in his "professional life" was directing "Black Panther 2" without actor Chadwick Boseman. Boseman played the titular character in the first ‘Black Panther’ film.

"One thing that I've learned in my short or long time on this earth is that it's very difficult to have perspective on something while you're going through it," he said on the "Jemele Hill Is Unbothered" podcast recently.

"This is one of the more profound things that I've gone through in my life, having

Bollywood actress Yami Gautam has begun shooting for her film "A Thursday ".

The film is directed and written by Behz ad Khambata, and will also feature Dimple Kapadia, Atul Kulkarni, Neha Dhupia and Maya Sarao.

An official announcement was made through the Twitter account of RSVP , the banner producing the film.

"Breaking News: A series of unforgett able events are about to come your way, all that happened on #AThursday!" RSVP announced their Twitter page.

In the film, Yami plays the role of Nain a Jaiswal, a schoolteacher who takes 16 toddlers hostage. Gautum, who is know n for her positive roles in films such as Vicky Donor, Uri: The Surgical Strike and Ginny Weds Sunny, will be playi ng a dark character for the first time.

to be a part of keeping this project going without this particular person who is like the glue who held it together," the 34-year-old filmmaker said on the podcast, as reported by Entertainment Tonight.

"I'm trying to find a work-life balance. But I'm not there yet, so this is without a question the hardest thing I've had to do in my professional life," he added.

It was announced recently that the ‘Black Panther’ film series would continue despite the loss of Boseman last year. Marvel Studios have confirmed, however, that they will not be recasting the role.

KRITI SANON JOINS THE CAST OF ADIPURUSH

HARI HARA VEERA MALLU FIRST GLIMPSE: PAWAN KALYAN TAKES ON HIS FIRST PERIOD ROLE IN THIS ACTION EPIC The first glimpse from Pawan Kalyan upcoming epic, Hari Hara Veera Mallu. The film has been directed by Krish, and will see Kalyan taking on a period role for the first time.

In the first glimpse, we see extreme close up images of Kalyan, and we begin to develop an image of the legendary character. The final moments show us the ferocious

Bollywood actor Kriti Sanon has joined the star-studded cast of the upcoming mythological movie 'Adipurush', which also features Saif Ali Khan, Prabhas and Sunny Singh.

Om Raut, Prabhas, who will reportedly play Ram, and Sunny, who will be reportedly seen as Lakshman.

The 'Dilwale' actor took to her Instagram on Friday and shared the news with her fans by posting pictures along with the cast and director of the film. Kriti captioned the post, "A new journey begins.. #ADIPURUSH. This one is too special.. Proud, honoured and beyond excited to be a part of this magical world."

The film which is currently set to be released August 11, 2022, started production back in February. 'Adipurush' is Om's new directorial venture after last year's blockbuster 'Tanhaji The Unsung Warrior'.

In the picture, she can be seen posing alongside director

Kriti is reportedly set to play the role of Sita in the forthcoming film. '

Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Om, Prasad Sutar, and Rajesh Nair, the film will be released in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada.

nature of the character in action, and the epic music that plays throughout tells us that there is a lot in store with this upcoming project.

Shooting is set to begin soon on Hari Hara Veera Mallu and the film is set to be released Sankranthi 2022. The film will star Nidhhi Agerwal as the female lead and is being produced

by Mega Surya Productions.

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MOVIE REVIEW

FIVE

‘THE ONE’ REVIEW: NETFLIX’S NEW SCI-FI DRAMA IS NOT ‘THE ONE’ FOR US

BY REBECCA TODD Every so often, Netflix comes along, almost out of the blue, with a new Originals series. This week sees the release of ‘The One’, which adapts the John Marrs novel of the same name. This British sci-fi drama that looks at what would happen if the entire world could find their perfect romantic match. A scientist, named Rebecca Webb, has created a system where people can send in their DNA to discover their ideal match. However, the issue of using genetics as an identifier for love, immediately becomes a global issue both socially and politically, with many harbouring objections against such a system. The wheels quickly fall off Rebecca’s scheme when accusations are brought against her about the validity of her invention, and skeletons begin to be dug out of her closet.

‘The One’ promises greatness from the formulation of its narrative.

Everyone loves a crime drama, and the infusion of science fiction elements into the story do give the series an inventive and original flair. However, it does not take long before the cracks appear in the surface of this overly glossy tale and the execution starts to undercut the hopeful opening.

Rebecca, however, we do not develop an emotional connection to these characters before they begin to behave completely irrationally. Lois Chimimba and Eric Kofi-Abrefa spend the first fifteen minutes playing a couple who are irrevocably in love, before, out of nowhere, Chimimba’s Hannah becomes a woman possessed by jealousy. Again, her character behaves unjustifiably, and the show reaches a point where we are simply watching a series of caricatures that we do not care for.

At its best, ‘The One’ feels like an amalgamation of other things.

For the most part, it presents as though someone watched Black Mirror’s “Hang the DJ” episode and decided to formulate an entire series around it, except the charm and ingenuity are seriously lacking.

The swooping, grey-scale shots of landscapes and the set design take itself straight out of a Scandinavian detective drama like ‘The Killing’ or ‘The Bridge’. Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury would probably have grounds to sue with how similar the score sounds to their work on ‘Ex Machina’. This mismatched fusion of elements of different things just serves as a reminder that ‘The One’ remains subpar by comparison.

What initially begins as intrigue quickly devolves into a inexplicable choices on all parts.

From the beginning, Rebecca appears to be our anti-hero protagonist, but she is immediately unlikeable from her first moment on screen. There is a constant battle between her apparent mental battle and her abhorrent behaviours throughout. And, whilst the show believes that they are convincing the audience of Rebecca’s good intentions, actions speak louder than words and her decisions are consistently appalling.

The only thing

Rebecca is missing to complete the megalomaniac villain image is a maniacal laugh and an eyepatch. Which perhaps might be fine, as long as the series did not continually try to make us care about her. Hannah Ware’s performance as the character is hugely over-performed as she plays a caricature of what she thinks a CEO should look like. She excels in moments when her performance is forced to be stripped back and nonindulgent but those are few and far between.

The show creates its tension through marriages that are pushed to the edge thanks to the invention of technology that identifies a “perfect match”. Much like with

‘The One’ strives to cover greater grounds than it is capable of. In its haste to enter into the intensity of its narrative, it forgets to develop its characters and leaves the audience cold, and incapable of understanding the justification for people’s actions. The audience are left to pick up the pieces and try to string our emotional connection together, but the series simply does not do enough to maintain our interest.

‘The One’ is available on Netflix now.

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PALLAVI SHARDA:

‘Reinvigorating Tom and Jerry was exciting’

BY REBECCA TODD

In an exclusive interview with Asian Style Magazine, Pallavi Sharda, who plays Preeta in the film, shared how it felt to come into a huge franchise like Tom and Jerry, how it feels to be an Indian woman in film and transitioning into Hollywood from Bollywood…

Could you give me a brief overview of the film and of your role as Preeta in the movie?

The film is introducing these beautiful characters that we all love so much to a new generation of kids who I think have not seen Tom and Jerry in the glory that we or our parents or our grandparents have seen. It’s been very exciting to be a part of that project and that journey and to play Preeta, who is a classy Indian American woman who’s just getting things done in life. I see a lot of parts of myself in Preeta, but a lot of my friends and my cousins and so many women who have grown up as Indians across the globe and who are incredibly poised and polished and dignified and know what they want and go out and get it.

The upcoming live-action remake of Tom & Jerry will mark the first time that the hilarious pair will become part of the real world. The dynamic cat-andmouse duo have been livening up our screens ever since the 1940s and this new upcoming film stars Chloe Grace Moretz and Michael Pena alongside the iconic pair, as they attempt to break up the mischievous antics of Tom and Jerry whilst planning the wedding of huge socialites, Ben (Colin Jost) and Preeta (Pallavi Sharda).

What were your first feelings when the film got introduced to you and you heard about this role that you could play in Tom and Jerry. How did it feel coming into the franchise?

It felt quite unbelievable, first of all, the fact that they were reinvigorating Tom and Jerry was exciting to me because it’s been such a big part of the cultural phenomenon in India, particularly.

My earliest memories of Tom and Jerry are from my childhood trips to India where we would always watch it for some reason at my cousin’s house. Even my parents remember seeing Tom and Jerry when they were growing up so I think that the intergenerational aspect of it is fantastic but also makes it a great honour to be part of this version of it and this avatar of it. I was very excited there was a role for an Indian looking actress in there.

So was that what attracted you to the role of Preeta then?

I think whenever there’s a role that I know that I can fit into, that

excites me and the fact that these roles are being written right now is extremely exciting. The fact that we’re moving away from the monolithic portrayal of South Asian identity and actually getting into the nuance of what that is. Especially in the US, the American Indian community is very established, very well to do, they have a lot of political clout. I think that element and that aspect of the diaspora is important to show as opposed to the person in their scrubs saving lives which is a great part of who we are but not the only part.

How was it to play Preeta. She is a character that is an Indian woman but it’s not particularly the focus of the film. Her identity is just simply a part of who she is. How did that feel?

I think that was why I enjoyed the script, it was just there as it is in real life. I don’t walk into a room and announce that I’m Indian, I just walk into a room! It’s obvious that I’m Indian! And that’s where we need to be with our storytelling. Particularly in the West where migration is such a normal part of how we

FILM FASHION BEAUTY

exist in the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, these kind of post-commonwealth countries, particularly. The connection of India and these countries is so integral and it’s interlinked in many ways because, as you know in the UK, Indians have been going there post-decolonisation for a long time and similarly in the US. My grandparents, my great grandparents died in the US so playing Preeta was quite personal because I felt like I was representing the truth about my own family and their journey of migration.

SEVEN

How was it playing a socialite? Some of the sets looked amazing, it looked very luxurious and fun to do.

It definitely was reminiscent of my days in Bollywood. That’s when I was like “Oh this was just normal life in Bombay!”

I think playing anything larger than life is always fun because you really get out of your own skin and your own head and you surrender to the set and the character and the story. And with having a great scene partner in Colin and Michael and Chloe, it was just very easy and natural.

I think what was great about this film was that the team were so seamless and everyone was kind of meant to be there it felt like. Everyday on set was an absolute joy.

What was it like filming with the CGI animals?

The CGI animals and the CGI people as well, because I think Spike was played often by a guy in a blue bodysuit and he was fierce, man! He was barking or biting and it would take us by surprise because Colin would have a man on a leash and then he would leap! It was really funny. I was lucky, I didn’t have a human in my arms when I had Toots, I had a toy. But it was definitely strange squirming with a toy, that took getting used to. The body language around how you would pretend a squirming animated cat might look took a lot of imagination which was a lot of fun. I think as actors, a lot of it is about portraying drama, whereas this was all about suspension of disbelief and letting go and surrendering to the childlike qualities in us.

Was it fun to do that?

Absolutely. It reminded me of why I used to love watching Bollywood as a kid, for example, because there was that complete suspension of disbelief and being taken into another world and that’s what attracted me to cinema when I was growing up, was the joy that it brought and the escapism of it.

What were the main differences you found between shooting this massive Hollywood blockbuster and the Bollywood films that you used to do?

They’re actually quite similar in a film like Tom and Jerry, which was a rarity because I’ve been on a number of other sets as well which are not larger than life. I think every industry is different, every culture is different and that seeps down into a set and how people interact with one another. I definitely miss some of the

chaos of India and the fact that you just never know what’s going to happen. It definitely made me very resilient and very adaptable because I’m just like “Throw anything at me!”. Even if somebody hits me in the face, I’ll still be able to perform.

I know you filmed this in the UK so I just have to ask how you found the UK? I love the UK, I have actually shot there the most in the last few years, I was there when the pandemic hit. I was legging it back from Bristol where I was shooting something else.

I shot ‘Beecham House’ in EAling Studios as well the year before so I’m actually really familiar with working with UK crews and I’ve actually had a number of crew members switch over from one set to another so I love it actually.

London is like a second home to me and I love being there.

It was recently your eleven year anniversary of your film debut with ‘My Name Is Khan’. How does it feel looking back over your career now?

It’s interesting because I’ve got so many emails about that and I’ve seen it in the press but I played a very small role in ‘My Name is Khan’ and that was really me learning what being on a set was, and my first scene partner ever being Shah Rukh Khan. I think I’ve stuck true to who I was when I first went to India as a wee thing and I wanted to do different out-of-the-box roles,. I didn’t want to get caught up in any archetypes and I’ve constantly challenged myself. As soon as I hit a threshold, I would tear it away and then I start again. I’m addicted to the challenge of starting from scratch.

I feel like the same person, I feel like that same girl who’s hungry and wants to know what’s next. That’s why I keep coming back to it. As a craft, it’s incredibly difficult but the constant element of fight is addictive.

Asian Sunday Online is a digital platform, where you can watch new content every Sunday only on our YouTube channel Asian Sunday TV. Join the discussion with Let’s Talk or perhaps join in with some cooking with Simmering Sundays.

If you want to be on the show then email letstalk@asiansunday.co.uk

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NISSAN ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR MAJOR EXPANSION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY AT SUNDERLAND PLANT Nissan has today announced plans for a major expansion to renewable energy generation at its recordbreaking plant in Sunderland, UK.

“As our products made in Sunderland become increasingly electrified, our manufacturing operations are an important part of the ecosystem that will take us to carbon neutrality.”

Complementing the plant’s existing wind turbines and solar farm, the proposed 20MW solar farm extension represents a further step in Nissan’s path to carbon neutrality.

Nissan began integrating renewable energy sources in Sunderland in 2005 when the company installed its first wind

If approved, the 37,000-panel extension would result in 20% of the plant’s energy coming from all onsite renewables, enough to build every single zero-emission Nissan LEAF sold in Europe.

The plans are to be shared with the local community this week, ahead of a formal planning application being submitted.

Alan Johnson, Vice President Manufacturing at Nissan Sunderland, said: “Renewables have already made a big difference to our business and we continue to look for ways to make the manufacturing process more sustainable.

turbines on site. These 10 turbines contribute 6.6MW power, with the existing 4.75MW solar farm installed in 2016. The proposed 20MW solar farm extension would take the total output of renewables to 32MW at the plant.

The solar farm is being developed and installed by partner company Engenera. The first step in

the process is a community consultation which starts this week, with a full planning application expected to follow later this year.

Nissan has set itself the goal to achieve carbon neutrality across the company’s operations and the life cycle of its products by 2050. As part of this effort, by

the early 2030s every all-new Nissan vehicle offering in key markets will be electrified, as well as introducing innovations in electrification and manufacturing technology.

Nissan launched LEAF, the world's first mass-market allelectric vehicle, more than ten years ago. Today it is driven by

more than 180,000 EV enthusiasts across Europe.

During that time LEAF owners have prevented a massive 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere every year, while covering enough kilometres to drive around the earth 400,000 times.

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ASIAN STANDARD / NORTH EAST

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PUBLIC TRANSPORT TICKET HOPE

BY DANIEL HOLLAND | LDRS Reporter

There are renewed hopes of creating a London-style system that could allow people to travel across multiple forms of public transport in the North East with a single smart card – but not with contactless payment.

On Monday, the government did unveil a £3 billion shake-up of the nation’s bus services, promising integrated services and ticketing across different modes of transport as well as cheaper fares and hundreds of miles of new bus lanes.

The region’s leaders were left dismayed earlier this year when the government axed £105 million of funding to install smart ticketing infrastructure across the North.

But local public transport officials have also confirmed an imminent step forward in their own integrated ticketing plans.

The “appalling” cuts to Transport for the North’s budget dealt a severe blow to long-held ambitions of establishing a system whereby passengers could use an Oyster-like smartcard or a contactless bank card to travel across any bus, Metro, or train service in the North East.

Starting this spring, people who have a Tyne and Wear Metro Pop card will be able to use that on buses too.

At first, the initiative will only will only work for people who want to buy a digital version of the existing ‘Network One’ season ticket – a paper ticket that can be used across most buses in Tyne and Wear, the Metro, the Sunderland to

Blaydon Rail Line, and the Shields Ferry.

But transport bosses say that it will “hopefully” be used in the future for pay as you go travel rather than just season tickets, that work is “ongoing” to enable the Pop cards to be read on other local rail services too, and that the available tickets will be extended to cover County Durham and Northumberland services later this year.

However, there remains no funding yet for a system whereby passengers could tap in and out of various modes of transport using a contactless bank card, something that has been available in London since 2014, though that idea remains part of a £7 billion transport wishlist that North East leaders are urging the government to fund.

In the North East Transport Plan published last week, which lists almost 250 projects to be delivered by 2035, the development of a “multimodal smart ticketing solution” is listed as an ambition for delivery in the next five years.

Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon, chair of the North East Joint Transport Committee (JTC), said: “It’s great news that we are able to deliver greater choice for passengers across the region as a result of collaboration between local authorities, the bus operators and Nexus.

“We know that passengers want simplified ticketing and this is the start of our long-term plans on integrated products for passengers as outlined in the Transport Plan.

“We believe that by working

together with bus operators we will find a way to overcome the many challenges the region has faced as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As always, passenger experience is front and centre of everything we do, and we’ll work to recover from the impact of Covid together.”

At a meeting of the JTC this Tuesday, councillors will be asked to approve the start of a project to create a formal bus partnership between local council and the region’s various commercial bus operators – intended to help unlock government funding to help services recover from the devastating financial effects of the pandemic and to give elected officials greater influence over crucial services.

The government has said that only regions that have created such a partnership will be given access to continued

support or any new sources of funding from the £3 billion announced on Monday.

Martijn Gilbert, chair of North East bus operators association NEbus, said: “Working together in partnership will be critical to the good recovery of the regions transport network and, in turn, our towns and cities.

“We already have tickets that can be used between buses, the Metro, Ferry and Rail and are about to see annual tickets moved onto smart cards, but we know more need to be done.

“Bus operators already have smartcard and contactless bankcard enabled ticketing and we hope the plan will enable funding for rail and Metro system ticketing to be upgraded so we can all work even better together.”

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HEALTHY WEIGHT MEANS A HEALTHY LIFE Making small, simple changes to what and how much you are eating, and drinking can really help you lose weight.

We know that the last year has been tough on all of us, but there has never been a better time to have a go at some new heathier habits. Gaining weight is often a gradual process – it happens over the years as a result of modern-day life and the odd unhealthy habit. If you want to lose weight or get active, it’s not about getting it right, but getting started.

Making small, simple changes to what and how much you are eating and drinking can really help you lose weight.

Whether you want to lose weight or get active, the NHS has lots of free ideas to help you along the way.

Healthy changes start with little changes.

Extra weight causes fat to build up around vital organs, making it harder for the body to fight against

diseases like cancer and heart disease.

Losing weight has many health benefits and there is plenty of help and support to help you lose weight and get active at https://www.nhs. uk/better-health.

Dr Tariq Aziz, is a GP at Little Horton Lane Medical Centre in Bradford, whose patients are predominantly of South Asian origin. He takes an individualistic approach with his patients as he believes not everybody is the same.

Dr Aziz explains: “As a GP we have to do information gathering before we start to give advice. If it’s related to a medical health related problem, then you ask questions to rule out any medical causes that may contribute towards their weight gain.

"If someone is genuinely struggling with losing weight then you ask

around their daily calorie intake and what kind of exercise they are doing, so you provide them with tips to what fits best their needs.

“If someone for example says to me, I have tried everything and I can’t lose weight and I ask them what they are eating and they say two parathas, for breakfast and two chappatis for lunch and dinner, then you’ve got a clear path to your advice. In my personal experience, people underestimate their calorie intake and they over-estimate, how much physical activity they are doing. So, you try and bring them to some realistic expectation on how many calories they should be aiming for. Two chappaties alone have 800 calories in them. It all adds up when you add your snacks, teas, coffees and curries you’re eating into the mix. So, when you tell people things like this, they get a little bit surprised and come to some realistic expectations as to what they may have to change.”

space of ten months, thanks to some healthy lifestyle changes.

The turning point for the Bradford woman was while on a shopping trip, two days before we went into

were already health motivated and so that support helped. It was her bad snacking habits that had to be the first change she needed to make.

“It was just any kind of sweets,

Dr Aziz advises that to help lose weight and gain better health you have to put in more intervention. He gave Asian Standard some tips: “If a family member has a habit of always putting good biscuits out all the time, we will end up eating them because they are just there. So, have them removed.

“This is a little tip of just eating a bit more healthy, being aware of calorie intake making more better choices, eating a balanced diet and making simple swaps to what you're eating and drinking. We are used to having chappatis and rice with every meal we have, which makes it a bit tricky.

But simple swaps like having wholemeal bread instead of white bread, or brown rice and wholemeal pasta can make a difference."

Dr Tariq Aziz, GP at Little Horton Lane Medical Centre in Bradford

These simple changes certainly had an impact on Data input and Marketing analyst Nahid Rashid.

Nahid, who is in her forties managed to go from a size 16 to a size 10 in a

analyst the first national lockdown, she discovered that she could not get into a pair of size 16 jeans “That was my breaking point.” She admitted.

I could just eat all day long, like packets and packets of Haribo. Plus, a sit at your desk job all day, doesn’t help.” Explained Nahid.

“I didn’t know how much I weighed, and I didn’t want to know how much I weighed.

“Then I told my friend; that’s it I am going to get healthy, and I am pleased to say I have now bought a size 10 pair of jeans, which I can get in to. They fit me perfectly.”

“So, I thought the first thing I need to do is cut back on my sugar intake. I thought, I am not going to do everything at once, because I can’t manage that, but to take things step by step. So, I focused my first few weeks on cutting back on sugary foods.

Nahid said she was lucky her family

“I then looked at cutting down my portion sizes and started doing meal

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getting on the call to you, I have just had a paratha with an egg.

“I think if you start doing it all at once and deprive yourself, that’s when people get bored and give up. I still keep an eye on how much sugar I am having, but that’s not to say that if I feel like a dessert, I won’t have it. I will but not a big full portion. I will have a smaller portion.

It wasn’t just eating well, that helped Nahid, but keeping active played a part in her journey to better health.

Nahid said: “I have a gym membership, but gyms were closed, so I started to look on YouTube and there were lots of amazing places online for support.

preps. I still ate the foods I liked, but portion controlled. I didn’t want to deprive myself. I thought if I am going to eat pizza, I will eat a pizza, but instead of having pizza with chips, I would have pizza with salad.

“So, I haven’t deprived myself of anything, but I have just gone smaller portions and made some simple swaps.

“So, I ordered a skipping rope online. We have an enclosed back garden so no one can see us, and I started skipping there every day for ten minutes. Then built it up to 15, then 20 minutes and now I can do a good half an hour of skipping.

There are also so many cardio skipping exercises where you can skip for 1 minute stop for 3 seconds and then skip again. I also have the Nintendo WII and I was doing Zumba from home. I can understand in this day and age, people can’t afford gym membership, but people like me have got one and we don’t use it. There are so many other IF YOU LOVE TECHNOLOGY, THEN H E R E A R E S O M E A P P S TH A T Y O U CAN DOWNLOAD.

“So, for example if I want to eat a burger, I will still eat a burger, not the processed ones though, and I will ensure it’s grilled and won’t have it with chips. The burgers are filling and big enough on their own. Same if I am going to have rice, I have switched now to wholemeal brown rice, rather than having white rice, with daal or chicken, so I will have brown instead.

Couch to 5K

“Everything that I eat is almost the same, for example just now before

Easy Meals

TO HELP YOU MOVE MORE:

Active10

TO HELP YOU EAT WELL/LOSE WEIGHT:

Weight loss plan

9 SIMPLE TIPS TO MOVE MORE (EVEN IN LOCKDOWN): 1. GET INTO A GOOD HABIT Set a reminder (you could use the alarm or timer on your phone) to get up and move every 30 minutes during the day. Try stretching during TV ad breaks or pacing around the kitchen while the kettle's boiling.

2. LUNCH TIME IS YOUR TIME Lunch time is a good opportunity to fit in some activity. Take a break to stretch and unwind, or even fit in a quick 10-minute home workout video.

3. YOUR OWN STAND-UP ROUTINE Try standing when you can instead of sitting – even short periods will add up and improve your strength.

4. TAKE UP A HOBBY Active hobbies like gardening or DIY can be great for your mind as well as your body.

5. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS Hitting your daily target will feel great! Using tracking apps can help, but even just a checklist on a piece of paper will do.

ways to keep fit and you can find lots of useful sources online. I found in this lockdown exercising from home was so much better than going to the gym for me.

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TOP TIPS FOR BETTER HEALTH HOW TO EAT HEALTHIER MEALS:

“I didn’t even notice my weight dropping off, it was others telling me I had lost weight and to be honest I felt much better.

It can be tricky to know what to do with your meals if you're trying to lose weight. Here are some quick tips to help.

Nahid’s determination really paid off, she strongly suggests that you plan your day. Particularly for those of you who go to work. When Nahid was going back to the office, she took a meal prep with her and made sure that, that is what she ate, even if her work colleagues were going to go get a takeaway she stuck to eating the food she had prepped.

Aiming for 2 or more portions of veg in a main meal means half your plate.

So if you want to feel much better, happier and full of energy like Nahid, then get on to the Better Health website and start making your life healthier and happier.

VEG: GO FOR 2 OR MORE

PROTEIN: PRIZE IT! Always include some protein – like beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat or other types. It helps you stay full.

CARBS: STICK TO WHOLEGRAIN Carbs like potatoes, bread, rice or pasta should make up no more than a third of your meal.

FISH: TRY TWICE A WEEK If you eat fish, try to have 2 portions a week. At least 1 portion should be oily fish like tuna, sardines or salmon.

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ASIAN STANDARD / NORTH EAST

FINANCE

Shabab Gulfraz

CHARTERED FINANCIAL PLANNER, AND A CHARTERED MCSI ACCREDITED FINANCIAL ADVISER

Our resident For more infofinance columnist shares hi rmation shab s finance view ab@asianstand s this week. ard.co.uk

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&

PUZZLES Crosswords CROSSWORD Across 1 Charitable donations (4) 3 National emblem of Ireland (8) 9 Obstacle (7) 10 Long, pine (5) 11 Commencement (5) 12 Zealous (6) 14 UK tax collectors (6,7) 17 Science of light (6) 19 Bare (5) 22 Combine (5) 23 Slope (7) 24 Age of majority (8) 25 Supreme god of ancient Greece (4)

THE BUDGET So, for weeks the business community has been sat worrying about what the new budget will look like. I have to be honest I have been waiting with the tin hat on, thinking, god what is he going to come out with, and is he going to hit middle England hard or not.

In reality, the budget was far more toned down than I thought it would be.

In financial services it was widely expected that Capital Gains Tax would rise, as well as Corporation Tax. I also thought he might do something to pension tax relief, but fortunately, for those like myself who are advocates of investing in pensions, this did not happen.

Spot the

5

Down 1 Food of the gods (8) 2 Female horses (5) 4 County of Watford and Ware (13) 5 Municipal leader (5) 6 Formal speech (7) 7 Monarch (4) 8 Young cat (6) 13 Unnecessary (8) 15 Plover (7) 16 City of canals (6) 18 Incompetent (5) 20 Cutting implement (5) 21 Summer month (4)

differences

As one person I follow highlighted, “case of quietly picking our pockets rather than a fullfrontal mugging”.

In reality, within the budget there was little that could be deemed as game changing. My concern is that I don’t think this is the budget where we will be hit by a stick for all the monies, and let’s face it a large amount of wasted monies spent on Covid. I think further budgets going forward will begin to unravel planned tax rises.

So, the first tax that might rise is Capital Gains Tax. I personally think at some point in the future, this tax will probably be linked to marginal rates of income tax per person. There was a report last year from the Office of Tax Simplification (yes that’s right) that suggested the rate be the same as income tax rates. Capital gains of £12,300+ will continue to be taxed at 10 per cent for basic rate taxpayers – and 20 per cent for higher or additional rate taxpayers.

The respective rates on second-property sales (buy-to-let or holiday) remain at 18 and 28 per cent.

The second allowance frozen is pensions. Those with a balance of £850,000 plus some commentators have said should be worried. My thoughts are anyone with a pension pot will still benefit from accumulated savings. The tax angle should not alter the way you invest, as let’s put it this way the more you earn, then the more tax you pay. This is the same with pensions the more they grow within a tax-free environment, and breach the lifetime allowance set at £1,073,100, then the more growth you have had, and the higher your pension income in the future.

My final word is on Tax Day deemed 23 March 2021. The government will introduce further changes to savings and investments; therefore, please utilise your ISA allowances, and other allowances now rather than waiting because who knows what changes might be needed in the future to offset the impact of the debt mountain sitting at £2 trillion plus.

ANSWERS SPOT THE 5 DIFFERENCES 1. The colour of Ananya's earring.

2. The colour of Ananya's ring.

3. The sleeve of her blouse.

4. The buckle of her belt.

5. The board with disinfectant.

The level of corporation tax has increased, and in reality, rightfully so. This is because the government has helped many businesses stay open, and had it not been for government intervention the business community would look very different. The rate is slowly going to creep up, whilst the government has also tried looking after smaller companies by adding a threshold amount of income before the new corporation tax rates kick in.

CROSSWORD ANSWER

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RECIPE

GULFISHA KABAB

( SOYABEAN , CHANA DAL KE SHAMI)

INGREDIENTS 100 gm. Soyabean (overnight soaked) 50 gm. Chana dal (overnight soaked) 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste 10 no. black pepper 4 no. whole red chili 4 no. green cardamom 2 no. black cardamom 2 no. javitri (mace) 2 no. bay leaf 4 no. cloves 1 no. cinnamon ½ tsp cumin ¼ tsp black cumin ( shahi jeera) 1 tbsp red chili powder 1 tsp turmeric powder Salt to taste 1 drop metha ittar 4 drop kewra water 4 drop rose water 50 gm gm. Desiccated coconut ( dry) 50 gm roasted chana powder Coriander leaves fina chopped 1 no. big onion slice fried.

2 cup water Oil for frying For stuffing Cheddar cheese

METHOD In a pressure cooker add soyabean , chana dal ginger garlic paste, black pepper, green cardamom black cardamom, cloves, mace, bay leaf , cumin , black cumin, whole chili, cinnamon , red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt, fried onion and add water mix well and boil it for 4 whistle.

Remove from the heat. The mixture should not be watery it should be able to make ball of the mixture once cooked.

Take out all the whole spices. Let the mixture cool down and grind to a smooth paste. Then add coconut, ittar , kewra , rose water , roasted chan powder and coriander leaves and mix well.

Then take a small ball of mixture, make it flat on your plam stuffed cheese and make round patties.

In a non stick pan add oil at medium heat. then shallow fry them in hot oil. Let it fry both the side until it is golden brown.

Serve with any chutney.

Have a tantalising recipe? Want to share? We would love to feature your recipes. If you would like to have your recipe featured on this page then email us at: recipes@asianstandard.co.uk

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SPORTS

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GOMEZ, VAN DIJK UNLIKELY TO PLAY EURO 2020, SAYS KLOPP Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said that it is unlikely that Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk would be fit for this year's Euro Cup. The Liverpool duo has been on the sidelines since October last year with knee injuries and manager Klopp does not expect them to

Joe Gomez

be fit before the end of this season.

"It is not my decision but to be honest the information I have in the moment is that it will be unlikely. It's not that I don't let them go, because I don't want to have to do that anyway.

It is because of the extent of the injuries. We all hope

Virgil Van Dijk

they will be ready to start pre-season with us, that's what we all hope. With Joel [Matip] it is pretty much the same. These are really serious injuries and it is now not about talking about which competition they play," Goal.com quoted Klopp as saying.

"I am always open for positive surprises, and that they all of a sudden turn up in team training, but no-one told me that. The two of them look better than Joel as he is still in what looks like ski boots.

Joe is not running Virgil is already running but this is a real tough one. We will be completely over the moon when they are ready to train with us for the start of pre-season but the Euros I didn't think about it," he added.

Further elaborating on his point, Klopp said: "When do you have to be back to be ready to play in Euros? The week before? The day the Euros start? I don't know. I understand maybe the need of that but we cannot make this decision and we will not.

They will be fit when they are fit."

Van Dijk has not played since suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the match against Everton on October 17. Gomez, meanwhile injured his knee during a training session with England on November 11. Liverpool is currently at the eighth position in the Premier League standings with 43 points from 28 matches.

SOLSKJAER REALLY GOOD AT GETTING EVERYONE TOGETHER AND WORKING TOWARDS SAME GOAL, SAYS LINDELOF Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof has praised manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, saying that the latter is really good at getting everyone together and working towards the same goal.

"I think ever since he came the mentality and the energy that he brought to the club has been great. I think he is.... I've lost the word in English now but....he's really good at giving out that energy and I think

he's really good at getting everyone together and working towards the same goal," Lindelof told Star Sports Network.

"So, it's very important in football to have everyone going in the same direction and that's been one of the keys I think for him since he arrived that everyone's working towards the same thing and having that winning mentality to go into every game with just the mentality of winning," he added.

Manchester United has performed brilliantly in the Premier League so far and hold the second spot on the table, just behind Manchester City.

From the 28 matches the team has played so far, Manchester United has won 15 and witnessed a draw in nine of them.

Lindelof also shed light on his partnership with Harry Maguire, saying the captain is a great player and a great

presence on the pitch "It's the same there, the more games you played together, the more you get to know each other and the more you know, that partnership can grow.

I've been playing a lot of games with Harry and it's been great to have him alongside me. He's a great player, a great presence on the pitch. You know, I think like I said, with, the more games you play, the more we get to know each other, and I know what type of player he is. And the more you know we

can trust each other as well," he said.

"He knows that I can cover up for him. And I know that he can cover up for me as well. So, it's also to have that confidence in each other and knowing that if you're in the wrong place at some time, your partner is there to help you out. And as a captain, he's also brilliant. Like I said, he's a presence on the pitch and he's vocal as well. So, I think he's been doing a great job at that as well," Lindelof added.

ROGER FEDERER CRASHES OUT OF QATAR OPEN AFTER LOSING IN QUARTER-FINALS Swiss tennis maestro Roger Federer lost last week to Nikoloz Basilashvili in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open which ended his comeback campaign after undergoing two right knee surgeries last year.

Georgia's Basilashvili played aggressively throughout the encounter from the baseline to rush Federer and earn a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory. Basilashvili saved seven of 10 break points, including a match point at 4-5 in the decider, to clinch victory after one hour and 50 minutes.

Federer was attempting to reach his seventh Doha semi-

final. The second seed was making his first tournament appearance since the 2020 Australian Open this week, ATP reported. Earlier, Federer made a winning return as he defeated Daniel Evans of Great Britain in the Round of 16 clashes.

Federer secured a 7-6(8), 3-6, 7-5 victory over Evans in what was the former's first match in 405 days.

"I'm happy [with] how I played today. I'm happy [with] how I did yesterday. I'm happy I [am] back on the Tour. I'm pleased I came here to Doha. So it's really, really a positive return for me. I'm really happy," ATP quoted Federer as saying.

SPORTS

INDIA’S MITHALI RAJ BECOMES 1ST WOMAN CRICKETER TO SCORE 7,000 ODI RUNS India ODI skipper Mithali Raj has added another feather to her illustrious cap as she became the first woman batter to complete 7,000 runs in ODIs. Mithali achieved the feat in the ongoing fourth ODI against South Africa at the Ekana Cricket Stadium here. Playing in her 213th ODI for India, she reached the milestone mark as she completed her 26th run of the innings. The 38-year-old is already the most-capped ODI player in the history of women's cricket. In the last game, she became the first Indian woman to complete 10,000 runs across

all formats. She is only the second woman to reach 10,000 runs in international cricket. Former England skipper Charlotte Edwards was the first woman to do so.

She is the leading run-getter across format with 10,273 runs. In the fourth ODI, the visitors won the toss and asked India to bat first. India dropped Jemimah Rodrigues after three single digit scores, which meant the first opportunity in the series for opener Priya Punia. Jhulan Goswami was handed a rest due to a minor hand injury, paving the way for an ODI debut for left-arm spinning allrounder Radha Yadav,

who over the last two years has become somewhat of a regular in T20Is. South Africa kept faith in the same XI that took them 2-1 up in the series on Friday India lost opener Smriti Mandhana early as she departed after playing a knock of 10 runs. Punam Raut joined Priya Punia in the middle and build the innings for the home side. Nondumiso Shangase scalped Punia (32) in the 15th over, leaving the side at Skipper Mithali came in to bat at number four and supported in-form Raut to take India's score to get past the 100-run mark. The duo is still at the crease taking the side to a respectable total.

ATHENS TO HOST 138TH IOC SESSION IN 2025

RASHID KHAN CREATES RECORD FOR BOWLING MOST OVERS IN A TEST IN 21ST CENTURY Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan has created the record for bowling the most number of overs in a single Test in the 21st century.

The spinner bowled a total of 99.2 overs in the ongoing second Test between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday 14 March. This is the most number of overs bowled by a bowler in a

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced Athens as the host of its 138th Session in 2025 after the Greek capital could not stage the current meeting due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The IOC Session unanimously approved the proposal at its virtual meeting, said a statement.

The 2025 Session will see the election of a new IOC President when Thomas Bach's second and final term ends. Bach was reelected on Wednesday 10 March. The next IOC Session is also scheduled ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which will be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021. The 67-year-old Bach, who

clinched gold with the West German foil fencing team at the Olympic Games Montreal in 1976, was elected as IOC President at the IOC Session in 2013 in Buenos Aires for a first eight-year term. This term will finish on the closing day of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on August 8 this year, as decided by the IOC Executive Board.

Test since 1998. In 1998, Muralitharan had bowled 113.5 overs vs England at The Oval. In the first innings against Zimbabwe, Rashid returned with the figures of 4-138 from 36.3 overs while in the second innings, the spinner bowled 62.5 overs.

In the second innings, Rashid returned with seven wickets and he conceded 137 runs. The spinner bowled a total of 17 maidens in the second

innings and due to his effort, Afghanistan has just been set a target of 108 runs to win the second Test. Zimbabwe was following on in the second innings and the side was reduced to 142/7 but Sean Williams and Donald Tiripano formed a 187run stand for the eighth wicket. Tiripano missed out on a century as he was dismissed for 95 while Sean Williams remained unbeaten on 151.

15 - 21 MARCH 2021

SPORTS INDIA’S MITHALI RAJ BECOMES 1ST WOMAN CRICKETER TO SCORE 7,000 ODI RUNS

GOMEZ, VAN DIJK UNLIKELY TO PLAY EURO 2020, SAYS KLOPP

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ADIL RASHID NOT DISAPPOINTED AFTER GOING UNSOLD AT IPL AUCTION England leg spinner Adil Rashid wasn't surprised to miss out on an Indian Premier League (IPL) contract last month in the auction as he wasn't expecting to get picked by any franchise, considering the large pool of spinners India itself has.

Rashid had a base price of Rs 1.5 crore and went unsold in the IPL auction last month. The spinner, however, is not disappointed by the exclusion. "I wouldn't say disappointing (on him being not picked in IPL auction).

Obviously, there are a lot of spinners out there and India also got their own local spinners. So, I wasn't really expecting myself to get picked because I knew there are a lot of spinners out there.

So not too disappointing in that sense," said Rashid in a virtual press conference.

Rashid took the priced scalp of India skipper Virat Kohli in the first T20I on Friday after opening the bowling for England. Though he had previously bowled a first over, the spinner admitted it was something new for him.

"I am working on my game.

Bowling with a new ball is something very new for me.

Opening the bowling was something new, it was a good experience," said Rashid.

"Hope I can carry on with that regardless of the situation, whether it's first six (overs), middle or back, I am always looking to develop and work

hard," he added.

Having last played a match in the longest format of the game prior to the 2019 World Cup, the leg-spinner said

playing Test cricket hasn't crossed his mind as he is focusing on the white-ball format.

"Test cricket or Ashes has

not really crossed my mind.

There is a World Cup coming and there is a lot of cricket before that, let's see all goes.

I am focussing on white-ball

cricket at the moment," said Rashid.

The Eoin Morgan-led side, which won the first T20I comfortably by eight wickets,

will now look to extend their lead in the ongoing fivematch series when they face India in the second T20I at the same venue.